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33 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, NY. I4S80
(716) 873-4503
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k before our door, and of
gravp gentlemen in straight-coUared coats and broad-
brimmed beaver hats.
8 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
I began life in a day of stem rule, and among a
people who did not concern themselves greatly as to
a child's having that inheritance of happiness with
which we like to credit childhood. Who my people
were had much to do with my own character, and
what those people were and had been it is needful to
say before I let my story run its natural and, I hope,
not uninteresting course.
In my father's bedroom, over the fireplace, hung a
pretty picture done in oils, by whom I know not. It
is now in my library. It represents a pleasant park,
and on a rise of land a gray Jacobean house, with,
at either side, low wings curved forward, so as to
embrace a courtyard shut in by railings and gilded
gates. There is also a terrace with urns and flowers.
I used to think it was the king's palace, until, one
morning, when I was still a child, Friend Pember-
won came to visit my father with William Logan and
a very gay gentleman, Mr. John Penn, he who was
sometime lieutenant-governor of the province, and of
whom and of his brother Richard great hopes were
conceived among Friends. I was encouraged by
Mr. Penn to speak more than was thought fitting
for children in those days, and because of his rank
I escaped the reproof I should els«^ have met with.
He said to my father, " The boy favours thy people."
Then he added, patting my head, "When thou art
a man, my lad, thou shouldst go and see where thy
people came from in Wales. I have been at Wyn-
cote. It is a great liouse, with wings in the Italian
manner, and a fine fountain in the court, and gates
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oil art
re thy
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talian
gates
Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 9
which were gilded when Charles II. came to see the
squire, and which are not to be set open again until
another king comes thither."
Then I knew this was the pictui'e upstairs, and
much pleased I said eagerly:
" My father has it in his bedroom, and our arms
below it, all painted most beautiful."
" Thou art a clever lad," said the yoang lieutenant-
governor, " and I must have described it well. Let
us have a look at it. Friend Wynne."
But my mother, seeing that William Logan and
Friend Pemberton were silent and grave, and that my
father looked ill pleased, made haste to make ex-
cuse, because it was springtime and the annual house-
cleaning was going on.
Mr. Penn cried out merrily, " I see that the elders
are shocked at thee. Friend Wynne, because of these
vanities of arms and pictures; but there is good
heraldry on the tankard out of which I drank James
Pemberton's beer yesterday. Fie, fie. Friend James ! "
Then he bowed to my mother very courteously, and
said to my father, " I hope I have not got thy boy
into difficulties because I reminded him that he is
come of gentles."
" No, no," said my mother.
"I know the arms, miidam, and well too: quar-
terly, three eagles displayed in fesse, and—"
"Thou wilt pardon me, Friend Penn," said my
father, curtly. " These are the follies of a world which
concerns not those of our society. The lad's aunt lias
put enough of such nonsense into his head ali*eady."
n i
lo Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
" Let it pass, then," returned the young lieutenant-
governor, with good humour ; " but I hope, as I said,
that I have made no trouble for this stout boy of
thine."
My father replied deliberately, "There is no harm
done." He was too proud to defend himself, but I
heard long after that he was taker to task by Thomas
Scattergood and another for these vanities of arms
and pictures. He told them that he put the picture
where none saw it but ourselves, ana, when they per-
sisted, reminded them sharply, us Mr. Penn had done,
of the crests on their own silver, by which these
Friends of Welsh descent set much store.
I remember that, when the gay young lieutenant-
governor had taken his leave, my father said to my
mother, " Was it thou who didst tell the boy this fool-
ishness of these being our arms and the like, or was
it my sister Gainor ? "
Upon this my mother drew up her brows, and
spread her palms out,— a French way she had,— and
cried, "Are they not thy arms? Wherefore should
we be ashamed to confess it?"
I suppose this puzzled him, for he merely added,
" Too much may be made of such vanities."
All of this I but dimly recall. It is one of the
earliest recollections of my childhood, and, being out
of the common, was, I suppose, for that reason better
remembered.
I do not know how old I was when, at this time,
Mr. Penn, in a neat wig with side rolls, and dressed
very gaudy, aroused my curiosity as to these folks in
!fll»!'ll;1I:;t«ia!*t!ili!«!l!|J!l|W
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker ii
Wales. It was long after, and only by degrees, that
I learned the following facts, which were in time to
have a great influence on my own life and its varied
fortunes.
In or about the year 1671, and of course before
Mr. Penn, the proprietary, came over, my grandfather
had crossed the sea, and settled near Chester on
lands belonging to the Swedes. The reason of his
coming was this : about 1669 the Welsh of the Eng-
lish church and the magistrates were greatly stin-ed
to wrath against the people called Quakers, because
of their refusal to pay tithes. Among these offen-
ders was no small number of the lesser gentry, espe-
cidly they of Merionethshire.
My grandfather, Hugh Wynne, was the son and
successor of Godfrey Wynne, of Wyncote. How
he chanced to be born among these hot-blooded
Wynnes I do not comprehend. He is said to have
been gay in his early days, but in young manhood to
have become averse to the wild ways of his breed,
and to have taken a serious and contemplative turn.
Falling in with preachers of the people called Qua-
kers, he left the church of the establishment, gave up
hunting, ate his game-cocks, and took to straight col-
lars, plain clothes, and plain talk. When he refused
to pay the tithes he was fined, and at last cast into
prison in Shrewsbury Gate House, where he lay for
a year, with no more mind to })o taxed for a hire-
ling ministry at the end of that time than at the
beginning.
His next brother, William, a churchman as men
12 Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker
go, seems to have loved him, although he was him-
self a rollicking fox-hunter ; and, seeing that Hugh
would die if left in this duress, engaged him to go to
America. Upon his agreeing to make over his estate
to William, those in authority readily consented to
his liberation, since William had no scruples as to
the matter of tithes, and with him there would be no
further trouble. Thus it came about that my grand-
father Hugh left Wales. He had with him, I pre-
sume, enough of means to enable him to make a
start in Pennsylvania. It could not have been much.
He carried also, what no doubt he valued, a certifi-
cate of removal from the Quarterly Meeting held at
Tyddyn y Garreg. I have this singular document.
In it is said of him and of his wife, Ellin ("for
whom it may concern ";, that " they are faithfull and
beloved Friends, well known to be serviceable unto
Friends and brethren, since they have become con-
vinced; of a blameless and savory conversation.
Also are P'sons Dearly beloved of all Souls. His
testimony sweet and tender, reaching to the quicking
seed of life ; we cannot alsoe but bemoan the want
of his company, for that in difficult occasion he was
sted-fast— nor was one to be turned aside. He is now
seasonable in intention for the Plantations, in order
into finding his way clear, and freedom in the truth
according to the measure manifested unto him," etc.
And so the strong-minded man is commended to
Friends across the seas. In the records of the meet-
ings for sufferings in England are certain of his let-
ters from the jail. How his character descended to
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 13
my sterner parent, and, tlirough another generation,
to me, and how the coming in of my mother's gen-
tler blood helped in after-days, and amid stir of
war, to modify in me, this present writer, the ruder
qualities of my race, I may hope to set forth.
William died suddenly in 1679 without children,
and was succeeded by the third brother, Owen. This
gentleman lived the life of his time, and, d3dng in
1700 of much beer and many strong waters, left one
son, Owen, a minor. What with executors and other
evils, the estate now went from ill to worse. Owen
Wynne 2d was in no haste, and thus married as late as
somewhere about 1740, and had issue, William, and
later, in 1744, a second son, Arthur, and perhaps
others; but of all this I heard naught until many
years after, as I have already said.
It may seem a weak and careless thing for a man
thus to cast away his father's lands as my ancestor
did ; but what he gave up was a poor estate, embar-
rassed with mortgages and lessened by fines, until
the income was, I suspect, but small. Certain it is
that the freedom to worship God as he pleased was
more to him than wealth, and assuredly not to be
set against a so meagre estate, where he must have
lived among enmities, or must have diced, drunk, and
hunted with the rest of his kinsmen and neighbours.
I have a faint memory of my aunt, Gainor Wynne,
as being fond of discussing the matter, and of how
angry this used to make my father. She had a
notion that my father knew more than he was will-
ing to say, and that there had been something further
14 Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker
agreed between the brothers, although what this was
she knew not, nor ever did for many a day. She was
given, however, to filling my young fancy with tales
about the greatness of these Wynnes, and of how the
old homestead, rebuilded in James I.'s reign, had
been the nest of Wynnes past the memory of man.
Be all this as it may, we had lost Wyncote for the
love of a freer air, although all this did not much
concern me in the days of which I now write.
Under the mild and just rule of the proprietary,
my gi'andf ather Hugh prospered, and in turn his son
John, my father, to a far greater extent. Their old
home in Wales became to them, as time went on, less
and less important. Their acres here in Merion and
Bucks were more numerous and more fertile. I may
add that the possession of many slaves in Maryland,
and a few in Pennsylvania, gave them the feeling of
authority and position, which the colonial was apt to
lose in the presence of his English rulers, who, being
in those days principally gentlemen of the army,
were given to assuming airs of superiority.
In a word, my grandfather, a man of excellent wits
and of much importance, was of the council of Wil-
liam Penn, and, as one of his chosen advisers, much
engaged in his difficulties with the Lord Baltimore
as to the boundaries of the lands held of the crown.
Finally, when, as Penn says, " I could not prevail
with my wife to stay, and still less with Tishe,"
which was short for Leetitia, his daughter, an obsti-
nate wench, it was to men like Markham, Logan,
and my grandfather that he gave his full confidence
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Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 1 5
and delegated his authority ; so that Hugh Wynne
had become, long before his death, a person of so
much greater condition than the small squires to
whom he had given up his estate, that he was
like Joseph in this new land. What with the indif-
ference come of lai'ge means, and dit^mst for a
country where he had been ill treated, he probably
ceased to think of his forefathers' life in Wales as
of a thing either desirable or in any way suited to
his own creed.
Soon the letters, which at first were frequent, that
is, coming twice a year, when the London packet
arrived or departed, became rare; and if, on the
death of my great-uncle William, they ceased, or if
any passed later between us and the next holder
of Wyncote, I never knew. The Welsh squires had
our homestead, and we our better portion of wealth
and freedom in this new land. And so ended my
knowledge of this matter for many a year.
You will readily understand that the rude life
of a fox-hunting squire or the position of a strict
Quaker on a but moderate estate in Merionethshire
would have had little to tempt my father. Yet one
thing remained with him awhile as an unchanged
inheritance, to which, so far as I remember, he only
once alluded. Indeed, I should never have guessed
that he gave the matter a thought but for that visit
of Mr. John Penn, and the way it recurred to me in
later days in connection with an incident concerning
the picture and the blazoned arms.
I think he cared less and less as years went by. In
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1 6 Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker
earlier days he may still have liked to remember
that he might have been Wynne of Wyncote ; but
this is a mere guess on my part. Pride spiritual is
a master passion, and certain it is that the creed and
ways of Fox and Penn became to him, as years cre-
ated habits, of an importance far beyond the pride
which values ancient blood or a stainless shield.
The old house, which was built much in the same
fashion as the great mansion of my Lord Dysart on
the Thames near to Richmond, but smaller, was, after
all, his family home. The picture and the arms were
hid away in deference to opinions by which in gen-
eral he more and more sternly abided. Once, when
I was older, I went into his bedroom, and was sur-
prised to find him standing before the hearth, his
hands crossed behind his back, looking earnestly at
the brightly coloured shield beneath the picture of
Wyncote. I knew too well to disturb him in these
silent moods, but hearing my steps, he suddenly
called me to him. I obeyed with the dread his stern-
ness always caused me. To my astonishment, his
face was flushed and his eyes were moist. He laid
his hand on my shoulder, and clutched it hard as he
spoke. He did not turn, but, still looking up at the
arms, said, in a voice which paused between the words
and sounded strange :
"I have been insulted to-day, Hugh, by the man
Thomas Bradford. I thank God that the Spirit pre-
vailed with me to answer him in Christian meekness.
He came near to worse things than harsh words.
Be warned, my son. It is a terrible set-back from
mimmmmmmmm
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 17
right livint? to come of a hot-blooded breed like
these Wynnes."
I looked up at him as he spoke. He was smiling.
"But not all bad, Hugh, not all bad. Remember
that it is something, in this nest of disloyal traders,
to have come of gentle blood."
Then he left gazing on the arms and the old home
of our people, and said severely, " Hast thou gotten
thy tasks to-day ? "
"Yes."
" It has not been so of late. I hope thou hast con-
sidered before speaking. If I hear no better of thee
soon thou wilt repent it. It is time thou shouldst
take thy life more seriously. What I have said is
for no ear but thine."
I went away with a vague feeling that I had suf-
fered for Mr. Bradford, and on account of my father's
refusal to join in resistance to the Stamp Act ; for
this was in November, 1765, and I was then fully
twelve years of age.
My father's confession, and all he had said follow-
ing it, made upon me one of those lasting impres-
sions which are rare in youth, but which may have a
great influence on the life of a man. Now all the
boys were against the Stamp Act, and I had at the
moment a sudden fear at being opposed to my father.
I had, too, a feeling of personal shame because this
strong man, whom I dreaded on account of his sever-
ity, should have been so overwhelmed by an insult.
There was at this period, and later, much going on
in my outer life to lessen the relentless influence of
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1 8 Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker
the creed of conduct whicli prevailed in our home for
me, and for all of our house. I had even then begun
to suspect at school that non-resistance did not add
permanently to the comfort of life. I was sorry that
my father had not resorted to stronger measures
with Mr. Bradford, a gentleman whom, in after-
years, I learned greatly to respect.
More than anything else, this exceptional experi-
ence as to my father left me with a great desire to
know more of these Wynnes, and with a certain share
of that pride of race, which, to my sui*prise, as I think
it over now, was at that time in my father's esteem
a possession of value. I am bound to add that I also
felt some self-importance at beiug intrusted with
this secret, for such indeed it was.
Before my gi'andfather lef I: Wales he had married
a distant cousin, Ellin Owen, and on her death, child-
less, he took to wife, many years later, her younger sis-
ter, Gainor ;i for these Owens, our kinsmen, had also
become Friends, and had followed my grandfathei*'s
example in leaving their home in Merionethshire. To
this second marriage, which occurred in 1713, were
born my aunt, Gainer Wynne, and, two years later,
my father, John Wynne. I have no remembrance
of either grandparent. Both lie in the ground at
Merion Meeting-house, under namelebs, unmarked
graves, after the manner of Friends. I like it not.
My father, being a stern and silent man, must
needs be caught by his very opposite, and, accord-
1 Thus early we Hheil the EugliHli prejudice agaiuut mui%
riage with a deceased wife's Hister.
Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 1 9
iiij^ to this law of our nature, fell in love with Marie
Beauvais, the orphan of a French gentleman who
had become a Quaker, and was of that part of France
called the Midi. Of this marriage I was the only
surviving offspring, my sister EUin dying when I
was an infant. I was born in the city of Peun, on
January 9, 1753, at 9 p. m.
III
n
HAVE but to close my eyes to see the
house in which I lived in my youth. It
stood in the city of Penn, back from the
low bluff of Dock Creek, near to Walnut
street. The garden stretched down to
the water, and before the door were still left on either
side two gi'eat hemlock-spruces, which must have
been part of the noble woods under which the first
settlers found shelter. Behind the he use was a sepa-
rate building, long and low, in which all the cook-
ing was done, and upstairs were the rooms where
the slaves dwelt apart.
The great garden stretched westward as far as
Third street, and was fuU of fine fruit-trees, and in
the autumn of melons, first brought hither in one of
my father's ships. Herbs and simples were not want-
ing, nor berries, for all good housewives in those days
were expected to be able to treat colds and the lesser
maladies with simples, as they were called, and to pro-
\4de abundantly jams and conserves of divers kinds.
There were many flowers too, and my motlier loved
to make a home here for the wildings she found in
the governor's woods. I have heard her regret that
the most delicious of all the growths of spring, the
20
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Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 2 1
ground-sweet, which I think they now call arbutus,
would not prosper out of its forest shelter.
The house was of black and red brick, and double ;
that is, with two windows on each side of a white
Doric doorway, having something portly about it. I
use the word as Dr. Johnson defines it : a house of
port, with a look of sufficiency, and, too, of ready
hospitality, which was due, I think, to the upper
half of the door being open a good part of the year.
I recall also the bull's-eye of thick glass in the upper
half-door, and below it a great brass knocker. In the
white shutters were cut crescentic openings, which
looked at night like half-shut eyes when there were
lights within the rooms. In the hall were hung on
pegs leathern buckets. They were painted green,
and bore, in yellow letters, '* Fire " and " J. W."
The day I went to school for the first time is very
clear in my memory. I can see myself, a stout little
fellow about eight years old, clad in gray homespun,
with breeches, low shoes, and a low, flat beaver hat.
I can hear my mother say, " Here are two big apples
for thy master," it being the custom so to propitiate
pedagogues. Often afterward I took eggs in a little
basket, or flowers, and others did the like.
" Now run ! run ! " she cried, " and be a good boy ;
run, or thou wilt be late." And she clapped her
hands as I sped away, now and then looking back
over my shoulder.
I remember as well my return home to this solid
house, this first day of my going to school. One is
apt to associate events with persons, and my mother
irrr
1
22 Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker
stood leaning on the half-door as I came running
back. She was some little reassured to see me smil-
ing, for, to tell the truth, I had been mightily scared
at my new venture.
This sweet and most tender-hearted lady wore, as
you may like to know, a gray gown, and a blue chintz
apron fastened over the shoidders with wide bands.
On her head was a very broad-brimmed white beaver
hat, low in the crown, and tied by silk cords under
her chin. She had a great quantity of brown hair,
among which was one wide strand of gray. This
she had from youth, I have been told. It was all
very silken, and so curly that it was ever in rebellion
against the custom of Friends, which would have had
it flat on the temples. Indeed, I never saw it so, for,
whether at the back or at the front, it was wont to
escape in large curls. Nor do I think she disliked
this worldly wilfulness, for which nature had pro-
vided an unanswerable excuse. She had serious blue
eyes, very large and wide open, so that the clear white
was seen all around the blue, and with a constant look
as if of gentle sui-prise. In middle life she was
still pliant and well rounded, with a certain compli-
ment of fresh prettiness in whatever gesture she
addressed to friend or guest. Some said it was a
French way, and indeed she made more use of her
hands in speech than was common among people of
British race.
Her goodness seems to me to have been instinc-
tive, and to have needed neither thought nor effort.
Her faults, as I think of her, were mostly suoh as
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 25
on the broad window-ledge, with a silver-mounted
coeoaniit ladle.
" The floor is pretty," she said, regarding it with
pride, " and I would make flowers too, but that thy
father thinks it vain, and Friend Pemberton would
set his bridge spectacles on his nose, and look at me,
until I said naughty words, oh, very ! Come out ; I
will find thee some ripe damsons, and save thee cake
for thy supper, if Friend Warder does not eat it all.
He is a little man, and eats much. A sohcitous man,"
and she became of a sudden the person she had in
mind, looking somehow feeble and cautious and un-
easy, with arms at length, and tlio palms turned
forward, so that I knew it for Joseph Warder, a fre-
quent caller, of whom more hereafter.
"What is so— solicitous?" I said.
" Oh, too fearful concerning what may be thought
of him. Vanity, vanity ! Come, let us run down the
garden. Canst thou catch me, Hugh ? " And with
this she fled away, under the back stoop and through
the trees, light and active, her curls tumbling out,
while I hurried after her, mindful of damsons, and
wondering how much cake Friend Warder would
leave for my comfort at evening.
Dear, ever dear lady, seen through the mist of
years ! None was like you, and none as dear, sav*',
one who had as brave a soul, but far other ways and
charms.
And thus began my life at S(Oiool, to which I went
twice a day, my father not ap})r()ving of the plan of
three sessions a day, which was common, nor, for
I i
I
26 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
some reason, I know not what, of schools kept by
Friends. So it was that I set out before eight, and
went again from two to four. My master, David
Dove, kept his school in Vidall's Alley, nigh to
Chestnut, above Second. There were many boys and
girls, and of the former John Warder, and Graydon,
who wrote certain memoirs long after. His mother,
a widow, kept boarders in the great Slate-roof House
near by ; for in those days this was a common re-
source of decayed gentlewomen, and by no means
affected their social position. Here came many
officers to stay, and their red coats used to please my
eyes as I went by the porch, where at evening I saw
them smoking long pipes, and saying not very nice
tilings of the local gentry, or of the women as they
passed by, and calling " Mohair ! " after the gentle-
men, a manner of army word of contempt for citizens.
I liked well enough the freedom I now enjoyed, and
found it to my fancy to wander a little on my way to
school, although usually I followed the creek, and,
where Second street crossed it, lingered on the bridge
to watch the barges or galleys come up at full of tide
to the back of the warehouses on the northeast bank.
I have observed that teachers are often eccentric,
and surely David Dove was no exception, nor do I
now know why so odd a person was chosen by many
for the care of youth. I fancy my mother had to do
with the choice in my case, and was influenced by
the fact that Dove rarely used the birch, but had a
queer fancy for setting culprits on a stool, with the
birch switch stuck in the back of the jacket, so as to
#
to
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 27
stand up behind the head. I hated this, and would
rather have been birclied secundum arteni than to
have seen the girls giggling at me. I changed my
opinion later.
Thus my uneventful life ran on, while I learned to
write, and acquired, with other simple knowledge,
enough of Latin and Greek to fit me for entrance at
the academy, which Dr. Franklin had founded in 1750,
in the hall on Fourth street, built for Whitefield's
preaching.
At this time I fell much into the company of John
Warder, a lad of my own age, and a son of that
Joseph who liked cake, and was, as my mother said,
solicitous. Most of the games of boys were not
esteemed fitting by Friends, and hence we were
somewhat limited in our resources ; but to fish in the
creek we were free ; also to haunt the ships and hear
sea yarns, and to skate in winter, were not forbidden.
Jack Warder I took to because he was full of stories,
and would imagine wliat things might chance to my
father's ships in the West Indies ; but why, in those
early days, he liked me, I do not know.
Our school life with Dove ended after four years
in an odd fashion. I was then about twelve, and
had become a vigorous, daring boy, with, as it now
seems to me, something of the fortunate gaiety of
my mother. Other lads thought it singular that in
peril I became strangely vivacious ; but underneath
I had a share of the relentless firmness of my father,
and of his vast dislik<; of faihire, and of his lov(^ of
truth. I have often thought that the father in me
1 i 7
^
28 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
saved me from the consequences of so mnch of my
mothei''s gentler nature us might have done me harm
in the rude conflicts of life.
David Dove, among other odd ways, devised a plan
for punishing the unpunctual which had consider-
able success. One day, when I had far overstayed
the hour of eight, by reason of having climbed into
Friend Pemberton's gardens, where I was tempted by
many green apples, I was met by four older bovs. One
had a lantern, which, with much laughter, he tied
about my neck, and one, marching before, rang a bell.
I had seen this queer punishment fall on others, and
certainly the amusement shown by people in the
streets would not have hurt me compared with the
advantage of pockets full of apples, had I not of a
sudden seen my father, who usually breakfasted at
six, and was at his warehouse by seven. He looked
at me composedly, but went past us saying nothing.
On my return about eleven, he unluckily met me
in the garden, for I had gone the back way in order
to hide my apples. I had an unpleasant half-hour,
despite my mother's tears, and was sent at once to
confess to Friend James Pemberton. The good
man said I was a naughty boy, but must come later
when the apples were red ripe, and I f hoTTld take all
I wanted, and I might fetch with me aiiother boy,
or even two. I never forgot this, auci Aid him some
good turns in after-years, and right gladly too.
In my own mind I associated David Dove with
this painful interview with my father. I disliked
him the more because, when the procession entered
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 29
I
the school, a little girl for whom Warder and I had
a boy friendship, in place of laughing, as did the rest,
for some reason began to cry. This angered the
master, who had the lack oi ivlf -control often seen in
eccentric people. He asked why she cried, and on
her sobbing out that it was because she was sorry
for me, he bade her take off her stays. These being
stiff, and worn outside the gown, would have made
the punishment of the birch on the shoulders of tri-
fling moment.
As it was usual to whip girls at school, the little
maid said nothing, but did as she was bid, taking a
sharp birching without a cry. Meanwhile I sat with
my head in my hands, and my fingers in my ears lest
I shoidd hear her weeping. After school that even-
ing, when all but Warder and I had w^andered home,
I wrote on the outside wall of the school-house with
chalk, "David Dove Is A Cruel Beast," and went
away somewhat better contented.
Now, with all his seeming dislike to use the rod,
David had turns of severity, and then he was far
more brutal than any man I have ever known.
Therefore it did not surprise us next morning that
the earlier scholars were looking with wonder and
alarm at the sentence on the wall, when Dove, ap-
pearing behind us, ordered us to enter at once.
Going to his desk, he put on his spectacles, which
then were worn astride of the nose. In a minute he
set on below them a second pair, and this we knew to
be a signal of coming violence. Then he stood up,
and asked who had written the opprobrious epithet
iii
lit
30 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
on the wall. As no one replied, he asked several in
turn, but luckily chose the girls, thinking, perhaps,
that they would weakly betray the sinner. Soon he
lost patience, and cried out he would give a king's
pound to know.
When he had said this over and over, I began to
refl'^ct that, if he had any real idea of doing as he
promised, a pound was a great si?m, and to consider
what might be done with it in the way of marbles of
Amsterdam, tops, and of certain much-desired books,
for now this latter temptation was upon me, as it
has been ever since. As I sat, and Dove thundered,
I remembered how, when one Stacy, with an oath,
assured my father that his word was as good as his
bond, my parent said dryly that this equality left him
free to choose, and he would prefer his bond. I saw
no way to what was for me the mysterious security
of a bond, but I did conceive of sonu; need to stiffen
the promise Dove had made before I faced the
penalty.
Upon this I held up a hand, and the master cried,
''What is it?"
I said, " Master, if a boy should toll thee wouldst
thou surely give a pound ? "
At this a lad called " Shame ! " thinking I was a
telltale.
When Dove called silence and renewed his pledge,
I, overb( ' i, said, "Master, I did it, and now wilt
thou please to give mo a pound— a king's pound f"
" I will give thee a pounding ! " he roared ; and
upon this came down from his raised form, and gave
_jtl4n
Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 3 1
me a beating so terrible and cruel that at last the
girls cried aloud, and he let me drop on the floor,
sore and angry. I lay still awhile, and then went to
my seat. As I bent over my desk, it was rather the
sense that I had been wronged, than the pain of the
blows, which troubled me.
After school, refusing speech to any, I walked
home, and ministered to my poor little bruised body
as I best could. Now this being a Saturday, and
therefore a half -holiday, I ate at two with my father
and mother.
Presently my father, detecting my uneasy move-
ments, said, *' Hast thou been birched to-day, and for
what badness ? "
Upon this my mother said softly, " What is it, my
son ? Have no fear." And this gentleness being too
much for me, I fell to tears, and blurted out all my
little tragedy.
As I ended, my father rose, very angry, and cried
out, " Come this way ! " But my mother caught me,
saying, " No ! no ! Look, John ! see his poor neck
and his wrist ! What a brute ! I tell thee, thou
shalt not ! it were a sin. Leave him to me," and she
tlirust me behind her as if for safety.
To my surprise, he said, '^ As thou wilt," and my
mother hurried me away. We had a grave, swei't
talk, and there it ended for a time. I learned that,
after all, the woman's was the stronger will. I was
put to bed and declared to have a fever, and given
sulphur and treacle, and kept out of the paternal
paths for a mournful day of enforced rest.
f N
32 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
On the Monday following I went to school as
usual, but not without fear of Dove. When we were
all busy, about ten o'clock, I was amazed to hear my
fathei*'s voice. He stood before the desk, and ad-
dressed Master Dove in a loud voice, meaning, I
suppose, to be heard by all of us.
" David Dove," he said, " my son hath been guilty
of disrespect to thee, and to thy office. I do not say
he has lied, for it is my belief that thou art truly an
unjust and cruel beast. As for his sin, he has suf-
fered enough [I felt glad of this final opinion] ; but
a bargain was made. He, on his part, for a consid-
eration of one pound sterling, was to tell thee who
wrote certain words. He has paid thee and thou
hast taken interest out of his skin. Indeed, Friend
Shyloek, I think he weighs less by a pound. TIidu
wilt give him his pound. Master David."
Upon this a little maid near by smiled at me,
and Warder punclied me in the ribs. Master Dove
was silent a moment, and then answered that there
was no law to make hiiri pay, and that he had spoken
lightly, as one might say, '' 1 would give this or that
to know." But my father re])Hed at once :
"The boy trusted thee, and was as good as his
word. I advise thee to pay. As thoii art Master to
punish boys, so will I, David, use tliy birch on thee
at need, and trust to the great Master to reckon with
me if I am wrong."
All this he said so fiercely that I trembled with
joy, and hoped tluit Dove woidd deny him ; but, in
place of this, he nuittered something about Meeting
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 33
and Friends, and meanwhile searched his pockets
and brought out a guinea. This my father dropped
into his breeches pocket, saying, "The shilling will
be for interest" (a guinea being a shilling over a
king's pound). After this, turning to me, he said,
" Come with me, Hugh," and went out of the school-
house, I following after, very well pleased, and think-
ing of my guinea. I dared not ask for it, and I
think he forgot it. He went along homeward, with
his head bent and his liands behind his back. In
common, he walkc^d with his head up and his chin set
forward, as though he did a little look down on the
world of other men ; and tliis in truth he did, being
at least six feet three inches in his stocking-feet, and
with no lack of proportion in waist or chest.
Next day I asked my mother of m}'' guinea, but she
laughed gaily, nnd threw up her hands, and cried, " A
bad debt ! a bad debt, Hugh ! Dost thou want more
interest ? My father used to say they had a provei'b
in the Midi, ' If the devil owe thee money it were
best to lose it.' Le diahh! Oil, what am I saying?
Mon fJs, forget thy debt. What did thy father say f "
And I told it again to her annisement ; but she said
at last, very seriously :
" It has disturl)ed thy father as never before did
anything since he would not join with Friend lirad-
ford against the Stamp Act. I would I liad seen him
then, or this time. I like sometimes to see a strong
man in just anger. Oli, mou J>i('U ! what did I
say ! I am but half a (^n!ik«'r, T fear." My inothtT
never would turn away horn tiie creed of her peo-
m
m
ill
r
li i f I
ill I f !
34 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
pie, but she did not altogether fancy the ways of
Friends.
'' Eh, mon fils, sometimes I say naughty words.
Give me a sweet little pat on the cheek for my bad-
ness, and always come to me with all thy troubles."
Then I kissed her, and we went out to play hide-and-
find iu the orchard.
My father's gi'im, sarcastic humour left him as
years went on, and he became as entirely serious
as I ever knew a man to be. I think on this occa-
sion his after-annoyance, which endured for days,
was more because of having threatened Dove than
for any other cause. He no doubt regarded me as
the maker of the mischief which had tempted him
for a moment to forget himself, and for many a day
his unjust severity proved that he did not readily
forgive. But so it was always. My mother never
failed to understand me, which my father seemed
rarely able to do. If I did ill he used the sti'ap with
little m(ircy, but neither in these early years, nor in
those wliich followed, did he ever give nie a word of
pi'aise. Many years after\/ard I found a guinea iu a
folded paper, laid away iu my fathei-'s desk. On the
outer cover he had written, " This belongs to Hugh.
He were ])etter without it."
My mother scarce ever let slip her little French ex-
pletives or phrases in my father's hearing. He hated
all French things, and declared the language did not
ring true— that it was a slippery tongue, in which it
was easy to lie. A proud, strong num he was in
those days, of lixed beliefs, and of unchanging loy-
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 35
alty to the king. In liis own house he was feared by
his son, his clerks, and his servants ; but not by my
mother, who charmed him, as she did all other men,
and had in most things her desire.
Outside of his own walls few men cared to oppose
him. He was rich, and coldly despotic ; a man exact
and just in business, but well able, and as willing, to
help with a free hand whatever cause was of interest
to Friends. My Aunt Gainor, a little his senior, was
one of the few over whom he had no manner of con-
trol. She went her own way, and it was by no means
his way, as I shall make more clear by and by.
Two days later I was taken to the academy, or the
college, as some called it, which is now the university.
My father wrote my name, as you may see it in the
catalogue, and his own signature, with the date of Gtli
month 4th, 1763. Beneath it is the entry of John War-
der and his father, Joseph ; for Jack had also been
removed from Dove's dominion because of what my
ffither said to Joseph, a man always pliable, and ad-
vised to do what larger men thought good. Thus it
came about that my friend Jack and I were by good
fortune kept in constant relation. Our schoolmate,
the small maid so sliglit of limb, so dark and tearful,
was soon sent away to live with an aunt in Bristol,
on the Delaware, having beconu; an orphan by the
death of her mother. Thus it came about tliat Dar-
thea Peniston passed out of my life for many years,
having been, througli the accident of her tenderm^ss,
the means for me of a complete and fortunate change.
n.h
m
{:fi!
i,-iS^^>»^
|HE academy was, and still is, a plain
brick building, set back from Fourth
street, a'^l Laving a large gravelled space
in iroE ' "Iso at the back. The main
school T'jK>ii occupied its whole westward
length, and upstjiii's was a vast room, with bare joists
above, in which, by v^ ^i.e ..
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 37
was officially called, had a great reputation, and its
early catalogues are rich with names of those who
made an empire. This task I leave to other pens,
and hasten to tell my own personal story.
In my friend Jack Warder's journal there is a kind
page or two as to what manner of lad I was in his
remembrance of me in after-years. I like to think
it was a true picture.
"When Hugh Wynne and I went to school at
the academy on Fourth street, south of Arch, I used
to envy him his strength. At twelve he was as tall
as are most lads at sixteen, but possessed of such
activity and muscular power as are rarely seen, bid-
ding fair to attain, as he did later, the height and
massive build of his father. He was a great lover
of risk, and not, as I have always been, fearful.
When we took apples, after the fashion of all Adam's
young descendants, he was as like as not to give
them away. I think he went with us on these, and
some wilder errands, chiefly because of his fondness
for danger, a thing I could never comprehend. Ho
still has his mother's great eyes of blue, and a fair,
clear skin. God bless him ! Had I never known
him I might perhaps have been, as to one thing, a
happier man, but I had been less deserving of such
good fortune as has come to me in life. For this is
one of the uses of friends : that we consider how such
and such a thing we are mov(^d to do might appear
to them. And tliis for one of niy kind, wlio have
had— nay, who liave-niany weaknesses, has been
why Hugh Wynne counts for so much to me.
d
38 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
" We, with two other smaller boys, were, at that
time, the only sons of Friends at the academy, and
were, thanks to the brute Dove, better grounded in
the humanities than were some, although we were
late in entering."
I leave this and other extracts as they were writ.
A more upright gentleman than John Warder I
know not, nor did ever know. What he meant by
his weaknesses I cannot tell, and as to the meaning
of one phrase, which he does not here explain, these
pages shall perhapc discover.
Not long after our entrance at the academy, my
father charged me one morning with a note to my
aunt, Gainor Wynne, which I was to deliver when
the morning session was over. As this would make
me late, in case her absence delayed a reply, I was
to remain and eat my midday meal. My father was
loath always to call upon his sister. She had early
returned to the creed of her ancestors, and sat on
Sundays in a great square pew at Christ Church, to
listen to the Rev. Robert Jennings. Hither, in Sep-
tember of 1763, my aunt took me, to my father's in-
dignation, to hear the great Mr. Whitefield preach.
Neither Aunt Gainor's creed, dress, house, nor
society pleased her brother. She had early made
clear, in her decisive way, that I was to be her heir,
and she was, I may add, a woman of large estate. I
was allowed to visit her as I pleased. Indeed, I did
so often. I liked no one better, always excepting my
mother. Why, with my father's knowledge of her
views, I was thus left free I cannot say. He was
^
Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 39
the last of men to sacrifice his beliefs to motives
of gain,
Whet I knocked at the door of her house on Arch
street, opposite the Friends' Meeting-house, a black
boy, dressed as a page, let me in. He was clad in
gray armozine, a sort of corded stuff, with red but-
tons, and he wore a red turban. As my aunt was
gone to drive, on a visit to that Madam Penn who
was once Miss Allen, I was in no hurry, and was
glad to look about me. The parlour, a great room
with three windows on the street, afforded a strange
contrast to my sober home. There were Smyrna
rugs on a polished floor, a thing almost unheard of.
Indeed, people came to see them. The furniture was
all of red walnut, and carved in shells and flower re-
liefs. There were so many tables, little and larger,
with claw-feet or spindle-legs, that one had to be
careful not to overturn their loads of Chinese drag-
ons, ivory carvings, grotesque Delft beasts, and fans,
French or Spanish or of the Orient. There was also
a spinet, and a corner closet of books, of which
every packet brought her a variety. Upstairs was a
fair room full of volumes, big and little, as I found
to my joy rather later, and these were of all kinds :
some good, and some of them queer, or naughty.
Over the wide, white fireplace was a portrait of her-
self by the elder Peale, but I prefer the one now in
my library. This latter hung, at the time I speak of,
between the windows. It was significant of my aunt's
idea of her own importance that she shouUl have
wished to possess two portraits of herself. The lat-
it,
]%'
m
I.
VI.
■i:
m..
m
40 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
t,er was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds when she
was in England in 1750, and represents her as a fine,
large woman with features which were too big for
loveliness in youth, but in after-years went well with
her abundant gray hair and unusual stature ; for, like
the rest of us, slie was tall, of vigorous and whole-
some build and colour, with large, well-shaped hands,
and the strength of a man— I might add, too, with
the independence of a man. She went her own
way, conducted the business of her estate, which
was ample, with skill and .ability, and asked advice
from no one. Like my father, she had a liking to
control those about her, was restlessly busy, and
was never so pleased as when engaged in arranging
other people's lives, or meddling with the making
of matches.
To this ample and luxurious house came the bet-
ter class of British officers, and ombre and quadrille
were often, I fear, played late into the long nights of
winter- Single women, after a certain or uncertain
age, were given a brevet title of " Mistress." Mis-
tress Gainor Wynne lost or won with the coolness of
an old gambler, and this habit, perhaps more than
aught bcsi.le, troubled my father. Sincere and con-
sistent in his views, I can hardly think that my
father was, after all, unal)le to resist the worldly ad-
vantages which my aunt declared should be mine.
It was, in fact, difficult to keep me out of the obvi-
ous risks this house and company provided for a
young [)erson like myself. He nnist havt; trusted to
the iulluence of my home to keep me in the ways of
ACTNT UAIXOU.
-eau
Frie
fath
rela
fni:
1
if tl
lool
eiy
Sar
spe(
my
iipi
as 1
a V
lit
tra
am
wl]
fin
Fe
ye
Mi
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qn
St;
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 41
Friends. It is also to be remembered, as regards my
father's motives, that my Aunt Gainor was my only
relative, since of the Owens none were left.
My mother was a prime favourite with this master-
ful lady. She loved nothing better than to give her
i ik petticoats or a pearl-coloured satin gown ; and
if this should nowadays amaze Friends, let them biit
look in the " Observer," and see what manner of fin-
ery was advertised in 1778 as stole from our friend,
Sarah Fisher, sometime Sarah Logan, much re-
spected member of Meeting. In this, as in all else,
my mother had her way, and, like some of the
upper class of Quakers, wore at times such raiment
as fifty years later would have surely brought about
a visit from a committee of overseers.
Waiting for Aunt Gainor, I fell upon an open
T ^cel of books just come by the late spring packet,
ong these turned up a new and fine edition of
•• v^aptain Gulliver's Travels," by Mr. Dean Swift. I
lit first, among these famous adventures, on an ex-
traordinary passage, so wonderful, indeed, and so
amusing", that I heard not the entrance of my father,
who at the door had met my aunt, and with her some
fine ladies of the governor's set. There were Mrs.
Ferguson, too well known in the politics of later
years, but now only a beautiful and gay woman.
Madam Allen, and Madam Chew, the wife of the
Attorney-General.
They were eagerly discussing, and laughingly in-
quiring of my father, what colour of masks for the
street was to be preferred. He was in no wise em-
m
m
:.u:
m
Si
'iJ
42 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
barrassed by these fine dames, and never, to my
thinking, was Seen to better advantage than among
what he called " world's people." He seemed to me
more really at home than among Friends, and as he
towered, tall, and gravely com'teous in manner, I
thought him a grand gentleman.
As I looked up, the young Miss Chew, who after-
ward married Colonel Eager Howard, was sapug
saucily, " Does not Madam Wynne wear a mask for
her skin ? It is worth keeping, Mr. Wynne."
" Let me recommend to you a vizard with silver
buttons to hold in the moutii, or, better, a riding-
mask," cried Aunt Gainor, pleased at this gentle
badgering, " like this, John. See, a flat silver plate
to hold between the teeth. It is the last thing."
" White silk would suit her best," cried Mrs. Fergu-
son, ''or green, with a chin-curtain— a loo-mask.
Which would you liave, sir?"
" Indeed," he said quietly, " her skin is good enough.
I know no wav to better it."
Then they all laughed, pelting the big man with
many questions, until he could not help but laugh,
as he declared he was overwhelmed, and would come
on his business another day. But on this the women
would not stay, and took themselves and their high
bonnets and many petticoats out of the I'oom, eacli
dropping a curtsey at the door, and he bowing low,
like Mr. John Penn, as never before I had seen
him do.
No sooner were they gone tlian he desired me to
give him the note he had written to his sister, since
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 43
now it was not reeded, and then he inquired what
book I was leadiiifr. Aunt Gainor glanced at it, and
replied for me, "A book of travels, John, very im-
proving too. Take it liome, Hugh, and read it. If
you find in it no improprieties, it may be recom-
mended to your father.'' She loved nothing better
than to tease him.
" I see not what harm there could be in travels,"
he returned. " Thou hast my leav(\ Gainor, what
is this I hear? Thou woiddst have had me sell thee
for a ventun; threescore hogsheads of toba(^co from
Annapolis. I like not to trade with my sister, nor
that she should trad(^ at all ; and now, when I have
let them go to anotliev, T hear that it is thou who
art the real buyer. I (^anu' hither to warn thee that
other cargoes are to arrive. Thou wilt lose."
Aunt Gaiuor said uothing for a nuuncut, but let
loose the liuen safeguard petticoat slu^ wore against
miul or dust when riding, aud ai)peared in a rich bro-
cade of gi*ay silken stuff, and a striped under-gowu.
When she liad ])ut off her loose camlet over-jac^ket,
she said, '^ Will you have a glass of Madeira, or sliall
it be Hollands, John? Kiug the hell, Hugh."
"Hollauds," said mv fatlicr.
" Wliat will you give mo for your tol)acco to-day,
John?"
"Whv dost thou trifle?" he reliirinMl.
"Isold it again, Jolm. I am llui better ])y an hun-
dred pounds. Two tol)a('<'o-sliips are wrecked ou
HinlojK'ii. An express is come. Have you nol
lieard?"
Si
44 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
" Farewell," he said, rising. He made no comment
on her news. I had an idea that he would not have
been unhappy had she lost on her venture.
Joseph Warder was her agent then and afterward.
She rarely lost on her purchases. Although gener-
ous, and even lavish, she dearly loved a good bar-
gain, and, I believe, liked the game fai* more than she
cared for success in the playing of it.
"Come, Hugh," she said, "let us eat and drink.
Take the book home, and put it away for your own
reading. Here is sixpence out of my gains. I hope
you will never need to trade, and, indeed, why should
you, whether I live or die? How would the king's
service suit you, and a pair of coloars?"
I said I should like it.
"There is a pretty tale, Hugh, of the French gen-
tlemen, who, being poor, have to make money in com-
Tuerce. They leave their swords with a magistrate,
and when they are become rich enough take them
back again. There is some pleasing ceremony, but
I forget. The Wynnes have been long enough in
drab and trade. It is time we took back our swords,
and (jnitted bow-thouing and bow-theeing."
I said I did not understand.
"Oh, you will," said Aunt Gainor, giving me a
groat apple-dumpling. " Take some molasses. Oh,
as nuich as you please. I shall look away, as I do
when the gentlemen take tlu'ir rum."
You may be sure T obeyed her. As to much that
she said, I was shocked ; but I never could resist a
laugh, and so we made merry like children, as was
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 45
usual, for, as she used to say, "To learn wheu to
laugh and when not to laugh is an education."
When my meal was over, and my stomach and my
pockets all full, Aunt Gainor bade me sit on her
knees, and began to tell me about what fine gentle,
men were the Wynnes, and how foolish my grand<
father had been to turn Quaker and give up fox-hunt-
ing and the old place. I was told, too, how much she
had lost to Mr. Penn last night, and more that was
neither well for me to hear nor wise for her to tell ;
but as to this she cared little, and she sent me away
then, as far too many times afterward, full of my own
importance, and of desire to escape some day from
the thi'eatened life of the ledger and the day-book.
At last she said, *' You are getting too heavy, Hugh.
Handsome Mrs. Ferguson says you are too big to be
kissed, and not old enough to kiss," and so she bade
me go forth to the afternoon session of the acadciu}'.
After two weeks at the academy I got my first
lesson in the futility of non-resistance, so that all
the lessons of my life in favour of this doctrine were,
of a sudden, rendered vain. We were going home in
the afternoon, gay and happy, Jack Warder to take
supper with me, and to use a boat my aunt had
given me.
Near to High street was a vacant lot full of bushes
and briers. Here the elder lads paiiseii, and one said,
" Wynne, you are to fight."
I replied, "Why should I fight? T will not."
" But it is to get your slunding in the school, and
Tom Alloway is to fight you."
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46 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
''This was a famous ocf-asion in our lives," writes
my friend Jack ; " for, consider : I, who was a girl for
timidity, was sure to liave my turn next, and here
were we two little fellows, who had heard every First-
day, and ever and ever at home, that all things were
to be suffered of all men (and of boys too, I presume).
I was troubled for Hugh, but I noticed that Avhile he
said he would not fight he was buttoning up his ja(!ket
and turning back tlie cuff of one sleeve. Also he
smiled as he said, 'No, I cannot;' and many times
since I liave seen him merry in danger.
" For, of a truth, never later did he or I feel the
sense of a great peril as we did that day, with the
bigger boys hustling us, and Alloway crying, ' Cow-
ard ! ' I looked about for some man who would heli)
us, but there was no oiu> ; only a cow hobbled near
by. 81u^ looked u]), and then went on chewing her
cud. T, standing behind Hugh, said, * Run ! run !'
"The counsel seemed good to me who gave it.
As I think on it now, I was in great perplexity of
soul, and had a horribh^ fear as to bodily hurt. I
turned, followed by Hugh, and ran Heetly across the
open ground and through the bushes. About mid
way I looked back. Two lads were near upon us,
when I saw Hugh drop upon his hands and knees.
Both fellows rolled over him, and he called out, as
tliey fell to beating him, ' Uun, Jac^k ! '
" But I was no longer so minded. I kicjked one boy,
and struck an(>ther, and even now recall how a strange
joy captured nw wlu'u T struck the first blow."
There was a fine scrinnuage, for no (pmrter was
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 47
asked or given, and I saw my poor Jack's girl face
bloody. This was the last I remember cleai'ly, for the
lust of battle was on me, and I can recall no more of
what chanced for a little, than I could in later years
of the ^vild melley on the main street of Germantown,
or of the struggle in the redoubt at Yorktown.
Presently we were cast to right and left by a strong
hand, and, looking up, as I stood fierce and panting,
I saw Friend Rupert Forest, and was overwhelmed
with fear ; for often on First-day I had heard him
preach solemnly, and always it was as to turning the
other cheek, and on the wickedness of profane lan-
guage. Just now he seemed pleased rather than
angered, and said, smiling:
" This is a big war, boys. What is it about ? "
I said, " I must fight for my standing, and I wUl
not."
**I think thou wert scarcely of that mind just
now. There will be bad blood until it is over."
To this I replied, '' It is Alloway I am to figlit."
To my suiiH'ise, he went on to say, '' Tlien take off
thy jacket and stand up, and no kicking."
I asked nothing better, and began to laugh. At
this my foe, who was bigger and older than I, cried
out that I would laugh on the otluT side of my
mouth— a queer ])oy phrase of which I could never
discover the mcMuing.
" And now, fair play," said Friend Forest. " Keep
cool, Hugh, and watch liis eyes."
I felt glad that hv. was on my side, and we fell to
with no more words. I was no match for the prao-
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48 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
tised fists of my antagonist ; but I was the stronger,
and I kept my wits better tlian might have been ex-
pected. At last I got his head under my arm with a
grip on his gullet, and so mauled him with my right
fist that Friend Forest pulled me away, and my man
staggered back, bloody, and white too, while I was
held like a dog in leash.
"He hath enough, I think. Ask him."
I cried out, " No ! Damn him ! " It was my first
oath.
" Hush ! " cried Forest. " No profane language."
" I will not speak to him," said I, " and— and— he
is a beast of the pit." Now this fine statement I
had come upon in a book of Mr. Wilham Penn's my
father owned, wherein the governor had denounced
one Mr. Mnggleton.
Friend Forest laughed merrily. " Thou hast thy
standing, lad." For AUoway walked sullenly away,
not man enough to take more or to confess defeat.
Jack, who was still white, said :
" It is my turn now, and which shall it be t **
" Shade of Fox ! " cried Friend Forest. " The wai*
is over. Come, boys, I nmst see you well out of this."
And so reassuring us, he went down Fourth street,
and to my home.
My father was in the sitting-room, taking his long-
stemmed reed pipe at his ease. He rose as we fol-
lowed Friend Forest into the room.
" Well," he said, *' what coil is this ? " For we were
bloody, and hot with fight and wrath, and, as to oiu*
garments, in very sad disorder.
H
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 49
Friend Forest very quietly related our story, ant and general— and end her
days in London well on in the eentury yt to come?
Andrew Allen, whose father, the (^.ief justice,
took his wife, Margaret, from this house, sat on the
steps near Miss Franks, and beside her little Peggy
Shi;)i)en, who already gave promise of the beauty
which won for her so pitiful a life. Nothing in
this garden of gay women and flowers foretold the
tragedy of West Point. I think of it now with sad
wonder.
In one or another way these people became known
in our annals. Most of them were of the more exclu-
sive ])arty known as the governoi*'s set, and belonged
to the Church of England. With the (Jalloways,
Cadwaladers, Willings, Shii)pens, llawles, ami otliers,
they formed a more or less distinct society, affecting
London ways, dining at the extreme hour of four,
loving cards, the dan^'c, f(>x-hunting, and to see a
main of ganu^cocks. Among them — not of them—
came and went certain of what wen; called "gen-
teel" Quakers— Morrises, Pem))ertons, Whartons,
and Logans. They hud I'uces too,— that is, the gov-
ernor 6< set,— and one of my delights w. s, on the way
to tilt; academy, to stop in Third street, above Chest-
nut, and se«' the race-horses in the Widow Nichols's
stables at the s'gn of the Lidian Queen
But I have left the h« .^hter of the last century
echoing annmg the colunms of Andrew Hamilton's
home. The guests were ?ha«le welcome, and had a dish
of tea or a ghiss of punch ; and those de- iring no more
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 57
bohea set a spoon aeross the cup, and fell into j^'onps.
My aunt opened the velvet hug which hun^ at her
waist, to pay Mrs. Ferguson a small gambling debt
of the night before.
''Ah, here ! " she eried gaily, ''Mr. Montresor, this
is for you. Quo, of Mr. (ir('nvill«''s stjiin})s; I kept
two. I was lueky t'liough to g«,'t them from Master
Hughes, the stamp officer— a great curiyal ways,
one and all," cried Mrs. Ferguson.
" It is curious," said Mr. (ialloway, " that the crown
should be so thwarted. What people have more rea-
son t/O be (tontentedf"
"Cont«'nted !" said Miss Wynne. "Already they
talk of taxes in which we are to have no voi(M\ Con-
tented ! and not a ship dare tnide with Fraiiee. It
annizes nu; that there is a man in the plantations to
Bit ijuiet under it."
«-,!
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
"I am of your opinion, madam," said Mr. Mao-
pherson, "and I might go still further."
'* They consider us as mere colonials, and we may
not so much as have a bishop of our own. I would
I had my way, sir."
"And what would you do, Mistress Wynne?"
asked Mr. Chew.
"I would SHV, 'Mr. Attorney-General, give us the
same liberty all the English have, to go and come on
the f re(^ seas ! ' "
"And if not?" said M(mtrrsor, smiling.
"And if not,'' she n^turned, "then— "and she
tou(;hed the sword at his side. I wondered to see
how resolute sh<^ looked.
The captain smiled. "I hope you will not com-
mand a regiment, madam."
"Would to (JodI could!"
"I should run," he cried, laugliing. And thus
pleasantly ended a talk which was becoming bitter
to many of this gay company.
Destiny was already shai peniug th«' sword w(^ were
soon to draw, and of those wlio nu't and laughed tliat
day there were sons wlio wrrc^ to b«' set against
fathers, and l)rothei's wliom war was to find in hos-
tih' ranks. A young fellow of my ag<', the son of
Mr. Macplierson, sat below us on the steps with the
girls. He was lo leave his y :
{
#2 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
vistas of thoup^ht far in advance of those which, with-
out him, I should ever have seen.
John Wynne was, however, too habitually accus-
tomed to implicit obedience to dream of danger, and
thus were early sown in my mind the seeds of future
action', with some doubt as to my father's ability to
cope with a man like our tutor, who considerately
weighed my fathei-'s sentiments (they were hardly
opinions), and so easily and courteously disposed of
them that these logical defeats were clear even to us
bo vs.
»
Our school relations with this gentleman were
a])ruptly broken. One day, in 'ate October of 1769,
we went on a long walk through the proprietary's
woods, gathering for my mother boughs of the many-
tinted leaves of autumn. These branches she liked
to set in jars of water in tlu; room where we sat, so
that it might be gay with the lovely colours she so
much enjoyed. As we entered the forest about
Eighth street Mr. Wilson joined us, and went along,
chatting agreeably with my mother. Presently he
said to nu! : " I have just left your father with Mr.
IVmlxa'ton, talking about some dejjredatiims in Mr.
I'enn's woods. He tells me vou bovs are to leave
school, but for what I do not know. I am sorry."
Jack and T had of late expected this, and I, for
one, was not grieved, but my friend was less well
pleased.
We strolled acro.ss to thr Schuylkill, and there,
sitting down, amused ourselves with making a little
crown of twisted twigs anil leavt's of th(i red and yel-
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 63
low iiMiples. This we set meri-ily on my mothei*'s gray
bej« ver, while Mr. Wilson declared it most becoming.
Just then Friend Peniberton and my father came
upon us, .'ind, as usual when the latter appeared, our
laughter ceased.
"I shall want thee tliis afternoon, Hugh," he said.
"And what foolishness is this on thy head, wifef
Art thou going home in this guise?"
It seems an innocent prettiness," said Peniberton,
while my mother, in no wise dismayed, looked up
with her bi«r I'lue eves.
"Thou wilt always be a child," said my father.
" Jf Vesph'e''' said the mother; "must I be put in
a corner? The hon l>mi hath just changed the
forest fashions. 1 wonder is He a (Quaker, Friend
Peml>erton?"
"Thou hast ever a neat answer," said the gentle
old man. "Come, John, we are not yet done."
My father said no moi-e, and we boys were still as
mice. We went iionieward with our mirth quite at
an end, Jack and Wilson leaving us at Fourth street.
In the afternoon al)out six— for an Inmr had been
nanuid— I .saw my aunt's chaise at the door. I knt;w
at once that sometliing unusual was in store, for
Mistress Wynne rarclycame hither except to see my
mother, and then .'ilwiiys in the forenoon. Moreover,
I noticed my father at the window, and never had I
known him to return so early. When I went in he
said at once :
" I have been telling thy aunt of my mteutiou in
regard to thee."
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64 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
" And I iitiorly disapprove of it," said my aunt.
" Wait," lie said. " I desire that thou shalt enter as
one of my clerks ; but first it is my ^vill that, as the
great and good proprietary decreed, thou shouldst
afMpiire some nicchanie trade ; I care not what."
I was silent ; I did not like it. Even far later, cer-
tain of the stricter Friends adhered to a rule whicli
was once useful, Imt was now no longer held to be of
imperative force.
"I would suggest shoemaking," said my Aunt
Gainor, scornfully, ''or tailoring."
"I beg of thee, Gainor," said my mother, "not to
discontent the lad."
" As to this matter," returned my father, " I will
not be thwarted. I asked thee to come hither, not to
ridicule a sensible decision, but to consult upon it."
''You have had all my wisdom," said the lady.
" I Jiad thought to ask my friend, Charles Townsend,
for a pair of colours ; but now that troops are sent to
I^oston to override all reason, I doul)t it. Do as you
will with the bov. I wash mv hands of him."
This was bv no means mv father's intention. I
saw his face set in an expression I well knew ; but
my mother laid a hand on his arm, and, with what
must have })een a great <'ffort, he controlled liis
anger, and .said coldly : " I hav(^ talked this over with
thy friend, Jo.seph Warder, and he desired that his
son .should share in my decision as to Hugh. Talk
to him, (iainor."
" I do not take counsel with my agent, John. He
does as I bid him. I could shift his opinions at a
:| 1
Hugh Wynne: PVee Quaker 65
word. He is a Tory to-day, and a Whiir to-nioiTow,
and anything to anybody. Why do you talk siieh
nonsense to me ? Let me tell you that he has already
been to ask me what I think of it. He feels some
doubt, poor man. Indeed, he is disposed to eonsider.
Bother! what does it matter wliat he considers f"
" If he has changed his mind I have not. Joseph
hath ever a coat of many colours."
" I shall tell him," she cried, laughing. The Quaker
rule of repression and non-resistance by uo means
forbade the use of the ])rutal bludgeon of sarcasm,
as many a debate in Meeting could testify. She rose
as she spoke, and my mother said gently :
*' Thou wilt not tell him, Gainor."
Meanwhile I stood amaztfd at a talk which so
deeply concerned me.
** Shall it be a smithv ? " said mv father.
"Oh, what you like. The Wynnes are well down
in the world— trade, horseshoeing. Good evening."
" Gainor ! Gainor ! " cried mv mother ; ])ut she was
gone in wrath, and out of tlie house.
"Thou wilt leave the academy. I have already
arranged with Lowry, in South street, to take thee.
Three months should answer."
To this I said, " Yes, yes," and went away l>ut little
pleased, my mother saying, " It is only for a time,
my son."
U<
BBartgaaEsa
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AYS my friend Jack in his journal :
"The boys were in these times keen
p(>litieians whenever any unusual event
oeetirred, and the gi'eat pot was like soon
to boil furiously, i nd scald the cooks.
Charles Towusend's ministry was long over. The
Stamp Act had come and gone. The Non-importa-
tion Agreement had been signed even by men like
Andrew Allen and Mr. Penn. Lord North, a gentle
and obstinate person, was minister. The Lord Hills-
borough, a man after the king's heart, had the colo-
nial office. The troops had landed in Boston, and
the letters of Dickinson and Viudex had fanned
the embers of discontent into flame.
" Through it all w<» boys contrived to know every-
thing that was happening. I had a sense of fear about
it, but to Hugh I think it was delightful. A fire, a niol),
confusion, and disorder appeal to most boys' minds
as desirable. My father was terrift(Ml at the disturb-
ance of (jommerce, and the angry words which began
to be heard. Mr. John Wynne very coolly ad-
justed his affairs, as I have heard, and settled down
with the Friends, suuh as Walu and Shoemaker and
66
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 67
Pemberton and tlw rest, to aticept whatever the king
might decree,"
Jack and I talked it all over in wild boy fashion,
and went every day at six in tlie morning to Lowry's
on Sonth street. At first we both hated the work,
but this did not last ; and, once we were used to
it, the business had for fellows like ourselves a
certain charm. The horses we learned to know and
undei*stand. Their owners were of a class witli whicli
in those days it was not thought setanly for persons
of our degree to be familiar; here it was unavoid-
able, and I soon learned how deej) in the ht^arts of
the people was the deUa-mination to resist the author-
ity of the crown.
The lads we knew of the gay set used to come and
laugh at us, as we j»lied the hammer or blew the
bellows; and one day jNIiss Franks and Miss Peggy
Chew, and I think Miss Shippen, stood awhile with-
out the forge, making very merry. Jack got red in
the face, but T was angiy, worked on doggedly, and
said nothing. At last I thrashed soundly one Master
Galloway, who called me a horse-ciobbler, and after
that no more trouble.
I became strong and muscular as the work went on,
and got to like our mastei-, who was all for lil>erly,
and sang as he struck, and taught me much that was
useful as to the management of horses, s(> that 1
was not long unhappy. My father, pleased at my
diligence, once said to me that I .seemee fairly well,
my father said :
'' Take off these aprons, and go home. There will
be other work for both of you."
We were glad enough to obey, and, dropping our
leathern aprons, thus ended our apprenticeship.
Next week Tom Lowry, our master, appeared with
a fine beaver for me, saying, as I knew, that it was
the custom to give an apprentice a Vjeaver when his
time was up, and that he had never been better
served by any.
My Aunt Gainor kept away all this time, and
made it clear that she did not wish my black hands
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 69
at her table. My father, no doubt, felt sure that, so
far as I was concerned, she would soon or late relent.
This, in fact, came about in midwinter, upon her
asking my mother to send me to see her. My father
observed that he had no will to make quarrels, or
to keep them alive. My mother smiled demurely,
knowing him as none other did, and bade me go
with her.
In her own room she had laid out on the bed a
brown coat of velveteen, with breeches to match, and
stockings with brown clocks, and also a brown beaver,
the back looped up, all of which she had, with sweet
craftiness, provided, that I might appear well before
my Aunt Gainor.
" Thou wilt fight no one on the way, Hugh, And
now, what shall be done with his hands, so rough and
so hard ? Scrub them well. Tell Gainor I have two
new lilies for her, just come from Jamaica. Bulbs
they are ; I will care for them in the cellar. I was
near to forget the marmalade of bitter orange. She
must send ; I cannot trust Tom. Thy father had him
whipped at the jail yesterday, and he is sulky. Put
on thy clothes, and I will come again to see how
they fit thee."
In a little while she was back again, declaring I
looked a lord, and that if she were a girl she should
fall in love with me, and then— "But I shall never
let any woman but nic kiss thee. I shall be jealous.
And now, sir, a bow. That was better. Now, as I
curtsev, it is bad manners to have it ovt^r before I am
fully risen. Then it is permitted that les beaux yeux
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70 Hugh Wynne: PVee Quaker
sf renconU'ent. Comme jy/. Ca va bien. That is bet-
ter done."
** What, vanities are these ? " su,id my father at the
door slie liad left open.
►Slie was nowise uhirniod. "('onie in, John," she
cried. " lie does not yet ])ow us wt^ll as thou. It
would enwk some (Quaker l)a(rks, I think. I can hear
Friend Wain's joints creak when he jjfets up."
"Nuld not lull}) hut lift up her slight tijjure, and, kiss-
ing? her, set her down. It was a moment of rare ten-
derness. Would T luid known or seen more like it !
"Thou wilt ruin him, wife."
As I ran down the pirden she caUed after me,
''Do not thou f(U'j;et to kiss hei haiul. To-morrow
will w
and touched her luiml witii my lips, as I said:
" Dear Aunt (Jaiiior, it has been so lon^f! " I could
have said nothiiifr better. She lauf^hed.
" Here is my nephrw. Mr. Ktlicrin^to much manner, and, tus I heard
later, risen from the ranks.
He saluted me with a lively thump on the shoul-
der, which 1 d' i not relish. "Zounds! sir, but you
are a stmmi.ssion, I am at
your service."
" Ah, Sir William, that mipht have been, a year or
HO a^fo, but now he may have to tijrht o, a noisy talker, Patrick Henry, and a
Mr. Wasshington."
" I think it was he who sav«'d the wr(!ck of the king's
army under Mr. Braddock," said my aunt. '' I can
nuiu'm})er ho^s they all looked. Not a wig among
them. The lodges must hav«! been full of them, but
their legs saved their scalps."
'Ms it for this they <'all them wigwams?" cries
naughty Miss Chew.
'' Fie ! lie ! " says her mamma, while my aunt
laughed nu'rrily.
''A mereFotomac planter," said Etherington, "'pon
my soul— and with such airs, jis if ihoy wen^ genths-
nicn of the line."
" Perhaps," said my aunt, "they had not had your
opportimitiuis of knowing all grades of the service."
!
The major flushed. '' I have served the kiiij? as
well as I know how, and I trust, madam, I shall have
the pleasure to aid in the imnishineut of some of
these insolent rebels."
"May you be tliere to see, Hugh," said my aunt,
laujrliin^.
Willinjjf to make a diversion, ]Mrs. Chew said, '' Let
us defeat these Tories at th*' eard-tablc, (lainor."
"With all my heart,'' said my aunt, ^lad of this
turn in the talk.
"Conn* and ^'ive me luck, IIuLrh," said Mrs. r«'riju-
Mm. " Wiiat a bijj; f«'Il(»w yon art- ! Vcnir aunt nnist
tiLd you ruffles soon, and a steenkirk."
With this I sat down ])eside her, and wondered to
see how eap'r and interested they all became, and
liow tlir ^niinras and jiold half-joes passed Iroiii one:
to anotiier, while the pay Mrs. ^^'rpuson, who was at
the tal)le with Mrs. I'enn, ('a})tain Wallace, and my
aunt, pav(5 me my llr.st lesson in this form of in-
dustry.
A little later there was tea, ehoeolate, and rusks,
with punch tor th" men; and Dr. Shippen came in,
and tlie jxi'^'^it Dr. Ru.-^li, with liis delicate, clean «'ut
face under a full wip. Dr. Sliip|)en was full of talk
ab«»ut some line i^ame-cocks, and otiicrs were busy
with the sprinj? I'aces in Centre S(puirc.
Younuiy l»e surcl kept my ears open to liearwliat
all these preat men said. I ciianced to Iiear Dr. Rush
dec]) in talk behind the i)unch-table with a hamlsoinc
younir man, Dr. Moi-yan. newly conic IVofn Iion(h>ii.
Dr. Uush said, " I have news to-day. in a letter from
i
If ■^;^ilJSvi;*A.".J^.UUfM|MITWtllfclWliaMljMB
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74 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
Mr. Adams, of thiiijj^s hv'iui* unen(lur}i})le. lie is bold
enough to talk of separation from Eiighuul ; but that
is going far, too far.''
"I think so, in(h'(Hl," said Morgjui. "I saw Dr.
Franklin in Lottd<»n. He advises ('(inciliation, and
not to act with nush haste. Tliese genthinen yon-
der nuike it dillij'ult.''
'* Yes ; there is no insolence 'ike that of the s«>ldier."
And this was all I heai'd or remember, for my aunt
bade uw run home and thank my nu)ther, telling
me to come again aiid soon.
Tho plot was in doul)l my father read at
his warehouse the " rennsylvania .b>urnal," nr jMore
likely (Jalloway's gazette, the " ('hronii'l«'," wlii< h was
rank Tory, anoth sides, and also the Mostini
"Packet," so that 'bick and I were well iiitornied, and
us«'d to take the gii/ettes when his father had read
them, and «levour them safely in our boat, when by
rnre chance I had a holiday.
And so pa.ssed the years 1770, 1771. and 17712,
when Lord North precipitated the crisis by attempt-
ing to control the judges in Massachusetts, who wei*o
u\ futuro to be paid by the crown, and would thus
pass luuh'r its control, .\dams now suggeste. and to talk to their men
or themselves. The sea had not lost its ronuume.
Men could remember Kidd and Hhickbeard. In the
low-lying dens below Dock Creek and on King street,
were many, it is to bi; feared, who had se(»n f Ik; })laek
flag Hying, and who knew too well the keys and
shoals of the West Indies. The captain who put to
sea with sueii sailors had lU'ed to be resolute and
ready. Ships wt'Ut arm«'d, and I was annized to see,
in the In^ldsof < tir own .ships, earronades, whieh out
on the ocean wer< hoisted uj) and set in plaee on deek ;
also cutlasses and miiskets in the eal)in, and good
store of i)ikes. I ventured once to ask my father if
this were consistent with noji-resistancc. He replie]en-
did seamen, and not unused to uvms ami danger, as
proved fortunate in days t » coTue. On^'c 1 would
have gone to the Madeiras with ('a|»laiu Hi«ldle, but
unluckily my mother ])i'evailed with my father to
forbitl it. It had been better for uh' had it beeti i
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76 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
much troubled in those seventies " (he means up to
'74, when we were full twenty-one) " Jil)out my friend
Huj^li. The town was full of oftieers of all grades,
who (!ame and went, and brouj^iit with them much
li('e!i(!e and contempt for colonists in frcnrral, and a
silly way of jjaradinjj: their own sentiments on all
occasions. (»aml)lin«r, hard drinkinjr, and all manner
of worse thin{j:s became common and more opcidy
indulged in. Neither hen^ nor in Boston could young
women walk about unattended, a new and strange
thing in our company of these loose, swagg*^-
ing captains and c«»rn«'ts, 1 had either to give u^
him, who was tina!)h' to resist them, '*: to slian*
in their vi<'ious wavs mvself It wa> mv personal
Fliigh Wynne: Free Quaker ']']
disjrnst at dnnikiMUH'ss or looso sorioty wliioh snvpd
iiu^, not liny moral or n'li«;ious satV<;uai"(ls, although
I trust I was not alto^»'lli<*r without tlics*- lu'lps. I
hav<' sat aid to a virtuous litV. Also 1
have known some wlio wouhl havt* Ix'cn drunkards
hut f(M' their heads and stonuu'hs, which so 1>»'-
haved as to he fjood suhstitutcs I'oi' eonsciencc. It
is soint'tiuH'S the hody whieh saves the soul. Kolh
of tlu'se helps I had. hut tuy dear Iluj;h had neither.
He w-as a p'eat, stronu;. masculine fellow, and if I
may seem to have said that he wanted relined I'ee!-
inj;s, that is not so, and to him, who will never read
these lines, nn«l to niysell', I must apoloirise."
1 did come to see these paj-res, as you know. 1
think he meant, that with the wine of vouth and at
tiinesof other vintajres, in my veins, the stronu: inter-
nal lilood, which in my father only a true, if hard,
reliirion kejit in oinler, was foo much foi* me. If I
state this awkwardly it is IxH'ause all excuses are
awkwMird. li(»okin«r back, T wond<'r that I was not
worse, and that I tliluints. The
inornintr after some nuid i-evel I could rise at Hve, and
p» out in my >)oat ami overhoard, an^ as n»y fatlier was the only
source of supply. We were out late when I was
presumed to bt* at my Aunt (Jaiuor's; and to drink
and bet, or to see a race or cock-fight, or to pull
off knockers, or to bother the ancii'ut watchmen,
were now .sonu? of 'lUy nu)st reputable amusements.
I began to be talkt'd about as a bit of a rake, and
my Aunt (Jainor was not too greatly displeased ; she
would hear of onv exph)its ami say " Fie ! li(; ! " and
then give me more guiiu'as. Worse than all, my
fatln'r was deep in his business, less<'ning his ven-
tures, and thus leaving nu> more time to sow the
sne with me
like«l nu» to chatter in her mother lan^ua^e. In
fact, I leanie
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it," and she nodded her head aflarmatively. " But
my son 1 my Hugh ? "
" You will have him with you at home. Every-
thing will go on as usual, except that John will be
amusing himself in London."
At this the little lady leaped up, all ablaze, so to
speak. Never had I seen her so moved. " What man-
ner of woman am I, Gainor Wynne, that I should let
my husband go alone on the seas, and here and there,
without me? I will not have it. My boy is my
boy ; God knows I love him ; but my husband comes
first now and always, and thou art cruel to wish to
part us."
" But I never wished to part you. Go with him,
Marie. God bless your sweet heart ! Leave me your
boy ; he cannot go. As God lives, I will take care
of him ! »
Upon this the two women fell to weeping in each
other's arms, a thing most uncommon for my Aunt
Gainor. Then they talked it all over, as if John
Wynne were not : when it would be, and what room
I was to have, and my clothes, and the business, and
so on-— all the endless details wherewith the cunning
affection of good women knows to provide comfort
for usj who are so apt to be unthankful.
It amazed me to see how quickly it was settled,
and still more to learn that my father did not oppose,
but fell in with all their plans.
Now back of all my weaknesses and folly I had,
as I have said, some of the sense of honour and proud
rectitude of my father, who strictly abided by his
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 91
creed and his conscience. I returned no more that
day to the counting-house, but, saying to my mother
I had business, I went off, with a hunk of bread, to
ray boat, and down the creek to the Delaware. I
puUed out, past our old playgi'ound on the island, and
far away toward the Jersey shore, and then, as the
sun fell, drifted with the tide, noting the ruddy lines
of the brick houses far away, and began to thinV.
The scene I had gone through had made a deep
impression. It has been ever so with m<}. Drink-
ing, gaming, betting, and worse, never awal. iied my
conscience or set me reflecting, until some suddt'i,
unlooked-for thing took place, in which sentim«mt
or affection was concerned. Then I would set to
work to balance my books and determine my course.
At such times it was the dear mother who spoke in
me, and the father who resolutely carried out my
decision.
The boat drifted slowly with the fllood-tide, and I,
lying on the bottom, fell to thought of what the day
had brought me. The setting sun touched the single
spire of Christ Church, and lit up yellow squares of
light in the westward-looking windows of the rare
farm-houses on the Jersey shore. Presently I was
aground on the south end of Petty's Island, where in
after-years lay rotting the "Alliance," the remnant ship
of the greatest sea-fight that ever was since Grenville
lay in the " Revenge," with the Spanish fleet about him.
I came to ground amid the reeds and spatter-docks,
where the water-lilies were just in bud. A noisy
orchestra of frogs, with, as Jack said, fiddles and
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92 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
bassoons in their throats, ceased as I came, rnd
pitched headlong off the broad green floats. Only
one old fellow, with a great bass voice, and secure
on the bank, protested loudly at intervals, like the
owl in Mr. Gray's noble poem, which my Jack loved
to repeat.
At last he— I mean my frog— whose monastery I
had disturbed, so vexed me, who wanted stillness, that
I smacked the water with the flat of an oar, which
he took to be a hint, and ceased to lament my in-
trusion.
I was now well on to twenty, and old enough to
begin at times to deal thoughtfully with events. A
young fellow's feelings are apt to be extreme, and
even despotic, so that they rule the hour with such
strength of sway as may be out of proportion to the
cause. I might have seen that I had no just cause to
blame myself, but that did not help me. The mood
of distressful self -accusation was on me. I had no
repeated impulse to smile at what, in my father's
conduct, had appeared to me a little while ago odd,
and even amusing. I could never please him. I had
grinned as I always did when risks were upon me.
He never understood me, and I was tired of trying.
What use was it to try ? T had one of those minutes
of wishing to die, which come even to the wholesome
young. I was well aware that of late I had not,
on the whole, satisfied my conscience ; I knew this
quit(^ too well ; and now, Jis I lay in the boat dis
contented, I felt, as the youthful do st)metimes feel,
as if I were old, and the ending of things were near.
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 93
It was but a mood, but it led up to serious thought.
There are surely hours in youth when we are older
than our years, and times in age when we are again
young. Sometimes I wonder whether Jack was right,
who used to say it may be we are never young or old,
but merely seem to be so. This is the queer kind of
reflection which I find now and tlien in Jack's diary,
or with which he used to puzzle me and please
James Wilson. Of com-se a man is young or is old.
and there 's an end on 't, as a greater man has said.
But Jack has imagination, and I have none.
I asked myself if I had done wi'ong in what I had
said. I could not see that I had. With all ni}-- life-
long fear of my father, I greatly honoured and re-
spected him, finding in myself something akin to the
unyielding firmness with which he stood fast when
he had made up his mind.
That this proud and steadfast man, so looked up to
by every one, no matter what might be their convic-
tions religious or political, should have been humili-
ated by a woman, seemed to me intolerable ; this
was the chief outcome of my reflections. It is true
I considered, but I fear lightly, my own misdoings.
I made up my mind to do better, and then again the
image of my father in his wrath and his siiame came
back anew. I turned the boat, and pulled steadily
across the river to our lamling.
My father was in the counting-house in his own
room, alone, although it was full late. •' Well ? " he
said, spinning round on his high stool. " What is
it? Thou hast been absent, and no leave asked."
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94 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
" Father," I said, " if I was wrong this morning I
wish to ask thy pardon."
" Well, it is full time."
" And I am come to say that I will take the punish-
ment here and now. I did not run away from that."
" Very good," he replied, rising. " Take off thy
fine coat."
I wished he had not said this of my coat. I was
in a heroic temper, and the sarcasm bit cruelly, but
I did as I was bid. He went to the corner, and
picked up a rattan cane. To whip fellows of nine-
teen or twenty was not then by any means unusual.
What would have happened I know not, nor ever
shall. He said, " There, I hear thy mother's voice.
Put on thy coat." I hastened to obey him.
The dear lady came in with eyes full of tears.
"What is this, John, I hear? I have seen Gainor.
I could not »vait. I shall go with thee."
" No," he said ; " that is not to be." But she fell
on his neck, and pleaded, and I, for my part, went
away, not sorry for the interruption. As usual she
had her way.
I remember well this spring of '73. It was early
by some weeks, and everything was green and blos-
soming in April. My father and mother were not to
sail until the autumn, but already he was arranging
for tlie voyage, and she as busily preparing or think-
ing over what was needed.
When next I saw my Aunt Gainor, she cried out,
" Sit down there, bad l)oy, and take care of my man-
doi'iu. He and my great bronze Buddha are my only
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 95
counsellors. If I want to do a thing I ask Mr. Man-
darin—he can only nod yes ; and if I want not to do
a thing I ask Buddha, and as he can neither say no
nor yes, I do as I please. What a wretch you are ! "
I said I could not seo it ; and then I put my head
in her lap, as I sat on the stool, and told her of my
last interview with my father, and how for two days
he had hardly so much as bade me good-night.
"It is his way, Hugh," said my aunt. "I am
sorry; but neither love nor time will mend him.
He is what his nature and the hard ways of Friends
have made him."
I said that this was not all, nor the worst, and
went on to tell her my latest grievance. Our family
worship at home was, as usual with Friends in those
days, conducted at times in total silence, and was
spoken of by Friends as " religious retirement." At
other times, indeed commonly, a chapter of the Bible
was read aloud, and after that my father would some-
times pray openly. On this last occasion he took ad-
vantage of the opportunity to dilate on my sins, and be-
fore our servants to ask of Heaven that I be brought
to a due sense of my iniquities. It troubled my
mother, who arose from her knees in tears, and went
out of the room, whilst I, overcome with anger, stood
looking out of the window. My father spoke to her
as she opened the door, but she made no answer, nor
even so much as turned her head. It brought to my
memory a day of my childhood, when my father
was vexed because she taught me to say the Lord's
Prayer. He did not approve, and would have no set
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96 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
form of words taught me. My mother was angry
too, and I remember my own amazement that any
one should resist my father.
When I had told my aunt of the indignity put
upon me, and of the fading remembrance thus
recalled, she said, " John Wynne has not changed,
nor will he ever." She declared that, after all, it was
her fault— to have treated me as if I were a man, and
to have given me too much money. I shook my head,
but she would have it she was to blame, and then said
of a sudden, '' Are you in debt, you scamp ? Did John
pray for ine " " I replied that I owed no one a penny,
and that she had not been remembered. She was
glad I v/as not in debt, and added, " Never play un-
less you have the means to pay. I have been veiy
foolish. That uneasy woman, Bessy Ferguson, must
needs tell me so. I could liave slapped her. They
will have thy sad case up in Meeting, I can tell thee."
" But what have I done ? " I knew well enough.
" Tut ! you must not talk that way to me ; but it is
my fault. Oh, the time I have had with your mother !
I am not fit, it seems, to be left to take care of you.
They talk of leaving you with Abijah Hapworthy—
sour old dog ! I wish you joy of him ! "
"Good heavens !" I exclaimed ; for among my aunt's
gay friends I had picked up such exclamatory phrases
as, used at home, would have astonished my father.
" Rest easy," said Mistress Wynne ; " it is not to be.
I have fought your battle, and won it. But I have
had to make such promises to your father, and— woe
is me I— to your mother, as will danm me forever if
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 97
you do not helj) me to keep them. I can fib to your
father and not care a snap, but lie to those blue eyes
I cannot."
" I will try, Aunt Gainor ; indeed I wiU try." In-
deed, I did mean to.
" You must, you must. I am to be a sort of god-
mother-in-law to you, and renounce for you the world,
the flesh, and the devil ; and that for one of our breed !
I shall be like a sign-post, and never go the way I
point. That was Bessy Ferguson's malice. Oh, I
have suffered, I can teU you. It is I, and not you, that
have repented."
" But I will ; I do." . *
" That is aU very well ; but I have had my whip-
ping, and you got oft' yours."
" What do you mean, aunt ? "
" What do I mean ? Here came yesterday Sarah
Fisher, pretty gay for a Quaker, and that solemn
Master Savory, with his sweet, low voice like a nice
girPs tongue, and his gentle ways. And they are
friends of thy people, who are distressed at thy go-
ings on ; and Nicholas Wain has seen thee with two
sons of Belial in red coats, come out of the coft'ee-
house last month at evening, singing songs such as
are not to be described, and no better able to take
care of yourself than you should be. They did think
it well and kind— hang 'em, Hugh I— to consider the
matter with me. We considered it— we did, indeed.
There be five people whose consciences I am to make
you respect. And not 01 le of them do I care for,
but Mother Blue-eyes. But I must ! I must ! It was
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9^ Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
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all true, sir, what Friend Wain said; for you had
reason enough left to come hither, and did I not put
you to bed and send for Dr. Chovet, who grinned
famously, and said, * Je comprends,^ and went to call
on your father on a hint from me, to declare you were
enrhumS, and threatened with I know not what ; in
fact, he lied like a gentleman. You made a noble re-
covery, and are a credit to the doctor. I hope you
will pay the bill, and are ashamed."
I was, and I said so.
" But that is not all. These dear Quakers were
the worst. They were really sorry, and I had to put
on my best manners and listen ; and now everybody
knows, and you are the talk of the town. Those drab
geese must out with the whole naughtiness, despite
the company which came bi on us, and here were
Mr. Moutresor and that ape Etherington grinning,
and, worst of all, a charming young woman just come
to live here with her aunt, and she too must have
her say when the Quakers and the men were gone."
" And what did she say ? " I did not care much.
"And what is her name ? "
" Oh, she said the Quakers were rather outspoken
people, and it was a pity, and she was sorry, because
she knew you once, and you had taken her part at
school."
"At school?"
" Yes. She is Darthea Peniston, and some kin of
that Miss de Lancey, whom Sii* William Draper will
marry if he can."
"Darthea Peniston f" I said, and my thoughts
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 99
went back to the tender little maid who wept when
I was punished, and for whom I had revenged my-
self on Master Dove.
" Quite a Spanish beauty," said my Aunt Wynne ;
" a pretty mite of a girl, and not more money than
will clothe her, they say ; but the men mad about her.
Come and see her to-morrow if you are sober."
" O Aunt Gainor ! "
"Yes, sir. I hear Mr. Montresor has leave from
Anthony Morris to invite you to 'The Colony in
Schuylkill' to-morrow. It is well your father has
gone to visit Mr. Yeates at Lancaster."
" I shall behave myself, Aunt Gainor."
" I hope so. The Fish House punch is strong."
I went home thinking of Miss Darthea Peniston,
and filled with desire to lead a wiser life. It was full
time. My aunt's lavish generosity had, as I have said,
given me means to live freely among the officers,
who were, with some exceptions, a dissolute set. To
be with them made it needful to become deceitful
and to frame excuses, so that, when I was supposed
to be at my aunt's, or riding, I was free that past win-
ter to go on sleighing-parties or to frequent taverns,
pleased with the notice I got from men like Montre-
sor and the officers of the Scotch Gravs.
I have dwelt not at all on these scenes of dissipa-
tion. It is enough to mention them. My fatlier was
wrapped up in his business, and full of cjires botli
worldly and spiritual ; for now Friends were becom-
ing politically divided, and the meetings were long
and sometimes agitated.
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My good mother was neither deceived nor uncon-
cerned. She talked to me often, and in such a way
as brings tears to my eyes even now to think of
the pain I gave her. Alas! it is our dearest who
have the gi*eatest power to wound us. I wept and
promised, and went back to my husks and evil com-
pany.
I have no wish to conceal these things from my
children. It is well that our offspring when young
should think us angels; but it were as well that
when they are older they should learn that we have
been men of like passions with themselves, and have
known temptation, and have fought, and won or lost,
our battles with sin. It is one of the weaknesses of
nations, as well as of children, that they come to
consider their ^ political fathers as saints. I smile
when I think of the way people nowadays think of
our great President, as of a mild genius, incapable
of being moved to anger or great mirth, a man un-
spotted of the world. They should have heard him
at Monmouth, when Lee failed him in a time of peril,
or seen him, as I have seen him, soberly merry over
his wine with Knox. But some day you shall see
him as my friend Jack and I saw him, and you will,
I trust, think no worse of him for being as human
as he was just.
The day of my more honest repentance was near,
and I knew not that it was to be both terrible and
of lasting value. I sometimes reflect upon the curi-
ous conditions with which my early manhood was
surrounded. Here was I, brought up in the strictest
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker loi
ways -of a sect to which I do no injustice if I describe
it as ascetic. At home I saw plain living, and no
luxury, save as to diet, which my father would have
of the best money could buy. I was taught the ex-
treme of non-resistance, and absolute simplicity as
to dress and language. Amusements there were
none, and my father read no books except such as
dealt with things spiritual, or things commercial.
At my aunt's, and in the society I saw at her house,
there were men and women who loved to dance,
gamble, and amuse themselves. The talk was of
bets, racing, and the like. To be drunk was a thing
to be expected of oflftcers and gentlemen. To avenge
an insult with sword or pistol was the only way to
deal with it. My father was a passive Tory, my
aunt a furious Whig. What wonder that I fell a
victim to temptation ?
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HE next day, having seen to matters of
business in the morning, I set out after
dinner in my finest clothes to join my
friends. I fear that I promised my mo-
ther to be careful, and to be at home
by nine o'clock.
I met Captain Montresor at the London Coffee-
house, at High and Front streets, and, having taken
a chaise, drove out through the woods to the upper
ferry, and thence to Egglesfleld, the seat of Mr. War-
ner, from whom the club known then as " The Colony
in Schuylkill " held under a curious tenure the acre
or two of land where they had built a log cabin and
founded this ancient and singular institution. Here
were met Anthony Morris, who fell at Trenton, Mr.
Tench Francis, sometime Attorney-General, Mifllin,
and that Galloway who later became a Tory, with
Mr. Willing, and others of less note, old and young.
I was late for the annual ceremony of presenting
three fish to Mr. Warner, this being the condition on
which the soil was held, but I saw the great pewter
dish with the Penn arms, a gift from that family, on
which the fish were offered.
It was a merry and an odd party ; for, clad in white
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Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 103
aprons, the apprentices, so called, cooked the dinner
and served it ; and the punch and Madeira went round
the table often enough, as the "king's health" was
drunk, and " success to trade," ai^d " the ladies, God
bless them ! "
I liked it well, and, with my aiiiit's warning in
mind, drank but little, and listened to the talk, which
was too free at times, as was the bad custom of that
day, and now and then angry ; for here were some
who were to die for their country, and some who were
to fail it in the hour of need.
Despite my English friends, and thanks to Mr.
Wilson and my Aunt Gainor, I was fast becoming an
ardent Whig, so that the talk, in which I had small
share, interested me deeply. At last, about seven^ the
pipes having been smoked and much punch taken,
the company rose to go, some of them the worse for
their potations.
We drove into town, and at the coffee-house put
up and paid for our chaise. I said good-by to Mr.
Montresor, who, I think, had been charged by Miss
Wynne to look after me, when a Captain Small,
whom I knew, stopped me. He was well known as
one of the most reckless of the younger officers, a
stout, short man, rather heroically presented long
afterward, in Trumbull's picture of the "Death of
Warren," as trying to put aside the bayonets. As I
paused to reply, I saw Jack Warder standing on the
other side of the street. He nodded, smiling, and
made as if he were about to cross over. He hail
many times talked with me seriously this winter.
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I04 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
until I had become vexed, and told him he was a
milksop. After this I saw little of him. Now I was
annoyed at the idea that he was spying upon my
actions, and therefore, like a fool, merely nodded,
and, turning my back on him, heard Mr. Small say :
"You must not go yet, Mr. Wynne. We are to
have supper upstairs, and you will like to see a gen-
tleman of your name, Mr. Arthur Wynne, of the Scots
Grays. He tells me he is of distant kin to you."
Montresor said I had better go home, but Ether-
ington asked if I wanted my bottle and nurse ; and
so at last, partly from pride and partly out of curi-
osity to see this other Wynne, I said I would remain
long enough to welcome the gentleman and take a
social glass. When we entered the room upstairs,
I found a supper of cold meats and, as usual, punch
and liquors. There were two dozen or more officers
in undress jackets, their caps and swords in the cor-
ners, and also two or three of the younger men of
the Tory or doubtful parties.
Several officers called to me to sit with them, for I
was a favourite, and could troll a catch or sing parts
fairly well. My companion. Small, said, " This way,
Wynne," and, followed by Montresor and the colonel
of the Scots Grays, whose name I forget, we moved
to a table remote from the door. Here Montresor,
pushing past Small, said : " Captain Wynne, I have
the honour to present to you Mr. Hugh Wynne, one
of your family, I hear."
Upon this there rose to greet me a gentleman in
the undress uniform of the Grays. He was tall and
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 105
well built, but not so broad or strong as we other
Wynnes; certainly an unusually liandsome man.
He carried his head high, was very erect, and had
an air of distinction, for which at that time I should
have had no name. I may add that he was dressed
with unusual neatness, and very richly ; all of which,
I being but a half-formed young fellow, did much
impress me.
He looked at me so steadily as we came near that
it gave me a rather unpleasant impression ; for those
who do not meet the eye at all are scarcely less dis-
agreeable than those who too continually watch you,
as was this man's way. I was rather young to be a
very careful observer of men's faces, but I did see that
Captain Wynne's bore traces of too convivial habits.
As I recall his dark, regular features, I rememl)er,
for we met often afterward, that the lower part of
his face was too thin, and that in repose his mouth
was apt not to remain fully shut, a peculiarity, as I
now think, of persons of weak will.
My first feeling of there being something unpleas-
ing about him soon left me. He rose, and, with gi*a-
ciousness and the ease and manner of one used to
the best soeietv, moved around the table and took
my hand.
" I am but a far-away kinsman," he said, " T)ut I
am charmed to make your acquaintance. You are
like the picture of old Sir Robert at Wyncote, where
1 was last year for the otter-hunting."
I greeted him warmly. " And art thou living at
Wyncote ? " I asked rather awkwardly.
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106 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
" No, I do not live at home. I am but a cadet,
and yours is the elder branch." Then he added gaily,
" I salute you, sir, as the head of our old house. Your
very good health ! " And at this, with a charm of man-
ner I have seen but rarely, he put a hand on my
shoulder, and added, "We must be friends, Cousin
Wynne, and I must know your father, and above all
Mistress Wynne. Montresor never ceases talking of
her."
I said it would give me pleasure to present him ;
then, delighted to hear of Wyncote, I sat down, and,
despite a warning look from Montresor, began to take
wine with this newly found kinsman.
Mr. Arthur Wynne was a man fully ten years my
senior. He had served in the Guards, and in the
Indies, and was full of stories of court and camp
and war, such as every young fellow of spu'it likes
to hear.
Captain Montresor lingered awhile, and then, find-
ing it vain to persist in his purpose, gave it up, and
fell to talking with one of his fellow-offlcers, while
I went on questioning my cousin as to the Wj'^nnes
to their uttermost generation. Eitlier he cared little
about them, or he knew little, for he seemed much
to prefei' to tell queer stories about the court ladies,
and my Lord Chesterfield's boor of a son, who had
such suuill manners and such a large nppetit(^, and
of Sir Guy Carleton, whom he was about to join in
Canada. He advised me to get a i)air of colonics as
my aunt had once desired, and seci 'cd surprised
when I paraded my friend Mr. Wilson's opinions as
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 107
my own, and talked of taxation and the oppression
under wnich commerce had to be carried on. In fact,
as to this I knew something ; but in this, as in other
matters, he deferred to me as one does to a well-
informed talker of one's own age, now setting me
right with admirable courtesy, and now cordially
agreeing.
What with his evident desire to he friendly, and
the wine i was taking, I fell an easy prey to one who
rarely failed to please when he was so minded. Too
well amused to reflect that the hours were swiftly
passing, I oat, taking glass after glass mechanically.
As the night went on we had more punch, and the
dice began to rattle on the tables, despite the land-
lord's remonstrance, who feared to ffdl into the hands
or the law and lose his licence. But a lively major
called out that here was licence enough, and hustled
him out of the room, calling for more rum-punch,
and stronger.
Meanwhile the smoke grew thick and thicker.
Here and there a song broke out, and the clink of
coin and the rattle of dice went on. Then, when at
last Montresor came to our ta])le and said he was
goiug, and would I come too, I rose, and, bidding
my kinsman good-by, went with the ('a])tain. I heard
him swear as he fouTid the door locked. No one
seemed to know who had the kev, and as for me, not
ill-pleased, and past fling regret, I turned back and
stood over a table where soine officers wen; thro\vinsr
a main.
Then I saw in a eonuir a poor fellow who used to
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be an usher at the academy, and who, having taken
to drink, had lost his place. Now he was a sort of
servitor in the coffee-house, and had gotten locked
up in the room and could not escape. He had taken
refuge in a corner at a deserted table, and, sitting
unnoticed, was solacing himself with what was left
of a bowl of punch. A sense of not altogether maudlin
pity came upon me, and I went over and sat down
beside liim. No one took any heed of us. The air
was heavy with pipe-smoke, oaths, mad catches of
song, clink of glasses, and rattle of dice noisily cast,
with here and there a toast cried ; so that it was hard
to see for the smoke, or to hear a man speak.
" Why, Savoy ! How camest thou hce ? " I said.
"The devil fetched me, I guess."
He was far gone in liquor. " I am like Mr. Sterne's
starling : ' I can't get out.' Ever read Mr. Sterne's—
what is it?— oh, his 'Sentimental Journey'?"
Here was one worse than I, and I ft^lt inclined to
use what Friends call a precious occasion, a way
being opened.
" Tliis is a sad business. Savoy," I said.
" Dre'ful," he retunKMl. " FaciUs dcficoisns tavenii.
No use to talk to me, I am tired of life. I am going
to die. Some men shoot tliemselves, some like the
rope, and some cold water. You know wluit Bishop
whiit's-his-name— I mean Jeremy Taylor— says about
ways to die : ' None please me.' But di'ink is the best.
I mean to drink myself dead— dead— d— dead," and
here lu' fell on to my shoulder. Letting him down
easily, I loosed his neckerchief, and stood beside him,
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 109
i>itiful and shocked. Then in a moment I felt that
I was drunk. The room whirled, and with an effort
I got to the open window, stumbling over legs of men,
who looked up from their cards and cursed me.
Of what chanced after this I knew for a time but
little, until I was in one instant sobered. This was
an hour later, and nigh to twelve o'clock. What
took place I heard from others ; and, as it concerns
a turning-point in my life, I shall try to relate it as
if I myself had been conscious all the while.
The better for air, I went over to a table in the
centre of the room not far from the door. Leaning
heavily on Captain Small's shoulder, I threw on the
table the last gold joe my aunt had given me with her
final lesson in morals.
" Best in three, Etherington."
" Take it," he cried.
I threw double sixes, he threes, and I deuce ace.
Then he cast some numbers as good. Certainly the
devil meant to have me. I threw a third time ; a six
and a five turned up, and he an ace and a four. I
had won. " Double or quits," I said ; ** one throw."
I won again, and at this I went on until the pile of
gold grew beneath my eyes, amid laughter, curses,
and all manner of vileness. Presently I heard the
colonel exclaim, "This won't do, gentlemen," and I
felt some one trying to draw me from the table. It
was Captain Wynne. I (!ried out, " Hands off ! no
liberties with me ! I am the head of thy house ;
thou art only a cadet." He laughed as I pushed him
aside.
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" You said doiiblo or quits," c'riod the stout major.
How he f;ot into the game 1 Ivuew not.
"It is a mere boy ! for shame ! " cried the colonel.
"I forbid it."
" I am a gentleman," I said. " Thou canst order thy
officers ; thou canst not order me," and as I spoke I cast
so hard that I crushed the box. I heard some one cry,
" A damn i)retty Quaker ! By George, he has lost! A
clean hundred pounds ! " Even in this drunken revel
there was a paiise for a moment. I was, after all, but
a tipsy lad of twenty, and some were just not far
enough gone to feel that it might look to otiiers an
ugly business. The colontil said something to INIajor
Milewood as to disrespect, I liardly know what ; for
at tliis moment there was a loud knocking at the door.
In the lull that followed I heard tlu; colonel's voice.
Then the tumult broke out anew. '' Bv Jove, it is
a woman ! " cri(Ml Wynne. " I hear her. Wine and
wonuni ! A guinea to a guinea she 's pretty ! "
" Done ! " cried some one.
"Here 's the key," said th(> nuijor; "let 's have
her in."
" Place mix (ht))iff<,^' hiccoughed a cornet.
The colonel rose, but it was too late. Wynne,
seizing the key, unlocked the door and threw it wide
open, as my mother, followed by Jack Warder, en-
tered the room, and stood still a moment, dazed.
Captain Wynnt;, leering and unsteady, caught at
her waist, exclaiming, " By George ! she might be
younger, but I 've won. A toast ! a toast ! A Quaker,
by George ! "
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Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 1 1 1
Whether I was sobered or not, I know not. I can
only say that of a sudden I was myself, and strangely
quiet. I saw the dear lady, brave, beautiful, and
with her curls falling about her neck, as she shrank
back from the man's touch.
" Come, Hugh," she said.
" Yes, mothex*," I said ; " but first—" and I struck
Captain Wynne fuU in the face, so that, unprepared
as he was, he fell over a table and on to the floor.
Every one started up. There was instant silence.
In a moment he was on his feet, and, like myself,
another man. Turning, he said, with amazing coolness,
wiping the blood away, for I was strong, and had hit
hard, " Madam, I beg your pardon ; we have been
behaving like beasts, and I am fitly punished. As to
you, Mr. Wynne, you are a boy, and have undertaken
to rough it with men. This sliall go no further."
" It shall go where I please," I cried.
" No, no ; Hugh, Hugh ! " said my mother.
" We will talk it over to-morrow," said the cap-
tain; and then, turning, "I mean, gentlemen, that
this shall stop here. If any man thinks I am wrong,
let him say so. I shall know how to settle accounts
with him."
" No, no," said the colonel ; " you are right, and if
any officer thinks otherwise, I too am at his service."
In the silence which came after he added, *' Permit
me, madam ;" and offering his arm to my mother,
we following, they went downstairs, Jack and I after
them, and so into the street and the reproachful calm
of the starlit April night.
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VEN so far away as now," says Jack,
writing in after-days, '' it grieves me
to think of that winter, and of this
mad scene at the London Coffee-house.
When I saw Hugh go in with the
officers, I waited for an hour, and then went away.
Returning later, I learned that he was still upstairs.
I felt that if I stayed until he came forth, although
he might not be in a way to talk to me, to know that
I had waited so long might touch him and help him
to hear me with patience. I walked to and fro
until the dock had struck twelve, f eai'ful and troubled
like a woman. Sometimes I think I am like a woman
in certain ways, but not in all.
" There were many people who loved Hugh, but,
save his mother, none as I did. He had a serious
kindliness in his ways, liking to help people, and for
me at certain times and in certain crises a reassur-
ing directness of swift dealing with matters in hand,
most sustaining to one of my hesitating nature. His
courage was instinctive, mine the result of obedi-
ence to my will, and requiring a certain resolute effort.
" I think of him always as in time of peril, throw-
ing his head up and his shoulders back, and smiling,
112
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 1 1 3
with very wide-open eyes, like his mother's, but a
deeper blue. The friendship of young men has often
for a partial basis admiration of physical force, and
Hugh excelled me there, although I have never been
considered feeble or awkward except among those
of another sex, where always I am seen, I fear, to
disadvantage.
" Just after twelve I saw a woman coming hastily
up Front street. As she came to a pause in the light
which streamed from the open door, I knew her for
Madam Marie, as she had taught me to call her. She
wore a caleche hood, fallen back so that I saw her
hair, half tumbled from under the thin gauze cap
worn on the top of the head by most Quakers. She
was clad quite too slightly, and had for wrap only a
light, gi'ay silk shawl.
"'iHoH IHeu!' she exclaimed, *I had to come.
Jack, is he here ? U faut que je monte, I must go
upstairs.' In excitement she was apt to talk French,
and then to translate. ' Let me go,' said I ; but she
cried out, 'No, no ! come ! '
" There were many rough folks without, and others
called together by the noise above, and no wonder. I
said, ' Come in ; I will go up with thee.' She pushed
me aside, and, with staring eyes, cried, ' Oh est I'es-
calier f ' As we went through the coffee-room, the
loungers looked at her with surprise. She followed
me without more words, ran by me on the stairs, and
in a moment beat fiercely on the door, crying, ' Oiivrez!
open! quick !' Then there was that nuulhouse scene."
And this was how it come about, as Jack has here
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IT4 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
told, that, still hot and angry, but much sobered, I,
her son, walked beside my mother till we came to our
door, and Jack left us, saying :
" Wilt thou see me to-morrow ? "
I said, '^ Yes. God bless thee ! Thou art the ^-eal
son," and we entered.
Then it was sweet to see her ; she said no word of
reproach except, "17 nefimt pas me dmmer imi haiser
du SOU'. No, no j I am not to be kissed." And so I
went, sorrowful and still dizzy, up to my sleepless
couch.
At the first gray light of dawn I rose, and was soon
away half a mile from shore in my boat. As I came
up from my first plunge in the friendly river, and
brushed the water from my eyes, I do assure you the
world seemed different. The water was very cold,
but I cared nothing for that. I went home another
and a better man, with hope and trust and self -repose
for company. That hour in the water at early morn
forever after seemed to me a mysterious separation
between two lives, like a mighty baptismal change.
Even now I think of it with a certain awe.
I pulled home as the sun rose, and lingered about
until our servants came in for the early worship of
the day. Soon I had the mother's kiss, and under-
went a quick, searching look, after which she nodded
gaily, and said, ^^Ed-ce que tout est Men, morifils f Is all
well with thee, my son ? " I said, " Yes— yes." I heard
her murmur a sweet little prayer in her beloved French
tongue. Then she began to read a chapter. I looked
up amazed. It was the prodigal's story.
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker i 15
I stood it ill, tliinking it hard that she shoidd have
made choice of that reproachful parable. I stared
sideways out at the stream and the ships, but lost no
word, as, with a voice that broke now and then, she
read the parable to its close. After this should have
come prayer, silent or spoken ; but, to my surprise,
she said, " We will not pray this morning," and we
went in to breakfast at once.
As for me, I could not eat. I went out alone to
the garden and sat down. I knew she would come
to me soon. It seemed to me a long while. I sat on
the grass against a tree, an old cherry, as I remem-
ber, and waited.
I can see her coming toward me under the trees,
grave and quiet and sweet. The great oeauty, Sarah
Lukens, who married in mid-war the gallant Lennox,
used to say of my mother that she put some sugar
into all her moods ; and it was true. I have seen her
angry. I had rather have faced my father in his
wildest rage than her. Why was she not angry now ?
She had vast reasoii for displeasure. After men have
become wise enough to understand woman, I protest
there will remain the mother, whom no man will ever
comprehend.
"What a beautiful day, Hugh! And you had a
good swim ? was it cold ? Why may not girls swim ?
I should love it."
Next she was beside me on the grass, my head on
her bosom, saying, with a little sob, as if she had done
some wrong thing :
" I— I did not choose it, dear j indeed I did not. It
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came in order with the day, as your fatlier reads;
and I— I did not think nntil I began it, and then I
would not stop. It is strange for it to so chance. I
wonder where that prodigal's mother was all the
while ? Oh, you are better than that wicked, wicked
prodigal. I never would have let him go at ail-
never if I could have helped it, I mean. 3£on Dieu !
I think we women were made only for prayer or for
forgiveness ; we can stop no sin, and when it is done
can only cry, * Come back ! come back ! I love you ! ' "
If I cried on that tender heart, and spoke no word,
and was but a child again, I am sure that it was of
all ways the best to tell her that never again should
she be hurt by any act of mine.
" See, there is Judith at the door, wondering where
I am," she said, " and what i to be for dinner. I
must go and get ready the fatted calf. Ah, I would
not have left one alive. Yes, yes, I can jest, because
I am no more afraid, mon fits, nor ever shall be."
Upon this I would have said something of my
deep shame, and of the swine among whom I had
wallowed.
"No," she cried; "c^est fini, mon cher. It is all
over. The swine will eat alone he rt after." And
so would hear no more, only adding. "As for me,
I want to be told once how brave I wrs. Jack said
so ; indeed he did. I was brave, was I not ? "
" Don't, dear mother \ please ! I cannot bear it."
Somehow this plea, so childlike, to be praised for
what must have cost so much, quite overcame me.
" Yes, yes," she said ; " I understand thee, and I
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 1 17
shall always. How strong thou art, mon fils ! 1 was
proud of thee, even in that sty of pigs in red coats.
And he behaved like u gentleman, and hath wondrous
self-command. I would see him again ; who is he ? "
I told her his name.
" Que (fest drole. That is curious. Thy cousin !
No doubt we shall see him to-day, and thy father. I
shall tell him all— all. He must know."
" Yes, he must know," I said ; " but I will tell him
myself."
" He win be angry, but that is part of thy punish-
ment."
Then I told her, too, I liad lost an hundred pounds,
as I believed, and she said :
" That is, after all, the least. There are pearls of
my sister's I never wear. Thy aunt must take them
and pay this debt. Go now to thy business as if
nothing had happened, and I will send thee the pearls
by Tom. No, no 5 it is to be as I say j I must have
my way."
What could I do? I kissed her, and we parted.
I made no promises, and slie asked for none. I
like to think of how, after all, I left with her this
sense of quiet trust.
I have said that the daily march of events never
so influenced my life as did critical occasions. This
was surely one of them. I do not now regret the
knowledge of a baser world which I thus acquired.
It has been of use to me, and to some with whose lives
I have had to deal.
Of the wrath of my father, when I humbly con-
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fessed my sins, it is not needful to speak at length.
For business calamities he was ready enough, and
lacked not decision ; but in this matter lie was, as
I could see, puzzled. He strode up and down, a great
bulk of a man, opening and shutting his hands, a
trick he had in his rare moments of doubt or of
intense self-repression.
" I know not what to do with thee," he said over
and over ; ''and thou didst strike tlie man, thy cousin ?
Well, well ! and hurt him, I am told ? And he did
not return the blow ! "
I had not said so. Thus I knew that other busy
tongiu's had been at work. For my life, I could not
see wliether he looked upon the blow as my worst
iniquity, or deep in his heart was hardly grieved at it.
'' Tliou didst strike hur, ? I must consider of thee ;
I must take counsel. Go ! thou wilt bring my gray
hairs in sorrow to the grave." And so I left him,
still striding to and fro, with ever the same odd
movement of his hands. He took counsel, indeed,
and for me and for him the 7nost unwise that ever
a troubled man could have taken. It was some days
before this unpleasant scene took place, and mean-
while I had seen my aunt.
She was taking snuff furiously when I entered,
and broV out at once, very red in the face, and
wjilking anout in a terrible rage. My mother used
to say that the first thing one saw of my Aunt
Giiinor was her nose. It had been (piite too much
oP a, nose foi- the rest of her face, until gray hair an^■
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126 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
uess from an old wouiitl. But with his left he was
an expert swordsman, and, like left-handed swords-
men, the more dangerous.
*'We are glad to see thee. Cousin Wynne," said
my mother.
Seeing the marks of my handiwork still on his
cheek, I took his greeting with decent cordiality, and
said, " Sit down ; wilt thou smoke a pipe, Cousin
Arthur?"
He said he did not smoke, and set himself, with
the address ox a man used to a greater world than
ours, to charm those whom no doubt he considered
to be quite simple folk. In a few minutes the un-
pleasantness of the situation was over. lie and my
father were at one about politics, and I wisely held
my peace. He let fall a discreet sentence or two
about the habits of soldiers, and his own regrets,
and then said, laughing :
" Your son is not quite of your views as a Friend
in regard to warfare."
" My son is a hasty young man," said my father,
and I felt my mothei-'s touch on my arm.
Our cousin was in no way upset by this. He said,
" No, no, cousin ; he is young, but not hasty. I was
fitly dealt with. We are hot-blooded people, we
Wynnes. The ways of Friends are not our ways of
dealing with an injury, and it was more— I wish to
say so— it was an insult. He was right."
" There is no such thing as insult in the matter,"
said my father. " We may insult the great Master,
but it is not for man to resent or punish."
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker i 27
" I fear as to that we shall continue to differ." lie
spoke with the utmost deference. "Do you go to Wyn-
cote ? I hear you are for England in the autumn."
"No; I shall be too full of business. Wyncote
has no great interest for me,"
"Indeed? It might perhaps disappoint you— a
tumble-down old house, an embarrassed estate. My
brother will get but a small income when it falls to
him. My father fights cocks and dogs, rides to
hounds, and, I grieve to say, drinks hard, like all our
Welsh squires."
I was surprised at his frank statement. My mother
watched him curiously, with those attentive blue eyes,
as ray father returned :
" Of a certainty, thou dost not add to my induce-
ments to visit Wyncote. I should, I fear, be sadly
out of place."
" I am afi'aid that is but too true, unless your head
is better than mine. We are a sad set, we Wynnes.
All the prospenty, and I fear much of the decency
of the family, crossed the ocean long ago."
"Yet I should like to see Wyncote," said I. "I
think thou didst tell me it is not thy home."
" No ; a soldier can hardly be said to have a home ;
and a younger brother, with a tough father alive,
and an elder brother on an impoverished estate, must
needs be a wanderer."
" But we shall make thee welcome here," said my
father, with grave kindness. " We are plain people,
and live simply ; but a Wynne should always find,
as we used to say here, the latch-string outside."
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128 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
With a little more talk of the Wynnes, the captain,
declining to remain longer, rose, and, turning to me,
said, " I hear, Cousin Hugh, that you refused to say
that you were sorry for the sharp lesson you gave me
the other night. I have made my peace with your
mother."
" I shall see that my son behaves himself in future.
Thou hast heard thy cousin, Hugh ? "
I hud, and I meant to make it up with him, but my
father's effort as a peacemaker did not render my
course the more easy. Still, with the mother-eyes
on me, I kept my temper.
" I was about to say thou hast done all a man can
do," said I.
"■ Then let us shake hands honestly," he replied,
"and let bygones be bygones."
I saw both my parents glance at me. " I should
be a brute if I did not say yes, and mean it, too ; but
I cannot declare that I am sorry, except for the whole
business." And with this I took his left hand, a
variety of the commonplace ceremony which always,
to my last knowledge of Captain Wynne, affected me
unpleasantly.
He laughed. " They call us in Merionethshire the
wilfid Wynnes. You will find me a good friend if
you don't want the things I want. I am like most
younger brothers, inclined to want things. I thank
you all for a pleasant hour. It is like home, or better."
With this he bowed low to my mother's curtsey, and
went away, chatting as I conducted him to the door,
and promising to sail with me, or to fish.
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker i 29
Naturally enough, on my return I found my parents
discussing our newly found relative. My mother
thought he talk< -^ much of himself, and had been
pleasanter if he had not spoken so frankly of his
father. My father said little, except that there seemed
to be good in the young man.
"Why should we not forgive that in him which
we must forgive in our own son ? "
My father had some dreadful power to hurt me,
and to me only was he an unjust man ; this may
have been because my wrong-doing troubled both
his paternal and his spiritual pride. I was about
to say that there was little likeness between my sin
and that of my cousin ; but I saw my mother, as she
stood a little back of my father's great bulk, shake
her head, and I held my tongue. Not so she.
" If thou hfidst been a woman in my place, John
Wynne, thou wouldst be far from saying the thing
thou hast said."
Never had I heard or seen in our house a thing
like this. I saw, in the fading light, my fatlicr \^ ork-
ing his hands as I have described, a signal of re-
strained anger, and, like anything physically unus-
ual in one we love, not quite i)leasant to see. But
my mother, who knew not fear of him nor of any,
went on, despite his saying, "This is unseemly— un
seemly, wife."
" Thou art unjust, John, to my son."
"Thy son?"
"Yes ; mine as well as thine. I have faith that thou,
even thou, John, wouldst have done as my boy did."
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" I ? I ? " he criefl ; and now I saw that he was dis-
turbed, for he was moving his feet like some proud,
restrained horse pawing the grass. At last he
broke the stillness which followed his exclamations :
"There is but one answer, wife. Both have been
brutes, but this boy has been kept near to godly-
things all his life. Each First-day the tongues of
righteous men have taught him to live clean, to put
away wrath, to love his enemies; and in a day — a
minute— it is gone, and, as it were, useless, and I the
shame of the town."
I hoped tliis was all ; but my mother cried, " John !
John! It is thy pride that is hurt. No, it is not
seemly to dispute with thee, and before thy son. And
yet— and yet— even that is better than to let him go
with the thought that he is altogether like, or no better
than, that man. If thou hast a duty to bear testi-
mony, so have I." And thus the mother of the prod-
igal son had her say. No doubt she found it hard,
and I saw her dasli the tears away with a quick hand,
as she added, '' If I have hurt thee, John, I am sorry."
" There is but one answer, wife. Love thy enemy ;
do good to them that despitefully use thee. Thou
wilt niiu thy son with false kindness, and who shall
save him from the pit ? "
I turned at last in a storm of indignation, crying,
" Could I see my mother treated like a street-wench
or a gutter-drab, and lift no hand? I wish I had
kiUed him ! "
" See, wife," said my father. " Yes, even this was
to be borne."
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker i 3 i
" Not ])y me ! " I cried, and strode into the house,
wonderiug if t>ver I was to be done with it.
The day after no one of us showed a sign of this
outbreak. Never had I seen the like of it among us ;
but the Quaker liabit of absohite self-repression, and
of concealment of emotion again prevailed, so that
at breakfast we met as usual, and, whatever we may
have felt, there was no outward evidence of my
mother's just auger, of my fathei-'s bitteruess, or of
my own disgust.
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WAS not yet to see the end of my ini-
(jiiity, and v/as to feel tlie eonscciiuMices iu
ways whicli, fo!* many a day, influenced
my life and actions.
It was toward the end of June. The
feeling of uneasiness and drejid was becoming more
and more felt, not only in commerce, which is so son-
sitive, but also in the social relations of men. The
king's officers were more saucy, and, like all soldiers,
eager for motive service, inuigining an easy victory
over a people untrained in wai-. Such Toiy pam-
phleteers as the fonl-tongued ]Massa('husetts wi-iter,
Daniel Leonard, were answcrinu: "Yiiidex" (Mr.
Adams) and the widely retul letters of " An American
Farmer." The plan of organised correspondence
between the colonies began to be felt in some a])-
})roacli to nnily of acHon, for at this time the out-
spoken objection to the views of the king and his
facih^ minister was general, Jind even men like Oal-
loway. Chew, the Aliens, and John Peiin stood with
varying degrees of good will Jimong those who wei-e
urging resistance to oi)j)ression, As yet the too
mighty phantom of independence had not appeiu'ed
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 133
on the horizon of our stormy politics, to scare the
timid, and i<> consolidate onr own resistance.
I worked hard with my father at our lessening
and complicated business, riding far into the country
to collect debts, often with Jack, who had like er-
rands to do, and with whom I discussed the topics
which were so often, and not always too amiably, in
question at my Aunt Gainor's table. I was just
now too busy to be much with my old favourites, the
officers. Indeed, I was wise enough to keep away
from them.
My cousin I saw often, both at my aunt's, as I shall
relate, and elsewhere ; for he came much to our house,
and my father found it agreeahlt; to tnlk over wuth
him the news of the day. INIy mother did not like
him as well, but she held her ])eace, and, like every
other man, he was attracted by her gaiety, and quaint
way of looking at men and things.
Mr. Wilson I saw at times, as he still had, I know
not why, a fancy for me, nnd loved well to sail with
me of evenings over to Kaighn's l\)int to flsh, t)r
down to Gloucester to bob for crabs. I owed him
nmch. A profound knowledge of law, variety of
reading, and a mind which left broadly on our after-
history the marks of his powei'ful intelh^et, were at
my service. lie used to caution nn' how I spoke of
his o])inions to others, and ho would then discuss with
freedom politics and the men wlu)se ligures were fast
rising into distinctness as leaders to be listened to and
trusted. Many of them he knew, and thns first I heard
clearly what manner of persons were Patrick Henry
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134 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
and the Adamses, Dickinson, Peyton Randolph, and
others less prominent. In this way I came to be more
and more confirmed in the opinions my Aunt Gaiuor
so resolutely lield, and also more careful how I ex-
prosscui them. Indeed, although but twenty years of
aj?e, I was Ijecome (juite suddenly an older and graver
man. Mr. Wilson surprised me one day by saying
abruptly, as he pulled up a reluctant crab, " Do you
never think, Hugh, that we shall have war?''
I was indeed amazed, and said so. Then he added,
"It will come. My place will not bo in the field,
but, whether you like it or not, you v, ill see battles.
You were made for a soldier, Hugh, Quaker or no
Quaker."
I tliought it odd that two people as different as my
Aunt (Jainor and he should have the same belief
tliat we were drifting into war. She had said to me
the night before tliat slie had known Lord North as
a boy, and that the king was an obstinate Dutchman,
and would nuike his minister go his way, adding,
" When it comes yf)u will be in it ; you can't escape."
No one else whom I knew had any such belief.
Wilson's views and prediction sent me home thought-
ful enougli.
That evening my father said to me, "We go to
Merion the day after to-nu)rrovv." It was there we
spent our summers. "To-morrow will be Fourth-
day. It is our last day of Meeti ng in the town. There
will, ])erhaps, be some wise words said as to present
conlnsions, and 1 wish thee to hear them, my son."
I said, " Yes ; at seven, father ? " I was, however,
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 135
astonished ; for these occasional night Meetings in
the middle of the week were but rarely attended by
the younger Friends, and, although opened with such
religious observances as the society affected, were
chiefly reserved for })usiness and (questions of disci-
pline. I had not the least desire to go, but there was
no help for it.
Our supper took plac^e at six on this Wednivsday,
a little earUer than usual, and I observed that my
father drank several cui)s of tea, which was not his
habit. Few peoph^ took tea since the futile lax
had been set upon it; but my father continued to
di'ink it, and would have no concealment, as was the
custom witii souje Whigs, who in pul)lic prof(>ss(?d
to be opposed to the views of the crown as to the
right to collect indirect taxes.
Seeing that I did not drink it, and knowing that
I liked nothing bettcu* than a good dish of t(^a, lu^
asked nu^ why I did not partake of it. Not willing
to create new trouble, I said I did not want any.
He urged the matter no further, but I saw he was
not well pleased. We set off soon after in silence,
he walking with hands behind his back clasping his
gold-headed can(\ his colh-irless coat and waistcoat
below his beaver, and the gray hair in a thick mass
between. He wore slio(>s. fine drab sliort-elotlies,
and black silk stockings, all with(mt buckles; and
he moved rapidly, nodding to those he met on the
way, to the Hank Hill Meeting-house, in Front street,
above Arch.
It was a simple, one-story, brick building, set a
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few feet above the level of the roadway. The gables
and shutters were painted white, as was also the
plain Doric doorway, which had a pillar on each
side. I jndged by the number of both sexes enter-
inj^ that it was an unusual occasion. There were
many drab-coated men, and there were elderly women,
in gowns of drab or gray, with white silk shawls
and black silk-covered cardboard bonnets. Here and
there a man or woman was in gaj'er colours or wore
buckles, and some had silver buttons ; but these were
rnre. The Meeting-room was, so to speak, a large
oblong box with whitewashed walls. A broad
passage ran from the door to the farthei* end; on
the right of it sat the men, on the left the women ;
against the remoter wall, facing the rude benches,
were three rows of seats, one above the other. On
these sat at the back the elders, and in front of
them the overseers. The clerk of the Meeting had
a little desk provided for him. Over their heads
was a long sounding-board.
To me the scene had been familiar for years ; but
to-day it excited my attention because of an air of
expectation, and even of exciteuKnit, among the few
more youthful Friends. I saw, as we entered, furtive
glances cast at my father and myself; but as to this
I liad gi'own to be of late more or less indifferent, and
had no aiiticipation of what was to follow later.
I had l)ec()me, since my sad downfall, a more serious
and thoughtful young man, and far better fitted to
feel the beauty and the sjjirituality of these Meetings
than I had been before. When the doors were closed
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 137
I sat silent in prayer ; for some ten minutes increas-
ing stillness came upon one and all of the three or
four hundred people here met together.
As I waited, with long-trained patience, for full
twenty minutes, a yet deeper quiet fell on the
figures seated on each side of the aisle. For a
time none of the men uncovered, but soon a few
took off their broad hats, having remained with
them on their heads long enough to satisfy cus-
tom by this prot(?st against the ways of other men.
The larger number kept their hats on their heads.
Then a strange incident took place: a woman of
niiddle age, but gray, her hair fallen about her
shoulders, (entered noisily, and, standing before the
elders, (iried out in a loud voice, as though in afflic-
tion and sore distress, "See to your standing; the
Lord is about to search and examine your camp.
Ho ! ye of little faith and less works, the hand of
God is come upon you— the mighty hand of i)unish-
ment." As she spake thus wildly slie swayed to and
fro, and seemed to me disordered in mind. Finally
she passed across tlie apace in front of the oversj^ers,
to the women's side, and then back again, repeating
her mad languag(\ My Aunt Gainor's great bronze
Buddha was not more motionless than tliey who snt
on the ehh'vs' seats. At last the wonuin faced the
Meeting, and went down the aisle, waviiiijr her hands,
and (trying out, '' I shall have peace, ]>eace, in thus
having discharged my Lord's errand." The many
there met did justice to iiieir dis(upline. Scarce^ a
face showed the surprise all must have felt. No one
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138 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
turned to see her go out, or seemed to hear the door
banged furiously after her. The covered heads re-
mained silent and undisturbed; the rows of deep
bonnets were almost as moveless. Fully ten minutes
of perfect silence followed this singular outljurst.
Then I saw the tall, gaunt figure of Nicholas Wain
rise slowly, a faint but pleasant smile on his severe
face, while he looked about him and began :
" Whether what ye have heard be of God I cannot
say. The time hath troubled many souls. The woman,
Sarah Harris, who hath, as some are aware, borne
many sweet and pleasing testimonies to Friends in
Wilmington, I know not. Whether what ye have
heard be of God or but a rash way of speech, let us
feel that it is a warning to Friends here assembled
that we be careful of what we say and do. It hath
been borne in ui)on me that Friends do not fully
understand one another, and that some are moved
to wrath, and some inclined to think that Friends
should depart from their ways and question that
which hath been done by the rulers God hath set over
us. Let us be careful that our General Epistles lean
not to the aiding of corrupt and wicked men, who are
leading weak-minded persons into paths of violence."
And here he sat down.
A moment later got up Thomas Hcattergood, grim
and dark of visage. None of his features expressed
the slightest emotion, although even from the begin-
ning ho spoke with vehemence and his body rocked
to and fro.
" The days are darkening ; the times are evO. Our
master, set over us by God, has seen fit to tax cer-
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 139
tain commodities, that means may be raised for the
just government of these colonies, wliere Ave and our
fathers luivc pi-ospered in our worldly jjoods, under
a ride that has left us free to worsliip Uod as seems
best to us. And now we are bid bj' men, not of our
society, unjj^odly self-seekers, sons of darkness, to
unite with them in the way of resistance to the law.
There have even been found here among us those
who have signed agreements to dis(»])t'y such as are
set over us, unmindful of the order to render to Caesar
that which is his. Let there be among Friends neither
fear nor any shortcoming. Let us bear testimony
against evil-doers, whether they be of us or not. Let
us cut down and utterly cast forth those who depart
from righteousness. Are they not of the scum which
risetli on the boiling pot ? There is a time for Friends
to remonstrate, and a time to act. I fear lest these
too gentle counsels of Friend Wain be out of time
and out of i)la(!e. Away with those wlio, hearing,
heed not. Let them be dealt with as they should be,
with love for the sinner, but with thought as to the
evil which comes of unscourged examples, so that
when again we are met in the Quai'terly jNlecting there
shall be none among us to .stir uj) discord, and Wi) can
say to other Meetings, 'As we have done, so do ye.
Make clean the house of the Lord.'"
The night was now u])on us, and the ringing tones
of the spcakei- were heard through the darkness be-
fore he sat down. Wliih' all waited, two Fri<'nds
lit the candles set in tin sconces against the i>illars
of the gallery, and, in the dim light they gave, the
discussion went on.
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140 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
Then I saw that Arthur HowoU was about to speak.
This able and tender-minded man usiudly sat in
Meetinjj^ with his head bent, his felt hat before his
eyes, wrapj^ed in thought, and lifted al)f)ve all con-
sideration of the things of this earth. As he began,
\is rich, full voice lilled the space, and something in
its i)leadiiig sweetness appealed to every heart. He
spoke as one who, having no doubt, wondered that
any one else shoidd doubt, and he brought the dis-
cussion to a decisive point at once.
'' It is well," he said, " that all should be convinced
by those who, from age and influence among Friends,
have the best right of speech. Nevertheless, since
this is a Meeting for dis(!ipline, let all be heard with
fairiK'ss and order. Men have gonc^ astray. They
have contend(Hl for the asserting of civil rights in
a manner contrary to our peaceabh^ profession and
principles, and, although rep(>atedly admonished, do
not numifest any disposition to make the Meeting a
proper acknowledgment of their outgoings. There-
fore it is that we bear our testimony against such
practices, and can have no unity with those who fol-
low them until they come to a sense of their errors.
Tlierefore, if this be the sense of s
ran down and flared disnudly. A man with snuffers
went to and fro, and the pungent odours of (iandles,
burned out and to be re))la(x'd, filled the room.
Tu the (piiet which followed Arthur Ilovvell's re-
fined and distinct accents, I looked at tht; row of
placid faces where the women sat, sonic I'osy, some
old, all in the monastic cell of th(^ bonnet, which made
it as imi)ossil)le to see, exce[)t in front, as it is for a
horse with blinders. I wondered how this (jucer head-
gear came to have been nuule, and r«*called my nunt's
amusenu'ut at th6 care exercised as to its form and
nuiterial. Few tliere, I think, let their ilioughts
wander, and in front of me tlu» row of dral) coats and
wide felt or beaver hats remained almost motionless.
At last James Piiinbei'ton, the esteemed clerk of
the Meeting, rose. "I am moved," he said, "by the
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142 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
Spirit to declare that the sense, and also the weig:ht,
of tlie Meeting is that Cyrus Edson and William
Jameson be advised, in acteordanee with tiie instructed
wish of Friends."
He then sat down. There was no vote taken.
Even had a majority of those present l)een hostile to
the proposed action, it is improbable that any protest
would have been made. The (derk's statement that
the weight of the Meeting was affirmative, would
have been held to settle the matter, as it a[)peared
best to a limited number of those recognised, through
their piety and strict living, to be conii)etent to decide
for the rest.
I was now assured that this was all, and looked to
see two of the elders shake hands, which is the well-
recognised signal for the Meeting to break ui>; l)ut
as the elders did not move, the rest sat still and waited.
By and by I saw Nicholas Walu extend his hand to
my father, who, looking steadily before him, made
no sign of perceiving this int<'ntion to dismiss
Friends. A still k)nger pause followed. As I learned
afterward, no further s[)eaking was anticipated. No
one stirred. For my i>art, I was (juite ready to go,
and impatientl}' awaited the signal of dismissal. A
minute oi* two passed; then I was aware of a short,
neatly l>uilt man, who rose from a bench near by.
llis face was strong, irregular of feature, and for
some reason impressed me. I could see even in
the indistinct light that he flushed deeply as he got
up on his feet. He received instant attention, for he
went past nie, and, standing in the passageway, was
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 143
quiet for a moment. He was, 1 tliink, not over tliirty,
and seemed embarrassed at tlie instant attention he
received. For a few minutes he appeared to seek
his words, and then, (^uite suddenly, to find them in
eloquent abundance.
" It is not usual,'' he said, *' for disowned members
of the society to openly protest. Neither are these
our brothers here to-day. Nor, were they with us,
are tlu'v so skilled wdth the tongue as to be able to
defend themselves against the strong lauguag(» of
Thomas Scattergood or the gentle speech of Arthur
Howell, I would say a word for them, and, too, for
myself, since nothing is more sure than that T think
them right, and know that ye will, before long, cast
out me, to whom your worship is sweet and lovely,
and the ways of Friends for the most })art such as
seem to me more acceptable than those of any other
Christian society. Whether it be that old memories
of persecution, or too gi'eat prosperity, have liarden Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
dn' and dry, you liardon aud slii-ink, and see it not.
A wild wonian has told you to set your (^auip in order.
See to ii, my friends ; see to it ! "
For i>ot less than a minute the speaker remained
silent, V'ith bended head, still keejiinj^ the won-
derl'ully steady attention of this staid assembly.
Very slowly he lifted his face, and now, as he began
a«i:ain, it was with a look of tender sweetness: "It
was far back in S«M'ond-month, 1771, I began to be
eneonijiassed by doubts as to the course Friends were
takinii:. To-dav I am assured in spirit that V(m are
wrong in the support yon gave, and, hit me say, are
giving, to an unjust cause. I think I take an inno-
eent liberty to express myself on this occasion, also
accoiding to the ju'ospect I have of tlie nuittei'.
There is something d\w to the ki?ig, and sonu-thing
to tlu' cause of the }>ublic. When kings d«'viate from
the righteous law of justice in which kings ought to
rule, it is the right, aye, and the religious duty, of the
p* ;ple to be plain and honest in letting them know
where. I am not a person of such cousecpienee as
to dictate ; but there is in me and in you u eourv, to
which T confidently appeal. I Jiinr ai)pealed to it in
l)i*ayer as to what my course shall be. I obey my
eonscience. Take I'ced that you do not act rashly."
Ileve again, after these (^ah.. vvords, he ])auRed, and
thru said, with emphatic sternness, "As my last
words, let me leave with you the admonitiou of the
great founder of tliis colony. 'I beseech you,' he
says, 'for the sake of Chri'^t^ who so sharply pro-
hibited making «»thers suffer for theii* reiij;iou, that
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 147
you liuvo a care how you exercise power over otlier
int'u's consciences. My friends, conscience is God's
throne in man, and the power of it His prerogative ! '
These are solemn words. Whetlier vou h ave me to
live among you, free to do what seems rigiit to me,
or drive me forth, wlio liave no wisli to go, now and
always I shall love you. Tliat love you cannot take
away, nor weaken, nor disturb."
I was sorry when the melody of this clear voice
ceased. The speaker, wiping tlie moisture from his
brow, stood still, and, covering his face witli his hands,
was lost in the prayer which I doubt not followed.
A long interval of absence of all souiul came after
he ceased to si)eak. No one replied. Tlu? nuitter was
closed, a decision reached, and the clerk instructed.
1 knew enough to feel sure that those manly tones
of appeal and remonstrance had failed of their
purpose.
At this moment T saw an elderly man on the seat
before me rise, and with deliberateness kneel in
prayer; or, as Friends say, Israel Sharpless appeared
in supplication. At first, as he Ix'gan to be heard.
Friends rose here and there, until all were afoot and
all uncovered. The silence ami reverent bended heads,
and the dim light, affected nu» as never b«'fore. Many
turned their backs on the praying man, an odd cus-
ton\, but common. As he prayed his voices rose until
it filled the great room; and of a suchlen I started,
and broke t)ut iu a cold sweat, for this was what I
heard :
** O Lord, arise, and let Tliine enemies be scattered.
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Dip me deeper in Jordan. Wash me in the laver of
regeneration. Give me courage to wrestle with ill-
doers. Let my applications be heard.
" Father of mercy, remember of Thy pity those of
the yonng among us who, being fallen into evil ways,
are gone astray. We pray that they who have gam-
bled and drunk and brought to shame and sorrow
their (aiders may be recovered into a better mind,
and sin no more. We pray Thee, Almiglity P\ither,
that they be led to consider and to repent of deeds
of violence, that those among us whom the confusion
of the times has set against the law and authority of
riders be better counselled ; or, if not, strengthen us
so to deal with these young men as shall make pure
again Thy sheepfold, that they be no longer a means
of leading others into wickedness and debauchery."
1 heard no more. This man was a clos(^ friend of my
father. I knew but too well that it was I who was
thus reproved, and thus j)ut to shame. I looked tliis
way and that, the hot blood in my face, thinking to
escape. (Custom held me. I caught, as I stared,
furtive glances from some of the younger folk. Here
and there s(»me sweet, gentle face considered me a
moment with pity, or with a curiosity too strong for
even the grim discipline of Friends. I stood erect,
TIk' prayer went on. Now and then I caught a phrase,
but th;^ most juirt of what he said was lost to me. I
looked al.<)ut me at times with the anguish of a
trapped animal.
At last I saw tln^.t my gentle-voiced speakei*, Weth-
erill, was, like mysiclf, rigid, with upheld head, and
Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 149
that, with a faint smilo on his face, he was lookinp:
toward nie. Minute after minute passed. Would
they nt^ver be done with it? I began to wonder what
was going on nnder tliose bent gray hats and bhiek
l)onnets. I was far away from penitence or remorse, a
])ruispd and tormented man, helpless, if everaman was
helpless, under the monotonous and silent reproach of
some hundreds of people who had (iondemned me un-
heard. It did se(»m as if it never would end.
At last the voice died out. The man rose, and put
on his hat. All resumed their seats and their head-
coverings. I saw that Friend Scattergood extended a
hand to my father, who was, as I have not yet stated,
an elder. The grasp was ac(!epted. Elders and over-
seers, both men and women, rose, and we also. I
l)ushed my way out, rudely, I fear. At the door
James Pemberton put out his hand. I looked him
full in the face, and turned away from tlu^ too iiupiis-
itive h)oks of the younger Friends. I went ])y my
father without a word. H(^ could not have known
what j)ain his method of saving my soul would cost
me. That he had been in some way active in the
matter I did not doubt, and I knew later that my
opiuion was but too correc;^
Hastening down Front street with an overwhelm-
ing desire to l)e alone, I paused at our own do'- and
theu, late as it was, now close to ten, I uumoorcly, and when I felt her
right arm about me, I said, *' Hold fast ! " and gave
the mare her head. A mile suflieed, with the double
\)urden, so to quiet her that she came down to her
usual swift and steady walk.
When there was this (chance to talk without hav-
ing every word jolted out in fragments, the j'oung
person was silent; and when I remarked, ''There
is now an opportunity to chat with comfort," said :
" I was waiting, sir, to hear your excuses ; but per-
haps Friends do not apologise."
I thought her saucy, for I had done my best ; and
for her to think me unmannerly was neither just nor
kind.
" If I am of thy friends—"
" Oh, Quakers, I meant. Friends with a large F,
Mr. Wynne."
'' It had been no jesting matter if the mare had
given thee a hard fall."
'' I should have liked that better than to be ordered
to do as your worship thought fit."
" Then thou shouldst not have obeyed me."
" But I had to."
*' Yes," I said. And the talk having fallen into these
15^ Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
!
brevities, Miss Peniston was quiet awhile, no doubt
pouting prettily ; her face was, of course, hid from me.
After a while she said something about the mile-
stones being near together, and then took to praising
Lucy, who, I must say, had behaved as ill as a horse
could. I said as much, whereon I was told that
mares were jealous animals; which I thought a
queer speech, and replied, not knowing well how to
reph', that the mare was a gof)d beast, and that it
was fair flattery to praise a man's horse, for what
was best in the horse came of the num's handling.
" But even praise of his watch a man likes," said
she. " He has a fine appetite, and likes to fatten
his vanity."
She was too (|uick for me in those days, and I never
was at any time very smart at this game, having to
reflect too long before seeing my way. I said that
she was no doubt right, but thus far that I had
bad thin diet.
Perhaps saj'ing that Lucy was gay and well bred
and had good paces was meant to please the rider.
This woman, as I found later, was capable of many
varieties of social conduct, and was not above flatter-
ing for the mere pleasure it gave her to indulge her
generosity, and for the joy she had in seeing others
happy.
Wondering if what she had said might be tnie,
held me quiet for a while, and busied with her words,
I quite forgot the young woman whose breath I felt
now and then on mv hair, as she sat behind me.
Silence never suited Miss Peniston long in those
Hugh Wynne: F'ree Quaker 159
days, and especially not at this time, she being in a
merry mood, such as a little adventure causes. Her
moods were, in fact, many and changeful, and, as I
was to learn, were too apt to rule even her serious
actions for the time ; but under it all was the true
law of her life, strongly charactered, and abiding
like the constitution of a land. It was long before I
knew the real woman, since for her, as for the most
of us, all early acquaintance was a masquerade, and
some have, like this lady, as many vizards as my
Aunt Gainor had in her sandalwood box, with her
long gloves and her mitts.
The mare being now satisfied to walk comfortably,
we were going by the Wister house, when I saw saucy
young Sally Wister in the balcony over the stoop,
midway of the penthouse. She knew us both, and
pretended shame for us, with her hands over her
face, laughing merrily. "We were friends in after-
life, and if you woidd know how gay a creature
a young Quakeress could be, and how full of mis-
chief, you should see her journal, kept for Deborah
Logan, then Miss Norris. It has wonderful gaiety,
and, as I read it, fetches back to mind the officers
she prettily sketches, and is so sprightl}'^ and so full
of a life that must have been a joy to itself and to
others, that to think of it as gone and over, and of
her as dead, seems to me a thing impossible.
It was not thouglit proper then for a young woman
to go on pillion behind a young man, and this Miss
Sally well knew. I dare say she set it down for the
edification of her young friend.
I •41
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i6o HiiL^h W'vnnc: Free Quaker
''Tlic cliiltl" (slir was ralluT mon' than that) "is
saury/' saiil niy lady, who iiiKhrstood vvell cuouj^h
what her Lrrsturrs iiu-aut. ''I sliouKl like to box lier
oars. You wi'ic vrry si]«'nt just ii(>w, Mr. Wynne.
A penny is uli:!* most folks' thou^lits arc hid for,
out youi'.s mav ht* worlh niori*. I wouUl not stand
at a shilling,''."
''Tiicn iriv»' it to nic," .said I. ''I assure thee a
guinea wen; too 111 tie."
" Whiit are they/"
"Oh, hut theshillin^^"
*' 1 i»roniise."
"1 seem to see a litth', dark-faeed ehild erying be-
eause of a l>ov in disuraee— "
"Trettv?'' slie asked deitiurelv.
"No. riilher itltiiii."
*' Vou .seem to have too y,()od a memory, sir. Who
was she/''
"She is not liere to-day."
"Yes, yes!" she cried. "I liave her— oh, some-
whci'c ! She comes oat <»n (wcasions. You may
never see h<'i' : y(»u m.'iy see her to-moi-row."
1 was to si'c her often. " My shilliu};,'' I said.
"Tlint was onlv a iest, Mr. Wvnne. i\Iv other
^'irl has stolen it, for rcin«'Mil)ranee of ;i lak'', |»riinccd jihonl. .nid Miss i)arlh«.'U
was forced t<» iiold t(» mv waist for u minute.
•
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker f6i
" The mare is ill broke," she cried. " Why does
she not ^o uloiip (luietly / "
" She hates dislionesty/' I said.
" But I have not k penny."
"Thou shouhlst :i''V«'r run in debt if thou art.
witliout means. It is worse tiiau pimhliufj:, sinee
here tiiou hast !ui(l a consideration for thy money,
and I am out of pocket by a vahiable thouj,dit."
" I am very b.id. I may ^'«'t prayed over in Meeting;,
oulv we do not have the custom at C'iirist Clnircli,"
I was struck dum)>. Of cour.si' everyone knew of
my (b.saster and what came of it; but that a youuj;:
^irl shouhl taunt m«' with it, ano, in my aunt's house, the ways
an«l manners of a hirger world, and, if I had yielded
to its temptations, I had at least proflte«l by the bit-
ter lesson. I was on the verge of nuMihood, and had
begun to feel as I iuid never done before the charm
of woman ; this Uf^ yet I hardly knt^w.
As w(^ breasted the hill, and saw ))eneath us
the great forest-land spread out, with its scattered
farjns, an exchimation of delight broke from my
companion's li])s. It wns beautiful then, as it is to-
tlay, with the far-setMi rangt^ of hills beyond the river,
where lay tlu» Valley Forge I was to know so well, and
Whiiemarsh, all under the ha/.y blue of a cool August
day, with the northwest wind bh)wing in my face.
Iliu^h Wynne: Free Quaker ih
Within thore wero my aunt .inci some young wo-
men, ami my Cousin Arthur, with explanations to he
made, after whi(^h my young woman hurried oft' to
make her toilet, and I to rid me ol" my riding-dress.
It was about seven wlien we assembled out of doors
under the trees, where on sumiuer days my Aunt
(jrainor liked to have supper served. My Cousin
Wynne left Mrs. P\M'guson and came to meet me.
We strolled apart, and he began to ask me questions
about the tea eargoes expected soon, but whii^h came
not until December. I said my father's voyage would
prevent his actiug as consignee, and this seemed to
surprise him and make him thoughtful, ])erli!jps be-
cause he was aware of mv father's untlincliing lovaltv.
He spoke, too, of Mr. Wilson, a])])e!iring Mud this
was natural enough— to know of my intinuu'y with
the Whig genth'uum. I was eai.tious in my replies,
and he learned, I think, but little. Tt was a pity, he
said, that mv father wouhl not visit Wvncote. Tt
sc«'med to me that he dwelt overmuch on this matter,
and my aunt, who greatly fancied him, wasalsoof lliis
opinion. T learned long after tliat he desired to
feel entirely assured Jis to the certainty of this visit
not being made. I said now that I wishe»l 1 had my
father's chance to see our Welsh home, and tiiat 1
(►ftcn f«'lt sorry mv grandfallier had gi»' ii it up.
" liut he did," said my cousin, " and no great thing,
either. Here you are important people. We are
petty Welsh scpiires. in a decaying old hou.se, with
no money, and altogether snudl folk. I should like
to change places with you."
: i
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164 Hugh WyiiiK- : I'rte Quaker
I
rrwf
"Alul yet. I n'|jfn»( it," snid 1, My Aunt Gainer
lijid filled iiic titll of the pride of race.
i spokr MS we iipjirojK'licd tlio f^roiij) alxnit my
aunt, and 1 saw liis fiice take; an expression wliich
struck me. lie had a way of half el«)siny: his eyes,
an«l letting' liis Jaw dn»p a little 1 saw it often after-
ward, i suspfci, now that he was dealinjj: intensely
witii SOUK' problem wliieh jiu/zhtl hiui.
Ilese«'iiicd to me to he rnt-ircly uiic(»nseioiis of this
Siiiirular expression of faee, or, as at this time, to ho
off liis '.ruard; for the look did not ehanp', nllliou^di
I was <,';i/,in}j: at him with attention. Suddenly I
saw conic down ilic y-recn alley, walled with W(«ll-
trimmed Itox, a fresh vision of her who hail l»een
ridinir with me s«) laticlv. Mv cousin also l>ecame
awari' of the (iijurc which passed j,'aily under the
trees and smiled at us fr<»m afar.
"By (ieorroidcrcd roses hci'c and thei'c, a
hodicc of tiie same, cut siiuare over a ^irl-like neck,
whit<', and not yet liUed nj(. Her lon^^ ^doves were
held up to the sleev(> by tiu'htcns of j)laittMl white
hoi'seliair, which held a, ivd roscimd in <'ach tie; and
hei' hair was hraided with a rihhon, and s«'t hli;ti in
coils on her head, with hut little jiowder. As she
came to meet us she dropped a curtsey, and kissed
my aunt's hand, as was expectetl of youiifj: peoj»le.
I lia\c tried siiK'c to think wh.al iii.adf her so un-
like oilier women. It was not the sinf
feminine att!"U!tiveii(^ss, more eommon in those who
are older than she, and fuller in bud; rare, I think,
in one whose vii'jiin curves have not vet. eome to
maturity. What she was to me that summer even-
ing she was to all men - a creature (►f many moods,
and of great ]tower toex))ress them in face and V(>ice.
She was young, she loved admiration, and could be
earri«'d off her feet at times by the follies of the
gay woi'ld.
If you sh(»uld wonder how, at this distant day, I
can recall her dr«'ss, T mavsav that one of mv aunt's
lessons was that a man should notice how a woman
•Iressed, and not fail at. times to ccoMpliment, a gown,
or a prettv fashion of hair. Von mav see that I had
I •■ ft'
som«' (|ueei' schoolmast<'rs.
I said to my cousin, "That is Miss Darthea Pen-
iston.''
"Darthea,'' he rej)eated. "She l«K)ks the natne.
Sad if she hatl been calh'd Deborah, or sonic of your
infernally idiotic Scripture names."
lie was duly presented, and. I must say, made the
most of his ciiances for two davs. so that the elder
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1 66 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
dames were aroused at Darthea's conquest, my cousin
liuviiig so far sliown no marked preference for any
one except the elder Miss Franks, wlio was rich and
charming enough to have many men at her feet,
despite her Hebrew lilood.
In trutli he had been hit hard that fatal August
aft(!rno<)ii, and hu proved a bold and constant wooer.
With me it was a more tardy iiilluence which Ihe fair
Darthca as surely exerted. I was troubh'd and dis-
turbed at the eonstanc^y of my growing and ardent
alTeetiou. At first I scarce knew why, but by and
by I knew too well ; and tlu; more hopeless became
the business, tlu! more resolute did I grow ; tliis is
my way and natiu'e.
During the remaining weeks of summer I saw
much of Miss IVnistou, and almost imperceptibly
was nnide at last to fei;!, for \hv. first tinn; in my life,
the mysterious infiuenco of woman. Now and then
W(^ rode witli my aunt, or went to see the troops re-
vi<;w»'d. I tliought she liked me, but it so(m became
only too clear that at this game, where hearts were
trumps, 1 was no nuitch for my dai'k, handsome
cousin, in his brilliant uniform.
xn
|N September 1, 1773, and earlier tlian
had been meant, my father set sail for
London with my ever dear mother.
Many assembhul to see the "Fair Trader"
leave her moorings. I went with my
people as far as Lewes, and on aceount of weather
had much ado to get ashore. The voyage down the
Delaware was slow, for from want of proper lights
we must needs lay by at night, and if winds were
contrary were forced to wait for the ebb.
While I was with them my father spoke much to
me of business, 1 >ut neither blamed my past, nor praised
my later care and assiduity in affairs. He was surt^
the king would have his way, and, I thought, felt sorry
to have so readily given up the consigneeship of the
teas. I was otherwise minded, and I asked what was
to be done in the event of certain troubles such as
many feared. He said that Thomas, his old clerk,
would decide, and my Aunt (lainor had a power of
attorney ; as to the troubles I spoke of, Ik; well
knew that I meant such idle disturbances of pea«!0
as James Wilson and Wethcrill were doing their
best to bring about.
"Thy Cousin Arthm* is better advised," he suid,
i
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167
H
I
I 68 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
'' and a man of sound judpfmont. Thou mightst seek
worse <'<)unsel on orcasion of need."
I was surjuMsed at tliis, for I should liave believed,
save as to t\w kin^, they could not have had cue
o{)iuion in romnion.
Far other were those sweeter talks I had with my
in«)tlier, as we sat on the deck in a blaze of sunlight.
Slic burned <'ver a liandsomc ]»rown, without freekles,
and h)ved to sit out, even in our great heats. She
wouhl have me be earefnl at my aunt's not to be led
into idleness ; for tlie rest I had her honest trust ; and
her blue eyes, l)riglit with preeious tears, declared
her love, and hopeful belief. I must not negleet mv
Fren(;h— it would keep her in mind; and she weni
on in that tongue to say what a joy I had been in
her life, and how even my follies had let her see how
true a gentleman I was. Then, and never before,
did she say a thing whieh left on my mind a fear
that life had not brought and kept for her through-
out all the ha])piness whieh so good and noble a
creature deserved.
" TIktc is much of thy father in thee, Hugh. Thou
art firm as he is, and fond of thine own way. This
is not bad, if thou ai't thoughtful to see that thy way
is a good way. But do not grow hard. And when
thou art come to love some good woman, do not
make her life a struggle."
"lint I love no woman, inn mh'<" T cried, "and
never shall, as T l(>ve thee. It is tlu^ whole of my lovo
thou hast, rlihr, ihhr nuimau ; thou hast it all."
" Ah, then 1 shall know to divide with her, Hugh j
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 169
and I sliall b<} gcucrous too. If thou hast any little
fancies tVuit way, tlioii must vvriti' and tell lue. Oh,
man Jils, tliou wilt write ofttii, inul 1 must know
all the news. 1 do hear thai Darthea IVniston is in
thy aunt's house a good deal, and ^ladiim Ferguson,
the gossip, woiUd have me hflu've thou earest for her,
and thai ^Ulhur Wynne is takt n in the same net. I
liked her. I did not tell thee that thy Aunt Gainor
left her with me for an ho»ir while .*^
^\
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23 WEST MAIN STRUT
WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580
(716) 872-4503
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1 70 Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker
Is it this woman T Or would he spy out the land to
know what we mean to do ? I am sure he has orders
to watch the way things are going, or why should not
he have gone with Sir Guy Carleton to Quebec f It
is a roundabout way to go through Philadelphia."
I said I did not know ; but her words set me to
thinking, and to wondering, too, as I had not done
before. Another time she asked me why Arthur
talked so as to disgust my father out of all idea of
going to see the home of his ancestors. I promised
to be careful as to my cousin, whom, to tell the truth,
I liked less and less as time ran on.
At Lewes we parted. Shall I ever forget it?
Those great blue eyes above the gunwale, and then
a white handkerchief, and then no more. When I
could no longer see the ship's hull I climbed a great
sand-dune, and watched even the masts vanish on
the far horizon. It was to me a solemn parting.
The seas were wide and perilous in those days, the
buccaneers not aU gone, and the trading ship was
small, I thought, to carry a load so precious.
As the sun went down I walked over the dunes,
which are of white sand, and forever shifting, so as
at one time to threaten wilh slow burial the little
town, and at another to be moving on to the forest.
As they changed, old wrecks came into view, and I
myself saw sticking out the bones of sailors buried
here long ago, or haply cast ashore. A yet stranger
thing I beheld, for the strong northwest wind, which
blew hard all day and favoured the "Fair Trader," had
80 cast about the Ane sand that the buried snow of
Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 171
last winter was to be seen, whicn seemed to me a
thing most singular. When I told Jack, he made
verses about it, as he did sometimes, but would
show them only to me. I forget entirely what
he wrote; how a man can 'nake verses and dig
rhymes out of his head has always been to me a
puzzle.
At the town inn, " The Lucky Fisherman," I saw,
to my surprise, Jack on horseback, just arrived. He
said he had a debt to collect for his father. It was
no doubt true, for Jack could not tell even the
mildest fib and not get rose-red. But he knew how
I grieved at this separation from my mother, and, I
think, made an occasion to come down and bear me
company on my long ride home. I was truly glad to
have him. Together we wandered through the great
woodlands Mr. Penn had set aside to provide fli*e-
wood forever for the poor of Lewes.
The next day we sent Tom on ahead with our sacks
to Newcastle, where we meant to bait ourselves and
our horses. But first we rode down the coast to
Rehoboth, and had a noble sea-bath ; also above the
beach was a bit of a fresh- water lake, most delicious
to take the salt oflf the skin. After this diversion,
which as usual dismissed my blue devils, we set out
up the coast of the Bay of Delaware, and were able
to reach Newcastle that evening, and the day after
our own homes.
This ride gave us a fine chance for talk, and we
made good use of it.
As we passed between the lu^dges and b(;low the
Hi
172 Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker
old Swede church nigh to Wilmington, Jack fell into
talk of Darthea Peniston. Why we had not done so
before I knew not then ; we were both shy of the
subject. I amused myself by insisting that she was
but a light-minded young woman wdth no strong
basis of character, and too fond of a red coat. It
did amuse me to see how this vexed Jack, who
would by no means accept my verdict. We con-
versed far longer on the stormy quarrels of the
colonies and their stepmother England, who seemed
to have quite forgot of what blood and breed they
were.
Concerning my Cousin Wynne, with whom at first
I had been much taken, Jack was not inclined to
speak freely. This I foolishly thought was because
Arthur laughed at him, and was, as he knew, of
some folks' notion that Jack was a feminine kind of
a fellow. That he had the quick insight and the
heart of a woman was true, but that was not all of
my dear Jack.
My aunt came back to town early in September,
and I took up my abode in her town house, where a
new life began for me. Letters went and came at long
intervals. Our first reached me far on in October.
My mother wrote : *^ There is great anger here in
London because of this matter of the tea. Lord
Germaine says we are a tumultuous rabble; thy
father has been sent for by Lord North, and I fear
has spoken unadvisedly as to things at home. It is
not well for a wife to differ with her husband, and
this I will not ; nevertheless I am not f idly of his
Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 173
way of thinking as to these sad troubles ; this, how-
ever, is not for any eye or ear but thine. Benjamin
Franklin was here to see us last week. He seems to
think we might as well, or better, pay for the tea,
and this suited thy father ; but after thus agreeing
they went wide apart, Franklin having somewhat
shed his Quaker views. I did fear at times that the
talk would be strong.
" When he had gone away, thy father said he never
had the Spirit with him, and was ever of what creed
did most advantage him, and perhaps underneath of
none at all. But this I think not. He hath much
of the shrewd wisdom of New England, which I like
not greatly ; but as to this, I know some who have
less of any wisdom, and, after all, I judge not a man
so wise, and so much my elder.
" General Gage, lately come hither on a visit, we
are told assured the king that no other colony would
stand by Massachusetts, and that four regiments
could put an end to the matter. I am no politician,
but it makes me angry to hear them talk of us as if
we were but a nursery of naughty children. It seems
we are to pay for the tea, and until we do no ships
may enter Boston harbour. Also all crown officers
who may commit murder are to })e tried in England j
and there is more, but I forget."
This was mo.4 of it fresh news to us. Meanwhile
Hutchinson, the governor of the rebel State, was
assuring Lord North that to resist was against our
interest, and we, being " a trading set," would never
go to extremes. " As if," said Wilson, " nations, like
•i:
174 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
iiii
men, had not passions and emotions, as well as day-
books and ledgers."
Meanwhile at home our private affairs were rapidly
wound up and put in good condition. My father
found it difficult to collect his English debts, and so
had to limit his purchases, which we stowed as they
came over, decMning to sell. As business failed, I
was more and more at leisure, and much in the com-
pany of my cousin, whom to-day I disliked, and to-
morrow thought the most amusing and agreeable of
companions. He taught me to shoot ducks at League
Island, and chose a good fowling-piece for me.
On Sundays I went to hear my aunt's friend, the
Rev. Mr. White, preach at Christ Church, and would
not go to Meeting, despite Samuel Wetherill, whose
Society of Free Quakers did not come to life until
1780. Meanwhile by degrees I took to wearing finer
garments. Cards I would never touch, nor have I
often, to this day.
One morning, long after my parents left, my Aunt
Gainor looked me over with care, pleased at the
changes in my dress, and that evening she presented
me with tM'o fine sets of neck and wrist ruffles, and
with paste buckles for knees and shoes. Then she told
me that my cousin, the captain, had recommended
Pike as a fencing-master, and she wished me to take
lessons ; " for," said she, " who knows but you may
some day have another quarrel on your hands, and
then where will you be ? "
I declared that my father would be properly furi-
ous ; but she laughed, and opened and shut her fan,
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 175
and said he was three thousand miles awfciy, and that
she was my guardian, and responsible for my educa-
tion. I was by no means loath, and a day later went
to see the man with my Cousin Arthur, wlio asked, as
we went, many questions about my mother, and then
if my father had left England, or had been to Wyn-
cote.
I had, as he spoke, a letter in my pocket writ in
the neat characters I knew so well ; our c.ark com-
ing from New York had just given it to me, and as
I had not as yet read it, liking for this rare pleasure
to taste it when alone, I did not mention it to my
cousin. I told him I was sure my father would not
go to Wales, both because of business, and for other
reasons ; but I hoped when he came back to get leave
to be a year away, f.nd then I should be sure to visit
our old nest.
My cousin said, " A. year— a year," musingly, and
asked when my parents would return.
I said, "About next October, and by the islands,"
meaning the Madeiras.
To this Arthur Wynne returned, in an absent 'ash-
ion, " Many things may happen in a year."
I laughed, and said his observation could not be
contradicted.
"What observation ?" he replied, and then seemed
so self-absorbed that T cried out :
" What possesses thee, Cousin Wynne T Thou art
sad of late. I can teU thee the women say thou art
in love."
" And if I were, what then T "
1 76 Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker
This frankness in a man so mature seemed to me
odd, when I thought how shy was the growing ten-
derness my own heart began to hide. His words
troubled me. It could only be Darthea Peniston.
After a silence, sucli as was frequent in my cousin,
he added, "I fear that blushing friend of yours is
fluttering about a certain bright candle. A pity
the lad were not warn-^d. You are my cousin,
and of course my friend. I may have to go away
soon, and I may ask you to do a certain thing
for me when I am gone. No man nor lad shall
stand in my way, and you must hold your tongue
too."
I was puzzled and embarrassed. I said cautiously,
" We shall see." But as to Jack Warder, I liked not
what he said, and for two reasons. I knew that,
living next door to Darthea, he was with her almost
daily; and liCx-e was a new and temble fear, for
who could help but love her? Nor could I hear
with patience Jack so contemptuously put aside as a
child.
"Cousin Arthur," I said, "thou art mistaken in
Warder. There is no more resolute or courageous
man. Jack's shy ways and soft fashions make him
seem like a timid girl, but I would advise no one to
count on this." I went on, hesitating, "He is an
older friend than thou, and— holloa. Jack ! " for
here was the dear fellow himself, smiling and blush-
ing; and where had the captain been of late? and
that awkward left hand was taken, and Jack would
come with us and see us play with the small sword,
Mi
Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 177
and would like fo j?o after the ducks to-morrow. He
seemed happy and pleased to meet us.
Pike was a little man who had a room among the
shops on Second street. He wore, as I had often
seen, a laced cocked hat, and was clad in a red coat,
such as none wore except Creoles from the French
settlements, or gentlemen from the Carolinas. He had
the straight figure and aggressive look all men carry
who teach the sword, and a set belief that no man
could teach him anything— a small game-cock of a
fellow, who had lost one eye by an unlucky thrust
of a foil.
I will let Jack's journal, not writ till long after,
tell the story for a while. He saw more than I at
the time, even if he understood it all as little.
" I saw Hugh strip," he writes, ** and was amused
to see Pike feel his muscles and exclaim at his depth
of chest. Then he showed him how to wear the wire
mask, while the captain and I sat by and looked on.
" Hugh was awkward, but ho had a wrist of steel,
and when once he had caught the ideas of Pike, who
talked all the time in a squeaky voice, his guard was
fii'm. Pike praised him, and said he would learn
soon. The thing so attracted me that I was fain to
know how it felt to hold a foil ; and saying as much,
the captain, who fenced here daily, said : ' It is my
breathing-time of day, as Prince Hamlet says. By
George ! you should see Mr. Garrick in that fencing
scene ! I will give Mr. Warder a lesson. I have rather
a fancy for giving young men lessons.'
"In a minute I saw my foil fly six feet away
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178 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
with such a wrench of the wrist as made my arm
tingle.
" ' Hold the f oU Ughtly. Not so stiff/ said Pike, and
we began again. Of course I was as a child before
this man, and again and again he planted a button
where he pleased, and seemed, I thought, to lunge
more fiercely than is decent, for I was dotted with
blue bruises that evening.
" At last I gave up, and the captain and Pike took
the foils, while we sat and watched them. He was
more than a match for Pike, and at last crying,
* Take care ! here is a hotte you do not know,' caught
him fair in the left chest.
" * By George ! Mr. Wynne, that is a pretty piece
of play ! I remember now Major Montresor tried to
show it to me. He said it was that way you killed
Lord Charles Trevor.'
" I was shocked to know he had killed a man, and
Hugh looked up with his big mother-eyes, while the
captain said coolly :
" ' ^es ; a sad business, and about a woman, of
course. It is dreadful to have that kind of a dispo-
sition, boys, that makes you dangerous to some one
who wants what you want. He was very young too.
A pity ! a pity ! '
" Hugh and I said nothing ; but I had the odd no-
tion that he was threatening us. One gets these
ideas vaguely in youth, and sometimes after-events
justify them. However, the fancy soon took me to
fence with Hugh in his room, for I dared not risk
asking my father's leave. As Hugh got his lessons
m
Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 179
both from Pike and the captain, and became very
expert, I got on pretty nearly as fast as lie.
" At times we practised in our shirt-slee^'es in the
garden at Miss Wynne's, or fenced with Graydon,
who was later the most expert small sword we had
in the army. Hugh soon became nearly as skilful,
but I was never as clever at it."
One day we were busy, as Jack has described, when
who should come out into the garden but Mistress
Wynne and Darthea, and behind them the captain.
We dropped our points, but Miss Peniston cried out,
" Go on ! go on ! " and, laughing, we fell to again.
Presently I, a bit distracted, for I was facing
Darthea's eyes, felt Jack's foil full on my chest.
Darthea clapped her hands, and, running forward,
would pin a bunch of red ribbons she took from her
shoulder on Jack's sleeve. Jack fell back, as red as
the ribbons, and my aunt cried out, " Darthea, you
are too forward ! "
The young woman flushed, and cast down the bow,
and as Arthur Wynne bent to pick it up set her foot
on it. I saw the captain rise, and stand with the half-
shut eyes and the little drop of the jaw I have already
mentioned. My aunt, who liked the girl well, went
after her at once as she left us in a pet to return to
the house. I saw my aunt put a hand on her shoul-
der, and then the captain, looking vexed, followed
after. An hour later I went to look for the ribbon.
It was gone, and for years I knew not where, till,
in a little box in Jack's desk, I came upon it neatly
tied up.
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1 80 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
Yon 11^ as I was, I began to see that her.: were
Captain Wynne, and possibly my friend, in the toils
of a girl,— she was bnt seventeen,— and I, alas! no
better off ; bnt of this I breathed not a word to any.
Jack hung about her and fell back when any less
shy man wanted his place. I felt that he was little
likely to have his way, and that neither he nor I
had much chance in such a game against a man like
my cousin. He had played with hearts before, and
the maid listened like Desdemona to this dark-browed
soldier when he talked of courts and kings, and far-
away Eastern battles, and the splendour of the Orient.
My aunt, whom nothing escaped, looked on much
amused. Perhaps she did not take as serious the
love-affairs of lads like Jack and me. We were like
enough to have a dozen before we were really cap-
tured. That I was becoming at twenty-one more
thoughtful and resolute than far older people, she did
not see, and she was sometimes vexed at my sober
ways. I was at times gay enough, but at others she
would reproach me with not taking more pains to
please her guests. Society, she said, had duties as well
as pleasures. My friend Jack no one fully understood
in those days, nor knew the sweet manhood and the
unselfishness that lay beneath his girl-like exterior.
One day, late in November, my aunt and I were,
for a wonder, alone, when she dropped the cards with
wliicli she was playing, and said to me : " Hugh, there
is something serious between that mischievous kitten
and your cousin. They are much talked of. If you
have a boy-fancy that way, get rid of it. I don't see
'11
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker i8i
through the man. He has been telling her about the
fine house at Wyncoce, and the great estate, and how
some day he will have it, his elder brother b<^'ng far
gone in a phthisis."
"There must be some mistake," I said. "Thou
knowest what he told my father."
"Yes; I don't like it," she went on; 'but the girl
is caught. He talks of soon having to join Sir Guy
Carleton in Canada. And there is my dear girMioy
trapped too, I fear. But, really, he is such a child
of a fellow it hardly matters. How many does phe
want in her net ? The fish may squabble, a. i'ear. A
sweet tlil)'.^ she is; ciiiel only by instinct; ami .,o
gay so tender, so truthful and right-minded ^vith
all her nonsense No one can help loving her; l.ut
to-day she has one mood, and to-morrow another.
There will be a mad massacre before she is done
with you all. Run away, Hugh ! run ! Make love
to Kitty Shippen if you want to get Miss Dar-
thea."
I laughed, but I had little mirth in my heart.
" Aunt Gainor," I said, " I love that woman, and
no other man shall have her if I can help it."
" If ? if ? Stuff ! you can't help it. Don't be a fool !
The sea is full of fish. This is news indeed."
"The land has but one Darthea," said I. "I am
a boy no longer, Aunt Gainor. Thou hast made me
tell thee, and, now it is out, I may as well say I know
all about my cousin. He as good as told me, and
in a way I did not like. The man thinks I am a l)(>y
to be scared out of going my own way. I have told
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1 82 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
no one else j but if I can get her I will, and it is no
laughing matter."
"I am sorry, Hugh," she said. "I knew not it
was so serious. It is hard to realise that you are no
more a boy, and must have the sorrows my sex pro-
vides for you. I like her, and I would help you if I
could, but you are late." And she went on shuiiiing
the cards, while I took up a book, being inclined to
say no more.
That evening two letters came by the New York
packet. One from my father I put aside. It was
dated outside, and was written two weeks later than
my mother's, which I read first. I opened it with
care.
" My own dear Son : Thy last sweet letter was a
great refreshment to me, and the more so because I
have not been well, having again my old ache in the
side, but not such as need trouble thee. I blush to
hear th^)retty things thy letters say ; but it is love
that holds thy pen, and I must not be too much set
up in my own esteem. How much love I give thee
in return thou knowest, but tr pay in this coin will
never beggar us. I love thee because thou art all I
can desire, and again because thou lovest me, and
again for this same dear reason which is all I can
say to excuse my Viiother-foUy. Thy father is well,
but weary of this great town j and we both long to
be at home."
Then there wns more about my Aunt Wynne, and
some woman-talk for her friends about the new
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 183
fasliions, which do not concern her, she being not of
this world. " Am I not 1 " she says. " I love it all—
the sea, even the sea, and flowers, and our woods,
and, dear me ! also gay gowns. I hope the last I
got here will not disturb the Meeting, and my new
mutt*,— very big it is,— and a green joseph to ride in.
I mean to ride with thee next spring often— often."
And so on, half mother, half child, with bits of her
dear French, and Jill about a new saddle for me, and
silver spurs. The postscript was long.
" I saw last week a fair Quaker dame come out of
Wales. I asked her about the Wynnes. She knew
them not, but told me of their great house, and how it
was a show-place people went to see, having been done
over at great cost ; and how a year or two since coal
was found on the estate, and much iron, so that these
last two years they were rich, and there was some
talk of making the present man a baronet. Also
that the elder brother is ill, nigh to death. It seems
strange after what thy cousin said so often. Thy
father is away in Holland. I will tell him when he
is come back. Be cautious not to talk of this. I
never liked the man."
I sat back in my chair to read it all over again, first
giving my aunt my father's letter. In a few minutes
I heard a cry, and saw my aunt, pale and shaken,
standing up, the letter in her hand.
"My God!" I cried, "what is itt Is it my
mother?"
" Yes, yes i " she said. " Be strong, my boy ! She
ic— dead!"
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184 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
For a moment I saw the room whirl, and then, as
my Aunt Gaiuor sat down, I fell on my knees and
buried my face in her lap. I felt her dear old hands
on my head, and at last would have the letter. It
was brief.
^1
"My Son: The hand of God has fallen heavily
upon me. Thy mother died to-day of a pleurisy
which none coiUd help. I had not even the conso-
lation to hear her speak, since, when I came from
Holland, she was wanderiuj^ in talk of thee, and
mostly in French, which I know not. I seek to find
God's meaning in this chastisement. As j'^et I find
it not. It is well that we should not let bereave-
ments so overcome us as to make us neglect to be
fervent in the business of life, or to cease to praise
Ilim w])o has seen fit to take away from us that
which it may be we worshipped as an idol. What
more is to say I leave until I see thee. My affairs
are now so ordered that I may leave them. I shall
sail in a week for home in the ship in which I came
out. and shall not go, as I did mean, to the islands."
It seemed to me, as I read and re-read it, a cold,
hard letter. I said as much to my aunt some days
after tliis; but slie wisely urged that my father was
ever a reticent man, who found it difficult to let even
his dearest see the better ])art of him.
I liavo no mind to dwell on this sad calamity. I
went to and fro. finding neither possibility of repose
nor any consolation. I saw as I rode, or lay in my
u I
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 185
boat, that one dear face, its blue-eyed tenderness, its
smile of love. I could never thus recall to si^ht any
other of those who, in after-years, have left me ; but
this one face is here to-day as I write, forever smiling
and forever young.
And so time ran on, and nigh to Christmas day
my father came home. The weather was more mild
than common, and his ship met no delay from ice. I
joined him off Chester Creek. He was grayer, older,
I thought, but not otherwise altered, having still his
erect stature, and the trick I have myself of throw-
ing his head up and his shoulders back when about
to meet some emergent occasion. I saw no sign of
emotion when we met, except that he opened and shut
his hands as usual wlien disturbed. He asked if I
were well, and of my Aunt Gain or, and then, amid
the tears which were choking me, if I were satisfied
as to the business, and if the tea had arrived. I
said yes, and that the ship had been sent away with-
out violence. He said it was a silly business, aud
the king would soon end it ; he himself had been too
hasty— with more to like effect.
It seemed to me while we talked as though he had just
comefrom my mother's death-bed, whereas a long time
had elapsed, and he had been able to get over thv lirst
cruel shock. My own grief was still upon me, and I
wondered at his traujiuillity. A little later he said :
"I see thou hast taken to the foolishness of black
garments. This is thy aunt's doings." Tn faft. it was
her positive wish. I made no rc]»ly, l)ut only looked
him in the face, ready to cry like a child.
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1 86 Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker
" Why hast thou no answers, Hugh ? Thy tongue
used to be ready enough. Thou hast thy mother's
eyes. I would thou hadst them not."
This was as near as he ever came to speech of
her, whom, to my amazement, he never again men-
tioned. Was it a deeper feeling than I knew, that so
silenced him, or did he wish to forget her ? I know
not. Some deal thus with their dead. He bade my
aunt take away my mother's clothes, and asked no
questions as to how she disposed of them ; nor for a
month did he desire my return home.
What then passed between him and my Aunt
Gainor I do not know ; but he said nothing more of
my dress, although I wore mourning for six months.
Nor did he say a word as to my exactness and indus-
try, which was honestly all they should have been. At
mv.als he spoke rarely, and then of affairs, or to
blame me for faults not mine, or to speak ^vith cold
sarcasm of my friends.
Except for Jack, and my Aunt Gainor, and Wilson
and Wetherill, of whom I saw much, I sliould have
been miserable indeed. Captain Wynne still came
and went, and his strange intimacy with my father
continued. I thought little of it then, and for my
own part I liked to hear of his adventurous life, but
the man less and less ; and so the winter of 73 and
'74 went by with fencing and skating and books,
which now I myself ordered to suit me, or found in
Mr. Logan's great libraiy, of which I was made free.
In March mv cousin left us for Canada and the
army. Once I spoke before him of the news in my
w
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 1S7
mother's postscript ; but he laughed, saying he had
lioard some su(;h rumours, but that they were not
true. They did not much trouble a hungry beggar
of a youuger son with letters; still if there had
been such good news he should have heard it. lie
wished it might be so; and as to his brother, poor
devil ! he would last long enough to marry and have
children. Were tlie ducks still in the river? He
said no more to me of Dartliea, or of what I was to do
for him, but ho found a way at need, I am sure, to get
letters to her, and that without difficulty. At last,
as I have said, he was gone to join Sir Guy. I was
not sorry.
Mrs. Peniston, Darthea's aunt, usually tred, he f( 11 into siu'h a state of ten*or as to what the
madcap woman would say next that he declined all
socit^ty for a week, and ever after det(!stt.'d the Tory
lady.
I became, under the influence of thismuch-talked-of
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I 88 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
news, as mute as Jack ; but, while he had only a deep
desire toward sadness, and to stay away from her
who had thus defeated his love, I, neither given over
to despair nor hope, had only a fierce will to have
nij^ way ; nor, for some reason or for none, did I con-
sider Jacrk's case as very serious,— my aunt it much
amused,— so little do we know those who are most
near to us.
No sooner was the redcoat IovGl* gone awhile
than, as Miss (^hew declared, Darthea ])ut off mourn-
ing for the absent. Indeed, tlie i)retty kitten began
once more to tangle the threads of Jack's life and
mine. For a month Jack was in favour, and then
a certain captain, but never I, until one day late in
April. She was waiting among my aunt's china for
her return, and had set the goggle-eyed mandarin to
nodding, while, with eyes as wide as his, she nodded
in reply, and laughed like a merry child.
I stood in the doorway, and watched this delicious
creature for a minute while she amused herself —and
me also, althougli she knew it not. " Say No ! " she
cried out to the great china nobleman ; quite a foot
high he was. But, despite her pretence at altering
his uuA'aried aflfirnuitive, it still went on. My lady
walk(Ml all around him, and pn^sently said aloud :
" No ! no ! It must be No ! Say No ! " stamping a
foot, as if angry, and then of a sudden running up
to the mandarin and laugliing. "He has a crack in
his h«'ad. Tliat is why he says Yes ! Yes ! I must be
a female maiulai'in, and that is why I say No I No ! I
wonder does he talk broken China I "
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 189
At this moment ahv shvv my tall black figure in a
corner miiTor, and made some exclamation, as if
startled ; an instant later she knew it was I, but
as if by magic the langhing woman was no longer
there. What I saw as she came toward me was a
slight, quiet nun with eyes full of tears.
I was used to her swift changes of mood, but what
her words, or some of them, meant I knew not ; and
as ft)r this pitying face, with its sudden sadness,
what more did it mean ? Major Andre said of her
later that Mistress Darthea was like a lake in the
hills, reflecting all things, and yet herself after all.
But how many such tricksy ways, pretty or vexing,
she was to show some of us in the years to come did
not yet appear.
In a moment I seemed to see before me the small
dark child I first knew at school. Why was she now
so curiously perturbed ? " Mr. Wynne," she said,
" you never come near me now— oh, not for a month !
And to-day your aunt has shown me a part of the
dear raothei*'s letter, and— and— I am so sorry for
you ! I am indeed ! I have long wanted to nay so.
I wish I could help you. I do not think you forget
easily, and— and— you were so good to me when I
was an ugly little brat. I think your mother loved
me. That is a thing to make one think better of
one's self. I need it, sir. It is a pretty sort of
vanity, and how vain you must be, who had so much
of her love ! "
" I thank thee," I said simply. Indeed, for a time
I was so moved that say more I could not. " I thank
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190 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
thee, Miss Penistf)n. There is no one on earth whom
I would rather hear say what thou hast said."
I saw her colour a little, and she replied quickly, " I
am only a child, and I say what conies to my lips ; I
might better it often if I stayed to think."
" No ! " I cried. Whenever she got into trouble—
and she was ready to note the tenderness in my
voice— this i)retty pretext of the irresponsibility of
childhood would serve her turn. ''No," said I; "I
like dearly to hear my mother pi-aised,— who could
praise her too much?— but when it is thou who
sayest of her such true things, how shall I tell thee
what it is to me who love to hear thee talk— even
nonsense ? "
" I talk nonsense ? Do I ? "
" Yes, sometimes. I— want thee to listen to me.
I have cared for thee—"
" Now please don't, Mr. Wynne. They all do it,
and— I like you. I want to keep some friends."
" It is useless. Darthea. I am so made that I must
say my say. Thou niayest try to escape, and hate it
and me, but I have to say I love thee. No, I am not
a boy. I am a man, and I won't let thee answer me
now."
" I do not want to. It would hurt you. You must
know ; every one knows. It was his fault and my
aunt's, all this gossip, I would have kept it quiet."'
'^ It will never be," I broke out. " Thou wilt never
marry that man ! " I knew when I said this that
I had made a mistake. I had learned to distiiist
Arthur j but I had too little that was of moment to
lAii'
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 191
say against him to make it wise to speak as I had
done. I was young in those days, and hasty.
'' Who ? " says my lady, all on fii'e. " Wliat man ?
Jack Warder ? And why not ? I do not know what
I shall do."
" It is not my dear Jack," I cried. " Why dost thou
trifle with me ? "
" Your dear Jack, indeed ! How he blushes ! I
might ask Mm. He never would have the courage."
"It is my cousin, Ai'thur Wynne, as thou well
knowest. And thou art wicked to mock at an honest
gentleman with thy Ught talk. Thou dost not know
the man, this man y cousin."
" Only a boy wou/ • 't so foolish or so unfair as to
speak thus of one beiiind his back, and to a woman
too, who—" And she paused, confused and angry.
I could not tell her what was only suspicion or
hearsay as to my cousin's double statements concern-
ing his father's estate, or how either she or we were
deceived. I had, in fact, lost my head a little, and
had gone further than was wise. I would not explain ,
and I was too vexed to say more than that I would
say the same to his face. Then she rejoined softly :
"TeU it to me. You are as mysterious as Miss
Wynne ; and have I not a right to know ? "
" No," I said ; " not now, at least. Thou mayest
tell him if thou wilt."
" If I will, indeed ! Every one is against him — you
and Mistress Wynne and that impudent boy, Jack
Warder, despite his blushes. Oh, he can be boM
enough. Isn't he a dear fellow?"
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192 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
How could one deal with a woman like this? I
hesitated, and as I did so, not having ready anything
but sad reproaches of her levity, my aunt appeared
in the doorway.
" Are you two children quarrelling ? " she said, in
her outspoken way. " You will have time to repent.
Here has been your father, sh*, to-day, and his affairs
in Jamaica are all in a nice pickle, and you and the
old clerk are to up and away in the packet for Kings-
ton, and that to-morrow."
'' Indeed ! " I cried. I was not sorry.
"I envy you," said my lady, as demure as you
please. " You will fetch me a feather fan, and come
back soon. I hate all those cornets and captains, and
now I shall have no one but Jack."
My aunt looked on amused. Her news was true
indeed, and with no chance to talk to any one, except
to say a mere good-by to Jack, I spent the evening
with my father and our head clerk over the business
which took me away so hastily. At early morning
on a. cold day at the close of April, 1774, we were
gliding down the Delaware with all sail set.
The voyage was long, the winds contrary. I had
ami)le leisure to reflect upon my talk with Darthea.
I was sure she must have known she was to me not
as other women. Except for the accident of this
chance encounter, I might long have waited before
finding courage to speak. I had made nothing by it,
had scarce had an answer, and should, hke enough,
have fallen back into the coldness of relation, \y
which she had so long kept my at a distance. I had
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 193
been foolish ami liasty to speak of my cousin at allj
it did but vex her.
Of my errand in Jamaica there is little to be said.
My father's letters were of business only. Of these
lon«^ montlis and of what went o:? at home I heard
but little from liini, and with myreimest to have the
gazettes he had evidently no niiiiJ to comply; nor
were the chances of letters frequent. I heard, indeed,
from my aunt but twice, and from Jack thrice ; but
he said nothing of Darthea. Years after I found in
his record of events :
" Hugh left us the last of April. It may be he
cares too mu(;h for that wayward witch, Darthea."
I should say that it was at this time or soon after
my dear friend began to keep a somewhat broken
diary of events. What lie says of former years was
put on paper long afterward.
" If I did but know," writes Jack, " that he is se-
riously taken, I should understand, alas ! what not
to do. But as to some things Hugh is a silent man.
I think, as Mr. Wilson says, some men are made for
friends, and some for lovers. I fear the latter is not
my role. Is there— can there be— such a thing as
revering a woman too much to make successful love 1
I think I see what Darthea is more truly than does
my dear Hugh. There must come a day when she
will show it. Sometimes I can hardly trust myself
with her ; and I yearn to tell her that I alone know
her, and that I love her. I must watch myself. If
it really be that Hugh cares for her, and yet I were
to be the fortunate man, how could I face him again,
13
%.li had caUcd ; and I wonld like
Mr. Pendleton ; lit' had most dcliglitfid maunrrs.
Mr. Livingston had been good enough to remember
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198 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
me, and had asked for me. He thought we must
soon choose a general, and Mr. Washington had been
talked of.
" Has it come to that?" said I.
"Yes; all the North is up, and Gage has more
troops and is at work intrenching himself, he who was
to settle us with three regiments. Mrs. Chew was
here, and behaved like the lady slie is. But they are
all in a nice mess. Master Hugh, and know not what
to do. I hate these moderates. Mr. Washington is
a man as big as your father, and better builded. I
like him, although he says little and did not so much
as smde at Bessy Ferguson's nonsense. And Dar-
thea— you do not ask about Dart^ ea. She is play-
ing the mischief with Jack and her captain. She
will not let me talk about him. He is in Boston with
Mr. Gage, I hear. Why don't you teU me about
youi'self?" 1
"How could I, Aunt Gainor? Thou—" and I
laughed.
Then she became grave. " You will have to declare
yourself and take sides ; and how can I counsel you
to resist your father ? You must think it over and
talk to Mr. Wilson. He is of the Congress. Poor
Mr. Wetherill the Meeting has a mind to bounce,
and he takes it hard. Come back at eleven, and
we will go to Chestnut street, where they meet,
and see the gentlemen go into the Carpenters' Hall.
I came to town on purpose. And now go; I must
dress."
At half -past ten— my aunt very splendid— we drf)ve
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 199
down Second street and up diestnut, where was a
great crowd come to look on. Dr, Rush, seeing my
Hunt's chariot, got in at Second street, and, being one
of the members, enabled us to get near to Cai-penters'
Alley, where at the far end, back from the street, is
the old building in wliich the Congress was to be held.
Jack met us here, and got up beside the coachman.
I think none had a better view tlian we. Andrew
Allen came to speak to us, and then Mr. Galloway,
not yet scared by the extreme measures of which few
as yet dreamed, and which by and by drove th(>se and
many other gentlemen into open declarations for the
crown.
I saw James Pemberton looking on sadly, and
near him other Friends with sour aspects. Here and
there militia uniforms were seen amid the dull grays,
the smocks of farmers and nu^chani(;s, and the sober
suits of tradesmen, all come to see.
" The Rev. Dr. Duclie passed us," says Jack, whom
now I quote, ''in a fine wig and black silk small-
clothes. He was to make this day the famous i)rayer
which so moved Mr. Adams." And later, I may
add, he went over to the other side. "Soon others
came. Some we knew not, but the great Dr. Rush
pointed out such as were of his acquaintance.
"'There,' he said, 'is Carter Braxton. He tells
me he does not like the New England men— cither
their religion or their manners ; and I like them
both.' The doctor was eynieal, T thought, but very
interesting. I set down but little of what he said
or I saw } for most of it I forget.
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200 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
" ' There is the great Virginia orator, Mr. Patrick
Henry/ said the doctor. He was in simple dress,
and looked np at us curiously as he went by with
Pendleton and Mr. Carroll. ' He has a great estate
—Mr. Carroll/ said the doctor. ' I wonder he will
risk it.' Ho was dressed in brown silk breeches, with
a yellow figured waistcoat, and, like many of them,
wore his sword. Mr. Franklin was not yet come
home, aiul some were late.
"Presently the doctor called, and a man in the
military dress of the Virginia nulitia turned toward
us. 'Colonel Washington,' said our doctor, 'will
permit me to i>resent him to a lady, a great friend
of liberty. Mistress Wynne, Colonel Washington.'
" ' I have already had the honour,' he said, taking
off his hat— a scrolled beaver.
" ' He is our best soldier, and we are fortunate that
he. is with us,' said the doctor, as the colonel moved
away."
The doctor changed his mind later, and helped, I
fear, to make the trouble which came near to cost-
ing Conway his life. I have always been a great
admirer of iiiie men, and as the Virginia colonel
moved like Saul above the crowd, an erect, well-pro-
portioned figure, he looked taller than he really was.
Nor was he, as my aunt had said, nearly of the big-
ness of my father.
" He has a good nose," said my Aunt Gainor, per-
haps c(nisci<>us of her own possessions in the way
of a nasal organ, and liking to see it as notable in
another } " but how sedate he is ! I find Mr. Peyton
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 20 i
Randolph more agreeable, and there is Mr. Robert
Morris and Jolin Dickinson."
Then the lean form of Mr. Jefferson went by,
a little bent, deep in talk with Roger Sherman,
whom I thought shabl)ily dressed ; and behind them
Robert Livingston, wliom my aunt knew. Thus it
was, as I am glad to remember, that I beheld these
men who were to be the makers of an empire.
Perhaps no wiser group of people ever met for a
greater fate, and surely the hand of God was seen
in the matter; for what other eolony— Canada, for
example— had such men t<^ show ? There, meanwhile,
was England, with its gi-eat nobles and free commons
and a splendid story of hard-won freedom, driving
madly on its way of folly and defeat.
Of what went on within the hall we heard little.
A declaration of rights was set forth, committees of
correspondence ap])<)inted, and addresses issued to the
king and peo])le of Great Britain. Congress broki*
up, and the winter went by ; Gage was superseded
by Sir William Howe ; Cb^iton and Burgoyne were
sent out, and ten thousand men were ordered to
America to aid the purposes of the king.
The cold season was so(m upon us, and the event-
ful year of 75 came in with a great fall of snow, but
with no g^'ont change for me and those I loved. A'
sullen rage jMissessed the colonies, and especially Mas-
sachusetts, where the Kegulation Acts Avere ((uietly
disregarded. No counselloi's or jurymen wonld serve
uiuler the king's commission. The old muskets of
the French and Indian wars were taken from the
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202 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
comers and put in order. Men drilled, and "women
cast bullets.
Failing to corrupt Samuel Adams and Hancock,
Gage resolved to arrest them at Concord and to seize
on the stores of powder and ball. " The heads of trai-
tors will soon decorate Temple Bar," said a London
gazette; and so the march of events went on. In
the early spring Dr. Franklin came liome in despair
of accommodation ; he saw nothing now to do but to
fig] it, and this he told us plainly. His very words
were in my mind on the night of April 23d of this
year of 75, as I was slowly and thoughtfully walk-
ing over tlie bridge where Walnut crossed the Dock
Creek, and where I stayed for a moment to strike flint
and steel in order to light my pipe. Of a sudden I
heard a dull but increasing noise to north, and then
the strong voice of the bell in the state-house. It was
not ringing for fire. Somewhat puzzled, I walked
swiftly to Second street, where were men and wo-
men in groups. I stopped a man and asked what
had chanced. He said, '' A battle ! a battle ! and
General Gage kiUed." Couriers had reached the
coffee-houses, but no one on the street seemed to
have more than this vague information ; all were
going toward Chestnut street, where a meeting was
to be held, as I learned, and perhaps fuller news
given out.
I pushed on, still hearing the brazen clamour of the
bell. As I crossed High street I came upon James
' v^l^oll and Mr. Graydon. They stopped me to teU
wit bhe great tidings just come by swift post-riders
i :t
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 203
of the fight at Lexington. After giving me the full
details, Wilson left us. Said Graydon, very serious :
"^Ir. Wynne, how long are you to be in deciding?
Come and join Mr. Cadwalader's troop. Few of us
ride us well as you."
I said I had been thinking.
" Oh, confound your thinkings ! It is action now.
Let the bigwigs think."
I could not teU a man I then knew but slightly
how immense was my reluctancte to make tliis com-
plete break with the creed of my fatlier, and to al>so-
lutely disobey him, as I knew I must do if I followed
my inclinations ; nor did I incline to speak of such
other difficulties as still kept me undecided. I said
at last that if I took up arms it would be with MaKi-
pherson or Cowperthwaite's Quakers.
" Why not ? " he said. " But, by George ! man, do
something ! There are, I hear, many Friends among
the Cowperthwaite Blues. Do they give orders with
' thou ' and ' thee,' I wonder ? "
I laughed, and hurried away. The town was al-
ready in a state of vast excitement, women in tears,
and men stopping even those they did not know to ask
for news. I ran all the way to my aunt's, eager to
tell it. In the hall I stood a minute to get my breath,
and reflect. I know full well, as I re(!ognised vari-
ous voices, that my intelligence would mean tears
for some, and joy for others.
My long-taught Qnnkoi- self-control often sensed
me as well as the practised calm lol)5erved to be tlie
expression assumed by the best-bred officers of the
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204 Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker
army on occasions that caused visible emotion in
others. I went in quietly, seeing a well amused party
of dames and younger folk, with, over against the
chimueypieee, the great Benjamin Franklin, now in
the full prime of \'aried us<*fulness, a benevolent face,
and above it the great dome of head, which had to me
even tlien a certain grandeur. lie was taUcing eagerly
with Mistress Wynne— two striking figures.
Mr. Galloway was in chat with his kinsman, Mr.
Chew. The yoked
grave, for he rose (juiekly and, coming to meiit me,
set a hand on each of my shoulders— a way he had,
but only with me.
" What is it ? " he said ; " not the news ? "
'' No." In fact, it had clean gone out of my mind.
'' I have had trouble with Mr. Woodville, and now
I must figlit him." And on this I related the wiiole
adventure, Jack listening intently.
''Thou shouldst have an older man than I, Hugh.
These affairs may often be mended, I learn, without
coming to violence." He seemed a little embai-nissed,
ami reddened, hesilnting as he s[toke, so that, stupidly
not ('(mipreheiuling him as I should have done, I said
hastily that the man luul insulted my aunl, and tliat
there was but one way out of it, l)ut that I could
try to get sonu^ one else, if to act as my friend was
not to his taste.
"At this time," he writes, "when Hugh canu* so
uear to hurting uw, I was really going through in
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212 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
rriy iniml what ho liad {ih-f^ady dif>posed of in his. At
Tike's we heard of nothing Vmt dnels. 1 had long
been Pike's pupil. Tlie duel had oome to seem to us,
I fear, the natural and inevitable ending of a quar-
rel. Sueh was the lielief of my good friend Mistress
Wynne's set, and of the otlieers whose opinions as to
soeial matters we liud learned to regard as final.
"And yet the absurdity of two Quaker lads so
trapped struek me as it did not Hugh. The man
must surely have thought him older than he was. but
so did most. I feared that I should not do mv friend
justice ; and then I thought of dear Mistress Gainor,
whom I now loved, and for whom to lose Hugh
would be as death in life ; and so, quickly turning it
over for one mad moment, I wondered if I could
not someway get tliis (piarrel on to my own slu»ul-
dei-s. When I answered Hugh I must have made him
misunderstand me, or so I tliink from what he said.
When he exclaimed he could get some one else, I
nuide haste to j)i;t myself right. We had little time,
however, to discuss the matter, for at this moment
came a Captain Le C'lere witli Hugh's note.
"Hugh was now in one of his quiet, smiling
moods, when from his face you would have said
there was some jest or wagei* in (juestion, and from
his talk, which had a knid of intensitv of distinct
articulation, that it was, as I thoiiglit it, most serious.
He was coldly civil to Mr. Le Clere, and to me apsu't
said, 'Small swords, and the governor's woods by
the spring,' as if he were arranging a (piite familiar
and every-day affair.
w-'
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 213
" I frankly deolarod that I was new to an ofliee of
tliis kind, and must trnst to Mr. Le Clere's honour
and courtesy. He seemed pleased at this, and thought
a pity of so young a man to have such a difficulty,
expressing his hopes of accommodation, which I
knew Hugh too well to think possible.
'^ As soon as we had arranged the needed prelimi-
naries, and Mr. Le Clere h[id gone, I went to borrow
small swords of I*ike, arranging to come for them
after dark. Duels were common enough even in our
Quaker town, especially among gentlemen of his
Majesty's service. Although illegal, so strougly was
it felt that for certain offences there was no other
remedy possible, that it was difficult to escape the
resort to weai)ons if those involved were of what we
who are of it like to call the better class.
"At daybreak Hugh and I were waiting in the
woods wlirre— near to what ^Ir. I'enn meant as a
public s(piare, a little east of ISchuylkill-Eighth
street— was an open space, once a clearing, but now
disused, and much overgrown. We were first on the
ground, and I took occasion to tell Hugh of Pike's
counsels— for he had at once guessed what we wen?
about— to watch his opponent's eyes, and the like.
Hugh, who was merry, and had put asid<; such
thoughts of the future as wen.' troubling me, de-
clared that it was the mouth a man should watch,
which T think is the better o])iui(m. T said, of course,
nothing of what Pike told uic as to ^Ir. Woodville
being a first-rate i)layer, and only advised my friend
to be cautious.
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214 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
"Mr. Woodville, who came with Le Clere and
a surgeon, was a short lump of a man, and an
odd contrast to his friend, who was long and lank.
The pair of them looked like Don Quixote and his
squire. The short man I felt quite confident Hugh
could handle, and was sui-prised, seeing his build,
that Pike should have declared him a good blade.
Mr. Le Clere was very civil, and I followed his di-
rections, knowing, as I have said, but little of such
affairs.
'^ Our men being stripped to the shirt, and ready,
Mr. Le Clere and I drew away some twenty feet.
Then, to my surprise, the lean officer said to me,
' jMr. Warder, shall I have the honour to amuse you
with a turn ? Here are our own swords of a length,
as you see.'
" I was auvthiu*!: rather than amused. I had heard
of tliis foolisli English custom of the friends also en-
gngiug. I knew tliat it Avas usual to make the offer,
and tlint it was not needful to accept; but now, as I
saw my Hugh standing ready with his sword upon
the ground, I began to shake all over, and to colour.
Such hath always been my habit when in danger.
ev(Mi from my boyhood. It is not because I ani
afraid. Y(>t, as it seems to another like fear, to feel
it sets nie in a cold rnge, and has many times, as on
tins occasion, led me into extremes of rashness.
" I su])pose Mr. Le Clere saw my condition, and
unhappily let loose on his face a faint smile. 'At
your service.' I said, and ciist off my cont.
" * It is not necessary, sir,' he replied, a bit ashamed
Ml
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 215
to engage a fellow like mo, who shook and l)lnshed,
and looked to be about seventeen.
" ' We are losing time,' said I, in a fury, not over-
sorry to l)c thus or in any way distracted from Ilngh's
peril. In truth, I need have had small fear for him.
For two years Hugh and 1 had fenced jilmost daily,
and what with Pike and Arthur Wynne, knew most
of the tricks of the small sword.
"The next moment Le Clere cried, 'On guard,
gentlemen ! ' and I heard the click of the blades
as thev met. I had mv hands full, and was soon
aware of Le Clere's skill. I was, however, as agih^
as a cat, and he less clever with his legs than his
arm. Nor do I think ho desired to make the affair
serious. In a few minutes— it seemed longer— I
heard an oath, and, alarmed for Itugli, cast a glance
in his direction. I .saw his foe; fall back, his sword
flying some feet away. My indiscretion gave my
man his chance. His blade caught in my rolled-
up sleeve, bent, and, as I drove my own thi-ough his
shoulder, passed clean through the left side of my
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222 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
over and over to explain what bad liappened. It was
the hour of dinner; for Friends dined at two, but
my aunt and tlie gayer set at four.
My father turned from his meal, and coldly looked
me all over,— my arm was in a sling', on which Dr.
Rush had insisted,— and last into my eyes. "Well,"
he said, " thou art come at last. Fortunately, Friend
Warder has been here, and I know thy story and the
mischief into which thou hast led his poor lad. It is
time we had a settlement, thou and I. Hnst thou fear
neither of (iod nor of man ? A rebellious scm, and
a defter of authority ! It is well thy mother is dead
before she saw thee come to this ruin of soul and
body."
" My God ! father," I cried ; " how canst thou
hurt me thus ! I am in sorrow for Jack, and want
help. To whom should I go ])ut to thee ? O mother,
mother ! " T looked around at the bare walls, and
down at the sanded floor, and could only bury my
face in my hands and weep Viko a baby. What with
all the day had brought, and Darthca and Jack, and
now this grand old man silent, impassive, unmoved
by what was shaking me like a storm,— although I
loved him still for all his hardness,— I had no refuge
but in tears.
He rose, and I sat still, thinking what I should say.
" When thou art ready to turn from thy sin and ask
pardon of God and of me, who am brought to shame
on thy account, I will talk with thee."
Upon this I set myself between him and the door.
" We cannot part this way. It is too terrible."
tm.
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 223
" That was a matter thou hadst been wise to con-
sider long ago, Hugh."
" No ! " I cried. I was as resolved as he. " I must
be lieard. How have I offended ? Have I neglected
thy business ? who can say no i I was insulted in
Meeting, and I went where men do not trample on
a penitent boy, and if I liave gone the way of my
aunt's world, is it my fault or thine ? I have gone
away from what, in thy opinion, is right as regards
questions in wliich the best and purest side with me.
Am I a child, that I may not use my own judgment ? "
It was the first time in my life that I had plainly
asserted my freedom to think and to act.
To my surprise, he stood a moment in silence,
looking down, I as quiet, regarding him with eager
and attentive eyes. Then he said, seeking my gaze,
"I am to blame; I have too much considered thy
chances of worldly gain. I know not whence thou
hast thy wilfulness." As I looked in the face of this
strong, rock-like man, I wondered ; for he went on,
"Not from me, Hugh, not from me—"
" Stop ! " I said. " Thou hast said enough." I
feared lest again he should reproach her of whose
sweetness I had naught but a gift of the blue eyes
that must have met his with menace. I saw, as his
hands shook, tap}iing the floor with his cane, how
great were both his anger and his self-control.
" It were well, my son, that this ended. I hope
thou wilt see thy way to better courses. Thy cousin
was right. He, too, is a man not of my world, but
he saw more clearly than I where thou wert going."
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224 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
I
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'^AVliat!" I cried, ".'nid thou cfinsi think tliis?
Thou liast believi'd aud trusted Arthur Wyuue!
What did lie say of me?"
^' I will n(>t he <|uestioned."
"The man lied to thee," I cried,— "why, I do not
know, — and to others jilso. Why did he deceive us
as to Wyncotef What reason had hef As he lied
about that, so does he seem to have lied aljout me.
Bv heaven ! he shall answer me some d:iv."
"I will hear no profanity in my house. Stand
aside! Dost thou not hear me? Am I to be dis-
obeyed in my own house?"
I but half took in his meaninjr, and stood still.
The next moment he seized me by the Injx'l.-, ::f my
coat, and, s])innin,u: me round like a child, puslu'd me
from him. T fell into the iri'eat Penn chair he had
turned from the t;il)le when he rose. He threw op«'n
the dooi', and I saw him wnlk (luicklydown the hall
and out into the orchard jj^nrden.
For a we<'k he did no more tlian speak to me a
word when business made it needfi»\ and then the
monotonous days went on as before in the p'ay,
dismal home, out of which the liiiht of life's u^ladness
departed when those dear mother-eyes were closed
ill death.
xrv
i
HILE, tliroiicrliont tliat sad siimnier, inv
Jack was slowly coniiii^- back to lic-iltli,
even the vast oveuts of the war now
under way moved me but little. Mv A unt
(iainor W(mld think of no one biil her
yountr Quaker. Her house was no lonjrer piy, nor
would she ^o to th"eountry, until IMr. Warder aurreed
that she should take Ja(^k with us to lh<^ Hill l'\'i!'m-
house, where, in the warm months, she moved .'unong
her cattle, and fed the hens, and helped and bullied
every poor hous(»wife far and near.
In a l)rig:ht-tint(Ml hammock I fetche\Ti
with others, who were thus preparing themselves
for active service.
We were taught, and well too, by an Irish ser-
geant—I fear a deserter from one of his Majesty's reg-
iments. As Jack got better, he was eager to have
me put him through his facings, but before he was
fit the summer was uigh over.
It had been a time of gi'eat anxiety to all men.
The Virginia colonel was commander-in-chief; a
motley army held Sir William Howe penned up in
Boston, and why he so quietly accepted this sheep-
like fate no man of us could comprehend. My aunt,
a great letter-writer, had many coiTcspondents, and
one or two in the camp at Cambridge.
" My Virginia fox-hunter," said my aunt, " is hav-
ing ev'il days with the New England farmers. He is
disposed to be despotic, says— well, no matter who.
He likes the whipping-post too well, and thinks all
should, like himself, serve without pay. A slow man
it is, ]>ut intelligent," says my Aunt Gainor ; " sure
to get himself right, and patient too. You will see,
Hugh ; he ^vill (!ome slowly to uudei-stand these
people."
I smiled at the good lady's confidence, and yet she
was right. They took him ill at first in that undis-
Huirh Wynne: Free Quaker 227
ciplined camp, and qnoer thinps were said of him.
Like the rest, he was learninjjr the business of war,
and was to commit many l)hinders and get sharp
lessons in this school of the soldier.
These were everywhere uneasy times. Day after
day we heard of this one or that one gone to swell
the ever-changing number of tliose who beset Sir
William. Gondolas— most unlike gondolas they
were— were being built in haste for our own river
defence. Committees, going from house to house,
collected arms, tent-stuffs, kettles, l)lankets, and wliat
not, for our troops. Tliere wei'e noisy electi ons, arrests
of Tories ; and in October the death of Peyton Ran-
dolpli, ex-president of the Congrj^ss, and the news
of the coming of the Hessian hirelings. It was a
season of stir, angiy discussion, and stern waiting
for what was to come ; but through it all my Jack
prospered mightily in health, so that by September
20 he was fit to leave us.
I still think pleasantly of all the pretty i)ictures of
pale, fair-haired Jack in tlie hammock, with Darlhea
reading to him, and the Wliig ladies with roses from
their gardens, and peaches and what nf>t. all for -b-u^k,
the hero, I being that summer ])uti a sniidl and idto-
gether unimportant personage.
When my Ja(!k went home agaiti, we began at
onco to talk over our plans for joining Mr. Wash-
ington ; I made sure that now then; was no greater
obstacle in my way than my father's opinions.
Alas! in November my aunt took what Dr. Kush
called a pernicious ague, and, although bled many
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228 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
times and fed on Jesuits' bark, she came near to dy-
iuii^. In January she was iK'tter, but was l)eeome like
a cliild, and depended upon me for everything. If I
but spoke of my desire to be in the field, she would
fall to tears or declare me ungrateful. 8he was
morally weakened by her disease, and did seem to have
changed as to her (iharaeter. I lanunted to Jack
that it was lU}' fate to styy, and he must go alone ;
I would follow when I could.
It was far into April befor(i my aunt was entirely
her old self, but as early as the close of January she
had decided that she was well, and that to be well
you must get rid of doctors. ISIk? told the great
})hysician as much, and he left her in vast disgust.
Society she would now have had for remedial dis-
traction, l)ut the war had made of it a dismal wreck.
The Tories had l)een warned ov sent away; the
moderates hardly fared better; and the old gay set
was broken up. Nevertheless it was not until far
later, in July, 77, that Mr. Chew, Mr. IVnn, and
other as important neutrals, were ordered to leave
the city ; until then some remnants of the governor's
set kept uj) more 01* less of the pleasant life they hail
once led. But there were no more red(?oats in their
drawing-rooms, and our antagonists were of the last
wlio had lingered. Even before their departure, any
gentleman of the king's service was sure to be toM
to leave, and meanwhile was apt to find a militiaman
at his door.
My aunt would have none of them that winlcr.
and her old Tory friends ceased to be seen at her
fll.L 2
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 229
house, save only Darthea, whilst continental uniforms
and gentlemen of the Congi'ess were made warmly
welcome; but alas! among these was no match for
her at pi( juet, and she felt that no one had sacrificed
more for the country than had she.
In Februaiy of 7G a double change took i)lace
among us, and to my great discontent. I had seen
mui^h of Darthea in the fall and earlv winter of '75,
and had come to know her better. She was fond (►f
riding with my aunt, who had a strong gi*ay stallion
full of tricks, but no nuister of the hardy old lady,
whom neither hor^je nor man ever dismayed. The
good spinster was by no means as vigorous as I
could have wished, but ride she would on all clear
days whether cold or not, and liked well to have
Darthea with us. When ill she was a docile i)atient,
l)ut, once afoot, deidared all doctors fools, and would
have no more of them " and their filthy do.ses."
We rode of sunlit winter days out to Uennantown,
or ui)on the wood roads over Schuylkill, my Aunt
Gainor from good nature being i»leased to gallop
ahead, and leave us to chat and follow, or not, as
might suit us.
One fine crisj) morning in February we were
breasting at a walk the slij)pery incline of Chestnut
Hill, when Darthea, who had been unusually silent,
said <[uite abruptly :
"I am going away, IMr. Wynne." —
I was inst.'intly troubled. ''Where?" [ said.
"Next week, and to New York. My annt ean
uo longer stand all this mob of rebels. We go Ut
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230 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
New York, and for how long I know not. Since,
in September, our friend, Dr. John Kearslej^, was
mobbed and maltreated, my aunt declares you unfit
to live among. I must say I thought it brutal, sir.
When men of sense and breeding like Mr. Penn,
Mr. Chew, and Dr. Kearsley, cannot live unmolested
it is time, iny aunt thinks, to run."
" No one annoys Mr. Penn or Mr. Chew," said I
"To my mind, they are neutrals, and worse than
open foes ; but thy doctor is a mad Tory, and a
malignant talker. I saw the matter, and I assure
thee it was overstated. He lost his temper j 't is
a })rave gentlenum, and I would he were with us.
But now tha^ both sides are sure at last that they
are really at war, these men who live among us and
are ready to welcome every redcoat must have theii*
lesson. It must be Yes or No, in a war like this."
" But I hate that," she returned ; " and to be com-
fortable and snug, and to love ease and Madeira and
a (piiet horse, and a book and a pipe and a nap of
an afternoon, and then to have certain of the baser
sort cry, ' Get up and kill somebody ! ' I think I am
with Mr. Ross, and believe that, ' let who will be king,
1 well know I shall be subject.' Inuigine my Aunt
Peniston's fat poodle invited to choose between exile
and killing rats."
*' My dear Dai'thea, for thee to preach caution and
neutrality is delightful."
"Did it sound like that Mr. Congregation?"
"No; to tell the truth, T think it did not."
*' Indeed, you are right," says she. " I am a red-
' I
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 231
hot Tory, sir. I scare Margaret Chew out of her
sweet wits when I talk blood, blood, sir; aud as to
Miss Franks,— she hates to be called Becky,— when I
say I hope to see Mr. Washington hanged, she vows
he is too fine a man, aud she would only hang the
ugly ones. So take cai'e, Mr. Stay-at-home, take
care ; I am no neutral."
" Thank thee," I said, lifting my hat. " I like open
enemies best."
" Oh, I will say a good word for you, when it comes
to that, and you will need it. Sir Guy will liave
Ticonderoga soon, and Mr. Howe New York ; so that,
with my loyal cousins and tlie king in possession,
we shall at least be in civilised society."
"There is a well-worn proverb," said I, "about
counting cliickens. Where shalt thou be in New
York?"
" Cousin De Lancey has asked us to stay with them.
When the king's troops return to your rebel town
we shall come back, I suppose."
" I am sorry," I said. " All my friends are flitting
like swallows. Poor Mr. Franks is to go, it seems,
and the gay Miss Rebecca ; but she likes the redcoats
best, and another is of the same mind, I fear."
" I am not over-grieved to go myself," said Darthea,
" and we will not quarrel just now about the redcoats.
Have you seen Mr. Warder to-day 1 "
" I have not."
" Then I am the bearei- of ill news. He is to join
your new general in a week or two. He (m>uM not
find you this moruiug. I think he was reUeved to
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232 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
know I slioulfl tell you. How much ho cares for you !
It is not like a man friendslii}>. It is like the way
we weak girls care for one another. How cau he
be sue] I a ])rave gentleman as he seems— as he must
hot I should have thought it would be you who
would have gone first. Wliy do you not go ? Here
is Miss Wynne's pet girl-boy away to tight, and you
—why do not you go '/ "
I was puzzled, as well I might be. "Dost thou
want me to go?"
A quick light came into those brown eyes, and a
little flush to the cheeks as she said, — oh, so very
quickly,— "I want all my friends to do what seems
to them right."
'' I am glad to answer," I said. " It seems to me
my duty to be with the army ; my friends have gone,
and now Oraydon, the last to leave, has also gone.
I fancy peojjle smiling to see me still at home— I
who am so ])ositive, so outspoken. But here is my
father, with whom if I go I break for life, and here
is my Aunt Gainor, who })ursts into tears if I do but
mention my ^vish to leave her."
'^ I see," said Darthi^a, not looking at me ; " now I
understand fully ; I did not before. But— will you
think it strange if— if I say— I, a good and loyal
woman— that you should go, and soon ? " Then there
was a long ]»ause, and she added, "When will this
cruel war end?"
" ( Jod knows," said I. "Thank th<^e : thou art rigid ,
Dai'thea."
Another pause as long came after, when she said
Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 233
abruptly, and in quite another voice, "You do not
like Mr. Arthur Wyune ; why do you not ? "
I was startled. One never knew when she would
get under one's guard and i)ut some |)j-i(jkly ({uestion.
'•Dost thou think I have reason to like him!" I
said. " I tlid like him once, but now I do not ; nor
does he love me any better. Why dost thou ask
me ? "
"Oh, for— no matter' I am not going to say
why."
"I think thou knowest, Durthea, that he is no
friend of mine."
" Let us join your aunt," she said gravely.
" One word more," said I, *' and I shall trouble thee
no further. Rest sure that, come what may, there
is one man who loves thee with a love no man can
better."
" I wish vou had not said that. There are some,
Mr. Wynne, who never know when to take No for
an answer."
" I an» one," said I.
To this she made no reply, and rode on looking
ahead in a dreamy way that fetched back to my
memory a prettiness my dear mother had. Pres-
ently turning, she said :
"Let it end here; and— and mv name is Miss
Peniston, please."
There was no pettishness in lier voice— only a
certain dignity which sits better on little women
than on little men, and })r(>v«>kes no smile. Slie was
looking at me with a ciiu'ious steadiness of gaze a?
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234 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
she spoke. It was my last chance for many a day,
and I could not let her go with a mere bow of meek
submission.
" If I have been rude or discourteous, I am more
vsorry than I can say. If I called thee Darthea, it
was because hope seemed to brinj? us nearer for one
dear moment. Ah ! I may call thee Miss Peniston,
but for me always thou wilt be Darthea ; Jind I shall
love Darthea to the end, even when Miss Peniston
has come to be a distant dream and has another
name. I am most sorry to have given thee annoy-
ance. Forget that, and pardon me."
" Mr. Wynne, you are a kindly and courteous gen-
tleman. I wish— and you must not misapprehend
me— that I loved you. Oh, I do not. Your aunt,
who is so good to me, is a fierce wooer. I am afraid
of her, and— she must be miles away ; let us join
her." And with this she shook her bridle, and was
off at speed, and my mare and I at her side.
If I have made those who loved Darthea Peniston
and me understand this winning soul, I shall be
glad ; and if not I shall at least have had the plea-
sure of repeating words and describing actions which
live in my remembrance with sucli exactness as does
not apply to much of what, to the outer world, may
seem far better entitled to be remembered. She had
it in her to hurt you, help you, pity you, mock or
amuse you, and back of it all was the honesty and
truth of a womanhood capable of courageous conduct,
and despising all forms of meanness. That she was
variously regarded was natural. Margaret IShip[)en
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 235
said she cared only for dress and the men ; and the
witty Miss Franks, seeing further, but not all, said
that Darthea Peniston was an actress of the minute,
wlio believed her every role to be real. My wise
aunt declared that she was several women, and that
she did not always keep some of them in order. It
was clear, to me at least, that she was growing older
in mind, and was beginning to keep stricter school
for those other women with whom my aunt credited
this perplexing little lady.
Before I quite leave her for a time, I must let
Jack say a word. It will tell more than I then knew
or could know, and will save me from saying that
which were better said by another.
'^ At last there is certainty of a long war, and I,
being well again, must take my side. It is fortunate
when choice is so easy, for I find it often hard in life
to know just what is right. Poor Hugh, who has
gone further than I from our fathers' faith, will still
declare he is of Friends ; but he commonly drops our
language if he is not excited or greatly interested,
and the rest will go too. It is strange that his reso-
luteness and clear notions of duty have so helped
me, and yet that he is so caught and tied fast })y
Miss Gainor's dependence upon him, and by his
scruples as to Ims father. He cannot do the thing
he would. Now that mv own fatlier has sold out his
business, I at least am left without excuse. I shall
go at once, for fear I shall change my mind." A
more unlikely tiling I cannot imagine to have hap-
pened to John Warder.
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236 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
" I saw Dp thea to-day," he goes on to write. " She
is going to New York. IShe talked to me with such
frankness as almost broke mv heart. She does not
know how dear she is to me. I was near to telliug
her; but if she said I\o,— and she would, — I might
— oh, I eoidd not see her again. I had rather live
in doubt. ^\jid whether Hugh loves her or not I
would I knew. Mistress Wynne does but laugli and
say, ' Lord bless us ! they all love her ! ' Hugh is,
as to some things, reticent, and of Darthea likes so
little to speak that I am led to think it is a serious
business for him ; and if it be so, what can I but go ?
for how could I come between him and a woman
he loved ? Never, surely. Why is life such a tangle ?
As concerns this thing, it is well I am going. What
else is left for mef My duty has long been plain.
"I did venture to ask Darthea of Mr. Arthur
Wynne. She said quietly, ' I have had a letter to-
day;' and with this she looked at me in a sort of
defiant way. I like the man not at all, and wonder
that women fancy him so greatly. When I said I
was sorry she was going, she replied, *It is no
one's business ; ' and then added, ' nor Mr. Wynne's
neither,' as if Hugh had said a word. In fact, Miss
Peniston was almost as cross and abrupt as dear MisK
Wynne at her worst. If ever, God willing, I should
marry her,— there, I am blushing even to think of
such a sweet impossibility,— she would drive me fran-
tic. I should be in small rages or begging her par
don every half-liour of the day.
" What will Hugh say when he hears the Meeting
lii
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 237
moans to diso-vvn us? It tronhles mo deoply. My
father is tnMiibliiijj too, for siuoo si month he is all
for resisting oppression, and wlio has been talking
to him I do not know. Miss Wynne ealled him a
deerepit weathercock to me last month, jmd then
was in a fury at herself, and sorry too ; but she will
talk with him no more. It eannot l>e beeause lie
ha8 sold his Holland eloths so well to the clothier-
general. I never can think that.
'' When I saw Miss Wynne, and would have seen
Hugh liad lie been in, I told her of my meaning to
go away by the packet to Burlington, and thence
through New Jersey. She said it was wt;ll, but that
Hugh should not go yet. He should go soon. Mr.
Lee, the new general, had been to Hi'o her— a great
soldier, she Wiis told. But she had not liked him,
because lie let her believe he came of the same family
as jMr. Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, whereas this
is not so. He was lank, sour, [ind ill dressed, .she
said, and fetched his two dogs into the house. When
he saw Hugh, he said it was time all the young men
were out. jNliss Wvnne disliked this, and it is re-
ported that Mrs. Ferguson and sh(\ meeting after
church, liad n«'arly come to blows, because Mrs. Fer-
guson had said the people who made the war should
be in the war, and on this the old lady desired to
know if this arrow was meant for her or for her
nephew. Mrs. F., not lacking courage, said she
might choose.
"So Madam Wynne is ])ulled this way and that,
ai 1 1 must go alone ; and I shall have a lieutenant's
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^3^ Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
it
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coniinission, iiinl a inrtly tcllow jun I to order other
iiicii jibou'j. 1 like lu'st tho contiiiciital lln s."
I saw Jack the day after my ride with Miss Peii-
istou. I said sadly tliat lie was right, and we talked
it all over that week, ruimiiig' down the river at early
morning: ifter dneks, and throngh tlu' wide ehannel
between Leagne Island and the Neck ; or else we
were away to Red Bf^'ik, or to the Jersey coast, if
tiie ice permitted, as it often did. It was a wonder-
ful, open winter, as it ehan(*ed, and we had more
than onr usual share of the ducks, which were very
abundant. As we lay in the gray weeds bek>w the
blulf at KN'd liank, we little thought of what it was
to see. Our gallant Mercer, who fell at Princeton,
was to give a nanu; to the fort we built long after;
and thei'c, too, was to die Count Donoj), as brave a
man, far from home, sold by his own prince to be
the hireling of a shameful king.
Tlic duciks flew over thick, and between times, as
we waited, we talked at intervals of the war, of
Mo!itg(»mcry's failure to capture QueluMt, and of the
lingering siege of lioston ; of how th(! brutal de-
struction of Norfolk in Dircmber had .stirred the Vir-
ginians, jind indeed every true heart in the colonies.
Jack would write when occasion served.
Th'tt last day (it was now Fe])ruary, as I iiavo said)
we Slipped with my aunt, Jack and I. After the meal
was over, she went out of the room, and, coming bac^,
gave Jack a hainlsomc, serviceable sword, with a
lU'opei- .sash ann became no longer tenable. Howe left
it on March 17, and, what was as desirable, some two
huiulred cannon and vast stores of amnmnition.
Then, on Cambridge Common, our chief threw to the
free winds our flag, with its tliirteen stripes, and still
in the corner the blood-red (jross of St. George.
Late in this winter of '75-7G, an event took place,
or rather the sequel of an event, whicih made me feel
deeply the embarrassment in which the condition of
my aunt and fatlier placed me. He who reads may
nnnember my 8])eaking of a young fellow whom I
saw at the Woodlands, John Macpherson. I took
a great fancy to him later, and we fished and shot
together until he went away, in August of 75, to
join Arnold foi* his wild manih into Canada.
His father, nrokeii and .sad, now brought to my
auut the news of his son's death in the assault on
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240 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
Quebec, and, spoocliless witli frrief, showed her the
youiifr fellow's k'tter, writ the nijjfht before In* fell.
He wrote, with other matter: ''I cannot resist the
inclination I feel to assnre you that I exj)erien«*e no
reluctance in this cause to venture a life I consider
as only lent, and to be used when niv country de-
numds it." lie went on to say that, if he died, he
conld wislf his bnitlier William, an adjutant in the
kinsinjT the door, sat down. I. as was thouj^ht fit,
.standiufr until told to be seated. Since he nnide no
sipn 01 any sueh desire on his i)art, I kn<'W at once
that this w.^,s not to be a talk about our affairs, in
which, I may .say. I had no interest except as to a
very moderate .salary.
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 241
"Thon wilt Imvo to-day a oi\]\ from Fri«'iul Pnn-
bertou. The overseers are moved, at last, to eall thee
to au account. I have h)st liope that thou wilt for-
sake aud condemn tliy error. I have worked with
the overseers to give thee and tliy fi-iend, John War-
der, tim€% and this has been with tenf
what was to ha])pen. "It is too late," I said, "to
argue this matter, my dear father. I cannot sin
against my conscience. I will receive Mr. IN-mberlon
as thy friend. He is a man wliom all men resjiect
and many love, luit his ways are no longer mv ways.
Is that all?" T added. T feared any long talk wilii
my father. \Ve were as sure to fall out at last as
were he and my Aunt (iainor. •
"Yes," he said , " that is all. And tell Wilson to
bring me the invoice of the 'Saucy Sallv.'"
This time neither of us had lost temp*'!'. He ha. ■ \t.
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242 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
on what had passed in the counting-house,— and my
conclusion now sliows me how fast I was growing
older,— I put on my hat at once, and set out to find
the overseer deputed to make a private remonstrance
with my fatliei-'s son. I suppose that my action was
also hastened by a disinclination to lie still, awaiting
an unpleasant and unavoidable business.
Finding James Pemberton in his office, I told him
that my errand was out of respect to relieve liim of
the need to call upon a younger man. He seemed
pleased, and opened the matter in a way so gentle
and considerate that I am sure no man could have
bettered the manner of doing it. My attention to
busiiu'ss and (piieter life had for a time rea.ssured
the overseers. He would not s})eak of blood-guilti-
ness now, for out of kindness to my distressed parent
they had seeaceful and prosperous enjoyment of their
ri^'hts, and the like 1
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FTiigh Wynne: Free Quaker 243
I listened quietly, and said it was too late to discuss
these questions, whieli were many ; tluit my mind
was fully made up. and that as soon as possible I
meant to enter the army, lie had the goo*! sense
to see that I was of no inc^lination to ehanj^e ; and
so, after some words of the most tender remonstranee,
he bade me to i>rayerf ally consider the business fur-
ther, sin(!e overseers would not meet at once, and
even when they did there would be time to manifest
to Friends a just sense of my errors.
I thanked him, and went my way, makiuir, however,
uo sign of grace, so that, on July 4 of this 177G,
late in the evening, I received in my aunt's presence
a letter from Isaac Freenum, clerk of the Meeting,
inclosing a fornuil minute of tlie linal action of
Friends in my case.
"What is that'/" said Aunt Oainor, very cheerful
over a letter of thanks to her for liaving sold at cost
to the Committee of Safety the cl(>th of Holland and
the blankets she had induced mv father to buv for
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244 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
bridge glasses ; thoy leave dents in one's nose. Yon
have not seen him lately. He was here to-dav. You
should see him, Hugh. He was dressed very tine in
a velvet eoat with new, shilling buttons, and bless
me ! but lie lias got manners as fine as iiis ruffles,
and that is saying a good deal— Meelilin of the best.
You would not know the man."
With this she began to h)ok at my letter. " Hoity-
toity, sir ! this is a fine setting down for a nanglity
Quaker." And she read it aloud in a strong voice,
her head baek, and the great proniontorj' of her nose
twitehing at the nostrils now and then with supreme
contempt:
I
" ' To Huon Wynne : A minute, this Tenth-day of
Sixth-montli, 1776, fnnn th(! monthly Meeting of
Friends held at Philadelphia.
'"Wherens Hugh Wynne hath had his birth and
education among Friends, and, as we lielieve, hath
been eonvineed of that divine }»rin('ii)le wliieh pre-
serves tlie followers thereof from a disi)osition to
contend for tlie asserting of civil rights in a manner
contrary to our peaceful profession, yet w's l)ow not to be surpassed; but
Mr. Carroll— oh, where was I ?"
'* Some good news," I said.
"Yes, yt's. He tells me the Congress this evening
voted f(U' a Oeclaration «>f Indepnidciice."
" Indeed ! " I cried. " So it has come at last. I,
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myself.
One afternoon in 8eptem]>er of this year I was
balancing an account when my father cumc in and
told me that Matron, our clerk, had just had a fall in
the hold of one of our ships. The day after I saw
him, and although his luirts were painful they hardly
seemed to justify my father in his desire tliat now
at last he should take a long rest from work.
This threw all the detail of our affairs as largely
into my hands as was possible with a man like my
father. I think he guessed my intention to leave
him for the army, and gladly improv«'d this chance
to load me with needless affairs, and all manner of
small perplexities. My imnt was better— in fact,
well; but here was this new trouble. What could 1
do? My father declared that tlie old clerk would
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248 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
soon bo able to resume his place, and meanwhile,
he should have no one to help him but me. Now
aiul then, to my surjii'ise, he uuide some absui'd busi-
ness venture, and was impatient if I said a word of
reiuonstranee. Twice I was sent to Marvland to see
after our tol)ae('o plantations. I was in despair, and
became depressed and querulous, seeing no present
way, nor any future likelihood, of escape. My father
was well }>leascd, and even my aunt seemed to me
too well satislied with the ill turn which fate had
done me. My father was clearly using the poor old
cU'rk's calamity as an excuse to keep me busy; nor
was it at all like Jufii to employ such subterfuges.
All his life long he had been direct, positive, and
dictatorial; a few years back lie would have ordered
me to give up all idea of th(^ army, and would as like
as not have punished resistance with cold-blooded
disinheritance. He was visibly and ))ut too clearly
changing from the rtsolute, uncompromising num
he ha«l ression that the doctor, who
loved his country well, was becoming discontented
with our chief; but neither then nor later did she
change her own opinion of the reserved and cour-
teous Virginian.
He soon justified her views of his capacity. On
December 1 he broke down the bridges in his rear
over the Raritan, and marched through Jersey with
a dwindling army At Princeton he had but three
thousand men ; destroying every boat, he wisely put
the ]>road Delaware l^etweeti his army and the enemy.
Lord Cornwallis halted at the idver. waiting for it
to freeze that he might ei'oss, and until tins shouhi
happt'U went back with Howe to New York. About
December 15 of 76, Geuerjd Lee was cajitured, and.
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250 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
strange as it may now seem, no calamity yet come
upon us created more consternation. Meanwhile
our own alarmed citizens bc^'an to bury their silver
plate. While the feeble were tiyinj;:, and the doubtful
were ready to renew th(nr oath to the king, the wary
and resolute commander-in-chief saw his chance.
To aid his couragecms resolve came Sullivan and
Gates from Lee's late command. " At sunset on
Christmas day we crossed the Delaware," writes Jack.
" My general was in a small boat, with Knox, and
two boatmen. We were ten hours in the ice, and
marched nine miles, after crossing, in a blinding storm
of sleet. By God's gi-ace we took one thousand of
those blackguard Hessians, and, but for Cadwaladei*'s
ill luck with the ice, would have got Donop also. I
had a finger froze, but no worse accident.
" I dare say you know we fell back beyond Assim-
pink Creek, below Trenton. There we fought my
lord marquis again with good fortune. Mejinwhile
he weakened his force at Princeton, and, I fan<;y,
thought we were in a trap ; but our general left fii'es
burning, passed round the encTny's left, and, as we
came near Princeton at sunrise, fell upon Colonel
Mawhood on his way to join Cornwallis. I was close
to General Mercer when we saw them, and had as
usual a fit of the shakes, hang them ! Luckily there
was small leisure to think.
" In the first onset, which was fierce, our brave
general was mortally wounded ; and then, his Excel-
lency coming up, we routed them finely. So away
went Cornwallis, with the trapped hot after the trap-
Mugh Wynne: Free Quaker 251
pers. We have the Jerseys and two thousand pris-
oners. I do not think even Miss Wynne can imagine
what courage it took for our general to turn as lio
did on an array like that of Cornwallis'. Are you
never coming?
" It is sad that tlie Southern officers look upon us
and those of New England as tradesfolk, and this
makes constant trouble, especially among the militia,
who come and go much as they please. I have had
no personal difficulty, but there have been several
duels, of which little is said.
" It is to be hoped that Ct>ugi*ess will now order
all enlistments to be for the war, else we shall soon be
in a mortal bad way. Ilast heard of Miss Peniston ? "
This letter came soon after the smart little winter
campaign in Jersey had made us all so happy.
" It will last a good while yet," said James Wilson.
*' And when are you going, Hugh ? " Indeed, I began
at last to see a way opened, as we of Friends say ;
for now, in the spring, our old clerk hobbled back to
his desk, and I knew that my father would no longer
be left without friendly and familiar help. But be-
fore he could assume his full duties August was upon
us— August of 77, a year for me most eventful.
Darthea's letters to my aunt grew less and less fre-
quent, and, as I tlmught, had an air of sadness un-
usual in tliis gladsome creature. Once she sj)(>ke of
Captain Wynne as absent, and once that he, like Jack,
had had a slight wouikI in the storui of Fort Wash-
ington. Of politics she voiiUl say nothing, as her
letters had usually to pass our lines.
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252 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
On July 31 Washington knew that Howe's fleet
was off tht3 Delaware capes. Mc.tnvhile he had
crossed that river into Pennsylvania, and humed his
army across country, finally encampitjg on a Satur-
day at Xicctown, some live mik\s from Philadelphia.
I rode out that evening to meet Jack, whose troop
camped even nearer to town, and (^ose to the tents
of tlie headfp.arters staff. The general lay for this
night at SU'uton, wliere ou)' Quaker frier^ds, the
Logans, lived. He was sliown, I was told, iha secret
slaii'way and the undergrouiul passage ro the sta)>le
and beyond, and was disposed to tliink it curious.
Jack, now a captain, in a new suit of blue and huff,
looked brown and hardy, and his figure had s[)read,
but the l(»cks were as vellow and th(i cheeks as rosv
as ever I kiU'W them.
Dear Aunt daiuoi" uiade muc^h of hiui Ihat evening,
and we talked late into the night of battles and
generals and what had gor^e with Lord Howe. I
unit 10 lu'd disconti'uted. reeling nivself to be a verv
inconsiderable person, .".ml Jack rode away to camp.
The next day being Sunday, the 24th of August,
his I'A<'ellency nuirched into town by Front street at
the liead of tlie flower of his army, in all alxmt eleven
thousHud. Fine men they were, Init numy half chid
and ill shod ; fairly drilled too, but not as th(\v were
later in the war. The town was wild with delight,
and ev(>rv oni> glad sav(» the Tories and the Quakers,
numv (»f wli(»m remained all dav in their houses.
This mareh being maih; only to exhibit tin; army
to friend and foe, the ti'oops moved out High street
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 253
and by the middle ferry m^ross the Schuylkill, on
lliuir way toward the Delaware to meet Mr. llowu,
who, having landed at the head of KIk River, was
now on his way 'ovvard Philadelphia. His troops
were .slow, iho i«)a:'s bad and few, the ague in gieat
force and severe— or so we heard. I rode sadly with
our people .is far as Darby, and then turned honu*-
ward a vexed and dispirited num. It w:is, I think,
on the 4th of August that our general, who had rid-
den on in advance of his army, first met Mai-quis
Lafavette.
My aunt, who spoke French witli remarkalHe flu-
ency and a ealm disregard of accent and inflections,
was well pleased to entertain the French gentlenum,
and at her hou.se I had the hap]>iness to nuike his
ae([uaint»i?ice, greatly, as it j)roved, to my future ad-
vantage. He was glad to find any who spoke his
own tongue well, and disiMissed our affairs with me,
Iiorrified at tin* hi>,k of decent uniforms and (li.^-cipline,
l>ut, like me, pleased with the tall, sti'ong men he saw
in our ranks. Later my ae(|uaintance with French
was of much use to mo ; .so little can a man tell what
value an accomplishnnait will have for him.
The numiuis was very young, and somewhat free
in stating his opinions. At this tinu' he thought
Mr. Howe inte'uded Charle.ston, and, lil;" others, was
anuized at his folly in not g<.i»iLr up the Delaware
Bay to land his ti'oops iiis strange slr.it egy left
Hurgoyne to the fate in stoi'e for him '.tt Saratoga,
wh(n*e the lattei* general was to act a lii'st part in a
tragic- drama much liner than those he wrote, wlii(di
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254 Hii'Mi Wvniic: Free Quaker
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hi
worn po ffrcjitly piaiscd by tlr fmo liuli<-s in Loudon,
and indeed l>y m>iii(' lu'lter critics.
A i«'ttcr <)f Ja<*k'.s <'aiiie to hand during this week.
In if he said niy aunt must h'ave, us lie was sure vse
ha awav. She even declined to burv
her silver, as nniuv had done. Not so the rest of
the Wliigs. Ev(^ry one fled who knew wljcre to go,
or who feared to be called to uceount ; anthing loath to do.
I was cool, as you may suppo.se, but it was ditlicMilt
for man or womnn to resist Artluir Wynne when
he meant to be pleasant; and .so, juitting my dislike
aside, I fouml myself chatting with him a)»ont the
war and what not. In fact, he was a guest, and what
else could I dof
My aunt kept herself indoors and would noiu; of
the (ialloways and Aliens, who had come bacl iu
swarm.s, nor even the neutrals, like Mr. iVnn, whom
she much liked. The dav after the town was occu-
pied. Captain Wynne a[)pearetl early in the morning,
ua we were discu.«>sing a matter of business, lie
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256 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
took it for prranted, I presume, that my aunt would
SCI*, liim, and went past the turbaiied black boy
despite liis small remonstrances. My aunt rose to
the full of li( r ^reat hei^'bt, her nose in the air, and
letting full a hipful of papers.
"To what," she said, "have I the honour to o^ve
a visit fiuiii ^Ir. Wynne? Is my hou.se an inn, thai
any oftiee'- of the king may enter vvliether I will oi-
not?"
Altliougii lie must have been surprised, he was
perfectly at his ease. Indeed, I envicil him liis seLf-
posscssion.
" Madam," he said, " I am charged with a letter
from IMiss Peniston."
"You may put it on the table," says Mistres-s
Wynne. "My bi'other may choose his society. I
ask Mie same privilege, it will not consist of gentle-
men of yimr profession."
iSIr. Wynne's face grew black under its dark skin.
" Madam," he said, " I stay nowhere as an unwd'onir
guest. I thank you for i)ast kindness, and I humbly
take my leave. I could have done you a .service as
to this business of the quartering of oflic<'rs, and you
shall still have my good olTict's for the sake of th«^
many pleasant hours I have i)asst'd in your house.
.\s my Cousin Hugh says nothing, I am glad t«» think
that he is of a difT«n'ent opinion from that which you
have put in words so agreeably." With this he went
away, leaving my aunt red in the face, and speechless
with wrath.
I thought he had the best of it ; but I merely said,
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 257
"My dear aunt, yon slionld not have been so hard
with hiiu." I did, indeed, think it both unwise and
needless.
" Stuff and nonsense ! " says Miss WjTinc, walking
about as my father used to do. " I do not tiiist him,
and he has ^ot that girl in liis toils, poor ehild ! I
wonder what lies he has told her. How does he hold
her? I did tl.ink that was past any man's power;
and she is unliappy Uhk When a woman like I)ar-
thea begins to find a man out, slw can't help sli'-w'ng
it, an they ordered bones." In fa(^t, they
had asked quite civilly if they might have sui>pcr.
"I saw them at their feed," says my aun , "and
tlu^ big ]>east, (leneral Knypliauseu, sju'ead my best
]>utter on his bread with his thum1>, sir— his thumb !
Count Donop is better; but Von Ileiscr ! and the
pipes! heavens!" Here she retreated within her
curtains, and T heard her say, '' liessy Ferguson saw
tlu>m come in, and must smU M<'ross th«' street and tell
Job tlu' pjige with the turban — to <'ongrat ulate me
for her, and to advise me to get a keg of sau»Tkraut."
T assui-ed my aunt that fortunately these were gen-
tlemen, but she W!is inconsolalile, declaring herself
ill, and that Dr. Kusli mu.^t tion. When, in
177G, he was made a prisoner by Montgomery in
Canada, and after that was on parole at Lancaster, I
met him ; and as he nnich attracted me, my aunt sent
him money, and I was able to ease his ('ai)tivity by
making him known to (Mir friends, Mr. Justi(»e Yeates
and the good Cope people, who, being sound Tories,
did him such good turns as he never forgot, and
kindly credited to us. Indeed, he made far my aunt
some pretty sketches of the fall woods, and, as I
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 261
have said, was welcome where no other redcoat could
enter.
My aunt was soon easier in mind, but my own
condition was not to be envied. Hero wa.s Arthur
Wynne at my father's, the Hessians at my aunt's, the
Tories happy, seven or ei}:^ht tliousand folks gone
away, every inn and house full, and on the street
crowds of unmannerlv otlieers. It was not easv to
avoid (juarrels. Already the Hessian soldiers ])egan
to steal all nuiu-ier of eatables from tlu; farms this
side of Schuylkill. More to my own ineonveuienee,
I found that Major von Hciser hml taken the priv-
ilege of riding my nuu'c Lucy so hard that she was
unfit to use for two days. At hust my aunt's chicken-
eoops suffered, and the voice of her pet rooster was
no more heard in the land. I did hear that, as this
raid of some privates interfered with the Dutch gen-
eral's diet, one of the offenders got the strappado.
But no one could stop these fellows, and they were
so bold as to enter houses and steal what they wanted,
until severe measures were taken l)y Mr. Howe. They
robbed my father boldly, before his eyes, of two fat
Virginia peach-fed haius, and all his special toba^ico.
He stood by, and said they ought not to do it. This,
as they knew no tongue but their own, and as ho
acted up to his lionest belief in the righteousness of
non-resistance, and uttered noconi]»laiiit, only served
to bring them again. Hut this time I was at home,
and nearly kiib'd a corporal with the (Quaker slalT
Thomas Scattcrgood gave my father. The adven-
ture seemed to compensate Miss Wynne for her own
ft
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262 Flugh Wynne: Free Quaker
losses. Thp corporal made a lying complaint, and
hut for Mr. Andre I should have been [»ut to serious
annoyance. Our boys used to say that the Hessian
drum-beat said, *' Plunder, plunder, plun, plun, plun-
der." And so for the sad remnant of Whij^ gentles
tiie town was made in all ways unbearable.
There are times when the life sands seem to run
slowly, and others when they flow swiftly, as dur-
ing this bewildering week. All manner of things
hai>pened, mostly per[)lexing or sad, and none f|uito
agreeable. On the 28th, coming in about nine at
night, I saw tliat there were persons in the gi'eat
front sitting-room, which overlooked Dock Creek.
As T came into the light which fell through the open
doorway, I stood unnoticed. The room was full of
pipe smoke, and rum and Hollands were on the table,
as was common in th(^ days when Friends' Meeting
made a minute that Friends be vigilant to see that
those who work in the harvest-fields have portions of
rum. My father and my cousin sat on one side, op-
posite a short, stout man almost as swarthy as Ar-
thur, and with very small piercing eyes, so dark as
to seem black, which eyes never are.
I heard this gentleman say, " WjTine, I hear that
your brother is worse. These elder brothers are un-
natural animals, and vastly tenacious of life." On
this I noticed my cousin frown at him and slightly
shake his head. The officer did not take the hint,
if it werc^ one, but sidded, smiling, ''He will live to
bury you ; uni'eoliug brutes— these elder brothel's.
Damn 'em ! "
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 263
I was shocked to notice how inoi-tly iny father
hstened to the oatli, and I recalled, with a sudden
sense of distress, what my aunt had said of my
fathei*'s state of mind. The yoiiiij^ are accustomed
to take for granted the permanency of health in their
elders, and to look upon them as uncluuiging insti-
tutions, until, in some sad way, reminded of the frailty
of all living things.
As I went in, Arthur rose, looked sharply at me,
and said, "Let me present my cousin, Mr. Hugh
Wynne, Colonel Tarh'ton."
I bowed to the officer, who lacked the politeness
to rise, merely saying, "Pleased to see you, Mr.
Wynne."
" We were talking," said Arthur, " when you came
of the fight at the river with the queer name— Bran-
dy wine, is n't it ? "
"No," said my father; "thou art mistaken, and I
wished to ask thee, Arthur, what was it thou wert
saying. We had ceased to speak of the war. Yt^s ;
it was of thy brother."
"What of thy brother ?" said I, glad of this opening.
"Oh, nothing, except Colonel Tarleton had news
he was not so well." He was so shrewd as to think
I must have overheard enough to make it useless to
lie to me. A lie, he used to say, was a reserve not
to be called into service except when all else failed.
"Oh, was that all?" I returned. "I did hear.
Cousin Arthur, that the Wyncote estate was growing
to be valuable again; some coal or iron had been
found."
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356 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
Upon this I laughed so that the hut shook, and
poor Jack became quite disconcerted, and fell to
making a variety of excuses. It is of this he says :
" Hugh is come from death, and there is more to
live for. For me, that am otti^u unready and v/tjak,
here is again his ever just helpfiUness. He is but
a shadow of himself, and I cannot wonder that he is
so bitter against the enemy, or that he desires, less
on account of his bodilv feebleness than from a wish
to revenge his cruel treatment, to serve witli the
horse. Tl f^y are never more quiet than gadflies. It
is dangerous duty, and should it cost this dear life,
how siio'l I ever face Mistress Wynne?"
I myself had but one thought in my own mind
this Sunday in March, as I rode through the east
wind. It is my way, and always was, to liave but a
single idea in mind, and to go straight to my object
th«! nearest way. He was right in his belief that it
was my burning wi.sh to pay the debts of my poor
abused body. I knew not when we shoidd move,
and the dislike of tiresome drills under Steuben, with
a restless, perhaps a wholesome, instinct to lead a
more active life, conspired to make my hatred seem
reasonable.
I could see, as I rode along through the canton-
ment and the long lines of huts, how well chosen was
the valley camp. The Schuylkill flowing from the
Blue Hills turned here to eastward, the current was
deep, the banks were high and precipitous. To the
west, in a deep gorge, the Valley Creek protected the
camp. Running down from Mount Joy, a broad
,!■■
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 357
spur turned northward to the Schuylkill. Between
this ridge and the river lay an angular table-land,
falling to the valley beyond. Along this ridge, and
high on Mount Joy, were the intrenchments laid out
by Du Portail, and within them were the camps of
rare tents and the rows of wooden huts.
Riding north amid the stumps and the lessening
drifts of snow, past the dark huts, and the files of
ragged men in line for morning service, I came down
to the angle between the VaUey Creek and the Schuyl-
kill. The river was full, and ran a gray-brown flood.
Where the trampled slope rose from the creek I
came upon a small but solid house, built of gray
and ruddy sandstones, a quaint, shell-curved pent-
house above the open doorway. Hero were horses
held by orderlies, the blue and white of French uni-
forms, buff-and-blue officers, and the guard of fifty
light horse on a side road in the saddle, facing the
house. I knew I had found the headquarters. Look-
ing about, I saw, to my joy, Mr. Hamilton talking
with some of our allies. I rode up, and as they
turned, I said, "I am Mr. Hugh Wynne, Colonel
Hamilton."
'' Good heavens, sir ! You are not dead then, after
aU!"
"No," I said, laughing; "I am alive, thank you.
I have been in prison for months, and I am come
now to ask for that commission in the light horse
about which I must beg you to remind his Excel-
lency."
" No wonder," said he, " I did not recognise you.
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358 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
We are now going to morning service. I will see
to it at once. We thought you dead. Indeed, his
Excellency wrote to Mistress Wynne of you. The
general has full powers at last, and you are sure of
your commi.ssiou. Now I must leave you."
A few more needed words were said, and I drew
aside to see the staff ride away. In a few minutes
the young aide came back.
" You ma}' join McLane at once. You will have
an acting commission until a more formal one reaches
you, I supix)se you have no news ? "
" None," I said, '' except of how a British jail looks."
" His p]xceUeucy desires your company at dinner
to-dav at six."
I said I had no uniform.
" Look at mine," he cried, laughing. " I have only
one suit, and the rest are hardly better off."
I drew back and waited. In a few minutes the
general came out, and mounting, sat still until all of
the staff were in the saddle.
He had changed greatly from the fresh, clear-
skinned country gentleman I saw first in Pliiladel-
phia. His face was more grave, his very ruddy skin
less clear and more bronzed. I observed that his
eyes were deep set, light blue in colour, and of un-
usual size ; his nose was rather heavy and large ; the
mouth resolute and firm, with full lips. His general
expression was sedate and tranquil. In full, neat
buff and blue, his hair powdered, the (jueue carefully
tied, he sat very ei-ect in the saddle, and looked to
be a good horaeman.
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 359
This is all I remembei' at that time of this high-
minded gentleman. I heard much of him then and
later ; and as what I heard or saw varies a good deal
from the idea now held of him, I shall not refrain
from saying how he seemed to us, who saw him in
camp and field, or in tlie hour of rare leisure. But
I shall do better, perhaps, just now to let my friend
say what he seemed to be to his more observant and
reflective mind. It was writ long after.
" Abler pens than mine," says Jack, " have put on
record the sorrowful glory of tliat dreadful camp-
ground by Valley Forge. It is strongly charactered
in those beseeching letters and despatches of the fd-
most heartbroken man, wlio poured out his grief in
language which even to-day no man can read un-
moved. To us he sliowed only a gravely tranquil
face, which had in it something which reassured
those starving and naked ones. Most wonderful is
it, as I read what he wrote to inefficient, blundenng
men, to see how calmly lie states our pitiful case, how
entirely he controls a nature violent and passionate
beyond that of most men. He was scarcely in the
saddle as commander before the body which set him
there was filled with dissatisfaction.
"I think it well that we know so little of what
went on within the walls of Congress. The silence
of histoiy has been friendly to many reputations.
There need be no silence as to this man, nor any
concealment, and there has been much. I would have
men see him as we saw him in his anger, when no
language was too strong; in his hour of serene
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360 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
kindliness, when Hamilton, the aide of twenty, was
'my boy'; in this starving camp, with naked men
shivering all night in their blankets by the fires,
when 'he pitied those miseries he could neither relieve
nor prevent.' Am I displeased to think that although
he laughed rarely he liked Colonel Scammel's strong
stories, and would be amused by a song such as no
woman should hear ?
"This serene, inflexible, decisive man, biding his
hour, could be then the venturesome soldier, willing
to put every fortune on a chance, risking himself
with a courage tliat alarmed men for his life. Does
any but a fool think that he could have been all these
things and not have had in him the wild blood of
passion ? He had a love for fine clothes and show.
He was, I fear, at times extravagant, and, as I have
heard, could not pay his doctor's bill, and would
postpone that, and send him a horse and a little
money to educate his godson, the good doctor's son.
As to some of his letters, they contained jests not
gross, but not quite fit for grave seigniors not virgini-
hus puerisque. There is one to Lafayette I have been
shown by the marquis. It is most amusing, but—
oh, fie ! Was he religious ? I do not know. Men
say so. He might have been, and yet have had his
hours of ungoverned rage, or of other forms of Ini-
man weakness. Like a friend of mine, he was not
given to speech concerning his creed."
My Jack was right. Our general's worst foes were
men who loved their country, but who knew not to
oomprehend this man. I well remember how I used
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 361
to stop at the camp-fires and hear the men talk of
him. Here was no lack of sturdy sense. The notion
of Adams and Rush of appointing new major-generals
every year much amused them, and the sharp logic
of cold and empty bellies did not move them from
the beHef that their chief was the right man. How
was it they could judge so well and these others so
iUf
He had no tricks of the demagogue. He coveted
no popularity. He knew not to seek favour by going
freely among the men. The democratic feeling in
our army was intense, and yet this reserved aristo-
crat had to the end the iove and confidence of every
soldier in the ranks.
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SHALL pass lightly over the next two
months. I saw Jack rarely, and McLane
kept ns busy with foraging parties and
incessant skirmishes. Twice we rode dis-
guised as British troopers into the very
heart of the city, and at night as far down as Second
street bridge, captui'ed a Captain Sandf ord and car-
ried him off in a mad ride through the pickets. The
life suited maid Lucy and myself admirably. I grew
wel^ and strong, and, I may say, paid one of my debts
when we stole in and caught a rascal named Varnum,
on e of our most cruel turnkeys. This hulking coward
went out at a run through the lines, strapped behind
a trooper, near to whom I rode pistol in hand. We
got well peppered and lost a man. I heard Varnum
cry out as we passed the outer picket, and supposed
he was alarmed, as he had fair need to be.
We pulled up a mile away, McLane, as usual, laugh-
ing like a boy just out of a phmdered apple-orchard.
To my hoiTor Varnum was dead, with a ball through
his brain. His arms, which were around the trooper's
waist, were stiffened, so that it was hard to unclasp
them. This rigidness of some men killed in battle
I have often seen.
362
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 363
On Saturday, the 16th of May, Marquis Lafayette
came to our liuts and asked nie to walk apart with
him. We spoke French at liis request, as he did uot
wish to be overheard, and talked English but ill. He
said his Excellency desired to have fuller knowledge
of the forts on the Neck and at the lower feri\-, as
well as some intelligence as to the upper liues north
of the town. Mr. Hamilton thought me very fit for
the affair, but the general-in-chief had said, in his
Tiind way, that I had suffered too much to jmt my
neck in a noose, and that I was too well known in
the town, although it seemed to him a good choice.
When the marquis had said his say I remained
silent, until at last he added that I was free to refuse,
and none would think the worse of me ; it was not
an order.
I replied that I was only thinking how I should do it.
He laughed, and declared he liad won a guinea of
Mr. Hamilton. "I did bet on your face, Monsieur
Vynne. I make you my compliments, and shall I
say it is * Yes ' 1 "
" Yes ; and I shall go to-morrow, Sunday." And
with this he went away.
Wlien I told McLane he said it was a pity, because
tlio redcoats were to have a grand fandango on the
18th, and he meant to amuse himself that evening,
which he did to some purpose, as you shall hear.
I spent the day in buying from a farmer a full
Quaker dress, and stained my face that night a fine
brownish tint with stale pokeberry juice. It was all
the ink we had.
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364 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
Very early on the 17th I rode at dawn with a
trooper to my aunt's house, and in the woods back
of it changed my clothes for the Quaker rig and
broad-brimmed liat. To my delight, my aunt did not
know me when I said I wanted to buy her remaining
cow. She was angrj' enough, until I began to laugh
and told her to look at me. Of course she entreated
me not to go, but seeing me resolved, bade me take
the beast and be off. She would do without mUk ;
as for me, I should be the cause of her death.
I set out about six with poor Sukey, and was so
bothered by the horrible road and by her desire to
get back to her stall that it was near eleven in the
morning before we got to town. As usual, food was
welcome, and a trooper was sent with me to the
commissary at the Bettering-house, where I was paid
three pounds six after much sharp bargaining in
good Quaker talk. A pass to return was given me,
and with this in my pocket I walked away.
I went through the woods and the Sunday quiet of
the camps without trouble, saying I had lost my way,
and innocently showing my pass to everybody. Back
and to south of the works on Callowhill were the Hes-
sians and the Fourth foot. The Seventh and Four-
teenth British Grenadiers lay from Delaware
Seventh to westward ; the Yagers at Schuylkill Third
street, or where that would be on Mr. Penn's plan ;
and so to Cohocsink Creek dragoons and foot. North
of them were Colonel Montresor's nine blockhouses,
connected by a heavy stockade and abatis, and in
front of this chevaux-de-frise and the tangled nui.'s
of dead trees which had so beaten me when T t!S('ape«1,
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 365
The stockado aud the brush and the tuiiihlod fniit-
trees were dry from long exposure, aud were, I
thought, well fitted to defy attack.
I turned west again, and went out to the Schuyl-
kill River, where at tlie upper f eriy was now a bridge
with another fort. Then I walked s(nithward along
the stream. The guards on the river-bank twice
turned me back ; but at last, taking to the woods, I
got into the open farm country beyond South Street,
aud before dark climbed a dead pine and was able
to see the fort near to Mr, James Hamilton's seat
of the Woodlands, set high above the lower ferry,
which was now well bridged.
Pretty tired, I lay down awhile, and then strolled
off into town to get a lodging. When past Walnut
street I found the streets unusually full. I had of
pm'pose chosen First-day for my errand, expecting
to find our usual Sunday quiet, but the licence of (ui
army had changed the ways of this decorous town.
Every one had a lantern, which gave an odd look
of festivity, and, to comply with the military rule, I
bought me a lantern. Men were crying tickets for
the play of the " Mock Doctor" on Tuesday, and for
Saturday, "The Deuce is in Him ! " Others sold places
for the race on Wednesday, and also hawked almanacs
and Tory broadsides. The stores on Second street
were open and well lighted, and the coffee-house was
full of redcoats carousing, while loose women tapped
on the windows and gathered at the doors. All
seemed merry and prosperous. Here and there a
staid Quaker in drab walked up the busy street on
his homeward way, undistracted by the merriment
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and noise of tlie ihroni^ed thoroughfare. A dozen red-
coats went by to change the guards set at the doors
of general officers. A negro paused on the sidewalk,
crying, " Pepper-pot, smoking hot ! •' Another offered
nie the pleasant calamus-root, which in those days
people liked to chew. A man in a red coat walked
in the roadway ringing a bell and crying, "Lost
child ! " Sedan-chairs or chaises set down officers.
The quiet, sedate city of Penn had lost its air of de-
mure respectability, and I felt like one in a strange
place. Tliis sense of alien surroundings may have
helped to put me off my guard ; for, because of being
a moment careless, I ran a needless risk. Over the
way I saw two blacks holding lanterns so as to show
a great bill pasted on a wall. I crossed to look at
it. Abo/e was a Latin motto, which I cannot now
recall, but the body of it I remember well :
[I
hi
" All Intrepid, able-bodied Heroes who are willing
to serve against the Arbitrary Usurpations of a
Tyranickal Congi-ess can now, by enlisting, acquire
the polite Accomplishments of a Soldier.
" Such spirited Fellows will, besides their Pay, be
rewarded at the End of the War with
Fifty Acres
of Land,
To which every Heroe may retire and Enjoy His
Lass and His Bottle."
This so much amused me that I stood stni to gaze ;
for below it was seen the name of an old schoolmate,
Hi
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 367
William Allen, now a lieutenant-colonel, in want of
Tory recruits.
I felt suddenly a rousing whack on the back, and
turning in a rage, saw two drunken grenadiers.
"Join the harray, friend; make a cussed fine
Quaker bombardier."
I instantly cooled, for people began to stop, pleased
at the fun of baiting a Quaker. The others cried,
" Give us a drink, old Thee-and-Thou ! " Some sol-
diers paused, hoping for a ring and a fight. I was
pushed about and hustled. I saw that at any mo-
ment it might end ill. I had v nighty min'1. toward
anything but non-resistance, but sti'!, fearing to hit
the feUows, I cried out meekly, "Taou art wrong,
friends, to oppress a poor man." Just then I heard
William Allen's voice back of me, crying, " Let that
Quaker alone ! " As he quickly exercised the author-
ity of an officer, the gathering crowd dispersed, and
the grenadiers staggered away. I was prompt
enough to slip down High street, glad to be so well
out of it.
At the inn of the " Bag of Nails," on Front street,
I found a number of Friends, quiet over their Hol-
lands. I sat down in a dark corner, and would have
had a well-earned bowl ; but I was no sooner seated
than in came a man with a small bell, and, walking
among the guests, rang it, saying, '' It is half after
ten, and there will be no more liquor served. No
more ! no more ! "
I knew that it would be impossible to break this
decree, and therefore contented myself with cold
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368 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
beef and cole-slaw. I uent to bed, and thought
over the oddity of my being helped by William Allen,
and of how easily I might have been caught.
In washing next morning I was off my guard, and
got rid of the moLt of my pokeberry juice. I saw
my folly too late, but there was no help for it. I
resolved to keep my wide brim well down over my
face, seeing in a mirror how too much like my own
self I had become.
I settled my score and went out, passing down the
river-front. Here I counted and took careful note of
the war-ships anchored all the way along the Dela-
ware. At noon I bought an " Observer," and learned
that Mr. Howe had lost a spaniel dog, and that
there was to be a great festival that night in hon-
our of Sir William Howe's departure for England.
Would Darthea be there f I put aside the temp-
tation to see that face again, and set about learn-
ing what forts were on the neck of land to south,
where the two rivers, coming together at an angle,
make what we call the Neck. It was a wide lowland
then, but partly diked and crossed by many ditches ; a
marshy country much like a bit of Holland, with here
and there windmills to complete the resemblance.
It was so open that, what with the caution required
in approaching the block forts and the windabout
ways the ditches made needful, it was late before I
got the information I needed. About nine on this
18th of May, and long after dusk, I came upon the
lower fort, as to which the general was desirous of
i
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 369
more complete knowledge. I walked around it, and
was at last ordered off by the guards.
My errand was now nearly done. My way north
took me close to Walnut Grove, the old country-seat
of my father'*? friend, Joseph Wharton, whom, on
account of his haughty ways, the world's people
wickedly called the Quaker duke. The noise of people
come to see, and the faint strains of distant music,
had for an hour reminded me, us I came nearer the
gardens of Walnut Grove, that what McLane had
called the gi-eat fandango in honour of Sir William
Howe was in full activity. Here in the tiill box alleys
as a child I had many times played, and every foot of
the ground was pleasingly familiar
The noise increased as I approached through the
growing darkness ; for near where the lane reached
the Delaware was a small earthwork, the last of those
I needed to visit. I tried after viewing it to cross the
double rows of grenadiers which guarded this road,
but was rudely I'cpulsed, and thus had need to go
back of their line and around the rear of tlie mansion.
When opposite to the outhouses used for servants I
paused in the great crowd of townsfolk who were
applauding or sullenly listening to the music heard
through the open windows. I had no great desire to
linger, but as it was dark I fi^ared no recognition,
and stayed to listen to the fin(^ band of the Hessians
and the wild clash of their cymbals, which, before
these Germans came, no one had heard in the colonies.
My work was over. I had but to go far back of the
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house and make my way to camp by any one of the
ferries. Unluckily the music so attracted me that I
stayed on, and, step by step, quite at my ease, drew
nearer to the mansion.
The silly extravagance of the festival, with its after-
noon display of draped galh^ys and saluting ships
gr^y with flags, and its absurd mock show of a tour-
nament in ridiculous costumes, I have no temptation
to describe, nor did I see this part of it. It was
meant to honour Sir William Howe, a man more
liked than respected, and as a soldier beneath con-
tempt. I had no right to have lingered, and my idle
curiosity came near to have cost me dear. The house
was precisel like Mount Pleasant, later General
Arnold's he le on the Schuylkill. In the centre of
a large lawn stood a double mansion of stone, and a
little to each side were seen outhouses for servants
and kitchen use. The open space toward the water
was extensive enough to admit of the farcical tilting
of the afternoon. A gi'eat variety of evergreen trees
and shrubs gave the house a more shaded look than
the season would otherwise have afforded. Among
these were countless lanterns illuminating the
grounds, and from the windows on all sides a blaze
of light was visible. Back of the house two roads
ran off, one to west and one to north, and along these
were waggons coming and going, servants, orderlies,
and people with supplies.
At this locality there was much confusion, and,
picking up a pair of lanterns, I went unquestioned
past the guard on the south side of Walnut Lane.
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 371
Indeed, the sentrios here and most of the orderlies
were by this time well iu liquor. Once within the
gi'ounds, which I knew well, I was perfectly at home.
No one of the guests was without at the side or front.
Now and then a servant passed through the alleys
of clipped box to see to the lanterns. I was quite
alone. In the shelter of a row of low hemlocks and
box I stood on a garden-seat at the south side of the
house, fifteen feet from a large bow-window, and,
parting the branches, I commanded a full view of the
dancing-room. I had no business here, and I knew
it ; I meant but to look and be gone. The May night
was warm and even sultry, so that the sashes were
all raised and the curtains drawn aside. I saw with
ease a charming scene.
The walls were covered with mirrors lent for the
occasion, Jind the room I commanded was beautifully
draped with flags and hangings. Young blacks stood
at the doors, or came and went with refreshments.
These servants were clad in blue and white, with red
turbans and metal collars and bracelets. The six
Knights of the Blended Roses, or some like silliness,
had cast their queer raiments and were in uniform.
Their six chosen ladies were still in party-coloured
costumes, which were not to mv tast«. Most of the
women— there were but some threescore, almost all
Tories or Moderates— wcn^ in the gorgeous l)rocades
and the wide hooped skirts of the day. The extrav-
agance of the costumes struck me. The head-dresses,
a foot above the head with aigrets and feathers and
an excess of powder, seemed to me quite astonishing.
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372 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
I stoofl motionless, caught by the beauty of the
ino\-ing picture before me. I have ever loved colour,
and here was a feast of it hard to equal. There were
red coats and gold epaulets, sashes and ribboned
orders, the green and red of the chasseurs of Bruns-
wick, blue navj'' uniforms, the gold lace and glitter
of staflf-officers, and in and out among them the
clouds of floating muslin, gorgeous brocades, flash-
ing silk petticoats, jewels, and streaming ribbons.
The air was full of powder shaken from wig, queue,
and head-dress; spurs clinked, stiff gown skii'ts
rustled. The moving mass of colour, lovely faces,
and manly fonns bent and swayed in ordered move-
ment as the music of the grenadier band seemed to
move at \vill these puppets of its harmony.
They were walking a minuet, and its tempered
grace, which I have never ceased to admire, seemed
to suit well the splendour of embroidered gowns and
the brilliant glow of the scarlet coats. I began to
note the faces and to see them plainly, being, as I
have said, not fifteen feet away from the window.
Sir William Howe was dancing with Miss Redman.
I wa.s struck, as others have been, with his likeness to
Washingt^»n, but his face wanted the undisturbed
serenity of our great chief's. I dare say he knew
bi'tter than to accept as his honest right the fulsome
homage of this parting festival. I thought indeed
that he looked discontented. I caught glimpses of
Colonel Tarleton bowi^ig to Miss Bond. Then I saw
Miss Franks sweeping a deep curtsey to Lord Cath-
cart a& he bowed. There were the fair Shippen
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 373
women, the Chews, the provost's blonde daughter
witli Sir John Wrottesley, Mrs. Ferguson, my aunt's
" Tory cat," in gay chat with Sir Charles Calder, Gal-
loways, Aliens— a piotty show of loyal dames, with
—save the officers— few young men I knew.
I started as Darthea moved across the window-
space on the arm of Andre, while following them
were Montresor and my cousin. I felt the blood go
to my face as I saw them, and drew back, letting the
parted branches come together. With this storm of
love and hate came again the sudden reflection that
I had no right to be here, and that I was off the track
of duty. I stood a moment; the night was dark;
lights gleamed far out on the river from the battle-
ships. The strains of their bands fell and rose,
faintly heard in the distance.
I saw as it were before me with distinctness the
camp on the windy hill, the half-starved, ragged men,
tlie face of the great cliief thoy loved. Once again
I looked back on this contrasting scene of foolish
luxury, and turned to go from where I felt I never
should have l)een. Poor old Joseph Wharton ! I
smiled to think that, could he have known to what
worldly use his quiet Quaker home had come, he
would have rolled uneasy in his unnamed grave in
the ground of tlie Arc^h Street Meeting.
Turning, I gave a few moments of thought to my
plans. Suddenly the music ceased, and, with laughter
and pretty cries of expectation, gay gown and fan
!ind hoop and jUie many-coloured uniforms troop(>d
(^ut from the doors, as I learned later, to see the
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374 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
fireworks, over which were to be set off for final
flattery in fiery letters, " Tes Lauriers Sant Immortels.^'
I hope he liked them, those unfading laurels ! The
shrubbery was at once alive with joyous women and
laughing' men.
I had not counted on this, and despite my disguise
I felt that any moment might put me in deadly peril.
The speedy fate of a spy I knew too well.
They were all around me in a minute, moving to
and fro, merry and chatting. I heard Andre say to
Dartlica, " It must please the general ; a great success.
I shall write it all to London. Ah, Miss Peniston !
how to describe the ladies ! "
"And their gowns ! " cried Darthea, " their ( ")wns ! "
"I am reduced to desperation," said Andre. "I
must ask the women to describe one another ; hey,
Wynne?" They were now standing apart from the
rest, and I, hid by tlie bushes, was not five feet away.
" A dangerous resource," returned Wynne. " The
list of wounded vanities would be large. How like
a brown fairy is Miss Franks ! Who shall describe
her ? No woman will dare."
" You might ask Mr. Oliver do Laneey,'' said Miss
Darthea. " She would be secure of a pretty picture."
"And you," said Wynne— "who is to be your
painter ? "
" I shall beg for the place," cried Andr6.
"I think I shsvll take some rebel officer," said Dar-
thea, saucily. " Think how fresh we should look to
those love-stai'ved gentlemen whom Sir William has
brought to such abject submission."
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 375
Andr^ laughed, but not very heartily. As to
Wynne, he was silent. The captain went on to say
how sad it was that just as the general was ready to
sweep those colonials out of existence—
"Why not say rebels, Andre?" Wynne broke in.
"Better not! better not! I never do. It only
makes more bitter what is bad enough. But where
are the fireworks ? "
Meanwhile I was in dire perplexity, afraid to stir,
hoping that they would move awaj'.
"There is a seat hereabouts," said my cousin.
" You must be tii'ed, Miss Peuiston."
"A little."
" I will look," said Wynne. " This way."
As I was in possession of the seat, I got down at
once, but in two steps Arthur was beside me, and
for an instant the full blaze from the window caught
me square in the face. He was nearest, but Darthea
was just behind him, and none other but Andre close
at hand.
" By heavens ! " I heard, and my cousin had me by
the collar. " Here, Andre ! A spy ! a spy ! Quick ! "
I heard a cry from Darthea, and saw her reel
against my cousin's shoulder.
"HelpIMp! I am -ill."
Arthur turned, exclaiming, " Darthea ! My God ! "
and thus distracted between her and mo, let slack
his hold. I tore awav and ran around the house,
upsetting nn old oflRcer, and so tlirough the slirub-
berv and the servants, wlioiii I bustled one wav and
another. I heard shouts of " Spy ! " " Stop thief ! "
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376 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
and tho rattle of arms all around me. Several wagf-
jjons l)locked the roadway. I felt that I must be
caught, and darted under a waggon body. I was
close to the lines as I rose from beneath the waggon.
At this instant cannonry thundered out to north,
and a rocket rose in air. The grenadiers looked up
in surprise. Seeing the momentary disorder of these
men, who were standing at intervals of some six feet
apart, I darted through them and into the crowd
of spectators. I still heard shouts and orders, but
pushed in among the people outside of the guai'd,
hither and thither, using my legs and elbows to good
purpose. Increasing rattle of musketry was heard
in the distance, the ships beating to quarters, the
cries and noises back of me louder and louder. I
was now moving slowly in the crowd, and at last got
clean away from it.
What had happened I knew not, but it was most
fortunate for me. When a few yards from the people
I began to run, stumbling over the fields, into and
through ditches, and because of this alarm was at
last, I concluded, reasonably safe.
I had run nearly a mile before I sat down to get
my breath and cool off. Away to north a gi'eat flare
of red fire lit up the sky. What it was I knew not,
but sat awhile and gave myself leave to think. My
cousin had instantly known me, but he had hesitated
a moment. I knew tlie signs of indecision in his
face too well to be misled. I had felt, as he seized
me, that I was lost. I could not blame him ; it was
clearly his duty. But I do not think I should have
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 377
willingly recognised him under like circumstances.
My very hatred would have made me more than hes-
itate. Still, who can say what h(i would do in tlio
haste of such a brief moral conflict ? I (iould recaU,
as I sat still and reflected, the really savage joy in
his face as he collared me. How deeply lie must
love her ! He seemed, as it were, to go to pieces at
her cry. Was she ill 1 Did her quick-coming sense
of my danger make her faint? I had seen her
unaccountably thus affected once before, as he who
reads these pages may remember. Or was it a ready-
witted ruse ? Ah, my sweet Darthea ! I wanted to
think it that.
The blaze to northward was still growing brighter,
and being now far out on the marshes south of the
town, I made up my mind to use my pass at the
nearer ferry, which we call Gray's, and this, too, as
soon as possible, for fear that orders to stop a Qua-
ker spy might cause me to regret delay.
When I came to Montresoi*'s bridge my thought
went back to my former escape, and, avoiding all
appearance of haste, I stayed to ask the sergeant in
charge of the guard what the blaze meant. He said
it was an alert.
A few days after, McLane related to me with glee
how with Clowe's dragoons and a hundred foot he
had stolen up to the lines, every man having a pot
of tar; how they had smeared the dry a>)atis and
brush, and at a signal fired the whole mass of dried
wood. He was followed into the fastnesses f)f the
Wissahickon, and lost his ensign and a man or two
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near Barren Hill. The infantry scattered and hid
in the woods, but McLane swam his horse across the
Schuylkill, got the help of Morgan's rifles, and, re-
turning, drove his pursuers up to their own intrench-
ments. He said it was the best fun he had ever had,
and he hoped the Tory ladies liked his lii'eworks.
At all events, it saved my neck.
As I walked through Gray's Lane I fell to reflect-
ing upon Andre's behaviour, of which I have said
notliing. I came to the conclusion that he could
hardly have recognised me. Tliis seemed likely
enough, because we had not met often, and I too,
apart from my disguise, had clianged very greatly.
And yet why had he not responded to an obvious
call to duty? He certainly was not very quick to
act on Arthur's cry for help. But Darthea was on
his arm, and only let it go when she fell heavily
against mj'^ cousin.
I had a fine stoiy for Jack, and so, thinking with
wonder of the whirl of adventure into which I had
fallen ever since I left home, I humed along. It is
a singular fact, but true, that certain men never have
unusual adventures. I am not one of these. Even
in the most quiet times of peace I meet with odd
incidents, and this has always been my lot. With
this and other matters in my mind, resolving that
never again would I permit any motive to lead me
off the track of the hour's duty, I wa&ed along. I
had had a lesson.
I sought my old mastei-'s house, and reached it in
an hour, Jlere I found food and ready help, and
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 379
before evening next day, May 19, was at the camp.
I spent an hour in carefully writing out my report,
and Jack, under my directions, being clever with the
pencil, made plans of the forts and the enemy's de-
fences, which I took to headquarters, and a coj)y of
which I have inserted in these memoirs. I had every
reason to beUeve that my report was satisfactory.
I then went back to discourse with Jack over my
adventures. You may see hanging framed in my
library, and below General von Knj'phausen's sword,
a letter which an orderly brought to me the next
day:
" Sir : It would be an impropriety to mention in
general orders a service such as you have rendered.
To do so might subject you to greater perU, or to ill
treatment were you to fall into the hands of the en-
emy. I needed no fresh proof of your merit to bear
it in remembrance. No one can feel more sensibly
the value of your gallant conduct, or more rejoice
for your escape.
" I have the honour to be
" Your obed' Hum" Serv*,
" G" Washington.
"To Lieut. Hugh Wynne, etc."
This was writ in his own hand, as were many of
his letters, even such as were of great length. The
handwriting betrays no mark of haste, and seems
penned with such exactness as all his correspondence
shows. It may be that he composed slowly, and thus
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of need wrote ^th no greater speed than his thought
permitted. I at least found it hard to explain how,
in the midst of affairs, worried, interrupted, distracted,
he does at no time show in his penmanship any sign
of haste.
When I handed this letter to Jack I could not
speak for a moment, and yet I was never much the
victim of emotion. My dear Jack said it was not
enough. For my own part, a captain's commission
would not have pleased me as well. I ran no risk
which I did not bring upon myself by that which
was outside of my duty ; and as to this part of my
adventure, I told no one but Jack, being much
ashamed of tlie weakness which came so near to
costing me not only my life, but— what would have
been worse— the success of my errand.
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HE wami spring weather, and General
Greene's good management as quarter-
master, brought us warmth and better
diet. The Conestoga wains rolled in with
gi'ain and good rum. Droves of cattle
appeared, and as the men were fed the drills pros-
pered. Soldiers and officers began to amuse them-
selves. A theatre was arranged in one of the bigger
barns, and we— not I, bi't others— played " The Fair
Penitent." Colonel Grange had a part, and made a
fine die of it ; but the next day, being taken with a
pleurisy, came near to making a more real exit from
life. I think it was he who invited Jack Warder to
play Calintu. Lady Kitty Stirling had said he would
look the part well, with liis fair locks and big inno-
cent blue eyes, and she would lend him her best silk
flowered gown and a fine lot of lace. Jack was in a
rage, but the colonel, much amused, apologised, and
so it blew over. His Excellency and Lady Washing-
ton were to see the play, and the Ladies Stirling
and IVIadam Grec^ne were all much delighted.
'' The Recruiting Officer " we should have had later,
but about the latter part of May we got news of
the British as about to move out of my dear home
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 383
city. After this was bruited about, no one cared to
do anything but get ready to leave the winter huts
and be after Sir Henry. In fact, long before this
got out there was an air of hopeful expectation in
the army, and the men began, like the officers, to
amuse themselves. The camp-fires were gay, jokes
seemed to revive in the warm air, and once more men
laughed. It was pleasant, too, to see the soldiers at
fives, or the wickets up and the cricket-balls of tightly
rolled rag ribbons flying, or fellows at leap-f .'og, all
much eneoui'aged by reason of having better diet,
and no need now to shrink their stomachs with green
persimmons or to live without rum. As to McLane
and our restless Wayne, they were about as quiet as
disturbed wasps. The latter liked nothing better this
spring than to get up an alert by running cannon
down to the hills on the west of the Schuylkill, pitch-
ing shot at the bridges, and then to be off and away be-
fore the slow grenadiers could cross in force. Thus
it was that never a week went by without adventures.
Captain Mcliane let neither man nor horse live long
at ease ; but whatever he did was planned with the
extreme of care and carried out with equal audacity.
The army was most eager for the summer campaign.
We had begun, as I have said, to suspect that Sir
Henry Clinton, who had succeeded Howe, was about
to move; but whither he meant to march, or his
true object, our cump-flre councils coidd not guess
as yet.
Very early in the evening of June 17, I met Col-
onel Hamilton riding in haste. " Come," he said; "I
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384 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
am to see Wayne and the marquis. Clinton is on
the wing, as we have long expected. He will very
likely have already crossed into the Jerseys. Will
you liave a place in the foot if his Excellency can get
you a captainey ? "
I said " Yes " instantly.
" You seem to know your own mind, Mr. Wynne.
There will be more hard knocks and more glory."
I thought so too, but I was now again in the full
vigour of health, and an appointment in the foot
would, as I hoped, bring me nearer to Jack.
And now joy and excitement reigned throughout
the camps. The news was true. On the 18th of June
Sir Ht'iiry Clinton, ha\dng gotten ready by sending
on in advance his guns and baggage, cleverly slipped
across the Delaware, followed by every Tory who
feared to remain ; some three thousand, it was said.
Long l>efore dawn we of McLane's light horse
were in the saddle. As we passed Chestnut Hill I
fell i»ut to tell my aunt the good news. I was scarce
gone by before she began to make ready to foUow
us. As we pushed at speed through Germantown,
it l)ecame sure that the evacuation had been fully
accomplished. We raced down Front street at a rate
which seemed reckless to me. McLane gave no or-
ders, l)ut gallo])ed on ahead in his usual mad way.
The townsfolk were wild with joy. Women stood
in tears as we went by ; men (cheered us and the boys
hurralied. At Arch andFront streets, aswe jmlled up,
I saw a pf>or little cornet come out of a house half
bewildered and buttoning his red jacket. I pushed
m
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 385
Lucy on to the sidewalk and caught him by the col-
lar. He made a great fuss and had clearly overslept
himself. I was hurriedly explainhig, amid nuich
laughter, when McLane called out, "A ni<'e doll-baby !
Up with him ! " And away he went, ])ehind a
trooper. At Third street bridge were two other offi-
cers who must have been tipsy overnight and have
slept too late. At last, with our horses half dead,
we walked them back to Front and High streets,
and got off for a rest and a mug of beer at the coffee-
house. Soon came a brigade of Virginians, and we
marched away to camp on the common called Centre
Square.
The streets were full of huzzaing crowds. Our
flags, long hid, were flying. Scared tradesmen were
pulling down the king's arms they had set over tludr
signs. The better Tory houses were closed, and few
of this class were to be seen in the streets.
Major-General Arnold followed after us. Unable,
because of his wound, to accept a command in tlie
field, he took up his abode as commandant of the
city in Mr. Ivlorris's gi-eat house at the northeast
corner of Front and High streets. I saw this gallant
soldier in May, at the time he joined the camp at the
Forge, when he was handsomely cheered l)y the men.
He was a man dark and yot ruddy, soldierly looking,
with a large nose, and not unlike his Kxcellen(;y as
to the upper part of his face. He was still on crutches,
being thin and worn from the effects of the hurt he
received at Saratoga.
As soon as possible I left the ti'oop and rode away
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386 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
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on Lucy down High street to Second and over the
bridges to my home.
I was no longer the mere lad I had left it. Com-
mand of others, the leisure for thought in the camp,
the sense that I had done my duty well, had made
of me a resolute and decisive man. As I went
around to the stables in the rear of the house it
seemed to me as if I must in a minute see those blue
eyes, and hear the pretty French phrases of tender
love which in times of excitement used to rise to my
mother's lips. It is thus as to some we love. We
never come to feel concerning them that certainty
of death which sets apart from us forever others who
are gone. To this day a thought of her brings back
that smiling face, and she lives for me the life of
eternal remembrance.
No one was in the stable when I unsaddled the
tired mare. At the kitchen door the servants ran
out with cries of joy. With a word I passed them,
smelling my father's pipe in the hall, for it was even-
ing, and supper was over.
He rose, letting his pipe drop, as I ran to fall on
his great chest, and pray him to pardon, once for all,
what I had felt that it was my duty to do. I was
stayed a moment as I saw him. He had lost flesh
continually, and his massive build and unusual height
showed now a gaunt and sombre man, with clothes
too loose about him. I thought that his eyes were
filling, but the habits of a life controlled him.
He held to a chair with his left hand, and coldly
put out the right to meet my eager grasp. I stood
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 387
still, my instinct of tenderness checked. I could only
repeat, " Father, father, I have come home."
"Yes," he said, "thoit hast come home. Sit
down."
I obeyed. Then he stooped to pick up his pipe,
and raising his strong gi'ay head, looked me over in
perfect silence.
" Am I not welcome," I cried, " in my mother's
home? Are we always to be kept apart? I have
done what, under God, seemed to me His will. Can-
not you, who go your way so steadily, see that it is
the right of your son to do the same? You have
made it hard for me to do my duty. Think as seems
best to you of what I do or shall do, but have for me
the charity Christ teaches. I shall go again, father,
and you may never see me more on earth. Let there
be peace between us now. For my mothei*'s sake,
let us have peace. If I have cost you dear, believe
me, I owe to you such sad hours as need never have
been. My mother— she— "
During this outburst he heard me with motionless
attention, but at my last word he raised his hand.
" I like not thy naming of thy mother. It has Iteen
to me ever a reproach that I saw not how far her
indulgence was leading thee out of the ways of
Friends. There ai*e who by birthright are with us,
but not of us— not of us."
This strange speech startled me into fuller self-
command. I remembered his strange dislike to hear
her mentioned. As he spoke his fingers opened and
shut on the arms of the chair in which he sat, and
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3^8 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
here and there on his lai'ge-featured face the muscles
twitched.
" I will not hear her named again," he added. " As
for thee, my son, this is thy home. I will not drive
thee out of it."
" Drive me out ! " I exclaimed. I was hoiTor-struck.
"And why not? Since thou wert a boy I have
borne all things: drunkenness, debauchery, blood-
guiltiness, rebellion against those whom God has set
over us, and at last war, the murder of thy fellows."
I was silent. What could I say? The words
which came from my heart had failed to touch him.
He had buried even the memory of my mother. I
remembered Aunt Gainer's warnings as to his health,
and set myself at once to hear and reply with gentle'
ness.
He went on as if he knew my thought : " I am
no longer the man I was. I am deserted by my son
when I am in greatest need of him. Had it not
pleased God to send me for my stay, in this my lone-
liness, thy Cousin Arthur, I should have been glad
to rest from the labours of earth."
" Arthur ! My cousin ! "
" I said so. He has become to me as a son. It is
not easy for one brought up among dissolute men to
turn away and seek righteousness, but he hath heard
as thou didst never hear, nor wouldst. He hath given
up dice and cards, and hath asked of me books such as
Besse's * Sufferings ' and George Fox's * Testimony.'"
This was said so simply and in such honest faith
that I could not resist to smile.
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 389
" I did not ask thee to believe me," said my father,
sharply; "and if because a man is spiritually re-
minded and hath stayed to consider his sin, it is for
thee but cause of vain mirth, I will say no more.
I have lost a son, and found one. I would it had
been he whom I lost that is now found."
I answered gi*avely, " Father, the man is a hypo-
crite. He saw me dying a prisoner in jail, starved
and in rags. He left me to die."
" I have heard of this. He saw some one about to
die. He thought he was like thee."
" But he heard my name." , ^
" That cannot be. He said it was not thee. He
said it!"
" He lied ; and why should he have ever mentioned
the matter to thee— as indeed he did to others— ex-
cept for precaution's sake, that if, as seemed unlike
enough, I got well, he might have some excuse ? It
seems to me a weak and foolish action, but none the
less wicked."
My father listened, but at times with a look of
being puzzled. " I do not think I follow thy argu-
ment, Hugh," he said, "neither does thy judgment
of the business seem favoured by that which I know
of thy cousin." . . (
"Father, that man is my enemy. He hates me
because— because Darthea is my friend, and but for
her I should have rotted in the jail, with none to
help me."
" Thy grandfather lay in Shrewsbury Gate House
a year for a better cause, and as for thy deliverance,
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390 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
I heard of it later. It did seem to Arthur that the
yomig woman had done more modestly to have asked
his help tlian to have been so forward."
My father spoke Avith increase o* the deliberate-
ness at all times one of his peculiarities, which seemed
to go well with the bigness of his build. This slow-
ness in talk seemed now to be due in part to a slight
trouble in finding the word he required. It gave me
time to observe how involved was the action of his
mind. The impression of his being indirect and less
simple than of old was more maiked as our talk went
on than I can here convey by any possible record of
wliat he said. I only succeeded in making him more
obstinate in his belief, as was always the case when
any opposed him. Yet I could not resist adding:
"If, as you seem to think, Arthur is my friend, I
would you could have seen his face when at that silly
Mischianza he caught me in disguise."
'^ Did he not do his duty after thy creed and his 1 "
" It was not that, father. Some men might have
hesitated even as to the duty. Mr. Andre did not
help him, and his debt to us was small. Had I been
taken I should have swung as a spy on the gallows
in Centre Square."
" And yet," said my father, with emphatic slowness,
" he would have done his duty as he saw it."
" And profited by it also," said I, savagely.
" There is neither charity nor yet common sense
in thy words, Hugh. If thou art to abide here, see
that thy ways conform to the sobriety and decency
of Friends. I will have no cards nor hard drinking."
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 391
"But good heavens! father, when have I ever
done these things here, or indeed anywhere, for
years ? "
His fingers were again playing on the arms of Mr.
Penn's great chair, and I made haste to put an end
to this bewildering talk.
" I will try," I said, " to live in such a way as shall
not offend. Lucy is in the stable, and I will take my
old room. My Aunt Gainor is to be in town to-
morrow."
" I shall be pleased to see her."
"And how is the business, father?" I said.
" There are no ships at sea, I hope. The privateers
are busy, and if any gooas be found that may have
been for use of the king's people, we might have to
regret a loss."
" 1 might," he returned sharply. " I am still able
to conduct my own ventures."
" Of course, sir," I said hastily, wondering where
I could find any subject which wr 3 free from power
to annoy him. Then I rose, saying, "There is an
early drill. I shall have to be on hand to receive
General Arnold. I shall not be back to breakfast.
Good-night."
"Farewell," he said. And I went upstairs with
more food for thought than was to my liking. I had
hoped for a brief season of rest and peace, and here
was whatever small place I held in my father's heart
filled by my cousin.
When, not long after, for mere comfort, I had occa-
sion to speak to the great Dr. Rush of my father, he
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392 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
said that when the brain became enfeebled men were
apt to assign to one man ar>hew. Miss Morris. And how is Mr.
Gouverneui' 3i orris?"
We fell to talking, but when others came and
were presented or named by me to the Whig lady,
my young woman said, " Are there none 1 iit Tories ? "
And she was short, I thought, with Mrs. Ferguson,
who came in high good humour and a gown of
Venice silk, I saw Aunt Gainor glance at her gold-
laced handkerchief.
I was glad to see them all. Very soon the rooms
were well filled, and here were Dr. Rush and Charles
Thomson, the secretary of Congress, who stayed but
a little while, leaving the great doctor to growl over
the war with Miss Morris, and to tell her how ill read
was our great chief, and how he could not spell, and
had to have his letters writ for him to copy like a boy.
Mr. Adams had said as much. I ventured to remark,
having by this time come to understand our doctor;
!.':
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 401
>
;
that we knew better in camp, and that at least our
chief understood tlie art of war. The doctor was
not of this opinion, and considered General Gates
the greater man.
Then I left them to welcome Mrs. Chew and the
lovely Margaret, and Miss Shippen, and last my Dar-
thea with her aunt, who was as thin as a book-mark(?r.
" Aunt," I said slyly, " what is this 1 Tories again ? "
" Be quiet, child ! You have pulled their teeth.
You will see they are meek enough. The dog on top
can always forgive, and I must have my cards. Be-
have yourself ! How handsome you are ! Here they
come." And now there was a cross-fire of welcomes
and " We have missed you so much," and '^ How well
you look ! " and fine sweep of curtseys, very pretty
and refreshing to a war-worn veteran.
I bent to kiss Mrs. Shippen's hand. Mrs. Fer-
guson tapped me on the arm with her fan, whispering
I was grown past the kissing-age, at which I cried
that would never be. I took Darthea's little hand
with a formal word or two, and, biding my time, t;at
down to talk with the two Margarets, whom folks
called Peggy, although both were like stately lilies,
and the pet name had no kind of fitness.
The ombre-tables were set out and ready, and it
was all gay and merry, and as if there might never
have been war, either civil or social, " It is all as
meek as doves' milk," whispered Mistress Wynne over
my shoulder. " Gossip and cards against the world
for peacemakers, eh, Hugh?" Assuredly here was
a beautiful truce, and all the world amiable.
y
402 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
The powdered heads wagged; brocade and silk
rustled ; the counters rattled. Fans huge as sails set
little breezes j-^oing; there was wise neutrality of
speech, King Ombre being on the throne and every-
body happy.
Meanwhile I set my young women laughing with
an account of how a Quaker looked in on them
through the window at the redcoat ball, but of the
incident in the garden I said nothing, nor was it
known beyond those immediately concerned. The
two Margarets were curious to hear what Mr. Wash-
ington looked like, and one miss would know if Mr.
Arnold was a dark man, hearing with the dehght of
girls how his Excellency gave dinners in camp and
sat on one side, with Mr. Hamilton or Mr. Tilghman
at the top, and for diet potatoes and salt herring,
with beef when it was to be had, and neither plates
nor spoons nor knives and forks for all, so that we
had to borrow, and eat by turns.
Miss Morris, just come to town with good Whig
opinions, was uneasy in this society, and said, " We
shall have enough of everything when we catch Sir
Henry Clinton." In a minute there would have been
more war had not my aunt risen, and the party
turned to drink chocolate and eat cakes.
After a world of little gossip they settled their
debts and went away, all but Mrs. Peniston and her
niece, my aunt declaring that she wanted the elder
lady's advice about the proper mode to cool black-
berry jam. For this sage purpose the shadow-like
form of Darthea's aunt in gray silk went out under
,
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 403
cover of my aunt's large figure, and Darthea and I
were left alone.
How pretty she was in fair white muslin with long
gloves, a red rosebud in each sleeve, and only a ti-ace
of powder on her hair, smiUng, and above all women
graceful ! She had seemed older when we met in
the Provostry, and now to-day was slim and girl-
like. I do not know where she got that trick of
change, for in after-days, when in the fidler bloom
of middle age, she still had a way of looking at times
a gay and heedless young woman. She had now so
innocent an air of being merely a sweet child that a
kind of wonder possessed me, and I could not but look
at her with a gaze perhaps too fixed to be mannerly.
" Darthea," I said, as we sat down, " I owe my life
to you twice —twice."
" No, no ! " she cried. " What could I do but go
to the jail ? Miss Wynne was away."
" You might have told my father," I said. Why
had she not?
" Mr. Wynne is grown older, and~I— There was
no time to be lost, and Arthur was gone on duty for
I know not what." She was seeing and answering
what further might have seemed strange to me.
"Aunt Peniston was in a rage, I assui-e you. My
aunt in a rage, Mr. Wynne, is a tempest in a thimble.
All in a minute it boils over and puts out the little
fire, and there is an end of it, and she asks what
ought to be done. But now I am penitent, and have
been scolded by Arthur. I will never, never do it
anymore. My aunt was right, sir."
'4i
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ily to Hugh for a trifle, so that at
any time the elder brotlnn* could reelann his home.
What became of the second deed thus made was
what Arthur wanted to know.
'• Your father must have it somewhere, Hugh.
Now says Aifhur, 'We are poor, cousin; the i)lace
i« heavily encumbered ; some coal has been found.
It is desirable to Sell parts of the estate; how hon-
estly can my father make a title ? ' Your gre»t-uncle
William died, as we know, Hugh, and the next bro-
ther's scm, who was Owen and is Arthur's father,
had along minority. When he got the ])lace, being
come of age, some memoninda of the transaction
turned up. It was not a rare one in older Kound-
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 41'^
head (lays. Nothingwasdono, and timeranon. Now
the occupant is ^cttin^ on in years, and as his sees
ond son Arthur is ordered hither on service, it was
tliought as well that lie shouUl make iu(iuiry. The
older s(|uires liad some vague tradition about it. It
was l)ecome wortli wliile, as I inferred, to (dear the
business, or at need to effect a comi)romise. Half
of this I heard, and the rest I p)t by thinkinji: it over.
Am I plain, ITuj^h?" She was, as usual. ''Your
father surprised me. lie spoke out in liis old delil)-
erate way. He said the deed— some such deed— was
amon<)^ his father's papers ; he had s(M'n it long ago.
He did not want the place. He was old and had
enougli, and it should be settled to Master Arthiu*'s
liking.
" Your cousin then said some few words alxuit you.
I did not hear what, but vour father at once broke
out in a ft(Tce voice, and cried, ' It is too true ! ' Well,
Hugh," she went on, '"it is (^f no use to make tilings
worse between y(ni."
" No," I said ; " do not tell me. Was that all ? "
"Not (juite. Master Arthur is to have tlu; d(^ed
if ever it be found, and with your father's aiul your
grandfather's methodical ways, that is pretty sun^ to
happen."
" I do not care much. Aunt Gainor, (\xee])t that—"
" I know," she cried ; '' anybody else might have
it, but not Arthur."
"Yes; unless Darthea— "
" I under.stand. sir ; and now T .see it all. TIk; elder
brother will die. The fatlier is old, the estate valu-
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4H Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
able, and this lying scamp with his winning ways
will be master of Wyncote, and with a clear title if
your father is able to bring it about. He can, Hugh,
unless—"
"What, aunt?"
" Unless you intervene on account of my brothei*'s
mental state."
" That I will never do ! Never ! "
*' Then you will lose it."
" Yes ; it must go. I care but little, aunt."
" But I do, sir. You are Wynne of Wyncote."
I smiled, and made no reply.
" The man stayed awhile longer, but your father
after that soon talked at random, and addressed
Arthur as Mr. Montresor. I doubt if he remembered
a word of it the day after. Wlien he left and went
upstairs your father fell into sleep again. I went
away home alone, and the day after to the Hill Farm."
" It is a strange story," I said. " And did he get
the deed before the army left ? "
My aunt thought not. " Mason says all the papers
are at the counting-house, and that up to this time
your fathci" has made no special search. It was but
two weeks or loss before they left town."
It was a simple waj'^ to trap an over-cunning man,
and it much amused me, who did not take; the deed
and estate matter to heai't as did my aunt. When
she said, ''We must find it," I could but say that it
was my father's business, and could wait ; so far, at
least, as I was eon(!erned, I would dt) nothing. Of
course I told it all to Jack when next we met.
XXIII
jN Sunday, the 21st of June, while our
chief was crossing into the Jerseys, I was
hearing at Christ Clmrch, for the first
time, the words of prayer in which Wil-
hani White commended Congress and our
armies and their great leader to the protecting mercy
of Almighty God. General Arnold was already busy
with the gi'eat household and equipage which soon
did so much to involve him in temptations growing
out of his fondness for display. The militia were
unwilling to act as a body-guard, or to stand sen-
trios beside the great lamp-posts at his door. Nor
did McLane and the rest of us fancy the social and
guard diities which the general exacted ; but we had
to o])ey orders, and were likely, I feared, to remain
long in this ujigrateful service.
On June 30 we heard of the glorious battle at
Monmouth, and with sur])rise of General Lee's dis-
grace. On the rjd of July came Jack with a bayonet-
thrust in his I'ight shoulder and a nasty cut over
the left temple. He was a]>le to be afoot, Imt was
quite unfit for service. I heard fnmi him of the
splendid courage and judgment shown by his Excel-
lency, and of the profane and terrible language he
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41 6 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
had used to that traitor Lee. Jack said : " I was in
the midst of a lot of seared men, with a leader who
wanted only to get away. And then the general
rode up, and all was changed. I think, Hugh, he
was like an angry god of war. I should have died
of the things he said to Mr. Lee."
When, long after this, in July, '79, his Excellency
issued that severe order about swearing, how it was
against all religion, decency, and order. Jack was
much amused. Like the army in Flanders, our own
army solaced their empty stomachs with much bad
language. But, as Jack observed, " There is a time
for everything ; Mr. Lee did catch it hot."
McLane soon left us, glad to get away. Had he
stayed much longer there would have been one
more sad moth in the pretty net into which fell all
who were long in the company of our fatal Darthea.
I too applied for active duty, but some influence,
probably that of General Arnold, came in the way
and kept me in the city.
Very soon, to my pleasure, I received a letter
from Mr. Hamilton, inclosing my commission as
captain in the Third Regiment of the Pennsylvania
line, and with it, not to my pleasure, an order to re-
cruit in and near the city. Rather later the general
asked me, as I was but little occupied, to act as an
extra aide on his staff, a position which might have
been my ruin, as I shall by and by relate.
Jack's hurts turning out worse than was antici-
pated, he was of no use in camp, and remained at home
to be petted and fussed over by my Aunt Gainor.
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 417
After a montli or two he was ahle to ^o about with
liis arm in a shng, and to be greatly noticed by the
Whig women. Very soon he was caught, like me,
in a ceaseless round of all manner of gaieties. He
shortly grew wearj' of it, and fell back on his books
and the society of the many who loved him— above
aU, that of mv aunt and Darthea. For me there was
no escape, as my own dissipations were chiefly those
of official duty, and in company with my chief.
Congress was still in session, but from it were miss-
ing Adams, Franklin, Henry, Jay, and Rutledge, who
were elsewhere filling posts of importance. It had
no fully recognised powers, and the want of more
distinct union was beginning to be sadly felt. Had
not the ruin of the Conway cabal and the profound
trust of the people lifted Washington into a position
of authority, the fears and predictions of men like
my friend Wilson would have been fully justified.
Intrigues, ruinous methods of finance, appointments
given to untried foreign officers who were mere ad-
ventm'ers— all these and baser influences were work-
ing toward the ruin of our cause.
Our own city went wild that winter. The Tories
were sharply dealt with at first, but, as many of
them were favoured by the general in .iommand,
thev soon came back in mischievous numbers. The
more moderate neutrals opencMl their doors to all
parties. The general began to be at ease in the
homes of the proprietary set, and, buying the gi-eat
house of Mount Pleasant, made court to the lovely
Margaret Shippen, and was foremost in a display of
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418 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
excess and luxiirj' such as annoyed and troubled
those who saw him hand and glove with the Tory
gentlemen, and extravagant beyond anything hith-
erto seen in the quiet old city of Penn.
At this time the Congress often sat with but a
dozen members. It was no longer the dignified body
of seventy-six. Officers came and went. Men like
Robert Morris and Dr. Rush shook their heads.
Clinton lay in New York, watched by Washington,
and in the South there was disaster after disaster,
while even our best men wearied of the war, and
asked anxiously how it was to end.
Recruiting in tlie face of such a state of things
was slow indeed. I had little to do but wait on the
general, read to my aunt, ride with her and Darthea,
or shoot ducks with Jack when weather permitted j
and so the long winter wore on.
With Darthea I restrained my useless passion, and
contented myself with knowing that we were day by
day becoming closer friends. If Arthur wrote to her
or not, I could not tell. She avoided mentioning
him, and I asked no questions
I shall let Jack's diary tell— at this time it was
very full— what chanced in midwinter. Alas, my
dear Jack !
" It has," he wrote, " been a season of foolish dis-
sipation. While the army suffers for everything,
these fools are dancing and gambling, and General
A the worst of aU, which seems a pity in so good
a soldier. He is doing us a mighty harm.
" To-day has been for me a sad one. I shall think
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 419
ever of my folly with roniorse. I set it clown as a
lesson to be read. We had a j^reat sleighiug-frolic
to Cliveden. There were all the Tories, and few
else— the general driving Peggy Shippen, and I Dar-
thea. Mistress Wvnne would have none of it. ' We
were no worse off under Howe/ she says ; ' Mr. Arnold
has no sense and no judgment.' It is true, I fear.
Mrs. Peniston, half froze, went along in our old
sleigh. We drove up to the stone steps of Cliveden
about seven at night— a fine moonlight, so that the
stone vases on the roof, crowned with their carved
pineapples, stood out against the sky. The windows
were all aglow, and neither doors nor shutters were
as yet fully repaired.
"We had a warm welcome, and stood about the
ample fires while the ladies went merrily upstairs
to leave their cloaks. I looked about ine (!uri-
ously, for there were dozens of bullet-marks on the
plaster and the woodwork. It had l)een a gallant
defence, and cleverly contrived. Soon eanie down
the stairs a bevy of laughing girls to look, with
hushed voices, at the blood-stains on the Hoor and the
dents the muskets had made. Thoy did think to
tease me by praising Colonel Musgi-ave, who had
commanded the British ; but I, not to be outdone,
declared him the bravest man alive. Dartliea smiled,
but said nothing, and for that I loved her better than
ever.
" Then we fell to ehatting, and ])resently she said,
'Madam Chew, Mr. Wardei* is to show me where the
troops lay, and Mr. Wayne's brigade; and wlio will
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420 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
come too ? ' TIkto were volunteers, but once outside
they found it cold, and Darthea, saying, ' We shall
be gone but a minute,' walked with me around the
stone outbuilding to northwest. She was very
thoughtful and quiet this night, looking as sweet as
ever a woman could in a gray fiu* coat against the
moon-lit drifts of snow. ' Over there,' I said, ' across
the road, were our poor little four-pounders; and be-
yond yonder wall our chief held a brief (Council of
war ; and just there in the garden lay my own men
and Hugli, and some Maryland troops, among the
box where we used to play hide-and-find.'
" On this Darthea said, ' Let me see the place/ and
we walked down the garden, a gentle excitement
showing in her ways and talk; and I— ah me, that
night !
'^ ' I must see,' she said, ' where the dead lie ; near
the garden wall, is it ? '
" 'Here,' said I— 'ours and theirs.'
" ' In the peace which is past understanding,' said
Darthea. Then, deep in thought, she turned from
the house and into the woods a little beyond, not
saying a word. Indeed, not a sound was to be heard,
except the creak and (a'aunch of the dry snow under
our feet. A few paces farther we came to the sum-
mer-house, set on circular stone steps, and big enoiu>->i
to dine in. There she stood, saying, 'I car ot go
back yet; oh, those still, still dead ! '" p. ak to
me— not for a little while.' She stayet as, looking
up at the great white moon, while I stood b} , and
none other near.
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 421
"'I am better now, Jack, and yon will not tell of
how foolisli I was— but— '
"I said there was some sweet folly, if she liked
so to call it, Avhich was better than wisdom. And
then how it was I know not, nor ever shall. I felt
myself Hush and tremble. It is my foolisli way when
in danger, being by nature timid, and forced to exer-
cise ride over myself at such seasons.
"She said, 'What is it. Jack?' for so she often
cjdled me when we were alone, although Hugh was
Mr. Wynne. The ways of women are strange.
" I could not help it, and yet I knew Hugh loved
her. I know also that she was surely to marry Mr.
Arthur Wynne. I was wrong, but, God help us !
who is not wrong at times ? I said : ' Darthea, I love
you. If it were to be Hugh I should never say so.'
I cared nothing about the other man ; he hates my
Hugh.
'* ' Oh, Jack, Jack ! you hurt me ! ' Never was any-
thing so sweet and tender. Her great eyes— like
Madam Wynne's that were— filled and ran over.
*0h, Jack ! ' she cried, 'must I hurt you too, and is it
my fault? Oh, my dear Jack, whom I love and
honour, I can't love you this way. I can't— I can't.
And I am soriy. I must marry Arthur Wynne ; I
have promised. You men think we women give our
hearts lightly, and take tli<.>m again, as if they were
mere counters ; and I am troubled, Jack, and no one
knows it. I must not talk of that. I wish you would
all go away. I can't marry you all.' And she began
to be agitated, and to laugh in a way that seemed to
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422 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
me quite strange and out of place ; but then I know
little about women.
"I could but say: 'Forgiv me; I have hurt you
whom I love. I will never do it more— never. But,
dear Darthea, you will let me love you, because I can-
not help it, and this will all be as if it had never been.
To hurt you— to hurt you of all the world ! I had
no right to ask you.'
" ' Don't/ she said, with a great sob, which seemed
to break my heart.
'"Darthea,' I said— 'Darthea, do not marry that
man ! lie is cruel ; he is hard ; he does not love you
as my Hugh loves you.'
"'Sir,' she said, with such sudden dignity that I
was overcome, and fell back a pace, ' I am promised ;
let that suffice. It is cold ; let us go in. It is cold-
it is cold ! '
"I had never seeii her like this. I saiiy, I went aftt-r
her, having said my say as I never intended, and
more than was perhaps wise. At the dooi* slie turned
about, and, facing me, said abruptly, with her dear
face all of a flush: 'Do not let this trouble you. I
am not good enough to make it worth while. I have
been a foolish girl, discontented with our sim])le
ways, V. anting what I have noi. I have cried for
toys, and have ^ot them, Mud now I don't care for
them; but 1 have promised. Do you 'jear, sir? T
have promised— I iinve pronnsrd.'
" She stayed for no answer, but went in. It seemed
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 423
to me a singular speech, and to mean more than was
said. The repeating: of one plirase over and over
appeared meant to reinfor(;e a doubtful pui-pose. I
think she cares little for Mr. Arthur Wynne, but
who can say ? Darthea is full of surprises.
" Can it be that she loves lli;|;h and knows it not,
or that she has su(Oi a stronj^ sense of honour that it
is hard for her to break her word ? She does not be-
lieve this man to be bad. That is sure. If ever I
can make her sec liim as I sec him, he wtll hold her
not an hour. I shall disturb her life no more. Had
she takntion it only
because my father's varying j)e(Miliariti(>s came in a
measure to affect me and otliers in a way of which
I shall have occasion to speak.
Mv sense «»f his state did much to make me more
tender and more able to endure tlie sad outbreaks of
jvission which Dr. Riish taught mc were to be looked
for. Nor was my aunt less troubled than I. Indeed,
fi'om this time she showed as regarded my father all
of that genth'ue.ss whii^h lay beneath tlie exterior
roughness of her masculine; nature. I observtul that
she looked alter liis h«»use, paying liim I'recpient
visits, and in all wjiys was solicitous that he shoidd
be made cumfortublo.
w
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 42^
Near about the 1st of March— I am not quite
sure of the date— I was a^skcd in the absence of
Major Clarkson, chief of tlie staflF, to take his duties
for a few days. I tlien saw how needlessly the general
was creating enmities. His worst foe, Mr. Joseph
Reed, had become in December president of the Coun-
cil of State, and we— I say we— were thenceforward
forever at outs with the body over which he presided.
When at last, thoroughly disgusted, General Arnold
was about to resign from the army, those unpleasant
charges were made against him which came to little
or notJiing, but which embittered a life already
harassed by disajipointed aml)it4on nnd want of
means, and now also by the need to sliow a fair face to
Mr. Shippen, whose daugliter's hand he had asked.
General Arnold's indifference as to privac^y in liis
affairs amazed me, and I saw enough to make me
both wonder and grieve. The friend of Schuylei^md
of Warren, the soldier whom Washington [it one time
absolutely trusted, attached me to him by his kind-
ness and lavish generosity, and as an officer he had
my unbounded admiration. Surely his pla('(> was in
the field, and not at the dinner-tabl(»s of Tories,
whose socict}', as ' have said, he much affect<'d. It
was a sign of AV(>akuess that he overi^sK-emed the
lionuigc of a merely gay and fashionable s(^t, and
took with avidity the dangerous tlatiery of the Torj'
dames.
lie wasAvithal a somewhat coarse man, with a vast
amount of vanity. Tt was a Wow to his self-estimate
when he was unjustly passed over in the promotions
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426 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
to major-general. Ho felt it deeply, and was at no
imins to hide his disgust. I did not wondci- tliat the
Shippens did all they could to break off this strange
love-affair. They failed ; for when a delieate-minded,
sensitive, well-bred woman falls in love with a
strong, coarse, passionate man, there is no more to
be said except, " Take her."
!>»'e
more aft'eetionate than I had ever seen him. Onoe
oi* twi(U! lie talked in a eonfuscnl way of our v.^late in
Wah's, and so, what with this and my annoyance
over the iiTejjfularities at our headquarters, I had
enou<;ii to ti'ouhle me.
The office duties were, as I have said, not much to
my taste, but I learned a jjfood deal which was of
future use to me. It was a dull life, a!id but once
did I come upon anything: worth narratinp:. Thi.s, in
fact, seemed to me at the time of less moment than
it {^rew to l)c llici'cafter.
Neither I nor Major Clarkson, his chief of staff,
had all of the ucmirars eonlideiico. Men came and
went now and then with letters, or what not, of
which miturally I learned nothing. One— a lean,
snuUl nuin, ill disguised as a (Quaker— I saw twiee.
The last time he fouml the g«'neral absent. I oflfer'jd
to take charge t)f a letter he said he hail, but he de-
clined, saying he would icturn, and on this put it
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428 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
back in his pocket, or tried to ; for he let it fall, and
in qiiiek haste secured it, although not before I
th()Ught I had recognised Artliur Wynne's peculiar
liandwriting. Tliis astounded me, as j-ou may ima-
gine. But how could I dream of what it meant? I
concluded at last that I must have been mistaken,
and I did not feel at liberty to ask the genertd. It
was non(! of my business, after all.
The fellow— I had always supposed him one of our
spies— came again in an hour, and saw the general.
I heard the man sav, " From Mr. Anderson, sir," and
then the door was closed, and the matter passed from
my mind for many a day.
Jack very soon after left us, and Dai'thca })ecame
more and more reserved, and unlike her merry,
changeful self.
On March 2."), '79, I came in late in the afternoon
and sat downi to read. My father, seated at the table,
was tying up or untying bundles of oUl papers.
Looking up, he said abruptly, " Your cousin has been
liere to-day." It was said so naturally as for a mo-
ment to surprise me. I made no reply. A few
minutes later he looked up again.
''Arthur, Arthur—"
I turncil IVom a book on tactics is.sucd by Baron
Steuben. '' 1 am not Arthur, father."
lie took no notice of this, but went on to say that
I (Might to have come hmg ngo. And what would I
do with it?
I asked what he meant by it, and if I could help
him witli his papers.
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 429
S»i|
No, 110; ho needed no lulj>. Did I ever liear from
Wyncole, and how was William ? I made sure lie
liad ou(^e again taken me for my cousin. I found it
was vain to insist upon my being his son. For a
moment he wonld seem puzzled, and would then eall
me Arthur. At last, when he became vexed, and said
angrily that I was behaving worse than Hugh, I re-
called Dr. Rush's advice, and humouring his delusion,
said, "Uncle, let me help you." JMeanwhile he was
fumbling nervously at the jiajiers, tying and untying
the same bundle, which seemed to be chiefly old bills
and invoices.
" Here it is," he went on. " Take it, and have a
care that thou hast it dulv considered 1)V James Wil-
son, or another as good. Then we will see."
" What is it, uncle ? " I returned.
He said it was the reconveyance of Wyncote to my
grandfather; and with entirely clear hniguage, and
no fault of thought that I could observe, he stated
that at need he would execute a proper title to (Jod-
frey, the present man.
1 was struck dumb with astonishment and pity.
Here was a man acting within a world of delusit)n as
to who I was, and with as much competence as ever
in his best davs. I did not know what to smv, nor
even what to do. At la.st I r(»se. and put tin; old
yellow parchment in my e()at pocket, saying I was
greatly ol)liged by his kindness.
Then, his bnsiness liabits acting as was their wont,
hft said, " But it will be proper for thee to give ine u
receipt"
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430 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
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T said it. was not urotlt'd, Imt li«' insisted ; and at
this 1 was puzzled. I did not want tlie «U'<'d, still less
did I want it to pass into Arthurs hands. I said,
"Very g:ood, sir/' and sittinj^ down airain, wrote a
receipt, and, cahnly signing my own name, gave it
to him. He did not look Jit it, but folded and in-
dorsed it, and threw it into the little red leather
trunk on the table.
I went away to my aunt's without more delay, a
much-astounded man. The good lady was no less
astonished. We read the deed over with care, but
its legal turns and its great length puzzled us both,
and at last my aunt said :
"Let me keep it, Hugh. It is a queer tangle.
Just now we can do nothing, and later we shall see.
There will be needed some wiser legal hetid than
mine or yours, and what will come of it who can
say? At all events, Mr. Arthur has it not, and in
your father's condition he himself will hai-dly lie able
to make a competent conveyance. Indeed, T tliink he
will forget the whole business. I presunn' Master
Wvnne is not likely to return in a huri-v."
In the beginning of April General Ai'uold married
our beautiful Margaret Shippen, and took her to the
new liome. Mount Pleasant, al)ove the shaded waters
of the (piiet Schuylkill. Tt'a-i)arties and punch-
drinking followed, as was the custom.
Mr. Arnold, as my aunt called him, after a fashion
learned in London, iind also common in tlie colonies,
gave his bride MouTit Pleasant as a dowry, and none
knew— not even the fair Margaret— that it was hope-
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 431
lessly mortgap:p(l. Hither came guests in scores for
a week after tlie marriage to drink teawitli madam,
tlie men taking punch upstairs with the groom, while
the wtanen waited below, and had cakes and gossip,
in which this winter was rich enough to satisfy those
of all parties.
It was a year of defeat, and again the weaker folk,
like Joseph Warder and some much better known,— I
mention no names,— were talking of terms, or, by
their liresides v^Hth a jug of Hollands, were criticising
our leader, and asking why he did not move. Mean-
while the army was as ill off as ever it had been since
the camping at Valley Forge, while the air here in
the city was full of vague iiimours of defection and
what not. I was of necessity caught in the vortex of
gaiety which my chief loved and did much to keep
up. He liked to see his aides at his table, and used
them as a part of the excessive state we thought at
this time most unsetudy.
I remember well an afternoon in April of this
year, when, the spring being early, all manner of
green things were peeping forth, while I walked to
and fro in the hall at Mount Pleasant, that I might
receive those who called and excuse the absence of
the liost. I waudcrcd out, for as yet none came to
call. The air was soft like summer, and, sweeter
than birds overliead or tlie fragrant arbutus 011 the
ui)land slopes, came Darthea in virgin white, and a
great hat tied under her chin with long breadths of
blue ribbon. Mv aunt walked with her from her
coach, and close after them came a laughing throng
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432 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
of men and women, for tb(^ most part of the ffover-
nor's set. Tliere vvjis bad news from {Ik* South, wliieli
was by no means unwelcome to tliese peoph*, if I
might judge from their eomments. My jiunt walked
with them in silent wrath, and after I had met them
at the door, turned aside with me and bade me go
with her on the lawn, where the grass was already
green.
" I have held my tongue," she said. " These people
have neither manners nor hearts. I told Mr. Shippen
as nmeh. And where does your general get all his
money ? It is vulgar, this waste. Look ! " she said ;
" look there ! It is well to feed the poor after a
wedding ; I like the old custom ; but this is mere
ostentation." It was true ; there was a crowd of
the neighbouring farm people about the detaehed
kit(;hen, eager for the food and rum wliich I saw
given daily in absurd profusion. My Aunt Gainor
shook her head.
" It will turn out badly, Hugh. This comes of a
woman marrying beneath her. The man may be
a good soldier,— oh, no doubt he is,— but he is not a
gentleman. You nuist get away, Hugh." Indeed,
I nmeh desired to do so, but until now had been de-
tained, despite repeated applications to my chief.
My aunt said no more, but went into the house,
leaving me to await the coming of the many guests,
men and women, gentlemen of the Congress, with
officers in uniform, who flocked to this too hospitable
mansion. I had just heard fi'om Jack, and the con-
trast sliowu by his account of the want of arms,
HughW^ynnc: Fret* Qiiakt- r 43^
clothing;:, and forxl seomed to inc most sad when I re-
flected upon the extravagance and useless excess I
had seen tliroughout the winter now at an end. I
did not wonder at my aunt's auger. Iler fears were
but the vague anticipations of a wise ohl woman
who had seen the world and used good eyes and a
sagacious brain. How little did she or I dream of
the tragedy of dishonour into which the mad waste,
the growing debts, the bitterness of an insulted and
ambitious spiiit, were to lead the host of this gay
house !
As I turned in my walk I saw the general dis-
mount, and went to meet him. He said: "I shall
want you at nine to-night at my quarters in town—
an errand of moment into the Jerseys. You must
leave early to-nu^rrow. Are you well horsed?"
I said yes, and was, in fact, glad of any more ac-
tive life. Before nine that night I went to head-
quarters, and found a number of invitations to dine
or sup. It may amuse those for whom I wTite to
know that nearly all were writ on the white backs
of playing-cards ; but one from Madam Arnold was
printed. I sat down, facing the open doorway into
the general's room, and began to write refusals, not
knowing how long I might be a})sent.
Presently looking up, I miw the general at his
desk. I had not heard him enter. Two candles were
in front of him. He was sitting with his cheeks rest-
ing on his hands and his elbows on the desk, facing
me, and so deep in thought that I did not think fit to
interrupt him. His large, ruddy features now were
as
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434 Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker
pale Hiid sombre, and twice T saw liini use liis kerchief
to mop his brow us if it wire moist froiii overheating:.
At last he called me, and I went. in. His forehead
and the powdered hair about it were in fact wet, like
those of a man who is coming out of an ague. In-
dectd, he looked so ill that I ventured to ask after his
health. He replied that he was well. That infamous
court-martial business annoyed him, and as to Mr.
Keed, if there were any fight in the man, he would
Lave him out and get done with him— which seemed
imprudent talk, to say no more.
" Captain Wynne," he went on, " early to-morrow
you will ride through Bristol to the feny below
Trenton. Cross and proceed with all haste to South
Amboy. At the Lamb Tavern you will meet an
officer from Sir Henry Clinton. Deliver to him this
despatch in regard to exchange of prisoners. He
may or may not have a letter for you to bring back.
In this package are passes from me, and one from
Sir H(;ni7 Clinton, in case you meet with any Tory
parties."
"I shall be sure to meet them in west Jersey.
Pardon me, sir, but would it not be easier to pass
through oiir own lines in the middle Jerseys ? "
" You have your orders, Mr. Wynne," he replied
severely.
I bowed.
Then he seemed to hesitate, and I stood waiting
his will. " The despatch," he said, " is open in case
it becomes needful to show it.
better i*ead it."
Perhaps you had
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 435
This souiult'd miuMial, Imt I opened it, and nad
to the cfft'ct thut the fxchunj^'cs \v«»uld j^o on it' Sir
Henry did not see lit to alter his fornu'r proposal, but
that some time might elapse bef«)re the lists on our
side were made out. ''The offleer charged with tliis
letter will Ije unable to give any further information,
as he has no powers to act for me.
" I have the honour to be
'' Your obedient, humble servant,
'' Benedkt Arnold,
" Major-ijeneral in cmnmund of
Philadelphia and the western Jerseys."
Hooked up. ''Is that all?"
" Not quite. If it chance that no officer appears to
meet you at Amboy, you will return at once."
Very glad of relief from the routine of rather dis-
tasteful duties, I rode away at dawn the next day up
the Bristol road. I was stopped, as I supposed I
should be, by a small band of Tory partisans, but
after exhibiting my British pass I was permitted to
proceed. Between Trenton and Amboy I met a j)arty
of our own horse, and had some troulde until I
allowed their leader, a stupid lout, to read - \y open
despatch, when he seemed satisfied, and se?it on two
troopers with nu', whom I left near Amboy.
At the inn I waited a day, when a ketch apj eared,
and an officer, stepping ashore, came up from the
beach to meet me. I saw, as he drew near, that it
was Arthur Wynne.
" Glad to see you," he cried, in a quite hearty way.
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436 HughWyniie: Free Quaker
"It is an unpxpo<'t(>(] ph'jisiirc. Ainliv was to huvo
come, but he is ill. lie di'siivs his regards and i)ar-
ticular compliments/
Was I always to meet this man when I was so
hampered that to have my will of him was out of the
question? I said the meetnig could not he unex-
pected, or how could Andre have known ? At this I
saw him look a bit queer, and I went on to add that
the pleasure was all on his side.
" I am sorry," he returned.
Not caring to liear further, I said ahruptly: "Let
us })roceed to business. Here is a despatch for ISii'
Henry. Have you any letter for me ? "
" None," h(! replied.
"Then I am free to go."
"Pardon me; iu:t yet," he said. "I beg that for
once you will hear what I in inrson have to say. I
have been greatly misrepresented."
"Indeed?"
"Yes. Pray be patu'ut. I meant to write to you,
but that has been ditlieult, as you ku()W.''
"Of course. And what have vou to sav, sir?"
"You iiave misuuderstcxul me. There have been
reasons of difference between us which, I am hai/py
to say, are at an end for me." Ilt^ meant us to
Darthea. "I nuide a mistake in tlie ])rison sreh as
any man might have made. I have bt^en s(trry ever
since. I nuide an effort to arrest you in the gard«m ;
I did my duty, and was glad you escaped. If you
are not satisfied, a time may come when I can put my-
self at your disposal. Our prest^it service and our
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 437
relationship make rae hope that you may never
desire it.*'
He was quiet, cool, and perfectly master of himself.
It did i}ot suit him to have a break with me, and 1
well knr v .vhy. It would end all chance of his future
intercourse with my t'athiT, and why he did not wish
this to happen I now knew pretty well.
I said, " Mr. Wynne, the arrest is a small matter.
Thrnks to Miss Pcnist(*n and to Major Andr^', it
«'ain(^ to nothifij;." At my us(! of Darthea's name I
saw him frown, and I went on :
"You have lied about the prison, sir. If Mr.
Delaney, wh(> heard you ask my name, were here, I
sliould Iouij: ntjo have exposed you and your conduct
to all who eared to hear. You were shrewd enon^h
to j)rovid(' ajrainst the possibility of my telling my
own story. I can only hope, at no disfant day, to
have the means of unmasking a man who— why, I
know not — has made himself my enemy. Then, sir,
anu another form
of satisfaction."
"Cousin Hugh," he returned, '' T shall be able to
prove to you and to Mr. Delaney, wlien he can bo
found, that yon aw both mistaken. I trust that you
will not for so sliirht a reason see fit to disturb my
pleasant relations with your father." They wore, I
thought, i)r<)litable as well as ple.vsant.
" I shall use m^ j;jdgnient,'' said I.
"I am .sorry. 1 hoped for a 'uore agreeable end-
ing to our talk, (iood-evenmg." And he walked
away.
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4'5e dark ti-each/ry of the
saddest hour of that weary war. Arnold's tirst
downward .step was taken months before he knew
Margaret Ship))en, as Sir Henry Clinton's papers
luive now mo.st clearly shown.
Of my personal regret as to .Arnold's disgrnc(> }
have said little in Jiese pages, and shall say but litth^
Hugh Wynne: Free Qiuikcr 4-59
moro. His goinTosity may have hocn but a part of
his lavishness in all direct ions ; ])ut this was he who
foryitirs cared liberally for the destitute children of
liis friend Warren after liis death at Hunker Hill;
and this was he who, as ISc^liuylcr has tohl nie, saved
the lifi' of the soldier who had just shot him on the
field at fSaratojjra. Surely the j^ood and the bad are
wonderfully mingled in our humanity!
Early in June of 7!), and after repeated rert to the colonel in command of the Third
Pennsylvania foot, then lyinj; at Hamapo, New
York. I took leave of my people, and, alas! of
Dai'thca, and set out with a number of recruits. I
was ^dad iiuhcd to be away. Darthea was <;learly
unhappy, and no lonpfcr the piy enchantress of un-
numbered moods ; n« ther did my liome life offer mo
comfort or atTectioii.
If, however, I looked for activity in the army, I
was j;reatly mistaken. Sir Henry held New York;
our own people had the Jerseys. A fjreat chain of
forts limited the movements of the I^ritish on tho
Hudson. Our general seemed to me t« inAc a
])aralysin(.r influence on whatcvei- Hritish coirimander
vms matched airainst him. As it liad been with (lapo
in lioston and with Howe in rhiliidelphia. so was it
now with Clinton in New York. From Danbtiry in
Connecticut tt) Elizabeth in New Jersey, a thin lino
wat<'lied the pent-ujt enemy, who to seaward was
j?uarded by a tri-eat licet. North of the Potomac- ho
licld New York alone, but im the frontier a savago
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440 Hugh Wyfine: Free Quiiker
cjontest raped, and in the South the war everywhere
went against us.
; a mere |>retenee.
We were lying about Middlehrook. New Jersey,
when, a few days later, Col< :iel Alexander Hamilton
t'ame to my quarters, evidently much amused, lie
sjiid tlie videttes had (Mii)tured a ))ateh of letti'rs,
inostU' 'vf no monu'nt, but some too misehii'vous to
Ih' let to jtass.
"Here." he .said, "is one which eoneerns you,
Wynne. You need have no serujde as to the read
ing of it. It has mueh <'ntertained the nu'SH of ti»e
heHd«juai'ters guard."
He sat down with »biek and a pipe to ke«'p off the
Tori' niosijuitos, while I fell to n'ading the Iett«'r.
The sjinie btjz/.ing Tories were l)usy about me also
with liugle and beak, but when, as I glaneed at the
letter, I <'anght Darthea's name on the second page,
1 forgot them and hesitated.
Mill," tlMMlght I.
*' others have read it, and it may be well that !
Hhould ])c yon will
p«'t this (lcsi)itc \\ie r<'>M>ls, else you will lose much
that is useful in the warfare with our ilcar enemy,
t!ie unfair sex." Artcr tiiis was an aiuusinp record
of the latest modrs and much ahout ^^owus, piu-
cushi.»n hoops, a!id face-patches. *' Al.^o the {gentle-
men of New York wear two watw is the pretty boy-enptaiu ? Does he .still
blush ? " This was clearly »Iack, but who was INi.ssy ♦
"And M' Wvnn«» — not Darthea's Mr. Wvnne, but
the pervcited (Quaker with the blue eyes?" It w»i»
plain who tliis wan.
''Darthea's captain— but T must not tell tales (Mit
of 8clio«d ;— indeed he needs to be dealt with. Tell
the witch if she ivill stay amouir ihe I,' li.'s — which
is what we call them— Hagced Rebels it is— she
must look to sutler. I am 'n>t as sure she does. 'u mif coh)nel, whom you nnist soon know,
tluit we shall so«»n In- with you in our e we shall move soon.
This camp life is devilish dull. And here is the
British mou.se in a hole and won't come out, and <»ur
serious old cat a- watching. Lord, the patienei! of tlie
man ! (-ome over and see us soon, Mr. Warder, and
you too, Wynne."
"I wish Miss Darthea halusliing sweetly. I think
the garters were on his mind.
Early in August .lack's connnand was sent to join
the army on the Hudson, and, a.s I learned later, was
camped with the bulk of our forces about the foi'uier
seat of the Tappan Indians, among the old Dutith
farms. These changes of troops from place to place
were most p<'rple.\ing to us, who regiment
had .seen little service bevond ihe.b'rsev line, and was
willing enough to get out of reach of tho.se summer
pests, the mosipiitos. VVe were .soon gratilied.
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jN tho 20t]i of September I was desired by
my colonel to conduct two companies
from Newark, where we lay, thronph the
gap at Ramapo, New York, to the main
army, which at this date was camped, as
I havo said, about Tappan. Being stout and well, I
was glad to move, and glad of a chance to see the
great river Hudson. We were assigned camp-ground
bacrk from the rivor, on a hill slope, in a long-settled
country, where since early in the seventeenth century
the I )utcli had possessed the land. Having no tents,
on arriving we set to work at the old ]>usiness of hut-
building, so that it was not until the 26th of Septem-
ber tliat I liad an idle hour in which to look uj) Jack,
who lay somewhere between Tappan and the river.
It WHS, as usual, a joyous meeting, and we never
did less lack for talk. Jack told me that he was
ordered on an unj»lejisant bit of business, and a,sked
if I could not get leave to go witii him. Orders were
come from West Point to seize and de.strov all
periaguas, canoes, and boats in the po.sse.ssion of the
few and often doubtfully loyal |)eople betw«'en us
and King's Ferry, lie had for tliis duty two sail-
444
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 445
rigged dories with slide-keels, and would take two
soldiers in each.
Upon his representing my skill as a sailor, and the
need for two offieers, I was allowed to turn over my
command to the junior captain and to join Jack.
We set off on the 27th of September with prov-
ender and two small tents, and went away up the
river with a fine wind. The water was a dull gray,
and the heavens clouded. The far shore of Dohh's
PVrry and Tarrytowu was already gaily tinted with
the hues of the autunm, and to south the bleak gray
lines of the Palisades below Sneedou's Landing hiy
sombre and .stern under a sunless sky. One of my
men was a got>d sailor, and I was thus emiblcd to
spend most of the day in Jack's boat.
I mention all these details because of a curious
coincidence. I said to Jack— I was steering— that I
had had since dawn a feeling that some calamity
was about to happen. Now this was, as I recall it,
a noticm (juite new to me, and far more like Jack
himself. He laughed and .said it was tljc east wind.
Then after a pause he added : " I was trying to recall
something I once heard, and now I have it. This
waiting for an idea is like fishing in the dc(^p waters
of the mind : sometimes one gets only a nibble, and
sometimes a bite ; but I have my fish. It was Dr.
Ru.sh who told nw, that the liver was the mother of
ghosts and presentiments. When I told liim I was
affli(!ted with these hitter, he put on his glasses,
looked at nw, and said I was of a presentimeutal
temperament."
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446 Hiigli Wynne: Free Quaker
"Aiul lu» WHS rifrlif/' said I, laujrhiiif;. TIioii Jat;k
declared tlie w<'atlier was sorry eiiouj^h to account
for my notion. I made answer, as I remember, that
I was not subject to the nde of the wcatlier-cock,
like some fellows I knew, nor to thinkiuji; I was
jjToinj;^ to l)e shot. This shut up Jack for a while, and
we got otl' on to our own wise plans for capturing
Sir Henry and all his host.
At last we ran ashore at a settled point called
Nyack, and thence we went to and fro wherever we
saw the smoke of men's homes. We broke up or
burned many boats ami dugouts, amid the lamenta-
tions of their owners, because with the aid of these
they were enabk'd to take fish, and were ill off for
other diet. We had an ugly task, and eould only
regret the sad but inexorable necessities of war.
We camped ten miles above Tap])an, and next
day, near to dusk, got as far as King's Landing,
having i)retty thoroughly attended to our ungracious
task.
As the tall promontory of Stony Point rose before
us, dim in the evening light, we talked of Wayne's
gallant storming of tliis formidaWe fort, and of his
ulTectitMi tor the bayonet, which, he said, was to be
pj-eferred to tlie musket because it was always loaded.
" We of our State had most of that glory," said
Jack ; " ami all our best generals, save the great chief,
,are nu'U of the North," whi(;h was triu^ and strange.
We had at this place a strong force of horse and
foot, and here we meant to pass the night with some
of our olllcers, friends of Jack's.
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 447
ill
It was qmt^ dark, when, nnininp: in with a free
sheet, we came close to a iar^'e l)arj^e rowed by
six men. As we approached I heai'd a stern order
to keep off, and ree(»^nised in tlie boat, wiiere were
jUso armed men, Major Tailmadgu, whom 1 knew. I
called to him, but as In* only repeated his order, I
answered, "Very well, sir;" and we drew in to the
shore some liiindred feet away.
Jack said it was ^^/
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276 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
woman in all England. I fear, too, she was the
saddest.
" And where have you kept yourself, Mr. Wynne ? "
she asked. "You are a favourite of my father's,
you know. I had half a mind not to speak to you."
I bowed, and made some gay answei*. I could
not well explain tliat the officers who filled their
houses were not to my taste.
"Let me present you to Mr. Andr6," said Mr.
Shippen, who brought up the rear.
" I have the honour to know Mr. Wynne," said tiie
officer. " We met at Lancaster when I was a pris-
oner in '7G ; in March, was it not ? Mr. Wynne did
me a most kind service, Montresor. I owe it to him
that I came to know that loyal gentleman, Mr. Cope,
and the Yeates people, who at least were loyal to me.
I have not forgotten it, nor ever shall."
I said it was a very small service, and he was kind
to remember it.
" You may well afford to forget it, sir ; 1 shall not,"
he returned. He was in full uniform ; not a tall man,
but finely proportioned, vith remarkably regular
features and a clear complexion which was set ofl'
to advantag*^ by powdered hair drawn back and tied
in the usual ribboned queue.
We rode along in company, happy enough, and
chatting as we went, Mr. Andre, as always, the life
of the party. IIo had the gracious frankness of a
well-mannered lad, and, as I recall him, seemed far
younger than his years. He spoke very feelingly
aside to me of young Macpherson, who fell at (Quebec.
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 277
He himself had had the ill luck not to be present
when that gallant assault was made. He spoke of us
always as colonials, and not as rebels ; and why was I
not in the service of the king, or perhaps that was a
needless question ?
I told him frankly that I hoped before long to be
in quite other service. At this he cried, "So, so!
I would not say it elsewhere. Is that so? 'T is a
pity, Mr. Wynne ; a hopeless cause," adding, with a
laugh, that I shoidd not find it very easy to get out
of the city, which was far too tnie. I said there were
many ways to go, but how I meant to leave I did not
yet know. After I got out I would tell him. We
had fallen back a little as w(^ talked, the road just
here not allowing three to ride abreast.
" I shall ask the colonel for a pass to join our army,"
I said merrily.
" I would," said he, as gay as I ; " but I fear you
and Mistress Wynne will have no favours. Pray
tell her to be careful. The Tories are talking."
" Thanks," said I, as we drew aside to let pass a
splendid brigade of Hessians, fat and well fed, with
shining helmets.
*' We are drawing in a lot of men from German-
town," said Andre, ''})ut for what I do not know.
Ah, here comes the artillery ! "
I watched them as we all sat in saddle, while regi-
ment after regiment passed, the women admiring
their precision and soldiei'ly bearing. For my i)art,
I kept thinking of the half-chul, ill-armed men I had
seen go down these same streets a little while before.
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2/8 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
" I wjl] go," I said to myself ; and in a moment I had
made one of those decisive resolutions which, once
made, seem to control me, and to permit no future
chanjjje of plan.
By tliis time we were come to the bridge over
Cohocsink Creek, I having become self-absorbed and
silent. The colonel called my attention to his having
diunmcd the creek, and thus flooded the low meadows
for more complete defence. I said, "Yes, yes!"
being no longer interested.
]Mr. Shippen said, " We will cross over to the * Rose
of Bath' and have a little milk-punch before we ride
back." Thifs was an inn where, in the garden, was
a mineral water mr h prescribed by Dr. Kearsley.
I excused myself, h' /ever, and, pleading an engage-
ment, rode slowly away.
I put up my mare in my aunt's stable, and went
at once into lier parlour, full of my purpose.
I sat down and told her both the talk of two days
before with Tarleton and my cousin, and also that I
had had in my boat.
She thought I had been foolishly frank, and said,
"You have reason to be careful, Hugh. That man
is dangerous. He would not fight you, because that
would put an end to his relations with your father.
Clerk Mason tells me he has already borrowed two
hundred pounds of my brother. So far I can se(\"
she went on ; " the rest is dark— that about Wyncote,
I mean. Darthea, when once she is away, begins to
criticise him. In a word, Hugh, I think he has
reason to bo jealous."
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 279
" O Aunt Gainor ! "
"Yes. She does not answer your letters, nor
should she, but she answers them to me, the minx !
a good sign, sir."
" That is not all, aunt. I can stand it no longer.
1 must go ; I am going."
" The army, Hugh ? "
*' Yes ; my mind is made up. My two homes are
hardly mine any longer. Every day is a reproach.
For my father I can do little. His affairs are almost
entirely wound up. He does not need me. The old
clerk is better."
" WiU it be hard to leave me, my sou ? "
" You know it will," said I. She had risen, tall and
large, her eyes soft with tears.
'' You must go," she said, '' and may God protect
and keep you. I shall be very lonely, Hugh. But
you must go. I have long seen it."
Upon this, I begged she woidd see my father often,
and give me news of him and of Darthea whenever
occasion served. Then she told me Darthea was to
return to the city in two days, and she herself would
keep in mind all I had wished lier to do. After tliis
I told her of the difficulties I should meet with, and
we talked them over. Presently she said, "Wait;"
then left the room, and, coming back, gave me a
sword the counterpart of Jack's,
" I have had it a yejir, sir. Let me see," she ci'ied,
and would have me put it on, and the sash, and the
buff-and-bhie sword-knot. After this she put a great
hand on each shoiUder just as she had done with
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28o Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
Jack, and, kissing me, said, " War is a sad thing, but
there are worse things. Be true to the old name, my
son." Nor could she bide it a moment longer, but
hurried out with her lace handkerchief to her eyes,
saying as she went, " How shall I bear it ! How shall
I bear it ! "
She also had for me a pair of silver-mounted pistols,
and an enamelled locket with my mother's ever dear
face within, done for her when my mother was
in England by the famous painter of miniatures,
Mr. Malbone.
And now I set about seeing how I was to get away.
Our own forces lay at Pennypackei*'s Mills, or near
by ; but this I did not know until later, and neither
the British nor I were very sure as to their precise
situation. It was clear that I must go afoot. As
I walked down Second street with this on my mind,
I met Colonel Montresor with a group of officers.
He stopped me, and, after civilly presenting me,
said:
" Harcoiu*t and Johnston "—this latter was he who
later married the saucy Miss Franks and her fortune
— " want to know if you have duck-shooting here on
the Schuylkill."
Suddenly, as I stood, I saw my chance and how
to leave the town. I said, " It is rather early, but
there are a few ducks in the river. If I had a boat I
would try it to-morrow, and then perhaps, if I find
any sport, one of you would join me the day after."
" Very good," said they, as well pleased as I.
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Hugh Wynne; Free Quaker 281
"And the boat?" I said.
The colonel had one, a rather light skiff, he told
me. He used it to go up and down to look at the
bridges he was now busily laying. When I asked
for its use the next day, he said Yes, if I would send
him some ducks ; adding that I should need a pass.
He would send it that evening by a sergeant, and an
order for the skiff, which lay on this side at the lower
ferry. I thanked him, and went away happy in the
success of my scheme.
I came upon Andre just after. " Not gone yet ? "
he said.
I replied, " Not yet ; but I shall get away."
He rejoined that he would not like to bet on that,
and then went on to say that if my aunt had any
trouble as to the officers quai'tered on her, would slie
kindly say so. The Hessians were rough people, and
an exchange might be arranged. Gentlemen of his
own acquaintance could be substituted. He himself
was in Dr. Franklin's house. It was full of books,
and good ones too.
I thanked him, but said I fancied she was Wliig
enough to like the Hessians better.
On Second street I bought a smock shirt, rough
shoes, and coarse knit stockings, as well as a good
snapsack, and, rolling them up securely, left them
at homr> in the hay-loft. My sword and other finery I
must needs leave behind me. I had no friends to say
good-bye to, and quite late in the evening I merel}
ran in and kissed my aunt, and received eight hun-
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282 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
dred pounds in English notes, her offering to the
cause, which I was to deliver to the general. Her
gift to me was one hundred pounds in gold, just
what she gave to my Jack. The larger sum she had
put aside by degrees. It embarrassed me, but to
refuse it would have hurt her.
I carefully packed my snapsack, putting the gold
in bags at the bottom, and covering it with the flan-
nel shu'ts and extra shoes which made up my outfit.
I could not resist taking my pistols, as I knew that
to provide myself as well in camp would not be pos-
sible. The bank-bills I concealed in my long stock-
ings, and would gladly have been without them had
I not seen how greatly this would disappoint my aunt.
She counted, and wisely, on their insuring me a more
than favourable reception. Lastly, I got me a small
compn,ss and some tobacco for Jack.
It must be hard for you, in this happier day, when
it is easy to get with speed anywhere on swift and
well-horsed coaches, to imagine what even a small
journey of a day or two meant for us. Men who
rode carried horseshoes and nails. Those who drove
had in the carriage ropes and a box of tools for re-
pairs. I was perhaps better off than some who drove
or rode in those days, for afoot one cannot be stalled,
nor easily lose a shoe, although between Philadelphia
and Darby I have known it to happen.
I knew the country 1 was to travel, and up to a
point knew it well ; beyond that I must trust to good
fortune. Early in the evening came a sergeant with
the promised order for the boat, and a pass signed
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker ab'j
by Sir William Howe's adjutant. At ten I bade my
father good-night and went upstairs, where I wrote
to him, and inclosed the note in one for my aunt.
This I gave to Tom, our coachman, with strict orders
to deliver it late the next day. I had no wish that
by any accident it should too early betray my true
purpose. My gun I ostentatiously cleaned in the late
afternoon, and set in the hall.
No one but my aunt had the least suspicion of
what I was in act to do. At last I sat down and
carefully considered my plan, and my best and most
rapid way of reaching the army. To go through
Germanto^vji and Chestnut Hill would have been the
direct route, for to a surety our army lay somewhere
nigh to Worcester, which was in the county of Phil-
adelphia, although of late years I believe in Mont-
gomery. To go this plain road would have taken me
through the pickets, and where lay on guard the chief
of the British army. This would, of course, be full of
needless risks. It remained to consider the longer road.
This led me down the river to a point where I must
leave it, shoulder my snapsack, and trudge down the
Darby road, or between it and the river. Somewhere
I must cross the highway and strike across-country
as I could to the Schuylkill below Conshohocken, and
there find means to get over at one of the fords.
Once well away from the main road to Darby and
Wilmington, I should be, I thought, safe. After
crossmg the Schuylkill I hoi)ed to get news which
would guide me. I lutrdly thought it likely that the
English who lay at Germautowu and Mount Aiiy
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284 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
would picket beyond the banks of the Wissahickon.
I might have to look out for foraging English west
of the Schuylkill, but this I must chance.
I was about to leave home, perhaps forever, but I
never in my life went to bed with a more satisfied
heart than I bore that night.
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|T break of day I woke, and, stealing down-
stairs, took gun, powder-horn, and shot,
and in the stable loft put the ammunition
in the top of my snapsack ; then, quickly
clianging my clothes, concealed those I
had put off under the hay, and so set out.
The town was all asleep, and I saw no one until I
passed the Bettering-house, and the Grenadiers clean-
ing their guns, and powdering their queues and hair,
and thence pushed on to the river. The lower ferry,
known also as Gray's, lay just a little south of where
the Woodlands, Mr. James Hamilton's house, stood
among trees high above the quiet river.
A few tents and a squad of sleepy men were at the
ferry. I handed my order and pass to the sergeant,
who looked me over as if he thought it odd that a
man of my class should be so equipped to shoot ducks.
However, he read my pass and the order for the boat,
pushed the skiff into the water, and proposed, as he
lifted my snapsack, to let one of his men row me. T
said No ; I must drift or paddle on to the ducks, and
would go alone. Thanking him, I pushed out into
the stream. He wished me good luck, and pocketed
my shilling.
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286 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
It was now just sunrise. I paddled swiftly down-
stream. Not a hundred yards from the ferry I saw
ducks on the east shore, and, having loaded, paddled
over to Rambo's Rock, and was lucky enough to get
two ducks at a shot. Recrossing, I killed two more
in succession, and then pushed on, keeping among
the reeds of the west bank. As I passed Bartram's
famous garden, I saw his son near the river, busy,
as usual, with his innocent flowers.
A half-mile below I perceived, far back of the
shore, a few redcoats. Annoyed no little,— for here
I meant to land,— I turned the boat, still hidden by
the tall reeds, and soon drew up the skiff at Bartram's,
where, taking gun and snapsack, I went up the slope.
I found Mr. William Bartram standing under a fine
cypress his father liad fetched as a slip from Florida
in 1731. He was used to see me on the river, but
looked at my odd costume with as much curiosity as
the sergeant had done. He told me his father had
died but ten days before, for which I felt sorry, since,
except by Friends, who had disowned the good botan-
ist, he was held in general esteem. I hastily but
frankly told Mr. Bartram my errand. He said :
" Come to the house. A company or two has just
now passed to relieve the lower fort."
After I had a glass of milk, and good store of
bread and butter, I asked him to accept my gun, and
that he would do me the kindness to return the skiff,
smd with it to forward a note, for the writing of
which Mrs. Bartram gave me uuill and paper
I wrote :
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 287
"Mr, Hugh Wynne presents his compliments to
Mr. Montresor, and returns his skiff. He desires Mr.
Montresor to accept two brace of ducks, and begs to
express his sincere thanks for the pass, which enabled
Mr. Wynne to make with comfort his way to the army.
Mr. Wynne trusts at some tin.?:^ to be able to show
his gratitude for this favour, ^ad meanwhile he re-
mains Mr. Montresor's obedient, humble servant.
" October 1, 1777.
" Mr. Wynne's most particular compliments to Mr.
Andre. It proved easier to escape than Mr. Andi'6
thought."
I could not help smiling to think of the good colo-
nel's face when he should read this letter. I glanced
at the arms over the fireplace, thanked the good
people warmly, and, as I went out, looked back at
the familiar words old John Bartram set over the
door in 1770 :
'T is God alone, Almighty Lord,
The Holy One by me adored.
It seemed the last of home and its associations. I
turned away, passed through the grounds, which ex-
tended up to the Darby road, and, after a careful look
about me, moved rapidly southward. Here and there
were farm-houses between spurs of the broken forest
which, with its many farms, stretched far to west-
ward. I met no one.
I knew there was a picket at the Blue Bell Inn,
and so, before nearing it, I struck into a woodland,
and, avoiding the farms, kept to the northwest untU
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288 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
I came on to a road which I saw at once to be Gray's
Lane. Unused to guiding myself by compass, I had
again gotten dangerously n^ar to the river. I pushed
up the lane to the west, and after half an hour came
upon a small hamlet, where I saw an open f oi-ge and
a sturdy smith at work. In a moment I recognised
my old 7naster, Lowry, the farrier. I asked the way
across-country to the Schuylkill. He stood a little,
resting on his hammer, not in the least remembering
me. He said it was difficult. I must take certain
country lanes until I got into the Lancaster road,
and so on.
I did not wish to get into the main highway, where
foragers or outlying parties might see fit to be too
curious. I said at last, " Dost not thou know thy old
prentice, Hugh Wynne ? "
I felt sure of my man, as he had been one of the
Sons of Liberty, and had fallen out with Friends in
consequence, so that I did not hesitate to relate my
whole stor}^ He was pleased to see me, and bade me
enter and see his wife. As we stood consulting, a
man cried out at the door :
" Here are more Hessians." And as he spoke we
heard the notes of a bugle.
" Put me somewhere," I said, " and quick."
"No," he cried. "Here, set your snapsack back
of this forge. Put on this leather apron. Smudge
your face and hands."
It took me but a minute, and here I was, gi'imy
and black, a smith again, with my sack hid under a
lot of old iron and a broken bellows.
Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 289
As they rode up— some two dozen yagers— I let
fall the bellows handle, at which my master had set
me to work, and went out to the doorway. There,
not at all to my satisfaction, I saw the small Hessian,
Cajjtain von Heiser, our third and least pleasant
boarder, the aide of General Knyphausen. Worse
still, he was on Lucy. It was long before I knew
how thi« came to pass. They had two waggons, and,
amidst the lamentations of the hamlet, took chickens,
pigs, and grain, leaving orders on the paymaster,
which, I am told, were scnipulously honoured.
Two horses needed shoeing at once, and then I was
told Lucy had a loose shoe, and my master called me
a lazy dog, and bid me quit staring or I would get a
strapping, and to see to the gentleman's mare, and
that in a hurry. It was clear the dear thing knew
me ; for she put her nose down to my side to get the
apples I liked to keep for her in my side pockets. I
really thought she would betray me, so clearly did
she seem to me to understand that here was a friend
she knew. A wild thought came over me to mount
her and ride for my life. No horse there of the heavy
Brandenburgers could have kept near her. It would
have been madness, of course, and so I took my six-
pence with a touch oi my felt hat, and saw my dear Lucy
disappear in a cloud of dust, riding toward the town.
"That was a big risk for thee," said the smith,
wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
" I will mount and ride with thee across-country
through the Welsh Barony. There thou wilt rot
be far from the river. It is a good ten-mile business."
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290 Hugh Wynne: Free Quakcr
After a little, when I had had some milk and rum,
the horses were saddled, and we crossed by an ox-
road through the forest past the settlement of Card-
iugton, and then forded Cobb's Creek. A cross-road
carried us into the Haverford road, and so on by
wood- ways to the old Welsh farms beyond Merlon.
We met no one on the way save a farmer or two,
and here, being near to the Schuylkill, my old master
farrier took leave of me at the farm of Edward Mas-
ters, which lay in our way, and commended me to
the care of this good Free Quaker.
There I was well fed, and told I need to look out
only on this side the river for Tories. They were worse
than Hessianers, he said, and robbed like highway-
men. In fact, already the Tories who came confidently
back with the British army had become a terror to all
peaceful folk between Sweedsboro and our own city.
Their bands acted under royal commissions, some as
honest soldiers, but some as the enemies of any who
owned a cow or a barrel of flour, or from whom,
under torture, could be wrested a guinea. All who
were thus organised came at length to be dreaded,
and this whether they were bad or better. Friend
Masters had suffered within the week, but, once over
tlie Schuylkill, he assured me, there need be no fear,
as oiu' own partisans and foragers were so active to
the north of the stream as to make it perilous for
Tories.
With this caution, my Quaker friend went with
me a mile, and set me on a wood path. I must be
put over at Hagy's Ford, he feai'ed, as the river was
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 291
in flood mid too high lor a horse to wade ; iior was
i^ much better at Young's Ford above. Finally he
said, " The ferryman is Peter Skinner, and as bad as
the Jersey Tories of that name. If thou dost perceive
him to talk Friends' language in reply to thy own
talk, thou wilt do well to doubt what he may tell thee.
He is not of our society. He cannot even so speak
as that it will deceive. Hereabouts it is thought he
is in league with Fitz." I asked who was Fitz. He
was one, I was told, who had received some lashes
when a private in om* army, and had deserted. The
British, discovering his capacity, now used him as a
forager ; but he did not stop at hen-roosts.
With this added warning, I went on, keeping north
until I came to the Rock road, by no means mis-
named, and so through Merion Squai-e to Hagy's Ford
Lane and the descent to the river. I saw few people
on the way. The stream was in a freshet, and not to
be waded. My ferryman was caulking a dory. I said :
"Wilt thou set me across, friend, and at what
charge 1 "
To this he replied, " Wliere is thee bound ? "
I said, " To White Marsh."
" Thee is not of these parts."
"No."
He was speaking the vile tongue wliich now all
but educated Friends speak, and even some of these ;
but at that time it was s])oken only by the vulgai*.
" It will cost thee two shillings."
" Too much," said I ; " but thou hast me caught.
I must over, and that soon."
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292 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
He was long about getting ready, and now and
then looked steadily across the stream ; but as to this
I was not troubled, as I knew thatj once beyond it,
I was out of danger.
I paid my fare, and left him looking after me up
the deep cut which led to the more level uplands.
Whistling gaily, and without suspicion, I won the
hilltop l>y what I think they called Ship Lane.
Glad to be over Schuylkill and out of the way of
risks, I sat down by the roadside at the top of the
ascent. The forest was dense with underbrush on
either side, and the hickories, and below them the
sumachs, were already rich with the red and gold of
autumn. Being rather tired, I remained at rest at
least for a half-hour in much comfort of body and
mind. I had been strongly urged by my love for
Darthea to await her coming ; but decisions are and
were with me despotic, and, once I was of a mind to
go, not even Darthea could keep me. Yet to leave
her to my cousin and his wiles I hated. The more
I discussed him in the council of my own thoughts,
the more I was at a loss. His evident jealousy of
one so much younger did seem to me, as it did to my
aunt, singular. And why should \w wish me to be
away, as clearly he did ? and why also malign me to
my father? I smiled to think I was where his malice
could do me no harm, and, rising, pulled my snapsack
straps up on my shoulders, and set my face to the
east.
Of a sudden I heard to left, " Halt, there ! " I
saw a long rifle covering me, and above the binish
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 293
a man's face. Then stepped out to right, as I obeyed
the order, a fellow in bnckskin shirt and leggings,
with a pistol. I cried out, " I surrender ; " for what
else could I do ? Instantly a dozen men, all armed,
were in the road, and an ill-looking lot they were.
The leader, a coarse fellow, was short and red of
face, and much pimpled. He had hair half a foot
long, and a beard such as none wore in those days.
I had but time to say meekly, "Why dost thou
stop me, friend ? " when he jerked off my sack and,
plunging a hand inside, pulled out a pistol.
" A pretty Quaker ! Here," and he put back the
pistol, crying, as the men laughed, '' sergeant, strap
this on your back. Quick ! fetch out the horses ; we
will look him over later. Up with him behind Joe !
Quick— a girth ! We have no time to waste. A
darned rebel spy ! No doubt Sir William may like
to have him."
In truth, no time was lost nor any ceremony used,
and here was I strapped to the waist of a sturdy
trooper, behind v/hom I was set on a big-boned roan
horse, and on my way home again.
"Which way, Captain Fitz?" said the sergeant.
" The ford is high." In a moment we were away, in
all, as I noted, about a score*
The famous Tory chief —he was no better than a
bold thief— made no reply, but rode northwest with
his following for tlie ford below Conshohocken, as
I fancied. He W(uit at speed through tlie open pine
forest, I, my hands being free, holding on to my man
as well as I could, and, as you may suppose, not very
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294 Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker
happy. A mile away we came out on a broad road.
Here the captain hesitated, and of a sudden turned
to left toward the river, crying loudly, with an oath,
" Follow me ! " The cause was plain.
Som(i twenty troopers came out into the road not
a hundred yards distant, and instantly rode down on
us at a run. Before we could ^et as swift a pace,
they were close upon us ; and then it was a wild and
perilous race downhill for the river, with yells, curses,
and pistol-balls flying, I as helpless, meanwhile, as
a child. The big roan kept well up to the front
near the captain. Looking back, through dust and
smoke, I saw our pursuers were better horsed and
were gaining. A man near me dropped, and a horse
went down. With my left hand I cauglit hold of the
strap which fastened mo to the rascal in the saddle.
He was riding for life, and too scared to take note of
the act. I gave the buckle a quick jerk, and it came
loose, and the strap fell. I clutched the man by the
throat with my right hand, and squeezed his gullet
with a death-grip. He made with his right hand for a
holster pistol, losing his stirrups, and kicking as
if in a fit. I only tightened my grip, and fetched
him a crack under the left ear with my unengaged
hand. He was reeling in the saddle when, at this
instant, I was aware of a horseman on my right. I
saw a sabre gleam in air above us, and, letting go
my scamp's throat, I ducked quickly below his left
shoulder as I swung him to left, meaning to chance
a fall. He had, I fancy, some notion of his peril, for
he put up his hand and bent forward. I saw the
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 295
flash of a blade, and, my captor's head fallings for-
ward, a great spout of blood shot back into my face,
as the i^air of us tumbled together headlong from
his horse. I was dimly conscious of yells, oaths, a
horse leaping over me, and for a few seconds knew
no more. Then I sat up, wiped the blood away, and
saw what had happened.
The trooper lay across me dead, his head nearly
severed from the trunk, and spouting great jets of
blood. A half-dozen dead or wounded were scattered
along the road. Not a rod away was the sergeant
who had my sack pinned under his horse, and far
ahead, in a cloud of dust, that terrible swordsman
riding hard after the bandit. Fitz, well mounted, got
off, I may add, and, with three or four, swam the
river, living to be hanged, as he well deserved.
By the time I was up and staggering forward, bent
on recovering my sack, the leader, who had given up
the chase, rode toward me. I must have been a cpieer
and horrid figure. I was literally covered with blood
and mud. The blood was everywhere,— in my hair,
over my face, and down my neck,— but I wanted my
precious sack.
" Halt ! " he cried out. " Here, corporal, tie this
fellow."
" Pardon me," said I, now quite myself. " I was
the prisoner of these rascals."
" Indeed ? Your name ? "
" Hugh Wynne."
"Where from?"
"From the city."
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296 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
"Where to?"
" To join the army."
" Yoiir business ? What are you ? "
" Gentleman."
" Good heavens ! you are a queer one ! We shall
see. Are you hurt? No? Great Caesar! you are
an awful sight ! "
"I was tied to that fellow you disposed of, and
with your permission I will get my snapsack yonder."
" Good ; get it. Go with him, corporal, and keep
an eye on him."
In a half -hour the dead were stripped and pitched
aside, the wounded cared for in haste, and the horses
caught.
*' Can you ride ? " said my captor. " By George,
you must ! "
" Yes, I can ride."
" Then up with you. Give him a leg."
I wanted none, and was up in a moment on the
bare back of a big farm mare ; theii' errand had been,
I learned, the purchase of horses. The captain bade
me ride with him, and, turning north, we rode away,
while the big brute under me jolted my sore bones.
''And now," said the captain, "let me hear, Mr.
Wynne, what you have to say. Take a pull at my
flask."
I did so, and went on to relate my adventures
briefly— the duck-shooting, which much amused him,
the escape at the forge, and what else seemed to be
needed to set myself right. He looked me over again
keenly.
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 297
" You had a close thing of it."
" Yes," said I ; " you are a terrible swordsman, and
a good one, if you will pardon me."
" I meant to cut him on the head, but he put his
neck where his head should have been. There is
one rascal the less ; but I missed the leader. Hang
him ! "
" He will take care of that," said I.
Then my companion said I must join his troop,
and would I excuse his rough dealing with me ?
I declared myself well content, and explained as to
his offer that I was much obliged, and woidd think
it over ; but that I desired first to see the army, and
to find my friend. Captain Warder, of the Pennsyl-
vania line.
'' Yes I a stout man and da^-k ? "
" No ; slight, well built, a blond."
" Good ; I know him. I was testing your tale, Mr.
Wynne. One has need to be careful in these times."
For a few moments he was silent, and then asked
sharply, " Where did you cross 1 "
I told him.
"And are there any outlying pickets above the
upper ferry on the west bank?"
I thought not, and went on to tell of the bridging
of the river, of tlie lines of forts, and of the positions
held in the city by the Grenadiers and the High-
landers. A large part of the army, I said, was being
withdrawn from German town, I supposed with a
view to attack the forts below the city.
" Wliat you say is valuable, IMr. Wynne." And ho
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298 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
quickened the pace with an order, and pushed on at
speed.
It seemed to me time to know into whose company
I had fallen, and who was the hardy and decisive
ne'er at my side.
" May I take the liberty to ask with what command
lam?"
" Certainly. I am Allan McLane, at your service.
I will talk to you later ; now I want to think over
what you have told me. I tried to get into the city
last week, dressed as an old woman ; they took my
eggs— Lord, they were aged !— but I got no farther
than the middle ferry. Are you sure that troops are
being withdrawn from Germantown ? "
I said I was, and in large numbers. After this we
rode on in silence through the twilight. I glanced
now and then at my companion, the boldest of our
partisan leaders, and already a sharp thorn in the
side of General Howe's extended line. Ho was slight,
well made, and dark, with some resemblance to
Arthur Wynne, but with no weak lines about a
mouth which, if less handsome than my cousin's, was
far more resolute.
I was ready to drop from my rough steed when we
began, about nine at night, to see the camp-fires of
our army on either side of Skippack Creek. A halt
at the pickets, and we rode on around the right flank
among rude huts, rare tents, rows of spancelled
horses,— we call it "hobbled" nowadays,— and so at
last to a group of tents, the headquarters of the small
cavalry division.
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 299
" Halt ! " I heard ; and I literally almost tumbled
off my hoi'se, pleased to see the last of him.
'' This way, sir," said IVIcLane. " Here is my tent.
There is a flask under the pine-needles. I have no
feather-1)ed to offer. Get an hour's rest ; it is all you
can have just now. When I find out the headcjuar-
ters, you must ride again." And he was gone.
I found a jug of water and a towel ; but my at-
tempts to get the blood and mud out of my hair and
neck were (piite vain. I gave it up at last. Then I
nearly emptied the flask which McLane had left me,
set my sack under my head, pulled up a blanket, and
in a minute was out of the world of war and sound
:!j'
I do not know how long my slum}>er lasted on my
fragrant bed of pine. I heard a voice say, " Are you
dead, man ? " And shaken roughly, I sat up, confused,
and for a moment wondering where I was.
'* Come," said McLane. " Oh, leave your sack."
" No," I said, not caring to explain why.
In a moment I was in the saddle, as fresh as need
be, the cool October night- wind in my face.
" Wliere are we bound ? " I asked.
" Head(iuarters. I want you to tell your own news.
Hang the man ! " We had knocked down a lurching
drunkard, but M(^Lane stayed to ask no questions,
and in a half -hour we pulled up in the glare of a huge
fire, around Avhich lay iiides, some asleep and others
smokinjjr. A few vards away was a row of tents.
Mclitine looked about him. " Holloa, Hamilton ! "
he cried to a slight young nuin lying at the fire.
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300 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
" Tell his Excellency I am here. I have news of im-
portance."
A moment after, the gentleman, who was to become
so well known and to die so needlessly, came back,
and we followed him to the larger of the tents. As
he lifted the fly he said, "Captain McLane to see
your Excellency."
On a plain farm-house table were four candles,
dimly lighting piles of neatly folded papers, a simple
camp-bed, two or three wooden stools, and a camp-
chest. The officer who sat bareheaded at the table
pushed aside a map and looked up. I was once more
in the presence of Washington. Both McLane and
I stood waiting— I a little l)ehind.
" Whom have you here, sir ? "
"Mr. Wynne, a gentleman who has escaped in
disguise to join the army He has news which may
interest your Excellency." As he spoke I came
forward.
"Are you wounded, sir?"
" No," said I ; "it is another man's blood, not mine."
He showed no further curiosity, nor any sign of the
amazement I had seen in the faces of his aides-de-
camp on my appearancje at the camp-fire.
" Pray be seated, gentlemen. Do me the favour.
Captain McLane, to ask Colonel Hamilton to return.
Mr. Wynne, you said ? "
" Yes, your Excellency."
Then, to set myself right, I told him that I had had
the honoiu' to have met liim at the house of my aunt,
Mistress Wynne. " With permission, sir," I added,
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 301
" I am chai'ged to deliver to your Excillcney ei{»:ht
hundred pounds which Mistress Wynne humbly
trusts may be of use to the cause of liberty." So
saying, I pulled the English notes out of my long
stockings and laid them before him.
" I could desire many recruits like you," he said.
" Mr. Hamilton, I beg to present Mr. Wynne. Have
the kindness to make memoranda of what he may
tell us." He spoke with deliberation, as one v,'ho had
learned to weigh his words, not omitting any of the
usual courteous forms, more common at that time
than in our less formal day. General Knox came in
as we sat down.
He was a sturdy man with a slight stoop, and had
left his book-shop in Boston to become the trusted
friend and artillery officer of the gi'eat Virginian,
who chose his men with slight regard to the tongues
of the Southern officers, for whom they were too
often " shopkeepers " or " mere traders."
"Report of court martial on Daniel Plympton,
deserter," said Knox. The general took the papers,
and for ten minutes at least was intently concerned
with what he read. Then he took a pen and wrote
a line and his name, and, looking up, said, " Approved,
of course. Parade his regiment at daybreak for exe-
cution. Your pardon, gentlemen." And at once ho
began to put to me a series of questions rather slowly.
The absence of hurry sui-prised me, young as I was,
and not yet apt to take in all I might see. Every
minute some one appeared. There were papers to
sign, aides coming and going, impatient sounds with-
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302 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
out, a man's death decreed ; but with uo sigu of haste
he went on to fiuish.
At last he rose to his feet, we also standing, of
course. "Are you sure that Sir William has re-
called any large force from Germantown ?.— any large
force '? "
I knew that the Grenadiers and many Hessians liad
come in, and a considerable part of t..e artillery, but
to what extent or precisely in what numbers I could
not be sure. He seemed to me to be intensely con-
sidering what I told him.
At last he said, "You must be tired. You have
brought much needed help, and also good news."
Why good I did not then understand. "And now
what do you desire? How can I serve you, Mr.
Wynne?"
I said I wished to be in the ranks for ft time,
until I learned a little more of the duty.
He made no comment, but turning to McLane,
said, " Captain McLanc, you will care for this gen-
tleman. I trust occasion may serve, Mr. Wynne, to
enable me to offer Mistress Wynne my thanks. When
you desire a commission, Mr. Hamilton will kindly
remind me of the service you have done your coun-
try to-day. You have acted with your usual discre-
tion, Captain McLane. Good-night, gentlemen."
We bowed and went out.
On our way back we rode a footpace, while the
captain, now ready enough to talk, answered my
many questions. " Yes ; the general was a reserved,
tranquil man, with a chained-up devil inside of him j
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 303
could lay a whip over a black fellow's back if a horse
were ill j^roomed, or call a man— and he a general
—a d drunkarti; but that would be in the heat
of a fight. An archbishop woiUd learn to swear in
the army, and the general had no more piety than
was good for men who were here to commit murder."
The next day I set out afoot, as I preferred, to look
for Jack, and a nice business I found it. The army
was mo\ing down the Skippack road to Worcester
township, and the whole march seemed, to me at least,
one great bewildering confusion of dust, artillery,
or waggons stalled, profane aides going hither and
thither, broken fences, women standing at farm-house
doors, white and crying, as the long line of our foot
passed ; and over all rang sharp the clink and rattle
of flanking cavalry as the horse streamed by, tram-
pling the ruddy buckwheat-fields, and through rav-
aged orchards and broken gardens. Overhead, in a
great cloud high in air, the fine dust was blown down
the line by the east wind. It was thick and oppres-
sive, choking man and horse with an exacting thirst,
mocked by empty wells and defiled brooks. No one
knew where any one else was, and in all my life, save
on one memorable evening, I never heard as great a
variety of abominable language.
I had done my best, by some change of under-
clothes and the industrious use of soap and water, to
make my appearance less noticeable ; but it was still
bad enough, because I had no outer garments except
those I was wearing. Had I been better dressed, I
had fared better ; for in those days clothes were con-
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304 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
sidered, and you might easily tell by his costume if a
iiiau were a mechanic, a, farmer, a small trader, or a
gentleman.
I fell at last upon an officer who was endeavouring
to get his horse a share of wayside ditch water. I
said to him, seeing my chance, that his horse had
picked up a stone; if he would wait a moment I
would knock it out. On this, and upon his thank-
ing me, I asked where I might find Wayne's brigade,
for in it, as I knev/, was my captain of the Third
Pennsylvania Continental foot. He told me it was
a mile ahead. Comforted by this news, I walked on,
keeping chiefly in the fields, for there alone was it
possible to get past the marching columns.
About eleven there was a halt. I passed a lot of
loose women in crts, many canvas-co\ ered commis-
sary waggons, footsore men fallen out, and some
asleep in the fields,— all the scum and refuse of an
army,— with always dust, dust, so that ma'i, beast,
waggons, and every green thing were of one dull
yellow. Then there was shouting on the road ; the
stragglers fled left and right, a waggon of swearing
women turned over into a great ditch, and with
laughter, curses, and crack of whip, two well-horsed
cannon and caissons bounded over the field, crafc;:iing
th 'Ugh a remnant of snake fence, and so down the
road at speed. I ran behind them, glad of the gap
they left. About a mile farther they pulled up, and
going by I saw with joy the red and buff of the
Pennsylvania line. Behind them there was an
interval, and thus the last files were less dusty. But
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 305
for this I should have goue past them. A soklier
told me that this was the regiment I sought, aud,
searching the ranks eagerly as they stood at ease, I
walked swiftly along.
'' Holloa ! " I shouted. I saw Jack look about him.
" Jack ! " I cried. He ran to me as I spoke. I tliiuk
I should have kissed him but for the staring soldiers.
In all my life I never was so glad. There was brief
time allowed foi* greetings. " Fall in ! fall in ! " I
heard. ^' March ! "
" Come along," he said. And walking beside him,
I poured out news of home, of my Aunt Gaiuor, and
of myself.
A mile beyond we halted close to the road near to
Methacton Hill, where, I may add, we lay that night
of October 2. Having no tents, Jack and I slept
on the ground rolled up in Holland blankets, and
sheltered in part by a wicky-up, which the men con-
trived cleverly enough.
I saw on our arrival how— automatically, as it
seemed to me— the regiments found camping-gi'ounds,
aud how well the ragged men an-anged for shelters
of boughs, or made tents with two rails and a blanket.
The confusion disappeared. Sentries and pickets
were posted, flres were lit, and food cooked. The
order of it seemed to me as mysterious as the seem-
ing disorder of the march.
After some talk with Jack, I concluded to serve as
a volunteer, at least for a few weeks, and learn the
business better before I should decide to accept the
general's kindness. Accordingly I took my place
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306 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
in the ranks of Jack's company, and, confiding most
of my gold to his care, kept in a belt under my
clothes not more than six guineas, as I remember.
No uniform was to be had at any price ; but I was
hardly worse off than half of the men who made up
our company. A musket, and what else was wanted,
I obtained without trouble, and as to the drill, I knew
it well enough, thanks to the Irish sergeant who had
trained us at home.
Our duties, of course, kept us much apart— that is,
Jack and myself ; but as he made use, or pretended
to make use, of me as an orderly, I was able to see
more of him that day than otherwise would have
been possible. My pistols I asked him to use until I
could reclaim them, and I made him happy with the
tobacco I brought, and which I soon saw him divid-
ing among other officers; for what was Jack's was
always everybody's. And, indeed, because of this
generosity he has been much imposed upon by the
selfish.
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XVII
N this night of the 2d of Octol)er, Jaok
told me we sliould move next morning
or the day after. He had seen General
Wayne on an errand for our colonel.
"A strong talker, the general; but as
ready to fight as to talk." In fact, ammunition was
issued, and before dawn on the 4th the myriad noises
of an army breaking camp aroused me. It was a
gray morning over-head, and cool. When we fell
into line to march. Jack called me out of the ranks.
'' There will be a fight, Hugh. Mr. Howe has sent
troops into Jersey, and weakened his hold oi the
village, or so it is thought. In fact, you know hat,
for it was you that fetched the news. If— I sliould
get killed— you will tell your aunt— not to forget me
—and Darthea too. And my father— my fatiier,
Hugh— I have written to him and to Miss V/ynne—
in case of accident." The day before a fight Jack
was always going to be killed. I do not think I ever
thought I should be hit. I had, later in the war, a
constant impression that, if I were, it would be; in the
stomach, and this idea I much dislik(>d. I fell to
thinking of Darthea and Jack, wondering a little,
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308 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
until the drum and fife struck up, and at the word
wo stepped out.
I have no intention to describe more of the fight
at Germantown than I saw, and that was but little.
It seemed to me confusion worse confounded, and
I did not wonder that Graydon had once written
me from the North that we were in a "scuffle for
liberty." The old village was then a long, broken
line of small, gray stone houses, set in gardens on
each side of the highway, with here and there a
larger mansion, like the Chew House, Cliveden, and
that of the Wisters.
The ascent from the city is gradual. At Mount
Airy it is more abrupt, and yet more steep at Chest-
nut Hill, where my aunt's house, on the right, looks
down on broken forests, through which the centre
marched by the Perkiomen road. The fight on our
right wing I knew nothing of for many a day.
As we tramped on our march of many miles, the
fog which the east wind brought us grew thicker,
but there was less dust. Soon after dusk of morn-
ing we came out of the woods, and moved up the
ascent of Chestnut Hill, where I wondered to find
no defences. There were scarce any houses here-
abouts, and between the hill and the descent to Mount
Airy our own regiment diverged to the left, off the
road. There were hardly any fences to trouble us,
and where the lines were broken ))y gardens or
hedges, we went by and remade the line, which was
extended more to left as we moved away from the
highway.
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 309
! i:'!
At last we were halted. I was thinking of the glad
days I had spent hereabouts when we heard to right
the rattle of muskets. McLane had di'iven in the
advanced picket of the enemy. Then the right of
our own force fell on some British light infantry,
and, swinging the left on the riglit as a pivot, our
own flanking regiment faced their guns, so that we
were in pan back on the main road. The sun n we were ordered to march, leaving a regiment
to continue the siege ; a lialf-hour had been lost. We
went at a run (piite two miU^s down the slope, now
on, now off the main street, Avith red gleams now and
then seen through this strangeness of fog. The Brit-
ish were flying, broken and scattered, over the fields.
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 311
I heard " Halt ! " as we swung parallel with the
road at the market-place, where the Greuadiers made
a gallant stand, as was known l)y the more orderly
})latoon firing. Then we, too, broke out in givat
blaze, and after, what with fog and smoke, a fight in
a cellar were as good.
The next minute our people came down the high-
way, and, between the two fires, the EngUsh again
gave way. I heard, ''Forward ! We have 'em ! ^ Some
near me hesitated, and I saw Jack run by me crying,
"The bayonet, men ! After mo ! " I saw no more
of Jack for many a day. We were in the wide market-
place—a mob of furious men, blind with fog and
smoke, stabbing, clubbing, striking, as chance served.
My great personal strength helped me well. Twice
I cleared a space, until my nuisket broke. I fell
twice, once with a hard crack on the head from the
butt of a musket. As some English went over me,
I stabbed at them madly, and got a bayonet thrust
in my left arm. I was up in a moment, and for a
little while, quite unarmed, was in the middle of a
confused mass of men raging and swearing like mani-
acs. Suddeidy there was no one to bo seen near me ;
the noise of muskets, the roar of cauuonry, red flashes
in the fog in front— that was all, as I stood panting
and dazed. Next I lioard wild cries back of me, and
the crash of musketry. Slopliens's division, coming
up behind us, began to fire, mistaking us, in the in-
fernal darkness, for an enemy. Our people broke
under it, and, passing me, ran, beaten ; for the panic
spread in the very moment of victory.
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I turned, not understanding, stumbled over a dead
man, and suddenly felt iis if a stone had struck my
left leg above the knee. I fell instantly, and for a
time— I do not know how long— lost consciousness.
It could have been but a few moments.
When I came to myself, I got up, confused and
giddy, and began to walk, but with painful difficulty,
stumbling over dead or wounded men. Our people
were gone, and 1 saw no one for a little, till I heard
the quick tramp of feet and saw through the fog the
red line of a marching regiment almost upon me. I
made an effort to fall to one side of the street, but
dropped again, and once more knew nothing. I
think they went over me. When evening came, I
found myself lying with others on the sidewalk in
front of the Wister house. How I was taken thither
I know as little as any. I was stiff, sore, and bloody,
but soon able to look about me. I found a bandage
around my leg, and felt in no great pain unless I
tried to move. Men in red coats came and went, but
none heeded my cry for water, until an old servant-
woman, who during the fight had refused to leave
the house, brought me a drink. I knew her well. I
tried to tell her who I was, but my parched tongue
failed me, and a rough corporal bade her begone.
My watch, a good silver one, was stolen, but my
monev-belt was safe.
Beside me were many other wounded, one man
hideous with his jaw broken ; he seemed to me dying.
By and by soldiers fetched others. Then a detach-
ment of Virginians went past, in their fringed skin
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Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 3 r 3
shirts, prisoners, black with smoke, dirty and sullen.
Surgeons' aids came and went in and out, and soon
the sidewalk was crowded with the wounded. At last
they carried a dying general into the house. I asked
his name, but no one answered me. It was the brig-
adier Agnew, now lying at rest in the lower burial-
ground by Fishei-'s Lane.
An officer came and counted us like sheep. About
nine a row of carts stopped,— country waggons seized
for the purpose,— and, with small tenderness, we
were told to get in, or at need lifted in. I was put,
with eight others, in a great Conestoga wain witliout
a cover. Soon a detachment of horse arrived, and
thus guarded, we were carted away like logs.
The road was never good, but now it was full of
holes and cut up by the whetils of artillery. I shall
never forget tha misery of that ride. I set my teeth
and resolved to utter no groan. Before us and be-
hind us were many loads of wounded men, chiefly
such as seemed fit to travel. There were nine of us.
One was dead before we reached town. As we jolted
on, and the great wain rocked, I heard the crack
of the drivers' whips, and far and near, in the dark-
ness or near beside me, curses, prayers, mad screams
of pain, or men imploring water.
When near to Nicetown, came on a cold, heavy
rain which chilled us to shivering. I let my hand-
kertihief get soaked, and sucked it. Then I wet it
again— the rain a torr<;nt— and gave it into the hand
of him who was next uw. lie could not use liis arm,
nor could I turn to aid him, nor did he answer me.
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314 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
At times we waited on the way, so that it was one
in the morning when we found ourselves in Chestnut
street in front of the State-House. It was still dis-
mally raining. We were told to get out, and with
help I did so, a line of soldiers standing on each side ;
but no one else near, and it was too dark to see if
any whom I knew were to be seen. When they pulled
out the man next to me, his head fell, and it was
clear that he was dead. He was laid on the sidewalk,
and we were helped or made to crawl upstairs to the
long room in tlie second story.
Here some surgeons' mates came and saw to us
quite patiently. Soldiers fetched bread and water.
I asked a pleasant kind of youth, a surgeon's aid,
to let my aunt know of my condition. He said he
would, and, without the least doubt that he would
keep his word, I managed to get into a position of
partial ease, and, siu'e of early reUef, lay awaiting
the sleep which came at last when I was weary with
listening to the groans of less patient men. The
young surgeon never troubled himself with the de-
liv3ry of my message. May the Lord reward him !
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HE mad screams of a man in an ajsrony
of pain awoke nie on this Sunday, Octo-
ber 5, at daybreak. Tlie room was a
sorry sight. Some had died in the night,
and were soon earned out for burial. I
hiy still, in no great pain, and reflected on the swift
succession of events of the past week. I had had
bad luck, but soon, of course, my aunt or father
would know of my misfortune. As I waited for what
might come, I tried to rectdl the events of the battle.
I found it almost impossible to gather them into
consecutive clearness, and often since I have won-
dered to hear men profess to deliver a lucid history
of what went on in some desperate struggle of war.
I do not believe it to be possible.
Being always of a sanguine turn of mind, I
waited, full of comforting hope. About five, after
some scant diet, we were told to get up and go down-
stairs. It was still dark because of the continuous
rain and overcast skies. I refused to walk, and was
lifted by two men and put in a waggon. A few early
idlers were around the door to see us come out. I
looked eagerly for a fa(H^ I knew, but saw uont;. Our
ride was short. We went down Sixth street, and
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3i6 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
drew up at the Walnut street front of the prison,
called, while the British held the town, the Provost.
It was unfinished, a part being temporarily roofed
over with boards. At the back was a large yard
with high walls. Some, but not all, of the windows
in tlie upper story had transverse slats to keep those
within from seeing out. On the Sixth street side
were none of these guards, and here the windows
overlooked the potter's field, which now we call Wash-
ington Square.
As I managed, with some rough help, to get up the
steps, a few early risen people paused to look on.
Others came from the tumble-down houses on the
north side of Walnut street, but again I was unfortu-
nate, and saw none I knew.
My heart fell within me as I looked up at the gray
stone walls and grated windows. The door soon
closed behind a hundred of us, not a few being of
the less severely wounded. Often in passing I had
thought, with a boy's horror, of this gloomy place,
and tried to imagine how I should feel in such a
cage. I was to learn full well.
With fifteen others, I was shut up in a room about
twenty-two feet square, on the Sixth street side and
in the second story. I was, but for a Virginia
captain, the only wounded man among these, the
rest being stout country fellows, ruddy and strong,
except one lean little man, a clerk, as I learned later,
and of tlu; commissary department.
As I liad again refused to walk upstairs, I was
carried, and not rudely l»id down by two soldiers i»
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 3 i 7
a corner of the bare room, now to be for many a
day our prison. The rest sat down here and there
in dull silence, now and then looking at the door
as if there hope was to be expected to enter. I
called the Virginia captain, after an hour had gone
by, and asked him to lift and ease my hurt leg.
He was quick to help, aiid tender. In a few min-
utes we came to know each other, and thus began
a friendly re-.ation which has endured to this present
time.
For a day or two soldiers were employed as turn-
keys, but then a lot of rough fellows took their
places, and we began to feel the chan£"\ I may say
the like of our diet. For a week it was better than
our pot-luck in camp. We had rye bread, tea with-
out sugar, and horribly tough beef ; but within two
weeks the diet feU to bread and water, with now
and then salt or fresh beef, and potatoes or beans,
but neither rum nor tea. A surgeon dressed my
wounds for a month, and then I saw him no more.
He was a surly fellow, and would do for me nothing
else, and was usually half intoxicated. The arm was
soon well, but the leg wound got full of maggots
when it was no longer cared for, and only when, in
January, I pulled out a bit of bone did it heal.
Once a day, sometimes in the morning, more often
in the afternoon, we were let out in the yard for an
hour, watched by sentries, and these also we heard
outside under our windows. Observing how quickly
the big country louts lost flesh and colour, I set my-
self to seeing how I could keep my health. I talked
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318 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
with my unlucky fellow-prisoners, ate the food even
when it was as vile as it soon became, and when in
the yard walked up and down making acquaintances
as soon as I was able, while most of the rest sat
about moping. I felt sure tliat l)efore long some one
woidd hear of me and bring relief. None came.
Tlie scoundrel in charge was a C'aj)tain Cunning-
ham. He had risen from the ranks. A great, tiorid,
burly, drunken brute, not less than sixty years old.
This fellow no doubt sold our I'ations, for in Decem-
ber we on(!0 passed three days on rye bread and
water, and of tlie former not much ; one day we had
no food.
He kicked and beat his victims au 'imes when
drunk, and wlien I proposed to him to make ten
pounds by letting my aunt know wliere I was, he
struck me witli a heavy iron key he carried, and cut
open my li(^ad, as a great scar testifies to this day.
In late December the cold became intense, and we
were given a blanket apiece to cover us as we lay
on the straw. Wt; suffered tVe more from weather
because it chanced tliat, in October, the frigate
"Augusta" blew uj) in the liarbou)', and broke iialf
tlie panes of ^';hiss. In Deceml)er the snow came in
on us, n)»d was at times thick on the floor. Once or
twice a week we had a little lire-wood, and contrived
then to cook the beans, which were rarely brought
us more tlian lialf ])oiled.
We did (mr best, the captain and T,to encourage our
more unhappy companions, who, I think, felt more
than we the horrors of this prisoned life. We told
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 319
stories, got up games, and I induced the men to go
a-tishing, as we called it j that is, to let down their
ragged hats through the broken window-panes by
cords torn from the edges of our blankets. Now and
then the poor folks near by tilled these nets with stale
bread or potatoes; but one day, after long Ul luck,
a hat was of a sudden felt to be hea^^y, and was
declared a mighty catch, and hauled up with care.
When it was found to be full of stones, a strange
misery appeared on the faces of these eager, half-
starved wretches. The little clerk said, " We asked
bread, and they gave us a stone," and of a sudden,
broke out into hideous exuberance of blasphemy,
like one in a minute distraught. It was believed
Cunningham had been he who was guilty of this
cruel jest ; but as to this I have no assurance. Our
efforts to cultivate patience, and even gay endurance,
by degrees gave way, as we became feeble in body,
and the men too huugi-y to be comforted by a joke.
At last the men ceased to laugh or smile, or even
to talk, and sat in corners close to one another for
the saving of ])ody warmth, silent and inert.
A stout butcher, of the Maryland line, went mad,
and swore roimdly he was George the king. It was
hard, indeed, to r(\sist the sense of despair which
seemed at last to possess all alike ; for to starvation
and cold were added such tilth and vileness as men
of decent habits felt more than those accustomed
to be careless as to cleanliness.
The Virginian, one Kichard Delaney, soon got over
a slight hurt he had, and but for him I should not
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320 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
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be alive to-da}'. The place swarmed with rats, and
he and I set to work eaptimug them, tilling their
holes as they eame out at evening, and chasing them
until we caught them. They kept well in the intense
cold, and when we were given fire- wood, we cooked
and ate them greedily.
Meanwhile death was busy among the starving
hundreds thus huddled together. We saw every day
hasty burials in the pottei''s field. I wrote twice,
with charred wood, on the half of a handker-
chief, and threw it ing,
and these I confided to Delaney. They served, at
hs'ist, to kec}) hojx^ fat, as he said.
Karly in December I Ix'gan to have dysentery, and
could eat no more, or rarely ; ])ut for Delaiu^y I should
have died. II(> told me, about this time, that the men
meant to kill Cunningham and make a mad effort to
overcome tlie guard and escape. It seemed to me the
wildest folly, but they were grown ipiite desperate
and resolute for something— all but the buU'.her, who
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 321
sang obscene songs or doleful hymns, and sat dejected
in a corner.
The day after I saw the little commissarj- clerk
talking in the yard to Cunningham, and that even-
ing this rascal appeared with two soldiers and
carried off four of the dozen left in our room;
for within a week several had died of the typhus,
which now raged among us. The next morning the
clerk was found dead, strangled, as I ])elieve, in the
night, but by whom we never knew.
I got over the dysentery more speedily than was
common, but it was quickly followed by a Ijurniug
fever. For liow long I know not I lay on tlie floor
in the straw, miserably rolling from side to side.
The last impression I recall was of my swearing
wildly at Delauey because he would insist on putting
under me his own blanket. Then I lost conscious-
ness of my pain and unrest, and knew no more for
many days. I came to a knowledge of myself to find
Delaney again caring for me, and was of a sudden
aware how delicious was the milk he was pouring down
my throat. What else Delaney did for me I know not,
except that he found and cared for my money, and
bribed the turnkey with part of it to bring me milk
daily for some two weeks. But that we hiid hid the
guinea8forawhileintheashesoftli"fir«'])la(M',I should
have lost this chance and have died ; for one dav ( 'un-
ningham made us all strip, and searched us thoroughly.
About the end of January, I)ehuH\v, seeing me
bettered and able to sit up a little, told me this
strange story. While I was ill and uncousciouSj au
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322 PTugh Wynne: Free Quaker
officer had come to inspect the prison. Cunningham
was very obsequious to this gentleman, and on De-
luney's seizing the cliance to complain, said it was a
pack of lies, and lunv could he help the dysentery
and typhus? All jails had them, even in England,
which was too true.
" I went on," said Delaney, " to say that it was an
outrage to confine officers and men together, and
that Mr. Wynne and myself should be put on parole.
The inspector seemed startled at this, and said,' Who '/•
I had no mind to let a lie stand in your way, and I
repeated, * Captain Wynne,' pointing to you, who
were raving and wild enough. He came over and
stood just here, looking doA\Ti on you for so long that
I thought he must be sorry for us. Then he said, in
a {pu'er way, and very deliberately, 'Will he get
well? He ought to be better looked after.' Cun-
ningham said it was useless, becavise the surgeon had
.said you would be over yonder (pointing to the pot-
ter's ft(!ld) in a day or two." Which, in fact, was his
cheerful prediction. It was safe to say it of any who
fell ill in the jail.
" This officer appeared puzzled or undecided. He
went out and came back alone, and leaned over you,
asking me to pull the blanket from your face. I
did so, as he seemed afraid to touch it. You, my
dear Wynne, were saying ' Dorothea ' over and over ;
but who is Dorothea the Lord knows, or you. The
officer at last, after standing awhile, said, ' it was a
pity, but it was of no use ; you would die.' As for
me, I told him that we were officers starving, and
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Plugh Wynne: Free Quaker 323
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were entitled to better treatment. He said he would
see to it ; and that is all. He went away, and we are
still here ; but if ever—"
I broke in on Delaney's threat with, " Who was
the man ? "
'' Cunningham consiuned me to a more eomfortable
climute than this when I asked liim, and the turnkey
did not know."
<' What did he look like ? " said I.
" He was tall, very dark, and had a sear over the
left eye."
"Indeed? Did he have a way of standing with
half-shut eyes, and his mouth a little ojien F'
"Certainly. Why, Wynne, you must know the
man."
"I do— I do. He is my cousin."
"I congratulate you," And so saying, he went
away to the door to receive our rations, of whii-h
now every one except ourselves stole whatever he
could lay hands on.
It did seem to me, as I lay still, in nuurh distivss
of body, and thought over that which I now heard
for the iirst tinie, that no man could be so cruel as
Arthur had shown himself. Time had gone by, and
he had done nothing. If, as aj)peart>d likely, he was
sure I was almost in the act of de;ith, it seemed yet
worse ; for how could I, a, dying num, hurt any one :'
If for any cause lu; feared nu', here was an end of it.
It seemed to me both stu^dd and villainous. He had
warned me that I had evei'vthing to dread from his
enmity if I persisted in writing to Darthea. As-
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324 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
Buredly he had been as good as his word. He was
unwilling to risk any worldly advantages by giving
me a gentleman's satisfaetion, and could coldly let
me die far from the love of those dear to me, in not
much better state than a pig perishing in a sty. Nay ;
the pig were better off, having known no better
things.
I tliought much as I lay there, having been near
to death, and therefore seriously inclined, how im-
possible it must ever be for me to hate a man enough
to do as Arthur had done. As the days went on, the
hope which each week brought but hatched a new
despair ; and still I mended day by day ; and for this
there was a singular cause. I kept thinking of the
hour when my cousin and I should meet ; and as I
fed this animal appetite I won fresh desire to live,
the motive serving as a means toward health of body.
Concerning wiiat had caused Arthur to lift no
finger of help, I tried to think no more. If it were
be(;ause of Darthea, why should he so fear me? I
wished he had more reason. He must have learned
later that I was still alive, and that I was, when he
saw me, in no state to recognise him. It looked worse
and worse as I thought about it, until at last Delaney,
hearing me talk of nothing else, told me I would go
mad like the butcher if I let myself dwell longer
upon it. Thus wisely counselled, I set it aside.
It was now the beginning of February; I was
greatly improved, and fast gaining strength, but had
lost, as I guessed, nearly three stone. There were but
six of us left, the butcher dying last on his rotten
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 325
straw in awful anguish of terror and despair.
Delaney and I consoled each other all this dreaiy
winter, and we did all men could do for the more
unfortunate ones, wliose sicknesses and deaths made
this hell of distress almost unbearable.
The diet was at times better, and then again, as a
drunkard's caprice A\alled, there might be no food for
a day. If we were ourselves wretched and starved,
we were at least a source of comfort and food to
those minor beings to whom we furnished both board
and bed.
I do not mean to tell over the often-heard story
of a prison ; what we did to while away the hours ;
how we taxed our memories until the reading, long
forgotten, came back in morsels, and could be put
together for new pleasure of it.
There was one little man who had been a broken-
down clergyman, and had entered the army. His
chief trouble was that he could get no rum, and of
this he talked whenever we would listen. He had,
like several sots I have known, a remarkable mt!mory,
and was thus a great resource to us, as he couhl re-
peat whole plays, and a wonderful amount of the
Bible. As it was hard to arouse him, and get iiim
to use his power to recall what he had read, in an evU
hour we bribed him with some choice bits of our
noble diet. After this the price would rise at times,
and he became greiuly. His mind gave way by dc-
gi'ces, but he still kept his n>ein<»ry, bring jilso more
and more eager to be paid for his power to interest
or amuso us
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When at last he grew melancholy and sleepless,
and walked about all night, it was a real addition to
our many evils. He declared that he must soon di(?,
and I heard him one nij^ht earnestly beseecliinj;: God,
in language oi" great force and ehxiueiice, to forgive
him. In the morning he was dead, having strangled
liimsclf resolutely with a strip of l)lanket and a bro-
ken rung of a stool, with wliich he had twisted the
cord. It nuist liave taken such obstinate courage as
no one could have believed him to possess. He had
no t^apacity to attacli men, Jind I do not think we
grieved for him as much as for the loss of what was
truly a library, and not to be replaced.
On the 3d of February I awakened with a fresh
and happy thought in my mind. My good friend
the late lamcntiMl Dr. Franklin, used to say that in
sleep tlie mind creates thoughts for the day to hatch.
I am rather of opinion that sleep so feeds and rests
the 1 train that wlien first we awaken our power to
think is at its best. At all invents, on that day I
suddenly saw a way to let the sweet outside world
know I was alive.
At first I usi 1 to think of a chaplain as a resource,
but I never saw one. The surgeon c^ame no more
when I grew b(^tter. Being now able to nuive about
a little, I had noticed in the yard at times, l)ut only
of late, a fat llomanist priest, who was allowed to
bring soup or other diet to certain prisoners. I soon
leariu'd that, because Cunningliam was of the Church
of Home, those who were of his own faith wer<^ fa-
voured. Indeed, now and then a part of my lessen-
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ing guineas obtained from these men a share of the
supplies which the priest, and, I may add, certain
gray-clad sisters, also brought ; but this was rare.
That day in the yard I drew near to the priest,
but saw Cunningham looking on, and so I waited
with the patience of a prisoned man. It was quite
two weeks before my chance came. The yard })eing
small, was literally full of half-clad, wholc-starvt'd
men, who shivered and huddled together where the
sunlight fell. Many reeled with weakness ; most were
thin past belief, their drawn skin the colour of a de-
cayed lemon. From this sad crowd came a strange
odour, like to cheese, and yet not like that. Even to
remember it is most hon'ible. Passing near to a stout
old Sister of Charity, I said quietly :
" I have friends who would help me. For God's
love, see Miss Wynne in Arch street, across from the
Meeting."
" I will do your errand," she said.
" Others have said so, .sister, and have lied to me."
" I will do it," she said. '' And if she is away ? "
I thought of my father. He seemed my natund
resource, but my cousin would be there. A final
hope there was. I was foolish enough to say, "If
she is not in town, then Miss Darthea Peniston, near
by. If you fail me, I shall curse you while I live."
" I will not fail you. Wl'y should you poor pris-
oners be so iii used ? Trust me."
I turned away satisfied, remembering that when
I left Darthea was about to return. If sho came to
know, that would be enough. I had faith in her
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friendship and in her ; and— if ever I saw her again
— Khould I tell her what now I knew of Arthur
Wy,.ae ? I learned many lessons in this awful place,
and among them (iaution. I would wait and see.
Both Dclaney and I sirongly desired an exchange,
and not merely a psirole. We imagined exchanges
to be frequent. My own dilemma, Delaney pointed
out, was that I was not in the army, although I had
been of it. And so we speculated of tilings not yet
come about, and what we would do when they did
come.
The nt^xt day went by, and the morning after, it
being now Februaiy 19, we were all in the yard. A
turnkey came and bade me follow him. I went, as
you may inuigine, with an eager heart, om the way,
as I hoi)ed, out of this death in life. As I «uestioned
the man, he said there was an order for a lady to
see me.
Now at this time my hair was a foot long, and no
way to shear it. We had taken the blankets of the
dead, and made us coats by tearing holes through
which to thrust our arms. Then, as we lacked for
buttons, or string for points, we could do no more
than wi'ap these strange gowns about us st' as to
cover our rags.
My costume troubled me little. I went to the foul-
smelling room, now empty, and waited until the mnn
came back. As he opened the door, I saw the "
{Sister of Charity in th(^ hall, and then— who but
thea ? 8he was in a long cloak and great mufiL uiid
held iu her hand a winter mask.
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 329
Seeing me in this blue blanket, all unshorn, and
with what beard I hud (hovering my face, when all
men but Hessians shaved clean, I wonder not, I say,
that, seeing this gaunt scarecrow, she fell back, say-
ing there was some mistake.
I cried out, " Darthea ! Darthea ! Do not leave
me. It is I ! It is I, Hugli Wynne."
" My God ! " she cried, '^ it is Hugh ! It is ! it is ! "
At this she caught my lean yellow hand, and went
on to say, " Why were we never told ? Your Aunt
Wyime is away. Since we thought you dead, she has
ordered mourning, and is gone to her farm, and leaves
the servants to feed those quartered on her. But you
are not dead, thank God ! thank God ! I was but
a day come from New York, and was at home when
the dear old sister came and told me. I made her
sit down while I called my aunt. Then Arthur came,
and I told him. He was greatly shocked to hear it.
He reminded me that some while l)efore he had
told me that he had seen a man who looked like you in
the jail, and was about to die ; and now could it— could
it have been you / He is for duty at the forts to-day,
but to-morrow he will get you a parole. He supposed
a day made no matter ; at all events, Ik; must delay
that long. I never saw him so troubled."
" Well he might be," thought I. I merely said,
" Indeed ? " But I must have looked my doubt, for
she added quickly :
"Who could know vou, Mr. Wvnne?"
I stood all this while clutching at my blanket to
cover my lilth and rags, and .she, youug and tender.
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330 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
now all tears, now flashing a smile in between, like
the pretty lightning of this storm of gentle pity.
" And what fetched you here i j this awful place ? "
I said. " God knows how welcome you are, but—"
"Oh," she cried, "when Arthur went, I said I
would wait, but I could not. My aunt was in a rage,
but I would go with the dear sister ; and then I found
Sir William, and Mr. Montresor was there ; and you
will be helped, and an end put to this wickedness.
But the parole Arthur will ask for— that is better."
" Darthea," I said hoarsely, my voice breaking, " I
have been here since early in October. I have been
starved, frozen, maltreatt^d a hundred ways, but I can
never take a parole. My friend Delaney and I are
agreed on this. As to exchanges, I have no rank,
and I may be a year inactive. I will take my chance
here." I think death had been preferable to a parole
obtained for me by Arthur Wynne. No ; I was not
made of my father-rock to do this and then to want
to kill the man. I could not do that. I put it on
the parole. Delaney and I had agreed, and on this
I stood firm.
She implored me to change my m'nd. "How ob-
stinate you are ! " she cried. " Do you never (change ?
Oh, you are dreadfully changed ! Do not die ; you
m'ast not." She was strange in her excitement.
Then I thought to ask to have Delaney in, and
to bid him tell that vile and wicked story; but it
seemed no place nor time to hurt her who had so
helped me, daring to do what few young wom^n had
ever dared even to think of. As I hesitated. I was
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 331
struck with a thought which was like a physical pain.
It put myself and the other wretched business (^uitt^
out of my head.
" O Darthea ! " I cried, " you should never have
come here. Go at once. Do not stay a minute. This
is a house poisoned. Seven died of fever in tliis room.
Write me what else is to say, but go ; and let me have
some plain clothes from home, and linen and a razor
and scissors and, above all," and I smiled, '*soap.
But go ! go ! Wliy were you let to come ? "
"I will go when I have done. Why did I come?
Because I am your friend, and this is the way I read
friendship. Oh, I shall luiar of it too. But let liim
take care ; I would do it again. And as to tlic parole,
he shall get it for you to-morrow, if you like it or not.
I will write to you, and the rest you shall have ; and
now good-by. I am to be at home for Mr. Montre-
sor in a half-hour. This is but a bit of jjaynuMit for
the ugly little girl, who is very honest, sir, I do as-
sure you."
"Do go," I cried. "And, oh, Darthea, if this is
your friendship, what would be your love ! "
" Fie ! fie ! Hush ! " she said, and was gone.
In two hours came a note, and I learned, for I h;ul
asked to hear of the war, that Washington was not
dead. We had been told that he was. I heard, nxt,
of Burgoyne's surrender, news now near to five
montlis old, of Count l)itn(>])'s defeat and death, of
the fall of our forts on tiie Delaware, of Lord Corn-
wallis gone to England, of failures t(> etfect exchanges.
Then she went on to write : " Your fatiier was, strange
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332 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
to say, roused out of a sort of letharpj' by the news
of your death. Jack managed to get a letter to your
aunt to say you were missing, and Arthur liad search
made for you ; but many nameless ones were buried
in haste, and he c(ndd not find your name cm the lists
of i)ris()ners." None had been made to my knowledge.
" We all thought yllowing the rest,
was at once in the uili, dimly lit with lanterns. It
was some eighty feet long. Here I kept behind the
group, and went boldly after the stout sister. No one
seemed disposed to suspect the well-dressed gentle-
man in gray. I went by the turnkey, keeping my
fa(H' the other way. I was now sonm fifteen feet
from the great liarred outer door. The two sentries
stepped back to let the sister go by. Meanwhih; the
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gatfskooper, witli his luick to mo, was busy ^vith his
keys. Ho uiihx'kod tlie door and puUod it opeu. A
j^reator lantoni hiin^ over it. I was aghast to see
the wrotcli, Cuiiniiigham, just a))out to enter. He
was sure to detect me. I liositated, but the lookout
into space and lil)erty was enough f(jr me. The ])east
ioll back to let the sister pass out. I dashed by the
guards, u})sot the good woman, and, just outside of
the doorway, struck Cunningham in the face— a blow
that had in it all the gathered hate of live months of
brutid treatment. Ho fell )>ack, stumliling on the
broiul up})cr stcj). I caught him a second full in the
neck, as T lollowcd. With an oath, he rolled Itack
down the high steps, as T, leaping over him, ran
a<'ross \Valiiut street. One of the outside guards
fn'od wildly, but might as well have killed some
passer-by as mo.
Opposite were the low' houses afterward removed
to eidargo Independence S(iuare. I darted thnmgh
the open (htor of a cobbler's shop, and out at the back
into a small yiird, and over palings into the opeu
space. It was (luite dark, as the day was overcast.
T ran behiud the houses to Fifth street. Here I
jumped down the raised bank and turned northward.
Beside me was a nu'chanic going home with his
lantern, which, by nnlitary law, all had to carry after
fall of night. He looked at me as if in doubt, and
I took my cliance, saying, "Take no notice. I am
a prisoner run away from the jail."
" I 'm your nuin," he said. ** Take the lantern, and
walk with me. I hear those devils." Aud indeed
Hugh Wynne; Free Quaker 335
there was a gn'eat noise 011 Walnut street and in the
square. Men weiv dimly seen running to and fro,
and seizing any who had no lanterns.
We went on to Chestnut street, and down to Sec-
ond. I asked him here to go to Dock Creek with me.
At my own home 1 offered him my last guinea, but
he said No. I then told him my name, and desired
he would some day, in better times, seek me out.
And so the honest fellow left me. Many a year after
he did eome to me in debt and trouble, and, you may
be sure, was set at ease for tht; rest of his life.
Looking up, I saw light in the window, and within I
could see Arthur and three other ollieers. The liquors
and decanters were on a table, with bread and cheese,
plain to be seen by hungry eyes. My fathei*'s bulky
form was in his big Penn arm-chair, his head fallen
forward. lie was sound asleep. Colonel Tarleton had
his feet on a low stool mv mother used for her bas-
ket of sewing material and the stockings she was so
(M)nstantly darning. Harcourt and Colonel O'Hara
were nuitching pennies, and my cousin was standing
by the fire, speaking now and then, a glass in his
hand.
The dog asleej) in the stable was no nu)re considered
than was my poor father by these insolent guests.
An almost overmastering rage jjossessed me as I
gazed through the panes ; for no one had closed the
shutters as was usually done at nightfall. I was
hungry, cold, and weak, and these— ! I turned
away, and went down the bank of Dock Creek to
the boat-house, it was locked, and this made it likely
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336 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
my boat had escaped the strict search made by the
British. No one beinjif in sight, I went around the
house to the stable at the fartlier end of the garden.
As I came near I smelt the smoke of our old Tom's
pipe, and then seeing him, I called softly, "Tom!
Tom ! "
He jumped up, crying, " Save us, Master Hugh ! "
and started to run. In a moment I had him by
the arm, and quickl}' made him understand that I
was alive, and needed food and heli). As soon as
he was recovered from his fright, he fetched me
milk, bread, and a bottle of Hollands. After a
greedy meal, he carried to the boat, at my order,
the rest of the i)iut of spirits, oars, paddle, and
boat-key. On the way it occurred to me to ask for
Lucy. She had been seized by the Hessian, "Von
Heiser, and was in my aunt's stable. I had not
asked about the mare without a purpose; I was in
a state of intense mental clearness, with all my
wits in order. In the few minutes that followed I
told Tom not to let any one know of my coming,
and then, pushing oflf, I dropped quietly down the
creek.
It was cold and very dark, and there was some ice
afloat in small masses, amidst which my boat, turning
with no guidance, moved on the full of the ebb tide
toward the great river. For about two hundred
yards I drifted, lying flat on my back. At the outlet
of the creek was a sudden turn where the current
almost fetched me ashore on the south bank. There
from the slip nearly overliead, as the boat whirled
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 337
around, I heard a sentiuel call out, "Stop tlu'rc, or
I fire ! " I remained motionless, feeling- sure that he
would not risk an alarm by reason of a skiff gone
adrift. As he called again the boat slewed around,
and shot, stern first, far out into the great tiood of
the Delaware. Never had it seemed to me a dearer
friend. I was free. Cautiously using the paddle
without rising, I was soon in mid-river. Then I sat
up, and, taking a great drink of the gin. I rowed up-
stream in the darkness, finding less ice than I had
thought probable.
My plan now was to pull up to Burlington or
Bristol ; but I soon found the ice in gi-eater masses,
and I ])egan to l^e puzzled. I turned toward Jersey,
and hither and thither, and in a few miuiites came
upon fields of moving ice. It was clear that I inust
land in the city, and take my chance of getting jtast
the line of sentries. I pulled cautiously in at Arch
street, and saw a sloop lying at a slij). Lying down, I
used the paddle until at her side. Hearing no .sound,
I climbed up over her low rail, and made fast the
boat. I could see that no one was on deck. A lighted
lantern hung from a rope near the bow. I took it
down, and boldly ste])i)ed on the slij). A sentry,
seeing me come, said, " A cold night, captain."
" Very," T rejoined, and went on up tin; slope. Cliance
had favoured me. In a few minutes T saw my aunt's
house, shut uj), but with a light over the transom of
the hall door. I pas.scd on, went up to Third street,
around to the ])ack of the premises, and ov»'r the
paliugB int^i the long garden behind the dwelling
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33S Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
As I stood reflpcting I lieard Lucy neigh, and no
voice of friend could have been sweeter. I smiled
to think that I was a man in the position of a thief,
but with a right to take whatsoever I might need.
I began to suspect, too, that no oue was in the house.
Moving toward it with care, I found all the back
doors open, or at least not fastened. A fire burned
on the kitchen hearth, and, first making sure of the
absence of the servants, I shot theboltof the hall door,
fastened the pin-bolts of the windows which looked
on the front street, and went back to the kitchen with
one overruling desire to be well warmed. I had been
cold for four mouths. Making a roaring fire, I
roasted myself for half an hour, turning like a duck
t)n a spit. Heat and good br(?ad and coffee I craved
most. I found here enough of all, but no liquors;
the gin I had finished, a good phit, and never felt it.
Still feeling my weakness, and aware that I needed
all my strength, I stayed yet a minute, deep in
tliought, and rehu^tant to leave the comfort of the
hearth. At last I took a lantern and went upstairs.
Tlie china gods and beasts were all put away, the
silver tankards and i>late removed, the rugs gone.
jNIy good Whig aunt had done her best to make her
despotic boarders no more comfortable than she
could help. All was negle<;t, dust, and dirt; pipes
and empty bottles lay about, and a smell of stale to-
bacco smoke was in the air. Poor Aunt Gainor !
Upstairs the general had moved into the room
sacred to her spinster slumbers. The servants had
takeu UuUduy, it seemed, and the officers appeared
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 339
to have l)een imlifferont, or ubsfMit all day ; for this
room was iu a vile coiKlitiou, with rveii the bed not
yet made up, and the curtains torn. In this and the
front chamber, used commonlv as niv aunt's own
sitting-room, was a stranj^e litter of nuijis, i»ai)t'rs,
and equiimients, two swords, a ])Viwo of inlaid j)istols,
brass-plated, two Hessian hats, the trappinjjfs of a
Brunswick chasseur, and a lonj;' niilituiy cloak with
a gold-braided regimental number under a large
crown on each slnmlder. A sense of amusement stole
over me, although I was so tired I could have fallen
with fatigue. I was feeling my weakness, and sntfer-
ingfrom what even to anuiniu health would have been
gi'eat exertion. A full flask of mm lay on the table ;
I put it in my pocket, leaving the silver cover. Next
I put on the long cloak, a tall Anhalter lu'lmet. and
a straight, gold-mounted sword. The jtistols 1 t«M)k
also, loading and priming them, and leaving only
the box where they had lain.
It was now almost ten, and I could not hope to
be long left in easy possession. Then I turned
to the table. Much of the confused mass of papers
was in German. I put in my pocket a beauti-
fully drawn map of our own lines at Valley Forge.
I gave it to Alexander Hamilton soon after the
war.
A small pipe— T think the rjermans call meer-
s(;haum— I could not despise, nor a great bundle of
tobacco, which I thrust into the inside pouch of the
cloak.
Last I saw a sealed letter to Lii-utenant-Oolonel
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340 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
EriiKt Lndwig Wilhelm voii Speclit, also out' to Colo-
nel Moiitresor. These were much to my purpose.
Finally, as I hcanl the great elock on the stairway
strike ten, I scribbled on a sheet of paper under Von
Kn}'])hausen's arms, "Captain Allan McLane presents
his compliments to (ileneral von Knj'])hausen, and
hopes he will do Captain McLane the honour to re-
turn his visit.— Februaiy 20, 1778, 10 p. m."
I laughed as I went downstairs, in that mood of
merriment which was my one sign of excitement at
the near approach of peril. A pause at the grateful
fire, and a moment later I was saddling Lucy, look-
ing well to girth and bit, and last buckling on the
spurs of a Hessian officer.
In a few minutes I was trotting up Fifth street.
I knew only that the too extended lines had been
drawn in close to the city, after the sharp lesson at
Germantown ; but I did not know how complete were
the forts and abatis crossing from the Delaware to
the Schuylkill, to the north of Callowhill street. I
meant to pass the lines somewhere, trusting to the
legs of Lucy, who well understood the change of
riders, and seemed in excellent condition.
I turned off into the fields to the westward at
Vine street, riding carefully ; and soon, as I moved
to north, saw that fences, fruit-trees, and the scat-
ter(»d rcnmant of the wood were gone. Stumbling
through mud and over stumps, I began to see before
me one of Montresor's blockhouses, and presently, for
now the night was far too clear, the forms of sentries on
top. Dismounting, I moved aside a hundred yards, so
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 341
that I passed unseen between two of these forts. But
a good piece to the nortli of them I eame on n strong
stockade, and saw beyond it a hazy mass of what I
took to be a monster tangle of dead trees, well fitted
to delay a storm iug-party. Then I remembered my
ride with Montresor- I was caught. I stood still in
the night, wondering what to do : behind me the hum
and glow of the city, before me freedom and dtu'k-
ness.
A man thinks quickly in an hour like that. I
mounted, feeling the lift of my weak body an exer-
tion, and rode back into Vine, and so to Front street.
A hundred yards before me was a great camp-fire,
to left of where the road to Germantown diverges.
I saw figures about it passing to and fro. I felt
for my pistols in the holsters of the saddle, and
cocked the one on my right, loosened the long
straight Hessian blade, and took the two letters in
my bridle-hand.
As I rode up I saw, for the fire was })rightly blazing,
that there were tents, pickets to left and right, men
afoot, and horses not saddled. A sergeant came out
into the road. '-Halt! " he cried. In broken Eng-
lish, I said I had a letter for Colonel Montresor, to
be given in the morning when he would be out to
inspect the lines, and one for Lieutenant-Colonel von
Specht. The man took thf letters. I meant to turn
back, wheel, and go by at spes. I pulled up, and with difli-
culty made the mai'c walk. There were fires on both
sides, and a lot of alert soldiers out in the road. I
turned off into the fields behind a farm-house, glad
of the abseiK'e of fences. The next mcmient I felt
the mare gather herself with the half-pause every
horseman knows so well. She had taken a ditch,
and j)rettily too.
Kee})ing off the highway, but in line with it, I
went on slowly, leaning over in the saddle. After
a mile, and much stumbling a))out, I ceased to hear
noises l»ack of me, and turned, approaching the road
I had left. No one Avas in sight. Why I was not
followed by the horse I know not. I wraj)ped my
cloak about me, and rode on up the deserted high-
way. I was free, nnd on neutral ground. All I luid
to feai' was an encounter with one of the foraging
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 343
parties which kopt the country around in constant
terror. I met no one. The soh' unpk'asunt thought
which haunted my cohl niji^ht ride wr.s the face of
the poor devil I had shot. I put it as'ulv. l*rison
life had at least tau{?ht me the habit of dismissinfj:
the torment of vain reflection on an irreparable past.
I went by the old burying-ground of (Jennantown,
and the rare houses, going slowly on account of the
road, which was full of deep IkjIcs, and so through
the market-place where we made our last charge.
At last I breasted the slippery rise of Chestnut
Hill, and throwing my cloak over the mare, that I
had taught to stand, went up to the door of my Aunt
(jrainoi*'s house.
I knockee ; you remem-
ber how he lied to us about it; but what is it?"
" He thinks I r('{i:ret the loss of Wyncote, and that
I would like to have it. 1 am afraid I found it pleft-
sant to say so, seeing that it annoyed him."
" I wish he may have some such cause to hate you,
and no other. But why? Your grandfather made
a legal <'onveyance of an unentailed property, got
.some ready nio^iey,— how much 1 never knew,— and
came away. How can you interfere with Arthur?
The Wynnes, 1 have heard, have Welsh memories
for an insult. You strm^k him oniie."
"The blow!" and I smiled. "Yes; the woman!
Pray (»od it be that. The estate— he is welcome to
it. I hardly think a Welsh home would bribe me to
leiive my own country. But I do not see, aunt, why
you so often talk as if Wvn(M)t(! were ours, and stolea
from us. I do not want it, and why should I ?"
"Is not that unreasonabl(>, Hugh ?" she returned,
with more (|uietn«'ss in the way of reply than was
usual wlien she was arguing. " You are young now.
The anger between Kngland and ourselves nuikes hU
ii
T
i'i
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 345
things in Great Britain seem hateful to yon, to me,
to all honest colonials; but tliis will not last. Peace
will come one day oi* an(>thei-, and when it does, to
be Wynne of ^Vyncote— "
"Good gnvelous, Aunt Gainor! lot ns set this
aside. Arthur Wynne's lies have stined us all to
think th( IT must be some reason for such a keen de-
sire to mislead me, you, nnd my father— above all,
my father. But it is my father's business, not mine ;
nor, if I may be excused, is it yours."
"That is true, or would be if your father were
well or interested. lie is neither— neither ; ami there
is sonu'thing in the matter. I shall ask my brother."
"You have don(^ that Itefore."
"I have, l)ut 1 got notiiing. Now he is in such a
state that In; nuiy l)e more free of speech. I think
lie could be got to tell me what neither hi nor my
ov/n fatiicr lik<'d to speak of."
Upon this, I U)\d my aunt that I did trust .she
would not take iidvMntage of my fatlu^r's we«k mind
to get that which, when of wholesome wits, he had
seen fit to conceal. I did not like it.
"Nonsense!" she cried, "nonsen.se! if you could
have the old hemic—"
" But how can T ? It is like promising fairy gold,
and I d(m't want it. T sjiould lik< to go thei'c oner
and see it and my cousins, ''tid come iM»me to this
country."
I was, in fact, weary of the th«n|r. nnd my aunl
would have talked it over all day. Siie (Mnild not
feee why I wus so set in my mind. She kept urging
iwl
34^ Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
that somfithing would t .rn up about it, jind we should
have to act ; then I would change my mind. I hardly
knew why that which once had been u delightful and
mysterious Imit now lured me not at all. What with
the great war, and my own maturity, and Darthea,
Wyncote had shrunken out of tlu; world of my de-
sires. It was too dreamy a bribe for one of my turn
of mind. 1 would have given half Wales for an hour
alon: with Arthur Wynne.
Then through my meditations I heard, "Well, mark
my word, Mastei- Absolute ; there is some flaw in
their title, and— and soon or late—"
"Oh, jdcMse, aunt—"
"Well, do not nuike up your mind. I am nfraid
of you when you nudie up your mind. You are as
set in your wavs as your fiithci-. Do you r('niend)er
what Nicholas Wain said of him: 'When 'lohu
Wynne \m\H down his foot, thou hast got to dig it
up to move liini '?"
She was right ; nor did T defend myself. I laughed,
but was snd too, thinking of my poor old father,
wliom T cMuld not see, and of how fnr he was now
from being whHt his friend had described.
I said as much. My aunt r<»plied, " Yes, it is too
true; l)ut I thiuk he is less unhappy, and so thinks
Dr. Hush."
After this our talk drifted away, and my aunt
would once more hear of mv note in JMcLane'sname
left for the Hessian general. " I hope yet to ask him
of it," she cried, "and that dear Mr. Andr^'— I can
see his face. It is the Freucdi blood makes him so
Hugh Wynne: Free Qiuikcr 347
^entlo. Catch him for me in the war. I should like
to liave him on j)arolo for a sixmonth." And at this
she lauj]jhed, and heartily, as she did most thin{]fs.
\\^h('n this talk (x.'curred wo were in a ^'eat front
room in the sec^ond story. There; was a deep 1k)w-
window to westward, and here my aunt liked to he
at set of sun, and to look over what seemed to be a
houndlcss forest ; for the manv S(!atter«'d farms were
hid away in their woodland slielters, so that from
tiiis vantajj^e of heijj^ht it h)oked as thouj;!. the coun-
try ])ey<>nd mij^ht he one jjfri'ut solitude. Nearer
were well-tilled farms, on whieh the snow still lay in
melting drifts.
As we sat, I was smoking the lirst tol)aceo T had
had sinee I left the jail. This hahit I learned loiijj:
before, jind after once falling a captive to that con-
soler and counsellor, the pip>*, I never gave it up. It
is like others of the good gifts of God : when abused
it loses its us«% which seems a sill}' phrase, but does
really mean more than it says Jack hath .somewhere
writ that words hav(^ souls, and are always more than
they look or say. I e(mld wish mine to be s«j taken.
And as to tobacco ajid good rum. Jack said— brt f
forget what it was -something neat and pretty ane, as i had jolted out of my ImMk-Ii
the tobacco I stole, she went otTand brouglit the good
weed out of the ))arn, where she liad saved her last
crop under what s<'ant hay the Hessian foragers
left her. 1 mnst smoke in her own library, a thing
uidieard of before; she loved to suiell », good to-
bacco.
"() Aunt (Jainor!"
"Hut Jack!" she said. She did not. like to .«!ee
Jack with a j)ipe. lie htoked loo like a iii(!e girl, with
liis fair skin and his vellow hail".
I smoked on in mighty jieace of mind, and soon
she began again, being rarely long silent. "I hope
you a?id yom* eousin will le'vei* meet, lliigh."
The suddenness of this overcame me, and 1 felt
myself Hush.
r i|
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 349
"Ah ! " she said, " T knew it. There is little love
lost l^etwceii voii.'"
«
"There nw thin<;s a nmii eniinot foririvc."
" Tii'ii may the ix^un] ( iod kt*«'j) you jipart, my son."
"I trust nw do have some nu>re of this nice, good
gruel," whicli set me to lauirhing.
a
Let him g(
»," sai(
I I, "and the «rru«'1 too."
"And that '.> what you must do, sir. You must
go. I am all 'ay in terror."
And still I stayed on. pretty easy in ndnd ; for my
aunt had set a t'eHow on watch at .Mount Airy, to let
us know if any ])arties apjx'ared. and we kept Lucy
saildled. I sorely neetled this rest and to be fed; for
I was a mere shadow of my big self when 1 alighted
at her door on tluit memorable L'Oih of February.
The day before I left this debglitfid haveu between
jail and camp, came one of n<,\ a iiir> women slaves
with aletti'r she had brought froi.i the eity, and this
was what it said :
4
"Di^-.\H MisTi{i:8s WvNNH : At last T am hononr?»«f
with the permission to write and tell you that Jlr.
Ilu«di VVvnnc is alive. It was i-ruel that th«' trenenil
would not earliei' grant nic .so small a favour as to
n
350 I high Wynne: Free Quaker
pass an o|)oii lottor; ])iit Arthur found nnicli «lifli-
ciilty, !)}• reason, 1 tVar, ot'yoiu" well-known opinions.
lie was on the way to the jail when he lieard of Mr.
IInj4:li Wynne's iiaviu^ escaped, alter dreadfully in-
jni'injj: the poor man who took such j^ood (tare of him
all winter. How it eame that he lay live months in
this vile abode neither Ai-thur nor I can imagine, nor
yet how he {^ot out of the town.
"Arthur tells me that insolent rebel. Allan MeLane,
broke into your house and stole the ])eaMtiful sword
the Elector of H-sse he took the Lord kn<>ws. Also
he h^ft an impudent letter. The ^^enend will hanj;
him whenoverheeateheshim ; but there is a jiroverb :
perhaps it is sometimes the lish that is the betler
lishei'nmn.
)n as to this nnitter, and
'I'
M'
as to the mare liuey lieinji; stolen. T am so lilad it
is [ tliat have the iov to tell von of Mr. llu'\
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 351
day Dartliea aloue kuows what it said. God bless
her !
It was Marcli 20 of 78 before 1 felt myself fully
iil)lo to set out for amp. I had run no jj^reat risk.
Tlie country had been ravaj^ed till it was hard to find
a })i^ or a cow. Farmers were on small rations, and
the foragers had (juit looking for what did not exist.
One dull morning I had the mare saddled, and got
ready to leave. It was of a Friday I went away ; my
au?>t as unwilling to have me set out as she had been
eager to have me go the day before. My Quaker
training left me clear of all such nonsense, and,
kissing the dear lady, I left her in tears by the road-
side.
m
» ".1
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I
XIX
T is a «?oo(l eijrhteeii-Tnile ride to Valley
For^e ovtT tli<' nro(»k«'(l rerkionien road,
wliicli was none tlu* hotter for the break-
in«; up of tiic frost. I rode ahm^ with a
lii;lit iieart, l)Ut 1 was watchful, Immii^' so
used to dissistrous adventures, llapidly, I met with
n<» diniculties.
A f«'w miles from tlie l»ridjr«' (Jeneral Wasliiuj^ton
had huilt, I feP. iu witli a party of horse. The ollieer
in command s^'cmed at tir.st su.spicious, but at last
se!it me on with two troopers. On the last Sunday
of the month Friends were persistently in the haliit
of fiockin",' into tin' city to (Jcneral Meetin^^ They
were not unwelcome, for they wen^ apt t«) carry news
of us, and neither we nor the enetny ren:nrded them
as neutrals. Our comimmder-in-chief, in an order
of this day, decliired ''that the plans setth'd at these
meetings are of the most pernicious tendency,'' and
on this account direct»'d (icneral Lacy "thiit the
|iarlii's of li^ht horse be so disposed as to fall in with
these peoj)le."
It was one of tlu'se parties of horse T had encoun-
tered. The ofllcer sent tue on with a ^nuird, and. tin s,
in the company of two troopers, I rode through u
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 353
fairly wooded country to the much-worn roud leading
down to the river. Here my guards left me with the
picrket ut the l)ridge. It was a half-hour l»efore the
ollicerhere stationed was satisfied, and nieanwliile I
stared across the Schuylkill at the precijiitous hlutfs,
and wondered where lay the army which had passed
the winter back of them. A few men along the far
sliore, and on the hill beyond a little n-doubt, were
all the signs of life or of war and its precautions.
The bridge, over which presently I rode, was of army
waggons weighted Nith stone, and on top rails with
rud(! scantling. On the high posts driven into the
river-bed for stay of the bridge were burned the
names of the favourite generals. Once over, I walked
Lucy up a cleft in the shon' cliff, and came out on
the huts of (leiH'ral Varnum's brigade. The little
world of an army came in view. I was on the fir.*?t
ris(! from th<( stream, a mile and a half to the s«)ufh
of the Vall"y Creek. To westward the land fell a lit-
tle, and then rose to the higher slope of Mount »Toy.
To north the land again dropped, and ro.se beyond to
tlie deep gulch of the Valley Cretk. On its farther
side the fires of a jiicket on Mount Misery were seen.
Kverywhere were regular rows of log huts, and on
file first decline of every hill slope intrenchment.s,
ditches, red(mbts, an I
4^
354 Hugh W'ymic: Free Quaker
canip-firoK and a city of loj? Inits toM for wliat uses
they bad fallen. On tin* nj)hiiuls about nic nires, desperate under the appeals
of helpU'ss wife and family in faraway homes. It
was no Ix'tter on the upland beyond. Everywhere
were rude huts in rows, woeful-looking men nt drill,
dejected sentries, gaunt, hungry, ill ch)llH'd, with
here ami there a better-dresse«l oflicer to make the
rest look all the worse.
I thought of the grenadier British troops, fat and
str(>ng, in the city I had Med from, and nuu-velled to
think of what kept them from sweeping this scpialid
mob awav, as a housewife switches (mt the summer
tlies. V\i\\ of tlumght, I rode a mile through the
melting drifls (jf snow, and came on Wayne's brigade,
which held the lines looking in this direction.
I was long about it ; but at last a nuin pointed out
a hut, and I went in. " Holloa, Jack ! " I cried.
" Hugh ! Hugh ! Where on eartli are you from ?"
And he Hushed as he used to do, and gave me a great
bear-hug, saying, "And you are not dead ! not dead !
Thank iJod ! tliank Ood'l "
Thus again we met, to my unspeakable joy. He
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
355
was abonf Jis lean Jis I ha mc wise for this reason to stick to
Luc^y's good legs, at least until my own were in better
ord(?r. •
I think Jack felt that ho wa.- under some necessity
to take care of me, or from thnt atfection he has ever
shown desired to keep nif ncju' him. lie only hoped
I would not incline to join McLanc's troop, and when
I asked why, declaring that to Im* my utmost desire,
lie said it was u servi(;e of needless peril.
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 469
scene could a man look upon for his last of eailh.
The green range of the Piermont hills rose to north.
On all sides, near and far, was the splendour of the
autumn-tinted woods, and to west the land swept
downward past the headquarters to where the cliffs
rose above the Hudson. I can see it all now— the
loveliness of nature, the waiting thousands, mute and
pitiful. I shut my eyes and prayed for this passing
soul. A deathful stillness came upon the assembled
multitude. I heard Colonel Scammel read the sen-
tence. Then there was the rumble of the cart, a low
murmur broke forth, and the sound of moving steps
was heard. It was over. The great assemblage of
farmers and soldiers went away strangely silent, and
many in tears.
The effort I so earnestly desired to make for the
capture of Arnold was afterward made by Sergeant
Champe, but failed, as all men now know. Yet I am
honestly of opinion that I should have succeeded.
Years afterward I was walking along the Strand
in London, when, looking up, I saw a man and
woman approaching. It was Arnold with his wife.
His face was thin and wasted, a countenance writ
over with gloom and disappointment. His masculine
vigour was gone. Cain could have borne no plainer
marks of vain remorse. He looked straight before
him. As I crossed the way, with no desire to meet
him, I saw the woman look up at him, a strange,
melancholy sweetness in the pale, worn face of our
once beautiful Margaret. Her love was aU that time
k\\
m
ii
Wt
u
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470 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
had left him ; poor, broken, shunned, insulted, he was
fast going to his grave. Where now he lies I know
not. Did he repent with bitter tears on that gentle
V)reast ? God only knows. I walked on through the
(crowded street, and thought of the words of my great
chief, '" There is a God who punishes the traitor."
I
MM
1
DW
tie
;he
;at
I
XXVI
HE long winter of 1780 and 1781, with its
ehangefiil fortunes in the South, went
by without alteration in mine. There
were constant alarms, and leaves of
abstmce were not to be had. We drilled
our men, marched hither and thither, and criticised
our leaders over the winter camp-fires, envying the
men who, under Williams, Marion, and Morgan, were
keeping my Lord Cornwallis uncomfortably busy in
the Carolinas. By the end of January we knew with
joy of the thrashing Tarleton got at the Cowpens,
and at last, in April, of the fight at Guilford. It
began to dawn on the wiseacres of the camp-fires why
we were now here and now there. In fact, we were
no sooner hutted than we were on the march, if there
were but the least excuse in the way of a bit of open
weather, or a Tory raid.
Sir Henry was kept in doubt as to whether our
chief meant for New York from the north or from
Jersey, and when at last he began to suspect that it
was not a city but an army which he intended to
strike, it was too late. Our brave old hawk, so long
half asleep, as it looked, had begim to flutter his
wings, and to contemplate one of those sudden swoops
47»
4/2 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
upon his prey which did to me attest the soldier of
genius within this patient, ceremonious gentleman.
He was fast learning the art of war.
At last, as I have said, even we who were but
simple pawns in the game of empire knew in a mea-
sure why we had been thus used to bother and detain
this unlucky Sir Henry, who had failed to help Bur-
go}Tie, and was now being well fooled again, to the
ruin of Lord Cornwallis.
But all of this was chiefly in the spring. The winter
up to February was sad enough in our waiting camps,
what with low diet, desertions, mutinies, and the
typhus fever, which cost us many more men than
we lost in battle. It brought us at last one day the
pleasure of a visit from the great 'ihysician, Benjamin
Rush, now come to Morristown to see after the sick,
wlio were many.
This gentleman wasaprime favourite with my Aunt
Gainor, although they had but one opinion in com-
mon, and fought and scratched like the far-famed
Irish cats. I tliink, too, the doctor liked your humble
servant, cliiefly because I admired and reverenced
him for his learning and his unflinching love of his
countrv.
«
At this time we lay about Morristown in New
Jersey. There was to be a great ball on the night of
the doctor's arrival. And just now, when his delicate
features appeared at the door of our hut, Jack and I
— for Jack was witli me for a day— had used the
last of our flour to powder our haii*, and Jack was
carefully tyitig my queue.
^w-
!
Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 473
"Good-evening, Master Hugh, and you, John
Warder. Can I have a bite?"
We gave a shout of welcome, and offered him a
herring— very dried it was— and one of Master Baker
Ludwick's hard biscuits. He said we were hixurious
scamps with our powder, until we explained it to be
the end of a rather mouldy bag of meal. He thought
powdering a fine custom for young doctors, for it
gave them a look of gray hair and wisdom ; and he
was, as usual, amusing, cynical, and at tunes bitter.
When we were seated and had his leave for a pipe,
he told us there was now constant good news from
the South, and that General Greene seemed to be
somehow doing well, losing fights and winning
strategetic victories. Probably it was more by luck
than genius. By and by Gates would be heard from,
and then we should see. On which my naughty Jack
winked at me through the fog of his pipe smoke.
" And why," said the doctor, '' does your general
keep so quiet? Was an army made to sit still?"
I could not but remind him that the only lucky
winter campaign of the war had been made by his
Excellency, and that it was not usually possible to
fight in the cold season ; not even Marlborough could
do that. I was most respectful, you may be sr.re.
He assured me tliat our general would never end
the war; for in revolutions it was not they who be-
gan them who (!ver did bring them to auspicious
conclusions. Our general, the doctor went on to tell
us, was a weak man, and soon all would be of this
opinion.
M
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474 Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker
As he spoke I saw Hamilton in the doorway, and
I made haste to present him to the doctor.
The young aide said modestly that he must venture
to differ as to our chief. He was a man dull in talk,
not entertaining, given to cautious silence, but surely
not weak, only slow in judgment, although most de-
cisive in action.
" No great soldier, sir," said the doctor, '' and never
will be."
" He is learning the business, like the rest of us,
Dr. Rush. 'T is a hard school, sir, but it is character
that wins at last ; may I venture to say this man has
character, and can restrain both his tongue and his
own nature, which is quick to wrath."
'' Nonsense ! " cried the doctor. '' The whole coun-
try is discontented. We should elect a commander-
in-chief once a year."
In fact, many were of this strange opinion. Ham-
ilton smiled, but made no reply.
I saw Jack flush, and I shook my head at him. I
thought what was said foolish and ignorant, but it
became not men as voung as we to contradict the
doctor. It was Rush who, in 77, with Adams and
others, sustained Gates, and put him in the Board
of War, to the bewilderment of affairs. How deep
lie was in tlie scheme of that officer and Conway
and Lee to displace our chief none know. My aunt
insists he had naught to do with it. He was an
honoiu'able, honest man, but he was also a good,
permanent hater, and sustained his hatreds with a
I
!|i'
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 475
fine escort of rancorous words, where Jack or I would
have been profane and brief.
The cabal broke up with Lee's trial, and when
Cadwalader shot Conway through the mouth, and,
as he said, stopped one d lying tongue, it did not
change our doctor's views. When he and Dr. Ship-
pen, who was no Tory like the rest of his family,
quarrelled, as all doctors do. Rush preferred charges,
and was disgusted because his Excellency approved
the acquittal with some not very agi'eeable comments.
I think he never forgave the shght, but yet I liked
him, and shall ever revere his memorv as tliat of a
man who deserved well of his country, and had the
noble courage of his profession, as he showed amply
in the gi'eat yellow-fever plague of '98.
He told me of my father as still nmch the same,
and of my Aunt Gainor, and of Darthea, who, he
thought, was troubled in mind, .ilthough why he
knew not. She had long since ceased answering the
messages we sent her through my aunt. Mr. Warder,
he told me later, had given up his suit to Madam
Peuiston, and was nr »v an outspoken Whig. The
lady was disposed to seek refuge again with her De
Lancey cousins in New York, but Darthea was ob-
stinate, and not to be moved. And so we got all the
gossip of our old town, and lieard of Mrs. Arnold's
having been ordered to leave, and of how the doctor,
like our own Wayne, luid always distrusted her hus-
band. Indeed, we had af>kt'«l a lli<»iisaud (jiiestions
before we let the dot^tor get to my bed, and we our-
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476 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
selves, pulling on our sherrj^-vallies, a kind of over-
alls, to protect our silk stockings from the mud, were
away to the baU.
Despite our many cares and fonner low diet, we
danced till late in the night: the good people of
Morristown contriving, I know not how, to give us
such a supper as we had not had for many a day. I
had the pleasure to converse, in their own tongue,
with Comte de Rochambeau and the Due de Lanzun,
who made nie many compliments on my accent, and
brought back to me, in this bright scene, the thought
of her to whom I owed this and all else of what is
best in me.
It was indeed a gay and pleasant evening. Even
our general seemed to forget tlie anxieties of war,
and walked a minuet with Lady Stu'ling, and then
with Mrs. Greene. Very quiet and courteous he was,
but not greatly interested, or so it seemed to me.
Again in May we were in motion, now liere, now
there ; and, with a skirmish or two, the summer was
upon us. Meanwhile, as I have said, things went
more happily in the South.
Greene, continually beaten, was ever a better sol-
dier; and at last, early in this summer of '81, my
Lord Cornwallis, driven to despair by incessant foes
who led him a wearisome and fruitless chase through
States not rich enough to feed him, turned from the
"boy" Lafayette he so much despised, and finally
sought rest and supplies on the seaboard at York-
town, while the " boy general," planted in a position
to command the peninsula at Malvern HiU, sat down
Hugh Wynne: Free •Quaker 477
to intrench and watcli tlio older nobleman. I have no
wish to write more history than is involved in my own
humble fortunes, and I must leave those for whom
I wi'ite these memoirs to read the story of the war
on other pages than mine. Enough to say that when
his Excellency was sure of the French fleet and knew
of his lordship's position, he made one of those swift
decisions which contrasted strangely with his patient,
and even elaborate, businesslike fashion of attending
to all the minor affairs of life. Nor less secret and
subtle was the way in which he carried out his plan
of action. Leaving a force at West Point, he swept
in haste through the Jerseys.
Even the generals in immediate command knew
nothing of his real intention until we were turned
southward and hurried through the middle colonies.
Then all men knew and wond2red at the daring, and,
as some thought, the rashness of this movement.
Sir Henry had been well fooled to the end, for now
it was far on in August.
At Trenton I received an appointment which much
amazed me. The army of our allies was marching
with us. De Grasse, with a great fleet, was off Chesa-
peake Bay ; despatches were coming and going daily.
His Excellency had little knowledge of the French
tongue, and had suffered for it in his youth. Mr.
Duponceau, of the Marquis de Lafayette's staff, was
competent in both French and Euglish, but, save one
other officer, no one of his Excellency's staff spoke
and wrote French well ; and this aide was, as a con-
sequence, much overworked.
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478 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
Seeinj? this difficulty, wlii(?]i (KU'asionef
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480 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
I was shocked. This delusion of my mother's
being alive greatly increased the gi'ief I had in seeing
this wreck of a strong, masterful man.
I said something, I hardly know what. He re-
peated, " Tliy mother will be glad to see thee She
is upstairs— upstairs. She is with thy little sister.
Ellin has been troublesome in the night."
After this he sat down and took no more notice
of me. I stood watching him. The dead alone seemed
to be alive to him : my mother, and the little sister
who died thirty years back, and whose name I heard
now from my father for the first time in .Al my life.
As I stood amazed and disturbed at these resurrec-
tions, he sat speechless, either looking out of the
window in a dull way, or now and then at me with
no larger interest. At last, with some difficulty
as to finding words, he said : " Thy mother wearies
for thy letters. Thou hast been remiss not to
write."
I said I had written him, as indeed I had, and with
regularity, but with never an answer. After this he
was long silent, and then said, " I told her it was but
for a week thou wert to be away. She thinks it
more." The long years of war were lost to him, and
as though they had not been.
I made a vain effort to recall him to the present
and the living, telling him of the army and the war,
and at last asked news of my aunt. He soon ceased
to hear me, and his great head fell forward, the gray
locks dropping over his forehead, as he sat breathing
deeply and long.
m
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 481
I found it a sorry spectacle, and after giving some
orders to Tom I went away.
I learned later that my father never went out,
but sat at the window all day with his pipe, drawing
on it as if it were lighted, and heeding neither the
friends who still came to see him nor the vacant days
which went by. I had lost my father, even that little
of his true self he had let me see.
I went thence and reported to Colonel Tilghman
at the City Tavern, where his Excellency had alighted,
and after performing tliat duty made haste to see
my aunt.
There I found the love and tender welcome for
which I so much yearned, and I also had news of
Darthea. She, my aunt said, was well and still in
the city, but out of spirits ; as to that " villain," my
cousin, my Aunt Gaiuor knew nothing, nor indeed
Mistress Penlston much. Letters were difficult to
get through our lines, and if he or Darthea still wrote,
my aunt knew no more than I. When I told her in
confidence of the errand on which, at my cousin's
prompting. General Ai-nold had sent me, she ex-
claimed:
"Could he have wished to get you into trouble?
It seems incredible, Hugh. I hope you may never
meet."
"Aunt Gainor," said I, "to meet that man is the
dearest wish of my life."
"The dearest?"
" Not quite," said I, " but it will be for me a happy
hour."
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482 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
"Theu God forbid it, Hugh j and it is most unlikely.
You must go and see Darthea. 1 suppose you wUl
hardly tarry here long— and get your epaulets, sir.
I want to see my boy in his uniform. Bring Mr.
Hamilton here, and the French gentlemen. Fetch
some of them to dinner to-morrow."
Then she kissed me again, and told me how strong
and well I looked, and so on, with all the kind pret-
tiness of affectionate speech women keep for those
they love.
As I knew not when we should leave, nor how
busy I might be while still in the city, I thought it
well to talk to my aunt of my father's sad condi-
tion, and of some other matters of moment. Of the
deed so strangely come into my possession she also
spoke. It seemed to be much on her mind. I still
told her I cared little for the Welsh lands, and this
was true. Nevertheless I discovered in myself no
desire to be pleasant to Mr. Arthur Wynne, und I
began to suspect with my aunt that more than Dar-
thea, or stupid jealousy, or the memory of a blow,
might be at the bottom of his disposition to injure me.
It maj-^ seem strange to those who read what a
quiet old fellow writes, that I should so frankly con-
fess my hatred of my cousin. Nowadays men lie
about one another, and stab with wfuds, and no one
resents it. Is the power to hate to the death fading
out ? and are we the better for tiii>:, 1 It may be so.
Think of the weary months in jail, of starvation,
insult, and the miseries of cold, raggedness, filth, and
fever. Think, too, of my father set against me, of
ii
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 483
IH
the Mischianza business,— but for that I blame him
not,— and, last, of his involving me in the vile net of
Arnold's treason. I could as soon forgive a snake
that had bit me as this reptile.
" Mr. James Wilson has the deed," said my aunt ;
"and of that we shaU leai-n more when Mr. Corn-
waUis is took, and you come home a general. And
now go and see Darthea, and let me heai* how many
will be to dine, and send me, too, a half-dozen of
good old wine from my brother's cellar— the old
Wynne Madeira. Decant it with care, and don't
trust that black animal Tom. Mind, sir ! "
Darthea lived but a little way from my aunt's, and
with my heart knocking at my ribs as it never had
done at sight of levelled muskets, I found my way
into Mistress Peniston's parlour, and waited, as it
seemed to me, an age.
It was a large back room with an open fireplace
and high-backed chairs, claw-toed tables bare of
books or china, with the floor polished like glass.
Penistons and De Lanceys, in hoop and hood, and
liberal of neck and bosom, looked down on me. It
was aU stiff and formal, but to me pleasantly familiar.
Would she never come ?
Then I heard a slow step on the stair, and the rustle
of sMrts, and here was Darthea, pale and grave, but
more full in bud, and, I thought, more lovely in her
maturing womanhood.
She paused at the doorway, and made as it were
to greet me with a formal curtsey, but then— how
like her it did seem ! —ran forward and gave me both
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484 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
her hands, saying : " You are welcome, Mr. Wynne.
I am most glad to see you. You are all for the
South, I hear. Is it not so ? "
I said yes, and how delightful it was to be here if
but for a day or two ; and then, being pretty vain,
must tell her of my good fortune.
" I am glad of my friend's success, but I wish it
were with the other side. Oli, I am a mighty Tory
yet," shaking her head. "I have seen your Mr.
Washington. What a fine man ! and favours Mr.
Arnold a trifle."
" Fie for shame ! " said I, pleased to see her merry ;
and then I went on to tell her the sad story of Andre,
but not of what he told me concerning Arthur. The
tears came to her eyes, although of course it was no
new tale, and she went white again, so that I would
have turned the talk aside, but she stopped me, and,
hesitating a little, said :
"Did that miserable treachery begin when Mr.
Arnold was in the town?"
I said it was thought to have done so. For my
own part, I believed it began here, but just when I
could not say. "But why do you ask?" I added,
being for a reason curious.
For a little she sat still, her hands, in delicate white
lace mittens, on her lap. Then she spoke, at first not
look . g up. " Men are strnnge to me, Mr. Wynne.
I suppose in war they must do things which in peace
would be shameful."
I said yes, and began to wonder if she had divined
that Arthur had been deep in that wi'etched plot. I
ii
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 485
do not know to this day. She kept her counsel if
she did. Women see through us at times as if we
were glass, and then again are caught by a man-trap
that one would think must be perfectly visible.
" And was poor Peggy Shippen in it ? "
" Oh, no ! no i " I replied.
" I am glad of that ; but had I been she, I would
never have seen him again— never ! never ! To think
of life with one who is as l)lack a creature as that
man ! "
" But, after all, ho is her husband." I wanted to
see what she wouhl sav.
" Her husband ! Yes. But a husband without
honour ! No ! no ! I should have to respect the man
I loved, or love would be dead— dead ! Let us talk
of something else. Poor Peggy ! Must you go ? "
she added, us I rose. *' This hon-id war ! We may
never meet again." And then quickly, "How is
Captain Blushes, and shall we see him too ? "
I thought not. Already the army was making
for Chester, and so toward the Head of Elk. " No ;
I must go." On this she rose.
" Is it the same, Darthea, and am I to go away with
no more ho])e than the years have l)rought me ? "
"Why," she said, colouring, "do you make it so
hard foi' me— your friend?"
"Do I make it hard?"
" Yps, I used f o say no to men, and think no more
of the thing or of tlieni, but T am troulth'd ; and this
awful war ! I am gi'own older, Jind to hurt a man —a
man like you— gives me pain as it did not use to do."
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486 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
" But you have not said no," said I ; '^ and I am an
obstinate man."
" Why will you force me to say no ? Why should
I? You know well enough what I think and feel.
Why insist that I put it in words ? It were kinder
—not to urge me."
It seemed a strange speech. I said I did not
understand her.
" Then you had better go. I am engaged to Mr.
Arthur Wynne, sir. I have had no word of liim for
a year, and can get no letter to him."
I might have given her Miss Franks's letter, and
poured out to her the stoiy of his treachery and
baseness. I may have been wrong, but something
in me forbade it, and I preferred to wait yet longer.
"Shall I get you a letter through the lines? I
can."
"You are a strange man, Mr. Wynne, and an
honest gentleman. No, you cannot do me this ser-
vice. I thank you."
" Then good-by ; and it is love to the end, Darthea."
" I wish you would go," she said faintly.
" Good-by," I repeated, and rose.
" Come and see me some day when you can,— not
now, not this time,— and do not tliink ill of me."
" Tliink ill of you ! Why shoiUd I ? "
" Yes ! yes ! "
I did not undiM'stand her, hut I saw that she was
shaken by .some gr«*at emotion. Tlieii shf spoke :
" I have given my word, Mr. Wynne, and 1 do not
hghtly break it. Perhaps, like some men, you may
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 487
think that women have no such sense of honour as
men believe to be theirs."
" But do vou love him, Darthea ? "
" He is not here to answer you," she cried, looking
up at me steadily, her eyes ablaze. "Nor will I.
You have no right to question me— none ! ''
" I have every right," I said.
" Oh, will you never go away ? " And she stamped
one little foot impatiently. " If you don't go I shall
hate you, and I— I don't want to hate you, Hugh
Wynne."
I stood a moment, and once more the temptation
to tell her all I knew was strong ui)on me, but, as
she said, Arthur was not liere ; first I must tell him
face to face, and after that God alone knew what
might come. I must tell him, too, with such proof
as neither her love nor his subtlety could gainsay.
And when this hour came— what then ? If I killed
him,— and I meant to,— what of Darthea? Th o
would end my slender chance, and yet I knew mys* f
so surely as to be certain that, when the hour came,
no human consideration would be listened to for a
moment. I could hate in those days, and I did. If
I had had the assured love of Darthea, I should per-
haps hav(^ liesitated ; but not having it, I only longed
once to have that man at the point of the sword. It
is all very savage and bi-utal, but in those my young
days men loved and hated as I do not tliink they do
of late. It was a strong and a (Oioleric generation,
but we did some things for which the world should
thank us.
i'
If
i
XXVII
I Y the 7th of September Marquis Lafayette
was holding the neck of the peninsula of
York. A more daring man than Corn-
wallis would have tried a fall with this
army, but he waited for a fleet to relieve
him, and behold ! none came save that of De Grasse.
By Septem])er 26 sixteen thousand men were added
to those of the marquis, and lay about Williamsburg.
Our quiet old hawk had my lord in his clutches, and
meant no long delay.
Not to be in advance of the army, his Excellency,
who left Philadelphia before us, lingered a few days
on the way to visit the home he had not seen for six
long years, and we of the staff followed him the day
after. Both in town and on the march through Del-
aware I was occupied as I had never been in my life.
The French marched with us, and to keep things
straight duplicate orders in both tongues were
needed, and there were notes, letters, and despatches
to be done into French or English. An aide who
spoke French fluently was apt to be in the saddle
whenever his pen was not in use.
The life was to me of advantage, because I came
daily into contact with officers, young and old, who
488
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 489
had seen the finest company in Europe, and from
whom there was much to learn. It is Chastelhix, I
think, who has said that Mr. Washington possessed
the charm of such manners as were rare among our
officers. With these gentlemen, our allies, the way of
doing every little act of the life of society seemed to
have been studied and taught, until these gracious
and amiable forms were become, as one may say, a
part of the man.
No wonder they found us clumsy fellows. Too
many of our gentry were not in the war, or were
opposed to it. Many regiments were strangely of-
ficered, and this, as Graydon says in his memoirs,
was especially the case as to the New England troops.
But a man with no manners and with brutal habits
may flglit as well as a manpiis.
Now toward the close of the war, if we were still
as to looks but a Falstaffian contingent, tlie material
in men and officers had been notably sifted, and was
in all essential ways fit for the perilous service to
which we were about to address ourselves.
At Mount Vernon we camped— we of the staff-
in and out of the house, and were bountifully fed,
nor did I ever see liis Excellency more to advantage
than here. lie personally looked after our wants,
and lost fov a time much of tlie official reserve with
which he guarded himself elsewhere.
At table after dinner he was in the habit of asking
one of his aides to propose toasts for him. The day
before we left, as we were about t(> rise from table.
Colonel Tilghman said, " One more toast, with your
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490 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
permission, Excellency," and cried out, "My Lord
Cornwallis, and may he enjoy the hospitalities of
our army."
Our host laughed as he rtirely did, saying, "We
must first catch our fish, Mr. Tilghmau."
I ventured to say, " He is in the net jd -eady."
His Excellency, looking round at me, stiid gi-avely,
" Pray God the net hold good ! " After I had offered
the toast of Lady Washington's health, and oiu*
thfink.s for : leasant days of rest and good cheer,
he left us. v r g Mr. Tilghman to see that we had
wine enough.
On th' iich we I'^'^'hed Williamsburg. The army
rapidly came in by divreiojis, French and American.
Before the 25th we had from the fleet cannon and
intrenching-tools, and all our available force was to
hand.
I can make clear in a few words the situation of
the enemy. The peninsula of York lies between the
James and the York rivers. On the south bank of
the latter sits the little town of York. Seven re-
doubts surrounded it. The town was flanked right
and left by deep ravines and creeks falling into the
York River. Intrenchments, field-works, and abatis,
with felled trees, lay to landward.
Gloucester Point, on the opposite shore of the river,
was well fortified, and before it lay a small force of
British war-ships, the channel being obstructed lower
down by sunken vessels. The French fleet held the
river below the town, and we the peninsula.
Ou the night of the 25th, after a brief visit to the
w
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 491
fleet, our chief lay down in tlie open under a mul-
beny-tree with one of its roots for a pillow, and slept
well, as was audible enough to us who lay at a distance.
That night his lordship abandoned his outworks
and drew within the town. Wo seized these lines
next day, losuig Colonel Scammel, formerly of the
staff, in whose amusing songs and gay talk our chief
had used to take much pleasure. On the 28th the
armies marched twelve miles down the peninsula,
and camped two miles from the town, driving in the
pickets and some parties of horse.
By October 1, the weather being fine, we had com-
pleted a half-moon of intrenchments, resting at each
wing on the river. Two advanced redoubts we threw
up were severely cannonaded, so as to internipt the
men at work.
His Excellency, somewhat anxious, came out of his
tent, and calling Mr. Tilghnian and me, who were
writing, rode forth, followed by his faithful black
Billy, whom we used to credit with knowing more of
what went on than did we of the staff. Mr. Evans,
a chaplain, was fain to see more of the war than con-
cerned him, and came after us. As we approached,
Billy, riding behind me, said as the cannon-shot went
over us :
" Dem redcoats is p'intin' us mighty well."
Tlieu a shot ricoclietted, striking the ground in
front and covering us with dust. Mr. Evans, who
was standing by, and liad now seen quite enough of
it, said, "We sliall fill be killed,"' and then looked
ruefully at his new beaver, well dusted and dirty.
. 1
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492 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
'^ Yon had better carry that home to yoiir wife and
children," said the chief. " This is not the place for
you, sir."
Neither was it much to my own liking, and I was
not sorry when we rode back.
On the night of the 9th of Octolier his Excellency
put a match to the first gun, and for four days and
nights a furious cannonade went on from both sides.
Late on the night of the lOtli Jack came to my
tent, and we walked out to see this terrible spectacle,
climbing a little hill which lay well away from our
lines. For a time we were quite alone.
A monstrous dome of smoke hung over the town.
Now and then a gust of sea wind tore it apart, and
through the rifts we saw the silver cuj) of the moon
and the host of stars. We lay long on the hillock.
I suppose the hour and the miglity fates involved
made us serious and silent. Far away seventy can-
non thundered from our works, and the enemy's
batteries roared their incessant fury of reply.
Presently I said, 'Mack, how still the heavens are,
and under them this rage of war ! How strange ! "
" Yes," said Jack ; " once I said something of this
tranjpulness in the skies to our great Dr. Franklin.
He is very ])atient with young fellows, but he said
to me : ' Yes, it is a pleasing thing, even to be wron^
about it. It is only to the eye of man that there is
calm and peace in the heavens ; no shot of cannon
can fly as these worlds fly, and comets whirl, and
suns blaze; and if there is yonder, as with us, war
and murder and ravage, none can say.' It all comes
ill. 1
I!!!'"
back to me now," said Jack, " and I thought to tell
you."
" It is a terrible sight," said I, as the great tumult
of souud grew louder. '' Let us thank God the cause
is a just one."
" And there are the stars again," said Jack, " and
the moon." And we were silent once more, watch-
ing the death-struggle of a failing cause.
Our own mad world was far other than at peace.
The great bombs rose in vast curves overhead, with
trails of hght, and, seeming to hesitate in mid-air,
exploded, or fell on town or ship or in the stream
between. As we looked, awe-struck, hot shot set fire
to the "Charon," a forty-fom*-guu ship, nigh to
Gloucester, and soon a red rush of fire twining about
mast and spar rose in air, lighting the sublime spec-
tacle, amid the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry,
and multitudinous inexplicable noises, through which
we heard now and then the wild howl of a dog from
some distant farm-j^ard.
At last the war-ship blew up, and a wonderful
strong light lighted the town, the river, and the camp.
As it fell the dog bayed again, a long, sharp, waver-
ing cry.
This seemed to me to impress Jack Warder more
than anything else in this din of war. He said now
and again, '' There is that dog," and wondered what
the beast thought of it all. It is curious upon what
the minds of men fix on grave occasions. I meant
to ask Jack why he spoke over and over of the dog
when before us was the bloody close of a great his-
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494 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
tori(^ trjij^jedy : a king hiiiii1>l(Ml ; a yoimg ivpublic at
sword-point witli an ancient monairhy.
It seemed to me a man's mind must grow in the
presence of such might of events. The hill, a half-mile
from the lines, was a good vantage-ground whence
to see and hear. Jack and I smoked numy pipes, and,
as he was not for duty in the trenches, lay here most
of that cool October night, wrapped in our cloaks.
SoTuetimes we talked; more often we were silent,
and ever the great cannon roared from trench and
bastion, or were quiet awhile to let their hot lips cool.
Once Jack fell to talk of how he and I were changed
from the quiet Quaker lads we had been, and did I
remember our first fight, and Colonel Rupert Forest,
and Master Dove? That greater master, War, since
then had educated and broadened us. He was more
philosophic than I, and liked thus to speculate ; but
of Darthea he said never a word, though we spoke
of many things that memorable night.
At last, when it was near to dawn. Jack jumped
up, crying, " Oh, confound that dog ! " He had,
what I never had, some remnant of the superstitions
of our ancestors, and I suspect that the howl of the
poor beast troubled him. I guessed at this when he
said presently, " I suppose we shall have to carry the
place by storm."
'^ Now don't tell me you will get hit," said I. " You
always say that. There are enough dead men to set
every dog in Virginia a-howling."
Jack laughed, but I had shamed him out of any
desire to repeat his predictions of disaster, and with
111
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 495
the signal-rockets in air, and the resounding thunder
of tliis storm of war ever rising and falling, we went
at last to onr tents.
For two or thrc days his Excellency kept me busy ;
but since, except every third or fourth day, Jack had
no active work, his diary at this time is very fully
kept. I see from its pages th..t he thought over and
over in this leisure of what we had so largely dis-
cussed on that night when we lay upon the hill.
'' October 11," I find written.—" Hugh and I had a
long talk over our own lives. It is a good thing and
wise at times to take stock, as merchants say, of one's
self and of one's friends. Indeed, if a man could
contrive a moral likeness of his inner self such as lie
may have of his body, and this at different ages, it
were an interesting and perhaps, too, a useful thing.
It might much surprise him as the years went on.
I think of myself as not so changed as Hugh. I am
indeed more shy. As time goes on I arrange to hide
it. I am less ambitious. Duty seems to me more
and more a thing which I nnist do by reason of habit,
that being strong with me owing much to t^.e con-
stant example set by my friend's life. If I have in
me something of the woman's nature, as Mistress
Wynne used to declare, I do not now so much dislike
the notion. It may explain why, as I nuitin-e, noth-
ing in life seems to me so greatly to be desired as the
love of my fellows. If I think a man I esteem hf.s
no affection for me, I will fetch and cany to get it.
Thank God I need not for Hugh. For hhn I would
give my life, should he waut it, and what more can
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49^> Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
a niaii do for liis friend ? Yes, there is a greater
test, but of that I ueed not think, since she does not
love nie, nor ever could I think to win her love.
"My Hugli is a big handsome fellow nowadays,
builded to be of the bigness of his father, but cleaner
fashioned, from early use of his muscles. He has
the strong passions of these hot Welsh, but is disci-
plined to control them, though not always. He is
more serious of late, and has thoughts which surprise
me, and show that his mind has grown. I used to
think he was too abrupt with peoplt^, but lie has a
gift I have not— the power to capture the fine ways
which these French gentlemen possess, so that nowa-
days he has quite lost the stiff ways in which we
were brought up. But this art I have not, nor ever
shall have."
Now all this is more or less true, and as I have
said whatever was ill of mj'self, I like to let another,
if a too partial judge, say of me, for the flattery of
our l)lood, wliat may one day pleasure my children
to read.
On the night of the 12tli of October our second
parallel was opened by Baron Steuben's division, in
which was Jack's command. It brought us within
three hundred vards of the enemv's works. Here
our people, while at the labour of digging, were
greatly annoyed by the flanking fire of two redoubts,
one on each side, and lying nearly as far out to right
and left as were now our advanced trenches.
On the 13th Colonel Tilghman came to ask me to
write the needed orders for an assault on these two
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 497
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redoubts. He told me that Marquis Lafayette had
asked that his owu aide-de-caiiip, Captain Giniat,
should lead the storming-party of Americans from
the troops for duty on the 14th, but Lieutenant-
Colonel Hamilton had insisted on his owu right to
this honourable risk, he being, on the day set for the
assault, in command in the tnuiches.
This officer, my lifelong friend, had, in February
of '81, resigned from the staff, of wliich resignation
too much has been said. It in no way affected the
regard for him which our chief entertained, and the
occasion of his leaving the staff was not one, I
thought, to justify my friend in so doing, as indeed
I made bold to tell him.
He had now written a spirited letter to our chief,
claiming the right of command, as he had that day
the tour of duty in the trenches. His Excellency,
with his strong sense of justice, liad decided in Mr.
Hamilton's favour, and it was thus settled that he
should head our assaulting column, and the marquis
have command of the whole detachment, which was
to be made up of picked men from the divisions for
duty in our works.
I wrote the required orders, and set them forth in
the orderly-book. The same day toward nightfall
Jack appeared at my tent. He said his company
was selected to be of the assault, adding with a fine
colour and very cheerful, that here in a packet were
letters he had wTit to his father and to my Aunt
Gainor, and here, too, another— this with a little hesi-
tation—for Miss Darthea.
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498 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
I laughed, and said I was a bad person to be his
executor, as I meant in some way to contrive to be
of the party ; how, I did not yet know. He begged
me not to risk myself on a business out of my lino
of duty, but I was firmly set as to the matter, and he
went away more serious than I thought worth while.
In fact, I was tired of the every-day sameness of
staff-duty and incessant letter- writing.
Later in the evening I was sent for to the tent of
his Excellency. I fcv.nd him with the Comtes de
Deuxponts and de Rochambeau. I was wanted to
act as interpreter. Although his Excellency could
comprehend what was said, he possessed no such
knowledge of French as to be able to speak it.
The business was soon despatched, and as I lin-
gered, the general asked what other matter needed
attention. Upon this I replied that I greatly de-
sired to be of the storming-party.
He returned, " I presume of course, sir, that you
are not for duty on the 14tli ? "
I said, " No."
" Then your business is witli the staff. I am un-
willing to permit gentlemen to step aside out of
their work." Ht spoke in his usual deliberate man-
ner, and with a certain sternness such as he well
knew how to assume.
I saluted, but stood still a moment, and then said,
" I trust. Excellency, that I have fulfilled my duties
to your satisfaction."
" Entirely. I should have made it plain to you
had it been otherwise."
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Hugh Wynne: F'ree Quaker 499
; I
" And I liHve never asked a favour of your Excel-
lency. 1 have been twice wounded, have had no
home leave for four years, and have spent five
months in a British jail."
I saw a faint smile come over his grave face.
'' You boys are all alike. Here is Colonel Hamilton
in a rage because the nuirquis would have given his
place to Captain Gimat, and now it is an obstinate
Welshman must go and get into mischief. I wish
the whole army had your spirit, sir."
I ventured to observe that Colonel Armand had
been permitted to serve as a volunteer, and that I
had hoped tha*^^ I too should be allowed a like
favour.
His Excellency smiled, and returned, " As a vol-
unteer, Mr. Wynne— well, as a volunteer. Ask Colo-
nel Hamilton. I trust that is satisfactory. Are the
orders and detail all made out ? "
I said yes, and, thanking him, went away.
Colonel Hamilton, whom I saw early on the 14th,
was as much surprised at the result of my request
as was I, and was i)leased to say he should be glad
of my company, and would I be on hand in the
trenches before dark?
The French of the old reginu»nt D'Auvergne,
which that niglit won the right to be called D'Au-
vergne sans tarhf, were to carry the redoubt to the
right of the enemy's line. The Baron de Viomenisle
was to lead them. Oimat was to have a (tliance
with us.
" There ai'e Connecticut men, and Massacluisetts
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500 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
and Rhode Tshind men, with a reservo from Peiin-
sylvauia. The North has the whole business," said
Hamilton, ■' and your friend Warder Las the luck
to be with us."
The redoubt Number Ten on the enemy's left, and
nearest the river, fell to us, and Hamilton by no
means meant tliat we should be later in the work
than our allies.
I am forced to be thus particulai* because, although
in God's providence I knew it not, I was about to
pass through another crisis of my adventurous life.
Before dusk I was in the trenches, and lying down
amid a crowd of silent men. Hamilton walked to
and fro among them, seeing that all were ready, and
at last tied a piece of surgeons' bandage around my
left arm, a precaution also taken as to the men that
they might be distinguished in the darkness from
the enemy.
Pioneers with fascines and ladders were a little
later put out in front of the trenches, and with them
the sappers and axemen under Captain Kirkpatrick.
Within the crowded trenches and behind them the
detachment of four hundred imm lay ready.
It was cold, aiul a drizzling rain would have made
it needful, under ordinary oiicumstiuices, to keep
the pans of the muskets dry ; but all loads were
drawn, and the marquis meant to trust to the bayonet
alone. Jack was afoot, and in his gay fashion was
saying something merry to his men. I heard the
marquis cry, " Silence ! " in queer English, and down
the line I could heai* oflicers repeating his order.
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 501
For a little while all was still.
" Good-by," said my Jack. His hand was damp,
and shook.
" You dear old idiot ! " said I.
It was now close to eight, and of a sudden our
cannon ceased. I dimly saw, a few yards away in
the deep trench, the marquis looking back toward
our camp. The enemy, glad, I dare say, of a chance
to cool their guns, also stopped tiring. I wished to
heaven this horror of waiting were over.
Then a rocket rose high in air over our camp.
" Ready, men ! " said Hamilton, while I drew my
long Hessian blade.
Six boinbs in quick succession rose and went over
us. I heard the marquis cry out, " En avant ! For-
ward ! "
" Forward, sappers ! " cried a voice in front.
'' Come along, boys ! " cried Jack. And not giving
the sappers more than time to scramble up, we were
off ill a swift rush through the darkness. The
quickly formed line })roke irregularly, as we ran
over the spa(!e between us and the abatis, the sap-
pers vainly trying to keep ahead.
As wo rushed forwni'd, my legs serving me well,
I saw that they in the redoubt knew what was
coining. A dozen rockets went up,, Bengal flres of
a sutUien Hghted tlieir works, a cannon-shot went
close to my head, and all pandemonium seemed to
break loose.
At the stockade, an hundred feet from their
works, our men pushed aside the sapj)ers, and tore
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502 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
down the rude })arrier, or tumbled over it. They
were used to fences. Here Gimat was hurt, and
Kirkpatrick of the pioneers, and a moment later
Colonel Barber.
The hundred feet beyond were passed at a run,
and the men with fascines cast them into the ditch.
It was already half full of the wreck the cannon had
made in tlie eartliwork. We jumped in, and out ; it
was all mud and water. Ladders were set against
the parapet, but the slope was now not abnipt, havinj^
been crumbled away by our guns, so that most of us
scrambled up without delay. I saw Captain Hunt
fall, the enemy firing wildly. If Sergeant Brown
of the Fourth Connecticut, or Mansfield of the For-
lorn Hope, were first on the parapet, I do not know.
Hamilton got by me, and I saw him set a foot on the
sliouldcr of a man, and jump on to the top of the
redoubt. Why more or all were not killed seems to
me a wonder. I think if the enemy luul l)een cooler
we had l)een easily disposed of. I saw the girl-boy
leap down among the bayonets, and we were at once
in a hurly-burly of redcoats, our men Avith and after
us.
For a little tliere was fierce resist.ance and a furi-
ous struggle, of which I recall only a rememlu'ance
of smoke, red flashes, yells, and a confusion of men
striking and tlirusting. A big Ilessiiin caught me
a smart thrust in the left leg— no great hurt. An-
otlier Avitli l>is l)utt j)retty nearly broke my left arm,
as I put it up to save my head. I ran him through,
and felt that they were giving way.
Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 503
To left and right was still a mad struggle, and
what with the Bengal fires still blazing, and a heap
of brush in flames at one side of the redoubt, there
was light enough to see. Near about me was a elear
space, and a pause su(!h as oeeurs now and then in
such a scrimmage. There were still men who held
back, and to whom, as I pushed on, I cjilled, " Come
on ! We have them ! " A gi-eat Avind from the sea
blew the smoke away, so that it was easy to see. As
1 called out to the men who hesitated on the outer
slope, as some will, I heard before me a voice cry,
" This way, men ! " and, turning, caught sight of the
face of Arthur Wynne. He too saw and knew me.
He uttered an oath, I remember, crying out, "At
last!" as I dashed at him.
I heard ahead of me cries for *' Quarter ! ([uarter ! "
The mass of striving men had fallen back, and in
fact the business was at an end. I saw Jack run
from my left toward nm, but he stood still when he
saw what was happening, and instantly, as he came,
Arthur and I crossed swords. What else chanced
or who else came near I knew not. I saw for the
time only that one face I so hated, for the heap of
brush in the work was still })lazing.
As is true of everv Wvnne I ever knew, when in
danger I became cool at once. I lost no time, l)ut
pressed him hard with a glad sense that he was no
longer my mast(;r at the game. I meant to kill
him, and as he fell back T knew that at last his hour
had come. I think he too knew it. He fenced with
caution, and was as cool as I. Just as I touched
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504 Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker
him in the right shoulder I felt a wounded Hessian
clutch my leg. I fell squarely backward, my cousin
lunging savagely as I dropped. I had been done
for had not Jack struck up his blade as I lay, call-
ing out:
'' Coward ! "
I was up in a moment, pretty savage, and caught
sight of my Jack fencing with my man, as calm as
if we were in old Pike's gallery. As I stood pant-
ing—it was but a moment— I saw Jack'.s ])lade whip
viciously round Arthur's and pass tlu'ough his
breast, nearly to the guard.
My cousin cried I know not what, fell t<» one side,
and then in a heap across a dead grenadier.
" Better I than thou," cried Jack, blowing hard.
" He will play no more tricks. Come on ! "
With a glance at my enemy I hurried past him
over dead and wounded men, a cannon upset, mus-
kets cast awaj', and what not.
" This way, Wynne," said the marquis. " C^stfni !
Get those fellows together, gentlenuMi."
Our men were huddling the prisoners in a corner
and collecting their arms A red-faced New Hamp-
sliire captain was angrily threatening ^lajor Cnmp-
])oll, the commander of the redoubt, who had just sur-
rendered. Colonel Hamilton struck up tlie captain's
blade, or I do believe he would have killed the major.
He was furious over the death of Colonel S<'animel,
who was greatly beloved, and had been killed by
Hessians after having given up his sword.
It was over, and I went back to see what had
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Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 505
become of Arthur. He was alive, and having
dragged himself to the inner wall of the redoubt,
was now seated against it. Jack soon found a lan-
tern, and by its light we looked at Arthin*. He was
covered with blood, but was conscious, and stared
at me with dull eyes, without power to say a word.
" Take care of him. Jack," said I, and went away
down the crumbled slope and through the broken
abatis, while overhead the bombs howled witli uu-
eai'thly noises and the cannonry broke out anew.
I was still angrj^ that I had not killed the man,
and went off to my tent in no very happy state of
mind, so tired in body that I could not sleep for
hours.
Says Jack, '' October 15. — I can never cease to be
thankful that, when we had them driven like scared
sheep into the far side of the redoubt, I ran back to
see what had become of Hugh. It was but a minute
I had missed him, and when I saw him slip I had
only just time to catch that devil Arthur Wynne's
blade. He was used in old days to play with me
like a child, but either I am become more skilful or
he was out of practice, for I knew pretty soon that
he was delivered over to me, and had small chance
to get away unhurt. If my friend had killed him,—
and that was what he meant, I fear,— would Darthea
ever have married Hugh ? I know not, but it has
been ordered otherAvi.se. There was indeed a way
opened, as Friends say. A nice Quaker I am
become ! "
I was not of his opinion that night. Just before
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506 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
reveille I fell into a broken slumber. I awakened
in a sweat, having dreamed that I liad put a sword
through my cousin, and was troul^led that Jack
was to tell Darthea. Thus it came to my mind
—dulled before this with anger and unsatisfied hate
—that I had made a fortunate escape. The morn-
ing brought wisdom. I was beginning to think
that all was not well between Dartlica and Arthur
Wynne, and that to kill liim would do auytliing but
add to my chances with a woman so sensitive, nor
would it much improve matters that his death had
come out of the unhappy chances of war.
When in happier mood I began to dress at dawn,
I found my left arm veiy stiff and sore. I must
have been much distracted overnight not to have
felt it, and not to have seen that I was seriously
bruised ; my breeches were starched stiff with blood
from a bayonet-prick. Jack's quarters were on the
extreme right, and as soon as the lines broke after
morning drill I rode over to find him.
He told me that Dr. Rush was come to camp the
day before with other surgeons, and that Arthur
was in a tent and cared for by our good doctor, who
informed Jack that his sword had traversed the right
lung, but had not gone through, as it seemed to me
it must have done. The doctor thought he might
possibly get over it. Out of his affliction for my
aunt he would see that Arthur had such care as she
would desire for one of her kin, but was it not a
most unfortunate accident?
"I assui'ed him," said Jack, "that it was most
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 507
lamentable, but might have been worse— as I in-
tended it should be," added Jack, with a grin. Ho
then asked nie had I heard of that good Free Qua-
ker, Colonel Forest, who had taken Major Campbell,
saying, "I advise tiiee to surrender, or thou wilt
repent it, d thee ! " to the delight of Hamilton,
who must tell his Excellency that night, having
supped with him on his return.
I made haste to write to my aunt, and was able to
send our letters North with the general's despatches
to Congress. I said nothing of my own encounter
with Arthur, but made mention of Jack's affair as
one of the chances of war.
Dr. Rush dressed my arm, and I went back to
duty with the member in a sling, and aching like
mad. His Excellency, seeing my condition, asked
me if my right arm was in good order, but made no
reference to the left. After I took his commands for
the morning he said, seeing me limp, "Were you
much hurt ? "
I said, " No ; I ran against something sharp in the
bastion."
He smiled, and that was the end of the matter.
Fair women and brave men were to liis Excellency's
liking.
This was my last of active warfare. The marquis
tried his hand a; a sally, and made ready too late to
get away over the York River; Imt the sally came
to nothing, and the belated effort to run to stili less.
I neglected to say that the Fi'«uich, having come
to the abatis, waited in line while the pioneers used
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508 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
their axes to clear it away. Meanwhile, thanks to
too ^,Jod discipline, they suffered severely. As we
rushed the whole thing, we lost far less. " It was
very fine and en rkjie," said Hamilton, " but I like our
way better." And so, I think, do I.
The good doctor liked to come to my staff tent in
tho.'sc days, to talk to me or to others. He seemed
to think it necessary to inform me as to my cousin,
and I dare say thought me cool about him.
" And if, doctor, I had stuck him through the left
side ? " said Jack, lying at ease on a bearskin in my
tent.
" In that case," said our doctor, in a quite profes-
sional way, " the heart or the great arteries had like
enough been pierced."
" And what then ? " asked Jack of the doctor, who
was sitting on the camp-bed.
'' Probably death would have occurred."
On this Jack looked up with those innocent eyes,
and, pushing back the blond locks, said: "It is a
great thing to know anatomy. If only I had made
a little study of that science. Dr. Rush, I might have
had better success at this pig-sticking business we
call war." The sly humour of the fellow set Hamil-
ton to laughing, but the doctor did not smile.
" It might have been better for Hugh's cousin," he
said.
" Yes," said Jack, sweetly ; " perhaps."
As they talked I was automatically putting ito
fine French a letter of his Excellency to Comte
d'Estaiug, and I took in readily what was passing.
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 509
When Jack said, " Perhaps," I cried out, " It would
be a fine thing, doctor, to have all this saving know-
ledge on both sides, so as to know where not to hurt
one another."
Hamilton was on the side of Dr. Rush. " It were
more to the purpose," he said, " to sit down and not
to go to war at all." This was set forth demurely,
the colonel seeing how serious a dos«^ our fun was
for the great physician, who did somewhat lack the
capacity to discover the entertainment to be found
in this manner of jesting.
He returned gi'avely that this was his opinion,
and that had he his way, war and drinking of spii-its
should alike cease.
To this we agi*eed in part as one man, for of war
we were tired enough. As to the other matter, we did
not mention it. To think of such a revolution was too
astonishing in those days, nor have we come to it yet.
After that the doctor discussed Arthur's case with
much learning and evident satisfaction. I might
like in a day or two to see Captain Wynne. I was
of opinion that it would do him harm, and wiien the
great doctor said, '' Perhaps, perhaps," Jack began
discreetly to talk war, and asked where was General
Gates.
But by this time our doctor had become cautious.
His favourite commander was dismissed with a
word or two, and so our chat ended, Mr. Hamilton
and the physician going away togethei-, each pleased
with the other, and, despite some differences in pol-
itics, to remain lifelong friends.
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5IO Iliigh Wynne: Free Quaker
On the 17t1i ol f)<'to]K'r, tlu' Maivjuis Cornwallis
having had a stomach full of fighting, and having
failed of liis schemes to get a.\n* ; across the York
lliver, l>eat a l)arley, and after some discussion
signed ti'e arti<*les of cat)itidation. The soldiers
were to remain prisoners in Virginia and Mur*} laud,
the oflfieers were to return to i^]urope u])on parole.
The beaten army at two on the 19th came down the
road between ♦^he French and our lines, with the
colours in their cases, and the baiuls playing a Brit-
ish mai"<»h ; for it is of the etiquette of such occasions
that th(^ ca[)tured army play none but their own
tunes. Some wag must have chose the air, for they
marched ))y to the good old English musics of "The
World Turned Upside Down"; such nnist have
seem«'d sadly the case to these poor devils.
As T was of the staff, T was ]»rivileged to see well
this wonderful and glorious conclusion of a mighty
strife. Our chief sat i>traight in the saddh', with a
fa(H' no man «'ould read, for in it was neither elation
nor shoAV of satisfaction, as the sullen ranks came
near.
At th(^ head of the line rode General O'llara. He
paused beside our chief, and beggeil his Excellency
to receive the excus(»s of my Lord Cornwallis, who
was not well enough to be present, which no one
believed nor thought a manly tliing to do.
His Excellencv bowed, trusted it was not verv
serious, but would not receive (icneral ^)'Hara's
sword. With ipiiet dignity he motioned hini to
deliver it to Major-lJeneral Lincoln, who now had
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 511
these grateful ameudsfor the misfortune of having
had to surrender his own good blade at Charleston.
After this the long array of chagrined and beaten
men went by, and, returning to York, were put under
guard.
A day or two later a letter of my aunt's informed
me of the disorder my father's condition had brought
about on his tobacco- plantation in Maiyland. This
caused me to ask for leave, and, witli the under-
standing that I might be recalled at any time, I re-
ceived permission to be absent two months.
I set out on November 5 for Annapolis, with two
horses and my servant. Arthur Wynne, being
found unfit to go to Europe with the rest, was
taken a week hiter by our doctor on a transport
to the Head of Elk, and thence by coach to Phila-
delphia. Tliere, as I heard, the doctor took him to
his own house, mucli amazed that Mistress Gainor
would not receive him. Arthur won the good doc-
tor, as he did most people, and, despite all expecta-
tions, was said to })e mending fast, being much
petted by the Tory ladies ; but if Darthea had seen
him or not I did not then learn.
My affairs in Maryland, where we had many
slaves and large intcarsts, kejjt me busy until near
the close of Dccc'mber, when I set out to rejoin the
staff in Philadt'lphiu. my leav«' being up.
During this winter of 'HI and '82 my duties were
light, and except to write a few despatches daily,
and to attend his ExceUency on occasions of festivity,
I had little to do save to look after my father's affairs.
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512 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
It is now fit that I roturii to the narration of such
things as immediately concern my personal interests,
Arthur Wynne was able to ride out by the end of
January', as I heard, for I did not chance to see him.
My father remained much as he had been for a year.
Darthea, to our gi-eat surprise, on Captain Wynne's
return Ix-came desirous to yield to her aunt and
to go to New York, My aunt said slie would get
them a pass through our lines in the Jerseys ; but
this proving diflBcult, they stayed in and about
the city, spending much time at their old home in
Bristol. Darthea was so clearly unwilling to see
me that I was fain to give it up, and accept what
I could not better. When I said I was sorry she
wished to go away, my Aunt Gainor replied that
I was a fool, and would never be anything else,
I asked why, but she was away from my (piesticm
at once, and went on to tell me what officers were
to dine with her that day, and did his Excellency
like i\[adeira ? and why was her doctor so fond of
(piotiiig Mr, Adams's letters from Holland, where he
now was on a mission, with his nasty sneers at
Virginians and Mr. Wasliingtim? She gave me no
time to r''i)ly. Indeed, this and much else I saw or
heard in th<)s«' days was (piite b<\vond me.
jMy aunt's way of dismissing a question she liked
not was to pour out nuitters which were quite irrel-
;n-ant, when to stop her was altogether past ho])e.
I had learned to wait. She. at my desire, made Jack
luT aid in her affairs, as I was fully occupied with
my fathei''s neglected business. Now, too, she was
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 5 i 3
busy finding Jack a wife, and would tell nu' all al)ont
it, striding to and fro, and with vast .shrewdness and
humour discussing the young women we knew.
" Cat " Ferguson was very huml)le, and the Chews
in great favour with his Excellency. I wjis fain
to dismiss my wonder as to Darthea, and, unable to
recur to the question I had asked, I went away to
headquarters iu the great Chew house in Third
street.
The town was gone wild with feasting and din-
ners, and as the general liked his staff to attend
liim, I had more of these engagements than I cared
about.
Arthur, still weak and on parole, lingered; but
why ho did not get permission to go to Ntw York,
as had been easy, I could not well understand.
In February, '82, I came home to my father's one
morning at an earlier hour than usual, and to my
surprise heard my cousin's voice.
" I fear, sir, I am not understood. I came for the
deed you promised me."
My poor father, a huge, wasted framework of a
big nuui, was looking at him with lack-lusfre eyes.
He said, " My wife will 'h' with us presently. Wilt
thou stay for dinner?"
I went in at once, saying, "T am more than
amazed, .sir, to see vou here. As to the deed vou
would '. ive stolen — "
« What !" he cried.
" I said * stolen,' sir. As to the deed you would
have stolen from a man too feeble in mind to guard
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514 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
I'll
his own property, I have only this \o say " (amid con-
stant duties it had gone from my mind) : " I shall
put no obstacle in the way of your seeing it."
" I have no other purpose," he said quiitly— " none.
To you I could not go, and, sir, if you clioose to
consider my effort in any other light than an honest
one, I have no more to say. We have enough causes
of difference without that."
" Quite enough," said I. I was beginning to lose
grip of my patience. " Quite enough. That they were
not settled long ago an accident alone ])revented."
"I am not, sir, in a way fitly to answer you.
Neither is this a place nor a presence for this dis-
cussion."
'' At least we can agi'ee as to that," said I ; " but I
did not seek it. At my own leisure I shall have to
ask you certain questions which, as a gentleman and
a man of honour, you will find it hard to answer."
"I fail to comprehend," he returned, with his
grand air, looking all the better for his paleness.
I said it was not now needful that he should, and
that in future he would understand that he was no
h>nger a welcome guest.
" As you please," he said.
I tht)ught he showed little anxiety to hear at
lengtli wliat was in my mind.
Meanwhile, as we spoke, my father looked va-
cantly from me to him and from him to me, and at
last, his old hospitable instincts coming uppermost,
he said, *' Thou hast not asked thy cousin to tike
spirits, Hugh."
aiiil
mm.
Hugh VVymie: Free Quaker 515
Arthur, smiling sadly, as I thonjrlit, said: ''Thank
you, none for me. (iood-day, Cousin Wynne." and
merely bowing to me, he went out, I ceremoniously
opening the door.
I had said no more than I intendetl to say ; I was
resolutely bent upon tolling this man what he seemed
to me to be and what I knew <^>t' his baseness. To
do this it was needful, above jiil, to find Delaney.
After that, whether Darthea marri(?d mv cousin or
not, I meant that she should at last know what I
knew. It was fair to her that some one should open
her eyes to this man's character. When away from
her, hope, the friend of the absent, was ever with
me; but once face to face with Darthea, to think of
her as l)y any possibility mine iM'camc im])()ssible.
Yet from first to last I was firm in my jmrposc, for
this was the way I was made, and so I am to this
day. But whether I had loved her or not, I should
have done my best out of nu're friendslii]> to set her
free from the bonds in which slu' was held.
I had heard of Delaney as being in the South, but
whether he had come out alive from tlic tussles be-
tween Morgan, Marion, and Tarleton, I knew not.
On asking Colonel Harrison, the gemrars secretary,
he told me he thought he could discover his where-
abouts. Next dav he called to toll me that there
was an officer of the name of Delaney at the London
Inn, now called "The Flag," on Front stret^t, and
that he had been asking for me. I had niisse«l him
by five minutes. He had called with despatches
from Major-Ueuei'al (.ireene.
V
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516 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
To ray joy this proved to be the man I wanted,
nor was it surprising tluit he shouhl thus luckily
appear, since the war was over in the Soutli, and a
stream of officers was passing tlirough Philadelphia
daily to join the Northern army.
For a moment he did not know me, but was de-
lighted when I named myself.
I said I had no time to lose, and asked him to
meet me at my aunt's in the afternoon. I much
feared that Ai'thur woidd get away before I was
ready to talk to him.
Delaney had received my last letter and had an-
swered it, but whither his reply went I cannot say.
At all events, he had lingered here to find me. When
we met at my Aunt Gainor's that afternoon, it took
but a few minutes to make clear to her the sad t-ale
of Arthur's visit to the jail. •
My friend had no sooner done than tlu* old lady
rose, and began as usual to walk about, saying : ''You
will excuse me ; I nmst think of this. Talk to Hugh.''
What there was to think of I could not see.
Delaney looked on amused, and he and I chatted.
She was evidently much distur])ed, and while the
captain and I talked, I saw her move a chair, and
pick up and set down some china beast. At last
she said ; " Come in at nine tonight. Mr. Delaney.
I want t(» think this over. I have still much I desire
to ask you. It deeply concerns my nephew in a way
I cannot now explain to you. May I have the priv-
ilege of another half-houi* T "
Delaney bowed.
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 517
" Of course I do not want you, Hugh," she added.
When you have known a woman as long as I had
known my aunt, there are sometimes hints or warn-
ings in her most casual expressions. When my
aunt siiid I was not wanted that evening I knew at
once that she was meditating sometliing out of the
common, but just what, I did not tliink to ask my-
self. My Aunt Gainor was all her life fond of what
tsiie called inventing chances, a fine pln-ase, of which
she was proud. In fact, this sturdy old spinster
liked to interfere authoritatively in the affairs of
men and women, and believed that for this she had
a special talent, which in fact she discovered no in-
clination to bury ; but what now she had in hand to
do I knew not.
She was deeply grieved for a season to find that
her plans went awiy, or that men were disapi)oiuted,
or that women would not go lier way. '' Wlien she
hurts you," said Mrs. Ferguson, " she is like a child,
and has a dozen silly devices for doctoring your
wounds. We have fought many times, and made
up as often. There is no real malice in her," which
was true.
Jack Warder once remarked in his lively way that
Mistress Wvnne luid a richlv j'oloured character. I
fear it may have Ictoked at times very Itlack to some
and very rose-tinted to others, ])ut assuredly never
gi*ay in its tones, nor other than ])ositive.
With me slie took all manner of liberti«'S, and
with Darthea too, and if ever she were in doubt if it
were well to meddle in oui* affairs I know not. A
II
^
'^
518 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
vast richness of human love and an urj^ent desire of
rule \ny underneath the life she showed the outer
world of quadrille and dinners and gossip.
When she hurt us, or, as Darthea said, broke her
china in trying tt) wash it, she fell back on our love
with a quite childlike astonishment that what was
come out of affection should give rise to resentment.
With a slight puzzle in my mind I went away
with Dchiney to dine at the London Coffee-house,
whi(;li now showed our own new flag, where so often
I had passed in under the cross of St. George.
'' We have a new St. George now," said Mr. John
Adams, in one of those ill-natured letters to Dr.
Rush which filled my aunt with rage. '■'■ Sancte
Waskingtou, ora pro nobis.'' The Massachusetts
statesman admired our grave and knightly St.
George, but there are those who cannot fly a kite
witliout the ))obtail of a sneer— which is good wit, I
think, but not my own ; it was Jack said that.
When Delaney left me to call again upon my
aunt, T little dreamed of what part she meant him
to play. He left the town early next day, and had
it not been for Jack I should not for a long while
have known fully what an hour brought forth.
" On the afternoon of I-'ebruarv 28 of this 1782,"
says Jack's diary, ''I got a note from Mistress
Wynne jisking me to see her on business at nine.
I found with her, to my pleasure, the good fellow
Delaney, and was able to thank him for the service
he bad d«»ne us all 'n his noble care of Hugh. W«^
talked over oui* battles, and presently comes in
m^v
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Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 519
Darthea, whom now we see but rarely, for reasons
best known to herself.
" I do believe Hugh has given up his love-aflfair
as a thing quite hopeless, and no wonder. I think
she still sees that raseal of an English captain, and
perhaps he will not have her keep up a closer friend-
ship with such as no longer desire his own aciiuain-
tance.
"Mr. Delaney was, like all men, charmed with
Miss Peniston, and the talk went on busily enough,
the young woman in good spirits and the captain
most amusing.
" By and by he spoke quite naturally of the hor-
rors of their Ufe in the provost's prison, and upon
this Darthea, becoming of a sudden seriously atten-
tive, listened with fixed gaze. Our hostess, seeing
her chance, said: ^ I meant to ask you more of that
to-day, but my nephew hates even to heai* of it.
How long were you there?'
"'I was taken at Germantown like Mr. Wynne,
and was kept until June. After Wynne nearly
killed that rascal, Cunningham, things were worse
than ever.'
" ' And was Hugh so very ill T '
" ' He could not have been worse to live at all.'
"'And was there no inspection amidst all those
horrors? Do you suppose Sir Williani knew noth-
ing of them 1 I can hardly credit that.'
" Darthea looked round at Mistress Wynne. She
had been unusually sihjut. Now turning to Delaney,
she said, with slow articulation: 'I also am curious,
wr
520 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
Mr. Dolaney. We heard many nimours and some
unpleasant facts, ('ould Sir William Howe have
known ? I cannot think it.'
" ' But he must, after the inspeetions, and there
were three to my knowledge.'
"'Indeed?' said Mistress Wynne. "T is most
stranjje ! '
*' iJelaney hesitated, not likinjr, I suppose, to men-
tion Arthur, her cousin, of whose close relation to
Darthea, however, he was not aware.
" ' And one,' Mistress Wynne went on, ' was, I hear,
made by our kinsman.'
" ' Yes,' said Delaney, ' and that did certainly amaze
me. Captiiin Wynne—'
" * Captain Wynne ! ' exclaimed Darthea, {>nd, turn-
inj^ her head, she looked shaqdy at Mistress Wynne
and then at me. I think that Delaney, beinj? un-
familiar with her haV)its of speech, did not notice
how stranf?e was the tone m which she added, ' We
all know Mr. Artiiur Wynne.'
" ' Indeed ! ' said Delaney ; ' but of course I might
have known that.'
" ' Yes, yes ! I inteiTupted you. Pray, go on ; it is
most interesting.'
" ' Very,' said Mistress Wynne. And now I saw
what a wicked tra]) our spinster-fox had laid for poor
Darthea. Di'laney, a bit puzzled, glanced at me. I
made no sign. It must not .stop here.
" * It is a (jueer story, Miss Peniston, and not much
to the credit of his Majesty's officers.'
" ' What next ? ' said Darthea.
■^^
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 521
" ' Oh, the tale is brief and brutal. I was seated
on the straw one day, with Hugh's head in my lap,
putting water on his forehead and trying to (juiet
him, when the turnkey came in with an English
officer. This gentleman looked about him at the few
left alive, asked carelessly who broke the window-
panes, and then suddenly seemed to notice Hugh.
He asked who was this poor devil. The turnkey said,
"Name of Wynne, sir.'' Then the captain stood still
a moment, staring at us, and, as if curious, bent down,
asking me what Hugh was saying. Now my poor
friend was muttering over and over, *' Dorothea !
Dorothea!"— some woman's name, I suppose, but
what woman he never told me.*
"At this I saw Darthea flush, but perhaps remem-
bering that Mr. Delaney might know her only as
Miss Peniston, which was the fact, she controlled
herself and said quickly : ' He asked his name ? Are
you sure he asked his name? Could there have
been no mistake?'
"Delaney looked the surprise he no doubt felt,
and replied, * Yes ; of that I am sure.'
" ' Do you think,' said Darthea, ' he knew how ill
Mr. Hugh Wynne was ? '
" ' Certainly ; I heard the turnkey tell him that a
day or two would see Hugh in the ])ottei*'s flcld with
the rest. The doctor liad said as much. This was
true ; he had told me it was useless for him to return,
and indeed I thought so too. They buried a half-
dozen a day. When told tliat this iuan Wynne liad
jail-fever, the captain seemed in haste to leave. At the
i
ill
\w
ii]
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522 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
door he turned and took another look at Hugh, and
then went out. I asked his name next day, but the
turnkey laughed, and said it was none of my busi-
ness. I had a fancy that the inspector desired to
remain unknown. I was sure of this when, a few
days after, I described the officer to Hugh, who was
then quite himself. When Hugh said at last, " Had
he a scar over the left eye ? " and I said he had, Hugh
cried out in a rage that it was his cousin, and would
talk of nothing else for days. I fear there can be no
doubt that the inspecting officer was Captain Arthur
Wynne.'
" * Horrible ! ' exclaimed Mistress Wynne. ' In-
credible ! '
" * Yes ; it seems to me a quite inconceivable thing,
but I am certain, though the man looked a gentle-
man all over.' '
" * He looked a gentleman all over,' said Darthea,
with strange deUberateness of speech.
"This while Mistress Wynne sat drawn up, her
face set, and one hand moving on the arm of the
chair, just the same queer trick her brother had. As
for me, I watched Darthea. It was a merciless plot,
and may have been needed ; but in truth the way of
it was cruel, and my heart bled for her I loved.
" As she spoke her tones were so strange that Mr.
Delaney, who was clearly but an innocent though
sharp tool, said : * I beg pardon, Miss Peniston. These
sad stories are too dreadful to repeat. Miss Wynne
would have it—'
" But Darthea was now quite lost to the common
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 523
ways of life. She went on like a person (juestioning
herself, as it sounded to nie. * Ai'thm* Wynne asked
his name. Is that so ? '
" Delaney said, ' Yes,' now, as I saw, quite troubled,
and wishing himself out of it, I dare suy.
" * And he knew he was in rags, star\'ed, dying,
and he left him ? ' continued Darthea. ' Ho left him
—to die.'
"'Yes; but—'
"*No matter. I must hear all— all!' she cried
sharply— ' all ! I am the person most concerned.'
" ' Darthea ! ' then exclaimed Miss Wynne, alarmed,
I suppose, at her wild manner and breaking voice.
"But Darthea went on. 'This is my Imsiness,
madam. You are sure, sir? Tliis is no time to
trifle. I— I am— I must know ! I must know ! Woidd
you say this to Captain Wynne were he here ? An-
swer me, sir ! '
" ' Certainly I would. Miss Peniston.'
" ' Mistress Wynne,' said Darthea, rising, * I have
been brought here to let a stranger see my— my
weakness. It is plain. Did you think I could hide
it, madam? Pardon me, sir. You have done me a
cruel service, t— I thank you. I bid you good-
evening, Mistress Wynne. Was there no other way,
no kinder way, to tell me ? Will you take me home,
Jack? I— I am tired.'
"We had all risen with her at the lu'ginning of
this last speech, I troubled. Miss Wynne very red,
and only fit to say over and over, ' Darthea ! Darthea ! '
Mr. Delaney annoyed, and hickiug knowledge of the
l
Hi
'if
524 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
situation; all of us awkward and confused save
Darthea, who passed out iuto the hall, followed by
Miss Wynne, and saying, as shft went forth, * I will
never forgive you, madam, never ! never ! You are
a wirked old woman ! I shall never speak to you
again. I did not think it.'
" I walked in silenee beside her to Mrs. Poniston's
home. ' Thank you, .Tack,' said she, in a sweet, low
voice. 'You did not know, did you, of this sad
story ? '
'* ' Yes, dear lady, but of this disgusting plot, no.'
" ' But why did you, who are my friend, and Mr.
Ilugli Wynne, and all of you, leave me in the dai'k
as to tiiis— tliis man?'
'' I said (piic^kly that it was not well to have told
her until Mr. Delaiu>y could be found. lie liad but
just now come. She had seemed to trust Captain
Wynne's story; llugli's was l)ut the liearsay of a
man just out of a deadly fever. We liad waited.
"As I spoke, she stood with her calash bonnet
fallen back, clear to sec by the full moonlight, and
looking with iiitcnt fa(M' across Arch street, jus it
might be with envy of the untroubled dead of gen-
erations who lay around the meeting-house. As I
ended, slu^ said :
" * 1 have been a fool, Jack, but I loved him ; indeed
I (lid. Is tlii^re more? I know Hugh hates lam. Is
there more?'
" ' Too much, too nuu'h. Darthea.' I said.
" 'Then coiiH' in. I must hear all— all.' And she
knocked impatiently.
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 525
" Presently we weiT in the parlonr. ' Fetch a lij^ht,'
slie 8aid to the b'aek who opene«l tor lis. When we
were alone and seated, she said quietly : ' Jaek, you
are my only frieii'>. I do trust you — oh, entirely.
Now what is it? i 'Jiust know all. Why has Iiujj:li
Wynne been silent? It is not like him.'
"'I have already told you why. Partly ])eeause,
Darlhea, you were away, or would not see us. That
you know. I'artly because Huf?h iiad only his own
word to t^ive; but tills I have told you.'
" * Yes, yt's,' she cried ; * but what else ?'
"'I tliiuk,' said I, 'knowiiij^ him well, that TTu^di
meant, when (mce he had Dclaney's evidruce, to tell
his cousin face to faee, and so force him to release
you.'
'"That is my business, not his,' she broke in.
'What has Tlu^h Wynne to do with itf An I a
child?'
'''Tt had been ^he kiuder and the nniidicr wiiy,'
said I. * Now there is no need ; but llu^h will be
furious with his aunt.'
***I am fjflad of that. What else is there? You
are hidiii«» somcthiujj:.'
"'There was that scene in the garden, Darthea.'
"Sh»' oril of worse than death ? There were Tories enough
to have done his shaineful (»rrand. But oh, dear
Darthea, to suggest to send on sueh business an open,
frank enemy, -his (^ousin too,— that was too bad for
the lowest and vilest!'
"'Hush!' slie said, 'T know enough. Yon have
l)een both })rave aud good. You are the best man T
know. Jack Warder, and the kindest. I wish I loved
you. T am not worthy of you. Now go away.'
'•I obeyed her. nud this was so far tiie end of a
miserable affaii'. What H ugh will say to Miss Wynne,
God knows. I have given a thorough rascal his
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 527
duos ; but, I cunnot do this and not tell him to his
face wliut I have said beliiud his back.
'' This was at ni^'ht, ])nt I liad no better counsel in
the nioniiii^r.
'^I went to find Mr. Dehiney, but he was ^'one,
havini,', as I heaid hiter, put on paper what he had
seen and heard in the Provostry."
f^^
XXVIII
/
■
^^;
it
1
1
IIEN," (Hmtinuos Jaok, " I found Delaney
luul ^'oiio nway, I was in a (|uaudary.
I hy no means dosirod to po alone to
see Captain Wynne. At last I made
up my mind to ask Hugh. If there
eanie a quarrel it should be mine. I resolved there
shoidd be no fight if I eould help it, and that ther«*
.night be trouble if Hugh were first to see his cousin
I felt sure. T!ie snuill sword was out of tl.e '.jues-
tion, but the pi.^tol wns not. I intended no such
ending, and believed T had the nuitter w«'ll in my
OAvn hiinds. When T found Hugh at the quarters I
told him (jui«'tly the whole story.
"That he was in a mad rag*' at his aunt T saw. I
hate to .see Hugh smile in a certain way he ha.s, with
his lips .set close. He said nothing save that he
would go with me. and that T was altogj'tiier in the
right. He was reluctant to promise he would leave
nu^ to spcjik alone, but at last T did get him to .say so.
"Mr. Arthur Wynne was alone in his room at the
inn, and would see us. He was writing, and turned
from his table, rising as we entered. He looked red
and angry, in a soiled dre.ssing-gown, and T thought
huA been drinking. He did not ask us to be seated,
528
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 529
and we rciiiaiiied standiug until our unpleasant talk
eauie to a close.
" He said ni onee, ' My good cousin, I presunic I
owe to j(»u the note I ba\'e had from Miss Penistou
to-day.'
" ' You do not/ said Hu^, not lookinj^ at all dis-
pleased.
" ' Indeed ? I had hoped you had conu' to otfer nie
the only satisfaction in life ytuir slander;' liuve lift
me. My health is no longer such as to forbid tht use
of a pistol.*
" ' Pardon nie/ said 1, ' this is my afiFair, and not
Mr. Wynne's. I have had the lionour of hite to hear
Mr. Dclaney relate what i)assed in th«' jail.'
'* ' Have you, i -deed ? An old story,' .said Arthur
Wynne.
'' ' None the less a nn.sty one. I had also tlie pU'a-
sure to t<'ll Miss Peni.ston that you sugi^^cstrd to tlie
traitor Arnold to u.se my friend's known loyalty as
a safe means of txetting to Sir Ihnry Clinton a h'tter
whi(;h was })resunial»ly a despatch as fo cxchanj^e of
pris(mers, but was really intt-nded to convey to Sir
Henry the news that the s<'(>and."el Arnold was will
iufr to .sell his soul and betray his e(tuntr\\'
" ' Who told you this nonsense 7 ' >nd the ea[)tain,
coniinj; toward us.
" ' Major Andre,' said I. ' You may have my
friend's word for that.'
" 'It is a He ! ' he cied.
" ' Men about to die do not he, Mr. Wynne Ft is
true.'
34
hi
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530 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
"The man's face changed, and he trot that slack
look about the jaw I have ht-ard Hugh describe. To
my astonishment he did not fm-th«'r insist on his
denial, but said coldly, ' And what then ? '
" 'Nothing,' said I. ' Having told what I knew to
a woman, I had no mind to have vou sii^ I had
slandered you behind your back. That is all.'
" * Is it, indeed ? And which of you will give mo
the honour of your company to-morrow?'
'' ' Neither,' said I. ' We do not meet men like you.'
" His face flushed. ' Coward ' ' he said.
" ' If I am that,' said I, pretty <'ool, and shaking a
little after my silly way, 'you know })est, and will
remember, I fancy, for many a day. (iood-moruing,
sir.'
*' On this he cried out, ' By ! this shjdl not
pass! I— I v/ill post you in every inn in town, and
my cousin too. No man shall dare—'
" 'Stoj) a little,' said Hugh. ' If it comes to that
I shall know what to do, and well enough. I have
no desire to put my own blood to ojx»n shame, but
if this matter gc>es further, I shall publish Mr. De-
laney's statement, and that, sir, will close to you
every gentleman's house here and in L( ndon too.'
'"And shall you like it better to have it known
that you were General Arnold's agent?'
" I saw Hugh's face lose its quiet look, and atrain
he smiled. ' In that <'ase,' lie said, ' I should t*?ll my
own story and Mr. Andre V to his Excellency, and
then, my good c(msiu. I should kill you like a inaii
dt)g, and with no ceremony of a duel. You wam«d
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 531
me once wlien I was n mere l»ov. It is 111 v turn now.
As there is u God in liea\eu, I will do us I have
said.'
" ' Two can play at that game/ said Arthur. IIu«!:h
made no re}>ly.
" And on this we left the man standing;, and went
forth without anotlu'r word.
"'I think his fanirs are drawn,' said Ilujrh. And
indeed that was my opinion. I made up ni}' mind,
however, that at the least unpleasant runuMir of any
kind, I woidd take sueh a liand in the matter as would
sav^e Hugh from havinjr to go to e.xti'emitics.''
With the date of a week or so later I lind added :
"The man thought better of it, I dare say, when the
drink wore off; how much of his folly was dne to
that I cannot tell. It was plain that my dear Dar-
thea had let him go at last. Was it because her sweet
pity distressed her to wounll Darthea knew the worst of the man.
I related, too, what .lack had told, and said that now
my cousin would, I thought, go away, and we— thank
Heaven!— be (juit of him forever.
"And yet I must see him once," she said, "and
you too. T have put that deed in the hands of James
Wilson, and he has taken counsel of our friend Mr.
Attornev-iicneral Chew."
"I supj)ose you are right. Aunt CJainor," said I.
"The man is bad ]>ast belief, but he has h)st Djirthea,
which is as much punishment as T or any could de-
sire. T think with you this estate business should
some way be settled, and if it is to be his, I have no
mind to leave the thing in doubt, and if it be mine
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 535
or my father's, I for one do not want it. I have
enougli, and no wisli to muddle away my life a« a
Welsh s(iuire."
*' We shall see," said my aunt, not ut all of my
opinion, as I readily perceived. '* We shjdl see. He
shall have justice iit our hands, and James Wilson
will bo hero at four to-morrow, and you too, Ilujjh,
whether you like it or not."
I did not, and I said so. Sh«' hatl written my
cousin that she desired to see him concerning the
deed. Wliofhor from interest, or what, I know not,
he had replied that he would be with her at half-
past four.
Thus it hapjM'ned that T was to see Arthur Wynne
once more, and indeed T felt that my aunt was ri^'ht,
and that it wore as well all our accounts with this
man were closed. Just how this woidd come about
I knew not yet, but clo.sed they sliould be ; as to that
I was fully advised in my own mind.
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XXIX
T four punctually arrived my friend the
famous lawyer. He was not a hand-
some man, but possessed a certain dis-
tinction, which he owed to a strong face,
well-modelled head, and a neatly pow-
dered \/ig, the hair being tied back, after the fashion
of the bar, in a black queue-bag with, at the end, a
broad black ribbon. He took the snuff my aunt
offered, carefully dusting the excess off the collar of
his brown velvet (!oat, and sat down, saying, as he
took some papers from a silk bag, that it was alto-
i-ether an interesting and curious question, this we
had set before him. And why had we held this deed
so long and said nothing?
I told him of my father's and my grandfather's
disinclination to open the matter, and why and how
the estate had seemed of little worth, but was now,
as I believed, more valuable.
Hearing this he began to question my aunt and
me. He learned from our replies that at the time
I got the deed from my father none but my parent
had any clear idea of what this old family compact
meant, but tliat now we were in possession of such
facts as enabhid us to understand it. I then went on
!
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 537
to make plain that my aunt was full of the matter,
and eager, but that I had no inclination at any time
to enter on a long and doubtful litigation in another
country.
To myself I confessed that I desired no immediate
settlement until I saw what Ai-thur meant to be at.
It was one more hold on a scamp stOl able to do mo
mischief. If it was clearly his father's estate and
not ours, he should soon or late be relieved of any
possible doubt this deed might still make as to ques-
tions of title.
When Mr. Wilson turned to my aunt he found a
more warlike witness. She delighted in the prospect
of a legal contest.
" When a child," she said, " I used to hear of my
father's having consented to make over or give away
to his brother William an embarrassed estate, and
that the crown officers were in some way consenting
parties to the agreement, my father engaging him-
self to go to America when let out of jail.
" There is no doubt," she went on, " that Wyncoto
was under this arrangement legally transferred by
my father to his next brother. Our Welsh cousins
must have this conveyance. It seems, from the deed
you have examined, that privat<*ly a retransfer was
made, so as, after all, to leave my father possessed of
his ancestral estate. If ever ho chose to reclaim it
he was free to do so. The affair seems to hove be-
come more or less known to the squires in that part
of Merionethshire. William was, we pn'sume, un-
willing to take an unfair advantage of his brother's
i
;l I.
I!
!(
538 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
misfortune, and hence the arrangement thus made
between them."
" You state the case admirably," said the lawyer.
" And what else is there ? "
" But little. Letters of affection and esteem came
and went at long intervals. I recollect hearing bits
of them, but cannot say if the estate matter were ever
mentioned. After William's death the correspon-
dence may or may not have ceased. His brother
Owen came into the property without interference,
and, dying, left a young son, Owen, who is still alive.
His son Arthur, Captain Wynne, is to be here to-
day. There are personal matters involved, into which
there is no need to go. The Welsh branch is no
doubt desirous in some way to clear the matter ; but
having held the estate for a century, they are, we may
presume, not very eager to give it up. In justice
to Owen Wynne, I may say that it is probable that
because of a long minority he only began, as I think,
a few years ago to have any doubt as to his title. I
may add," my aunt went on, " that Captain Wynne
came and went during the war, and that only of late
has this deed turned up."
" And your brother is quite unfit to help us ? " said
Wilson.
" Yes ; and unwilling if he were able."
" I see, madam, I see ; a difficult business."
" And this deed ? " said my aunt ; " you were about
to spucik of it."
" It is," he replied, " a simple act of sale for one
shilling, a reconveyance of Wyncote from William
KT
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 539
to Hugh, the date October 9, 1671. It is in order,
and duly witnessed."
"WeU?"
" As to its present value, Mistress Wynne, there is
a consensus of opinion between the Attorney-General
and myself."
" That is to say, you agree," said my aunt.
" Precisely, madam. It is our belief that the lapse
of time has probably destroyed the title. There is
no annexed trust, on William's part, to hold for his
brother's use, and the length of undisputed, or what
we lawyers call adverse, possession— something Uke
an hundred years or more— seems to make it impos-
sible for my friends to oust the present holder. Am
I clear?"
" Too clear, sir," said my aunt. " Is that all ? "
" No ; I said, ' seems.' There are other questions,
such as the mention of the matter in letters. If the
succeeding brothers in letters or otherwise from time
to time acknowledged the rights of Hugh Wynne,
that might serve to keep alive the claim ; if, too, it
can be proved that at any time they paid over to
Hugh or his son, your brother, madam, rents or dues,
as belonging to these American claimants, this too
would serve to give some validity to your present
claim. It is a question of dates, letters, and of your
possession of evidence in the direction of repeated
admissions on the part of the Welsh holders."
My Aunt Gainor was at once (H>nfident. Search
should be made. She had some rememl)ranc(i in lier
childhood of this and that. In fact, my aunt never
540 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
admitted the existence of obstacles, and commonly
refused to see them. Mr. Wilson shook his head
dubiously. "There seems to have been negligence
or a quite culpable indifference, madam. The time
to be covered by admissions is long, and the statutes
of 32 Henry VIII. and 21 James I., 1623, do, I fear,
settle the matter. The lapse in the continuity of
evidence wUl be found after the death of Hugh.
Twenty years will suffice, and I am forced to admit
tliat your claim seems to me of small value. It was
simply an estate given away, owing to want of the
simplest legal advice."
" Wait until I look through our papers," said my
aunt. " We are not done with it yet, nor shall be, if
I have my way, untU the courts have had a chance
to decide."
"It wiU be mere waste of money, my dear lady.
Now, at least, you can do nothing. The war is not
over, and when it is, none but an English court can
settle the title. I confess it seems to be a case for
amicable compromise."
"There shall be none— none," said my aunt.
" And we arc just where wc began," said I.
" Not quite," he returned. " You may have a case,
but it seems to me a weak one, and mjiy lie in
cliancery a man's lifetime. I, as a friend as well as
a lawyer, knowing you have no need of the estate,
liesitate to advise you to engage in a suit of eject-
ment. I should rather counsel— ah, that may be Mr.
Wynne."
It was a clamorous knock at the hall door, which
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 541
caused Mr. Wilson to cut short his advice with the
statement that it would need longer discussion, and
that tliis must be the other party.
It was, in fact, my cousin, who was set down in a
chair, as I saw by a glance through the window.
When Jack and I had seen him ut his inn he had
been a Uttle in liquor, and wore a sort of long chintz
bedgown wrapper, with his \vaistcv>at buttoned awry
—not a very nice figure. He was now Arthur Wynne
at his best. He stood a moment in the doorway, as
beautifid a piece of manhood as ever did the devil's
work. His taste in all matters of dress and outer
conduct was beyond dispute, and for this family
meeting he had apparently made ready with unusual
care. Indead this, my last remembrance of Arthur
Wynne, is of a figure so striking that I cannot resist
to say just how he looked. His raiment was costly
enough to have satisfied Polonius; if it bore any
relation to liis purse, I know not. It was not " ex-
pressed in fancy," as was that of the macaroni dandy
of those early days. He knew better. As he stood
he carried in his left hand a dark beaver edged with
gold lace. His wig was small, and with side rolls
well powdered, the queue tied with a lace-bordered
red ribbon. In front a full Mechlin lace jabot, with
the white wig above, set his regular features and
dark skin in a frame, as it were, his paleness and
a look of melancholy in the eyes helping the natu-
ral beauty and distinction of a face higli bred and
haughty. The white silk flowered waistcoat, the
bunch of gold seals below it, the claret-tinted velvet
fil!
I-
^ii
542 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
coat and breeches, the black silk clocked hose with
gold buckles at ankle and knee, and a sUver-hilted
dress-sword in a green shagreen sheath, complete my
picture. I wish you to see him as I saw him, that in a
measure you may comprehend why his mere personal
charms were such as to attract and captivate women.
He came forward with his right hand on his heart
and bowed tc my aunt, who swept him a space-filling
curtsey, as he said quite pleasantly, " Good-afternoon,
Cousin Gainor ; your servant, Mr. Wilson." To me
he bent slightly, but gave no other greeting. It was
all easy, tranquil, and without sign of embarrassment.
As he spoke he moved toward the table, on which
Mr. Wilson had laid his papers and bag. Now, as
always, a certain deliberate feline grace was in all
his movements.
" For a truth, he is a beauty," said my Aunt Gai-
nor after our meeting was over. " And well-propor-
tioned, but no bit of him Wynne. He has not our
build." Nor had he.
•' Pray be seated," said my aunt. " I have asked
my friend and counsel, Mr. James Wilson, to be
present, that he may impartially set before you a
family matter, in which your father may have inter-
est. My nephew, Hugh Wynne, is here at my earnest
solicitation. I regret that Mr. Chew is unable, by
reason of engagements, to do me a like favour. Mr,
Wilson will have the kindness to set before you the
nature of the case."
Mistress Wynne, sitting straight and tall in a high
cap, spoke with dignified calmness.
ir
:4
Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 543
"At your service, madam," said the lawyer, look-
ing Arthur over with the quick glance of a ready
observer. Before he could go on to do as he was
bidden I found my chance to say, " You will be so
good, Mr. Wilson, as to state Mr. Owen Wynne's case,
as well as our own, with entire frankness ; we have
no desire to wrong any, and least of all one of our
blood."
"I think I understand you fully," said Wilson.
" A deed has been put in the hands of Mr. Attorney-
General Chew and myself, and as to its value and
present validity an opinion has been asked by Mis-
tress Wynne and her nephew."
"Pardon me," said Arthur; "is not my Cousin
John the proper person to consider this question 1 "
" Assuredly," returned Mr. Wilson, " if his state
of mind permitted either his presence or an opinion.
No interests will be affected by his absence, nor can
we do more than acquaint those who are now here
with what, as lawyers, we think."
" I see," said Arthur. " Pray go on."
" This deed seems to convey to my client's grand-
father—that is to say, Mistress Wynne's father-
certain lands situate in Merionethshire, Wales. I
understand that you, sir, represent the present
holder."
" I am," said Arthur, " the son of the gentleman
now in possession of Wyncote, and have full permis-
sion to act for him. If, indeed, you desire further
to learfl on what authority—"
" Not at all, not at all," intei-posed Wilson. " Your
w
i i ■'
544 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
presence suffices ; no more is needed. This meeting
commits no one."
" I was about to ask the date of this document,"
said Arthur.
" Certainl}'^ ; here it is." And so saying the lawyer
spread the deed out on the table. " It is a convey-
ance from William Wynne to Hugh of that name ;
the date, 1671, October 9 ; the witnesses are Henry
Owen and Thomas ap Roberts. It is voluminous.
Do you desire to hear it ? "
" No ; oh no ! What next ? "
"We believe," continued the lawyer, "that this
deed has ceased to have effect, owing to lapse of time
and the appearance— pray note my words— the ap-
pearance of undisputed ownership by the younger
branch. Neither is there any trust to hold the
estate for Hugh ; it is a mere conveyance."
"There can be, of course, no doubt," returned
Arthur— " I mean as to a century of unquestioned
possession."
" I am not secure as to the point you make,** said
Mr. Wilson, courteously. "I cannot now decide.
I am asked to state the matter impartially. My
clients wish justice done to aU, and will take no
unfair advantage. It may be you have no case.
There may have passed frequent letters on both
sides, admitting the claim or reasserting it, and thus
keeping it alive. Rents may have been paid. Facts
like these may open questions as to the length of
undisputed holding. Only your own courts can de-
cide it, and that with all the evidence before them."
Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 545
" I am obliged by your frankness," said my cousin.
" I had hoped to see the matter fully settled."
" That will never be," said my aunt, " until I have
carried it through every court in England."
" Ap you please," repUed Arthur.
" Mr. Wynne," said I, " while my father lives we
shall do nothing ; nor even afterward, perhaps. 1
do not want the money, nor the old home. What is
done may depend much on your own actions, sjir."
I had no desire to lose this hold on him. As I spoke
I saw him look up astonished, as was also, I thought,
the lawyer, who knew nothing of our quarrels.
" If," said I, " you had come to us frankly at first,
and stated why you came, we should have said what
I now say. No, / should have said far more. I
believe this ends the matter for the present." My
aunt lifted her hand, but I. added, " I pray you let it
rest here, aunt," and for a wonder she held her peace.
Arthur, too, seemed about to speak, but his worse
or better angel, I know not which, prevailed, and
quietly saluting us all, he rose and took his leave.
" We shall see when this war is over," said my
aunt, taking the deed. " Many thanks, Mr. Wilson ;
I should like to have your opinion in writing."
" I shall send it in a week or two. Mr. Arthur
Wynne seems to have come over, as I judge from
what he said, with authority to act for his fatlier.
Why he did not at once relate his errand I cannot
see. Had you had no deed it would have closed the
matter. If he found you had one he would have
been only in the position he is now in to-day."
35
1 '
54^ Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
"I fancy he may have been fearful and over-
cautious, not comprehending the nature of those he
had to deal with," said I. " You must have known
him as I do, Mr. Wilson, to understand his actions.
I was sorry you did not let him tell us wha.t powers
he really had. I was curious."
" Yes, yes, I interrupted him. It was a mistake."
And so saying he rose.
" It shall not rest here," said my aunt. " Some-
thing shall be done." And on this I too went away,
declining further talk.
When Arthur came over to learn what he could
as to their title to Wyncote, he failed to see that we
were people whom no prospect of gain could lead
into the taking of an advantage. He thus lost the
chance i little honest directness would have given
him. When later my father threw in his way the
opportunity of absolute security as to the title, the
temptation to get secretly from him a legal transfer,
or— God knows— perhaps the power to destroy the
deed, was too much for a morally weak and quite
reckless nature. I was the sole obstacle, or I seemed
to be. We loved the same woman ; she had begun
to doubt her English lover. If I had died he had
become assured, not only of the possession of Wyn-
cote, but of being ultimately my father's heir.
Of this Jack writes : " Here was a whole brigade
of temptations, and he could not stand it. He would
have broken that tender heart I loved. God help me !
I think I should have killed him before he had the
cruel chance."
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 547
If to the estate and other worldly baits was
added the remembrance of the blow a mere boy
gave, I do not know. It is eertai . that at last he
hated me, and as sure that I had as little love for
him.
li
XXX
ARLY in March of 1782 Jack and I con-
cluded that the war was over, or was to be
but a waiting game, as indeed it proved.
After some thought over the matter we
both resigned, and as it was desired to
lessen the list of oflOlcers, we were promptly released
from service.
On March 22 his Excellency rode away from town
under escort of Captain Morris's troop of light horse.
I went ahmg as far as Burlington, being honoured
when I left by the personal thanks of the general,
and the kind wish that I might discover it to be
convenient to visit him at Mount Vernon.
April was come, and we gladly turned again to
the duties which {.waited us both. His Excellency
had gone to watch Sir Guy Carleton penned up in
New York. Congress wrangled^ our gay world ate
and danced, and the tardy war fell to such slackness
thai i^. was plain to all a peace must soon come,
although we were yet to see another winter pass
before the obstinate Dutchman on the English
throne gave up a lost game.
In July my father died of a sudden afflux of blood
54«
Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 549
to the head ; and althoiigh he was blooded by Dr.
Rush several times, never was so far bettered as to
speak to me. Only once, as I am told is not rare,
he so revived when in the very article of death as
to look about and say, thinking my hand in liis was
my mothei*'s, that she must not grieve for him.
Alas ! he had been as one dead to me for many a
year. I wore no black for him, because I was and
am of the opinion of Friends that this custom is a
foolish one. My aunt was ill pleased at my decision,
and put herself and all her house in mourning.
None the less, for my part, did I regret, not so much
the natural, easy death, as the sad fact it seemed to
fetch back so plainly, that from my youth up here
were two people, neither of them unkindly or ill
natured, who were all tlirough life as completely
apart as if no tie of a common blood had pledged
them to affection.
I saw— I can see now -the gray and drab of the
great concourse of Friends who stood about that
open grave on Arch street. I can see, too, under
the shadow of his broad gray beaver, the simple,
sincere face of James Pemberton, my father's
lifelong friend. He spoke, as was the custom of
Friends, at the grave, there being no other cere-
mony, an omi^^sion of which I confess I do not
approve. Much moved, ho said:
" Our friend, Jolm Wynne, departed this life on
the 23d of July of this year fl)eing 1782]. For many
years he hath carried tlie ('ross of afflicting si(!kness,
and hath unceasingly borue testimony to the doc-
^^o Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
trine and conduct upheld of Friends. He was a
man of great abilities, and, like our lamented William
Penn, of an excellent gravity of disposition, without
dissimulation, extensive in charity, having neither
malice nor ungratefulness. He was apt without
forwardness, yet weighty, and not given to unseemly
levity. The wise shall cherish the thought of him,
and he shall be remembered with the just." And
this was all. One by one they took my hand, and
with my Aunt Gainor I walked away. I closed the
old home a day or two later, and went with my
aunt to her farm.
I had not seen Darthea for many a day. " Let
her alone," said my aunt. I think Jack was often
with her ; but he knew to hold his tongue, and I
asked no (juestions. At last, a week after the fu-
neral, I recognised her hand in the address of a
note to me. I read it with a throbbing heart.
" Sir : I have heard of your great loss with sorrow,
for even though your father has been this long while
as one lost to you, I do think that the absence of a
face we love is so much taken from the happiness of
life. You know that your aunt hurt me as few could,
but now I am not sorry for what then befell. The
thought of death brings others in its train, and I
have reflected much of late. I shall go to see Mis-
tress Wynne to-day, and will you come and* see me
when it shall appear to you convenient ? I am for
a little at Stenton, with Madam Logan."
Would I, indeed ? My dc^ar old Lucy, a little stiff
in the knees, carried me well, and seemed to share
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 551
my good humour as I rode down the long road from
Chestnut Hill.
The great trees about the home James Logan
built were in full leaf, and under their shade a black
groom held two horses as I rode up. Darthea came
out, and was in the saddle before she saw me.
The rich bloom of health was again on her cheek,
and deepened a little as I went toward her.
I said I was glad to see her, and v/as she going to
my Aunt Gainor's ? If so, and if it were agreeable
to her, the groom might stay. I would ride back
with her. Then Mrs. Logan, at the door, said this
would suit very well, as she needed the man to go to
town. After this we rode away under the trees and
up the Germantown road, Miss Peniston pusliing
her horse, and we not able on this account to talk.
At last, when I declared Lucy too old to keep up the
pace, the good beast fell to walking.
Soon we went by the graveyard where the brave
Englishman, General Aguew, lay ; and here Darthea
was of a mind to be told again of that day of glory
and defeat. At the market-house, where School-house
Lane comes out into the main street of German-
town, she must hear of the wild strife in the fog and
smoke, and at last of how I was hurt ; and so we
rode on. She had gotten again her gay spirits, and
was full of mirth, anon serious, or for a moment
sad. Opposite Cliveden I had to talk of the fight,
and say where were Jnvk and Sullivan and Wayne,
although Jack more concerned her. As we rode up
the slope of Mount Airy I broke a long silence.
mi
552 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
" Darthea," said I, " is it yes, or always no t "
"Will you never be contented?" she returned.
" Is n't it mean to say these things now ? I can't get
away. I have half a mind to marry Jack, to be rid
of you both."
"Is it yes or MO, Dartheat"
" Yes," she said, looking me in the face, I am a
strong man,— I was so then,— but a great rush of
blood seemed to go to my head, and then I went
pale, as she told me later, and I clutched at Lucy's
mane. I felt as if I might fall, so much was I moved
by this gi'eat news of joy.
" Are you ill ? " she cried.
" No, no," I said ; " it is love ! Thy dear love I
cannot bear. Thank God, Darthea ! "
"And do you love me so much, Hugh? I— I did
not know." She was like a sweet, timid child.
I could only say, " Yes, yes ! "
"Oh, Hugh!" she cried. "How can you forgive
me ? But I am not like other women. My word—
you will know— and then you wiU forgive me."
Her eyes were full of tears, her face aU aglow.
" There is— there never will be anything to forgive."
" But I was so foolish— and— I was so foolish."
" Let us forget, Darthea. I have thy love. God
knows it is enough."
" Thank you, Hugh. Don't speak to me for a lit-
tle, please." And under the warm August afternoon
sky we rode on at a foot-pace, and said no word
more until we came to my aunt's door. Then Dar-
thea slyly put on her riding-mask, and we went in.
I'i
"IS IT VKS on NO UAKTHKA?"
I
Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker 553
My aunt had her in her great arms in a moment.
The mask fell, and then my aunt held her off a little,
looked from her to me, and said, " Has he made you
cry, sweetheart ? He always was a fool. I am very
glad. You have made an old woman's heart sing
with joy. It is not your fault. Hugh's silly face
was enough. Lord ! girl, how pretty you are ! Do
you suppose I never was in love ? I never was, but
I know the signs." Darthea, released, was pleased
enough to be let go up to my aunt's room. By and
by she came down, saucy and smiUng, and later
came Jack, when my aunt, being too happy to hold
her dear old tongue, told him, while poor Darthea
looked at him with a tender gravity I did not under-
stand. He went away very soon, saying he had busi-
ness in town, and this is what he writ that night :
" And so she will have my Hugh, and he the best
lady alive. I pray the good God to keep them from
all the sorrows of this world. If he love her as I
love her, she can ask no greater love ; and he will-
he cannot help it. Now I will write no more. God
bless thee, Darthea ! " It was thus a gallant gentle-
man loved in those stormy days.
And here, with this dear name, his records close,
and there is the date of August 1, 1782, and a line
drawn underneath.
The new relation soon to be established between
us of necessity brought Madam Peniston and my
aunt into frequent council. There were matters of
dress to be considerately dealt with, and I was told
it must be six months before orders could be filled
>*i
554 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
from France, England being just now out of the
question. Where the mysteries of women's gar-
ments are concerned a man hath no better resort
than to submit humbly, as to a doctor or a lawyer.
Here of a certainty knowledge is power, and as to
this matter, a man had best learn to conceal amaze-
ment under a show of meekness.
When I ventured to remonstrate Darthea looked
serious, and would I ever have fallen in love with
her unless she had laid snares of gown and ribbon,
and how was my love to be kept if for the future
there were not provided a pretty variety of such
vanities ? Even my Aunt Gainor refused to discuss
the question. I must wait ; and as this was the sin-
gle occasion known to me when she had declined a
hand at the game of talk, I began to perceive that
ignorance is weakness, and so at last, calmly con-
fessing defeat, I waited until those consulting cliose
to advise me, the patient, of their conclusions.
Meanwhile Mrs. Peniston had ceased to grieve
over the lost lover and the great estate— it never
was really gi'cat.
My aunt could not let go of the notion that we
must have a fight for Wyncote. This tendency to
become possessed by an ifi^a, I came to see later,
was a family trait, of value if wisely kept in due
place, but capable, also, of giving rise to mischief.
My aunt, in some of her talks with Darthea's rela-
tive, heard of that good dame's past regrets at the
loss of a title and estate and a British lover, and of
how flattered we ought to be.
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker ^^^
I presume poor Madam Peniston was well and
sharply answered; but it was not in my Aunt
Gainor not to boast a little of how we were the
elder branch, and of what might chance in the fairy
future. When Mrs. Peniston saw the deed, and was
told of the search my aunt was making for letters
to support our claims, she was too excited not to let
out enough to disturb Darthea, and this although
my aunt told Mrs. Peniston of my dislike of the
whole matter, and how it was never to be mentioned
or known to any until more evidence came to light.
Thus cautioned, she was just mysterious enough to
excite my quick-witted maid, who was as curious as
any of her sex.
When of course she questioned me, and some
notion of the mischief on hand came thus to my
knowledge, I saw at once how it might annoy Dar-
thea. I said that it merely concerned a question
in dispute between Arthur Wynne's family and my
own, and ought not, I thought, to be discussed just
now. The mere name of her former lover was
enough to silence her, and so I begged her to put
it aside. She was willing enough, I liad happier
things on my own mind, and no present desire to
stir in the matter. In fact, I wished most earnestly
to keep it awhile from Darthea, How much she
knew I could not tell, but I was well aware that she
was, above all things, sensitive as to any reference to
Arthur Wynne, That slic liad once loved him with
the honest love of a strong nature I knew, and
somewhat hated to remember; but this love was
^^6 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
dead, and if the sorry ghost of it haunted her at
times, I could not wonder. My aunt had once or
twice mentioned him casually, and each time Dar-
thea had flushed, and once had asked her never to
speak of him again. I meant soon— or more likely
later— to discuss the matter quietly with Darthea ;
for then, as always, I held to the notion that the
wife should have her share in every grave decision
affecting the honour and interests of her husband.
After this I spoke most anxiously of the matter
to my aunt, and entreated her to quiet Madam Pen-
iston, and to let the thing rest in my hands. This
she declared most reasonable, but I knew her too
well not to feel uneasy, and indeed the result justi-
fied my fears.
My aunt, as I have said, had gone wild a bit over
that deed, and when Darthea was not with her was
continually discussing it, and reading over and over
Mr. Wilson's opinion. I got very tired of it all.
One night, late in October, I rode out from town,
and, after a change of dress, went into the front
room with the dear thought in my mind of her
whom I should see.
A welcome firo of blazing hickory logs alone lighted
up the large room, for my aunt liked thus to sit at
or after twilight, and as yet no candles had been set
out. As I stood at the door, the leaping flames,
flaring up, sent flitting . athwart the floor queer
shadows of tall-backed chairs and spindle-legged
tables. Tlie great form of my Aunt Gainor filled
the old Penn chair I had brought from home, likiug
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 557
myself to use it. Just now, as usual, she was sitting
erect, for never did I or any one else see her use for
support the back of a chair. At her feet lay Dar-
thea, with her head in the old lady's lap— a pretty
picture, I thought.
Darthea leaped up to run to me. My aunt said
nothing, not so much as " Good-evening," but went
out, and in a minute or two came back, exclaim-
ing, in an excited way, that she had waited all day,
and now at last she had great news, and we must
hear it.
I was bewildered, until I saw she had in one hand
the deed and in the other a bundle of letters. Then
I knew what a distressful business was to be faced,
and that it was vain to cry " Stop ! "
''What is it?" said Darthea.
" It can wait," said I. " I insist. Aunt Gainor."
" Nonsense ! The girl must know soon or late,
and why not now ? "
" I must hear, Hugh," said Darthea.
"Very well," I returned, as angiy with the old
lady as ever I had been in all my life.
" It is a thing to settle," cried Aunt Gainor, in her
strong voice. "We must agree— agi'ee on it— all of
us."
" Go on," said I. And Darthea insisting, I said
nothing more, and was only concerned to be done
with it once for all.
"The war will soon end," said my aunt, "and
something must be done. These letters I have come
upon put a new face on the matter. I have not yet
^5^ Fliigh Wynne: Free Quaker
read uU f)t' thorn. But among them are letters to
your grandfather of great importance."
I was vexed as I have rarely been. "I never
doubted, Aunt Gainor, that in my gi'andfather's life
some acknowledgments may have passed ; but it is
the long lapse of time covered by my father's life
which will fail as to evidence."
" It shall not ! " she cried. " You shall be mistress
of Wyneote, Darthea. These letters—"
" I ? Wyneote ? " said Darthea.
" Let us discuss them alone, aunt," I urged, hoping
to get the matter put aside for a time.
"No J I will wait no longer. I am deeply con-
cerned, and I wish Darthea to hear."
" Why not refer it to Mr. Wilson ? Unless these
letters cover far more of a century than seems likely,
they cannot alter the case."
" That is to be determined," said the old lady. " I
shall go to England and settle it there. You shall
be Wynne of Wyneote yet, sir."
" What ! what ! " cried Darthea. " What does all
this mean ? Tell me, Hugh. Why is it kept from
me?" It was plain that soon or late she must
know.
" My aunt tliinks Wyneote belongs to us. Tliere
is an old deed, and my aunt will have it we must go
to law over it. It is a doubtful matter, Darthea—
as to the right, I mean. I have no wish to stir it up,
nor to leave mv own land if we were to win it."
I saw Darthea flush, and in a moment she was at
my aunt's side.
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 559
" Stop ! " said I. " Reniember, dear, I have not hid
it from you. I desired only that some day you and
I should consider it alon§ and tranquilly. But now
there is no help for it, and you must hear. The
deed- "
" Is this it ? " she broke in, taking the yellow parch-
ment off the table where my aunt had laid it.
" Yes, yes," said my aunt j " and you must bring
Hugh to his senses about it, my dear. It is a great
estate, and rich, and the old house— we have its pic-
ture, Darthea. Madam Wynne of Wyncote, I shaU
come and visit you," The old lady was flushed, and
foolishly eager over this vain ambition.
Darthea stood in the brilliant firelight, her eyes set
on the deed. " I cannot understand it," she said.
" I will send for candles," cried Mistress Wynne,
" and you shall hear it, and the letters too ; " and with
this she rang a hand-bell, and bade Caesar fetch lights.
I looked on, distressed and curious.
" And this," said Darthea, " is the deed, and it may
give you, Hugh— give us the lands?"
" But I do not want it," cried my aunt, greatly
excited. " It is to be Hugh's. Yours, my dear child."
"If," said Darthea, speaking slowly, "the elder
brother dies, as he surely will before long, it will be
—it will be Arthur Wynne who, on his father's death,
will inherit this estate ? "
" That is it," said my aunt. " But he shall never
have it. It is ours. It is Hugh's."
My 4ear maid turned to me. " And it would be
ours, " said Darthea, " if—"
560 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
" Yes," cried Miss Wynne. " There are no ' ifs.' "
"Do you want it, Hugh— these Welsh lands?"
asked Darthea.
I thought she looked anxiously at the deed in her
hand as she stood. "Not I, Darthea, and least of
all now. Not I."
"No," she went on; "you have taken the man's
love from him— I think he did love me, Hugh, in his
way— you could not take his estate ; now could you,
Hugh?"
"No!"said I; "no!"
" Darthea, are you mad ? " said Aunt Wjrnne.
" I will not have it ! " cried Darthea. " I say I will
not have it, and it concerns me most, madam." I
had never before seen her angry. " Do you love me,
Hugh Wynne ? " she cried. " Do you love me, sir ? "
" Darthea ! "
" Will you always love me ? "
" Dear child ! " I exclaimed. " What is it ? "
"Give me that deed," said my aunt. "Are you
crazy fools, both of you ? "
" Fools, Mistress Wynne ? " said Darthea, turning
from me, the deed still in hei' hand. " You are cruel
and unkind. Could I marry Hugh Wynne if he did
this thing? Are there no decencies in life, madam,
that are above being sold for money and name ? I
should never marry him if he did this thing —never ;
and I mean to marry him, madam." And with this
she unrolled the deed, crumpled it up, and threw it
on the red blaze of the fire.
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 561
There was a flash of flame and a roar in the chim-
ney. It was gone in a moment, and oui* Welsh lands
were so much smoke and cinders.
My aunt made a wild rush to rescue them, but
struck her head against the chimney-shelf, and fell
back into a chair, crying, " You idiot ! you fool ! You
shall never marry him ! "
I picked up the slim little lady in my arms, and
kissed her over and over, whilst, as she struggled
away, I whispered :
" Thank God ! Dear, brave heart ! It was well
done, and I thank you."
My aunt's rage knew no bounds, and I may not
repeat what she said to my Darthea, who stood open-
eyed, defiant, and flushed.
I begged the furious old lady to stop. A whirl-
wind were as easily checked. At last, when she could
say no more, my dear maid said quietly :
" What I have done, Hugh should have done long
since. We are to live together, I trust, madam, for
many years, and I love you well ; but you have said
things to me not easy to forget. I beg to insist that
you apologise. For lighter things men kiU one an-
other. I await, madam, your excuses."
It was a fine sight to see how this fiery little bit of
a woman faced my tall, strong aunt, who towered
above her, her large face red with wrath.
"Never!" she cried. "I have been— it is I who
am insulted and put to shame, in my own house, by
a chit of a miss."
36
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562 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
" Then good-by," said Darthea, and was by me and
out of tlie house before I could see what to do or
know what to say.
" She is gone ! " I cried. " Oh, Aunt Gainor, you
have broken my heart ! "
"What did I say, Hugh?" said my aunt. I do
truiy think she did not know what she had said j and
now slie was off and I after her, knocking over Ceesar
und our belated candles, and out of doors after Dar-
thea. I saw her join her a few yards away, and did
wisely to hold back. I knew well the child-heart my
aunt carried within that spacious bosom.
What the pair of them said I do not know. In a
few minutes they were back again, both in tears, the
whole wretched business at an end. I thought it
better to go away and leave them, but my aunt cried
out:
" Wait, sir ! I am an old ass ! If either of you
ever mention this thing again, I— I will wring your
necks. I make free to say that some day you will
both I'egret it ; but it is your affair and not mine. O
Lord ! if Cat Ferguson ever comes to know it—"
" She never will," said Darthea ; " and we will love
you and love you, dear, dear mother, and I am sorry
I hurt you ; but I had to— I had to. If I was wise,
I know not ; but I had to end it— I had to."
Never before had I heard the sweet woman call my
aunt mother. She often did so in after-years. It
melted the old spinster, and she fell to kissing her,
saying:
"Yes, I am your mother, child, and always will
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 2^63
be." But ever after Mistress Wynne was a trifle
afraid of my little lady, and there were no more siieh
scenes.
When my aunt was gone away to bed, tliough not
to sleep, I fear, my dear maid came and sat at my
feet on a cushion, and for a time was silent. At last,
looking up, she said, " Hugh, was I wrong to burn
it?"
Then I was silent a little while, but from the first I
was resolved to be ever outright and plain with my
lady, who was impulsive, and woidd need help and
counsel and government, that her character might
grow, as it did in after-years. I said : " Yes, Dartliea.
It was not yours, nor altogether mine ; it was my
father's land, if it belonged to any of us. It is blotter
for me to tell you the simple truth. It would have
made no difference had the deed been left unde-
stroyed ; it would only have given you th(^ chance
to know me better, and to learn that no consideration
would have made me take these lands, even liad our
title been clear. Now you have destroyed my power
of choice. I am not angry, not even vexed; but
another time trust me, dear."
" I see ! I see ! " she exclaimed. " Wliat have I
done?" And she began to sob. "I w.'is— was
wicked not to trust you, and foolish ; and wvw I see
Aunt Gainor had reason to be angry. But you are
good and brave to tell me. T eoukl not have said
what you said ; I should have de(;lared you were riglit.
And now I know it was weakness, not strengtli, that
made me do it. I shall pray God to forgive me. Kiss
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m
564 Hugh Wynne : Free Quaker
me, Hugh; I love you twice as much as ever I did
before."
When I had done her sweet bidding, I said, " Dar-
thea, let us forget all this. Wrong or right, I at least
am pleased to have the thing at rest forever; and,
wrong or right, I thank you. I was honest, Darthea,
when I said so ; and now good-night." At this she
looked me in the eyes and went slowly out of the
room, and, I fear, had no better slumbers than my
Aunt Gaiuor.
XXXI
|ARLY in February of 1783 we were mar-
ried by the Rev. William White, long
after to be our good bishop. Christ
Ch«.-wh was full of my old friends, my
Aunt Gainor in the front pew in a mag-
nificent costume, and Mrs. Peniston with Jack, very
grave of face, beside her. As no De Lanceys were
to be had in our rebel town, Mr. James Wilson gave
away the precious gift of Darthea Peniston. We
went in my aunt's chariot to Merion ; and so ends the
long tale of my adventures, which here, in the same
old country home, I have found it pleasant to set
down for those ^ iio wlU, I trust, live in it when I
am dead.
In April, 1783, p'^ace was proclaimed. In Novem-
ber of that year I heard from Colonel Hamilton that
our beloved general would, on December 4, take leave
of his ofQcers, and that he was kind enough to desire
that all of his old staff who wished should be present.
I was most pleased to go.
In New York, at Fraunee's Tavern, near White-
hall Ferry, I found the room full of the men who
had humbled the pride of Rngland and brought our
Ea Sfflm U M BHliaiiiiaiilCaBSiKMni-^nnma
566 Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker
great war to a close. His Excellency entered at
noon, and seeing about him these many companions
in arms, was for a little so agitated that he could
not speak. Then with a solemn and kindly expres-
sion of face, such as I had once before seen him wear,
he filled a glass with wine, and, seeming to steady
himself, said :
" With a heart full of love and gratitude, I take
my leave of you, most devoutly wishing that your
latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your
former ones have been glorious and honourable."
So saying, he drank his wine, and one after an-
other went by him shaking his hand. No word was
said, and these worn veterans of the winter camps
and the summer battle-fields moved out, and saw
their former general pass down, between lines of in-
fantry, to the shore. There he got into a barge. As
he was rowed away he stood up and lifted his hat.
All of us uncovered, and remained thus till he passed
from sight, to be seen no more by many of those who
gazed sadly after his retreating form.
There is an old book my grandchildren love to
hear me read to them. It is the " Morte d'Arthur,"
done into English by Sir Thomas Malory. Often
when I read therein of how Arthur the king bade
farewell to the world and to the last of the great
company of his Knights of the Round Table, this
scene at Whitehall slip comes back to me, and I seom
to see once more those gallant soldiers, and far away
the tall figure of surely the knightliest gentleman
our days have known.
Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker 567
My years go on in peace. We have enough— far
more than enough— for all the wants and even for
the luxui'ies of life. It is late in the night, and
Christmas-time, in the great stone house at Merion.
The noise of little ones— and they are many— has
ceased. I hear steps and laughter in the hall. The
elder ones troop in to say good-night. There are
Darthea and Gainor, mothers of the noisy brigade
now in bed, and here is Hugh, the youngest, and
Jack, with the big build of his race. And soon all
are gone, and the house quiet.
I looked up where, under my dear Jack Warder's
face, which Stuart did for me, hangs Knyphausen's
long blade, and across it Jack's sword. Below, my
eye lights on the Hessian pistols, and the sword-knot
the gallant marquis ga\ e me.
I watch the crumbling fire and seem to see once
more the fierce struggle in the market-place, the
wild fight on the redoubt, and my cousin's dark face.
The years have gone by, and for me and mine there
is peace and love, and naught a man in years may
not think upon with joy.
Suddenly two hands from behind are over my
eyes ; ah, well I know their tender touch ! Says a
dear voice I hope to hear till life is over— and after
that, I trust— "What are you thinking of, Hugli
Wynne?"
" Of how sweet you have made my life to me, my
darling."
"Thank God!"
THE END.
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