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1 2 3

THE

OLD JUDGE.

NOTICE.

The copyright of this Work being the exclaaive property of Mr.
Colburn, any person attempting to infringe his right will be im*
mediately prosecuted.

The Publisher also begs to state that, by the late Copyright Act,
the 5 and 6 Victoria, c. 46, it is enacted, that any person having in his
possession, within the United Kingdom, for sale or hire, one or more
copies printed abroad of any English work protected by the Act
referred to, is liableto a penalty, which, in cases aflfecting his interest,
he intends to enforce.

The public are further informed, that the Act 5 and 6 Victoria,
c. 47, 8. 24, prohibits the importation of all works printed in foreign
countries, of which the copyright has not expired. Even single copies,
though for the especial use of the importers, and marked with their
names, are excluded ; and the Customs* officers in the different ports
are strictly enjoined to carry this regulation into effect.

N.B. — The above r^ulations are in force in all British colonies
and dependencies, as well as in the United Kingdom.

THE

OLD JUDGE;

OR,

LIFE IN A COLONY.

BY THE AUTHOR OF
"SAM SLICK, THE CLOCKMAKEE,*
** THE ATTACH V &C.

Hab«foque senectuti magnam gratiam, qn« mihi lennonU aviditatem auxit,
potlonit et clbi susttdit. Cioebo di Sikictut*.

0,t\B iSHition*

LONDON:

n • c • ' • ' !j "

HENRY COLBURN, En.0LISHBR.
GREAT MARLBOROUOg^ STREET.

1860. '"o'.

F. Shobeil, Jun*tPriuter to H.R.H. Prince Albert, 51. Kiipertiitreet, Haymarkrt.

b^oS^^

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• • •

* *

• •••

PREFACE.

The following sketches of" Life in a Colony"
were drawn from nature, after a residence of
half a century among the people, whose habits,
manners, and social condition, they are intended
to delineate. I have adopted the form of a
tour, and the character of a stranger, for the
double purpose of avoiding the prolixity of a
journal, by the omission of tedious details, and
the egotism of an author, by making oth^
speak for themselves in their own way. The
utmost care has been taken to exclude any
thing that could by any possibility be sup-
posed to have a personal reference, or be the
subject of annoyance. The " dramatis per-
sonae" of this work are, therefore, ideal repre-
sentatives of their several .classes, having aU
the characteristics and peculiarities of their own
set, but no actual existence. Should they be
found to resemble particular individuals, I can

PREFACE.

assure the reader that it is accidental, and not
intentional ; and I trust it will be considered,
as it really is, the unavoidable result of an
attempt to delineate the features of a people
among whom there is such a strong family
likeness.

In my previous works, I have been fortimate
enough to have avoided censure on this score,
and I have been most anxious to render the
present book as unobjectionable as its pre-
decessors. Political sketches I have abstained
from altogether; provincial and local affairs
are too insignificant to interest the general
reader, and the policy of the Colonial Office is
foreign to my subject. The absurd import-
ance attached in this country to trifles, the
grandiloquent language of rural politicians,
the flimsy veil of patriotism, imder which
selfishness strives to hide the deformity of its
visage, and the attempt to adopt the machinery
of a large empire to the government of a
small colony, present many objects for ridicule
or satire; but they could not be approached
without the suspicion of personality, and the
direct imputation of prejudice. As. I con-^
sider, however, that the work would be incom-
plete without giving some idea of the form of

PREFACE. T

government under which the inhabitants of
the lower colonies live, I have prepared a very
brief outline of it, without any comment.
Those persons who take no interest in such
matters, can pass it over, and leave it for
others who may prefer information to amuse-
ment.

I have also avoided, as far as practicable,
topics common to other countries, and endea-
voured to select scenes and characters pecu-
liar to the colony, and not to be found in books.
Some similarity there must necessarily be be-
tween all branches of the Anglo-Saxon family,
speaking the same language, and living imder
modifications of the same form of government ;
but still, there are shades of difference which,
though not strongly remarked, are plainly dis-
cernible to a practised eye.

Facies non omnibus una nee tamen diversa.

This distinctive character is produced by thi
necessities and condition of a new country, by
the nature of the climate, the want of an Esta-
blished Church, hereditaiy rank, entailment of
estates, and the subdivision of labour, on the one
hand, and the absence of nationality, independ-
ence, and Republican institutions, on the other.

PBEFACE.

Colonists difFer again in like manner from
each other, according to the situation of their
respective country ; some being merely agri-
cultural, others commercial, and many par-
taking of the character of both. A picture of
any one North American Province, therefore,
will not, in all respects, be a true representa-
tion of another. The Nova Scotian, who is
more particularly the subject of this work, is
often found superintending the cultivation of
a farm, and building a vessel at the same time ;
and is not only able to catch and cure a cargo
of fish, but to find his way with it to the West
Indies or the Mediterranean ; he is a man of
all work, but expert in none — ^knows a little
of many things, but nothing well. He is ir-
regular in his pursuits, " all things by turns,
and nothing long," and vain of his ability or
information, but is a hardy, frank, good-
natured, hospitable, manly fellow, and withal
quite as good-looking as his air gives you to
understand he thinks himself to be. Such is
the gentleman known throughout America as
Mr. Blue Nose, a sobriquet acquired from a
superior potato of that name, of the good
qualities of which he is never tired of talking,
being anxious, like most men of small property.

PREFACE.

Vll

to exhibit to the best advantage the little he
liad.

Although this term is applicable to all
natives, it is more particularly so to that por-
tion of the population descended from emi-
grants from the New England States, either pre-
viously to, or immediately after, the American
Revolution. The accent of the Blue Nose is
provincial, inclining more to Yankee than to
English, his utterance rapid, and his conversa-
tion liberally garnished with American phraseo-
logy, and much enlivened with dry hiunuur.
From the diversity of trades of which he knows
something, and the variety of occupations in
which he has been at one time or another
engaged, he uses indiscriminately the technical
terms of all, in a manner that would often
puzzle a stranger to pronounce whether he was
a landsman or sailor, a farmer, mechanic, lum-
berer, or fisherman. These characteristics are
more or less common to the people of New
Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Cape
Breton, and the scene of these sketches might
perhaps to a very great extent be laid, with
equal propriety, in those places as in Nova
Scotia. But to Upper and Lower Canada they
are not so applicable.

VUl

PREFACE.

The town of lUinoo, so often mentioned in
this work, is a fictitious place. I have selected
it in preference to a real one, to prevent the
possible application of my remarks to any of
the inhabitants, in accordance with the earnest
desire I have already expressed to avoid giving
offence to any one.

1 1

CONTENTS.

PAOB

Chapter I. The Old Judge . ... 1

Chapter n. How many Fins has a Cod f or, Forty

Years Ago . . * • .10

Chapter in. Asking a Governor to Dine . . 34

Chapter IV. The Tombstones . . .73

Chapter Y. A Ball at Government House . . 88

Chapter VI. The Old Admiral and the Old General . 119
Chapter VH. The First Settlers . . .143

Chapter VJLII. Merrimakings . • . . . 150

Chapter IX. The Schoolmaster; or, the Hecke Thaler 168
Chapter X. The Lone House . • .186

Chapter XL The Keeping-room of an Inn ; or, Judge

Beler's Ghost. No. I. ... 205

Chapter XII. The Keeping-room of an Inn ; or. See-
ing the Devil. No. IL . . . .235
Chapter Xni. The Keeping-room of an Inn; or, a

Long Night and a Long Story. No. in. . . 262

Chapter XIV. The Keeping-room of an Inn; or, the

Cushion -Dance. No. IV. . . . 280

Chapter XV. The Keeping-room of an Lm; or, A

Chase for a Wife. No. V. . . . 303

Chapter XVI. A Pippin ; or, Sheepskins and Garters 335
Chapter XVII. Horse-shoe Cove; or, Hufeisen Bucht.

No. I. ..... 361

Chapter XVIIL Horse-shoe Cove; or, Hufeisen Bucht.

No. n. ..... 376

Chapter XIX. The Seasons ; or, Comers and Goers . 400
Chapter XX. The Witch of Inky Dell .. . 425

Chapter XXI. Colonial Government . . 450

THE OLD JUDGE;

OR,

LIFE IN A COLONY.

CHAPTER I.
THE OLD JUDGE.

A few days ago two strangers were shown into my
study : one of them, stepping aside, pointed to his
companion, and said, " This, sir, is the Reverend
Gabriel Gab of Olympus." The other performed the
same kind office for his friend, saying, " And this, sir,
is the Reverend Elijah Warner, of the Millerite per-
suasion, from Palmyra, United States of America."

The former, whose name was by no means inappro-
priate, explained, with great volubility, the object of
their visit, which he said was twofold : first, to pay
their respects to me; secondly, to make some inquiries
about the great bore in the river in my neighbourhood.

Had there been a mirror in the room, I should have
been tempted to have pointed to it, as they would
have there seen two much greater bores iii their own
persons ; for, if there is any one subject more than
another, of which I am he»rtibr.iireil, it is tlbe <n|in^
ordinary tide of this remarkable river. It attracts
many idlers to the village, who pester every one they

5-.-/

2 THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

meet with questions and theories, and seldom talk of
anything else. If, however, the visit of these gentle-
men wearied me, in consequence of the threadbare
subject of our discourse, it amused me not a little by
the whimsical manner of its introduction ; it not only
had novelty to recommend it, but its brevity enabled
them to enter in mediae res at once. I shall there-
fore imitate their example, by introducing myself and
explaining my business.

1 am, gentle reader, a traveller, and my object also
is twofold: first, to pay my respects to you, and,
secondly, to impart, rather than solicit, information.
When I left England, my original destination was
New York and the far West, after which I purposed
making a rapid tour over our North American Colo-
nies. In pursuance of this plan, I took passage on
board of one of the British mail-steamers for America.

It is well known that these ships touch at Halifax
on their way to and from New York and Boston ;
this apparently circuitous route being actually thirty-
six miles shorter than the direct course.' In twelve
days after leaving England I found myself in Halifax.

Of my voyage out I shall say nothing. He must
be a bold man indeed who would attempt to describe
the incidents of a common passage across the Atlantic,
with any hope whatever of finding a reader. It was,
like all similar trips, though as comfortable as such an
affair can be, anything out agreeable, and, though
short, tedious to a landsman. Off the Port of Halifax
we encountered a thick fog, and were obliged to
slacken our speed and use the lead constantly, when
we suddenly emerged from it into bright clear daz-
zling sunshine. Before us lay the harbour, as calm, as
white, and as glittering, as if covered with glass ; a
comparison that suggested itself by the beautiful re-

' See the second series of The Glockmaker, chapter xxii., in
which this route was first suggested, and the actual distance
given.

LIFE IN A COLONY. 3

flections it presented of the various objects on shore j
while behind us was the dense black mass of fog,
reaching from the water to the heavens, like a wall or
cloud 0? darkness. It seemed as if Day and Night
were reposing together side by side.

The first object that met our view was the pic-
turesque Uttle church that crowns the cliff overlooking
the village and haven of Falkland, and, like a stelkt
maris, guides the poor fisherman fi'om afar to his home,
and recalls his wandering thoughts to that other and
happier one that awaits him when the storms and
tempests of this life shall have passed away for ever.
The entrance to this noble harbour, the best, perhaps,
in America, is exceedinglv beautiful; such portions
of the landscape as are denuded of trees exhibit a
very high state of cultivation ; while the natural sterility
of the cold, wet, and rocky soil of the background is
clothed and concealed by verdant evergreens of spruce
fir, pine, and hemlock. On either hand, you pass
formidable fortifications, and the national flag and the
British sentinel bear testimony to the power and
extensive possessions of dear old England.

On the right is the rapidly increasing town of Dart-
mouth ; on the left, Halifax, situated in extenso on the
slope of a long high hill, the cone-like summit of which
is converted into a citadel. The effect from the water
is very imposing, giving the idea of a much larger and
better built place than it is — an illusion productive of
much subsequent disappointment. Still further on,
and forming the northern termination of the city, is
the Government Dockyard, of which I shall speak
elsewhere. Here the harbour contracts to a veiy nar-
row space, and then suddenly enlarges again into
another and more sheltered body of water, eight or ten
miles in length, and two or three in width, called Bed-
ford Basin.

On a nearer approach to the Quay, old dingy ware-
houses, trumpery wooden buildings, of unequal size
and disproportioned forms, and unsubstantial wharfs,

4 THE OLD JUDGE j OR,

in bad order and repair, present an unpromising
water-side view, while the accent of the labourers and
truckmen who are nearly ail Irishmen form a singular
combination of colonial architecture and European
population. The city itself, which has been greatly
improved of late years, does not, on a further acquaint-
ance, altogether remove the disagreeable impression.
Although it boasts of many very handsome public as
well as private edifices, it is well laid out and embellished
with large naval and military estaUishments ; it has
not the neat or uniform appearance of an American
town, and it is some time before the eye becomes ac-
customed to the card-board appearance of the houses,
or the singular mixture of large and small ones in the
same street. The general aspect of the city is as dif-
ferent from that of any other provincial town, as it is
from a place of the same size either in Old or New
England. The inhabitants, who are composed of
English, Irish, Scotch, and their descendants, are
estimated at twenty-two or twenty-five thousand. It
is a gay and hospitable place, and, until recently, when
agitation and political strife made their baneful ap-
pearance, was a united and happy community.

It is not my intention to describe localities — my ob-
ject is to delineate Life in a Colony. There is such a
general uniformity in the appearance of all the country
towns and villages of these lower provinces, and such
a similarity in the character of the scenery, that details
would be but tedious repetitions, and, besides, such topo-
graphical sketches are to be found in every book of
. travels on this continent. I have said thus much of
Halifax, because it is not only the capital of Nova
Scotia, but, from its proximity to Europe, has lately
become a most important station for English and Ame-
rican Atlantic steamers, as it always has been for the
British navy. A few words will suffice for Nova
Scotia. The surface is undulating, seldom or never
exceeding in altitude five hundred teet above the level
of the sea. It is greatly intersected with rivers and

LIFE IN A COLONY. fi

their tributary brooks, on the margins of which are
continuous lines of settlements, and the coast is every-
where indented with harbours more or less capacious,
in most of which are either towns or villages. In the
background, the forest is everywhere visible, and
penetrated in all directions with roads. Although
extensive clearings are made yearly in the interior,
principally by the children of old settlers, in which
Dackwood life is to be seen in all its simplicity, yet
the country has passed the period of youth, and may
now be called an old colony.

Of the habits, manners, and modeg of thought of
the people, few travellers have had such an opportunity
of becoming acquainted as I have. At the suggestion
of Mr. Barclay, a member of the provincial bar, with
whom I accidentally became acquainted on my arrival
at Halifax, I abandoned for a time my intention of
proceeding to New York, and from thence to the
South and West, and remained in this country for a
period suflSciently long to acquire that knowledge of
Anwlo-American character without which rapid tra-
velling on this continent is neither convenient nor
instructive. By him I was conducted to Illinoo, an
interior town, about fifty miles from Halifax, and
there introduced to Mr. Justice Sandford, a retired
Judwe of the Supreme Court of Judicature. By the
considerate kindness of these two gentlemen, I was
enabled to see all that was desirable to be ^een, and to
understand many little points in the character of the
people, which, without their valuable explanations,
would have either escaped my notice, or have been un-
intelligible.

Illinoo is situated at the head of the naviga-
tion of the Tnganish river, and is a neat, thriving
town, consisting of about a hundred and fifty
wooden houses, painted white, after the prevailing
American taste, most of them being decorated with
green Venetian blinds, and all enclosed by board
fences of different patterns. The glare of the glossy

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

white is somewhat relieved by the foliage of the gar-
dons that everywhere surround the houses, and supply
the inhabitants with fruit and ve^^etables. Sucli is
Illinoo, the description of which will answer for any
other rural village, the difference in general being one
of situation, rather than appearance and of size, more
than beauty.

Three miles further up the river, and above the in-
fluence of the tide, is Elinsdale, the residence of Judge
Sandford. The house stands on a rising piece of
ground in the centre of an extensive island, formed
by two branches of the river, one of which is a small
brook of about twenty yards in width, and the other
the main stream. The island consists principally of
alluvial soil, but is interspersed here and there with
gently swelling knolls of loam, covered with oaks,
maples, Jind yellow birches, while the meadow land is
decorated with large single elms of immense size and
great beauty. The margin is secured against the
effects of the current by the roots of the shumach, the
wild flowering pear, and dwarf rowan tree, and the
still stronger network of the roots of the giant elms
that enclose the place on all sides. On the south-west
and east, this valley is sheltered from the wind by
a mountainous ridge, through a winding and almost
concealed gorge, of which the river precipitately issues,
previously to its forming the biforcation that converts
Elmsdale into an island.

The house, which was built by the present pro-
prietor's father, an American Loyalist, is a large com-
modious cottage of one story in height, covering a great
deal of ground, and constructed after the manner of
the Grerman settlers on the Hudson, having long pro-
jecting eves, and an extensive, elongated range of
buildings protruding from the back part, devoted to
the nse of domestics and farm purposes, and which is
effectually concealed from view by an almost impene-
trable hedge-row of spruces. Two noble, primeval
eltns, at either side of the hall-door, rejoice in their

LIFE IN A COLONY. 7

native soil, and with their lon^, umbrageous, pendtnt
branches, equally deny admission to the rain and sun.
The interior of the house corresponds, to a great ex-
tent, with its outward appearance. The furniture is
in general old, solid, and heavy, like that used in our
former colonies before the rebellion, which contrasts
oddly with an occasional article of lighter form, and
later and more fashionable manufacture. Thev are
types of the old and the present generation ; for, alas, it
is to be feared that what has been gained in appear-
ance has been lost in substance, in things of far more
value and importance. It is a place of great beauty
at all seasons of the year ; but, in spring, when vege-
tation first clothes the mountains, and in autumn, when
the frost tinges it with innumerable hues before it dis-
robes it, it is pre-eminently so. The forest, to which
you are attracted in summer by its grateful shade, is
rendered still more agreeable anclcool,l)y the numerous
rapids and cascades of the river; and even winter, dreary
as it is everywhere in the country, is here stripped ot
half its rigour, by the barrier the hills present to the
stormy winds.

To this hospitable and charming mansion I was ho
fortunate as to be invited by the Judge, at the sugges-
tion, no doubt, of his nephew, my friend Mr. Barclay.
" He will be delighted to see you," he said, as we
drove thither from the village. " He is one of those
persons with whom you will feel at home and at ease
at once. Such is the force of professional habit, that
there is something of judicial gravity in his manner
when abroad, or among those he does net know, but
there is not the least of it about him when at home,
or among his friends. A.lthough far advanced in years,
he is still as activ'e in body and mind, as quick of per-
ception, and as fond of humour, as when he was at
the bar. He abounds in anecdote ; is remarkably well
informed for a lawyer, for their libraries necessarily
contain more heavy learning than light reading j and
he has great conversational powers. In religion he is a

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

Churchman, and in politics a Conservative, as is
almost every gentleman in these colonies. On the
first subject he never speaks as a topic of discussion,
and on the latter very rarely, and then only to those
who, he knows, entertain similar opinions with him-
self. He will press you to make his nouse your home,
as far as is compatible with your other arrangements,
and 1 hope you will not fail to do so, for he is fond
of having his friends about him, and in this retired
place considers it a great piece of good fortune to have
an opportunity of conversing with a person whose
ideas are not all bounded by this little province. On
the other hand, you will find a kind, frank, but plain
hospitality, that is comfortable without being oppres-
sive ; and, as your object is information about colonial
life, I know of no man in this country so well qualified
or so willing to impart it as he is. There is capital
shooting and fishing on his grounds ; and, when you
feel inclined for a ride or a drive, either he or his
niece (for he is an old bachelor) will be happy to
accompany you, while I am always on hand, and at
your service. Don't be afraid of my fair cousin,'*'' he
continued ; " though not too old to be agreeable, (for
my uncle is an instance of the difficulty of deciding
when that period of life commences) she is of a cer-
tain age, when she may be considered no longer
dangerous."

Leaving the highway, we crossed the brook that
separates the island from the main land over a rustic
arch, so constructed between clumps of large French
willows growing on the banks as to have the efiect of
a natural bridge. The road wound round the base of
a knoll, through a forest of elms, from which, with an
easy sweep, it suddenly terminated in front of the
house. From thence we proceeded to the garden,
where we understood the «iudge was superintending
some improvements. This enclosure covers about
two acres of land, and embraces the fruitery, shrub-
bery, kitchen and flower garden ; thus combining use-

LIFE IN A COLONY.

ful with ornamental cultivation, and keeping both
within the limita of moderate means. In summer, he
spends most of his time here, when the weather
permits -

As soon as he perceived us, he advanced, and cor-
dially welcomed me to Elmsdale, which, he said, he
hoped I would make my head-quarters and consider
my home, as often and as lon^ as I could, while in
this part of the country.

Though thin, his frame was strong, and well put
together, and therefore, though short in stature, he
could not be called a small man. In figure, he was
erect, and in motion active, while his quick bright eye,
notwithstanding the snowy whiteness of his hair, and
a face in which the traces of care and thought were
deeply marked, suggested the idea of a much younger
person than he really was — an illusion not a little
aided by the sprightliness of his conversation, and the
singular smootnness and expansion of the upper part
of his forehead.

In a few moments we were joined by Miss Sand-
ford, who entered the garden by a glass door from the
librarv, that opened upon the verandah where we were
standmg, and admonished her uncle that, as every-
body was not quite as interested in gardening as he
was, it might not be amiss to recollect that it was the
hour of luncheon. From the age as well as the aiffec-
tion of those relatives, brother would have seemed to
be a more appropriate term for her to have used than
uncle ; but there was, in reality, a much greater dis-
parity between them in years, activity, and strength,
than there appeared to be at first sight. She was
admirably well qualified to preside over his establish-
ment, and be his companion ; for she was a remark-
ably well-informed and agreeable woman, and, what
could scarcely be expected, and is rarely found in a
new country like this, was highly accomplished, which
latter advantage she owed to a long residence and

carefiil education in England.

THE OLD JUDOE ; OR,

Such was the place where I resided, and such the
people among whom I was domesticated so often and
so long. Having, like Boswell, kept a copious journal
of the conversations I had with the Judge, I shall in
all instances let him speak for himself, as his power of
description far exceeds mine. When he was not
present, I shall endeavour to delineate the scenes I
witnessed myself, without embellishment on the one
hand, and, as far as practicable, without prolixity on
the other.

CHAPTER II.

HOW MANY FINS HAS A COD?
OR, FORTY YEARS AGO.

For several days past, nothing else has been talked
of at lUinoo but the approaching term of the Supreme
Court. At all times, this is a great event for a quiet
village, where there is but little to diversify the mono-
tony of life ; but the arrival of the Judge and the
circuit lawyers is now looked forward to with great
interest, as there is to be a man tried for murder, who,
in all probability, will be convidted and executed. I
have much curiosity to see the mode of administering
justice in this country, because the state of the courts
is a very good criterion by which to estimate the state
of the province. The Bench and the Bar usually
furnish fair samples of the talent and education of the
gentry — the grand jury of the class immediately below
them, and the petit-jury of the yeomanry and trades-
men. In a court-house, they are all to be seen in
juxtaposition, and a stranger is enabled to compare
them one with the other, with the condition of the
people and similar institutions in different countries.

The Judge informs me that the first courts esta-
blished in this province were County Courts, the Judges
of which were not professional men, but selected from the

LIFE IN A COLONY.

magistrates of the district, who rendered their services

Gratuitously. The efficiency of these courts, therefore,
epended wholly upon the character and attainments
of the Justices of the Peace in the neighbourhood.
In some instances, they were conducted with much
decorum, and not without ability ; in others, they pre-
sented scenes of great confusion and disorder ; but, in
all cases, they were the centre of attraction to the
whole county. The vicinity of the court-house was a
sort of fair, where people assembled to transact busi-
ness, or to amuse themselves. Horse-swapi>in^ or
racing, wrestling and boxing, smoking and drinking,
sales at auction, and games of various kinds, occupied
the noisy and not very sober crowd. The temperance
of modem times, the substitution of professional men
as judges, and an entire change of habits among the
people, have no less altered the character of the scenes
within than without the walls of these halls of justice.
In no respect is the improvement of this country so
apparent as in its judicial establishments. As an illus-
tration of the condition of some of these County Courts
in the olden time, the Judge related to me the follow-
ing extraordinary story that occurred to himself: —

Shortly after my return from Europe, about forty
years ago, I attended the Western Circuit of the
Supreme Court, which then terminated at Annapolis,
and remained behind a few days, for the purpose of ex-
amining that most interesting place, which is the scene
of the nrst effective settlement in North America.

While engaged in these investigations, a person
called upon me, and told me he had ridden express
from Plymouth, to obtain my assistance in a cause
which was to be tried in a day or two in the county
court at that place. The judj^es were at that period,
as I have previously observed, not professional men,
but magistrates, and equally unable to administer law,
or to preserve order j and the verdicts generally de-
pended more upon the declamatory powers of the law-
yers than the merits of the causes. The distance was

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

great

the journey had to be performed on horseback
— the roads were bad, the accommodation worse. I
had a great repugnance to attend these courts under
any circumstances ; and, besides, had pressing engage-
ments at home. I therefore declined accepting his
retainer, which was the largest that at that time had
ever been tendeied to me, and begged to be excused.
If the fee, he said, was too small to render it worth
my while to go, he would cheerfiilly double it, for
money was no object. The cause was one of great im-
portance to his friend, Mr. John Barkins, and of deep
interest to the whole community; and, as the few
lawyers that resided within a hundred miles of the
place were engaged on the other side, if I did not go,
nis unfortunate friend would fall a victim to the m-
trigues and injustice of his opponents. In short, he
was so urgent, that at last I was prevailed upon to con-
sent, and we set off together to prosecute our journey
on horseback. The agent, Mr. William Robins (who
had the most accurate and capacious memory of any
man I ever met), proved a most entertaining and
agreeable companion. He had read a great deal, and
retained it all ; and, having resided many years near
Plymouth, knew every body, every place, and every
tradition. Withal, he was somewhat of a humourist.
Finding him a person of this description, my curiosity
was excited to know who and what he was ; and I
put the question to him.

'' I am of the same profession you are, sir,^** he said.

I immediately reined up.

"If that be the case," I replied, " my good friend,
you must try the cause yourself. I cannot consent to
go on. The only thing that induced me to set out with
you was your assertion that every lawyer, within a
nundred miles of Plymouth, was retained on the other
side."

" Excuse me, sir," he said, " I did not say I was a
lawyer."

" No," I observed, " you did not ; but you stated

LIFE IN A COLONY.

that you were of the same profession as myself, which
is the same thing/'

" Not exactly, sir," he said. *' I am a wrecker. I
am Lloyds' agent, and live on the misfortunes of others ;
so do you. When a vessel is wrecked, it is my busi-
ness to get her off, or to save the property. When a
man is entangled among the shoals or quicksands of
the law, your duty is similar. We are both wreckers,
and, therefore, members of the same profession. The
only difference is, you are a lawyer, and I am not."

This absurd reply removing all difficulty, we pro-
ceeded on our journey; and the first night after passing
through Digby reached Shingle Town, or Spaitsville,
the origin of which, as he related it to me, was the
most whimsical story 1 ever heard. It is rather long
for an episode, and I will tell it to you some other
time. The next morning we reached Clare, a town-
ship wholly owned and occupied by French Acadians,
the descendants of those persons who first settled at
Port Royal (as I have just related), and other parts
of the province into which they had penetrated, pre-
vious to the occupation of the English. I will not
trouble you with the melancholy history of these people
at present ; I only allude to them now on account of a
little incident in our journey. As we approached tlie
chapel, we saw a large number of persons in front of
the priest's house, having either terminated or being
about to commence a procession. As soon as Robins
saw them, he said —

" Now, I will make every man of that congregation
take off his hat to me."

"How?"

" You shall see."

He soon pulled up opposite to a large wooden cross
that stood by the way-side, and, takmg off his hat,
bowed his head most reverently and respectfully down
to the horse's neck, and then, slowly covering again,
passed on. When we reached the crowd, every hat
was lifted in deference to the devout stranger, who had

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

thus courteously or piously saluted the emblem of their
faith. As soon as we had escaped the wondering gaze
of the people, he observed —

*' There, lawyer, there is a usefiil lesson in life for
you. He who respects the relidous feelings of others,
will not fail to win indulgence lor his own."

In the afternoon we arrived at Plymouth. As we
entered the village, I observed that the court-house as
usual was surrounded by a noisy multitude, some de-
tached groups of which appeared to be discussing the
trials of the morning, or anticipating that which was
to engross the attention of the public on the succeeding
day. On the opposite side of the road was a large
tavern, the hospitable door of which stood invitingly
open, and permitted the escape of most agreeable and
seducing odours of rum and tobacco. The crowd occu-
pied and filled the space between the two buildings,
and presented a moving and agitated surface ; and yet
a strong current was perceptible to a practised eye in
this turbid mass, setting steadily out of the court-
house, and passing slowly but constantly through the
centre of this estuary into the tavern, and returning
again in an eddy on either side.

Where every one was talking at the same time, no
individual could be heard or understood at a distance,
but the united vociferations of the assembled hundreds
blended together, and formed the deep-toned but disso-
nant voice of that hydra-headed monster, the crowd.
On a nearer approach, the sounds that «omposed
this unceasing roar became more distinguishable. The
drunken man might be heard rebuking the profane, and
the profane overwhelming the hypocrite with oppro-
brium for his cant. Neighbours, rendered amiable by
liquor, embraced as brothers, and loudly proclaimed
their unchangeable friendship ; while the memory of
past injuries, awakened into fury by the liquid poison,
placed others in hostile attitude, who hurled defiance
and abuse at each other, to the full extent of their
lungs or their vocabulary. The slow, measured, nasal

LIFE IN A COLONY.

talk of the degenerate settler from Puritanical New
England, was rendered unintelligible by the ceaseless
and rapid utterance of the French fisherman ; while
poor Pat, bludgeon in hand, uproariously solicited his
neighbours to fight or to drink, and generously gave
them their option. Even the dogs caught the infec-
tion of the place, and far above their masters' voices
might occasionally be heard the loud, sharp cry of
triumph, or the more shrill howl of distress uttered
by these animals, who, with as little Cttuso as their
senseless owners, had engaged in a stupid conflict.

A closer inspection revealed the groupings with more
painful distinctness. Here, might be seen the meiry,
active Negro, flapping his mimic wings and crowing
like a cock in token of defiance to all his sable brethren,
or dancing to the sound of his own musical voice, and
terminating every evolution with a scream of delight.
There, your attention was arrested by a ferocious-
looking savage, who, induced by the promise of liquor,
armed with a scalping-knife in one hand and a toma-
hawk in the other, exhibited his terrific war-dance,
and uttered his demoniac yells, to the horror of him
who personated the victim, and suffered all the pangs
of martyrdom in trembling apprehension that that
which had begun in sport might end in reality, and to
the infinite delight of a circle of boys, whose morals
were thus improved and confirmed by the conversation
and example of their fathers. At the outer edge of
the throng might be seen a woman, endeavouring to
persuade or to force her inebriated husband to leave
this scene of sin and shame, and return to his neg-
lected home, his family, and his duties. Now, success
crowns her untiring exertions, and he yields to her
tears and entreaties, and gives himself up to her gentle
guidance ; when suddenly the demon within him rebels,
and he rudely bursts from her feeble but aflectionate
hold, and returns, shouting and roaring like a maniac,
to his thoughtless and noisy associates. The enduring
love of the agonized woman prompts her again and

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

again to renew the effort, until at last some kind friend,
touched by her sorrows and her trials, lends her the
aid of his powerful arm, and the truant man is led off
captive to what was once a happy home, but now a
house of destitution and distress. These noises ceased
for a moment as we arrived at the spot, and were super-
seded by a command issued by several persons at the
same time.

** Clear the road there ! Make way for the gentle-
men !"

We had been anxiously expected all the afternoon,
and the command was instantly obeyed, and a passage
opened for us by the people falling back on either side
of the street. As we passed through, my friend checked
his horse into a slow walk, and &d me with an air of
triumph, such as a jockey displays in bringing out his
favourite on the course. Bobins was an important man
that day. He had succeeded in his mission. He had
got his champion, and would be ready for fight in the
morning. It was but reasonable, therefore, he thought,
to indulge the public with a glimpse at his man. He
nodded familiarly to some, winked slily to others,
saluted people at a distance aloud, and shook hands
patronisingly with those that were nearest. He would
occasionally lag behind a moment, and say, in an under
but very audible tone —

" Precious clever fellow that ! Sees it all — says
we are all right — sure to win it ! I wouldn't be in
those fellows the plaintiff's skins to-morrow for a trifle !
He is a powerful man, that !" and so forth.

The first opportunity that occurred, I endeavoured
to put a stop to this trumpeting.

** For Heaven's sake," I said, " my good friend, do
not talk such nonsense ; if you do, you will ruin me !
I am at all times a diffident man, but, if you raise such
expectations, I shall assuredly break down, from the
very fear of not fulfilling them. I know too well the
doubtful issue of trials ever to say that a man is certain
of winning. Pray do not talk of me in this manner."

LIFE IN A COLONY.

IS manner/

" You are sure, sir," he said. ** What, a man who
[has just landed from his travels in Europe, and arrived,
after a journey of one hundred miles, from the last
[sitting of the Supreme Court, not to know more than
any one else ! Fudge, sir ! I congratulate you, you
have gained the cause ! And besides, sir, do jrou think
that if William Robins sajrs he has got the right man
(and he wouldn't say so if he didn'*t think so), that
that isn't enough? Why, sir, your leather breeches
and top-boots are enough to do the business ! Nobody
ever saw such things here before, and a man in buck-
skin must know more than a man in homespun. But
here is Mrs. Brown's inn ; let us dismount. I have

Srocured a private siiting-room for you, which on court-
ays, militia trainings, and times of town meetings or
elections, is not very easy, I assure you. Come, walk
in, and make yourself comfortable."

We had scarcely entered into our snuggery, which
was evidently the landlady's own apartment, when the
door was softly opened a few inches, and a beseeching
voice was heard, saying —

" Billy, is that him ? If it is, tell him it's me ; will
you ? that's a good soul !"

>* Come in — come in, old Blowhard!" said Robins ;
and, seizing the stranger by the hand, he led him up,
and introduced him to me.

" Lawyer, this is Captain John Barkins ! — Captain
Barkins, this is Lawyer Sandford ! He is our client^
lawyer, and I must say one thing for him : he has but
two faults, but they are enough to ruin any man in this

?rovince ; he is an honest man, and speaks the truth,
will leave you together now, and go and order your
dinner for you."

John Barkins was a tall, corpulent, amphibious-
looking man, that seemed as if he would be equally at
home in either element, land or water. H^ held in his
hand what he called a nor'-wester, a large, broad-
brimmed, glazed hat, with a peak projecting behind to
^hed the water from off his club queue, which was

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

nearly as thick as a hawser. He wore a long, narrow-
tailed, short-waisted blue coat, with large, white-plated
buttons, that resembled Spanish dollars, a red waist-
coat, a spotted Bandanna silk handkerchief tied loosely
about his throat, and a pair of voluminous, corduroy
trousers, of the colour of brown soap, over which were
drawn a pair of fishermen's boots, tnat reached nearly
to his knees. His waistcoat and his trousers were ap-
parently not upon very intimate terms, for, though thev
travelled together, the latter were taught to feel their
subjection, but, when thev lagged too far behind, they
were brought to their place by a jerk of impatience
that threatened their very existence. He had a thick,
matted head of black hair, and a pair of whiskers that
disdained the effeminacy of either scissors or razor, and
revelled in all the exuberant and wild profusion of
nature. His countenance was much weather-beaten
from constant exposure to the vicissitudes of heat and
cold, but was open, good-natured, and manly. Such
was my client. He advanced and shook me cordially
by the hand.

" Glad to see you, sir/' he said; " you are welcome
to Plymouth. My name is John Barkins ; I dare say
you have often heard of me, for everybody knows me
about these parts. Any one will tell you yfh?J sort of
a man John Barkins is. That's me — that's riiy name,
do you see ? 1 am a parsecuted man, lawyer ; but I
ain t altogether quite run down yet, neither. I have a
case in court ; I dare say Mr. Kobins has told you of
it. He is a very clever man is old Billy, and as smart
a chap of his age as you will see anywhere a'most. I
suppose you have often heard of him before, for every-
body knows William Robins in these parts. It's the
most important case, sir, ever tried in this county. If
I lose it, Plymouth is done. There's an end to the
fisheries, and a great many of us are a going to sell off
and quit the country."

I will not detail his cause to you in his own words,
because it will fatigue you as it wearied me in hearing

LIFE IN A COLONY.

it. It possessed no public interest whatever, though
it was of some importance to himself as regarded the
result. It appeared that he had fitted out a large
vessel for the Labradore fishery, and taken with him
a very full crew, who were to share in the profits or
loss of the adventure. The agreement, which was a
verbal one, was, that on the completion of the voyage
the cargo should be sold, and the net proceeds be dis-
tributed in equal portions, one half to appertain to the
captain and vessel, and the other half to the crew, and
to be equally divided among them. The undertaking
was a disastrous one, and on their return the seamen
repudiated the bargain, and sued him for wages. It
was, therefore, a very simple affair, being a mere ques-
tion of fact as to the partnership, and that depending
wholly on the evidence. Havmg ascertained these
particulars, and inquired into the nature of the proof
by which his defence was to be supported, and given
him his instructions, I requested him to call upon me
again in the morning before Court, and bowed to him
in a manner too significant to be misunderstood. He,
however, still lingered in the room, and, turning his
hat round and round several times, examining the
rim very carefully, as if at a loss to discover the front
from the back part of it, he looked up at last, and
said —

'• Lawyer, I have a favour to ask of you."

" What is it T I inquired.

" There is a man," he replied, " coming adn me to-
morrow as a witness, of the name of Lillum. He
thinks himself a great judge of the fisheries, and he

does know a considerable some, I must say ; but, d^

him ! I caught fish afore he was born, and know more
about fishing than all the Lillums of Plymouth piit
together. Will you just ask him one question I"

" Yes, fifty, if you like."

" Well, I only want you to try him with one, and
that will choke him. Ask him if ne knows * how many
fins a cod has, at a v^ord.^ "

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

illi
1
I

" What haa that got to do with the cause 2" I said,
with unfeigned astonishment.

** Everything, sir,**' he answered ; " everything in
the world. If he is to come to give his opinion on
other men''s business, the best way is to see if he knows
his own. Tarnation, man ! he don''t know a cod-fish
when he sees it ; if he does, he can tell you * how many
fins it has, at a word.^ It is a great catch that. I have
won a great many half-pints of brandy on it. I never
knew a feller that could answer that question yet, right
off the reel."

He then explained to me that, in the enumeration,
one small fin was always omitted by those who had
not previously made a minute examination.

" Now, sir,"" said he, " if he can''t cipher out that
question (and Til go a hogshead of rum on it he can^t),
turn him right out of the box, and tell him to go a
voyage with old John Barkins — that's me, my name is
John Barkins — and he will lam him his trade. Will
you ask him that question, lawyer 2"
" Certainly," I said, " if you wish it."
" You will gain the day, then, sir," he continued,
much elated; " you will gain the day, then, as sure as
fate. Good- by, lawyer!"

When he had nearly reached the foot of the stair-
case, I heard him returning, and, opening the door, he
looked in and said —

" You won''t forget, will you 2 — my name is John
Barkins ; ask anybody about here, and they will tell
you who I am, for everybodv knows John Barkins in
these parts. The other man s name is Lillum — a very
decent, 'sponsible-looking man, too ; but he don't know
everything. Take him up all short. *How many
fins has a cod, at a word 2' says you. If you can lay
him on the broad of his back with that question, I
don't care a farthing if I lose the case. It's a great
satisfaction to nonplush a knowin' one that way. You
know the question 2"

" Yes, yes," I replied, impatiently. ** I know all
about it."

LIFE IN A COLONY.

♦' You do, do you, sirf said he, shutting the door
behind him, and advancing towards me, and looking
me steadily in the face ; " you do, do you ? Then,
* how many fins has a cod, at a word V ""

I answered as he had instructed me.

" Gad, sir," he said, " it's a pity your father hadn't
made a fisherman of you, for you know more about a
cod now than any man in Plymouth but one, old John
Barkins — that's me, my name is John Barkins. Every-
body knows me in these parts. Bait your hook with
that question, and you'll catch old Lillum, I know.
As soon as he has it in his gills, drag him ri^ht out
of the water. Give him no time to play — in with
him, and whap him on the deck ; hit him hard over
the head — it will make him open his mouth, and your
hook is ready for another catch."

" Good night, Mr. Barkins," I replied ; " call on
me in the morning. I am fatigued now."

" Good night, sir," he answered ; " you won't
forget r

Dinner was nov/ announced, and my friend Mr.
Robins and myself s^,t down to it with an excellent
appetite. Having done ample justice to the wood
cheer of Mrs. Brown, and finished our wine, we drew
up to the fire, which, at that season of the year, was
most acceptable in the moyning and evening, and
smoked our cigars. Bobins had so many good stories,
and told them so uncommonly well, that it was late
before we retired to rest. Instead of being shown into
the bed- room I had temporarily occupied for changing
my dress before dinner, I was ushered into a long,
low room, fitted up on either side with berths, with a
locker running round the base, and in all respects,
except the skylight, resembling a cabin. Strange as
it appeared, it was in keeping with the place (a fishing
port), its population, and the habits of the people.
Mrs. Brown, the landlady, was the widow of a sea-
faring^ man, who had, no doubt, fitted up the chamber
in this manner with a view to economize room, and

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

thus accommodate as many passengers (as he would
designate his guests) as possible in this sailor's home.
A lamp hung suspended from the ceiling, and ap-
peared to be supplied and trimmed for the nt^'^ht, so
as to afford easy access and egress at all honi^. It
was almost impossible not to imagine one's self at sea,
on board of a crowded coasting-packet. Betreat was
impossible, and therefore I made up my mind at once
to submit to this whimsical arrangement for the night,
and, haying undressed myself, was about to climb mto
a yacant berth near the door, when some one opposite
called out —

" Lawyer, is that you ?"

It was my old tormentor, the skipper. Upon ascer-
taining who it was, he immediately got out of bed,
and crossed oyer to where I was standing. He had
nothing on but a red nightcap, and a short, loose
check shirt, wide open at the throat and breast. He
looked like a huge bear walking upon his hind-legs, he
was so hairy and shaggy. Seizing me by the shouldera,
he clasped me tightly round the neck, and whispered —

'* * How many fins has a cod, at a word V That's
the question. You won't forget, will you I"

" No," I said, " I not only will not forget it to-
morrow, hut I shall recollect you and your adyice as
long as I liye. Now let me get some rest, or I shall
be unable to plead your cause for vou, as I am ex-
cessiyely fatigued and yery drowsy.'

" Certainly, certainly," he said; '* turn in, but don't
forget the catch."

It was some time before the hard bed, the fatigues
of the journey, and the noyelty of the scene, permitted
me to compose myself for sleep ; and just as I was
dropping off into a slumber, I heard the same un-
welcome sounds —

♦* Lawyer, lawyer, are you asleep T

I affected not to hear him, and, after another in-
effectual attempt on his part to rouse me, he desisted ;
but I heard him mutter to himself-^

LIFE IN A COLONY.

Plague take the sarpent ! he'll forget it and lose
11 : a feller that falls asleep at the helm, ain't fit to
e trusted to how."

I was not doomed, however, to obtain repose upon
uch easy terms. The skipper's murmurs had scarcely
ied avay, when a French fisherman from St. Mary's
ay entered the room, and, stumbling over my saddle-
ags, which he anathematized in bad French, bad
.ndish, and in a language compounded of both, and
mbellished with a few words of Indian origin, he
ailed out loudly —
" C^lestine, are you here ?"

This interrogatory was responded to by another
om the upper end of the room —
" Is that you, Baptiste ? Which way is the wind?"
" Nor'-nor'-west.'^
" Then I must sail for Halifax to-morrow."
While Baptiste was undressing, an operation which
was soon performed (with the exception of the time
lost in pulling off an obstinate and most intractable
pair of boots), the following absurd conversation took
place. Upon hearing the word Halifac, (as he called
it) Baptiste expressed great horror of the place, and
especially the red devils (the soldiers) with which it
was infested. He said the last time he was there, as
he was passing the King's Wharf to go to his vessel
late at night, the sentinel called out to him, " Wlio
come dare ?" to which impertinent question he gave
no answer. The red villain, he said, repeated the
challenge louder than before, but, as he knew it was
i]lone of his business, he did not condescend to reply.
The soldier then demanded, in a voice of thunder, for
the third time, *' Who come dare 2" *' to which," to
use his own words, " I answer him, * What the devil
is that to you ?' and ran off so fast as my legs would
e^irry me, and faster too ; but the villam knew the
v/ay better nor me, and just stuck his * bagonut' right
into my thigh, ever so far as one inch. Oh !" said
Baptiste (wno had become excited by the recollection

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

of the insult, and be^an to jump about the floor,
making a most yillanous clatter with the Jialf-drawn
boot), *' Oh ! I was very mad, you may depend. 1
could have murder him, I was so vexed. Oh ! I was

so d mad, I ran straight oft' to the vessel without

stopping, and — jumped right into bed."

U^lestine expressed OTeat indignation at such an
unprovoked ana cowardly assault, and advised him, if
ever he caught that soldier again, alone and unarmed,
and had his two grown-up sons, Lewis and Dominique,
with him, to give him a sound drubbing, and then
weigh anchor, and sail right out of the harbour. He
congratulated himself, however^that if the soldier had
run the point of his bayonet into his friend, he had
lately avenfjed it by making a merchant there feel the
point of a joke that was equally sharp, and penetrated
deeper. He had purchased goods, he said, of a trader
at Halifax upon this express promise —

" If you will trust me this spring, I will pay you
last fall. The merchant," he observed, " thought I
was talkino; bad English, but it is very £rood English ;
and when last fall comes again, I will Keep my word
and pay him, but not c\\\ then. Don''t he hope he may
get his money the day before yesterday ?"

Baptiste screamed with delight at this joke, which,
he said, he would tell his wife Felicity, and his two
daughters, Angdlique and Blondine, as soon as he
returned home. Having succeeded at last in escaping
from his tenacious boot, he turned in, and, as soon as
his head touched the pillow, was sound asleep.

In the morning when I awoke, the first objects that
met my eye were the Bandanna handkerchief, the red
waistcoat and blue coat, while a goodnatured face
watched over me with all the solicitude of a parent for
the first moments of wakefulness.

" Lawyer, are you awake T said Barkins. " This
is the great day — the greatest day Plymouth ever saw !
We shall know now whether we are to carry on the
fisheries, or give them up to the Yankees. Every-

LIFE IN A COLONY.

2.')

thing depends upon that question ; for Heaven's sake,
Idon't forged it ! — * How many fins has a cod, at a
I word V jT is very late now. It is eight o'clock, and
the courts meet at ten, and the town is full. AH the
[folks from Chebogue, and Jegoggin, and Salmon River,
and Beaver River, and Eel Brook, and Polly Crossby's
Hole, and the Gut and the Devil's Island, and Ragged
Island, and far and near, are come. It's a great day and
a great catch. I never lost a bet on it yet. You may win
many a half-pint of brandy on it, if you won't forget it."

*' Do go away and let me dress myself!" I said,
)etulantlv. " I won't forget you."

*' Well, I'll go below," ne replied, " if you wish it,
Ibut call for me when you want me. My name is
'John Barkins ; ask any one for me, for every man
knows John Barkins in these parts. But, dear me,"
he continued, *' I forgot !" and, taking an enormous
key out of his pocket, he opened a sea-chest, from
which he drew a large glass decanter, highly gilt, and
a rummer of corresponding dimensions, with a golden
edge. Taking the oottle m one hand and the glass in
the other, he drew the small round gilt stopper with
his mouth, and, pouring out about half a pmt of the
liquid, he said, *^ Here, lawyer, take a drop of bitters
this morning, just to warm the stomach and clear
your throat. It's excellent ! It is old Jamaiky
and sarsy-parilly, and will do your heart good. It s
an antifogmatic, and will make you as hungry as a
shark, and as lively as a thrasher !"

I shook my head in silence and despair, for I saw
he was a man there was no escaping from.

"You won't, eh?"

" No, thank you, I never take anything of the kind
in the morning.

"Where the deuce was you broughten up," he
asked, with distended eyes, "that you haven't lost
the taste of your mother's milk yet ? You are worse
than an Isle of Sable colt, and them wild, ontamed
devils suckle for two years ! Well, if you won't, I will,

THE OLD JUDGE J OR,

:1!

h VI

i .

tlien ; so here goes," and holding back his head, the
potion vanished in an instant, and he returned the
bottle and the glass to their respective placies. As he
went, slowly and sulkily, down stairs, he muttered,
" Hang him ! he's only a fresh-water fish that, after
all ; and they ain't even fit for bait, for they have
neither substance nor flavour !"

After breakfast, Mr. Robins conducted me to the
court-house, which was filled almost to suffocation.
The panel was immediately called, and the jury placed
in the box. Previous to their being sworn, I inquired
of Barkins whether any of them were related to the
plaintiffs, or had been known to express an opinion
adverse to his interests ; for if such was the case, it
was the time to challenge them. To my astonishment,
he immediately rose and told the judges he challenged
tlie whole jury, the bench of magistrates, and every
man in the house, — a defiance that was accompanied
by a menacing outstretched arm and clenched fist. A
shout of laugnter that nearly shook the walls of the
building followed this violent outbreak. Nothing
daunted by their ridicule, however, he returned to the
charge, and said,

" I repeat it ; I challenge the whole of you, if you
dare!"

Here the Court interposed, and asked him what he
meant by such indecent behaviour.

" Meant !" he said, " I mean what I say. The
strange lawyer here tells me now is my time to chal-
lenge, and I claim my right ; I do challenge any or
all of you ! Pick out any man present you please,
take the smartest chap youVe got, put us both on
board the same vessel, and I challenge him to catch,
spit, clean, salt, and stow away as many fish in a day
as I can, — cad, poUuck, shad, or mackerel ; I dou t
care which, for it s all the same to me ; and V\\ go a
hogshead of rum on it I beat him ! Will any man
take up the challenge ?" and he turned slowly round
and examined the whole crowd. " You won^, won't

IS .-I'i

LIFE IN A COLONY.

you ? I guess not ; you know a trick worth two of
that, I reckon ! There, lawyer, there is my challenge ;
now go on with the cause !*"

As soon as order was restored the jury were sworn,
and the plantifF's counsel opened his case and called
his witnesses, the last of whom was Mr. Lillum.

" That's him !" said Barkins, putting both arms
round my neck and nearly choking me, as he whis-
pered, "Ask him 'how many fins a cod has, at a
word V " I now stood up to cross-examine him, when I
was again in the skipper''s clutches. " Don''t forget !
the question is ...."

" If you do not sit down immediately, sir," I said,
in a loud and authoritative voice (for the scene had
become ludicrous), " and leave me to conduct the
cause my own way, I shall retire from the Court !""

He sat down, and, groaning audibly, put both hands
before his face and muttered,—

" There is no dependence on a man that sleeps at
the helm!"

I commenced, however, in the way my poor client
desired : for I saw plainly that he was more anxious of
what he called stumping old Lillum and nonplushing
him, than about the result of his trial, although he was
firmly convinced that the one depended on the other.

" How many years have you been engaged in the
Labrador fishery, sir V

"Twenty-five."

" You are, of course, perfectly conversant with the
cod-fishery V

" Perfectly. I know as much, if not more, about it
than any man in Plymouth."

Here Barkins pulled my coat, and most beseech-
ingly said, —

" Ask him "

" Be quiet, sir, and do not interrupt me !" was the
consolatory reply he received.

*' Of course, then, after such long experience, sir,
you know a cod-fish when you see it ?"

c2 *

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

m '

M p'

" I should think so !"
' " That will not do, sir. Will you swear that you
do ?"

'* I do not come here to be made a fool of!"
*' Nor I either, sir ; I require you to answer yes or
no. Will you undertake to swear that you know a
cod-fish when you see it 2"
"I will, sir."

Here Barkins rose and struck the table with his fist
a blow that nearly split it, and, turning to me, said, —
"Ask him...."

'• Silence, sir !" I again vociferated. '* Let there
be no mistake," I continued. " I will repeat the
question. Do you undertake to swear that you know
a cod-fish when you see it 2"

" I do, sir, as well as I know my own name when I
see it."

" Then, sir, how many fins has a cod, at a word ?"
Here the blow was given, not on the deal slab of
the table, but on my back, with such force as to throw
me forward on my two hands.

" Ay, floor him !" said Barkins, " let him answer
that question ! The lawyer has you there ! How
many fins has a cod, at a word, you old sculpin ?"
" I can answer you that without hesitation."
"' How many, then 2"

" Let me see — three on the back, and two on the
belly, that's five ; two on the nape, that's seven ; and
two on the shoulder, that's nine. Nine, sir !"

" Missed it, by Gosh !" said Barkins. " Didn't I
tell you so 2 I knew he couldn't answer it. And yet
that fellow has the impudence to call himself a fisher-
man !"

Here I requested the Court to interfere, and compel
my unfortunate and excited client to be silent.

" Is there not a small fin beside 2" I said, " between
the under jaw and the throat 2"

" I believe there is."
^ " You believe ! Then, sir, it seems you are in

LIFE IN A COLONY.

as to throw

rou are in

doubt, and that you do not know a cod-fish when you
see it. You may go; I will not ask you another
question. Go, sir ! but let me advise you to be more
careful in your answers for the future."

There was a universal shout of laughter in the
Oourt, and Barkins availed himself of the momentary
noise to slip his hand under the table and grip me by
the thigh, so as nearly to sever the flesh from the
bone.

" Bless your soul, my stout fresh-water fish !'" he
said ; " you have gained the case, after all ! Didn't I
tell you he couldn't answer that question 2 It's a great
great catch, isn't it?"

The plaintiffs had wholly failed in their proof. In-
stead of contenting themselves with showing the voy-
age and their services, from which the law would have
presumed an assumpsit to pay wages according to the
ordinary course of business, and leaving the defendant
to prove that the agreement was a special one, they
attempted to prove too much, by establishing a nega-
tive ; and, in doing so, made out a sufficient defence
for Barkins. Knowing how much depended upon the
last address to the jury, when the judge was incompe-
tent to direct or control their decision, I closed on the
plaintiff's case, and called no witnesses. The jury were
informed by the judge, that, having now heard the
case on the part oi the plaintiffs and alsp on the part
of the defendants, it was their duty to make up their
minds, and find a verdict for one or the other. After
this very able, intelligible, and impartial charge, the
jury were conducted to their room, and the greater
part of the audience adjourned to the neighbouring
tavern for refreshment. The judges then put on their
hats, for the air of the hall felt cold after the with-
drawal of so many persons, and the president asked me
to go and take a seat on the bench with them.

*' That was a very happy thought of yours, sir," he
remarked, " about the fins. I don't think another
lawyer in the province but yourself knows how many

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

fins a cod has. A man who has travelled as much as
you have, has a great advantage. If you had never
been in England, you never would have learned that,
for you never would have crossed the banks of New-
foundland, and seen the great fishery there. But this
is dull work ; let us retreat into the adjoining room,
and have a smoke until the jury returns. They will
soon be back, and I think I may venture to say you
are sure of a verdict. You displayed great skill in that
matter of the fins."

Just as we were about retiring, our attention was
arrested by a great noise, occasioned by a constable
endeavouring to remove a turbulent and drunken fellow
from the court. The judge promptly interfered, fined
him five shillings for his contemptuous conduct, and
directed the prothonotary to lay it out in purchasing a
bottle of wine wherewith to drink the health of the
Stranger Lawyer. Having settled this little matter
to his satisfaction, he led the way to the anteroom,
where pipes were provided, and the officer soon ap-
peared with the wine and some glasses. Filling a
tumbler, the prothonotary apologized for not being able
to remain with us, and drank respectfriUy to the health
of the Court.

" Stop, sir !" said the judge ; " stop, sir ! Your
conduct IS unpardonable ! I consider your behaviour a

by way
of tasting, *' is not fit for a gentleman to drink."

" A very forward fellow that prothonotary !" said
the legal dignitary, as the officer withdrew.

" Instead of being contented with being the clerk of
the court, he wants to be the master of it, and I find it
necessary to keep him in his place. Only think of his
confounded impudence in presuming to help himself
first ! He would drink the millpond dry if it was wine,
and then complain it didn''t hold enough ! For my

LIFE IN A COLONY.

own part, I am obliged to be very abstemious now, as
I am subject to the gout. I never exceed two bottles
of late years, and I rectify the acic^ity of the wine by
taking a glass of clear brandy (whiui I call the naked
truth) between every two of Madeira. Ah, here is the
brandy, lawyer ! Your very good health, sir— pray
help yourself; and, Mr. Prothonotary, here's better
manners to you in future. Seniores prioreSy sir, that's

the rule."

Here tLj constable knocked at the door, and an-
nounced that the jury were in attendance.

*' Don't rise, Mr. Sandford,'' said the judge ; " let
them wait : haste is not dignified. Help yourself, sir;
this is very good brandy. I always like to let them
appear to wait upon me, instead of their thinking I
wait upon them. What with the prothonotary tread-
ing on my toes and the jury on my heels, I have enough •
to do to preserve the dignity of the court, I assure yoi?.
But Tempus prceterlabetur est, as we used to say a
Cambridge, Massachusetts ; that is, John Adams,
senior, and our class, for I was contemporary with that
talented and distinguished — ahem — stingy rebel ! Help
yourself, sir. Come, I won't leave any of this aqua
mtw for that thirsty prothonotary. There, sir," he
said, smacking his lips with evident delight, " there is
the j^«M and ]\\Bfine. Now let us go into court. But
give me your arm, sir, for I think I feel a slight twinge of
that abominable gout. A dreadful penalty that, that
Nature assesses on gentility. But not so fast, if you
please, sir ! true dignity delights in otium, or leisure ; but
abhors negotium^ or hurry. Haste is the attribute of a
prothonotary, who writes, talks, and drinks as fast as he
can, but is very unbecoming the gravity and majesty of
the law. The gait of a judge should be slow, stately, and
solemn. Buthere we are, let us take our respective seats."

As soon as we made our appearance, the tumultuous
wave of the crowd rushed mto the courthouse, and,
surging backward and forward, gradually settled down
to a level and tranquil surface. The panel was then

THE OLD JUDGE ; 0«,

i"''

called over, and the verdict read aloud. It was for
the defendant.

Barkins was not so much elated as I had expected.
He appeared to have been prepared for any event. He
had had his gratification already. " Old Lillum was
floored,'^ the " knowing one had been nonplushed,"
and he was satisfied. He had a duty to perform, how-
ever, which he did with great pleasure, and I have no
doubt with great liberality. The jury were to be
" treated," for it was the custom of those days for the
winning party to testify his gratitude by copious liba-
tions of bi-andy and rum. As soon as the verdict was
recorded, he placed himself at their head, and led the
way to the tavern with as much gravity and order as
if he was conducting a guard of honour. As soon as
they were all in the street, he turned about, and walking
backwards so as to face them, and at the same time
not to intemipt their progress to that mansion of bliss,
he said,

" A pretty fellow that Lillum, ain't he ? to swear
he knew what a cod was, and yet couldn't tell how
many fins it had, at a word ! Who would have thought
that milksop of a lawyer would have done so well? He
actually scared me when I first saw him ; for a feller
that smokes cigars instead of a pipe, drinks red ink
(port wine) instead of old Jamaiky, and has a pair of
hands as white as the belly of a flat fish, ainH worth
his pap, in a general way. Howsumdever, it don't do
to hang a feller for his looks, after all, that's a fact ;
for that crittur is like a singed cat, better nor he seems.
But, come, let's liquor !"

I did not see him again till the evening, when he
came to congratulate me upon having done the hand-
somest thing, he said, as every body allowed, that
ever was done in Plymouth, — shown the greatest fish-
erman in it (in his own conceit) that he didn't know a
cod-fish when he saw it.

" It was a great catch that, lawyer," he continued, and
he raised me up in his arms and walked round the

LIFE IN A COLONY.

room with me as if he were carrying a baby. *' DonH
forget it, * How many fins has a cod, at a word V Yaw
never need to want a half-pint of brandy while you
have that fact to bet upon !"

The next day I left Plymouth very early in the
morning. When I descended to the door, I found both
Robins and Barkins there, and received a hearty and
cordial farewell from both of them. The latter en-
treated me, if ever I came that way again, to favour
him with a visit, as he had some capital Jamaica forty
years old, and would be glad to instruct me in the
habits of fish and fishermen.

" I will show you," he said, " how to make a shoal
of mackerel follow your vessel like a pack of dogs. I
can tell you how to make them rise from the bottom
of the sea in thousands, when common folks canH tell
there is one there, and then how to feed and coax
them away to the very spot you want to take them.
I will show you how to spear shad, and how to strike
the fattest salmon that ever was, so that it will keep
to go to the East Indies ; and I'll larn you how to
smoke herrings without dryin^ them hard, and tell
you the wood and the vegetables that give them the
highest flavour ; and even them cussed, dry, good-for-
nothing all- wives, I''U teach you how to cure them so
you will say they are the most delicious fish you ever
tasted in all your life. I will, upon my soul ! And
now, before you go, I want you to do me a good turn,
lawyer. Just take this little silver flask, my friend,
to remember old John Barkins by, when he is dead
and gone, and when people in these parts shall say
when you inquire after him, that they don''t know such
a man as old John Barkins no more. It is a beautifiil
article. I found it in the pocket of a captain of a Spa-
nish privateer that boarded my vessel, and that I hit
over the head with a handspike, so hard that he never
knew what hurt him. It will just suit you, for it only
holds a thimble-full, and was made a purpose for fresh-
water fish, like Spaniards and lawyers, Good-by !

C 5

( •

THE OLD JUDGE J OR,

God bless you, sir ! A fair wind and a short passage
to you !"

I had hardly left the door, before I heard my name
shouted after me.

'* Mr. Sandford! — lawyer! lawyer...."

It was old Barkins. I anticipated his object; I
knew it was his old theme, —

" Lawyer, donH forget the catch, * How many fins
has a cod, at a word T "

iff

CHAPTER III.

ASKING A GOVERNOR TO DINE.

The arrival of an English steamer at Halifax, and
the landing of a Governor-general for Canada, have
formed an all-engrossing topic of conversation during
the past week at lUinoo. In the winter season, when
but few vessels enter the port, and during the period
that intervenes between seed-time and harvest, when
the operations of agriculture are wholly suspended,
politics are ably and amply discussed, and very sapient
conjectures formed as to the future, in those interest-
ing and valuable normal schools for statesmen — the
debating societies, taverns, blacksmiths^ shops, tap-
rooms, and the sunny and sheltered comers of the
streets. Every one, however humble his station may
be, is uncommonly well-informed on affairs of state.
A man who can scarcely patch the tattered breeches
of a patriot, can mend with great facility and neatness
a constitution, and he who exhibits great awkward-
ness in measuring a few yards of riband manifests
astonishing skill in handling the measures of a govern-
ment. Indeed, provincials have a natural turn for
political economy, as the Germans and Italians have
for music ; and it is the principal source of amuse-
ment they possess.

If Lord John Bussell were to spend an evening at

LIFE IN A COLONY.

the public room of the Exchange in this town, he
would find such topics as the corn-laws, free trade,
responsible government, and repeal of the union, dis-
posed of to his entire satisfaction, in a manner so lucid,
so logical and conclusive, that he could not fail to be
both astonished and edified. He would be convinced
that the Colonial Office should be removed from Down-
ing Street, London, to Shark Street, Blueberry Sf^uare,
lUinoo, where there are master minds capable of
directing, reconciling, and advancing the complicated
interests of a vast and populous empire. To such a
zealous statesman discussions of this kind would, no
doubt, be exceedingly interesting ; but, as thev are too
deep and difficult for my comprehension, I prefer listen-
ing to the graphic, though rather ascetic, " Sketches
of Life in a Colony,'" by mv firiend Barclay : —

Two such important and simultaneous arrivals, sir,
he said, as those of a steamer and a governor, always
create great interest in this country — the one for won-
ders achieved, and the other for wonders to be per-
formed. Indeed, they are so identified one with the
other, that the reception and farewell they severally
receive are precisely similar. The approach of both
is regarded with intense curiosity, ana witnessed with
great anxiety by the whole population, on account of
the novelties they are expected to bring with them ;
and both the great ship and the great man depart, so
noiselessly and so quietly, as not even to disturb the
dulness of that drowsy town Halifax, for, alas ! their
sojourn here is a tale that is told. The formal land-
ing and final embarkation of a Governor present such
a singular contrast, that they are well worth de-
scribing.

As soon as it is known that this high functionaiy
is on board, all the little world of Halifax rush with
impetuous haste, like a torrent, into Water^ Street,
and from thence through a narrow passage like an
arched tunnel, down an abrupt declivity, to a long,
narrow, dingy* ftnd unsafid whar^ the extremity of

I '•■,

u V

:' \

fiiit-

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

which is covered (with the exception of a footpath of
about nine feet wide) by a low miserable shed, that is
dignified with the name of the " Customs' Ware-
house/' The whole of the surface of this dangerous
place is crowded to excess, by a mixed and motleyed
multitude of black and white of both sexes — porters,
truckmen, and cabmen, vociferously demand or enforce
a passage, while those on the outer edge, pressed to
the extremity of the docks, utter loud screams of
terror from the impending danger of instant death by
drowning.

Amid such a confused and moving throng it is not
easy to distinguish individuals, but any one acquainted
with the town can see that the heathen who worship
the rising sun are there, and the Pharisees, who are
waiters on Providence, the restless and the discon-
tented, the hungry and needy place-hunters, and, above
all, the seekers for position — not a safe position on
the Quay, because, in such a crowd no place is safe —
but for an improved social position, wnich the coun-
tenance of the Governor is expected to confer. This
holiday is claimed and enjoyed by the people and
their leaders. There is no place allotted for persons
of another class, and, if there were, they would soon
be compelled to leave it by the intolerable " pressure
from without." Many an anxious face is now illu-
mined by expectations of better times ; for hope, like
the Scottish fir, takes root and flourishes in a cold and
sterile soil, that reuses nutriment to anything less
vivacious. Far above the heads of the gaping multi-
tude rises the huge Leviathan, the steamer, equally
crowded with the wharf with strange-looking people,
habited in still stranger-looking foreign costumes,
staring with listless indifierence at the idle curiosity
of the idle mob beneath. The descent from the deck,
which is effected by a few almost perpendicular planks,
without railing, hand-rope, or any security whatever,
like the descent to the grave, is common to all, from
the viceroy, wUti bis gay and numerous staff, to the

LIFE IN A COLONY.

stoker with his sooty and cumbrous sack of coals, who,
reversing the order of things, imparts more than ho
receives.

The thunder of artillery from the citadel and the
flag-ship of the Admiral announce to the world the
important event that the Governor has now landed ;
and the national anthem from the band of the guard
of honour, and the cheers of the free and enlightened
citizens of Halifax, are the first strains of welcome
that salute his ear. On his way to the palace he
stops fcf a few moments at the *' rrovince Building,"
where, among the fashion, beauty, and gentry of the
town, and surrounded by the executive councillors, he
takes the usual oaths of office, and assumes the reins
of Government. Legislative and civic bodies now
present to him addresses, expressive of their heartfelt
gratitude to their most gracious Sovereign for having
selected, as a particular mark of favour to themselves,
such a distinguished man to rule over them, which
they cannot but attribute to their own unquenchable
and unquestionable loyalty, and to the kind and good
feeling they ever exhibitea to his predecessors. They
do not forget to remind him that they have always
felt as affectionately as they have expressed them-
selves decorously towards every Governor of this pro-
vince, none of whom they nave ever placed in a
position of difficulty, or deserted when they found him
so situated ; and conclude with an offer of their cordial
and strenuous support.

The Governor, on his part, a gentleman by birth
and education, is much affected with this flattering
reference to himself, and the kind and generous greet-
ing with which he has been received. He naturally
supposes that such respectable looking people mean
what they say; and as they have, with a delicacy
above all praise, made no mention of any difference of
opinion among themselves, he augurs well of his suc-
cess among a united population, whose leaders express
themselves so well and feel so warmly. Touched by

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

Ill

i iJ

a behaviour that appeals directly to his heart, and
unwilling to be outdone in such magnanimous conduct,
he assures them that it will be his pleasure, a,U it is
his duty, to co-operate with them in any measure that
has for its object the benefit of the province; and that
they may confidently rely upon his untiring efforts to
develop th.. vast resources, both mineral and agricul-
tural, of this interesting and beautiful appendage of
the British Empire.

As soon as these ceremonies are terminated, imme-
diate reference is made by some of his new and sincere
friends to the army list or peerage books for the pur-
pose of ascertaining his services or his pedigree, but
never, I am happy to say, for the credit of our popu-
lation, for discovering some blot in his escutcheon, or
some failure in his conduct wherewith to vilify or
abuse him hereafter ; for such is the resource only of
low and ignoble minds. But, alas ! colonial addresses
are commonly but unmeaning compliments, and the
promises of support they contain are always accom-

f)anied by a mental reservation that a valuable equiva-
ent is to be rendered in return. As soon as he finds
it necessary to call for the fulfilment of this voluntary
engagement, he finds to his astonishment that this
harmonious and happy people are divided into two
parties. Conservatives and great Liberals. What that
term Conservatism means, I do not exactly know;
and it is said that in England Sir Robert Peel is the
only man that does. But in a colony it would puzzle
that wily and cameleon-like politician even to conjec-
ture its signification. I take it, however, to be an
abandonment of all principle, and the substitution of
expediency in its place ; a relinquishment of any
political creed, and the adoption of a sliding-scale
whereby tenets rise or fall according to popular pulsa-
tion. Great Liberalism, on the other hand, is oetter
understood, for it is as ancient as a republic. It rests
in theory on universal suffrage and equal rights; but in
practice exhibits the exclusion and tyranny of a majority.

LIFE IN A COLONir.

The real objects of these two amiable and attractive
i parties are so well masked under high-sounding words
[and specious professions, that the limited period of
gubernatorial rule is generally half expired before a
stranger understands them. When, at last, he at-
tempts to reconcile these conflicting factions, and to
form a mixed government, that shall combine all the
[great interests of the country, the Conservatives in-
Iform him, in very moderate and temperate language,
and with much complacency, that they are both able
land willing to govern the province themselves, the
[prosperity of which has been greatly advanced by their
Iflound and judicious policy. They admit that they
[have conferred several important appointments of late
upon their own relatives, but entreat him to believe
that affinity never entered into their consideration ; for,
as they are the ^ est qualified themselves to form an
administration, so are their connexions the most suit-
able for public offices. At the same time, they pro-
claim their extreme anxiety to carry out his views,
and promote the peace and harmony of the country ;
and, aa a proof of the great sacrifice they are willing
to make, oner to him a resignation of one seat at the
council board, which is attended with great labour and
unaccompanied by any remuneration, and also one
I legal appointment, to which the large salary of eighty
pounds sterling a-year ia attached.

The Great Liberals, on the other hand, with a vast
display of learning (for they have some distinguished
jurists among them), treat him to a long dissertation
on the British Constitution, the principles of which
they have derived, with infinite industry and research,
from the notes of an American edition of **Black-
stone'*s Commentaries,'* and inform him that they are
ready to take office, if he will turn out all the present
incumbents for their benefit, or create an equal number
of situations of eauivalent value, to support them
while thus engagea in their disinterested labours for
the public good. They frankly state to him that work

SIW 4-

10' 1-

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

requires food, that they are sturdy men and have a
good appetite, and, moreover, that bread and honey
will not appease their hunger. He therefore finds
himself, to nis amazement, in what the Americans
with some humour, but more elegance, call " a con-
siderable fix.*"

But this is a painful subject, and I will not pursue
it, for I have nothing in common with either Conser-
vatism or Great Liberalism, which I believe to be mere
modifications of *he same thing. I have done with

rlitics long since. When I did think or talk of them,
belonged to a party now nearly extinct in these
colonies — the ffood old Tory party, the best, the truest,
the most attached and loyal subjects her Majesty ever
had, or ever will have, in North America. There are
only a few of them now surviving, and they are old
and infirm men, with shattered constitutions and bro-
ken hearts. They have ceased to recruit, or even to
muster for several years ; for who would enlist in a
body that was doomed to inevitable martyrdom, amid
the indifference of their friends and the derision of
their enemies ? Hunted and persecuted by rebels and
agitators, they were shamefully abandoned to their
cruel fate by those for whom they had fought and
bled, and whole hecatombs of them were at different
times offered up as a eacrifice to appease the sangui-
nary wrath of the infidel deities of sedition. Of late,
they have enjoyed comparative repose, for they have
neither influence nor numbers now to render them
objects of proscription or insult. Let us, however,
throw a mantle over these disgusting ulcers in the
body politic, and amuse ourselves by shooting Folly as
it flies. Let us pass over the intervening space of the
Governor's rule. I have described to you his landing;
we will now proceed to the wharf again, witness his
embarkation for his native land, and mark the agree-
able change.

The steamer has arrived from Boston en route for
England. She has no passengers for Halifax ; and a

LIFE IN A COLONY.

few bagmen and a subaltern or two, whom nobody
mows, are the only persons to be taken on k.oard. The
•abble are not there, the Governor's patronage has been
small, and he has not been able to find offices for every
ipplicant. The naked have not all been clothed, and
nany of the hungry have been sent empty away. They.
»ave seen him continually; he is no longer a novelty;
lis day is past, his power is gone, and they have now
lothing to hope or receive from his bounty, and nothing
ro fear or endure from his disapprobation. Groups of
rentlemen and ladies, o:ay carriages containing many a
amiliar face, heads oi departments, and the respect-
ible part of the community (many of whom are per-
sonal friends, and warmly attached to him), occupy
the wharf, which now appears to afford sufficient space
[for the purpose. Instead of the noisy and vulgar
[cheer with which he was received, the tremulous voice,
[the starting tear, the silent but eloquent pressure of
[the hand, convince him that, if he has not received all
the support that was so spontaneously and insincerely
offered to him, he has secured more of affection and
i regard than he could have expected in so short a time ;
[and that his honest endeavours to benefit the country
[have been duly appreciated by all those whose good
)pinion is worth having.

Such is the usual course of events here ; but some-
times the same idle and turbulent crowd attend a
iGovernor at his embarkation that honoured his arrival,
f and when that is the case, and they form his exclusive
escort, he has good grounds for self-examination, and
he may, with propriety, ask himself what he has done
to deserve such a degradation.

Considering a Governor, apart from his political
opinions, as the head of society at Halifax, it is
amusing to hear the inquiries and conjectures as to
the probable manner in which he will receive his
guests, or whether he will contract or enlarge the
circle of people to be admitted at the palace. There
is no little anxiety among the mammas, to know

THE OLD JUDGE J OR,

whether he is married or single, and who the persons
are that compose his staff. The young ladies are not
less interested in ascertaining whether he is likely to
enliven the tedium of winter by giving balls, for* on
this important subject, the practice has not been uni-
form.

Tradition has preserved, and affection has che-
rished, the memory of dear old Governor Lawrance,
who lost his life in the service of the fair sex, by over-
exertion in attempting to fulfil a vow to dance with
every young lady in the room. For this voluntary
martyrdom, he has been very properly canonized, and
St. Lawrence is now universally considered as the
patron saint of all Nova Scotia assemblies.

Among another class, there is an equally important
inquiry: Will he dine out? On this point also, as on
the other, there are many conflicting precedents, from
Governor Parr, who preferred dining anywhere to
being at home, to his Excellency Governor //»-par,
who, in my opinion, very properly dined nowhere but
at home. As the distributor of rank and patronage,
and the arbiter of fashion, the course to be adopted
by one who is to administer the affairs of the country
for five years is a matter of great importance to people
who are desirous of acquiring a position in society;
for, until recently, any person whom a Governor coun-
tenanced by accepting his invitation, became thereby
a sort of honorary member of the higher class.

My attention was first directed to this peculiarity
many years ago, in the time of Sir Hercules Sampson.
A merchant of the name of Channing, who had begun
life with a small property, which, by ^reat industry,
and a long course of upright and honourable dealing,
he had increased into a large fortune, was very anxious
that the Governor should impress the Tower mark of
his approbation upon himself and his silver by dining
with him. He had looked forward to this period with
much anxiety for many years, and had built a large
and commodious bouse, which he filled with rich and

LIFE IN A COLONY.

[expensive furniture. Upon the arrival of Sir Her-
leufes, he waited upon him with slow and hesitating
Isteps, and, according to the usual etiquette, solicited
[the honour of his dining with him, and naming a time
[for that purpose. The Governor, who was a conside-
[rate, kind-hearted, affable old man, readily acceded to
[his wishes, and proposed that day week for conferring
[happiness upon him.

Channing returned, with a lighter heart and quicker
)ac^^, communicate the overpowering news to his
jitai ^ ife. They were an affectionate and domestic
joupi \ .lid had always lived in perfect seclusion.
Ireat were the fears and many the conferences that
)receded this eventful day. Poor Mrs. Channing was
[ost in a sea of doubts and perplexities. None of her
acquaintances were better instructed on these matters
[than herself, for they were all in the same class of life,
and equally ignorant of what she desired to be in-
formed J when, hy great ^ood fortune, she discovered
[an able counsellor and valuable assistant, well versed
lin all the forms and usages of the royal party, in the
(butler of a former viceroy.

It was an anxious and trying week, and the longest,
pn her apprehension, she had ever passed ; but weeks
md months, as well as years, come to an end at last,
md the long-expected and dreaded day had now
irrived. Chairs were uncovered, curtains unfolded,
jrates polished, and all the finery and bijouterie of
the house displayed to the greatest advantage. Every
jontingency had been provided for; every order given,
[repeated, and reiterated, and her own toilet completed ;
[when, fatigued, exhausted, and alarmed, she descended
[to the drawing-room, and awaited with her husband
[the awful announcement of her distinguished guests.
|The hands of the clock appeared to be stationary. It
was evidently going, but tney did not seem to advance.
1 The arrival of myself and several others, at the same
I time, was a great relief to her mind, as it diverted
her thoughts from her harassing anxieties. At laat,

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

heavy and long-continued knocks, like the rub-a-dub-
of a drum, that made the side of the house vibrate,
announced the approach of the Government-house
party.

In those days the magnetic telegraph of the door-
bell had not been introduced into the country, and it
is subject of great regret to all reflecting minds that
it ever has been imported. It is one of those refine-
ments that have debilitated the tone of our nerves,
and, by depilvli^g them of exercise, rendered them so
delicate, that they are excited and shocked by the
least noise. Nor is the language it speaks by any
means so intelligible as that which is uttered by that

Eolished, deep-toned, ornamental appendage of the
all-door, the good old brass knocker. At the same
time that that intelligent watchman gave notice of an
application for admission, it designated the quality
ana sometimes the errand of the visitor. A timid,
single beat bespoke the beggar, whoso impatience was
very humanely allowed to cool while he was studving ^
the form of his petition. A stout, bold, single blow I
announced a footman, who was immediately admitted
for the nmtual privilege of an interesting gossip. An
awkward, feeble double knock was proof positive that
a poor relation or shabby acquaintance was there ; and
a slow and reluctant attendance operated as a useful
hint to wear better clothes, or carry a heavier purse
in future. But there was no mistaking the sledge-
hammer blows that made the door tremble for its
panels, as it did at present. They had a voice of
authority, a sort of bear-a-hand command, as sailors
call it ; their tones were those of fashion, rank, and
dignity. They were well understood, from the mis-
tress, who fidgeted uneasily on the sofa in the drawing-
room, to the lady's-maid, who flew from the servants'
snuggery with the lightness and fleetness of a fairy to
receive the Governor's lady and daughter, and ascer-
tain with her own eyes wnether these divinities were
decorated with ermine and diamonds, or only cat and

LIFE IN A COLONY.

^aste, as she had heard it whispered, with a con-
temptuous sneer, by her confidant at the Admiralty-

jouse.

At last, the door flew open with such impatient
laste as nearly to demolish a gouty foot that had pro-
truded itself with careless ease within its fearful reach,
md the servant announced Sir Hercules and Lady
[Sampson, Miss Sampson, Lord Edward Dummkopf
(and the Honourable Mr. Trotz (the two aides-de-
jamp), and Captain Howard (the military secretary),
[t was a large and formidable party from one house ;
md the clatter of swords, and jmgle of spurs, and the
rlitter of gold lace and epaulettes, and the glare of
jcarlet cloth and blaze of jewellery, was quite over-
)owering to the timid and unaccustomed senses of
)Oor Mrs. Channing.
The Governor was a tall, gaunt, iron-framed man,
[with an erect and military bearing, that appeared to
[increase a stature natuiallydisproportioned. His head
[was bald ; the hand of Time, or of the Philistine
woman his wife, having removed his hair, which gave
a more striking appearance to an enormous nose that
[disfigured a face which would otherwise have been
[called handsome. His manner was kind without con-
descension, and his conversation agreeable without
Lumbug. Lady Sampson, had she not inherited a
[large fortune, might have been supposed to have been
[selected by her husband on that principle that so
many men appear to make choice of their wives,
f namely, for bemg the verv opposite of what they are
themselves. She was a sJiort, but uncommonly stout
person — unwieldy, perhaps, would be a more appro-
priate term, and very vulgar. Her dress was a curi-
ous and rather complicated mass of striking contrasts,
which, notwithstanding her size, awakened the idea of
an enormous salmon-fly. ** Rich and rare were the
gems she wore," and from their dimensions, in excel-
lent keeping with the circumference of her huge arms
and neck. Her charms had been duly appreciated by

* '

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Iji. ■ li

pi!! f

r' it

l-« ■ ft

*^'i:.;

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THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

her discerrJng husband when on duty with his .regi-
ment at Birmingham; and her heart was besieged
with such military skill and ardour, that she soon
surrendered herself and her treasure at discretion to
the conquering hero.

Miss Sampson was an only child. Her glass, and
the admiration of her friends, convinced her she was
handsome ; her mother had informed her of her large
fortune, and she saw the station, and knew the high
reputation of her father. Unlike him, she was well
proportioned ; and, unlike her mother, she was
graceful. Her complexion, which once boasted of the
pure red and white of England, had slightly suffered
from the climate of the W est Indies ; the colour, like
that of a portrait of Sir Joshua Reynolds, being some-
what impaired. Youn^ and beautiful, it is not to be
wondered at if she exhibited a little of the pride and
haughtiness of a belle. She lisped a little, either
naturally or affectedly, and *' danthed only with her
own thett," or with a few officers of good family be-
longing to the ** thixty-thixth" regiment, whom she
condescended to honour with her hand. Still, though
she talked more, perhaps, than was agreeable to colo-
nial ears of her " own thett," it was evident she con-
sidered herself among them, but not of them ; for,
notwithstanding the rank of the gentlemen on her
father's staff was superior to his own, which was
merely local, she would sometimes speak of the aides
with a slight curl of her pretty lip as "our daily bread."
Lord Edward Dummkopf was decidedly the hand-
somest man in Halifax ; which, considering that it
contains a remarkably good-looking population of
25,000 inhabitants, three regiments, and the offi-
cers of several men-of-war, is bestowing no small
praise upon him. He was tall, rather slight,
graceful, remarkably well got up, and had an air
of fashion and elegance about him, which is alone
acquired in that high and polished society of which
he was such a distinguished member. He had a

LIFE IN A COLONY.

beautiful head of xiJ.c^ " value of which was evi-
dently well appreciated by e care bestowec :; n it ;
also a moustacne and an imperial of the most approved
form and unexceptionable colour. His pale complexion
gave the idea of a poetical turn of mmd. His fore-
head was high, though rather narrow, and slightly
receding ; the oval of his face was well defined, but
the centre was somewhat concave, which, to a critic,
perhaps, would suggest the idea of the inside of a
spoon. It did not, however, to a casual observer, im-
pair its general beauty, which was illuminated by eyes
so bright as to glisten, and ornamented with teeth of
unrivalled whiteness. With respect to his talents, a
physiognomist could be at no loss ; for it was evident
that the brilliancy of his eyes arose from their peculiar
texture, and not from that which usually produces
animation. But this secret was well concealed from
the world by his great reserve, for he was seldom
heard to utter anything beyond " How very good !" a
remark which every occurrence elicited. In one respect,
lie evinced a little humour, by adding the syllable
" bus" to words — as dogibus, horsibus, and catibus.
So distinguished a man could not fail to have imita-
tors ; and many a pretty young lady was heard to
speak of her pin-a-bus, thread-a-bus, and book-a-bus,
as Lord Edward says. Take him altogether, he was
without a rival ^r personal appearance, if we except
the exquisite drum-major of the oefore-named "thixty-
thixth" reofiment, who divided the empire of hearts
with the aristocratic lieutenant ; the one leading cap-
tive the mammas and their daughters, and the other
their maids. On entering the room, he bowed conde-
scendingly, though somewhat formally, to Mrs. Chan-
ning ; the inclination of the body being from the hip-
joint like that of a wooden doll.

The Hon. Mr. Trotz, on the contrary, was more
distinguished for a form that exhibited a singular com-
pound of strength and activity. He was *,he beau
ideal of a light infantryman. He was the boldest rider,

M ■ !

THE OLD JUDGE j OR,

ill' •

u ■

the best swimmer, the most expert pugilist and swords-
man, an irresistible billiard-player, and the best shot
in the garrison. His habits were temperate, which,
with continued and systemat^'c exercise, enabled him to
be always ready, or on hand, as he called it, for any-
thing. He was a good economist, and understood how
to make the most of the small allowance of a younger
son. He sported the best-appointed tandem of any
man in the place, which he kept jointly with another
officer, who paid more than his share of the expenses,
in consideration of being relieved from the trouble of
using it. He had also a beautiful and very fast yacht,
which he sustained upon the same friendly and equi-
table terms. The Governor, perhaps, was not aware
how admirably well calculated he was to aid him in
conciliating the aflfections of the people; for, in his
absence, he was very fond of informing colonists, for
whom he had a profound contempt, how much he was
interested in the Negroes and Indians of Nova Scotia,
who alone could boast of purity of blood, and were the
only gentlemen in it. He would inquire, with an in-
nocent air, when the province first ceased to be a penal
colony; and, when informed it had never been one,
would affect great surprise, as he thought he could
trace the debasing effects of the system in the habits
and morals of the people. He was indignant at the local
rank of Honouratle being conceded to people filling
certain public offices, whom he called honourable carri-
boos ; and requested that that prefix might be omitted
in any written communication to him, lest he might
be supposed to belong to such an ignoble herd. When
he entered the room, he was evidently suffering from
cold, for he proceeded directly to the fire, turned his
back to it, and put his hands behind him to warm them.
It was an advantageous position, as it enabled him to
take a cool and leisurely survey of the company, and
to be seen to advantage himself

Captain Howard, the military secretary, was a phi-
lanthropist, and a pious and zealous member of the Low

LIFE IN A COLONY.

Church party. He was a distributor of tracts, and talked
very eloquently and learnedly of such books as ** The
Drunkard's Grave," '• The Sinner Saved," " The Peni-
tent Thief," " Prodigal Son," and " The Last Dying
Confessions of a Convict." He was a great enemy to
private balls and amusements, and to public assemblies
and theatres. The only pleasures to which he was in-
dulgent were the pleasures of the table^ being a capital
judge of wine, of which he drank freely. He abhorred
beggars, whom he threatened to send to Bridewell, and
orthodox clergymen, whom he devoted to a worse place-
He disapproved of indiscriminate charity as encourag-
ing idleness, and preferred seeking out objects for his
benevolence to their obtruding themselves ; as it ena-
bled him, when he gave a sixpence, to accompany it
with that which was far more valuable, a long lecture.

Some of the party, following the example of his
Excellency, now took their seats ; but the Governor,
who had sat down on a small ottoman near Mrs. Chan-
ning, was restless and uneasy. At first, he drew him-
self a little further forward, and then removed as far
back as possible ; and, finally, rose up and turned to
ascertain the cause of the inconvenience he had expe-
rienced. He immediately exclaimed —

" Good God, I have killed this cat ! Was there
ever anything so awkward or so shocking f

Mrs. Channing said the cat was only worsted.

" Pardon me, he answered ; " I wish with all my
heart it was only worsted, for then there would be
some hope of its recovery ; but it is as dead as Julius
Csesar!'^

" I raised it myself. Sir Hercules !" she continued ;
"and...."

" Oh, if you raised it yourself, madam, it must have
been a pet !" he replied ; " and so much the worse for
me. I beg ten thousand pardons ! It is quite dread-
ful !"

Mrs. Channing explained again — " It is only a bad
piece of work, your Excellency, and I..,."

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

M'^ i'!

'id

^1, '1

" A very bad piece of work, indeed !" said the in-
consolable offender. ** Hut the truth is, my eyee have
never recovered the injury they received in Egypt.""

" It will rise again, I assure you, Sir Hercules! A
good shake...."

" Never ! never, my dear madam !" he persisted.
" Cat though it be, if it had fifty lives instead of nine,
it will never rise again !"

Here Lady Sampson came to the rescue. Taking
an enormous eye-glass set with brilliants out of her
bosom, she examined the defunct cat, and pronounced
it a most beautiful piece of rug-work ; and, on a nearer
inspection, exclaimed —

" But where did you get those beautiful eyes of
yours, my dear Mrs. Channing ? and those bright and
sharp claws ? They are the most magnificent I ever
saw ! I used to thmk my eyes and Saws perfection,
but they are not to be compared to yours ! Where in
the world did you get them f

'' At Stjrr and Mortimer's," replied the delighted
hostess, who had spent so much time and valuable
materials in this valuable employment.

Lady Sampson was an enthusiast in the art, and
pressed her friend to accept a pattern of a real Angola
cat, which she would send her m the morning. It had,
she said, a splendid tail, like that of a spaniel dog ;
and a bushy tail was, in her opinion, one of the most
beautiful things in the world. She then asked a lady
who sat near her if she was fond of rug- work ; but she
said she was sorry to confess her ignorance or awkward-
ness, for she had never raised but one cat, and that
she had killed in shaving.

" How very good !" said Lord Edward ; " only
think of shaving a little catibus !"

But Trotz, who never lost an opportunity of being
impertinent, asked her if it was tne custom in this
country to shave cats ; and observed that it would be
a capital employment for the young monkeys of the
town, whom he had seen grimacing a few evenings ago

LIFE IN A COLONY.

at a public assembly at the Masons' Hall. Lady
Sampson, whose perceptions were none of the quickest,
very gravely explained to him that shaving a cat
was a term of art, and meant the close and uniform
shearing of the irregular and protruding ends of the
worsted.

The door now opened, and several persons (not ne-
cessary to enumerate or describe) were announced,
among whom were the Bishop of the Isle of Sable,
recently arrived from England on his way to his diocese,
and Colonel Percy, of the ''thixty-thixth.'''' There was
nothin;^ remarkaole about the former. One bishop is
very Hkc another bishop. Their dress is similar, and
their conversation generally embraces the same topics.
You hear a little too much of what they are pleased to
call church architecture, though why I could never
quite understand ; and you are somewhat fatigued with
prosy dissertations on towers, spires, transepts, galle-
ries, and buttresses. This, however, is a matter of taste,
and they have as good a right to select " church archi-
tecture for their hobby, as a sportsman has his dog
and his gun. He was, however, a new one ; and it is
singular that these novi epucopi bear a still more
striking resemblance to each other than the senior class
do. Besides the never-ending topic just mentioned,
which they have in common with all their brethren,
they have a great deal to say about themselves — a
subject no less interesting than the other. New dignity,
like a new coat, is awkward and inconvenient. It is
stiff and formal, and has not ^^ a natural set."*' Time
takes off the vulgar gloss of both, and directs your
attention from things that annoy yourself, and are apt
to excite remark in others. They have also (I mean,
colonial bishops) one grand object in view from the
moment of their landing in a colony ; and that is, the
erection of a cathedral so large as to contain all the
churchmen of the province, and so expensive as to
exhaust all the liberality of their friends ; and this
unfinished monument of ill-directed zeal they are sure

!S2

TUE OLD JUDGE ', OR,

■'■J

I'll)
1„1

I.'.i I

to place in a situation where it can be of no use
whatever.

His Lordship, Job Sable Island, as usual, had his
model, his plans, and his subscription-list ; and, as
usual, thougn warned that no suitable foundation for
such a massive structure could be found on that enor-
mous accumulation of sand, was determined to persevere
and exhibit another melancholy instance of failure, to
warn the Christian public how careful they should be
into whose hands they entrust their donations.

This, as I have said, was a characteristic of his
order ; but there was one peculiarity that concerned
himself as a man, and entitled him to my warmest
sympathy. He had no doubt supposed, when he left
his native land, that all he would have to do in his
diocese would be to discharge the ordinary episcopal
duties, onerous as they might be, and responsible as
they undoubtedly are, but that there his labours
would end. To his astonishment, however, he had
not been ten days in Halifax before he found that he
would have everything to do. He discovered that
colonists, although natives of the country, and accus-
tomed to its climate, knew nothing of either. They
knew not how to build houses, or to warm or ventilate
them, to cultivate their fields, clear the forest, or even
how to manage their owa affairs. With a zeal that
did his head and heart great honour, he resolved not
to content himself with merely showing his people the
road to Heaven, but also how to make, use, and enjoy
roads on earth, while permitted to remain there. But
there was one consolation to be drawn from his mis-
fortunes, and that was, that time would lessen his
labours ; for he who attempts to teach another that
which he does not know himself, cannot fail to acquire
some information in his endeavours to advance his
pupil.'

' A bishop for any of the North American provinces should
in all cases be selected from the colonial clergy, most of whom
are natives, and all of whom are well educated ; while the great

LIFE IN A COLONY.

Colonel Percy, of the " thixty-thixth," just men-
tioned, was one of the most delightful men I ever mot ;
cheerftil, humorous, filled with anecdote, weV -informed
and woll-bred, he was, in reality, what Misa Sampson
called him, a " hotht in himthelf."

The guests having now all arrived with tiie exw j-
tion of Captain Jones of the Navy, Channing was in
great perplexity about ordering dinner. He would
like to wait for the gallant captain, but the Governv
was remarkable for his punctuality. What was t^ bu
done ? He argued it over in his mind, for he never
did anything without a sufficient reason. Jones was
notoriously the most absent man in the service. He
was as likely to forget his invitation as to remember
it, and was sure to make some blunder about the hour;
and time, tide, and Governors wait for no man.

The dinner was ordered; and, when the folding-
doors were opened, Channing, with a palpitating heart,
offered his arm to Lady Sampson, and "onducted her
to her place, while his Excellency honor, ri his better
half in a similar manner. It waa a moment of pride

majority, I am happy to say, are not only scholars and gentle-
men, but pious, laborious, and most ( xemplary men. These
persons, from their thorough knowledge of the state of the
country; the habits, feelingfi, prejudices, and means of the
people ; the peculiar relation subsisting between the rector and
his parishioners, and the Church and Dissenters in this part of
the world ; the extent to which episcopal authority ought to,
or can be pushed with safety ; and many other things of no
less importance, are infinitely better qualified than any English
clergyman can possibly be (for this information can only be
acquired from long experience, and, after a certain period of
life, is very difficult to be attained at all). In other respects,
to say the least, they are quite equal to the episcopal specimens
we have been honoured with. I am quite aware that, in high
quarters, where a better feeling should exist, and where it is
most important they should be better informed, it is heresy to
say colonial clergymen are not only qualified, but they are the
most suitable persons to fill the higher offices of their profes-
sion in their own country ; but magna eat Veritas*

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

m ^

and pleasure to them both. They had attained a long-
cherished object of ambition. They had " asked a
Governor to dine," and had thereby taken another
and higher step in life. They were now people of " a
certain position." Channing asked the bishop to say
grace, but he had repeated that formulary so often for
" the squire*" in Kent, when rector, that, now he was a
lord of a manor himself, he was unwilling to perform
the duty any longer, and bowed (or ratner nodded,
for there is more palpable meaning in a nod than a
bow) to his chaplain, who was but too happy to gratify
his excellent friend and patron.

The soup was capital, conversation became general,
and everything seemed to be going on remarkably
well ; but the hostess was dying with apprehension,
for a critical part of the entertainment tad arrived,
the thoughts of which had filled her with terror during
the whole day.

At the period I am speaking of, no person could
venture to give a large dinner-party at Halifax (such
was the unskilfulness of servants) without the assist-
ance of a professional cook, a black woman, whose
attendance it was necessary to secure before issuing
cards of invitation. Channing had not forgotten to
take this wise precaution ; but the artiste had pre-
pared some side-dishes, of which, though she knew the
component p^rts, she did not know the name. By the
aid of a Housewife's Manuel, Mrs. Channing judged
them to be *' Cotelettes k ritalienne," " Chartreuse
d'un Salpi9on de Volaille," " Boudins ^ la Richelieu,"
" Quenelles de Volaille," " Croquets," &c. &c. ; but
she was uncertain. They were too difficult to remem-
ber ; and, if remembered, unpronounceable. She was
afraid of having her knowledge tested and her igno-
rance exposed by Trotz, who was noted for his mali-
cious impertinence. Fortune, however, favoured her,
and she owed her escape to the tact of a servant, who
found himself in a situation of similar difficulty. The
first of these mysterious dishes that he presented to

[J---

LIFE IN A COLONY.

the troublesome aide, called forth the dreaded inquiry,
*' What is the name of it V Equally ignorant with
the rest of the household, he affected not to hear the
question, withdrew the dish, passed on to the next
person, and never offered him another until he found
one he knew by name as well as by sight. The crisis
was now passed, the lady's fever instantly subsided,
and she breathed freer. At the mention of moose-
meat. Lord Edward, to the astonishment of every-
body, commenced a conversation himself, a thing al-
most unknown before. He asked the young lady who
had amused him so much by saying she had killed a
cat in shaving, what the plural of moose was.

" Mice," she replied, with great readiness.

" Miceibus !'*'* he repeated. *' How very good V
and relapsed again into nis usual taciturnity.

The two fovourite wines at Halifax at that period
were champagne at, and Madeira after, dinner. Trotz
therefore, of course, voted them both vulgar, called
them kitchen wines, and, when pressed by the host to
take a glass with him, and asked which he would
take, —

" Anything but champa^e, sir," he said.

Channing was shocked ; he had imported it himself,
he had spared no expense, was a good judge of its
quality and flavour, and he could not understand how
it could be rejected with such evident disgust. He
prudently asked no questions, but smiled, bowed, and
talked to some one else.

Miss Sampson observed to the bishop that Trotz
was like a " thithle, he thcrathed tho thockingly !"

Which was honoured with the usual remark from
another person, " How very good !"

Captam Jones now made his appearance, and a very
odd one it certainly was. He was one of the most
eccentric men in the navy. In roughness of manner
and disregard of dress, he was of the old Benbow
school ; in practical skill and science he was at the
head of the modern one. He was so dreadfully absent

lil'V- .!

It"-.

fvi'

■t .:

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

that he unintentionally said and did the most awkward
things imaginable ; and the only redeeming point in
his absurd behaviour was, that it was entirely free
from affectation. He was dressed in an old shabby
frock-coat with a pair of tarnished epaulettes, his
hands bore testimony to their familiarity with the
rigging, and he had not submitted himself to a barber
for two days, at least. He took his seat near me, and
then for the first time appeared to be conscious that
he was late for dinner ; but he applied himself without
loss of time to remedy the defect. The arrival of such
a man in such an attire naturally occasioned a pause,
by attracting evenrbod/s attention to him.

" Pray,'' said Trotz (who sat nearly opposite to us)
to his neighbour, but loud enough to be distinctly
heard, " wno is that old quiz ? Is he a colonist f

" Captain Jones, of H.M. ship Thunderer, sir ; very
much at your service !"" said the sailor, with a very
unmistakable air and tone.

Trotz quailed. It was evident that, though a good
shot, he preferred a target to an antagonist, and
wanted bottom. True courage is too noble a quality
to be associated with swasrsferincr and insolent airs.

((

How very good !" said Lord Edward.

" Very,"" said the charming Colonel; "very good,
indeed ! He may be an oddity, but he is a fine manly
old fellow ; and your friend had better be cautious how
he wakes up that sleeping lion.''

The Captain ate neartily, though rather incon-
veniently slow, which protracted the removals, and
kept us all waiting. It was a matter of business, and
he performed it in silence. Once, however, he looked
up, complained there was a draught in the room, and,
drawing a soiled black silk cap with a long pendent
tassel from his pocket, put it on his head, and resumed
his employment. Although Mrs. Channing was un-
acquainted with the names of many of her dishes,
there was one she rather prided herself upon — a pud-
ding, which, when the Governor declined, she pressed

LIFE IN A COLONY.

upon his attention, saying, that she had made it her-
self. This was too good an opportunity for Trotz to
pass unnoticed ; he, therefore, begged Miss Sampson
to partake of it, as the hostess had made it with her
own hands : laying an emphasis on the latter words,
which produced, as he intended, an involuntary smile.
Ohannmg saw and winced under the ridicule, although
he was unable to discover whether it was excited by
the pudding or his wife. To make matters worse,
Captain Jones, whose appetite was now satisfied, and
who had only heard the word pudding, to which he
had just been helped, added to their mortification by
one of his blundering remarks. He said that it was
capital, and that he had never tasted but one like it
before, and that was in Mexico.

" 1 went there,"" he said, " with the Admiral, to
settle some little dlflference we had with the govern-
ment of that country, and the President asked us to
dine with him. What makes me recollect the pud-
ding is his wife made it herself. He had two beauti-
fiil daughters ; one about eighteen, and the other
twenty years of age, who were covered with jewels of
a size, brilliancy, and value far beyond anything I
ever* saw in Europe. I asked him where madam his
wife was. ' To tell the truth,** he replied, ' she is in the
kitchen superintending the cookery for the dinner." "

The Governor, with his usual tact and good-nature,
turned the conversation to another topic. He adverted
to his recent government in the West Indies, and was
speaking of some very unreasonable request of the
people, the refusal of which had made him very un-
popular at the time. Jones, with his customary in-
tention, thought he was speaking of some one else, and
said : —

" Your friend was a devilish lucky fellow, then,
that they did not serve him as I once saw the Chinese
punish one of their gods. They had been praying to
him for rain for thirty days, and at the end of that
period, seeing no appearance of a shower, they sent

I: !
f'

' .•■fi

■t;

lit-', '

til.t!

i) . •

;:; :! -: i

THfi OLD JUDGE ; Oft,

three of their mandarins to him and gave him a sound
drubbing. Indeed it is a wonder that they did not
Lynch him, as they did the Governor of Antigua in
1710. Colonel Park having rendered himself ex-
tremely obnoxious, the whole white population re-
belled, and, besieging his house, put him to death,
and killed and wounded thirty-six people whom he
had assembled for his defence."*

" How very good !" said Lord Edward.

Jones, to whom this remark had been several times
applied, was somewhat in doubt as to its eauivocal
meaning. He had already repressed the insolence of
one aide-de-camp, and was quite prepared to avenge
that of the other.

"Gad, sir," he replied, "you would not have
thought it is so very good if you had been there, I
can tell you, for they hung his staff also !*"

Then turning to me, he said, in an under tone,—

" Who is that gentleman opposite, who did me the
honour to call me an old quiz, for I intend to have
the pleasure of making his acquaintance to-morrow ?"

" T-r-o-t-z," I said, spelling his name, so that the
familiar sound might not strike his ear.

" Trotz ! Trotz !" he slowly repeated ; " does he
enjoy the title of honourable ?"

On my answering in the affirmative, he remarked, —

" I know him ! he is a son of that old scoundrel.
Lord Shoreditch, who sold his party and his reputa-

* The Governor, Ensign Lyndon, and thirteen or fourteen
soldiers, were killed on this occasion; and Captain Newel,
Lieutenant Worthington, and twenty-six soldiers, wounded;
besides a number of the Governor's friends, who were dread-
fully beaten and bruised. On the part of the assailants. Cap-
tain Piggot and thirty-two persons were killed or wounded.
In the thirty-sixth volume of the "Universal History" (part
Modem), page 276, a full account is given of this atrocious
affair; it is also to be found in Bryant Edwards's "History of
the West Indies." Not the least extraordinary part is, that no
one was punished for it.

LIFE IN A COLONY.

tion for a peerage, and the contempt of all mankind !
The reptile is beneath my notice !"

Here there was a pause. To use the expressive
language of the country, there was a thaw ; the
sleighing had gone, and we had stuck in the mud,
when an old servant of Ohanning's entered the dining-
room, and, holding the door in his hand, either con-
founded at the sight of such an unusual party, or
waiting to catch the eye of his mistress, hesitated
awhile, and then said, in a loud voice : —

*' Bears has no tails, ma''am !" and very deliberately
retired.

There was something so comical in this unconnected
and apparently useless piece of information that laugh-
ter was irresistible. As soon as any one oould be
heard, Mrs. Channing, with more coolness and self-
possession than I had given her credit for, explained
that as all sleighs were covered with furs, and of late
decorated with the tails of foxes and other animals,
she had thought in her simplicity that bears'* tails
would admirably contrast with the grey wolf-skins
with which her sleigh was clothed, and tor that pur-
pose had sent the groom for a furrier to procure some,
which caused this communication that ^^ bears has no
tails." Having extricated herself so well !iOtii t' is
awkward affair, she rose and retired, accompanied by
Lady Sampson and the rest of the fair sex. As soon
as we had resumed our seats, the Governor started as
a topic of conversation the great improvement that
had taken place of late years in the soldier's dress.
He spoke of the inconvenient practice of using soap
and flour on the hair ; of their absurd and useless
queues ; of their troublesome breeches and long gai-
ters, the care of which occupied the time and destroyed
the comfort of the men, all which he illustrated by
amusing anecdotes of the olden time.

" I quite agree with you, sir," said Captain Jones ;
" but there is great room for improvement yet, espe-
cially in the dress of the medical men of the army.

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

l' 8'
.1.

What a monstrous absurdity it is to put these people
in the uniform of soldiers, who have no fighting what-
ever to do, and whose arms and accoutrements are
emblems of a service they never perform ! If it is
necessary for the sake of appearance that they should
be habited like other officers, I would make their dress
subservient to the objects of their profession. For
instance, I would have the gold band that goes down
the seam of their trousers to be gilt strips of diachylon
plaster ; their spurs should contain lancets ; their
scabbard a case of instruments instead of a sword, the
handle of which should be a pliable syringe. I would
give them a sabertash, and fill it with splints and
bandages ; their sword-belt should be so constructed
as to be made useful as a tourniquet, and their sash as
a sling for a wounded arm. They might also have a
cartouche-box, filled with opiates, pills, and styptics ;
while the cushion of the epaulette might be composed
of blisters and strengthening plasters. They would
then be always ready ror immediate service, and would
be provided on the spot for every emergency. I can-
not conceive anything more perfect than this arrange-
ment. With his library in his head, and his dispensary
in his clothes, what more efficient man would there be
in the service than a military surgeon V

This very droll suggestion put every one in good
humour, and was followed by some capital stories from
the Colonel j until the Governor having passed the
wine (for he was the first that curtailed the period spent
over the bottle), Channing proposed that we should
join the ladies in the drawing-room. The dinner had
been a good one, though rather too abundant ; and the
cook had introduced some dishes of her own that were
new to the Government House party, and occasioned
remarks that annoyed poor Channing excessively.
Among these was one containing a number of small
baked pears, the long and slender stalks of which were
bent backward and extended the whole length of the
fhiit. Lord Edward had asked permission to help Miss

til :f:

'±. \ "

LIFE IN A COLONY.

Sampson to one of these baked mice, as he called them,
to which they certainly bore a very striking resem-
blance.

" Mithibus ! Oh ! you ! thocking ! quithe !*" was her

Notwithstanding this and other mortifications that
he had endured, Ohanning was, on the whole, elated
and pleased. He knew that a man who steps out of
his proper sphere in life must inevitably provoke ridi-
cule, and although good breeding may suppress it in
his presence, it cannot fail to find vent at his expense
aftei-wards. He remained behind in the dining-room
a few minutes. His property had been acquired by
care and economy, and could only be preserved by the
same means. He was now enabled to be liberal, but
liberality does not necessarily include extravagance ;
he therefore locked up the wine and the dessert, and
then followed his guests into the drawing-room.

Here the attention of the company was engrossed
by a beautiful and precocious little bloy, the child of
his eldest daughter, who was then living at Bermuda
with her husband. The moment he saw his grand-
father (which word he had abbreviated into Danny),
he ran up to him, and claimed the reward of his good
behaviour. It was evident he had been drilled and
bribed into silence upon the subject of the defect in the
feice of Sir Hercules, for he said —

" Danny, give me the orange you promised me, for
I did not say the Governor had a great big nose."

Even the terror of his relatives and the politeness
of the company were overcome by the absurdity of this
remark. Every one laughed, and among the rest none
more heartily and good-naturedly than his excellency
himself.

" Come here, my little man," he said ; " it is a very
big nose, a very big nose, indeed : but it has had too
many jokes cracked upon it not to be able to bear
another from such a pretty little boy as you."

As the Governor advanced the little rcllow receded,

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

I :

until his progress was stopped by the corner of the
room. His terror now became insupportable, and he
called to his grandfather for assistance.

" Kick him, Danny !'' shouted the child. " Throw a
stone at him, Danny ! Make the dog bite him, Danny !"

He then threw himself on the floor, and kicked, and
screamed most furiously, until he was carried out of
the room by the nurse.

" How very good !" said Lord Edward.

" Capital, by Jove !" said Trotz.

But Miss Sampson, knowing the unfortunate cause of
it all, thought " it wath thockmg."

Lady Sampson, who prided herself upon her sing-
ing (as every one does upon what they cannot do),
was now induced to take a seat at the piano and favour
the company with a song, which she executed, if not
to the delight of all present (for her voice was very
false), at least to her own entire satisfaction. I have often
observed, that most people, however pleased they may be
with themselves and their own personal appearance, pre-
fer to sing of beings and characters wholly different. A
f)ale, consumptive, diminutive-looking little man, de-
ights in the loud and rough song of a sailor or pirate,
that speaks of thunder, and forked lightning, and moun-
tain waves. A grenadier-sort of person idolizes little
Cupid, and wishes to be thought to resemble him. If
asked for a song, he begins —

Tm the Cupid of flowers —

A merry light thing ;
I'm lord of these bowers,

And rule like a king.
There is not a leaf

Ever thrilled with the smart
Of Love's pleasant grief,

But was shot through the heart.
By me — by me — little mischievous sprite,
Kindling a love-match is all my delight.

Stout and well-developed women warble of elfs,
sylphs, and beings of aerial lightness. -v

y-\

LIFE IN A COLONY.

The Governor's lady, under the influence of this in-
scrutable law, sang —

Thine ear I will enchant,
Or, like a/airy, trip upon the green-—

and one or two others of a like nature, and was loudly
applauded ; for a little gubernatorial circle at Halifax
has its courtiers and parasites as well as that of the
Tuileries or Buckingham Palace. After this magni-
ficent display of taste and talent. Miss Sampson fol-
lowed the great enchantress. She would have liked
to have sung Italian, as most young ladies do who
neither understand the language nor know the pronun-
ciation, for thoy very properly imagine they can giv«
a grcator effect to it on tnat account, and, besides, there
is something beautifully mystical in the strains of an
unknown tongue ; but Lord Edward was a judge of
music, and always applauded her singing : she tnere-
fore appealed to him to select a song for Tier.

" Oh, that charming little songibus," he said, " you
sing so sweetly, so divinely. It begins, ' Sing me those
gentle strains again. ' "

Sweetly and divinely are strong but most agreeable
words when applied to one's voice. She was pleased,
and consoled tor having given up the horrid Italian,
and began, ** Thing me thothe gentle thtrains again."
With the exception of the air of absurdity given to it
by lisping, she sung it tolerably well, for ladies gene-
rally do well when they are pleased.

" How very good V said his Lordship. " Thank
you, thank you— it is exquisite ; but there is a beau-
tiful little songibus called ** Sing me those strains again.'
Would you &vour us with that T'

Miss Sampson looked at him to see what he meant,
but, alas, the unalterable face told no tales ! Cold, and
bright like moonlight, it wore its usual calm and in-
teresting expression. Still it was very odd, she had
just sung it; but then he always expressed himself
oddly. Was he quizzing her, or was he really so
pleased as to desire to hear it repeated I Sweet-tem-

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

■ 1 !

tk : i

::-l

: '4

' ; ' i
■ : t

pered young ladies, like Miss Sampson, gene! ]\y adopt
that interpretation where they can tliat is most agree-
able to their wishes ; and she sung it over again in
her best manner, and with very good effect.

" How very good !" he said, approvingly ; '* but,
ah, pray don't leave us yet ! It is quite refreshing to
hear such sounds. There is a little songibus 1 think
I heard you once sing ; it is a beautiful thing."

** What is it ?" said the delighted fair one, looking up
at her gallant and charming friend, and at the same time
executing a chromatic run on the piano, " What is it?"

" Perhaps I can recollect it. It begins, * Sing me
those gentle strains again.' "

Her eyes became suddenly dim, there was a total
eclipse of those beautiful orbs, and for a moment she
was in utter darkness, she was so near fainting. There
could be no mistake now, he had not heard a word of
it ; and was so completely absorbed in contemplating
himself in a large mirror, that he had even forgotten
the phrases of unmeaning compliment he had so me-
chanically used. Exerting herself to conceal her vexa-
tion, she rose and returned to her seat. This painful
disclosure of total indifference had dissolved in an in-
stant some little airy fabrics her imagination had been
rearing during the past year ; and what rendered it the
more provoking wais, that the slight was offered in public,
and by one of ner own " thett. '

The Bishop, meanwhile, had taken but little part
in the conversation. The topics were new to him, and
he was thrown out. Now he made an effort to draw
it towards the subjects that filled his heart, namely,
himself and his projects. He described the agreeable
voyage he had made with Captain Jones from England,
extolled his kindness in offering to land him at the
Isle of Sable, and expressed his wonder that clergy-
men should in general be so unpopular with sailors.

" I will tell your Lurdship," said the Captain. *' I
am inclined to think, although you are better informed
on these subjects than I am, that Jonah must have

LIFE IN A COLONY.

been a very troublesome passenger befoi such cood-
natured fellows as seamen would have handled him so
rouo-hly as to throw him overboard. But, talking of
tlie^Islo of Sable, reminds me of what I ought to have
mentioned to your Lordohip before, that we sail for
tliat charming little island — that Paradise of the Gulf
Stream, that scene of primitive innocence, to-night, at
eleven o'clock. If you will be on the King's Wharf
at half-past ten, sharp, with your traps, 1 will have
some of my * little lambs' there to attend you. I will
answer for their being there at that moment, for they
know I am the most punctual man in the world."

The Bishop was disconcerted. It was a short no-
tice — too short, indeed, to be at all agreeable; but
occentrieity knows no limits, and recognises no laws :
so, making the best of it, he departed with his friend^
who took his leave contrary to all colonial etiquette,
A'hich restrains any one from retiring until the Gover-
nor sets the example.

'' What a very odd man Captain Jones is !" said
his Excellency.

"Very," replied the Colonel; "but, at the same
time, he is one of the most valuable oflScers in the
service, although I confess his indulgence to his men
is sometimes very perplexing to his friends. He is an
exact and rigid disciplinarian, but shows them every
kindness compatible with a strict observance of duty.
He calls them ' his lambs,' and they are allowed to
come on shore in very large parties, and have got up
a very pretty quarrel with my fellows. Sometimes
the soldiers charge them, and drive them into their
boats, but oftener thoy have the best of it themselves ;
yet, in all cases, he complains that those dare-devils
(his lambs) have a hard time of it, and are ill used.
Eccentricity is often the accompaniment of great talent,
and that is the reason so many blockheads affect it.
His, however, is genuine, although he is not to be
compared, in that respect, with a gentleman of my
acquaintance in one of the adjoining provinces. I took

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

Hhelter from a thundor-Bliower one day in a country
inn, to which others had fled for the same purpose,
and, among the rest, one of the most eminent men of
the bar of the colony. Every one was tired and bored
to death by the continuance of the rain, but he was at
no loss for amusement. He made a small bow of
whalebone, and, procuring a large needle (which the
landlady called a daniing-needle), for an arrow, he put
on a pair of spectacles, and commenced shooting mos-

3uitoes, as thev flew by or about him, to the great
anger and infinite annoyance of every one in the
house. I never saw a more eager sportsman, or one
more delighted when he made a good shot. His shouts
of laughter came from his very heart."

Here the conversation was enlivened by a very ab-
surd incident. Among the guests was a rough old
Commissary-General, who was exceedingly deaf. A
merchant, a vulgar acquaintance of Channing, taking
pity on his infirmity, sat down beside him for the
purpose of talking to him. The old gentleman, taking
up his trumpet, asked his friend why his wife was not
of the party.

*' One pf 'our brats' is ill," replied the merchant.

*' Then I know how to pity you," said the Commis-
sary. " They are a great nuisance ; I am plagued to
death with them, I have so many."

" It has the croup," answered the other, raising his
voice.

"A coop!" replied the deaf man; *'that is not a
bad idea, if you could only manage to coax them into
it, but I never could."

" They have nearly eat me out of house and home."

" How shocking !' said the other, in great amaze-
ment. " Shocking, sir !" he continued, becoming ani-
mated with his subject : " there never was anything
like it in the world. But TU tell you how to get rid
of them quietly. Don't use arsenic, because you might
poison yourself, but steep some bread in prussic acid,
and give them as much of that as they can eat, and

LIFE IN A COLONY.

you will soon find a difference in your baker's and
butcher's bill, I can toll you/'

" What in the world," asked the merchant, with un-
feigned astonishment, " are you talking off

*' Rats, to be sure," was the answer.

" And I was telling you," rejoined the other, slowly,
distinctly, and loudly, '* tliat one of my children had
the croup."

The effect was electrical ; everybody was convulsed,
except the unruffled aide-de-camp, who contented
himself with merely observing —

" How very good !"

Here the (Governor's sleighs were announced, which
was a signal for the breaking up of the party. The
play was now concluded, and the actors withdrew to
their homes; but there was an afterpiece enacting
elsewhere, the humour of which was broader than
was agreeable, either to the host or his i^uests.

Channing escorted his company to the hall, where
were deposited their cloaks and wrappings, but led the
Governor and his staff into his study, where they had
disrobed. The door, though shut, was not closed suf-
ficiently for the action of the lock, and, pushing it
open, he found to his amazement another "thett,"
enjoying themselves infinitely more than that which
had been assembled in the drawing-room. The black
cook had belted on the Governor's sword, and decorated
her woolly head with his military hat and plumes,
which she wore iauntingly and saucily on one side,
while three black, supernumerary servant-men, who
had been hired for the day, having mounted those of
the two aides and the military secretary, were dancing
a reel, with their arms akimbo, to the great amuse-
ment of a boy, who hummed a tune, in an undertone,
for them, and beat time with his fingers on the crown
of his master's hat. So wholly engrossed were they
with their agreeable pastime, that they did not imme-
diately notice our entrance. I shall never forget the
appearance of the cook when she first discovered us.

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THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

She stood instantly still in her dancing attitude, her
feet widely extended, and her fists resting on her hips,
as if suddenly petrified. Her eyes enlarged rapidly
in size, while all the colour fled from them, and they
assumed the appearance of two enormous pieces of
chalk. Her mouth, which was partly open, exhibited
i* long transverse streak of ivory ; and the strong con-
trast of black and white in her face would have been
extremely ludicrous, had it not also been very fearful.
Her nostrils, like those of an affrighted horse, ex-
panded themselves to their utmost extent ; and respi-
ration and animation seemed wholly suspended, when
she suddenly sprang up from the floor, perpendicularly,
nearly two feet, and screamed out —

" Gor-ormighty ! de Gubbenor !"

Instantly the hats flew, with the rapidity of shuttle-
cocks, on to the table, and the usurpers of the trap-
pings of royalty sought safety in immediate flight.
but the poor cook, in her hasty and discomfited re-
treat, forgot the sword, and, stumbling over it, pitched
forward, and struck with great violence against the
stomach of Trotz, whom she overthrew in her fall,
and rendered speechless from the weight of her body,
and nearly insensible from the concussion of his head
against the marble column that supported the mantel-
piece. A shout of laughter from every one present
followed this summerset, in which the voice of the
good-natured Governor was most conspicuous, for there
is but little use in having aides-de-camp living at
your expence, if you cannot occasionally enjoy a joke
at theirs. Even Lord Edward smiled at the ignoble
overthrow of his coadjutor, and said —

*' How very good V

Trotz was seriously injured, and, for awhile, unable
to recover his breath, and, of course, even to attempt
to rise, or to remove the superincumbent weight of the
unsavoury cook ; while the unfortunate and affrighted
woman, catching the contagion of the general laugh,
was seized with hysterics, and grinned horribly over

LIFE IN A COLONY.

the prostrate Tartar, whom she had so unwillingly
made a captive.

The first intelligible ejaculation of Trotz was, that
he was poisoned ; and he called, with many oaths and
imprecations, for instant aid to preserve his life. This
onh^ excited fresh merriment, and awakened anew the
almost convulsive shrieks of the sable artiste, who,
meanwhile, refreshed her nearly inanimate victim with
the balmy air of a breath redolent of gin and raw
onions, with which she supported her strength and
spirits on days of great exertion like the present. Poor
creature ! though deeply versed in the mysteries of
her art, she was not well read. Her knowledge was
derived from experience, and not from books ; and she
knew not that owift had cautioned cooks —

'''• But lest your kissing should be spoiPd,
The onion must be throughly boil'd."

A blow on the ear from the unmanly fist af the
prostrate aide-de-camp operated like a draught of
water on spasmodic hiccup; it cured her hysterics
immediately, and restored her to her senses. Raising
herself on her knees, which in her haste she planted
on his stomach, and again nearly endangered his life,
she arose and fled from the room. Trotz now managed
to get upon his feet, and, putting one hand to the back
of his head, made the agreeable discovery of a large
contusion, and the other to his hip, was not less an-
noyed to find a rent of sufiicient size to adinit of a
far freer action of his limbs. The presence of the
Governor repressed the repetition of language that
had already shocked the religious ears of Channing,
but he rendered his indignation quite intelligible by
signs and low mutterings. After enveloping himself
in his cloak, he drew out a cambric handkei chief, and

f (laced it over his head, and then, taking up his hat,
ooked at it and shuddered (as a man labouring under
hydrophobia does at the sight of water), and arranged
it so that it should not contaminate his hair. As soon

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THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

as the Goveraor descended the steps and was out of
hearing, Trotz, before he left the hall, said aloud—

" Dummkopf, this is too bad ! If the Governor
chooses to perform a part in the vulgar farce of Ilifjfh
Life Below Stairs, to make himself popular, you may
attend him if you like, but I won't/

'* How very good !" were the last words of the
party heard within the walls of the mansion that
night.

Channing, though he could not help laughing at the
absurd scene in the study, was hurt and mortified at
the occurrence. He felt that it might be told to his
disadvantage, and subject him to ridicule ; but he con-
soled himself with the reflection that it was one for
which he was not answerable, and might have hap-
pened anywhere else. It was also a comfort to him
to think that Trotz was the only man injured by it,
and that it might be considered not an inapt retribu-
tion for his insolence. On the whole, he was gratified,
not at the occurrences of the day, but that the day
was over, and an important ohject gained, and a dis-
agreeable duty performed. He know that he who
passes securely over the shoals and the alarming eddies
of a rapid and dangerous river, has more reason to
rejoice at his safety, than grieve over any little dama^^e
his bark may have sustained.

He tlierefore returned to the drawing-room with a
ctieerful face. Both himself and his wife breathed
freer, like people relieved from the weight of an op-
pressive burden. Patting his wife affectionately on
her shoulder, hn said —

"Well. 13eV,y, notwithstanding some blunders and
mistake; ! *hiuk it went off very well, on the whole,
as lawroi iioynard said, when he returned from the
funeral oi Jiis wife." Then, passing his arm round her
waist, he ob8«'rv(3d to me (whoni he had requested to
remain) —

" Doesn't she look well to-night, Barclay? I never
saw her look better since the day we first..

LIFE IN A COLONY. 71

" Don't talk foolishly, Channing !" said his partner,
disen<Tafying herself from his embrace, but lookmg well
pleased with the compliment (for ladies of a certain
ao-e never hear with indifterence that time has dealt
leniently with their chamis). " Don''t talk foolishly!
I am afraid you have taken too much wine to-night !"

He then turned to me, and rubbing his hands, said —

*' Well, Barclay, that is a very nice, sensible, affable
oM man, the Governor. Is he not? What do you
think of Lord Edward Dummkopf r

'' I think,'' I replied, " that there is an uncommon
affinity between himself and his name. He belongs
to one of the oldest families in England. He is of
Saxon origin, and in the German language his name
sicriiifies Blockhead. There is no harm m him ; in-
deed, there is no harm in an empty room; but the air
is apt to be so uncomfortably cold, as to induce you to
withdraw from it as soon as possible."

'' But Trotz f he inquired.

" He," I remarked, " is probably descended from
.Monie low retainer on the Dummkopf estate, for his
name is also Saxon, and signifies In olence. In the
olden time, most names had a pertinent meaning, and
both these people seem to have inherited the qualities
to which they are indebted for their ancestral cog-
nomen/"

mate

*' I quite agree with you," he said, " in your esti-
ite of them; and Sir Hercules, I fear, will add

another name to the lonw list of governors whose per-
sonal staff have rendered themselves and the Govern-
ment-house distasteful to the public. But come with
me to the study, and let us have a glass of whiskey-
punch and a cigar, for it is not often we have the plea-
sure of seeing you at Halifax."

When we were quietly ensconced in this snuggery,
he passed his hand slowly and strongly over his face,
as if to repress a feelin^of pain, and said —

" My good friend, Barclay, pray do not let the
folly of this day lower me in your estimation. This

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THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

is no idle vanity of either myself or my wife. I am
contented with the sphere in life in which Providence
has placed me ; and am far happier in it than I ever
can be in one for which I am not qualified, either by
my talents or previous habits. But I have acquired
a laro-e property, and have an only son, to whom, with
the blessing of God, I intend to give as good an edu-
cation as this country can afford. I am anxious, there-
fore, to acquire a certain position for his sake, for
which I am willing to pay the penalty, the first painful
instalment of which vou have seen produced to-day.
I am not such a blockhead as not to know that I am
unacquainted with the modes and usages of society,
and that I am, what some people have been so anxious
to inform me, a vulgar man. But, thank God," he
said, rising from his chair, and standing with an erect
and proud bearing, " I have also the good sense to
know and to feel, that on this occasion, with the ex-
ception of the Governor himself, we have entertained
a far more vulgar party from Government-house than
ourselves."''*

" Spoken like yourself, my friend," I said ; " and
now for the punch and the cigars."

Alas ! poor Channing is since dead, and his son,
who inherited his fortune, inherited also his sound
good sense and excellent qualities. His father fulfilled
his intentions as to his education, and sent him to
King's College, Windsor, where, under the paternal
instructions of its excellent principal,* he was made

* The gentleman here alluded to is the Uev. Dr. Porter,
who, during an exile of thirty yearb in this country, educated
nearly all the clergy of this and the adjoining c alony of" New
Brunswick, many of the judges, and most of the conspicuous
lawyers in both provinces, besides many others, who are filling
various offices of importance, here and elsewhere, with credit
to themselves and advantage to the public. He is still living
near Exeter in his native land, to which he retired some few
years ago for the benefit of his health, carrying with him the
respect and esteem of a people upon whom he has conferred

LIFE IN A COLONY.

a scholar and a gentleman. He is now one of the
o-reatest ornaments of the bar in the colony ; and, if
fie think proper to do so, can " ask a governor to dine'*"'
without occasioning a remark.

CHAPTER IV.

THE TOMBSTONES.

After divine service yesterday, we sauntered about
the churchyard, examining the tablets erected by the
affection or vanity of the living, to perpetuate the
virtues or record the rank of the dead. In this stroll,
we were joined by Mr. Barclay. He is one of a
numerous class of persons in these coloni<'S, who, though
warmly attached to British connexion, feel that they
are practically excluded from imperial employment and
the lionours of the empire ; and that no service ren-
dered the Government in a province opens the door to
pronioticn out of it, or ensures due consideration within
it, in any department not entirely local in its object
and management. A brother of his, an officer of dis-
tino-uished merit, who, by accident, had been enabled
to enter the naval service in his youth, had recently
died a lieutenant of more than forty years' standing.'
His skill, his unblemished character, and his valuable

tlie most incalculable benefit. Should these lines meet his eye,
he will recognise the hand of an old pupil, who hopes that this
unauthorized use of his name will find a palliation in the
affection and gratitude that inserted it.

' The London Times^ of November 8th, '.846, contains a
biographical notice of the late Lieutenant William Pringle
Green, R N., a native of Halifax, Nova Scotia. After enume-
rating his eminent services, and valuable nautical inventions, it
goes on to say: — "From 1842 until the time of his death, a
few days since, he was not only unemployed, but unrewarded
and neglected, though still devoting his time to the maturing
inventions for the improvement of that service in wbic'^ he was
so ill-treated. He died at the age of sixty-one, more from the

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

services had been repeatedly acknowledged, but as often
forgotten; and his case, which had been much com-
mented upon of late in the English papers, as one of ex-
treme hardship, had created great sympathy at a time
when, alas ! sympathy was unavailing, ite will not,
however, have served his country in vain, if the dreadful
sacrifice he has offered of a life of unrequited toil shall
remove this distinctive badge of humiliation, and ame-
liorate the condition of his brave and loyal country-
men, the colonists of North America.

Disappointment and grief at the unmerited neglect
of his oroken-hearted brother had soured a temper
naturally cynical, and given a bitterness to Mr. Bar-
clay''s language, which the Judge, however, assured
me was indicative rather of his habits than his feelings.
He is one of those anomalous characters we sometimes
meet, whose sarcastic tone and manner of conversation
disguise a kind and good heart.

" Here," said mv eccentric friend. Lawyer Barclay,
as he is universally called, '■'■ here, as elsewhere, the
receipt which the grave gives for a human being is
written in a prescribed >'^'>rm. The name, the age, and
the date of his ci^^ath, are minutely and accurately
entered. If he hfis filled an t^lce of importance, or
belonged to a learned profession, or servea in the As-
sembly, and, above all, if he has been a member of the
Upper House of the Legislature, and borne the title of
Honourable, it is recorded at large; while, on the other
hand, if he has derived his support from an honest
trade, the dishonest tombstone refiises to mention it,
lest it might wound the aristocratic feelings of his
aspiring posterity.

" It IS said that truth is to be found in the wine-butt
and the depths of a well. If revealing the secrets o ;'
others be truth, wine may be the element it loves.

want of the common necessaries of life, than from a decay of
nature; and has left a Avidow and seven daughters to subsist (if
they can) upon the pitiful pension of a lieutenant's widow— a
lieutenant of forty-one years ! I '"

LIFE IN A COLONY.

The well can only give it when exhausted, and then
the fact it has to communicate is found to be scarcely
worth the trouble of the search, namely, that the well
is empty. Wherever it is to be sought for, one thin*^
is certain, it is not to be found on a tombstone. The
broken-hearted husband who erects a monument to
record his inconsolable grief for the loss of his wife,
ere one short year has passed, or the sound of the
sculptor''s mallet has ceased, refutes the pompous false-
hood by a second marriaae ; and eyes as bright and
voice as sweet as those tnat are closed by death se-
duce him into a disavowal of his own words, ' Here
lieth the best of wives,"" and compel him to acknowledge
' Here the husband lies/ The disconsolate widow
whose attections are buried in the grave of her dear hus-
band, near whom she desires soon to repose in death,
feels her heart reanimated with the genial warmth
of returninj^ spring. It rises from the earth with the
primrose, snakes oflf its wintr;y torpor, and re-appears
with renewed life and vigour after its short seclusion.
The admired of all admirers no longer refuses to be
comforted. The churlisli miser receives the homage
of insincerity from his heir even after death, when his
cold and mouldering ear can no longer listen to its
flattering accents. A chaste and beautiful allegorical
tigure of Affection is seen weeping over his urn, which
rests on a pedestal that resembles a money-chest ; you
are lost in doubt whether the tears so copiously shed
are caused by unexpected legacies to others, or by the
protracted delay of possession. This is a double fraud.
It represents the dead as worthy of love, and the living
as capable of loving. It is not gratitude, but a decent
observance of a hypocritical custom.

" But why are men so shocked at the mention of
that .n a tombi'to^ which the deceased published
thro!jo:ho^3t; his life to. jSi the world! In this church-
yard, iruaserouH a:5 the graves are, no man is designated
as mi; r barber, butcher, b&^ker, or shoemaker; yet,
do!ihileHs, there are scores of each who placed these

•i:;i

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

ominous and forbidden words on their signs in the
lar<^est letters, and the most attractive and conspicuous
form. There is, indeed, one exception, if such it can
be called. This marble was erected to a man who is
described as ' a servant,' but it was raised at the ex-
pense of 'a friend,' that styled himself his master,
who, in enumerating his excellent qualities, has not
forgotten to proclaim his own liberality, nor been
ashamed to inform us that he has expended more money
in extolling his services than in rewarding them. It
has been said that the ^rave knows no distinctions.
The rule is now reversed, it seems. All are not re-
duced by it to a level, for the level is on a summit,
and all are elevated to it. Be it so ; but then strike
out all your degrees, your D.D.'s, your M.D.'s, the
words Judge, (jouncillor. Barrister, Esquire, and let
the rank of the dead be uniform. Of all places in the
world, a graveyard, at least, should be consecrated to
truth. As it is, it seems devoted to flattery, vanity,
ambition, ostentation, and falsehood. All sects retain
their peculiarities here, and endeavour to perpetuate
them. A little more taste, and a little more expense
in the monument (but with a contemptuous disregard
of veracity in its record), indicate that a churchman is
deposited there (for the Church in the colony embraces
the greater part of the upper class of society). A neat,
plain, substantial one, with the modest assurance that
the soul of the deceased was immediately conveyed to
heaven, proclaims the saint to have been a Dissenter.
" The common Christian emblem of the Cross is
more in use anions Romanists than others, but you
may identify them hj their pious horror of Protestants.
It would be dangerous to be found in such bad com-
pany, for the Pope has declared they cannot be saved ;
and who can question such high authority I They,
therefore, very wisely lie apart from the dust that is
polluted by heresy. If you are still in doubt, read
one of the inscriptions, and a scrap of Latin sets the
matter at rest. It is an appropriate tongue, for it is

LIFE IN A COLONY.

" a dead language/'' In this curtilage, then, which is
the common burial-place of all, sectarianism and fashion
have found their way and offered their distinctive '
badges to their followers. The highway of life has
been extended into the churchyard, and is thronged in
its usual manner. Here are the handsome equipages
and expensive trappings of the rich, the sobriety of the
middle classes, and the destitution of the nameless and
unknown poor. The scale of colonial precedence sur-
vives mortality. The mitred bishop still regards, with
a condescending and patronising air, the poor curate ;
and the grocer looks down from his marble monument
upon his quondam labourer with his turf covering, and
maintains his relative position in the society of the
dead. The iron railing ooasts of its quality and dura-
bility, and regards with pity or contempt the temporary
and trumpery wooden enclosure. The classic urn ap-
peals only to the hearts of scholars, and the bust to
the man of taste ; while all look up to him who
represented his King, and whose titles are almost as
long as his eulogium — the old Governor — the foun-
tain of honour, and the distributor of patronage and of
rank.

" Amid all this vanity — here and there is to be
found some consistency — the antiquated virgin pre-
serves her acidity of temper to the last. She is one
of those of whom vulgar people so idly and flippantly
predict ' that they dry, but never die."* Accustomed
to hear such agreeable compliments, she anticipates
the sneer or the smile of youth upon finding the word
'Miss^ associated with seventy-four years of age ;
and as in life she maintained the privilege of the last
word, so in death she claims a right to the first ; and
youth and beauty are admonished that ere long they
must undergo the penalty of the law of their nature,
and be humbled in the dust like herself. She thus
avenges the slights and injuries of an unfeeling world,
and, consistent to the last, evinces her fondness for dis-
agreeable truths.

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

*' The houses of this silent ''ity are of various sizes.
Th ^re are fashionable squares, there are streets of less
pretension, and there are suburbs that are but little
frequented, for they are the abodes of the lower orders.
If you must dwell among the latter, it would be best
to preserve a strict incognito. A mansion in St.
Giles's would prove your liabits to have been dissolute,
your associates depraved, and your means exhausted.
li would disgrace your posterity for ever. A respect-
able address is a letter of credit, but the occupant of
mean lodgini;^ is cut by his acouaintance and disowned
by Wi6 ffimily If you would be regarded as a gentle-
nian, you must associate with fashionable people, and
reside among them. The churchyard, strange as it
may seem, is a true but painful picture of life — osten-
tation without, corruption within ; peace and quiet on
the surface, but the worm at the heart. Ah, poor human
nature ! your last resting-place, the grave, would be
eloquent, if you did not stifle its voice. Do not read
these inscriptions, my friend," he continued, " there
is no dependence to be placed on anything but the
figures ; the tale they tell is not true. But come with
me, and I will show you a grave that bears that upon
it that carries conviction to the heart."

On a little mound, in a distant comer of the
churchyard, was a grove of spruce-trees, enclosing a
verdant spot of small dimensions. Here was a soli-
tary grave, having at the foot a common field-stone to
mark its termination ; and, at the head, another of
the same kind, one side of which was dressed with
a chisel, and bore the inscription " Mary Merton,
1840."

The whole of this little plat and was enclosed

by a rough rustic railing, havii mall gate for the

purpose of access. The grave wajs not covered with
sods, but decorated with patches of forget-me-not and
other simple flowers, emblematical of tne feeling and
the object with which they were placed there, and
was encircled by white rose-bushes. At the upper

LIFE IN A COLONY.

part of the enclosure, but outside of tl lailing, stood
a weepin<' willow, the light pendont ry of which

fell Hke the dishevelled hair of a ino» t n whose head
was bending over the body it loved ^^A lamented.
The little spot was kept in perfect order, and tended
with the most careful neatness.

" There, sir !" he said, " there, at least, is truth.
That simple and natural embellishment is the votive
offering of a poor widow to her only child. Those
flowers are weeded by her hands, and watered with her
tears. Where is the sting of death, or the victory of
the grave, when, like that little innocent and helpless
victim, the dead survive decay, and rise again to dwell
in the hearts and affections of the living ? It is re»
freshing to see simplicity and truth amid so much that
is false and unnatural. This is a strange world.
Take man individually, and there is mucn that is
good and amiable in him ; but take men collectively,
and they are always rapacious or unjust. Parties
are but combinations, under plausible pretences, to
deceive the people ; public departments are stern and
cruel ; governments are ungrateful ; patronage is
either blind and cannot distinguish, or selfish and
capricious. A man who serves his country with
ability and zeal is too apt to find at last, to his cost,
that his country, like a corporate body, has neither a
soul to think, a heart to feel, a head to remember, or a
spirit of liberality to reward."

"Oome, come, my friend," said the Judge, well
knowing the cause of this bitter ebullition, " you have
too much reason to complain, I fear, to do so calmly.
Let us not enter into these speculations on this day
and in this place. Let us rather yield to the influence
of the objects around us. I, too, am fond of this spot
for the lasting affection it exhibits. Fathers may for-
get their offspring, and children lose the remembrance
of their parents ; nusbands and wives may be replaced,
and brothers and sisters be to each other as strangers
and even as foes, but the love of a mother endureth

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33 WEST MAIN STREET

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THE OLD JUDGE J OR,

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for ever. A father supplies the wants of his child
from his purse, a mother from her bosom. Even the
grave itself cannot extinguish her devotion. She
mourns over her deceased infant in solitude and in
silence. It is always before her. Its voice is in
her ear, and its smile is in her heart. Memory
raises up the little idol to her admiring eyes by day,
and the too vivid dream reanimates it by night. Her
maternal affections regard it as a living being, and
she longs to fondle and embrace it, while the divinity
within her sympathizes with it as celestial, and in-
vests it with the attributes of a ministering angel.
She holds strange and mysterious communings with
it, for love such as hers has an ideal world of its o^vn.
Her wounded spirit flutters against the barriers of its
human prison, and strives to escape and join that
which has ^ put on immortality ;* and at last, when
wearied with its ineffectual struggles, it yields in
timid submission to the law of its nature — it indulges
the hope that that which is imperishable may be per-
mitted to revisit the object of its love, and illumme,
by its mystical presence, the depths of its gloom. Her
grief, therefore, produces at last its own solace, and
she cherishes it with an humble but a firm reliance upon
the mercy and goodness of God, that her child shall
be fully restored to her in another and a better world,
where they shall dwell together in unity for ever.

'* There is something, as you say, about this little
grave that is very attractive ; for youth is innocent,
and innocence is always an object of interest and of
love. Age, on the contrary, is venerable, but not
loveable. I see nothing in the termination of a ripe
old age to occasion grief, unless there has been a mis-
spent life. There is nothing to regret where all, or
more, has been given than was promised —

' Lusisti satis, edisti satis atque bibisti,
Tempus abire tibi est.*

But youth, prematurely cut off, awakens many a pain-

me,

were

was

LIFE IN A COLONY.

ful reflection. I recollect being greatly struck with a
monument erected to a young officer at Shelburne,
who perished under very peculiar circumstances. The
story itself is short and simple, but, as it is connected
with the rise and fall of that ill-feted and melancholy
town, I will give you the history of both together.
Let us sit down on this tombstone, for it is a fitting
seat from which to tell a tale of mortality.

*' Last summer I made a tour of the province, and
revisited the scenes of my former judicial labours.
The growth and improvement of the country far ex-
ceeded my expectations. In many places where the
road ran, a few years ago, through an unbroken forest,
it was now bordered on either side by a continuous
line of farms ; and substantial houses and large herds
of cattle evinced the condition of the new population.
The towns and villages were greatly increased, and an
improved system of husbandry had changed the whole
appearance of the country. The habits of the people
also had undergone an alteration for the better no less
striking and gratifying. Still it was by no means a
journey of unmixed pleasure. A generation had
passed away, if not from life, from its business and
duties. Many whom I had known I could not at first
recognise : care, time, and disease, had not been idle*
The young had become men, the men had grown old,
and the old had died or withdrawn from view. I was
a stranger among strangers. The houses I had fre-
quented during the circuit's were either enlarged, re-
modelled, or rebuilt. A new race of people welcomed
me, and the well-known voice and the well-known face
were nowhere to be heard or seen. My local interest
was the same, but my personal interest had gone, and
gone for ever.

" At home, these changes are so gradual that rhey
are almost imperceptible. The vacant place soon col-
lapses, or is occupied by another, and harmonises with
all around. It oeeomes incorporated with the rest,
and cannot be distinguished from it. In this manner,

E 6

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

an entire revolutioa is eflfected, and yet that revolution
is so slow and so gradual in its growth, and contains
so much to which we are daily accustomed, that the
eye cannot discern where the old ceases or the new
begins. But, when we return to past scenes, after an
absence of many years, the whole change bursts on
our astonished view at once. We knew it as it was,
we see it as it is, and we feel and know it is not the

same.

((

We are painfully reminded, at the same time, that
we have been ourselves no less under the influence
of this universal law of mutability : we return to our
own, and our own knoweth us no more. The face of
Nature, though here and there partially transformed
by the hand of man, was in the main unaltered. The
mountains, with their wavy outline distinctly marked
against the clear blue sky, or their summits enveloped
in mists, were the same as when my youthAil eye nrst
rested on them. The rivers, the valleys, the murmur-
ing brooks, the wide-spread alluvial meadows, covered
with grazinr* h^rds, the sheltered and placid lakes, and
the rugged z and bold promontones that invaded
the sea, or rt^bxSted its assaults, were all unchanged.
The road also on the sea-shore wore the same familiar
aspect, and the ceaseless roar of the ocean saluted my
ear with the same voice that first awakened my adven-
turous hope to pass to that fatherland that lies beyond
the great deep. At night, as I walked out meditating
on the past, the pale silver moon and its starry host
proclaimed that they also were unchanged, and re-
called many a long-forgotten scene in years by-gone,
before all tnat has been was, or reflection came to teach
us that youth has its shadow, that increases as the day
declines, and that that shadow is death. These visible
objects of nature, therefore, become dearer and dearer
to us as we advance in years. They are our early, our
constant, and sole surviving friends, the same to-day
and to-morrow as they were of old*. They are typical
of Him who knoweth no change.

self

sion,

cause

house

sevei

and

been

LIFE IN A COLONY.

** As far as Shelbume, all was progressive or rapid
improvement, but that unfortunate town was in ruins.
It arose in the wilderness like a work of magic, but had
hardly been erected before it was in a state of decay.
Twelve or fourteen thousand emigrant loyalists from
New York sought shelter in this remote place at the
close of the war of rebellion, in the year 1784, and
built a large, commodious, and beautiful wooden town,
at the head of the magnificent harbour of Roseway.
In their haste, or their necessity, they overlooked the
fact, that a town requires a country to support it, unless
a trade which has grown with its growth supplies
its wants upon equal terms. Remote from the other
settlements of the province, surrounded by a trackless
forest, that covers a poor and stony soil, situated too
far from the entrance of the harbour to reap the ad-
vantages of the fishing-grounds, and filled witn a popu-
lation unaccustomed to the mode, and unequal to the
fatigues, of settling in a wilderness, it was impossible
that a town so constituted could long exist. Some
returned penniless and destitute to their native land,
others removed to various parts of Nova Scotia, and
the grave-yard, from year to year, received great
numbers of those that were left behind, to mourn with
broken hearts over their ruined fortunes, their hopless
and helpless condition, and their dreasy exile. When
I had last seen it, the houses were still standing, though
untenanted. It had all the stillness and quiet of a
moonlight scene. It was difficult to imagine it was
deserted.

" The idea of repose more readily suggested it-
self than decay. All was new and recent. Seclu-
sion, and not death or removal, appeared to be the
cause of the absence of inhabitants. But now the
houses which had been originally built of wood had
severally disappeared. Some had been taken to pieces,
and removed to Halifax, or St. John''s; others had
been converted into fuel, and the rest had fallen a prey

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

to neglect and decomposition. The chimneys stood
up erect, and marked tne spot round which the social
circle had assembled; and the blackened fireplaces,
ranged one above another, bespoke the size of the tene-
ment and the means of its owner. In some places
they had sunk with the edifice, leaving a heap of ruins ;
while not a few were inclining to their fall, and await-
ing the first storm to repose again in the dust that now
covered those who had constructed them. Hundreds
of cellars, with their stone walls and granite partitions,
were everywhere to be seen, like uncovered monuments
of the dead. Time and decay had done their work.
All that was perishable had perished, and those nume-
rous vaults spoke of a generation that had passed away
for ever, and, without the aid of an inscription, told a
tale of sorrow and of sadness that overpowered the
heart.

" A few new houses had recently been erected, and
a very few of the old had been snatched from decay
and repaired ; but, of the thousands of inhabitants
that this town once contained, four or five survivors
alone remained, and the entire population did not ex-
ceed two thousand souls. They were all attached to
the place, and spoke confidently of its revival, fondly
of its noble haroour, and proudly of its former pro-
speritv.

" Every spot had its little history. Here the pil-

frims first landed, and this spacious street was the
rst that was cut out through the woods. On that
bridge the bands of the regiments assembled on a
summer^s evening to play the tunes of their father-
land. In the house which once stood over this large
cellar, Field-Marshal Beresford was quartered when a
young officer in the garrison, and in that sedgy piece
of ground was wounded in the face by an accidental
discharge from the gun of a brother sportsman. On
that eminence, on the opposite side of the harbour,
stood extensive barracks, capable of accommodating
three regiments ; and on the point of land that termi-

openi
from I
vene^
find
sign(

LIFE IN A COLONY.

nates King^s Street was a heavy battery, the guns of
which, corroded by time, lie half-buried in the earth ;
for, alas ! there is nothing now to defend. At this
corner stood the great hotel of Shelbume, where the
weekly balls were held, and the beauty and fashion of
the old colony of New York (for the Loyalists were
principally gentry) assembled for the last time. Driven
into exile by their rebel countrymen, and environed in
the country of their adoption by poverty, and a dim
and lowermg future, they vainly sought to fly from
regret, and lose the painml memory of the past in fes-
tivity and amusement. That spacious church, which
is now so far from the village, was once in the centre
of this large town ; and the number of the graves in
the cemetery bear a frightful disproportion to the
present population.

" While strolling one afternoon through the deserted
and grass-grown street that passes in front of this
building, my attention was attracted by a very hand-
some and apparently new monument, which appeared
to have been just erected, — ^probably to one of the last
of this ill-fated emigration. It was built of the beauti-
ful ^nite that abounds in the neighbourhood, and its
fresh-chiselled surface glistened in the sun, as its rays
fell on the bright and polished particles of mica em-
bedded in its indestructible substance. It was a
costly structure, not in keeping with the means of the
present inhabitants, and evidently could not have been
executed by any workman then resident at Shel-
bume.

"It occurred to me that, perhaps, the affection or the
piety of a child had erected this tribute to the memory
or misfortunes of a parent who had found rest at last
in this secluded spot. My curiosity was excited, and,
opening a little gate, I entered the yard to ascertain,
from the inscription, the name and history of this
venerable patriarch. I was, however, astonished to
find that it was nearly as old as the town, and de-
signed, not for one of the pilgrims, but for a young

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

h ■

lU it 1

hi ^

officer who had been drowned in the harbour. The
inscription was as follows : —

Sacred

to the Memory of

Patrick Maxwell, Esq.,

Ensign in His Majesty's 6l8t or First

Warwickshire Infantry,

and Son of

Sir William Maxwell,

of Spring Hill, Bart., N.B.,

who was unfortunately upset

in a Sail-boat,

10th July, 1790, and

drowned,

iEtat. 19,

deeply regretted by

his afflicted parents,

and all who knew him.

" Such an untimely and melancholy death is un-
happily one of daily occurrence, and his was only dis-
tinguishable from others of the same kind by a trait
of generous manliness that deserves to be recorded. I
have just told you there was a large battery and

fiard-house at the termination or commencement of
ing's Street, and very extensive barracks on the
opposite side of the harbour — an arrangement which
had, probably, been adopted for the greater seclusion
and better management of the troops. Between these
two stations boats were constantly passing and repas-
sing, either on business or pleasure. On the day
mentioned on the tablet, a victualling-barge, contain-
ing a party of soldiers and two officers, was struck
about the centre of the harbour by a heavy squall, and
upset, and every soul on board perished, with the ex-
ception of the sergeant. Young Maxwell was one of
the unfortunate sufferers.^ The sergeant, who was an

* On the reverse side of this monument was an inscription of
a similar nature to Lieutenant Nicholas Ball, of the same regi-
ment, who perished on this occasion. Both bodies were deposited
in one grave.

((

trut

signs

alTeg

Chri

and

LIFE IN A COLONY.

expert swimmer, generously took him on his back, and
struck out boldly for the shore. Miscalculating his
power, however, he swam too hastily, and had not pro-
ceeded far before his strength began to fail. Maxwell,
as soon as he perceived him falter, expressed his deter-
mination to relieve him of the burden ne had so kindly
assumed. He exhorted him to be cool and collectea,
to proceed slowly, but, above all things, to persevere on
account of his wife and children ; and then, oidding him
adieu, relinquished his hold, and sunk to rise no more.

" My first feeling on reading the inscription was one
that is common to us all when we hear of the untimely
death of the young, but reflection pjon took another
turn. If now living, he would have been seventy-five
years of age — a tottering, decrepit old man like myself,
full of years and infirmities. Had he been then spared,
I asked myself, would he have survived till this day I
Or would disease have put in its claim, or the battle-
field held him as a victinr t Was ignominy avoided or
honour lost by that event ? WouEi his career in life
have been unmarked, or has a name perished that was
destined to grace the pa^es of his country''s history 3
All, alas ! is hidden in impenetrable mysteiy. But
reason and religion alike teach us this great consola-
tory truth, that a wise and mercifiil Providence orders
all things for the best.

" As regards monuments, however, I agree with
you, Barclay. I neither approve of the imagery, em-
blems, nor language we usq. Less flattery ana more
truth, less rerorence to worldly vanities and more re-
signation to the will of God, a total exclusion of heathen
alTej^ories and the introduction of such only as are of
Christian origin, would be infinitely more appropriate
and becoming. If we are to be addressed from the
grave, it should be in language calculated to make us
wiser and better men ; for we do not seek these soli-
tudes to gratify our tastes, but to purify our hearts, and
to enable us, by a contemplation of the fate of others,
to prepare for the inevitable approach of our own.''^

THE OLD JUDGE j OR,

ii.'i

J*- '

Br ^^ ?

CHAPTER V.

A BALL AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE. '

On our return to Illinoo, our recent visit to Halifax
and its incidents naturally became the subject of con-
versation, and, among other things, Government House
and its inmates were adverted to.

" The situation of a Governor,'"* said the Judge,
" is by no means an enviable one. He is insufficiently
paid, seldom properly supported by the Colonial Office;
and no sooner becomes acquainted with the people and
the country than his term of service expires. The
province is then again entrusted to a stranger, who
goes through the same process of acquiring experience,
with great personal labour, annoyance, and inconveni-
ence to himself, and with some danger, and no little
alarm, to the inhabitants; while his best exertions
and intentions are often frustrated, and his domestic
comfort destroyed, by the petty insolence and insigni-
ficant intrigues of the little leaders of little political
factions about him.

'* Recent democratic changes in the constitution of
the colonies have rendered his position still more diffi-
cult, by limiting the prerogative, transferring much of
his autnority to his council, and making public offices
nojt the reward of merit, but of agitation. With po-
litics, however, I have nothing to do. I not only take
no interest in them, but I even dislike to hear them
discussed. A Governor, however, if he be a man of
honour, and a gentleman, is really an object of pity.
As far as we have been concerned ourselves, we have
been extremely fortunate in the selection that has
been made for us, and are enabled to enumerate a
long list of very clever as well as very amiable men ;
but as my experience extends over a long series of
years, and is by no means limited to our North Ame-
rican possessions, I have been sometimes amused at
them as a class, and at the different manner in which

but

LIFE IN A COLONY.

they severally attempt to accomplish the object they
all have in view ; namely, to conduct their admi-
nistration satisfactorily to their employers, and to
the people committed to their charge. To secure the
approbation of the authorities at home, it is merely
necessary to keep things quiet, for they have them-
selves made every concession for this purpose, to
every troublesome party, until there is little left now
but total independence to concede. To preserve this
tranquillity, therefore, necessarily involves the same
policy on the part of a Governor, and, consequently, the
necessity for a certain degree of personal popularity.
It is the pursuit of this populanty that calls forth
the peculiarities and character of the man : some
resting it, where it ought to be, on the honest
and inflexible discharge of duty ; others on tact, a
knowledge of character, or some personal qualification,
that renders them agreeable. As a class, therefore,
they naturally present a wreat variety.

" For instance, there is * your man-of-business Go-
vernor,^ accessible at all times, punctual in the per-
formance of his own duty, and strict in requiring a
corresponding exactness m others — affable, cautious,
but decided. Then there is your * scheming Governor,'*
a man before his age, who delights in theories — has
visions of greatness for his little empire, desires to
have the people habited in garments, which, if they
do not fit, are admirably well calculated to admit of an
extended growth of the body and limb ; who talks of
systems, heads of departments, and boards, and will
neither see nor hear of difficulties, as, in his opinion,
there never are any that are insurmountable, and who
treats the Secretary of State to long reports, for the
amusement of the clerks to report upon. Next comes
your ' entertaining Governor,' who keeps an hospitable
table, gives numerous parties, is full of anecdote, and
tells his stories well, pays due attention to country
members and their fashionable and agreeable wives
and daughters, takes care that his staff are attentive

B-,..

„

•)i

THE OLD JUDGE J OR,

to those who stand in need of attentions, and dance
with those who cannot command partners, and who
arranges his dinners so as to bring together people
who know each other and are agreeable. As for busi-
ness, he obeys orders from home, interferes personally
as little as possible, and suffers things to take their

course.

" Then, there is your ' humbugging Governor,' who
bows and smiles to all, says civil things to everybody,
and of everybody, makes long speecnes, and writes
long messages, adopts no side warmljjr, has no decided
opinions, is with the majority, but lives with the mi-
nority, so he can co-operate with them, too, if they
become strong enough ; is attached to the Church, for
he was bom and bred in it ; is fond of the Ilomanists,
for they are numerous, and devoted to British con-
nexion ; to the Baptists, because freedom of opinion is
the right of all, especially of those who form so large
a body ; and of the Scotch Dissenters, on account of
their abhorrence of democratic principles, and because
he has often witnessed and admired their amiability at
home, and the brotherly love they exhibit to the church
abroad. In short, he is 'all tnings to all men' — a
hand for all, a word for all, and a fig for all.

" Then, there is your * dashing Governor,' a regular
politician, who believes that every man has his price,
regards all provincials as scoundrels, and thinks their
pnce small ; will carry his measures coUte qui coUte ,*
nas a strong smack of English Radicalism, and flatters
the vanity of colonial Liberals ; knows the little points
of little men, and talks of the vast resources of the
colony, the important geographical, relative, and po-
litical position of it ; the able views and great scope
of intellect of its statesmen ; advocates a united legis-
lature for all the colonies, the creation of a Viceroy,
and the construction of a railroad to the Pacific, and
other gigantic projects — tubs for the whale.

"Tnere are also your * purely civil,' or 'purely
military Governors.' The former has no command,

was

the f
with

((

LIFE IN A COLONY.

and, of course, is by no means so well paid as the
other ; is subject to some inconvenience from the \«rant
of this control, and is in occasional collision with
the Commandant, not in matters of importance (for
then it seldom or never occurs), but in insignificant,
and, therefore, more annoying affairs. He procures
the attendance of a redmentafband at his parties as a
favour, and tolerates their airs as aa unavoidable evil.
Although familiar with, and hospitable to, the officers
of the warrison, he never enjoys their sympathies like
an old General. Unless he is a man ot rank himself,
the Admiral, it is observed, is more apt to stand on
etiquette and rights with him than if he were a soldier,
for they again both pertain to the profession of arms,
although not to the same branch oi the service. The
latter, or purely military man, delights rather in the
appellation of General than that of Governor; is
fonder of assembling his troops than his legislature,
and is more at home with the officers of his brigade
than with the officers of his colony. He would rather
talk of the Punjaub than the Maddawaska, and the
heads of columns than the heads of departments. He
says but little, promises less ; but does what he says.
He refers every thing to the department to which it
belongs, and acts on the report of the principal. He
takes no responsibility. If the assembly flares up, so
does he ; begs them to accept the assurance of his
most profound indifference, and informs them that he
was a General before he was a Governor. If they
petition the Sovereign, he thanks them for it ; tells
them he is an old and faithful servant of the Crown,
and has been so long abroad he is in danger of being
forgotten ; that their memorial will call attention to
the fact that he is still living, and serving his King
with zeal and fidelity.

^* These peculiarities are either generated or dis-
closed by the duties and necessities of the station, and
are the various effects on the human mind of a morbid
deaire for applause. Under any circumstances, this

1?J

«:

I >f

THE OLD JUDGE J OR,

high functionary can now personally effect but little
good, in consequence of the restrictions and limitations
imposed upon his authority : but he is by no means
equally powerless for evil, and, if he should, unfor-
tunately, be surrounded by a needy or unprincipled
council, and be deficient either in a knowledge of his
duty, or in firmness of purpose, the country may suffer
incalculable injury.

" One of my predecessors on the bench, a man of
great humour and eccentricity, used gravely to main-
tain, that the only person fit for the situation was a
wise man or a fool. * If he really is a wise man,' he
used to say, * he will govern by himself, and not by
favourites ; if he is a fool, he will not think of holding
the reins at all, but entrust them wholly to the consti-
tuted authorities.' Your indifferent Governors, gene-
rally speaking, are your clever men, or, according to
the cant phrase of modern times, your * talented men,'
— people who are intelligent enough to be conceited,
and yet have not sufficient ability to dispense with
advice.

" These great guns, therefore, as my friend Barclay
calls them, are, as a matter of course, of different
calibre and weight, and their effect is in proportion.
Some carry as true, and are as unerring, as a rifle ;
others, though they hit the mark, have no power of
condensation, and do mischief by scattering. This one
overshoots the object, and that falls short of it. Some
hang fire from indecision, and others go off unexpect-
edly from impetuosity. All these failures arise from
want of previous preparation, either by having served
in one or other of the houses of Parliament, or filled
some of the higher offices in a colony. Suitable per-
sons, I admit, are not easily found ; but, confining the
selection to general officers increases the difficulty, in-
asmuch as a military education, and the life and habits
of a soldier, have a tendency to unfit them for consti-
tutional government. Indeed, some difficulty will be
experienced in future, in inducing gentlemen to accept

able

him

time

from

enabi

when

LIFE IN A COLONY.

an office, the emoluments of which are insufficient to
defray the ordinary expenditure, and the duties, both
onerous and responsible — many of them excessively
disagreeable, and all accompanied by the most offensive
abuse and misrepresentation of an unbridled and licen-
tious press.

" Much of this, if not all, may be regarded with
pity or contempt by a well-regulated mind ; but, un-
fortunately, custom has sanctioned, until time has con-
verted into a duty, the practice of indiscriminate hos-
pitality, whereby the privacy of his house, and the
comfort of his family, are effectually destroyed. Men
are to be seen at a (Governor's table who are to be met
with nowhere else ; and people are brought together
whose previous intercourse has extended no further
than purchases made through the intervention of a
servant at the market-place. The consequence is, that,
instead of exhibiting the best. Government House
affords the worst specimen of society in the province.
Independently of the annoyance to which all are sub-
ject by such an association, the Governor, his staff,
and strangers, naturally infer that this anomaly is the
general condition of colonial society. The ignorance,
awkwardness, and presumption thus displayed, are
taken as characteristics of tne whole ; and mariv anec-
dotes are in circulation to the disadvantage of Halifax
and other provincial capitals, that are chargeable alone
on the extraordinary mixture that this ill-regulated
hospitality produces.

" You have seen the Governor under more favour-
able circumstances ; for you have merely dined with
him and some of his friends, and, fortunately, at a
time when the town was not filled with the 'gentlemen
from the rural districts,' and, of course, when he was
enabled to escape from their intrusion. There are times
when the 'palace' may be said to be out of season, it
is so distasteful ; and it is necessary that you should
see it, and the balls given at that period, fully to
understand what I mean. The most amusing part of

I «

i»i

THE OLD JUDGE J OB,

this folly is, that people who are excluded for their
misconduct (although not admitted elsewhere) for-
mally complain of it as a grievance, and actually
maintain that the Governor is not only bound to ex-
tend his invitations to those that are unfit, but even
to those that are unworthy. One cannot but feel for
the indignity and annoyance he must continually endure
from this cause. It reminds me of an anecdote told
me by Sir John Sherbrooke, when he commanded here.
" He had given permission to his house-steward and
butler — two of the tallest and largest men in Halifax
— to give an entertainment to their friends, and invite
as many as they thought proper, in their own apart-
ment at his house. A day or two after the party, a
diminutive but irascible barber, who was in the habit
of attending upon him, complained, in the course of
his professional duty, that his feelings were wreatly
hurt by his exclusion fi'om the festivities of Uovern-
ment House, by the steward and butler, as it had a
tendency to lower him in the estimation of his ac-
quaintances ; and, if it had not been for the respect he
owed his Excellency, he would most assuredly have
horsewhipped them both.

" ' Would you r said Sir John, who was exces-
sively amused at the pugnacious little man. ' Would
you ? By Jove ! then, I give you my leave. Horse-
whip them as long as you can stand over them."'

" ' This is the manner,' he observed, * in which the
good people here censure me. It appears that I oc-
casionally omit to ask some person who thinks he is
entitled to a card as a matter of right. I really
thought, at first, the fellow was going to complain to
me of myself, for, in fact, he has just as good a right
to come as some others who are admitted."'

" So far, therefore, from a Government house exer-
cising-a salutary influence on the community, its effects
are in fact injurious. People who go from the coun-
try, and procure, through their representatives, ad-
mission to the palace, when they return to their

morn I
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LIFE IN A COLONY.

homes, contrast the facility with which this honour
has been obtained, with the utter impossibility of being
introduced to the families of gentlemen in their own
neighbourhood, attribute the difference to pride or in-
justice, and naturally attempt to vindicate their rights,
by striving to reduce to their own level those who
maintain this invidious reserve. It is natural for
them to think, if the first officer in the colony — he
who represents his sovereign, is willing to admit that
there are no distinctions of stations, or to waive the
consideration, that it is neither right nor expedient
that subordinate people should maintain a different
course. It is, therefore, the prolific parent of that
respectable, as well as amiable and attractive, virtue
known as ' Colonial Patriotism.'

'' It is some years since I was at a ball at Govern-
ment House. My age and infirmities render them irk-
some to me, and, of course, unfit me for enjoying them.
The ]ast time I was there, was during the adminis-
tration of Sir Hercules Sampson. I need not de-
scribe him, or his lady and daughter, or his two aides,
Lord Edward Dummkopf and the Honourable Mr.
Trotz, for, if I recollect aright, Barclay has done that
already, much better than I could, in his graphic
sketch of * Asking a Governor to Dine.' It was on
the first day of January, there was a lev^e in the
morning, a dinner party in the afternoon, and a ball
in the evening. A custom prevailed then, and still
does, I believe, at Halifax, as well as elsewhere in
the country, for the gentlemen " to call that day on all
the ladies of their acquaintance, who are expected to
be at home to receive visitors, to whom cake and wine
are offered. Of course, there is at every house a con-
stant succession of people, from mid-day till the hour
of dinner ; and, at the time I am speaking of, these
morning libations to the health of the fair sex in-
creased not a little towards aft.emoon the difficulty,
that always exists in winter, in walking over the slip-
pery and dangerous streets of the town. Although

;

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

r
1 J

generally considered a very troublesome ceremony, it
is not without its beneficial effects, inasmuch as it
induces or compels a renewal of relations that have
suffered from neglect or misunderstanding during the
preceding year, and affords a good opportunity for
reconciliation without the intervention of friends, or
the awkwardness of explanations. Indeed, it ip this
consideration alone that has caused this rural practice
to survive the usages of the olden time.

" Many absurd anecdotes are in circulation relating
to the accidents and incidents of the * New Year's
Calls,' among the drollest of which is the sudden
irruption into a house of the greater part of those
persons who had attended the Governor's levde, and
their equally sudden departure, amid shrieks of affright
and roars oi laughter, as the cracking of the beams of
the floor gave notice of the impending danger of a
descent into the cellar, and the subsequent collective
mass of fashionables in one confused and inextrii^ble
heap at the foot of the very icy steps of the hall
door. Ah, me ! those were days of hilarity and good
humour, before political strife had infused bitterness
and personality into everything. We were but too
happy before we became too free. The dinner was an
official one ; the guests were the various heads of de-
partments in the place ; and it passed off much in the
same manner as similar ones do elsewhere.

" Of the ball, it is difficult to convey to you a very
distinct idea, such entertainments being so much alike
everywhere. There may be more fashion and more
elegance in one assembly than another ; but, if the
company are well-bred people, the difference is one of
appearance, and not of character ; and even when the
company is mixed and motleyed, as on the occasion I
am speaking of, still, when the greater part of them are
gentry, the difference between it and one more exclu-
sive, though perceptible to the eye well defined and
clearly distinguishable, is one of colouring ; and if, in
delineating it, the shades are made too strong, it be-

as we

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LIFE IN A COLONY.

comes a fancy sketch rather than a faithful picture,
and the actors appear in caricature, and not in natural
and faithfiil portraiture. To give you the proprieties
would be insipid, as all proprieties are, and to give
you only the absurdities would be to make them too
prominent, and lead you to suppose they were samples
of the whole, and not exceptions. You must bear
this in mind, therefore, or you will think the account
exaggerated, or the party more exceptionable than it
really was.

" When I first knew Government House, the so-
ciety to be met with there was always, as I have
before said, the best in the place. Jn time, each suc-
ceeding Governor enlarged the extent of his circle;
and, at last, as a corrective, two were formed for even-
ing entertainments : one that was selected for small
parties, and for frequent intercourse with the ^mily ;
and a second, designed for public nights only and rare
occasions, and «o arranged as to embrace all within,
as well as most people beyond, the limits of the other.
The effect of this arrangement was, to draw the two
classes apart, to create invidious distinctions, and to
produce mutual dislike. Subsequently, the two have
Been merged into one, which has consequently become
so diluted as to be excessively unpalatahle. The best
part have lost their flavour, without imparting it to
others ; and the inferior, being coarser and stronger,
have imbued the rest with as much of their pecu-
liarities as to neutralize their effect, while they have
retained enough to be as disagi*eeable and repulsive
as ever.

** The evening to which I allude being a public
one, the invitations were very numerous, and embraced
the military, navy, and staff, the members of the legis-
lature, which was then in session, and all the civilians
whose names were to be found on the most extended
list that had been formed at the time. Having dined
at the palace that day, I happened to be present at
the amvals. The guests were shown into the drawing-

M.ilt

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

'^■' i

h..

room, and courteously, though ceremoniously, received
by the Governor, his lady, and staff. Those who
were wholly unknown, and the least acquainted with
the usages of society (as is always the case with awk-
ward people), arrived long before the rest, and were
not a little surprised and awed at finding themselves
alone in the presence of the * royal party.' The
ladies were unable or afraid to be at ease, or to ap-
pear at home, and sat on the edges of their chairs,
stiff, awkward, and confused. The utterance of the
gentlemen, who were no less conscious of being out of
their element, was thick, rapid, and unintelligible;
while they appeared to find hands and feet an intoler-
able nuisance. The former felt into every pocket of
their owners for a secure retreat, but were so restless,
they had hardly secreted themselves before they made
their escape into another hiding-place, when they put
a bold face on the matter, advanced and clasped
each other in agony in front, and then undertook the
laborious task of supporting the skirts of the coat
behind. The latter, like twin-brothers, entered the
room together, and stood on a footing of perfect equa-
lity ; but it was evident ambition was at work among
them, for the right first claimed precedence, and then
the left, and then rudely crossed before each other,
and, at last, as if ashamed of this ineffectual struggle,
when their master sat down, hid themselves under the
chair, or embraced each other lovingly on the carpet.

" Lord Edward could not, and Trotz would not,
talk. Sir Hercules, with great good humour, tried
every topic ; but he no sooner started one, than it fled
in affright at the cold and repulsive monosyllable
' Yes,' or ' No,' and escaped.

*' ' How very icy the streets are !' he said ; ' they
are really quite dangerous.'

" * Very, sir.'

" ' Does your harbour freeze over f

. " ' No, sir oh, yes, often, sir ! — that is, very

rarely — when the barber rises, sir....'

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LIFE IN A COLONY.

((

" ' Perhaps, madam, some of these prints would
amuse you ! Here are some of the latest caricatures j
they are capital.../

" ' No, thank you, Sir Hercules — not any, sir.'

" * Are you fond of driving in a sleigh V

*' ' Some, sir.'

" ' Do you play ?"

"* I never touch cards, sir.'

" ' No, but upon the piano I'

*' ' No, but my Anna Maria does j and master says
she has a most grand ear, sir.'

" ' Perhaps you would like to hear some music ? If
so, Lady Sampson will have great pleasure in playing
for you.'

" ' For me ! Oh, dear, no — ^not for the world ! I
couldn't think of it for me^ sir.'

' What a pity it is there is no theatre at Halifax !'
' Yes, sir — very, sir — for them as sees no harm
in ^em, sir — yes, sir,'

" The Governor gave it up in despair, and offered
me a pinch of snuff, with an air of resignation that
would have done honour to a martyr. They were
afraid of him, and knew not how to address him ; and,
besides, who could talk amid general silence, and sub-
ject their chit-chat to the critical ordeal of strangers ?

" Announcements now became more frequent, and
relieved the embarrassment of both parties. Major
and Mrs. Section ; Mrs. and the Misses de Laine ;
the Hon. Mr. Flint (a privy councillor) ; Mr. Steel
(the Speaker), Mrs. and Miss Steel, and Miss Tinder ;
Colonel Lord Heather ; Vice- Admiral Sir James Cap-
stan ; Lady Capstan ; Captain Sheet ; Lieutenant
Stay ; and so on. The room was soon filled, and it
was amusing to witness the effect this reinforcement
had on the spirits of the advanced party, who had
hitherto sustained, unaided and alone, the difficult
conversation, and to watch the eagerness with which
they recognised and claimed an acquaintance with
whom they could be at ease and talk freely. An in-

100

THE OLD JUDGE J OR,

W-^

■: ^

cipient attack of the gout compelling me to take a
chair, I sat down near the table on which were the
prints and caricatures, but soon became more interested
in the scene before me than in those over-drawn pic-
tures of life, and was excessively amused at the scraps
of conversation that reached me from detached groups
in my neighbourhood.

« * Ah, Mrs. Section !' said Trotz, as he gave her,
very condescendingly, one finger, * how do you do ?
And how is my friend, the major V

" ' The major is poorly, thank you,' she replied j
'he caught a bad cold in going those 'orrid grand
rounds last night/

" ' Ah,' said Trotz, * he should have had a four-
post bedstead put upon runners, and driven in that
manner to visit the posts ! The orderly could have
accompanied him, turned out the guards for him, and,
when all was ready, opened the curtains."*

" * How very good ! said Lord Edward.

" * What a droll fellow Trotz is !'' observed the lady
to her neighbour : * but those grand rounds really are
a great nuisance, and I get dreadfully frightened when
Section is out. Last night I wanted to have Sergeant
Butter to sleep in the 'ouse; but the major said,
' 'Enrietta, don t be foolish !** So I put my maid Hann
in the dressing-room. Presently I 'eara a noise, and
called to Hann, and we examined every place— and
what do you think it was? an howl tapping against
the heaves of the 'ouse !'

^' ' I am afraid,** said the Admiral to his flag-captain,
* that Sampson will find himself in a scrape this winter.
I don't see how he is to get over the rupture of the
last session ; where it was tongued then, it has again
given way, I understand, and nothing holds it now but
the cheeks and back fish.'

" ' Dear me, Sir James,' said Mrs. Section, * 'ow
very *orrid! do, pray, recommend to him 'OUoway's

suing Hointment — it's hexcellent! But what did

u say it was that 'ung by the Governor's cheeks f

somet
'But

grumi

LIFE IN A COLONY.

101

** Their sense of the ludicrous overcame their sense
of propriety, and they both laughed heartily } when
the Admiral said —

" * Nothing, my dear madam — nothing in the world
but his whiskers !

^* Moving a little further off, their place was soon
supplied by another set, among whom was the pretty
Mrs. Smythe.

" ' Ah, Mrs. Section, how do you do to-night ? You
really look charmingly ! Let me introduce dear Mrs.

Olaverhouse to you! How glad I am to see you,

Miss Schweineimer ! When did you come to town ?
Has your father taken his seat in the council yet ?—
Stop, my dear, there is nobody looking just now;
your dress is unhooked at the top ; lot me fasten it.
What a lovely complexion ! I would give the world
for such a colour as you have. I suppose you ride a
great deal a-horseback in the country :

^' ' No, I never ride ; father hasuH a beast fit for the
side-saddle.^

^^ * Call it a horse, dear ; we call nothing a beast in
Halifax, dear, but Colonel Lord Heather, who won't
allow his band to play at private parties. Do you
know Lady Capstan 2 I will introduce you.'

" ' Oh, dear, no, not for the world, before so many
folks ! I shouldnH know whether I was standing on
my head or my heels, if you did.'

" ' Don't talk of standing on your head, dear ;
women never do it here, except at a circus.'

" ' It's allowable to have one's head turned a little
sometimes, though, ain't it V retorted the young lady.
' But who is that old fellow at the table!'

" ' Don't call him a fellow, dear — fellows are only
found at colleges and workhouses : call him *■ gentle-
man,' and leave the word * old' out ; nobody is old
here but the devil. It is Judge Sandford, dear. Shall
I introduce you ? I think he Knows your fether.'

" ' Oh, no, pray don't ; he looks so horrid cross and
grumpy!'

fii^l

102

THE OLD JUDGE J OR,

it i

Who is to be the new Leffislative Councillor V
inquired a member of the Assembly of another.

" ' Morgan, I believe/

'* * Morgan ! why, he can't write his name ! You
don't mean to say they intend to put in Morgan?
Why, he ain't fit to be a doorkeeper — and, besides, his
character is none of the best, they say.'

" ' It will conciliate all the clergy of ....'

" * Conciliate the devil ! Well, you do astonish me !
Did you get your vote through for the Shinimicash
Bridge r

" '■ Yes.'

" ' I wish you'd help me, then — log-roll mine
through, for an over-expenditure J have of five hundred
pounds.'

" * I will, if you will support the academy in my
county. I was put in on that interest.'

^^ *• Done !' and the parties shook hands, and sepa-
rated.

^^ As they turned to depart, one of them struck his
elbow against a musical instrument, that gave out a
loud and long-continued sound.

" ' What's that V he asked.

" * They call it a harp,' was the reply.

" ' The devil it is! I wonder- if it is like the harp
of Solomon !'

" * I never heard of Solomon's harp.'

" ' Well, it's much of a muchness, then, for I never
saw it ; so we are about even, T guess.'

" * I say, Bill, that's a devilish pretty craft with a
rainbow on her catheads, ain't she I — there, that one
with pink streamers and long-legged gloves,' said one
little middy to another. * I'm blowed if I don't go
and ask her to dance with me !'

" ' Why, Black, what are you at, man ! You
haven't been introduced to her.'

" ' The uniform's introduction enough to her ; there's
no harm in trying it, at any rate. So I'm off in chase
of the strange sail, and will speak her, at all events.'

i( (

LIFE IN A COLONY.

103

4( C

How was dry cod at Berbice V inquired a little,
cold, calculating man, of another (who, from his enor-
mous bulk, appeared to have fed upon something mucli
better than nis favourite export) — * how was cod, when
the brig Polly left Berbice ? And lumber — was the
market good? What a grand government contract
Longhead got for the supply of the army and navy !
That fellow don't entertain the commissary people for
nothing; that's a fact! There's no use to tender
where he's concerned.'

" * How late the officers of the 10th are in coming
to-night !' whispered a very pretty young lady to her
companion. * There is nothing out those horrid
black coats here, and they look nke ill-omened birds.
I can't bear them ; they take up so much room, and, I
fancy, soil my gloves.'

" ' I can't say I have any objection to them,' said
the other ; ' but I wish tney were not so fond of
dancing. But just look at Ann Cooper, what a witch
she has made oi herself ; she actually looks like a fright !
I wonder what Captain Denham can see in her to ad-
mire ! Come this way : there is that horrid Lawyer
Galbanum seeking whom he can devour, for the next
quadrille : I shall say I am engaged.'

** * So shall I, for I have no idea of figuring with
him. Look at Major Mitchell, how he is paying
court to Lady Sampson ! They say he is attentive
to Miss Sampson. They are moving this way; let
us go over to Mrs. Section, she always has so many
people about her that one knows.'

" ' What a magnificent screen I' exclaimed Major
Mitchell to the ^reat enchantress. Lady Sampson.
* How beautifully it is executed ! It is the most ex-
quisite piece of embroidery I ever saw. I am at a loss
which most to admire, — the brilliancy of the colouring
and delicate shading, or the skilful way in which it is
worked in ; for it has a richer and sorter effect than
anything of the kind I ever beheld. Where in the
world did you get it V

\':

101

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

m ,

It r

** * I hardlv like to tell you, after such extravagant
praise ; but it is the joint production of myselfand
daughter. One has to resort to some such occupation
to pass the time in this horrid country ; and/ looking
round cautiously, and lowering her voice, * among
such horrid camboos of peo^)le, too.'

" * Exactly,' said the major ; * I know how to pity

you.'

'* * When I was in the West Indies, I used to
amuse myself by embroiderina; bv way of killing time.
The weather was so extremely hot, it was impossible
to use any exercise.'

" * Got this place made a free port, you see, Sir
Hercules,' said a man, who appeared to nave had an.
interview on some occasion at tne Colonial and Home
Office. ' I told the Secretary of State refusal was out
of the question, we must have it ; and threatened to
have a committee moved for on it in the House of
Commons, — regularly bullied him out of it. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is a particular friend
of mine, told me before I went it was the only way at
Downing Street. Bully them, says he, and you'll
get it. i3ut Peel, he said, was a different man : self-
created — a new man — important — feels himself —
stands before the fire with his back to it, and his
hands in his pockets. He knows who he is, and so
must you appear to know. I took the hint, pitched
into him about the confidence of the colonies in his
great grasp of intellect, comprehensive mind, and so
on. Don t say another word, my good fellow, it
shall be done. / say it, you know, and that's enough.
I had a conversation with John Russell, too; and,
between you and me, they tell me his Lordship is a
rising man. Plumbstone, said he, ' Halifiuc is a
very important place, — a very important place indeed.
I really had no idea of it until you explained to me its
capabilities ; and then, tapping me on the shoulder,
he said, and it has some very important men in it,
too! — a handsome compliment, wasn't it! And

LIFE IN A COLONY.

105

then he quoted some Latin ; but Fve grown so rusty-
hem ! — so long since Tve had time — hem ! — I couldn't
follow him.'

** ' Stop a minute, Sarah ; let me pull out your
flounce, and fix your sleeves and braids for you,' said
an anxious motner to her daughter. ' There, now,
that will do ; but hold yourself up, dear. In a ball-
room, people look shorter than tney are, and must
make tne most of themselves ; and don't dance with
those horrid little midshipmen, if you can find any
other partners.'

" * Why, ma V

** ^ Exactly,' said Mrs. Smythe, who appeared to
be endowed with ubiquity, * your mother is right.
Do you know Captain Beech, or Lieutenant Birch, of
the Jupiter i I will introduce them to you ; they are
both well connected, and have capital interest. Take
my arm, but don't look at those country members,
dear, and then you won't have to cut them, for Sir
Hercules don't like that. Appear not to see them,
that's the most civil way of avoiding them. Recollect,
too, that walls have ears— especially when they are
covered with flowers, as they will be to-night. Now,
I'll tell you a secret, dear ; Major Macassar is engaged
in England, so don't waste your time in talking to
him this evening. Keep close to me, now, and I'll
take you among the rignt set, and introduce you to
good partners, for I see preparations making for
moving out.'

** Here Sir Hercules gave his arm to Lady Cap-
stan, Lord Heather following with Lady Sampson,
and led the way to the ball-room. It was a large and
handsome apartment, tastefully decorated and well
lighted; and the effect produced by the rich and
various uniforms of the military and navy was gay,
and even brilliant — more so, indeed, than is generally
seen in a provincial town in England ; for the garri-
son consisted of three regiments, and the greater part
of the fleet upon the station was in port at the time.

F 5

fi'

ir\

106

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

At the upper end of the room were the Governor,
Lady Sampson, the Admiral and his lady, and the
heads of the civil and military departments of the
place and their families. Those next in rank adorned
the sides of the room ; and groups of those who made
no pretension to that equivocal word ' position ' occu-
pied and filled the lower end.

" The indiscriminate hospitality that had thus
assembled together people of the same community,
wholly unknown to each other except by name, had
the enect of causing a restraint in the manner of the
upper class, in a vain and weak desire not to be
thought on a footing of equality with those beneath
them ; and, on the other side, a feeling that this
difference was purposely rendered palpable, and main-
tained, if not witn incivility, at least, with a total
want of courtesy. Where such was the condition of
things, the whole naturally suflfered from the conduct
of a few individuals; and those who exhibited or
assumed airs of superiority, on the one part, or re-
sented them coarsely, on the other, naturally involved
the right-thinking people of both in the censure that
belonged peculiarly to themselves.

" ^ Who is that beautiful girl f asked a person near
me, of a lady belonging to the place.

" ' I don't know her.'

" ' And that extremely interesting young lady V

" ' I am not aware ; I never met her before ; she
is not of our set.'

" And yet it was manifest she knew her name ;
had seen ner frequently, though not, perhaps, in the
same room ; and was well acquainted with the condi-
tion and respectable character of her parents. If any
allowance could be made for this absurd fastidious-
ness, some extenuation might be found for female
vanity in the fact, that what the lower end of the
room lost in station was more than compensated for in
beauty. Trotz, who had observed this littleness, did
not fail to use it, to the annoyance of those who had

LIFE IN A COLONY.

107

been weak enough to exhibit it. He affected great
astonishment at their not knowing people so distin-
guished for beauty, ease of manner, and agreeable con-
versation. The lower they were in the scale of society,
the more he extolled them for these qualities, and
pronounced them decidedly the finest women in the
country.

" In a short time, the quadrilles were formed, and
all (that is, all the younger part of the company) were
in motion ; and, wnatever tlie undercurrents and un-
seen eddies of feeling might have been, all appeared
gay and happy. Indeed, some of the young ladies
from the country danced ^th a vigour and energy
that showed their whole hearts were engaged in dis-
playing what they considered most valuable qualities,
exertion and endurance. The effect of the sudden
cessation of music in a ball-room is always ludicrous,
as the noise compels people to talk louder than usual ;
and, when it terminates, the conversation is continued
for awhile in the same key.

" ' My heart is as free as the eagle, sir,"* were the
first words I heard from a fair promenader.

*' ' Father is shocked at a waltz. I must wait till
he goes into supper.'

" * Ma says she''s a sheep in lamb's clothing ; she
recollects her forty years ago, dancing with a boy, as
she is to-night.'

" ' I say. Bill, look at the old ladies a-starboard
there, how they haul in their claws, like lobsters, when
the promenading commences !'

" ' Hush, there's Captain Sheet !'

" * I hope he's not in the wind ! Who is that he
has got in tow ? She looks like a heavy sailor.'

" ' Hush, he'll hear you !'

" * It's a great shame, now, to wear spurs in a ball-
room ! Major Macassar has torn my dress, and
scraped my ankle dreadfully. I'm really quite lame.
The gold wire, too, has made my neck smart as if it
was stung with nettles.'

■M

i!' U

hi-

It'- 1

108

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

" * Well, if it's any satisfaction to retaliate, you
have certainly punished that Highland officer nicely,
for the beetle-wing trimminff on your dress has scratched
his knees most unmercifully ! But, oh, Sarah ! look
at Captain Denham ! if his ejjaulette hasn't drawn off
a false curl, and there he carries it suspended from his
shoulder as a trophy ! Well, I never ! He needn't
think it will ever be claimed ! I wonder who in the
world it belongs to? How glad I am it isn't the
colour of my hair !'

" * Oh, sir, if you haven't seen Carriboo Island, sir,
near Pictoo, you haven't seen the prettiest part of
Nova Scotia I I never beheld anytning so lovely as
Carriboo Island. We have such pleasant clam-parties
there, sir, especially when the timber- vessels arnve.'

" Lady Sampson had but one topic, which, though
it had lasted since October, was likely to endure
through the winter season. She had visited the Falls
of Niagara in the autumn, and was filled with wonder
and amazement. She was now describing them to a
circle of admiring friends.

" ' It was a mighty cataract !' she said.

" * It might be removed by couching,' remarked a
deaf staflF-doctor, who thought she was talking of her
eyes, which greatly distended at the time with the
marvellous stor/.

" * The Falls !' she said, raising her voice.

" * Ah ! the effect of a fall — that will render the
operation doubtful.' .

" ' Water-fall !'

*' * Ah, exactly ; the lachrymal gland is affected.'

" * Ni-ag-a-ra !' she said, raising her voice still
higher, and pronouncing the word slowly.

'* ' I beg your pardon, madam,' he replied,
putting his hand to his ear, and advancing his
head much nearer ; * I beg your pardon, but I 3idn't
hear.'

" * Trotz ! do, pray, take that horrid man away,
and explain to him,' said the lady, and then con-

LIFE IN A COLONY.

109

tinued. ' I saw the pool at the foot of the rock where
the Indian warrior rose after going over the Fall, and
was whirled round and round m the vortex for a-
great many days, in an upright position, as if he
were still alive ! They say it was a fearful sight ; at
last, the flesh dissolved, and the frame parted and
sunk !'

*' She then led the way to the drawing-room, to
show a sketch of Niagara, that the military secretary
had prepared for her. Trotz detained the doctor a
minute behind, and I heard him say, —

*' * Though the cataract was not, that story of the
Indian really was, all in my eye.'

" ' So I should think,' was' the reply.

" The ante-rooms through which we passed were
filled with persons playing cards, or taking refresh-
ments. At a small table sat my friend, the midship-
man, with the little strange sail with pink streamers,
to whom he had given chase in the early part of the
evening, and, as he said, brought to. They were just
commencing a sociable game of chess.

" ' Suppose,' said the jolly tar to his fair friend
— ' suppose that we strip as we go ? It's great
fun.'

" * I don't understand you,' said the young lady,
with an offended toss of her pretty head.

" ' What ! not know what strip as we go is ?'

" * I don't know what you mean^ sir !'

" * Why, this is the rule. Any thing you can
take, you are bound to take, and strip the board as
you go on. It shortens the game amazingly.'

*^ Lady Sampson now opened a large book, contain-
ing the promised sketch, and unfolded and extended
out a narrow strip of paper of immense length, painted
green, and resembling an enormous snake, and ex-
plained it all in detail.

** * There is the Gulf of St. Lawrence,' she said ;
* and there's Quebec ; and there's Montreal ; and
there are the lakes ; and there — just there — no, not

^ T^<f

r i

r 4

I**

1 1

' ■* * *

['"I ■

110

THE OLD JUDGE J OR,

there— a little higher up— just between your thumb

nx thing, — a long bow, a long cork — any thing but a
ill, and that he won't draw for any one !'

and finger — is Niagara, — vast, mighty and grand
Niagara ! Don't you see the grand Falls, Mr. Sec-
tion 2 There, that little white speck — that's it ! It's
so mighty, that neither the eye nor the mind can take
it all in at once ! Captain Howard drew it ! Ain't it
beautifully done ? He draws so well ! He can draw
any thing !'

" ' I must introduce him to you,' whispered Mrs.
Smythe to Miss Schweineimer.

*' ' Yes,' said Trotz to Lord Edward, ' he can draw
an
bit

" * How very good !' replied Lord Edward.
" * Here is an epitome of it — an abridgment — the
ideas, as it were, itself, though not devebped ;' and
she exhibited a very good and accurate sketch taken
by her daughter, infinitely better done, and more intel-
ligible, than the other. * What do you think, M^rs.
Smythe, of my transferring this to embroidery —
working it for a screen, or a cushion ? No, a cushion
wouldn t do, either ; it's inconvenient to have to rise
every time you wish to show it. But for a screen,
ehr

" Another party, an explorinff one, that was recon-
noitering what was going on in the drawing-room, now
arrived; and the loud prolonged sound of Niagara
was again heard in the distance, amidst the confused
hum of many voices, as I returned to the ball-room.
The dancing being about to be resumed, I took a seat
near a Mrs. Blair, an old lady who came for the pur-
pose of chaperoning her daughter that evening. I had
known her in her youth, but had not met her of late
years, and was shocked to see the change that time
had effected both in her appearance and disposition.
The playful humour, for which she was remarkable
when young, had degenerated into severe sarcasm ;
the effects, probably, of ill health, or of decreased
fortune.

LIFE IN A COLONY.

Ill

" * Who would have thought of seeing you here,
Judge V said she.

" ' The truth is, my dear Mrs. Blair,' I replied, * I
have not been at a ball for many years, and probably
never shall be again ; and, as I dined here to-day, and
was in the house when the company arrived, I thought
I would stay and take one last long look at a scene which
recalls so many recollections of bygone days ; and,
besides, it always does me good to see happy faces
about me.'

" ' Happiness in a ball-room !' she ejaculated, with
some bitterness of feettng ; * I thought you were too
much of a philosopher, to believe in such a deception !
Look at tnat old wall-eyed colonel, now (excuse the
coarseness of the expression, but I have no patience
with people of his age forgetting their years), — look at
that wall-eyed colonel, with an obliquity of vision, and
the map of Europe traced in red stains on his face !
Happy fellow, is ne not 2 See, he is actually going to
dance ! It will puzzle those two sisters to know which
he is addressing.'

*' She had scarcely uttered the words, when both
the young ladies rose at once, each thinking he ha^l
asked for the honour of her hand.

" ' How happy he must feel,' she continued, * in
having such an ocular proof of the want of unity or ex-
pression in his eyes ! Oh ! look at that old lady,
with a flame- coloured satin dress, and an enormous
bag hanging on her arm, with tulips embroidered on
it, and a strange-looking cap, with a bell-rope attached
to one side of it, fanning a prodigious oouquet of
flowers in her belt, as if to keep them from fainting
with the heat, and losing their colour ! Oh, observe
that member woman, that lady from the rural dis-
tricts, habited ?n a gaudy-coloured striped silk dress,
trimmed all over with little pink bows, having yellow
glass buttons in the centre ; a cap without a back,
stuffed full of feathers, like Cinderella's godmother ;
and enormously long gloves, full of wrinkles, like the

112

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

I 7

t; ■^.

*-.. '

—

§.

'in:- '■'

■ M-'tin.

h' i

:f ...

ife

but it is

skin of an elephant ! Thev are both happv, bu
the happiness of fools ! Happiness in a ball-room I
Ah, Judge, you and I are too old for such twaddle !
I wish you had been here when the yellow-fever was
raging ! In a garrison town, the young ladies have
the scarlet-fever all the year round ; but last year the
yellow-fever predominated ; for, ^ou know, two dis-
eases cannot exist in the constitution at one time. At
a sale of wrecked goods, a fashionable milliner bought
a lot of maize-coloured satins so cheap, as to be able to
§ell them for a mere trifle ; but disposed of them
skilfully, by exhibiting only a 4ew at a time. The
consequence was, a great number of young ladies made
their appearance here in what each one considered a
rare fabric ; and, to their horror, found the room full
of them ! I christened it then, and it has ever since
been known as the bilious ball. Do you suppose
those maize-coloured satins covered happy hearts that
night ? There is Ella M'Nair, now, dancing with her
awkward country cousin, whom she is afraid to refuse,
yet unwilling to accept, as a partner, alarmed for the
horror of Lord Heather, the sneers of Trotz, and the
triumph of the Shermans. Sweet girl ! how joyous
she looks, does she not ? Oh, look at that supercilious
little fellow near the fireplace, whose elbow is resting
on the mantelpiece ! The educati<>n his foolish father
gave him spoiled him for the kit.'hen, without fitting
him for the parlour. Instead of being a cheerful,
thrift;^ tradesman, he has been metamorphosed into a
poor, shabby, discontented gentleman. He looks like
a grasshopper on half-pay.

" * You see the same thin^ every where. Observe
that very pretty and remarkably well-dressed lady op-
posite. She is a widow of large fortune and good con-
nexions. Her affections are all absorbed by that lout
of a boy she is talking to, who is her only child. His
bent knees and stooping shoulders give you the idea of
a ploughboy, while his fashionable dress would lead
you to suppose he had clothed himself, by fraud or

((

LIFE IN A COLONY.

113

mistake, from his master'*s wardrobe. She is beseech-
ing him to stand properly, and behave like a gentle-
man; and, above all, to dance; to all which he is
becoming more and more rebellious ; and now he has
jerked away his arm, and is diving into that qfowd of
men near the fire, to escape from her importunities
and the observation of others. Her wealth and station
have given her but little happiness, and her maternal
cares and devoted affection are the torment of her son.
Did you use that word happiness, therefore, Judge,
as a common-place phrase, or did it express what you
really meant ?

" ^ I meant what I said,^ I replied. ' Happiness is
rather a negative than positive term in this world, and
consists more in the absence of some things than in
the presence of others. 1 see no harm in assemblies
where they are not the business, but the relaxation of
life, as they certainly are in this country. People
come together for tho purpose of pleasing and being
pleased, of seeing and being seen, to be amused them-
selves, and to contribute their share to the amusement
of others. They come with a disposition and a hope
to be happy. Music and dancing exhilarate the spirits,
hilarity is contadous, and, generally speaking, people
do enjoy themselves, and 1 derive great gratification
in witnessing their happiness. That was what I meant,
for I never supposed there could be an assemblage of
two or three hundred people, without there being some
individuals unable or unwilling to partake of the gaiety
about them.^

" Just then Miss Schweinoimer, the young lady
that called her horse a beast, and myself an ugly old
fellow, passed, hanging on the arm of a subaltern
officer, into whose face she was looking up with evi-
dent satisfaction, while listening to his flattering ac-
cents.

" * Oh, charming !' she said. ' If I haven'*t enjoyed
myself to-night, it'*s a pity, that's all ! How do you
feel ? I feel kind of m over. It's the handsomest

114

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

|1:

m-'

arty I ever saw in all my life ! How I like Halifax !

wish father lived here instead of the Blueberry
Plains !'

" ' There, madam/ I said, ' let us abide by the de-
cision of that unsophisticated girl. I forgive her nasal
twang and her ignorance, for the simplicity and truth-
fulness of her nature ;** and I effectea my escape from
my cynical companion.

*' Conversation such as hers is depressing to the
spirits, and lowers one''s estimate of mankind. It puts
you out of sorts ; for such is the mysterious effect of
sympathy, that a discontented person soon infuses a
portion of his own feeling into tlie mind of his audi-
tors. I did not, however, derive much benefit from
change of place, for the gentleman who next accosted
me was imbued with mucn of the same captious spirit.

** * I have been pitying you for some time. Judge,'
he said. * How could you think of remaining so long
with that bitter specimen of humanity, Mrs. Blair i
She speaks well of no one, and has been amusing her-
self by feeling the silks and satins of her neighbours
this evening, so as to find fault with their texture, if
thin, and the extravagance of their owners, if other-
wise. She has been grumbling to every one that the
room is so badly lighted, good dresses are lost in the
dim and gloomy apartment. I shall propose to Sir
Hercules to have shelves put up on the wall for those
old chaperons, with chandeliers in front of them to
show off their velvets to the best advantage ; when
they will be out of all danger themselves from heels
and spurs, and be deprived of the power of annoying
others. Capital idea, isn't it ? A very vulgar party
this. Judge! When the guests that are invited do
come, it's not fair to send to the highways and byways
for others. In the olden time, we are told, it was only
when a man's friends declined, that a press-warrant
issued to man the tables with the first poor devils that
could be found going to bed supperless/

" The party now began to move towards the supper-

LIFE IN A COLONY.

115

room, which generally presents more attractions to
persons who stand less in need of refreshments than
those who have been fatigued or exhausted with dancing.
The tables were tastemlly and beautifully arranged;
but the effect was much injured by the profuse and
substantial character of some of the viands, which the
number and quality of the guests rendered necessary.
Whatever doubt there might have been as to the pos-
sibility of a ball conferring happiness, there could be
none as to the enjoyment derived from the supper. In
approving or partaking, nearly all seemed to join ;
few claimed exemption from age, and no one objected
to a vis-ct-vis ; and, if some had danced with all their
hearts, an infinitely greater number eat and drank
with as much relish as if eating and drinking were as
unusual a thin^ as waltzing.

" I looked, but in vain, for my cynical companion,
Mrs. Blair, to draw her attention to my friend, the
midshipman, who had evidently made a prize of the
strange sail, and was behaving with the utmost gene-
rosity and kindness to the vanquished. He insisted
upon filling her plate with every thing within reach ;
and when it could hold no more, surrounded it with
tenders, deeply laden with every variety of supply.
Nor did he forget champagne, in which he drank to
the fair one''s health, to their better acquaintance, and
to a short cruise and speedy return ; and then, pro-
testing it was all a mistake to suppose he had already
done so, apologized for his neglect, and repeated the
draughts till his eyes sparkled as bright as the wine.
He cut the large cake before him, and helped his
partner to a liberal share, complaining all the time that
the knife was desperately dull ; that it was the severest
cutting-out service he was ever employed in ; and
vowed that the steward ought to have three dozen for
his carelessness. He succeeded, however, at last in
effecting the inqision, and brought away several folds
of a three-cornered piece of napkin, exactly fitting the
slice, which had impeded the progress of his knife.

116

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

mU * '■
13 i) ■

I*:

1^*

As he deposited this trophy of his skill and strength
on the piate, he said, in an under tone, * It only
wanted a x^ng to make it complete ;^ whereat the lady s
face was suffused with blushes and smiles, and, holding;
up her glass, she said, * A very little wine, if you
please/ Complying with this request, and filling his
own, they pledged each other again ; and something
was looked, and something was thought, and something
was felt, though not expressed on that occasion, that,
notwithstanding Mrs. i31air'8 theory to the contrary,
looked to me uncommonly like happiness.

" Miss Schweineimer was no less pleased, though
she thought that the sandwiches were rather bitey ;
and the little red things in the pickles, to which Trotz
had helped her, the hottest, not to be a fire, she had
ever tasted, for they burned her tongue so as to make
tears trickle down her cheeks.

" * Do look !' said a young lady near me to Mrs.
Smythe — *do look at that strange creature covered
with pink bows, and yellow glass buttons in them ;
she is actually eating her supper backwards ! She be-
gan with firuits, and then proceeded to confectionary
and jellies, and so on, and is now winding up with the
breast and leg of a turkey ! Who is she, and where
does she come fi'om f

" ' Her name is Whetstone ; I will introduce you
to her, by and by.'

" * No, thank you ; Td rather not.'

^^ ' The place is unpronounceable. It is Scissiboo-
goomish-cogomah, an Indian word, signifying The
Witch's Fountain.'

" * Ah, indeed ! she is a fit representative.'

" The inventor of shelves for the chaperons now
accosted me again.

" ' I should have liked, Jud^e, to have had the
pleasure of taking wine with you, out really Sampson's
wine is not fit to drink ; he seems to have lowered his
standard of taste to suit the majority of his guests.
Did you ever see any thing so disgusting as the quan-

LIFE IN A COLONY.

117

titles of things with which the tables are loaded, or
the gross appetites with which they were devoured ?
It is something quite shocking ! He is ruining the
state of society here. These people realize our ideas
of the harpies :—

Diripuuntque dapes, contactuque omnia foedant
In mundo.

J3y the way, a little man, with a face like a squeezed
lemon, has done me the honour to notice me once or
twice to-night, with a half familiar and half obsequious
nod, whom I have been at a loss to make out. The
supper-table has betrayed him at last ; for its resem-
blance to his own counter (for he keeps a confectionary-
shop in the country) put him at ease in a moment.
He is the most usefiil person here.**

** A message from Sir Hercules to his aide, Mr.
Trotz, brought him to his feet, muttering, as he rose,
his discontent in very audible tones. The renewal of
the music in the ball-room at the same time intimated
that the last dance was about to be commenced.

" * You ainH going, Mr. Trotz, are you V said Miss
Schweineimer, who had unconsciously been the object
of many impertinent remarks during the last half
hour. * Pray try one of those custards before you go ;
they are so good ! Do, just to please me. You know
I ate those lery pickles, because you asked me f and
she handed him a liquid one, contained in a small
circular glass.

" To tne astonishment of every body, he complied
with her request ; but, being in a hurry to attend to
the Governor's wishes, drank it oif without the aid of
a spoon, and replaced the glass on the table. In a
moment he became dreadftilly pale, and, putting his
handkerchief to his ff,ce, exclaimed —

" * Good heavens, the mustard-pot !** and left the
room in convulsive agony from the effects of this
powerful emetic, and disappeared amid the malicious
laughter and uproarious delight of all those whom

118

THE OLD JUDGE; OR,

II'-. 1 4.
18 i .■]•

Uc: X'

he had at one time or another annoyed by his inso-
lence.

'* * Well, I never !' said the young lady : * it looks
as like a custard-glass as two peas, don't it ? and it^s
the identical colour, too ? I am sorry it's done ; but
Vd rather it had happened to him than any one else ;
for I believe in my soul he gave me the red hot pickles
a-purpose. I am up sides with him, at any rate/

" * So would I, my dear,*" said Mrs. Smythe ; * but
don't say so; here, you must always appear to be
sorry for an accident. Let me introduce you to Mr.
Able, assistant-surgeon of the Jupiter ; for this is the
last dance, and he 11 tell you where the red pickles
grow. I really love you, for putting that trick upon
that horrid Trotz.'

" ' I assure you it was a mistake....'

** * That's right, dear; look innocent, and say it was
a mistake.'*

" 'But I assure you....'

" * Oh, of course ! you really do it very well. You
are a capital scholar !'

" The last dance lasted for a long time ; for the
termination of every thin^ agreeable is always deferred
to the utmost moment of time. At li'^-gth the band
played ' God save the King !' which was tKe oI^r>-al
for parting, and the company took leave and disap-
peared in a few minutes, with the exception of the
awkward squad that first arrived. Owmg to their
having made a mistake in the hour, or forgotten to
give orders as to the time their carriages were to come
for them, they were again doomed to annoy the guber-
natorial party, and to be no less perplexed and bored
themselves.

'* Such were my last reminiscences of Government
House ; and, from what I hear, it has not at all im-

{)roved of late years. Don't let me be misunderstood,
lowever. I do not give you this as a sketch of society
at Hali&x, but of a promiscuous ball at Government
House: nor are the people whom I have described

LIFE IN A COLONY.

119

samples of the whole company ; but some of them are
specimens of that part of it who ought never to have
been there/*

CHAPTER VI.

THE OLD ADMIRAL AND THE OLD GENERAL.

The quiet inn in which I have been domiciled ever
since I arrived at Illinoo was yesterday the scene of
the greatest disorder and confusion. Shortly after
breakfast, a party of midshipmen, mounted on horse-
back, dashed into the courtyard during a violent
thunderstorm, with the speed and clatter of a charge
of cavalry. The merry crew at once dispersed them-
selves over every part of the house, which rang with
their loud and long- continued peals of laughter. Their
number was soon increased by the addition of three or
four young women, who joined in their play with equal
noise and delight, chasing their tormentors, or flying
in affright at their rudeness, or quietly enjoying with
them a game of leapfrog in the passages.

My landlady, Mrs. Smith, was in despair. All her
remonstrances were met either with the response that
she was a beauty without paint, an angel, a cherub,
and a divine creature, or an invitation to join in their
sport. An officer''s wife, who was awaiting the arrival
of her husband from Fredericton, was so alarmed and
annoyed at the indecent behaviour of the juvenile
party, that she summoned the hostess, and announced
her mtention of immediately leaving the house.

" I am shocked and frightened oeyond measure,"
she said, *' at your permittmg those young gentlemen
to make such a riot ; but, more than all, am I hor-
rified at the behaviour of your housemaids, who are
the most forward, romping, and shameless young
women I ever beheld. I just now rang my bel^,
which was answered by the one who calls cerself
Charlotte, the pretty girl with the curly head of golden

if .

hi-

■!■

1*-%

120

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

hair. ' Fasten my dress,' said I. * Yes, ma'am,' she
replied; and before I knew what she was about, or
could find words to express my surprise, my stays were
nearly undone, and my clothes unfastened. ' Oh !
I beg your pardon, ma'am,' she said, on being repri-
manded for the mistake ; * I thought you said unrig.
I'll reave it up in a minute.' When this was effected,
she said, * I'm blowed if I can find the hooks ! are
they on the larboard or starboard side 2' — * Don't use
those dreadful words,' I replied : ' you have learned
them from those rude young midshipmen, who appear
to have turned your head. Take care of yourself; for
they are reckless creatures — here to-day, and gone to-
morrow, and do not care what they say or do.' What
do you think, Mrs. Smith, was the reply of that bold,
impudent creature ? I could scarcely believe my ears.
*0h, ma'am,' she said, *they are such nice young
gentlemen, and so handsome, too, a body can't refuse
them any thing ; and, besides, I don't see any great
harm in kissing. If you were to try....' — * Leave my
presence directly,' I said ; ' how dare you address me
in that manner! Where is your mistress?' — 'Up
aloft, ma'am.' ' Aloft again ! poor lost creature, dead
to all sense of shame, whatever ; I pity you, from the
bottom of my heart. Send your mistress to me.'-
Now, Mrs. Smith, I have never been so vexed and
insulted in my life, and I have sent for you to inform
you I shall remove to another inn."

My poor unoffending landlady excused herself as
well as she was able for an occurrence which she could
neither foresee nor control. She said she was happy
to say, for the credit of her household, that she had
no such maid as Charlotte, nor one female in her esta-
blishment that would think of acting or talking as she
had done. That that person must been the Honour-
able Mr. Hawson, who, with two others, borrowed
female attire, while their own was drying at the fire,
as they had no clothes with them but what they had
on when they arrived ; and that the romping girls who

'Im

LIFE IN A COLONY.

121

played leapfrog were, in fact, no other than midship-
men. She added, that nothing of the kind could occur
again, as they had just set out on their return to
Halifax ; and she hoped that nobody would be ridden
over or killed, for they started at full gallop, waving
their caps and cheering each other as they went.

The Judge was a good deal amused at the story,
and laughed heartily over it.

"I am a good sailor,*" he said, " and fond of the
sea, and so well acquainted with the manly bearing
and noble qualities of our seamen, that I make every
allowance for the irrepressible delight and inexhaus-
tible fiin and frolic of these youngsters, when just
landed from a cruise. Whatever croakers may say
about the condition of the navy, it is in as efficient a
state as ever it was, and, when occasion requires, will
give as good an account of itself. The Lieutenants
are, in my opinion, as a class, in reference to their
numbers, the most active, intelligent, and valuable
body of men to be found in any branch of public ser-
vice in any country in the world. In former years, I
used to see a great deal of the navy, but, alas ! all my
old friends are now either superannuated or dead.

" During the war, when the whole fleet of one hun-
dred sail rendezvoused at Halifax, such scenes as you
have described were of constant occurrence, and the
town was daily amused or disturbed by pranks of the
sailors. I remember one piece of absurdity that occa-
sioned a good deal of laughter ait the time. At the
period I am speaking of, before the expensive under-
ground reservoirs were cut out of the rock on which
the town stands, the streets were sometimes rendered
almost impassable, from standing pools of water. A
sailor, seemg a lady contemplating in despair one of
these lagoons, took her up most gallantly in his arms,
and, wading through it, safely deposited her on the
other side. Alarmed at the suddenness of the trans-
portation, she scolded her escort, in no measured
terms, for the liberty he had taken, when he mounted

122

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

r
r

her again on his shoulders, and, carrying her back,
replaced her where he had found her, humbly begging
pardon, and hoping he had rectified his error.

" The story of the man who laid a drunken ship-
mate at the feet of Captain Coffin, saying, ' Here's a
dead man for you !' was one that that eccentric officer
was always very fond of relating, as illustrative of the
humour of poor Jack.

" Nova Scotia was then the principal naval station
on this side of the Atlantic, but now shares that
honour with Bermuda ; the Admiral residing in the
summer at the former, and during the winter months
at the latter place. The noble harbour of Halifax is
one of the best, perhaps, in the world : its contiguity
to Canada and the United States, its accessibility at
all seasons of the year, and its proximity to England,
(being the most Eastern part of this continent) give it
a decided advantage over its rival ; while the frightful
destruction of stores at Bermuda, from the effects of the
climate, its insalubrity, and the dangers with which it
is beset, have never failed to excite astonishment at the
want of judgment shown in its selection, and the utter
disregard of expense with which it has been attended.
The dockyard at Halifax is a beautifiil establishment,
in excellent order, and perfect of its kind, with the sin-
gular exception of not having the accommodation of a
dock from which it derives its name. This deficiency
was severely felt during the late war, and even in these
peaceable times is a source of great inconvenience, ex-
pense, and delay. The arrivai of the Admiral, in the
spring, is always looked forward to with anxiety and
pleasure, as it at once enlivens and benefits the town.
Those common demonstrations of respect, salutes, pro-*
claim the event, which is soon followed by the equally
harmless and no less noisy revels of sailors, who give
vent to their happiness in uproarious merriment. The
Admiral is always popular with the townspeople, as he
often renders them essential services, ana seldom or
never comes into collision with them. He is inde^

LIFE IN A COLONY.

123

pendent of them, and wholly disconnected with the
civil government. ' Lucky fellow !' as Sir Hercules
Sampson, the Governor, once said ; ' he has no turbu-
lent House of Assembly to plague him.'

" On an eminence immediately above the dockyard
is the official residence, a heavy, square, stone build-
ing, surrounded by massive walls, and resembling, in
its solidity and security, a public asylum. The en-
trance is guarded by two sentinels, belonging to that
gallant and valuable corps, the marines, who combine
the activity of the sailor with the steadiness and disci-
pline of the soldier, forming a happy mixture of the
best qualities of both, and Tbearing very little resem-
blance to either. ' These amphibious troops,' my old
friend. Sir James Capstan, used to say, 'are very
much in the way on board of a ship, except in an
action, and then they are always in the right place.'

" This was no mean praise for a man who thoroughly
detested them, for an insult his dignity once suffered
from them, which he never forgot or fergave. Upon
one occasion, I attended divine service with him, on
board of his magnificent fiag-ship, the Graball. The
discipline, in those days, was dreadfully severe, and, I
may add, unmercifiil. The men were punished so
often and so cruelly, that they became desperate, and
mutiny and desertion were things of frequent occur-
Scarcely a day passed without the loss of a

rence.

man ; and even the extreme penalty of death, which
was the inevitable consequence of such crimes, did not
check their desire to escape from the service. The
chaplain took the opportunity to preach against deser-
tion, and selected, for his text, tne eleventh verse of
the sixth chapter of Nehemiah — ' And I said, should
such a man as I flee V He enlarged upon the duty of
sailors to be obedient to those who were set in autho-
rity over them, and to continue true to their engage-
ments, and enforced every exhortation by a repetition
of his text. He then concluded, by an eloquent appeal
to their feelings ; first eulogizing tneir coolness and in-

G 2

•C',

124

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

lili:

r,|." &'

^11

trepidity in danger, and then calling upon them to
stand by their king and country, and maintain the
honour of both, and slowly and emphatically reite-
rated, * And I said, should such a man as I flee V —
' No,' said a voice, which arose from among the ma-
rines, and was evidently the effect of ventriloquism —
' no, d — ^n you ! you are too well paid for that !** A
loud, long-drawn breathing, was audible among the
men, who, feeling that something atrocious had been
done, which, in all probability, would be followed by
some terrible retribution, while an ill-suppressed titter
was heard among the junior oflicers, at the suddenness
and quaintness of the retort. The chaplain paused,
and looked at the Admiral, and the Admiral glared
at the men, as if he could annihilate them all. Im-
mediate inquiry was made, and the strictest examina-
tion of every individual instituted, accompanied by a
positive declaration that the whole ships company
should be whipped, unless the culprit was given up.
The secret, however, was never divulged, nor the
threat of indiscriminate punishment carried into effect.

" More attention to the comfort of the men, greater
regularity, and less caprice in their management,
and a scale of punishment more proportioned to
offences, have rendered flogging almost unnecessary,
and executions of very rare occurrence. Poor fellows !
their lives are hard and perilous, but their hardships
and perils are occasionally aggravated by the tyranny
of their superiors. Admirals, though they vary in
size, temperament, and talent, all, more or less, bear
the same characteristic stamp. The difference is one of
class. For instance, there is your Admiral that is sent
out to die. Rising alone and unaided in the service,
it U late in life before he attains to the honours of his
profession, and, when he does, his palsied hand can
scarcely grasp his commission. Poor man ! his reign
is short ; for his life expires before his period of ser-
vice has terminated.

" Then there is your Admiral that comes out to

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LIFE IN A COLONY.

125

make money. He has noble connections, or parlia-
mentary interest, and his services through life have
consequently been v" ily appreciated and promptly re-
warded. Though he entered the navy many years
after the aged man who preceded him in the com-
•mand, he is in fact scarcely his junior in rank, so
rapid has been his promotion. He has come to make
money — but, alas ! money is no longer to be made.
The steamers carry all the coin and bullion which
were formerly transported by men-of-war, and the
Admiral, like others, is reduced to his pay, his rations,
and his grog.

" Then comes an Admiral, because it cannot be
helped. He is old, and has been long since tbrgotien,
especially as he never performed any services worth
remembering : but his name is on the list, and he can-
not be passed over. He is accordiuajly traced to hi«
agents, and from thence to Oheltenha -' , and again to
a cottage surrounded by every plant of every part of the
world that will endure the damp and sunless climate
of England. The gate of this museum of relics and
curiosities is opened by a servant, dressed in a pair oi
loose duck trowsers, a check shirt, and white canvass
shoes, who gives a twitch with both hands to his waist-
band, a knowing nod with his head, and, looking at
the postman with a mischievous air, as if he would de-
light in tripping up his heels and scattering his letters
in the street, says, ' Well, master, what cheer now ?
Closing the door on the impatient visitor, he reads on
the letter the words, * On His Majesty's Service;' and
says, musingly, ' Some musty old return, I suppose ;
for, as for service, we are hardly seaworthy now.' He
then proceeds into a little room hung round with
charts, spy-glasses, swords, and pistols, and shelves on
which are exhibited South Sea war-clubs, idols, ostrich
eggs, and curious feathers, the mantelpiece being gar-
nished with an extensive collection of the pipes of all
nations : at one end of the apartment is a hammock,
in which reposes the unconscious commander-in-chief

126

THE OLD .TinCiE; OR,

|t''^„' '

of the North American and West Indian station. In
a short time, the Uttle occupant of the little cottage is
transported to Portsmouth, where he hoists his flag as
Admiral on board of one of the noble seventy-four gun
ships in that harbour, and sets sail for Halifax or Ber-
muda. He comes, because it couldn't be helped.

" Fighting Admirals are, happily, not required ;
and, when the day of need comes, they will no doubt bo
found, as they always have been, among that numerous
class of officers who enjoy the benefit of experience
without the infirmities of age. Admirals agam, even
of the same classification, notwithstanding this strong
family-likeness to each other, equally differ in pecu-
liarities, which, however, affect their subordinates
rather than civilians. They are generally uncomfort-
able inmates on board ship. There is your Admiral
who never reads ; he is an intolerable bore to the flag-
captain, whom etiquette requires to attend him on
deck and amuse him. He acts the part of dry nurse,
and longs to be relieved from his charge.

" Then, there is your married Admiral, whose
ladies will violate all rules, by sitting on forbidden
parts of the ship, and insisting on his ordering sail to
be shortened unnecessarily to appease their fears,
while their horses, carriages, cows, cats, dogs, birds,
and furniture, encumber the ship to the annoyance of
everybody. They are very ungallantly styled live
lumber by Jack, and voted a nuisance, a terra of re-
proach which is somewhat compensated for by the
evident admiration with which even the plainest of
their sex are regarded in a place where women are
such a rarity that a petticoat is looked upon as the
attribute of Divinity.

" Then, there is the Admiral who does everything,
and he who does nothing. The first is adored by the
whole fleet, for a sense of justice pervades all his acts :
services are rewarded, grievances redressed, and every
body and everything kept in their place. Where the
secretary rules all and does all, favouritism is dis-

LIFE IN A COLONY.

127

gun

covered or Huspocted ; and, like all favouritcH, he is
exceedingly unpopular with evervbody but his master.
Such are the men who so rapidly succeed each other
in the command on this station.

"The old Admiral and the old General (for the
Governor is almost always a military man) are the two
highest officials in the colony ; each have their staff
and their guards, and each their little empire to rule.
The one is a despotic and the other a constitutional
monarch, and severally participate in the convenience
or disadvantage of their respective systems. The one
promulgates his own laws, and issues his orders on his
own responsibility, which are implicitly obeyed. The
other summons a parliament, and assembles around
him his little Lords and Commons, and receives rather
than gives law. He is not the machinery itself, but
only a part of it — a sort of pendulum, that, by an
equal vibration, balances and regulates the motions of
both sides. They reside at different ends of the
town, and love to reign apart from each other ; a united
service being incompatiole with the habits and disci-
pline of both. There is a marked difference in their
Dearing.

" The Admiral is a plain, unaffected man, with a
frank and cordial manner, somewhat positive in his
language, and having a voice that carries authority in
its very tones. He is always popular, for he con-
verses so freely and affably with every one, especially
with the chronometer-maker, whom he visits daily,
and instructs in the mysteries of taking observations
of the sun. He delights in hoisting a mast into a
disabled merchantman, provided the skipper will stand
out of the way during the operation, and hold his
tongue about matters of which it is impossible he can
know anything ; or in sending a hundred men to
warp a vessel out of a place of danger ; or in exhi-
biting the agility and boldness of his sailor in extin-
guishing a fire that defies the efforts and appals the
courage of landsmen. He is liberal in his expenditure,

128

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

kSi

>i I

and subscribes munificently to every object of public
charity.

" The old General is erect and formal, and is com-
pelled to be ceremonious in defence of his prerogative
and station. He is also reserved and cautious, afraid
to commit himself by promises or opinions, and,
whenever practicable, shelters himself behind gene-
ralities. There is an apparent object in his con-
descension ; he is desirous of standing well with the
community, for much of his success depends upon his
personal influence. The public have a claim upon and
an interest in him ; for, though appointed by the
Crown, he is their Governor, and they take the liberty
of criticizing him. The one, therefore, naturally and
unconsciously wins the good will of people, and the
other labours to conciliate it. Popularity follows one,
and is wooed by the other. Their mode of life and
style of entertainment, too, are equally dissimilar.

'* The Admiral has nothing to do with the legis-
lature, a sort of impertum in imperio, which he is not
altogether able to understand, and whose remon-
strances look very like mutiny to him, and always
suggest the idea of arrest and court-martial. The
country members, therefore, are not seen at his table,
nor do their wives and daughters grace his evening
parties. He is free and unfettered in the choice of his
society, and can select his associates from such portion
of the community as he pleases. His household is
principally composed of his attendants at sea, who
know nis habits and humours, and can accommodate
themselves to them. His favourites, unlike those of
the other, who are always courtiers or politicians, are
a large Newfoundland dog, or a frolicksome goat, called
the Uommodore, who knocks over the unwary in-
truder, to the infinite amusement of the numerous
domestics. The only part of his establishment that
is refractory are his sheep, which, notwithstandins^ that
the boatswain, boathook in hand, has been transformed
ipto a shepherd, are constantly breaking bounds, leap-

LIFE IN A COLONY.

129

ing the stone walls, and scampering over the country.
His kitchen-garden is the best in the place, and he
prides himself not a little on his heads of cabbages
and lettuces, which, he says, are the whitest and
hardest that ever were seen ; and in his poultry- yard,
where white ducks, polar geese, guinea-hens, pea-
cooks, and Portugal fowls, sailor-like, are enjoying a
run on shore, and vie with each other in making the
most discordant sounds. His carriage bears the same
striking dissimilarity to the GeneraPs. The latter is
a state affair, displaying gay trappings and liveried
servants ; the former an unpretending, convenient,
little low-wheeled covered waggon, drawn by one stout
horse, and driven at a slow pace by his secretary, in
which he daily perambulates the unfrequented streets
as well as the thoroughfares of the town. His dinner
parties, also, are less formal. People are expected to
speak above a whisper, or they cannot be heard, and
to be at home, or they cannot be agreeable. The
dinner itself has a smack of the sea ; the dishes have
a higher seasoning and a stronger flavour of vege-
tables, while the forbidden onion lurks stealthily con-
cealed under the gravy. It is more abundant and
substantial, and the decanters have a quicker pace and
travel, as if time were short, and a walk on deck was
soon apprehended. The servants move faster, though
more noisily, and retain a sidelong motion, bracing
out their leet, and hold &st the dishes as if they
momentarily expected a lurch, and were prepared to
maintain tlieir equilibrium. Their apparel, too, is in
character— slightly varied, in some instances, and in
others not at all, from the regulation dress ; while the
butler (who is occasionally heard to order, in an under
tone. Boy George to bear a hand, and Bill Gibson to
stow away the dishes), instead of looking like his
landlubber brother at Government House, heavy,
corpulent, and rosy, is a thin, sunburnt, weather-
beaten man, who has visited all parts of the world,
and undergone the vicissitudes of every climate, and

■ill ■

1% m

130

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

appears to have selected his wines in the region in
which they were made. The conversation, also, is
unlike that at the palace, having no reference what-
ever to local matters. You hear nothing of the Mer-
rygomish Bridge, the election at Port Medway, or the
alteration of tne road at Aspatangon, to which the
Governor is compelled to listen, and, at each repe-
tition, appear as much interested as ever.

" The sea is the sailor's home, and his topics are
drawn from every part of the globe. When at the Ad-
miral's table, therefore, you forget you are in Halifax.
The following scraps of conversation that reach
your ear convince you that you are not among pro-
vincials, but men of the world.

" ' You drive a wild horse into the stream, whom
the electric eel immediately attacks ; after a few shocks,
he exhausts his muscular powers, and you may seize
him with impunity. They are occasionally found six
feet in length.'

" ' The Oanopus was one of Napoleon's ships. She
was built of Adriatic oak, and, old as she is, is one
of the soundest and fastest vessels in the navy.'
* I don't think any thing of her age, and, as for
the timber, it is not to be compared to £no;lish oak :
last year, I saw in the harbour of St. John a mer-
chantman, that was employed by General Wolf, as a
transport, at the siege of Quebec'

" ' A double-bedded room does not mean, in the
States, a room with two beds, but a bed with two
persons in it. During the great embargo, I happened
to be at Oharlestown, South Carolina, when the land-
lord proposed to me to sleep with a dirty-looking
foreign officer. If I cauxiot have a separate bed, I
said, I prefer sitting before the fire all night to sleep-
ing with that d — d Eussian ! Is he a Russian, sir ?
said a tall, thin, inquisitive Yankee, that stood listen-
ing to the conversation — is he a Russian ? I'll take
hi 1, then, if it convenes you, stranger. I should
rather like it, for I never slept with a Russian.'

LIFE IN A COLONY.

131

" ' Cape Breton was onco a separate government, and
that little village, Sidney, was the capital. When I
commanded the Linnet, I put in there for a supply of
coal. The Governor, who was the most extraordinary

f>erson I ever met, told me his Chief Justice had passed
lim in the street without touching his hat to him, and
asked me if I did not think such insolence would
justify him in removing him from his office. Upon
my answering in the negative, he said, Til tell you
what rU do. By Jove, I will declare martial law, try
him at the drum-head, tie him up, and give him three
dozen !'

" ' The Chinese regard these matters very philoso-
phically. When Elliot was cannonading the forts
above Canton, an officer came off with a flag of truce to
one of the ships, and told the Captain that he thought
the effusion of human blood both useless and wicked.
If you no fire iron plumbs, then I no fire iron plumbs.
You bang away powder for half an hour, and so will
I ; then I will run away, and you come and take the
fort.'

" ' It depends upon what part of the coast you
are on. The Gambia is by no means unhealthy, un-
less, perhaps, at the rainy season. It is a magnificent
country ; I penetrated three hundred miles into the
interior, and the forest is like a vast umbrageous park.
I recollect riding one moonlight night through where
I was struck by the sound of the tinkling of innumer-
able little silver bells, which appeared to be attached
to all the trees. It was the African nightingale, with
which the forest was filled. I shall never forget the
effect ; it was the sweetest and most charming thing I
ever heard.'

" ' He told me very gravely he saw a man breaking
a horse at Rio, upon which he had fastened a monstrous
pair of magnifying glasses, and, on inquiring of the
fellow what was the object of putting spectacles on a
horse, he replied that it was done for the purpose of
giving him a good action, for, by enlarging every ob-

I r,

ill

£,.J

^11 lii'

132

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

ject on the road, it made him step high to avoid it.
He told the story so often that he began to believe it
himself at last/

** All this might as well have been said at Ports-
mouth or Plymouth as at Halifax, but is more agree-
cMe at the latter place than elsewhere, because it is a
relief to the monotonous conversation of a provincial
town.

" The evening parties are much the same as those
at Government House, which I have already described
to you, but have more naval and fewer military
officers, which, in a ball-room, is a decided improve-
ment. Your subaltern, when he has taken his first
lesson in ^ soldiering ^ in England, of which, by the by,
he is rather ashamed, for it is by no means the most
fashionable amusement in that country, and lands in
a colony, is rather a supercilious young gentleman,
that finds nothing good enough for him. He talks to
young ladies of Almacks, where he has never been ; of
the Opera, to which his mamma took him in the vaca-
tion ; and La Blache, Catalani, or Grisi, whom, if he
has not seen, he has often heard of. He thinks it be-
neath his dignity to dance — the 10th never dance —
why should he \ But the days of puppyism soon pass
away, when their eyes are opened and they see as
well, and become as agreeable as other people. The
dear little middy is a different sort of person alto-
gether: he does not try to play the man — for he
actually is one, a frank, jolly, ingenuous fellow. The
cockpit is no place for affectation and nonsense, and, if
by any chance they find their way there, they are ex-
pelled forthwith by common consent. There is no
pity or sympathy, even for the real distress of an
* exmiisite.'

"1 recollect an anecdote of poor Theodore Hook's
on this subject. I never knew, he said, but one in-
stance of real sympathy. I was in an outward bound
man of war off the Cape of Good Hope : the weather
was very stormy, the sea ran mountains high, and the

LIFE IN A COLONY.

133

no
an

ship laboured dreadfully. One niffht I put on my
dreadnought coat and norwester hat, and went on
deck. It was so dark, and the rain falling in torrents,
it was difficult at first to distinguish objects. The
boatswain was pacing to and fro as usual on his watch,
and I held on by the rigger, for the purpose of ascer-
taining his opinion of the probability of a change of
weather, when I heard a voice like that of a child cry-
ing. The sailor and I both approached the spot to-
gether whence the sound issued, where we found a
little midshipman weeping bitterly, as he clung to the
weather bulwarks to protect himself from the storm.
' Hullo ! who are you that are blubbering like a
baby there V said the veteran, in a voice that resembled
the roll of a drum. ' Lord Windlas, sir,' was the reply.
' Who the devil sent you here V * My father, sir.'
' More fool he for his pains ! — he ought to have kept
you at school. Did you cry when you left homef
' Yes, sir,' said the little fellow, releasing his hold,
and putting both fists to his eyes, as if to stop the
gushmg tears. ' And your mother, did she cry V
* Ye-es, sir.' The old tar paused for a moment as if
touched by this instance of maternal tenderness, and
at last said, in a voice of great feeling, ' Poor old
devil !' and, twitching up his waistbands, resumed his
walk. Now that, said Hook, was the only instance of
real sympathy I ever saw. * Poor old devil !' how
much those words convey when they come from the
heart !

" But to return to what I was talking of. A man-
of-war is a capital school to train a youngster in.
Take a military man out of his profession, and to a
certain extent he is a helpless being. A sailor, on the
contrary, is self-relying, bold, hardy, and well ac-
quainted with everything that is useful for makin? his
way in the world. This is the reason why a soldier
seldom succeeds, and a seaman rarely fails, when they
retire from their respective services and settle in the
colonies.

134

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

.'( H

a regatta

" The Admiral again is at home at
he is once more afloat and in his own element. The
first one that was ever held at Halifax was patronised
by my friend Sir James Capstan. He and 1 had been
boys together at school, and even, at that early period,
I was always known as ' Old Sandford,^ an appellation
probably derived either from the sedateness or awk-
wardness of my manner. We had lost sight of each
other fo" many years, when I was surprised and de-
lighted at hearing that he had arrived at Halifax as
Commander-in-Chief on this station. ' Good heavens !
here is Old Sandford,** he said, as he saw me ad-
vancing towards him. Alas ! what had begun in jest
time had turned into reality. I had, indeed, become
an aged man. ' My good friend,' he said, 'your
country has had more than its share of your time and
attention. I must monopolize you now while you are
in Halifax, for we have our mutual histories to relate,
and much to say to each other. To-morrow we are to
have a regatta. I suppose it would be infra dig. for
the old Judge and the old Admiral to dance a jig
together, before the youngsters, but FU tell you what,
old boy, I don^t know what you can do — but I could
dance one yet, and, by Jove ! when we are alone this
evening, we will try. It will remind us of old times.
What has become of the Smiths I — monstrous fine galls
those — I have often thought of them since.' ' Dead !'
' Dead ! the devil they are ! how shocking ! and those
two romping little Browns ? married, I suppose, and
have romping little daughters.' I shook my head.
' Gone, too,' I said. ' You forget that forty years
have passed since they were young, and that the
greater part of that generation has passed away.'
' Well, thank God, you and I, old fellow, have not
passed away ! I don't know what you intend to do,
but I have no idea of going yet, if 1 can help it. I
am worth a dozen dead men, and so are you.' While
active employment had kept him so busy that he ap-
peared not to have been aware of the lapse of years,

LIFE IN A COLONY.

135

time also had passed h:' n without notice : his spirits
were as buoyant and joyous as ever.

'* The following day was as brilliant and as propi-
tious as could be desired, and at an early hour tne
harbour was covered with boats filled with light hearts
and merry faces. The noble ship, the Graball, was taste-
fully decorated with flags of every variety and colour,
and presented a gay and beautiful appearance. Every
convenience that ingenuity could invent, or delicacy
suggest, was provided for the comfort and accommoda-
tion of the guests ; every arrangement was perfect, with
the single exception, as a young lady observed, with
some degree of regret, that there was not a single pin
on the toilet-table of the dressing-room.

" Soon after the company arrived, and while the
Admiral was surrounded by a numerous assemblage of
ladies, a little flotilla of canoes was observed advancing
from the opposite shore of Dartmouth, led by a rival
officer, the Commander-in-Chief of his own navy,
Admiral Paul, the Indian. He was a tall, well made,
active man, in the prime of life. He was dressed in a
frock-coat with red facings, secured round the waist by
a sash of scarlet wampum ; his feet were ornamented
with a pair of yellow moccasins, with a white and blue
edging, curiously wrought with the quills of the por-
cupine. A military cap (a present from some officer
of the garrison) completed his equipment. He ap-
proached the quarter-deck with an ease and elegance
of motion that art can never supply, and, addressing
Sir James, said, ' Are you the Admiral V ' Yes !'
' So am I : I am Admiral Paul — all same, you see, as
one brudder.''

" Paul, notwithstanding that his manner was so
natural and unaffected, was a great rogue withal, and
found it convenient to invest himself with two com-
missions. With the officers of the navy he was an
Admiral, and with Sir Hercules Sampson he was a
Governor. He was, therefore, to use his own lan-
guage, ' all same as one brudder' with both ; and,

\h.

i..)'

136

THE OLD JUDGE } OR,

standing on such a footing of intimacy, was enabled to
receive fraternal assistance without any diminution of
his dignity. He also had the misfortune to take

* very big drinks,' which, though they did not lower
the respect of his tribe for him, had the eflfect of set-
ting them a very bad example. Upon one occasion,
when he was soliciting a loan from the Governor,
(for he never condescended to beg), he was unhappily
intoxicated; his wants were liberally supplied upon
condition that he should never appear at ' the Palace '
again, unless he was perfectly sober, an agreement
into which he veir readily entered. About a fort-
night afterwards he re(mired another loan, but the
Governor refused it. 'DidnH you promise me never
to let me see you tipsy again V he said. * Sartin !'
he replied. * Why didn't you keep your word, then V

* Sartm, I keep my word.' ' Why, you are drunk
now, man.' ' Sartin,' he replied, very coolly, * sartin,
but it's the same old drunk, though — Paul not been
sober since — all same old drunk, Mr. Gubbernor.'
The drollery of the reply has caused it to pass into a
bye-word in this country. Uniform occupations, or
frequent repetitions of the same thin^, are constantly
denominated *the same old drunk. Having esta-
blished his relationship to the Admiral, Paul thought
the opportunity for obtaining a loan not to be omitted.
'AH same as one brudder, you see, Mr. Admiral,
so please lend me one dollar.' The novelty of the ap-
plication pleased my friend amazingly, and he gave
him several, adding, very needlessly, that there was
no necessity for returning them. Paul received them
with an easy bow, and deliberately counted them,

''one, two, three, four, five, six ; and then, taking a fur
pouch from the back part of his belt, in which were
nis flint, steel, punk, and tobacco, he deposited them
safely in it, and replaced it as before, merely observing,

* Sartin, white Admiral makun money bery easy.'
As he turned to depart, his countenance suddenly be-
came very fierce. * Mr. Admiral,' he said, * do you

LIFE IN A COLONY.

137

know that man V pointing to a young officer of the
ship. ' Yes,' he replied, ' I know him ; he is one of
my midshipmen.' * Sartin he one d — d rascal !'
' Tut, tut, tut !' said the Admiral. * Sartin, Mr.
Admiral, he one d — d rascal ! he kissum my squaw
yesterday.' ' Tut, tut, tut !' he replied again, waving
his hand to him at the same time to go away, lest the
further continuance of the conversation might prove
inconvenient. ' Ah, Mr. Admiral,' he said with much
animation, and he advanced a little, and hending for-
ward held out his arm, in an attitude of elegance that
a sculptor might envy, * ah, Mr. Admiral, if I kissum
your squaw ' (pointing to Lady Capstan) * you no say
Tut, tut, tut, man !' and he retired, not quite satisfied
that justice had been done him.

" Of the regatta, you will perhaps be surprised to
hear that, in common with the young ladies, I saw
but little. I have always regarded a boat-race as a
very stupid, and a horse-race a very cruel thing. T
never could take any interest in them, and to describe
either would be to tell a thrice-told tale. The Admiral,
however, entered into it with all his heart, and was
delighted that the fishermen of Herring Cove and
the eastern passage beat (as they always do) the
barge of the man-of-war. He said it would take the
conceit out of the lubbers, make them mind their eye
for the future, for there was not a man in the ship
could pull an oar properly.

^' I was more amused myself at what was passing
around me. A dance on board ship is always more
pleasant than in a ball-room, not that the latter
IS less commodious or convenient, but because the
former is a novelty. The decorations are diflferent,
and even the natural obstacles of the place are either
concealed with taste, or converted into objects of use
or ornament. The effect is produced by great trouble
and ingenu'.ty, and who are there who do not person-
ally appropriate much of this as a compliment to them-
selves \ The part of host is played not by one, but by

138

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

twenty, for every officer is interested in the honour of
the ship, and the reputation of her hospitality ; and
what cannot many hands, heads, and hearts accom-
plish ? The dance (for, after all, though the regatta
was the professed object, this was the real attraction,
which was on the main deck), from the hour, the
place, and the occasion, partook more of the character
of a private party than a public entertainment, and
was accordingly more agreeable, in proportion as it
was icss formal.

" ' Ah, Sandford,' said the Admiral, who was de-
lighted beyond measure, ' I wish you had your robes
on — we would try that jig now ; wouldn't we astonish
the boys, eh 2 D — n them ! they look as solemn, and
dance as heavily, as if they were stamping their feet
to keep them warm at a funeral in winter ! Look at
that dandy — it is half-past twelve o'clock with the
navy, when you see such fellows as that on the
quarter-deck. It was a bad day for the service when
tne king sent his son to sea. It made it &shionable,
and fashion plays the devil with a ship. We should
always keep up the distinctions between the services.
Let the army he fashionable, and the navy manly, and
if they stick to that, they may keep their troops at
home for parades and reviews, and we will do all the
fighting for them :' and, lowering his voice, said, ' I
don't know what you intend to do, but the sun is over
the fore-yard, and I am going to have a glass of grog.
I suppose it would horrify Sampson to ask him, for
he is too fashionable for that, and, if he wasn't, his
stock is buckled so tight, he couldn't bend his head
back sufficiently to swallow it. He is not a bad fellow,
though, after all, but he is one of the old school of
pipeclay and pomatum soldiers, and is as stiff and
starched as a snirt collar.'

" In the midst of gaiety there is always sadness.
The chords of pleasure are so interwoven with those
of melancholy in the human mind, that it is difficult
to touch the one without causing a vibration of the

LIFE IN A COLONY.

139

grog.

other. Like the strings of an ^olian harp, they all
awaken to life under the influence of the same whisper-
ing breeze, and blend their joyous notes and pensive
wailings together. The Admiral seemed to be sen-
sibly affected by this mysterious feeling. But it was
a mere sudden emotion, as fleeting and as transitory
as a cloud passing over the sun.

" ' Sandford,** he said, * the other day — ^for it ap-
pears no longer ago — I was a midshipman in this
port — I am now commander-in-chief at the same
place : that was my first, and this will be my last
cruise in life, for, when I return home, I shall be put
on the shelf, or perhaps converted into a sort of hulk,
or receiving ship, an old port admiral : it is a short
run we make of it in this life, after all, ain''t it ? How
sad a thing ? Hullo, sir !' he said, calling out aloud
to a servant, * if you don't know better than that, by
Jove, 111 have you taught in a way you won't forget !
ril give you three dozen, as sure as you are born.
D — n that fellow ! he has knocked all the sentimenta-
lity out of me. And yet, I don't know but what I
ought to thank him for it, for a man that talks
foolishly, may soon begin to act foolishly. But come,
old boy, let us have that glass of grog.

" ' Talking of giving that fellow three dozen,"* he
continued, * puts me in mind of a prank of my uncle,
Sir Peter's. Previous to the American rebellion, he
commanded a frigate on the Boston station : having
put into one of the Puritanical ports of New England,
he happened to dine on shore, and, as usual with him
when not on board, got tipsy. The select men, who
affected to be dreadfully shocked at such a bad example
being set by people in high places, apprehended him,
and put him m the stocks as a terror to all evil-doers.
For once in his life (for he was a violent tempered
man), he uttered no threats, and made no complaints,
but quietly submitted himself to the inevitable insult.
On the following day he called upon the committing
magistrates, applauded their zeal and impartiality in

It Tl' I

140

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

administerinff the law, and invited them to come and
dine on board with him, as a proof that they no longer
harboured any resentment against him for the heinous
offence he had perpetrated. This they readily agreed
to do, and were accordingly most kindly received and
hospitably entertained, and enjoyed themselves exceed-
ingly. As the time approached for their departure, a
servant entered the cabin, and whispered to the custos
that there was a gentleman above who desired to speak
to him for a moment on urgent business. As soon as
the Justice made his appearance on deck, the boat-
swain seized him, stripped him, and, tying him
up, gave a dozen lashes. Each of the others were
severally summoned, and punished in a similar
manner, when they were set on shore — the anchor
was hoisted, and the vessel put under weigh for
England.'

" But to return to the party ; the company was a
mixed one, every officer having invited his own friends,
and some of them having made rather strange ac-
quaintances.— I heard one of the young ladies object
to a tune which she said was as old as * three grand-
mothers ago,' and another observe that Lord Heather
had his 'high and mighty boots on,' and was quite 'high-
cock spotty' to-day. The sentiment was old, though
the phraseology was novel, and it must be admitted
that if there were nothing but proprieties in this life,
we might, perhaps, lose in insipidity as much as we
gained in refinement. The maxim that extremes meet
was fully verified, for the smallest midshipman seemed
to pride themselves on having the tallest partners. I
heard one little fellow, who threw back his head and
looked up at his chere amie, as if he were addressing
the man at the mast-head, say, ' I hope you wiu
keep a good look-out, or we shall run foul of the
captain.' ' Starboard, Milne,' said one. — ' Larboard,
Skipsey,' said another, while a third advised his
friend, who appeared to be steering wildly, to * port
his helm.'

LIFE IN A COLONY,

141

T' ^reat object of attraction was an American
heiress immense fortu. .* young lady from New
Orleans. She was the daughter of an undertaker in
that city, which was the best stand in the Union, as
he boasted, for a man in his line of business. His
coffins were made in Massachusetts by machinery, and
served the double purpose of conveying ' New England
notions'* to the Mississippi, and the dead to the church-
yards. But, alas, for human expectations ! the deli-
cate girl of a sickly climate, who had been enriched
by the toll-house of the grave, vampire-like, was
plethoric and heavy. She looked like an nospital nurse
that faithfully delivered the medicines to the patients,
and appropriated the wine and porter of the conva-
lescents to herself. Never was there such a disap-
pointment ; for, after all, it is easy to invest with
divinity the being that presides over ^neral obsequies,
and there is sublimity as well as poetry in the grave,
but reptiles alone fatten on corruption. ' Stay, Bill,'
said a little humourist to his companion, *• she may
have a million of money, but Fm blowed if she is
worth a d — ^n, after all !"*

" If, however, she had thriven by caring for the
dead, there was one of the company who was nearly
worn out by caring for the living. He was an active
little old man, with a benevolent though remarkably
ugly face, and, judging by his dress, belonged to some
public department. His head was uncommonly bald,
and very nearly round, which, with the yellow tint of
the skin, suggested the idea of a ball of soap that had
fallen on the floor, and, rolling on the carpet, had
gathered a few hairs. He attended at the ladder, and
assisted the ladies in their ascent to the deck ; cau-
tioned them against portholes and hatches, which,
though closed, might open of themselves, and precipi-
tate them either into the hold or the harbour ; pointed
out the cannon, and entreated them not to stumble
over them, as they might frccture their limbs ; and,
above all, advised them not to stand in draughts, or

142

THE OLD JUDGE ;

OR,

take ice-creams when they were heated. He hatl a long
catalogue of accidents wherewith to illustrate every
caution, and several ingenious inventions to counteract
the effects of damps or chills.

" The Admiral, whose attention was directed to
him while he stood bowing to the ladies, and rubbing
his hands, asked who that ' little wash-my-hand sort
of a person was, and, on being informed that his name
was Davis, recognised him as a barrack-master whom
he had known at Malta, and immediately addressed
him, complimenting him upon having * worn so well."*
* Ah, my dear Sir James, he said, ' my good looks
have ruined me. It is the worst thing in the world
to have a juvenile face. The medical board refused
to superannuate me last year, saying I was an active
man yet, and fit for service. Most men like to look
young, or to be thought young, but, alas ! my good
looks have been a great misfortune to me. They nave
broken my heart — yes, yes ! they will be the death of
me yet. But don''t let me detain you here, sir, in
the draught of this awning ; it is very dangerous, very
liable to give cold, or bring on rheumatism — they are
the cause of half the illness in the country ."* ' You
should have stood in one of them yourself, then, my
old friend,' was the good-humoured reply, ' before you
applied to the board for your superannuation.'

** The lunch, which was a capital one, was a merry
affair, and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves un-
commonly. But where was there ever a midshipman
without a practical joke attesting his presence ? The
Governor's hat had exchanged its plume for a sprig of
spruce, and a commissary-general, whose sv/ord-belt
had been shortened so that it would no longer buckle
round him, was heard to exclaim, * Good heavens ! is
it possible, the luncheon could have made all this dif-
ference in my size V

" While roaming about the ship, I was a good deal
surprised at the apathy of a sailor, who was sitting
with his back turned to the gay scene, quietly stitching

LIFE IN A COLONY.

143

a pair of shoes, with the most philosophical indifference
to all that was passing around liiin. In reply to some
remark I made on the subject of the party, ho said,
' Ah, sir, I have seen enough of them in my day —
our part of the entertainment will come to-morrow,
when we have to clear up the ship, which will be in
a devil of a mess when it's all over/

" The big-wigs, as the naval and military com-
manders-in-chief were called by the youngsters, were
now preparing to go on shore, and the former pressed
mo to accompany then). As they were about to de-
scend the side of the ship, our old friend Paul made
his appearance again. ' Ah, Mr. Gubbernor,' he said,
' sartain me lose very much yesterday — my camp all
burned up — Paul very poor now.** ' I am very sorry
tor you,"" was the reply. * Yed, brudder, but hosv much
aie you sorry ? Are you sorry one pound V The ruse
was successful, and the contribution, as a measure of
grief, was paid to him. * And you, Mr. A.dmiral,
how much you sorry V Another pound rewarded this
appeal also. ' Thank you, bruaders — sartain white
man's pocket, like brook, keep run all the time, and
never get empty. Indian man's pocket all same as
glass of rum, one drink, and it's all gone.'

" We now left the ship ; and at the dockyard gate,
where their respective carriages were in attendance,
the old Admiral and the old General cordially shook
hands with each other, and parted."

CHAPTER VII.

THE FIRST SETTLERS.

Nothing astonishes the inhabitants of these colonies
more than the poverty, ignorance, and degradation of
the people who are landed upon their shores, from the
passenger ships that annually arrive from Europe.
The destitution of these unfortunate emigrants so far
exceeds any thing ever seen among the native popula-

144

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

tion, that they cannot understand how it is possible
that human beings can voluntarily surrender them-
selves as willing victima to starvation, who have the
bodilv strength to work, and the opportunities of earn-
ing their bread, as it is well known they have in their
own country. Although they are too often the dupes
of demagogues themselves, they are too proud to
receive alms, live in a country too poor to feed
wilful idleness, and no man has ever yet had the
hardihood to incite them to rapine and murder.

Though neither frugal nor diligent, they cannot
conceive a people being satisfied with less than a decent
maintenance, or being so debased as to beg, or so
wicked as to take by violence what they can earn by
labour. They are a kind and affectionate people, and
hear with horror of the atrocious crimes with which,
alas ! so many of these strangers are familiar at home.

A group of these unfortunate and misguided people,
arriving at Elmsdale this morning, sought, or, I
should rather say, demanded, pecuniary aid, for their
tone was more exacting than supplicating. As they
were all able-bodied men, they received an offer of em-
ployment, which, they were informed, was the course
usually adopted at that place, as best suited to the
means of the proprietor, and the object they had in
view, of earning a subsistence. This they refused, not
uiily with incivility, but with a distinct avowal that, if
they were in their own country, they would take a very
summary modv9 of enforcing compliance with their
wishes.

" Oh,'' said the Judge, " what a change has come over
this continent ! These men, who begin by begging or
stealing, end by governing. Political power is pos-
sessed by the mass, and this stream of pauperism in-
creases and pollutes it ; and, whatever <yir neighbours
may say to the contrary, civilization is retrograding,
and not advancing. In this province, all our emigrants
of late years have been poor and illiterate. The first
settlers wore scholars and gentlemen. You may recol-

LIFE IN A COLONY.

145

lect I related to you, some time ago, the particulars of
a singular trial I was concerned in at Plymouth, in
which one Barkins was my client, and the reluctance I
had to go there, in consequence of an interesting exa-
mination I was making of the scene of the first effective
settlement made in this continent at Annapolis. The
people who discovered and colonized this country-
were so different from those who come to us in the
present day, that it may amuse you to hear the result
of my investigations.

" During one of my visits to Paris, I had acci-
dentally met with the Journal of Mark Lescarbot, a
Freneh lawyer, who had accompanied the exploring
party that nrst visited this part of America. With
this book in my hand (whicn was published as early
as 1609) I traced their movements from place to
place, in their attempt at colonization. On the 8th of
November, 1603, Henry IV. of France granted to the
Sieur de Monts, a gentleman of his bed-chamber, a
patent, constituting him Lieutenant-General of L"* A cadi,
(now Nova Scotia) with power to conquer and Chris-
tianize the inhabitants. On the 7th of March, having
equipped two vessels, he set sail from Havre de Grace,
accompanied by the celebrated Champlain and Mon-
sieur Poutrincourt, and arrived on the 7th of May at
a harbour (Liverpool) on the south-east shore of the
province. From thence they continued coasting the
country, until they arrived at the Bay of Funday.
On the eastern side of this bay they discovered a
narrow strait, into which they entered, and soon found
themselves in a spacious basin, environed with hills,
from which descended streams of fresh water. Be-
tween these high lands ran a large navigable river, to
which they gave the name of KEquille. It was bor-
dered by fertile meadows, and filled with delicate fish.
Poutrincourt, charmed with the beauty of the place,
gave it the name of Port Royal (now Annapolis).
After exploring the neighbourhood, and refreshing
themselves, they ascended the river Saint John, as far

146

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

iiii:

as Fredericton, and then, visiting the coast of Maino,
Hpent the winter of 1604-5 at the island of Saint Croix,
tlie identity of which has lately been the subject of so
much discussion between the governments of Great
Britain and the United States. The weather proved
very severe, and the people suffered so much from
scurvy, that thirty-six of tnem died. The remaining
forty, who were all invalids, lingered on till the spring,
when they recovered, by means of the fresh vegetation.
" After an ineffectual attempt to reach a more
southern climate, they recrossed the bay to Port
Royal, where they found a reinforcement from France
of forty men, under the command of Dupont. They
then proceeded to erect buildings on the spot where
Annapolis now stands, with a view to a permanent occu-

!)ation of the country. De Monts and Poutrincourt,
laving put their affairs in as good order as possible,
embarked in the autumn for France, leaving Pont-
grag^ Commandant, with Champlain and Champdore
as Lieutenants, to perfect the settlement and explore
the country. During the winter, they were plentifully
supplied by the savages with venison, and a great
tracte was carried on for furs. Nothing is said of the
scuni'y ; but they had a short allowance of bread, not
by reason of any scarcity of corn, but because they
had no ineans of grinding it, except a hand-mill,
which required hard and continuea labour. The
savages were so averse to this exercise, that they pre-
ferred hunger to the task of grinding, though tney
were offered half of the flour in payment. De Monts
and Poutrincourt were at that time in France, pre-
paring, under every discouragement, for another voyage.
"On the 13th of May, 1606, they sailed from
Rochelle, accompanied by Lescarbot, who has left us
a record of their proceedings; and, on the 27th of
July, arrived at Port Boyal. To their astonishment,
they found but two persons remaining. The rest,
conjecturing from the long absence of succour, that
the settlement had been abandoned by De Monts, com-

((

LIFE IN A COLONY.

147

pelled the officer in charge to sail for Cansrau, in order
that they might obtain a ppssage to France in some
of the fishing vessels that frequented that port. Two
men, however, having more courage and more faith
than the others (La Taille and Meouelet), volunte'^red
to remain and guard the stores and tne buildir a. These
faithful retainers were at their dinner, wh ^n a. savage
rushed in and informed them that a sail was in sif ht,
which they soon discovered to be lii^i long-expev led
vessel of their chief. Poutrincouit now oegan his
plantation ; and, having cleared a spot of ground, sowed
European com and several kinds of garden vegetables.

" But, notwithstanding all the beauty and fertility
of Port Royal, De Monts had still a desire to make
discoveries further towards the south. He therefore
prevailed upon Poutrincourt to undertake a voyage to
Cape Malabarre (Cape Cod), and, on the 28th of
August, the ship and the barque both put to sea. In
the former, De Monts anJ T>upont returned to France,
while Poutrincourt, Champliin, Champdore,and others,
crossed the bay to Saint Croix, and then continued
their survey of the coast. In the mean time, Lescar-
bot, who remained behind at Port Royal, was busily
employed in the cultivation of the garden, harvesting
the crop, completing the buildings, and visiting the
encampments of the natives in the interior.

" On the 14th of November, Poutrincourt returned
from his exploring voyage, which had proved disas-
trous, and was received with every demonstration of
joy by the party at the fort. Lescarbot had erected a
temporary stage, which he called the ' Theatre of
Neptune, from which he recited a poetical address to
his friend, congratulating him on his safe arrival, pro-
bably the first verses ever written in North America.
Over the gate were placed the royal arms of France,
encircled with evergreens, with the motto, —

' DVO PROTEGIT VNVS.'

" Above the door of the house of De Monts were

' i

148

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

placed his arms, embellished in a similar manner, with
the inscription, —

* DABIT DEUS HIS QUOQUE FINEM.'

" Poutrincourt's apartments were graced with the
same simple decoration, having the classical super-
scription, —

* INVIA VIRTUTI NVLLA EST VIA.'

" The manner in which they spent the third winter
(1606-7) was social and festive. Poutrincourt esta-
blished the order of ' Le Bon Temps,' of which the
principal officers and gentlemen, fifteen in number,
were members. Every one was maitre (ThStel in his
turn for one day, beginning with Champlain, who was
first installed into the office. The president, (whom
the Indians called Atoctegi) having superintended the
preparations, marched to the table, oaton in hand, with
the collar of the order round his neck, and napkin on
his shoulder, and was followed by the others succes-
sively, each carrying a plate. The same form was
observed at every meal ; and, at the conclusion of
supper, as soon as grace was said, he delivered, with
much gravity, his insignia of office to his successor,
and pledged him in a cup of wine. The advantage of
this insbitution was, that each one was emulous to be
prepared for his day, by previously hunting or fishing,
or purchasing fish or game of the natives, who con-
stantly resided among them, and were extremely
pleased with their manners. The chiefs of the savages
were alone allowed the honour of sitting at their table ;
the others partook of the hospitality of the kitchen.
The abundance and variety of the fare this winter was
a subject of no little boasting to Lescarbot, on his
return to Europe, where he taunted the frequenters of
la Rue aux Ours de Paris, (where was one of the first
eating-houses of the day), that they knew nothing of
the pleasures of the table who had not partaken of the
beavers' tails, and the mouffles of the moose of Port

LIFE IN A COLONY.

149

his
ers of

first
ng of
[)f the

Port

Royal. The weather, meanwhile, was particularly
mild and agreeable.

" On the 14th of January, on a Sunday, they pro-
ceeded by water two leagues, to a corn-field, where
they dined cheerfully in the sunshine, and enjoyed the
music of their fatherland. You will observe, there-
fore, my dear sir, that, from the earliest account we
have of this climate, it has always had the same
character of variableness and uncertainty. The winter
but one preceding this (when they were at St. Croix)
was extremely severe ; and, we are informed, that that
which succeeded it was remarkable for the most intense
cold the Indians ever recollected. Their time, how-
ever, was not devoted to amusement alone. They
erected more buildings, for the accommodation of other
adventurers, whom they expected to join them the
following year, in making pitch for the repairs of
their vessels, and, above all, in putting up a water-
mill to grind their corn. In this latter attempt they
completely succeeded, to their own infinite relief and
the great amusement of the savages. Some of the
iron work of this first North American mill is yet in
existence, and another of the same kind (Easson's
Mill) still occupies the ancient site.

" You will, perhaps, smile at the idea of antiquities
in a country which is universally called a new world ;
but America has a great advantage over Europe in this
respect, that it has a record of its birth, while the
origin of the other is to be sought for in the region of
fable. I am a native of this country, and this little
settlement has always had great attractions for me,
who am an old Tory, from its primogeniture being two
years older than James Town, in V irginia, and three
years senior to Quebec, which was settled twelve years
before the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in Massa-
chusetts."

150

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

r-n ?i|

CHAPTER VIII.

MERRIMAKINGS.

The shooting season having commenced most
favourably this autumn, Barclay and myself spent a
few days at Foxville, where the snipe are very abun-
dant, and on our return tried, with great success, the
copse that skirts the meadow between Elmsdale and
Illinoo for woodcock. While crossing a little wooded
promontory that intersected the alluvial land, and
mterrupted our sport, I heard the shrill voice of a
female at some little distance, in great apparent dis-
tress ; and, stopping a moment to ascertam the direc-
tion from whence the sound came, I distinctly heard
the following extraordinary dialogue.

" Oh, John ! my head ! my liead ! — let me die !
rd rather die ! — oh, John, do ! How can you act
so ? Oh, let me die !" — ^to which the person appealed
to so pathetically replied —

" Oh, no, Sally, don''t be scared — it won't hurt you
— live a little longer."

" I tell you, rd rather die— I will die !''

" There, then, if you must die, die !"

" Yes, but not so suddenly, John. Let me die
easy !"

Kushing forward with what speed I could, I sud-
denly caught a view of a young woman, seated in a
swing, suspended between two trees, having a rope
attached to the seat, by means of yhich her com-
panion forced her backwards and forwards, in her pen-
dulous motion. The alarming language she had used,
it appeared, was merely the technical term applied to
the cessation of the impulse given by the ropes that
regulated the movement. And dying, I found, to
my surprise, meant not to cease to live, but to cease
swinging. The fair one" who had so unconsciously
terrified me by her screams of affright, and, as I
thought, by her threats of suicide, was a stout, strong,

LIFE IN A COLONY.

151

blooming country girl, of about eighteen years of age ;
and her attendant a good-natured, awkward, rustic
admirer, but little older than herself. She had died,
as she desired, by the time I had reached the spot,
the swing being nearly motionless, and was ready to
be safely deposited on and not in the ground, as I had
feared, an office which I performed for her, to the sur-
prise and evident disappointment of her companion.

"I was properly scared, you may depend,*" she
said ; *' that''s a fact : a body that ain't used to carry
their head so low, and their feet so high, is apt to get
kind of dizzy, and haven''t ought to be throwed up so
hard, all of a suddent, lest the seat might sort of turn
bottom upwards."

Seeing a number of tables with baskets upon them,
in an open glade, at some distance before us, and a
great concourse of people assembling, I asked her
what was the occasion of it.

'* It is a pickinick stir, sir," was the reply.

" A pickinick stir !"" I inquired ; " what is that V
although, from the preparations that were making,
the meaning was penectly obvious, but I wanted to
hear her definition yet, as I had no doubt she would
express herself in the same droll language.

" Lawful heart !" she said, *' I thought every body
knew what a pickinick stir was. Why, it's a feed,
to be sure, where every critter finds his own fodder."

*' Ah," I said, " then I fear I am an intruder, for I
have no fodder; and, what is worse, I am neither
invited nor expected. I regret this the more," I
added, '^ as I should like very much to see a pickinick
stir."

"Ah, you are funning now, ain't you? Would
you, though, in rael, right down earnest ?"

" Certainly," I said, " I should be delighted."

" Well, that's very easy fixed, any how. John,"
she said, " go and bring your basket, and look into
sister Hannah Dowler's waggon, and fetch the wooden
pail, with the birch bark cover, and no handle to it ;

152

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

i'i!,,
!
II

f
!

! ' i

I'l'i'i

and, if we can'*t find enough for the stranger, it's a
pity, that's all."

John hesitated for a moment, standing before her
with a very sorrowful expression of countenance, as if
to catch an assurance from her eye that he was not to
be deserted for another.

" Why, what ails the critter?" she said, " that you
stand starin' and a gapin' there, as vacant as a spare
room, looking as if you couldn't hear, and had never
seed a body afore; and then, altering her manner
as if the truth suddenly flashed upon her, she added,
in a milder and more conciliatory tone, " Go, John,
that's a good soul, and don't be all day about it :"
words that inspired new life and most rapid motion
into the jealous swain. She then seated herself on
the grass near the declivity of the sloping knoll, and,
leaning back, supported her head witn her hand, by
resting on her elbow.

" Sit down," she said ; " sitting is as cheap as
standing, when you don't pay for it, and twice as
easy." Obeying her command, I assumed the same
attitude, and there we were, who, a few moments before,
had never seen each other, in this singularly easy
position, conversing face to face as unceremoniously
and as freely as if we had known each other for years.
" Dear me," she said, as her eye fell on my disengaged
hand, for the other was concealed by my hair, " what
a small hand you have, and how white it is ! — what
do you do to make it so white? — ^washin them in
buttermilk, they say, is grand ; — what do you do ?"

" Nothing," I replied ; " wearing gloves produces
the effect."

" Ah !" she said, " I see, you belong to the quality,
I suppose, or keep a store, or sell doctors' means — and
haven t to use your hands. Mine" (and she held up
one of hers, and examined it minutely) " are horrid
hard, ain't they? — all crinkum crankum like, and
criss-crossed every which way — sort of crisped and
chapped ; but it can't be helped, I do suppose, for

LIFE IN A COLONY.

153

they are in and out of hot and cold water for everlast-
ing."

" It is lucky it doesnH affect the lips," I remarked.

" Well, so it is," she replied, and added, in the most
artless manner possible, " I vow, I never thought of
that before. So vou never see a pickinick stir, sir."

" No, not here.

" What, are you an entire stranger in these parts !"

" Yes."

" LawM heart, you don't say so ! So be I. I
live to the mill-ponds to Yarmouth, where I am to
home ; but now I am on a visit to sister Hannah,
who is married to the cross roads. Then, perhaps,
you never see a Bee stir?"

"No."

** Nor a raising 2"

*'No."

" Nor a quilting ?"

"No."

" Nor a husking r

"No."

" Nor a berrying ?"

" No."

" Scissors and pins ! — ^why, you hain''t seen nothinjj
of our ways yet ! Well, Tve been to 'em all, and
ril tell you what, I like a rolling frolic better than
all on them. There is always fun at the end of
the roll — if you'll — but here's John ; he's generally
allowed to be the greatest hand at a roll in these
clearings — the critter's so strong ! No, it ain't John,
neither. Creation ! haw vexed he would be if he
knowed he was takeik for that scarecrow, Norton Hog,
who Iv 'k% f'^'x all the world, like a suit of clothes,
hung on a oean pole stuck out to air ; he is so horrid
tliin i Well, there's no accounting for taste — what
do you think now? — ^he was married last week to
Betsy Spooner, as likely a gall as you will see any
where, I know — fact, I assure you, she is twenty and
he forty — exactly twice her age; and so, as sister

u >i

liiiii

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

Hannah says, when she is fifty, he will be a hundred.
Isn't it a horrible, scandalous match ?"

" Pray, who is John f I inquired, as I saw him
approach.

'' Old Mr. Thad Rafuse's son."

" Is he to be the happy man V

" Well, the critter is happy enough, for all I know
to the conifrary."

" If I am m the country, may I come to the wed-
ding, and offer a bridal present in return for your
kindness to-day ?"

" Wedding !— oh, my! — well, I never! — now I
understand you. Marry John Eafiise ! Lord love
you, no ! not unless I can't do no better, I can tell
you. He's well enough, and won't want, seeing his
father is well to do ; but he ain't got no force — he
wants a head-piece — he's sort of under-baked. I
ain't in no hurry to splice neither, at any rate, though
I won't just say I won't take John Baftise at no time,
neither; for, as Hannah ssiys, a poor husband is
better than none ; and it's handy to have a man about
the house, for they can do little chores to home, and
run of errands. Are you married ?"

"No."

" Why don't you !" ,>

" Who would have me ?"

" Ah ! you are fishing for compliments now, but

Praise to the face
Is open disgrace ;

and I won't humour you, for men are so awful con-
eaited ! I guess the will, and not the way, is wanted.
Why, John," she exclaimed, on looking, up, and ob-
serving him without his basket and pail, " what
on airth have you done with all those chicken-fix-
ings, ham-trimmings, and doe-doings, besides the
pies, notions, and sarces ; has any thing happened to
them ?"

" Squire Barclay told me to thank you, and say he

LIFE IN A COLONY.

155

had made provision for his friend and himself, and
here he is."

Having arranged matters so as to have the young
lady, Miss Sally Horn, as our neighbour at the table,
Barclay and I left the young couple together, and
strolled through the crowd, and mingled with the
various groups that were scattered on the green, or
dispersed in the woods.

" This," said Barclay, " is a pic-nic, given by the
owner and builder of the large timber-ship, of one
thousand tons, we saw launched at lUinoo yesterday,
to the families and friends of those who have in vari-
ous ways been engaged either in gathering or prepa-
ring the materials, or putting them together; for the
construction of a vessel of such magnitude gives em-
ployment to a vast number of people, who cut, hew,
or haul the timber. The owner is also desirous of
ingratiating himself with the people, over whom he
has some design of acquiring political influence, being
a violent democrat. If you took any interest in such
subjects, it would amuse, or rather I should say dis-
gust you, to see how men and not measures, oflSce and
not principle, is at the bottom of our colonial politics.
As it is, his harangue would appear to you like a fo-
reign language, and really the idiom is not worth
acquiring. Come and look at the vehicles; such a
strange collection is worth seeing."

Hay-carts filled with temporary seats, waggons fur-
nished with four posts and a tester-like awning resem-
bling a bedstead, carts ornamented with buffalo robes,
or having their rude timbers concealed by quilts, to-
gether with more ambitious gigs, cabs, cars, and
britzschkas of every variety, form, and colour, occupied
the field near the main road, to the fences of which
were fastened the horses, many of which, having huge
pillions attached to the saddles, appeared to have
carried several persons on their backs.

" A large temporary table, you observe," continued
Barclay, " is spread at one end of the Green, and several

156

THE OLD JUDGE } OR,

l\ li

of nearly equal size occupy the other ; a division ren-
dered necessary by the scruples of the advocates of total
abstinence from all vinous or fermented liquors, who,
not contented with exercising the right of doing as they
please themselves, are determined to force others to
follow their example, and will not permit the use of
wine in their presence. How often does it happen in
this world that the most strenuous advocates for liberty
in theory are the most exclusive and tyrannical in
practice!"

Here a man wearing a badge to distinguish him
as a manager proclaimed, in a loud voice, ^* All ye in-
vited guests, fall into the precession, and come to the
platform !" This was a sort of circular scaffold erected
in the centre of the glade, formed around and supported
by the trunk of a large elm. Three or four speakers
soon made their appearance, and, ascending this ele-
vated stage, addressed the company much in the same
style and upon nearly the same topics. The ship whose
launch they had come to celebrate was eulogized as
one of the largest, fastest, best built, and beautifully
modelled vessels ever seen in this or any other country.
The builder was said to have done honour to the pro-
vince in general, and his native town in particular,
and was adduced as one of many instances to prove
that Nova Scotians only wanted opportunities to be
afforded them to excel all mankina, the humblest of
them being fitted for the highest offices of state at
home, or abroad ; but that, unhappily, during the long
Tory rule in England, the aristocracy engrossed every
situation of honour or emolument in every part of the
empire. The company were assured that the Legislative
Council of this province contained as many learned,
and the House of Assembly as many able statesmen,
as the Lords or Commons'* Houses of Great Britain,
and that their integrity and honour were equal, if not
superior.

The colonies, it was said, were filled with mineral
wealth, so near the surface as to be exhumed with very

LIFE IN A COLONY.

157

not

little outlay ; and all that was required was for Eng-
land to open their native treasures at her own expense,
and wive all the returns to the people — an act of justice
which, ere lon^, she would be compelled to perform,
and which would long since have been spontaneously
done, had it not been for certain influential persons in
this country, who wanted the proceeds to be given ex-
clusively to them. It was confidently predicted that a
railroad would be immediately constructed by the mo-
ther country between Halifax and Illinoo, and another
between the former place and Quebec ; as the local
legislature had most liberally done its part by giving
permission to any company to be formed for tnat pur-
pose, to pass through the land of the crown, and take
as much of it as was necessary, which they had a per-
fect right to do, the Queen being a mere trustee for
the public, and, of course, having no interest whatever
of her own. And much to the same purpose.

Mothers were then implored to look upon their
children with pride as having the honour to be Blue
Noses ; and were assured that Latin and Greek, which
had hitherto been upheld by Tories, to create a dis-
tinction between the rich and the poor, were exploded,
or, as it was quaintly expressed, *' reformed out ; and
that now, all speaking one language, (and it was well
known that they pronounced EngUsh better than the
British, for who could understand a Yorkshire or
Cornish man, or the Yankees, who were too lazy to
use their mouths and spoke through their noses ?) —
now that great object had been obtained, there was an
open field and fair play for all, and their children had
a high destiny berore them, and honour and wealth
were their portion.

Here the herald again proclaimed, " The bankit is
now ready, and all ye invited guests will please to fall
to in your places."

Few people are unconsciously flattered, however
delicately the incense may be offered ; and this agree-
able and prophetic language I have related, although

1^ I

t'!

lli

tl.» "ft- ;

"t'i

t;!;
'*',

liillllll

158

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

artfully veiling any thing like bropd compliment, was,
notwithstanding its skilful disguises, thoroughly un-
derstood by some of the male part of the audience,
for I heard one old man pronounce it all moonshine,
and another, addressing tiis little boy, say, " Well,
Zacky, you have a-most a grand inheritance — that's a
fact. Don't you hope you may live to get it ? Tell
you what — ^your lot and your luck is, your lot will be
hard work, and your luck to zave what you make. I
hate all fortin-tellers — when they put their hands on
your ribs to tickle you, they are sure to slip their
fingers into your pockets and pick it — they are all
cheats. Look out always for number one, Zacky, my
boy. Now, here's a hint for you — do you go and set
by your mother, for the men always give the women
the best, and the women always help the children
before they eat themselves : so you may guess who
gets the tid bits, Zacky. I have done my part now,
by helping you to advice. Jist you go and ask your
mother to help you to something to eat."

Having found my fair friend. Miss Sally Horn,
we proceeded to the table at the upper end of the
Green, and took our seats, placing her between us,
when a servant of Judge Sandford's spread before us
the contents of a basket he had brought from Elms-
dale, and we enjoyed a capital luncheon. Poor Mr.
John Raftise, not at all approving of the young lady's
behaviour, and determinea to make her feel sensible of
the danger of losing an admirer by such levity of
manner, refused to make one of the party, and, offering
his arm to another of his fair acquaintances, led her
off to the other end of the field. Miss Horn observed
that " pickinick stirs" were stupid things, for a lady had
nothing to do but walk up and down, and stare, which
wam't wholesome for weak eyes ; and as for preaching,
as she called the speeches, she could hear enough of
that of a Sunday, but pronounced the repast the best
part of the entertainment, and evinced the sincerity of

LIFE IN A COLONY.

159

what she professed by the justice she did to every
thin^placed before her.

"Well, I declare," she exclaimed, "if I haven't
dined well, ifs a pity, for T have been helped to every
thing twice, and five times to blueberry pudding."

" Squire," said a man seated on the opposite side
of the table, and addressing himself to Barclay,
*' Squire, may I trouble you for a piece of that 'are
apple-pie to vour left there 1" pointing to a large tart,
the top of which had been accidentally crushed.

" With great pleasure," he replied ; and applying a
knife and fork to it, remarked, " I believe you are
under a mistake, sir — this is, I rather think, a pigeon-

Sie, and this one must have been the father of the
ock, for my knife makes no impression on him. I
will give you the whole bird, ana you must dissect it
for yourself — here it is ;' and he raised on his lork, amid
roars of laughter, during which the table was nearly
overturned, a child's shoe, that had been acciden-
tally thrust into it, and lost in the deep and capacious
dish.

" Well, I declare," said Miss Sally. " if that ain't
little Lizzy Fink's shoe ! She has been hopping about
all day with only one on, like a land gosling. If she
hain't put her foot in it, it's a pity ! — don't it beat all
natur that ? I wonder what business children have to
pickinick stirs ; they are for everlastingly a-poking
their noses, or fingers, or feet, into something or an-
other they hadn't ought to."

" Well," continued the old yeoman, with philoso-
phical indifference, " that pumkin-pie to your right will
do as well, for, arter all, I guess pumkin is about the
king of pies ; but, Squire, now is the Judge's pota-
toes ? have they escaped the rot ? mine have got some-
thing worse."

" What's that r

** They are actually destroyed by curiosity. Every
critter that passes my field says, I wonder if neighbour
Millet's potatoes have got the disease ; and he pulls

160

THE OLD JUDOE ; OR,

and pulls ever so many hills to see, and then says,
well, that^s strange too ; he is the luckiest man in
these parts, he hainH lost one, and the next one that
comes by just does the same thing, and so on till I
have lost just half my crop. I vow I will shoot the
first fellow I catch there, and hang him up to scare
away the curious. Thank fortin, it hain t e£fected
the Indian corn !" (maize.)

This exclamation was occasioned by the introduc-
tion of a number of dishes of this delicious vegetable.
In a moment, every one took an ear, and, raising it
to his mouth with a hand at each end of it, bes^an to
eat. The colour of the com, and the manner of hold-
ing, gave the whole company the appearance of a band
fkying on the flute. It was the most ludicrous sight
ever beheld. It was a sort of practice in dumb
show.

After Miss Sally had finished two ears of it, she
drew breath, and rested a moment. " Why don''t
you eat V she said ; "you had better begin soon, or it
will all be gone f ^ and then, looking at the long white
cob from which she had so expeditiously removed the
grain with her teeth, and holding it admiringly by the
end before she deposited it on the plate, she con-
tinued, " Them coos are grand for smoking hams or
herrings — nothin** in nature gives the same flavour ;
and as for corking bottles, they are better than
boughten ones. Will you hand me the dish I"

** With great pleasure; but had you not better
take a little wine first f

" Well, I don't care if I do," she replied ; and,
holding a tumbler instead of a glass, observed, ** I
like wine better than cider for consart ; it has more
body, and is a more cheerfuller drink, unless the cider
be first frozen down, and then bottled tight with corn
cobs. Here**s to you, sir, and wishing you luck.
When you bottle cider, it must be always upended on
its neck, for bottoms are thicker than heads, and ain't
so apt to go off onexpected ; and cider is a wicked

LIFE IN A COLONY.

161

thing to burst. Have you been to Yarmouth lately T
she asked, abruptly.

*' Yes, last week."

" Oh, Solomon,'" she said, ** you donH say so !
How glad I am I fell in with you ! Did you see any-
thing of old Mr. Sam Horn'*s folks down to the mill-
ponds V

As a matter of course, I neither knew nor had heard
of old Mr. Sam Horn or his family, but, wishing to
hear her out, I replied evasively — " Not recently.'*

" Well, when you return," she continued, " I wish
you would tell them I feel kind of homesick and lone-
some, at the cross-roads — will you 2 I think I shall
make tracks homeward soon."

*' Why, your folks think you are a-going to be
married," I said.

" Oh," she replied, with a piteous face, " there is
no such good news, I can tell you. A lady has no
chance ot seeing folks there, unless, maybe, such a
chap as John Bafuse, and the likes of him, is no great
eaten for any likely gall thafs got a home of her own.
It''s kinder dull there, and there ain''t no vessels, nor
raisings, nor revivals, nor camp meetings, nor nothing,
rd rather go back."

*^ Well, that'*s what old Mr. Sam Horn said ; he
remarked that he knew you would sooner be among
the bull-frogs in the mill-ponds at Yarmouth, than
amon^ the owls of the cross-roads."

" Sid he, though 2 well, there'*s a great deal of fun
about the old gentleman, too — ain''t there 2 But, as I
am a living sinner, if here ain't a fiddle— ain''t it
grand 2" and, extricating herself from the table, she
was on her feet in a moment.

Shortly afterwards, the whole company rose, and a
benevolent matron present proposed that what was
left of the viands should be given to the negroes who
were in attendance.

" I guess," said Miss Sally, " you might as well
then butter the table-cloth then, for, excepting the

162

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

's'ii

shoe-pie, which ain''t fit for no christian to eat, unless
it's a darkey, I don't see there is anything else left.""'

" It would be just as well,*" retorted the other, with
an offended toss of her head, and not at all relishing
the general laugh raised at her expense, " it would be
just as well perhaps if some young folks know what
was due to their elders and betters, and didn't talk
quite so fast and so pert."

The black musician, to whose superior knowledge
and authority in such matters all deferred, now sum-
moned the young people to take their places on the
green.

" Will you dance ?" said my fair friend.

I replied, " I am sorry I am obliged to bid you
good bye, and leave you, for I have an engagement
elsewhere, this being altogether an unexpected pleasure
to me. But pray dance with your friend Mr. Bafuse,
who I see has returned : he seems hurt at your
neglect."

'* Who cares V she said ; " if he don't like it, he
may lump it. Tell you what — if John Bafuse was
down to the mill-ponds to Yarmouth among the
ponders, they would call him Refuse^ and that s the
poorest sort of boards they have in all their lumber.
Well, I am sorry you are a-going, too. There is

fraud shooting to the cross-roads, I have heam
lannah's husband say, only people are too lazy to
shoot. If you will come there, I will get him to give
you a rolling frolic, for he has got one on hand, and
promised me a treat before I go home. I'll hold back
for you. Oh, it's fun alive, you may depend ! — but
pickinick stirs are as heavy as dough — more trouble
to come and to go and to carry things than they are
worth, and dancing on the ground is hard work, and,
besides, it don't seem kinder natural in the day-time,
and so many folks looking on, and making their re-
marks, who have nothing to do with it kinder, puts a
wet blanket on it. Oh, a rolling frolic is just what
-you would like, for it's sociable and onformal ; or, if

LIFE IN A COLONY.

163

you caii''t come, next time you go to Yarmouth, just
give us a call to old Mr. Sam Horn's to the mill-
ponds. Ifs a most a beautiful place. Ifs generally
allowed to take the shine off this province, I tell you.
You won'*t forget to give us a call, will you? The
old gentleman will be very proud to see you, and

The order of the musician was imperative ; and
Mr. Rafuse several times reminded the talkative lady
that she was keeping the company waiting.

" Don''t be in such a plaguy pecky hurry," she an-
swered sharply. " If you can't wait, get another
partner. Don't you see, I am bidding good bye to the
stranger ? manners before measures."

" Pray don't detain him," I said. " Mr. Barclay
and I will be at the cross-roads next week, if the
weather is favourable, and spend a day or two there
shooting."

" And the rolling frolic ?" she inquired doubtfiilly.

"Oh, certainly, I shall be delighted to accept your
kind invitation. Good bye, till we meet again."

" Then, I may depend f

" Certainly, I shall only be too happy."

" Come, now, I like that," she said, '* you are the
rael grit, every inch of you. Seeing you re a touch
above common, I was afraid you woula be too proud,
maybe, to come among the like of us poor folks.
Thank you, sir. Good bye ! mind next week. And
now, John, how sorry I am I kept vou waiting so
long ! What's become of Nabby Frisk I seed you
with just now ? She looks as yaller as a kite's foot.
What's that tune, Pompey, you are a-playing 2 Is it
* Off she goes to Mirimichee ?' "

" No, miss, it's ' Come tickle my nose with a barley
straw.' "

" Oh, my !" she replied, pressing both her hands
on her sides, and laughing most immoderately —
' Tickle my nose with a barley straw !' well, if that
name don't bang the bush ! — it caps all."

164

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

The young people were now all in motion ; but such
a dance ! It was a serious business affair. Every-
body maintained a profound silence, and the only
voice to be heard was that of the black fiddler, who
gave out the figures in a loud tone, that was distinctly
audible over the screaming notes of the violin, while
the dancers seemed most anxious to execute such steps
as they knew with the greatest exactness and agility.
In describing this scene, I have preferred giving th'^
greater parts of the dialogue with Miss Horn to re-
cording the fijeneral conversation of the tables, because,
as this sketch is faithfully drawn from nature, it will
convey to the reader an accurate idea of the class to
which she belonged.

Taking Barclay''s arm, I now strolled to the other
end of the glade previous to returning to Elmsdale.
This portion of the company had also left the tables,
and were scattered in detached groups ; some packing
up preparatory to leaving the place, and others listen-
ing attentively to a man who was denouncing those
who had profaned the place with wine and dancing.
He was a tall, thin, cadaverous-looking man, whose
long black hair, falling wildly over his shoulders, gave
his face a ghastly appearance, while his wild and wan-
dering eye imparted to it a fearfiil expression. He
appeared to be labouring both under great excitement
and a considerable impediment of speech which affected
his respiration, so as to contract and expand his cheeks
and sides, and make the indraught and exit of his
breath distressingly audible. Nothing could be more
painful than to witness his convulsive utterance, un-
less it was to hear his dreadful language. He con-
eignoi all those who were not members of Temperance
fj jy) ?tie8 to everlasting perdition, without the slightest
ci »i,punction, and invoked an early fulfilment of his
imprecations upon them. Occasionally, he would ter-
minate a period with a long unmeaning alliteration,
calling dancing a profanation of an ordination that led
to damnation, or point his harangue against wine-

((

LIFE IN A COLONY.

165

drinkers, by observing, that they think it fine to drink
wine like swine ; but theyll repine, theyll repine.

Turning in disgust from this profane and uncharit-
able discourse, we crossed the lawn in the direction of
the post road. On our way, we met two young
women looking about them in great trouble and per-
plexity. As soon as they perceived us, one of them
approached, and, addressing herself to me, said,
" Pray, sir, did you see a beast down there T pointing
to the part of the lawn we had ju&fc left. Although
I should never have thought of the word brute, or
beast, as applicable to the wretched man I had been
listening to, I was not at all surprised at the terrified
girl using it, knowing that the population of rural
districts derive most of their epithets from the objects
about them.

" 1 have indeed seen a strange animal there,*" I
said.

Was he a black bea^t, sir !"
Long black hair," I replied, " and a wild and
wicked expression of eye.'*'

" Did you take notice of his feet, sir T she inquired
anxiously.

I now perceived, by this reference to the cloven foot,
that the poor girl either thought he was the devil in
propria persond, or was possessed of one. " Don't be
alarmed," I said. " I didn't observe his feet." .

" Had he a ^ong black tail, and a cushion strapped
on behind for carrying a oral! on ?"

Here Barclay, who had been enjoying my mistake,
came to the rescue. " You have lost your horse, I
suppose."

'' Yes, sir, our beast has broke his bridle, and made
tracks. I only hope he ain't raced oflf home."

" Had he four white feet ?"

" Yes, sir."

" Ah, then, he's quietly grazing below the crowd.
Where is the bridle ? — Ah, here it is. Make your-
self easy ; I will restore him to you in a moment."

((

166

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

On his return, the two girla were adjusted into their
seats ; one riding in front on a man's saddle, the other
behind, but on the opposite side of the horse.

" I agree with your friend, Miss Sally Horn,'" said
Barclay ; " pic-nies are stupid things, under any cir-
cumstances, but doubly so, when attempted by country
people, who do not understand them, are destitute of the
resources furnished by education for conversation and
amusement, and to whom unoccupied time is always
wearisome. Merrimaking in America, except in towns
or new settlements, is a sad misnomer, when applied
to such matters ; the religion of the country, which
is puritanical, is uncongenial to it ; dissent is cold and

gloomy, and represses the cheerfulness of youth, and the
uoyancy of healthful spirits. The people are not fond
of music, and are strangers to theatrical amusements ;
and, being dispersed over a great surface of country,
instead of dwelling in villages or hamlets, as in
Europe, have little opportunity for convivial inter-
course; while the exigencies of a northern climate,
and the hardships and privations of forest life, leave
but little time for relaxation. They are a business
and matter-of-fact people. * Raisings,'' which mean
the erection of the frames of -wooden houses, are
everywhere performed by mechanics, except in new
settlements. * Lo^ rolling,** which is the process of
heaping together the trunks of trees that have I een
felled preparatory to being burned, so as to clear the
land for cultivution, and 'the Bee,"* which is the
gathering of people for the purpose of chopping down
the forest, or for harvesting, or some other friendly
act for a neighbourhood, are all, in like manner, peculiar
to remote places.

" When any of these occasions occur, they are fol-
lowed by festivities of a totally different character
from those in the old settlements. In proportion as
the country becomes more densely peopled, these acts
of mutual assistance, rendered necessary in the first
instance by the individual weakness and mutual wants

LIFE IN A COLONY.

167

of all, become more and more rarfj, and finally cease
altogether, and with them, merrimakings cease also.
Festive assemblies occur now only in towns, or the
midst of the woods : so true in all things is the old
maxim — 'extremes meet."* In that portion of the
country where these good old ' Raisings,"* ' Bees,'
' Log-rollings,' and other cordial and friendly meetings
have died out, nothing has arisen in their place to in-
duce or require a celebration. The formal manners of
the town sits awkwardly on the farmer ; its customs
and fashions neither suit his means nor his condition.
•Unwilling to be thought rustic and vulgar, he has
abandoned the warm-hearted junketing of old ; and,
unable to accommodate himself to city usages, which
he sees so seldom as not thoroughly to understand, he
has little or no recreation to give hm family ; a cold
hospitality that acquires ostentation, in proportion as
it loses cordiality, gradually supervenes. The charac-
ter and appearance of the man undergo a sad change ;
the jolly, noisy yeoman, becomes a melancholy-looking
man ; his temper is gradually soured by the solitude
and isolation in which he lives, and, resorting to poli-
tics and religion for excitement, he rushes to the
wildest extremes in both, howling for nights together
in the protracted meetings of revivals, or raving with
equal zeal ^nd ignorance about theories of govern-
ment.

" The injurious effects upon the health, occasioned by ^
the absence of all amusement, and the substitution of
fanaticism, or politics in its place, is not confined to
the male part of the population. It falls still heavier
on the females. The foriner have their field labours
to detain them all day in the fresh air ; the latter are
confined to the house and its close and unwholesome
atmosphere, and suffer in proportion. No merry laugh
rings on the ear of the anxious mother, no song glad-
dens her heart, no cheerful dance of joyous youth
reflects the image of the past, or gives a presage of a
happy ^ture. Sadness, suffering, or discontent^ is

168

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

'1 Jn

legible on the face. Silence or fretfulness pervades
the house. The home is not happy.

" I am glad you have arranged to go to the cross-
roads next week. You will at once see the effect of
merrimakings and cheerfulness, not only on the health
and looks, but upon the bearing and character of the
population. The Judge says 'Exercise is health,' but
he is mistaken ; cheerfulness is an essential ingredient,
and where that does not spring from a well-regulated
mind, as it does among educated people, amusement,
in some shape or other, is absolutely indispensable."

CHAPTER IX.

THE SCHOOLMASTER;
OR, THE HECKE THALER.

On our return to Elmsdale, the absurd scene of the
morning was adverted to, and the extraordinary man-
ner in which the people were flattered and lauded by
the orators of lUinoo.

*' That," said the Judge, " is the inevitable result
of tho aha st universal suffrage that exists in this
proviiice. People accommodate themselves to their
audience ; and, where the lower orders form the ma-
jority of electors, their vanity is appealed to, and not
their judgment — their passions, and not their reason ;
and the mass, instead of being elevated in the scale
of intelligence by the exercise of political power, is
lowered by the delusion and craft, of which it is made
the willing victim. Nova Scotians have been so often
assured that they are the ablest, the wisest, and best
of men, though their rulers are both ignorant and
corrupt, and that they have a rich and fertile country,
blessed with a climate more salubrious liiid agreeable
than that of any other part of the world, they begin
to think that law and not industry, government and
not enterprise, is all that is wanting for the full enjoy-
ment of these numerous advantages. If any man were

LIFE IN A COLONY.

169

)sult

this

:heir

ma-
not

ion ;

icale

»r, is
lade
•ften
best
and

ry,
jable
)egin

and

Iwert

to say to them that their winters are long and severe,
their springs late, cold, and variable, while much of
their soil is wet, stony, or unproductive, and that toil
and privation are the necessary incidents of such a
condition ; or venture to assert that, although the
province abounds with mineral wealth, skill, capital,
and population are necessary to its successful develop-
ment; or, that, although the innumerable streams
that intersect the country in every direction are admi-
rably adapted for manufactories, the price of labour
is yet too high to render such speculations safe or
profitable ; and, above all, to tell them that they are
idle, conceited, and ignorant ; and, so long as they
maintain this character, they merit all their poverty
and all their wretchedness ; these demagogues, to
whom you listened yesterday, would call him a rabid
tory, a proud aristocrat, an enemy to the people, a
vile slanderer, and a traitor to his country.

"It is a melancholy condition of things ; and, so
long as education is so grievously neglected as it is at
present, there appears to be no hope of a change for
the better. The British Government, with that fore-
sight and liberality which has always distinguished
it in its treatment of the colonies, founded, many
years ago, a college at Windsor, an interior town,
situated about forty-five miles from Halifax, which
has been of incalculable advantage, not merely to
Nova Scotia, but to British North America. The
system of common school instruction, on the contrary,
which depends upon ourselves, is founded chiefly on
the voluntary principle, which has proved as defective
in education as it always has in religion. When a
man fails in his trade, or is too lazy to work, he re-
sorts to teaching as a livelihood, and the school-house,
like the nsylum for the poor, receives all those who
ait^ fru: nisfortune or incapacity, unable to provide
tor tlieijj selves. The wretched teacher has no home ;
ii>d makes the tour of the settlement, and resides, a
stipulated number of days, in every house — too short

170

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

a time for his own comfort, and too long for that of
the family, who can but ill afford either the tax or the
accommodation. He is among them, but not of them.
His morning is past in punishing the idleness of others,
his evening in being punished for his own ; for all
are too busy to associate with him. His engagement
is generally for a short period. He looks forward to
its termination with mingled feelings of hope and fear
— in alternate anticipations of a change for the better,
or destitution from want of employment. His heart
is not in his business, and his work prospers indiffer-
ently. He is then succeeded bv another, who changes
the entire system, and spends his whole time in what
he calls rectifying the errors of his predecessor. The
school is then unhappily too often closed for want of
energy or union among the people; the house is
deserted and neglected, the glass is broken by the
children, who regard it as a prison. The door, after
a long but unsuccessful struggle with the wind, falls,
at last, in the conflict ; the swine then enter, for pro-
tection, from the violence or heat of the weather, and
retain possession until expelled by the falling roof,
or the rod of a new master. It is evident, therefore,
that ' the greatest, wisest, and best of mankind^ either
do not need instruction, having the wonderful good
fortune to possess knowledge intuitively, or else the
rest of the human family, whom they are so often told
they far excel, must inaeed be in a state of hopeless
and wretched ignorance."

The following day, as we were strolling through
Bridge Port, a small, straggling village, situated about
a mile and a half above Elmsdale, the subject was
again accidentally renewed by our hearing the piercing
cries of a poor little urchin, who was undergoing the

Punishment of the rod in the schoolhouse. As Bridge
*ort aspires to the honour of being called a town,
and its ambitious inhabitants entertain sanguine hopes
that it will one day rival Ulinoo in importance, this
building exhibits much pretension, having a belfry

LIFE IN A COLONY.

171

surmounted bv a gilt weather-vane, which, though it
does not indicate the direction of the wind, being
stationary, either from accident or for the purpose of
displaying the broad, glittering side of a golden
quill at its top, fulfils all that it was designed ror, by
ornamenting the village. So handsome a structure,
deserving a classical name, is dignified by the appel-
lation of Academy. It was from this seat of learning
that the young student's voice was heard complaining
of tbe thorny paths of literature.

" Ah, my good friend, Mr. Enoch Pike," said the
Judge, soliloquizing in reference to the teacher, " if you
had ever been in the army, you would have become
more indulgent by learning that the tables are some-
times turned, and the master punished himself. I
recollect," he said, addressing himself to me, " when
the Duke of Kent was commander-in-chief at Halifax,
going to the barracks to see an officer of the Fusileers,
and, as I passed the regimental school-room on my
way upstairs to the quarters of my friend, I found all
the children vociferating at the top of their voices,
almost wild with excitement and delight. ' Ah ! my
little fellows,' I said, ' so you have a holiday to-day,
have you V — * Oh, yes, sir,' several of them answered
at once, ' oh, yes, sir, master has been flogged to-day ;
he has just received three hundred lashes.

"He who needs forgiveness himself ought to be
merciful to others. I have several times spoken to
Pike about his severity, and recommended to him
more forbearance, but he always has one answer.
Thinking to pacify me by avowing himself a conser-
vative, he invariably commences : * Ah, Judge, when
I first took charge of this Academy, I was a Radical,
a thorough-going Radical ; but I soon found a school
required a good strict Tory government. Freedom
and equality sound prettily in theory, but they don't
work well in practice. You, who h^ve presided in
courts of justice, and I, who have presided in seats of
learning, know that nothing but a stern air and a

172

THE OLD JUDGE; OR,

rP. I

Btrong arm will preserve order." — ' Oli, yes,' I reply,
* that is all veiy well — but strictness is one thing,
and severity another. You must be moderate. Pa-
tience i s a cardinal virtue in an instructor.' — ' Oh, sir,*
he says, * I am the most patient man in the world,
but there is a point — there is a line, vou know, sir,
beyond which, ahem ! — there is a limit — a bound —
a terminus you may call it — a place where you must
stop. They talk about the patience of Job, Judge.
1 have read every thing about that illustrious man
with great care, sir ; and, in my humble opinion, his
patience was never fairly tried. Job never was a
schoolmaster. Judge — oh, no ! oh, no ! he can't be said
to have been fairly tried. Job never kept a school.
Corporeal punishment. Judge, either in schools or the
army, cannot be dispensed with. We say, and say
truly, the rod of the empire ! I have often asled
myself with Virgil, Quid domini facient — What shall
masters do without the birch ? and answer with Ovid,
Principiis obsta — Nip an offence in the bud ; or with
Horace, Qmcquid prwcipies esto breve — Let it be a
word and a blow. All antiquity is in its favour, and
Solomon recommends a liberal use of it. Spare it,
says he, and you spoil the child. The quantity of
flogging is very properly left to the discretion of the
master; the true rule^perhaps, is, Nocturnd versate
manu versate diurnd — Turn tnem up and whip them
by day or night when needed, not urging them too
fast, but keeping a steady rein. Festina lent^ — An
even travelling gait is the proper course. In this
manner, he runs on, making the most absurd appli-
cation possible of his quotations, and regularly talks
mo down, so that ^ *^ glad to drop the subject, and
quit the house.

" They have h strange set of masters here :

one was a universal genius, and converted his school
into a sort of workshop. He painted signs and sign-
boards, gilded ft^mes, repaired watches and guns, made
keys in place of missing ones, veneered bones and

LIFE IN A COLONY.

173

tables, cut and lettere«1 nib-stones, and was devote<l
to carving and turning ' ^e [ lided himself upon being
able to execute any d.H ^ ittle job, that exceeded
the skill of anybody il iU the country. He pre-
ferred every thing to teaching, and his scholars pre-
ferred him to every other master ; for it seemed to be
a fixed principle with him not to trouble them if they
would observe the sanie forbearance towards him.
But the parents, not approving of this amicable treaty,
refused to ratify it, and he was discharged, to the
great grief of the young men, and the infinite loss of
all young ladies wlio had brooches, lockets, or bracelets
to mend.

" Universal Smith was universally regretted. His
successor, though equally engaged for others, was a
totally different person. Instead of mending and
patchmg up things for his neighbours, he made more
breaches than Universal Smith could have soldered or
welded together again in a long life. He set the
people by the ears ; and, when he failed in an attempt
to separate friends, got up a little quarrel with them
on his own account. He piqued himself on his know-
ledge of law, and advised tenants to overhold, and
landlords to distrain, and, being a talebearer, was a
great promoter of actions of defamation, in which he
was generally a witness, and attested to different
words from those laid in the declaration, whereby
his friends were nonsuited, and his foes escaped.
He induced several persons who were indifferently
honest to expose their roguery by endeavouring to
evade the payment of their just debts, by availing
themselves of the benefit of the statute of limita-
tions. Even his boys were set against each other,
so that scarcely any two of them were upon speaking
terms.

*' At that time, there was a female school held in
one end of the apartment, which was divided into two
rooms by a temporary wooden screen. This afforded
too good an opportunity for hostilities to be neglected,

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Hiotographic
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23 WeST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

(716) S72-4S03

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174

THE OLD JUDGE 5 OR,

,i -,

and he, accordinglv, attempted to drive away the
teacher and her children by resorting to every petty
annoyance and insult in his power ; but, finding their
endurance superior to his patience, he commenced a
regular system of encroachment. He was always at
his post an hour before the school commenced, during
which time the partition was advanced a few inches,
until he succeeded in thrusting them out and engros-
sing the whole building.

^'He was a constant contributor to a scurrilous
newspaper, published at lUinoo, in which he misrepre-
sented the motives and conduct of every gentleman
in the neighbourhood, and, as is always the case with
people of this description, seemed to take peculiar
pleasure in abusing those to whom he was most in-
debted for personal or pecuniary kindness. At last,
he managed to quarrel with the boys, their parents,
and, finally, the trustees of the school ; which ended^
first, in his dismissal, and then in a lawsuit, that
terminated in his ruin and sudden disappearance from
the place.

" After this, the school was closed for some time,
for want of a master, when a stranger presented him-
self as a candidate, and was accepted. Mr. Welcome
Shanks (for such was his name) was one of the most
extraordinary-looking men I ever beheld. He was
very tall, and, thou^ his frame was large and mus-
cular, exceedingly thin. His back, either from the
constant habit of stooping, or from a rheumatic affec-
tion so common in this country, was almost circular,
and had the effect of throwing his long bony arms for-
ward, which looked as if they were still growing, and
in time would reach the ground, and enable him to
travel upon all-fours. His face was hard, hollow, and
pale, having an anxious and careworn expression, that
indicated either mental or bodily suffering. His eye
was bright and intelligent, but restless, as was his
head, which he kept continually but slowly moving
from «ide to side. He was attired in a suit of old,

LIFE IN A COLONY.

175

rusty black, which, though almost threadbare, and
showing evident marks of successive repairs, was scru-

Eulously neat. He wore a white, Quaker-looking hat,
aving a brim of more than usual dimensions, the
front of which was bent downwards, so as effectually
to protect his face, and especially his eyes, from the
strong light of the sun. His queue gave an inexpres-
sibly droll effect to his figure, for he carried his head
and neck so much lower than his shoulders, that it
could not reach his back, but, resting on the cape of
his coat, stood up almost in a perpendicular direction,
and suggested the idea of its being the handle of the
protruding arms, or the root to which they were in-
debted for their extraordinary length.

'* His manner was shy and reserved ; he held but
little intercourse with any one, appearing to have but
two topics of conversation in which he took any inte-
rest, namely, piracy, and the history of the early set-
tlement of the province by the French, their subse-
quent expulsion, and cruel dispersion in the other
colonies, to every detail of which he listened with the
greatest eageniess. * He was accustomed to take long
and solitary walks, upon which occasions it was ob-
served he was armed with a huge club, which was
accidentally discovered to be hollow, and to contain
something of a smaller size within it, generally sup-
posed to be a rapier, or dagger. He also carried about
with him, wherever he went, a thin, but broad tin
case, containing a pocket-book, which he would often
take out during school hours, and attentively study,
occasionally altering or making additions to what ap-
peared to be written in it.

" The story of the hollow cane, or sword-stick, filled
the school with wonder and fear, which the mysterious
case and black book raised to the ;. Uhest pitch. His
scholars, however, soon perceived t^^e danger of ap-
proaching him when thus engaged ; for, though at other
times the gentlest and most patient of beings, he be-
came furious, and almost frantic, if disturbed in the

176

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

apparently abstruse calculations of this magical book,
seizing the thoughtless offender by the collar, with his
giant arm, and swinging him round and round in the
air with fearful rapidity, gnashing his teeth the
while, and accompanying these gyrations with dread-
ful threats of vengeance. These outbursts of passion
were of a violent character, but happily of short dura-
tion. They ceased as suddenly as they arose, when
he would place the culprit on his feet, and, patting
him tenderly and affectionately on his head, say,

* Don't interrupt me, my son, when I am at my
studies — it agitates me.' His size, his strength, his
generally calm and imperturbable temper, and occa-
sional fits of fiiry, ensured implicit obedience, and the
silence, order, and diligence, observed in his school,
excited the astonishment of everybody.

'* One day, just as he had finished a diagram, and
entered it in his pocket-book, he was suddenly sent for
by a passenger in the mail-coach that passed through
Bridge Port, who desired to see him for a few minutes
at +lie inn. In his haste to join his friend, he forgot
lii: ysterious manuscript and its case, both which
\ti.y on his table, in full view of the boys. In a mo-
ment, all eyes were turned on those objects of wonder.

* The book — the book !' was whispered round the
school ; but, such was the awe inspired by the man,
and everything that belonged to him, that for a time
no one ventured to leave his seat. At last, a sentinel
was placed at the door, in order to give notice of his
return ; a consultation held; and one more bold than
the rest, with palpitating heart and trembling hands,
opened the fearfiil volume. * Ah !' he exclaimed, * it's
all magic — look here, boys ! Ah ! you are afraid,
are you ! — then keep your places : it's filled with
magical figures, and the writing and all is in magic.
I can't make head or tail of it ! Then, taking up the
tin case, he drew, from the opposite end to that which
usually contained the book, a measuring tape, a long
cord, with a bullet fastened to the end of it, a box of

LIFE IN A COLONY.

177

phosphorus-matches, and a small travelling pocket-
compass. ^ Here''s the things to make the magic ring
with, boys ! — wouldnH you like to see him do it ?
Who's aieerd ? I ain't. I'd give anything to see the
Devil.' — * Here he is !' said the sentinel. * Who ?
Whof shouted the boy, in great alarm. ' Why, the
master, to be sure,' replied flie other ; * who did you
suppose it was V — * Oh, my sakes !' said the little
boaster, * how you scared me ! I actilly thought it
was the Devil himself agoing to take me at my word !'
and, hastily replacing the things where he had found
them, he withdrew to his seat.

" When Shanks returned to his desk, and saw the
book and the case lying exposed on the table, he
turned suddenly pale. He clinched his fist, and
strode up and down the room with great rapidity,
glaring on the boys like a tiger, with a searching look,
as if selecting a victim for pouncing upon. In a few
moments, the paroxysm, as usual, passed off. He sat
calmly down, and, taking up the book, examined it
carefully page by page, when he suddenly paused, and,
looking attentively at something that attracted his
attention, held up the writing to the light, first in one
direction and then in another, and finally applied a
magnifying-glass to it, when he pointed to the boy
who had called him a magician, and said, ^John
Parker, come forward. How dare you meddle with
my property, sir, in my absence T — ' I didn't,' replied-
the Doy, with the greatest assurance. * I haven't been
off my seat.' — * You did, sir !' rejoined the master, in
a voice of thunder. ' I appeal to every scholar pre-
sent ; and if th^y all were to lie as you have done, and
say that you did not touch this book, I wouldn't be-
lieve them. The name of Two Thumb Parker is written
here in your own hand. You are your own accuser,
and have borne testimony against yourself. Leave
me, sir — leave me, instantly, while I am calm, and
don't return a^in ! Go !' and, raising his voice, and
stamping passionately on the floor, he shouted out,

178

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

* Go ! go !' when the terrified boy, recovering from
the stupefaction into which he had been thrown oy the
marvellous discovery of his name and guilt, suddenly
bolted out of the room, without waiting for his hat or
coat, and hurried homeward, with all possible speed.
The truth is, the unfortunate urchin had a very re-
markable thumb on his right hand. It was only half
the usual length, and was divided from the last joint
outwards into two parts, each being perfect, and having
a nail upon it, from whence he was called * Two Thumb
Parker. While holding the open book in his hand,
he unconsciously left the impression of his deformed
and soiled thumb on the leaf, which the master not
inaptly denominated *his name written by his own
hand.

'^ The secret was known only to Shanks ; but the
story of the magical book, of the Devil entering the
boy s name in it, and of the tin case, with its contents,
circulated far and wide over the whole country. Other
peculiarities in his conduct increased and confirmed
"the general suspicion with which he was surrounded.
He had a remarkable-looking old silver dollar, that
he called his * Hecke Thaler^ two magical words, of
which he never could be induced to explain the mean-
ing. He would often take it from his pocket, and ex-
amine it with as much care and minuteness as if he
had never seen it before, and then poise it on the point
of one of the fingers of his left hand, strike it with the
blade <^ a knife, or ring it on the stove, and listen to
its tones, with the greatest delight. Whenever he
saw dollars in other people''s possession, he invariably
entreated to be permitted to examine them, and com-
pare them witn his own, expressing the greatest
anxiety to procure one exactly similar, in all respects,
to that to which he was so much attached, and offered
a large sum to any one that would procure him its
counterpart.

"All schools throughout the country are closed
at twelve o'^clock on Saturday, which is invariably

LIFE IN A COLONY.

179

considered a half holiday. He deviated from this
custom, by giving the boys the entire day; and,
whenever the weather permitted, always left the vil-
lage on Friday afternoon, habited in a suit of strong,
coarse homespun, carrying a large and heavy knap-
sack on his shoulders, and the ominous hollow walking
cane in his hand — ^a useless and inconvenient thing in
the woods, and one with which no other man would
encumber himself. Whither he went, or how he oc-
cupied himself, no one could tell — ^all that was known
was, that he invariably took the same route into the
forest, walking at a rapid rate, and never returned
again until Monday morning, about eight o^clock, in
time to open his school, greatly fatigued and ex-
fa austed.

*^ I have already observed that, when he presented
himself as a candidate for the situation of master of
the academy at Bridge Port, he was a stranger. No
one knew who or what he was, or whence he came,
although, from his accent, manner, and habits, it was
thought probable that he was either a Nova Scotian,
or a native of the New England States. A residence
of several months among the people did not enlighten
the curious upon these points, and public opinion was
much divided as to the real nature of his character.
Some thought him to be a spy in the employment of
France, a suspicion encouraged by the ract that he
had several French books descriptive of British North
America, and one in particular, written by a Jesuit
priest, (Charleroix) containing numerous maps of the
harbours, coasts, and rivers of the country, and also
by the minute inquiries he made about the removal of
the Acadians. Others believed he was engaged in
devising or executing some extensive plan of robbery ;
for his landlady, unable to endure tne oppression of
her curiosity, had opened, by the aid of a neighbour's
key, a wooden chest of his, while he was absent at
school, and discovered in it a dark lantern, a crowbar,
a cold chisel, and a hatchet, aa well as other tools

180

THE OLD JUDGE; OR,

suitable for breakin;: into houses. But the better
opinion appeared to be that he was a magician, and
was in league with the powers of darkness. His
pocket-book, the contents of the tin case, the Hecke
Thaler, and, lastly, a crucible and some charcoal, found
in his chest, together with some extraordinary -looking
fossils, which were no doubt * Philosopher''s Stones,
seemed to put the matter beyond ail dispute. If
further corroboration were needed, his face furnished
it, by the expression it wore of care and anxiety ; for,,
as it was shrewdly observed, although the Devil im-
parts knowledge and wealth to his votaries, he is a
stranger to happiness himself, and cannot confer it
upon others.

" No man was ever so unconscious of the feelings
and suspicions he had given rise to as poor Welcome
Shanks : loving solitude, and avoiding society, he was
not aware that he was avoided himself. The awe with
which he was regarded rather flattered his vanity
than awakened his apprehensions, for he mistook it
for respect for his great erudition and unimpeachable
character. Poor man ! he thought if he had a secret,
it was his own, and he had a ri^ht to keep it. Had
he mixed more with the world, he would nave found
that it is an offence against society at large, for a man
to presume to have a secret at all, unless the fact of
his having it be carefully concealed also.

" No avowed secret ever was permitted to bo re-
tained inviolat9 ; even the freemasons have had theirs
disclosed. A lady once told me, she had discovered
it, after years of anxious perseverance ; and, as it was
one of the most singular mysteries in the world, she
would communicate it to me. She said she had given
her husband no peace by day or nic^ht, until he re-
vealed it. She nad coaxed him with endearments,
teased him with importunities, tormented him with
annoyances, and entrapped him when unguarded;
and, finally, extorted from him the disclosure, which
was, that in reality there was no secret, after all, there

LIFE IN A COLONY.

181

being, in fact, nothing to tell. Many consultations
were held by the people, as to the best mode of making
him give some account of himself; and at last it wa^
decided to have him apprehended, and examined before
a magistrate, but the difficulty was to find a charge that
would justify his arrest. While this embarrassing
subject was under consideration, he saved them the
trouble of proceeding any further in the matter, by
relinquishing the school and quitting the place.

" A few evenings previous to his departure, he
called at my house, and, sending in his name, begged
the favour of a private interview. After carefully
closing the study-door, and looking round the room, to
ascertain that we were alone, and out of the hearing
oi others, he said, * Jud^e, I have discovered that there
is a treasure buried in this estate.' — ^ I know it/ I said.
— ' Ah,** he replied, his countenance beaming with joy,

* ah, I am right, then ! I knew I could not be mis-
taken. Wh Mv and by whom was it hidden, sir ? — I
will not ask ^ ju where, for that I have discovered
already.'' — ' By my father and myself: we have sunk
more money, in clearing, cultivating, and improving
Elmsdale, than would purchase it twice over ; but that
money neither you nor I will ever find, my friend.'

" His face suddenly became overcast with an ex-
pression of disappointment and mortification. I had
unintentionally, it seemed, wounded his feelings, by
subjecting him . and his theory to what he considered
ridicule. ' Will you permit me to dig for the trea-
sure where I know it to be f— ' Certainly,'' I replied ;

* you may dig wherever you please, provided you do
me no damage, and do not disfigure my grounds.'-—

* What proportion will you require as owner of the
soil V — * You are welcome to all you can find. I only
ask the privilege of a friend, to advise you to save
yourself the trouble. It is impossible there can be
any hidden treasure on this property. It never was
inhabited, previous to our occupation, but by Indians,
who, we all know, had neither gold nor silver, and by

182

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

the French Aoadians, who were almost equally poor.
They were mere peasants, who lived on the produc-
tions of their farms, while the little trade they had,
either with each other or the savages, was conducted
by barter. They had nothing to bury.' — * Pardon
me,' he said ; * many had not, but some had money—
00 my information goes — and I can rely upon it.' —

* Yes, large sums of money for conducting the fur
trade with France ; although I must admit that thi^
district is not rich in treasure.'^* But Chester Bay,
Judge — Chester Bay, Judge ^' and he straitened him-
self for the first time, 1 believe, since he came to
Bridge Port ; and exhibited his great height and
manly frame to such advantage, that he seemed as if
he had been suddenly transformed into another beins.

* Chester Bay, Judge, is the place for treasure. Mil-
lions were buried there by the pirates ; whole cargoes
of Spanish galleons, coin and bullion, jewels, precious
stones, and wealth untold. I am on the track of it
at last — a few weeks more, and it is mine : where the
rod first pointed, it now bends down as if to touch it.
But the propitious time of night is now come, and,
by your leave, kind sir, I will go and dig for this
Frenchman's money,' and, seizing his hat, disappeared
from the room.

" Shortly afterwards, we were disturbed by a violent
knocking at the door, and my servant was not a little
alarmed at finding the unwelcome visitor seeking ad-
mission again at so late an hour. *Show me into
your master's study,' he said. ' Judge,' he exclaimed,

* I have found it ! I have found it ! it was concealed
under the root of an old tree. Here it is ! — but you
were right, sir, in saying the Acadians were generally
peasants. This was the saving of a poor man, for it is
chiefly in small silver pieces.'

'^ He then unstrapped his knapsack, and, taking
from it a rusty old tin kettle, removed the cover, and
exposed to view a quantity of silver shillings, sixpences,
Spanish pistareens, and <][uarter and half doUars, amount-

LIFE IN A COLONY.

183

ing, in all, to about seventv-five pounds. — * This is not
the property of the Frencn,^ I said, after examining a
nuniber of the different coins : * the Acadians were
transported from this country in the year 1755 1 but
nearly all this money bears a subsequent date; I
think that I know to whom this package belonged/ —
* Ah/ he obseryed, with a sad but decided tone, and
an air of grievous disappointment, * if there is an owner,
I will restore it : treasure-trove— I think that is the
word. Judge— treasure-trove in this country, where
the King makes no claim, is the property of the
finder, but treasure lost belongs to the owner — ^it must
be restored/

** * About thirty years ago,* I said, ' there was a
knife-grinder wandering about the country, who was
always in the habit of setting drunk on Saturday
night, on which occasion nis wife very prudently hid
his money, lest he should squander more of it than he
could afford. Once she hid it so effectually, that she
could never find it again, and loud and long were the
lamentations of the poor people over their lost property.
She always believed that it had been stolen by some
person wlio had observed her concealing it. The follow-
ing year they were both drowned, by the upsetting of a
ferry-boat, where the bridge now stands at the village.
They were strangers unconnected with, and unknown
to, anybody in the province, and have long since been
forgotten. Can you show me the spot where this
money was found V — ' Certainly,' he replied ; and,
taking out the mysterious pocket-book, he showed me
a sketch of the stump. — * I always mark places,' he
observed, * where the hazel wand points to metallic
substances, and take their bearings by measurements
to other objects, so that I can find them again. My
observations are all entered in a cipher of my own in-
vention, for fear of losing my book and disclosing my
secret.'^* Will you show me your wandf — * Cer-
tainly; here it is;' and, unscrewing the top of his
oane, he drew out the prophetic hazel—' Ah, sir,' he

184

THE OLD JUDOE ; OR,

exclaimed, with evident satisfaction and pride, * this \6
a beautiful wand — a real German hazel from Upper
Saxony — it is as true as a load-stone. — How truly it
indicated this treasure ; and it points as decidedly to
that of the pirates, which, by Ood^s blessing and the
aid of this little windfall of money, I hope to reach
soon. That wand, Judge, and this inestimable Heeke
Thaler,'' showing me the renowned old silver dollar,
* cost me a great deal of money — all that I was worth
in the world at the time, a verv large sum for a poor
man, but a mere trifle for sucn invaluable things— I
gave a thousand dollars for them/

** * Pray, what is a Hecke Thaler f I inquired, * I
never heard the term before/ — *A Hecke Thaler,
Judge, is a sympathetic dollar. Everything in nature,
animate and inanimate, is endowed with sympathy.
In the animal world, it exists in sex ; in the mineral
world, in kindred, affinity, or identity. This dollar
is known to be sympathetic. It has been proved to
be so in Germany. If a kindred or identical dollar
can be found of equal purity and texture, size, and
density, and brought into contact with the sympathy
of this one, they can produce a third dollar, and so
on ad finitum^ from wnich wonderful power it derives
its name of Hecke Thaler, or Hatching Dollar. It is
one of the mysteries of nature that science cannot
explain or imitate — one of the innumerable wonders
with which an inscrutable Providence surrounds us on
all sides, though, in realitv, no more strange or mira-
culous than we are ourselves. Like begets like — un-
like begets unlike : steel and flint produce fire — ^they
are not like, but wheat brings wheat of its own kind,
and in its own likeness — so silver produces silver. li
id the restorative power of nature that thus counter-
acts the tendency to decay in all things terrestrial. I
bought the Hecke Thaler and the hazel wand from an

aged German in Lunenburg, whose father ** * You

have been grossly deceived and shamefully treated,
my good friend,^ I said. ^ Is it possible that a man of

LIFE IN A COLONY.

185

your good sen 510 can believe in such a palpable ab-
surdity as the Heeke Thaler V

'* He rose hastily, in great agitation, and held up
his hand, as if to waive the discussion, and said, M
know all you would say, Jud^e — I know all you think.
You imagine that my head is affected, and regard me
either as a madman or a fool. It is natural, very
natural you should. T have not your knowledge,
Jud^e — I am not so learned nor so wise as you are ;
but I crave your pardon, good sir — think me not pre-
sumptuous if I say there are some things I know
whicli you have not studied. The blind hear more
accurately, and have a keener sense of feeling, than
those who have eyesight ; they have less to distract
their attention, and observe more accurately. I have
thought deeply on this subject, and must not lose my
faith because 1 cannot explain the mysteries of nature,
else am I an unbelieving heathen. I follow my des-
tiny, whatever is, is, and whatever is to be, will come
to pass — neither you nor I can alter the decrees of
Fate. Next week my term expires at Bridge Port.
Will you be so good as to allow this money to remain
in your safe till that time, when I will call and take
it on my way to Chester Bay, where it is my inten-
tion to prosecute my search until I obtain the object
of my wishes.'

** In a few days he returned, accompanied by Bar-
clay, who converted his money for him into the more
portable and convenient form of gold, and, thanking
me for what he called my great condescension and
kindness, bade me farewell.

" A month or two after this, I observed a notice in
one of the papers of the death of Mr. Welcome Shanka,
who lost his life by the collapse of a shaft in which
he was working on Tancook Island, in Chester Bay.
The object of the excavation, it went on to say, ap-
peared to be so perfectly unintelligible, that it was
generally supposed the unfortunate man must have
been of unsound mind.

186 THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

CHAPTER X.

• THE LONE HOUSE.

This morning, I accompanied the Judge and Miss
Sandford in their sleigh on an excursion into the
country. The scene, though rather painful to the
eyes, was indescribably brilliant and beautiful. There
had been, during last night and part of yesterday, a
slight thaw, accompanied by a cold fine rain that froze,
the moment it fell, into ice of the purest crystal.
Every deciduous tree was covered with this glittering
coating, and looked in the distance like an enormous
though graceful bunch of feathers ; while, on a nearer
approach, it resembled, with its limbs now bending
under the heavy weight of the transparent incrus-
tation, a dazzling chandelier. The open fields, covered
with a rough but hardened surface of snow, glistened
in the sun as if thickly strewed with the largest dia-
monds ; and every rail of the wooden fences in this
feneral profusion of ornaments was decorated with a
elicate fringe of pendent ice, that radiated like bur-
nished silver. The heavy and sombre spruce, loaded
with snow, rejoiced in a green old age. Having its
massy shape relieved by strong and numerous lights,
it gained in grace what it lost in strength, and stood
erect among its drooping neighbours, venerable but
vigorous, the hoary forefather of the wood.

The tall and slender poplar and white birch, which
here and there had sprung «p in the new clearings
from the roots of old trees, and outgrown their strength
and proportions, bent their heads gracefully to the
ground under their unusual burden, and formed fanciful
arches, which the frost encircled with numerous wreaths
of pearls. Everything in the distance was covered
with the purest white, while the colours of nearer
objects were as diversified as their forms.

The bark of the different trees and their limbs ap-
peared through the transparent ice ; and the rays of

LIFE IN A COLONY.

187

the sun, as they fell upon them, invested them with
all the hues of the prism. It was a scene as impos-
sible to describe as to forget. To the natives, it is
not an unusual sight, for it generally occurs once a
year, at least, and its effects are as well appreciated as
its beauty. The farmer foresees and laments serious
injury to his orchard, the woodman a pitiless pelting
of ice as he plies his axe in the forest, the huntsman
a barrier to nis sport, and the traveller an omen of
hard and severe weather ; and yet such was the glory
of the landscape, that every heart felt its magic, and
acknowledged the might and the beauty of this sudden
transformation. It was the work of a night. The
sun set with chilling showers. It rose in all its
splendour to witness and to heighten, by its presence;,
the magnificence and brilliancy of the scene. We
constantly recurred to this topic after our return, and
again and again went to the window, as the day de-
clined, to catch the last parting glimpse of the ^^ silver
frost" before it dissolved from view under the gaze of
the sun, and vanished for ever. In the evening,
winter and its scenery, its festivities and privations,
and its effects on the habits, feelings, and tastes of th^
people, formed the subject of a long conversation, in
which the Judge told me the following sad and inter-
esting story : —

On one of the shore-roads, as the highways near the
Atlantic are called, in a distant part of the province,
there is a lone house, situated m the midst of one
of the wildest and most barren tracts of country in
these colonies ; on either side of it are enormous bog3,
stretching away in the distance for miles. Behind it
is an undulating country of granite formation, covered
with enormous masses of detached rock. In front is
a lake, in a deep and sunken hollow, so still, so cheer*
less, and repulsive, that it looks like the pool of death.
Beyond this, a mountain wave of granite lises and
shuts out the sea, which is not for distant. The place
where the house stands is a small ridge of land in th.9

188

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

form of a wedge, which formerly bore beech and birch
trees; and not only had a tolerable soil, but was
exempt from the incumbrance of loose stone. Beyond
this ridge, however, all is barren. The surface is
either naked rock or partially covered with moss, the
wild strawberry, and the hardy white clover. Here
and there a stunted birch or dwarf larch finds a scanty
subsistence in the crevices of the rocks, or in coarse
gravel formed by the disintegration that time and the
alternations of neat and frost have produced in the
granite. In the hollows, which resemble basins or
stone reservoirs, a boggy substance has accumulated,
that nurtures small groves of ill-conditioned and half-
fed firs, which seem to have grown prematurely old,
and grey before their time, being covered with white
moss, which, climbing up their stems, hangs pendent
from their limbs, like hoary locks. The larger bogs
t>n the right and left are in part covered with a long,
coarse, aquatic grass (which the moose and carraboo
feed upon in winter, when the frost enables them to
travel over these treacherous and dangerous places),
and in part by the yellow water-lilies, the wild iris,
and clusters of cranberry-bushes.

It is impossible to conceive anything more lonely
and desolate than this place. Even in summer, when
the grassv road is well defined, and vegetation has
done its best to clothe the huge proportions of the
landscape and conceal its poverty and deformity, when
the glittering insects flutter by to withdraw your at-
tention from their dank, stagnant, and unwholesome
cradles, to their own beauty, and the wild bee, as he
journeys on, whispers of his winter's store of honey,
and the birds sing merrily that contentment is bliss ;
even then, excited by the novelty of the scene, and
interested, as you are, in the little, lone household of
the desert, its total seclusion from the world, and the
whole human family, overpowers and appals you. A
crowd of ideas rushes into your mind faster than you can
arrange and dispose of them. Surely, you say. Here,

LIFE IN A COLONY.

189

at least, is innocence ; and, where there is innocence,
there must be happiness. Where there is no tempter,
there can be no victim. It is the "Stillwater" of
life. Here, all is calm and quiet, while, on either side,
is the rapid or the cataract. The passions can have
no scope; the affections must occupy the whole ground.
How can envy, hatred, malice, or uncharitableness
find an entrance! There can be nothing to envy
where the condition of all is alike, and where all that
is garnered is a common stock. There can be no
hatred, where there is no injury or no superiority; but
they can love one another, for they are all in all to
each other ; and they can trim their fire for the poor
wayfaring man, feed him, and send him on his journey
rejoicing. They can hear from him of the houseless
stranger, and bless God with thankful hearts that He
has given them a home to dwell in. He may tell them
tales of war, but they feel they are beyond its reach ;
and, what is far better, learn that, if poverty has its
privations, it has also its own peculiar privileges and
immunities. Thoughts like these naturally force them-
selves upon you in such a scene. Your feelings are
subdued and softened. You behold the family with
interest and affection, but still you shrink at a iuH
view of their situation, and involuntarily regard it
with pity as a hopeless exile. You are a creature of
habit ; you cannot understand it ; you feel you have
social duties to perform ; that grief is lessened when
the burden is divided, and happiness increased when
it is imparted ; that man was not made to live alone ;
and that natural wants, individual weakness, and com-
mon protection require that, though we live in families,
our families must dwell in communities.

If such be the feelings that a traveller entertains,
even in summer, how must he shudder when he re-
gards this lore house in winter ? I have seen many
solitary habitations as well as this, and some of them
much farther removed from any neighbourhood, but
never one so dreary and so desolate. Follow any

190

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

new road into the wilderness, and you will find a
family settled there, miles and miles from any house.
But imagination soon fills up the intervening space
with a dense population, and you see them in the
midst of a well-cultivated country, and enjoying all
the blessings of a civilized community. They are
merely pioneers. They have taken up their station :
the tide of emigration will speedily reach them, and
pass on. Go into that house, and you are at once
struck with the difference of the two families. The
former is still life and contentment ; the latter is all
hope, bustle, and noisy happiness. The axe is at
work on the forest, that is nnging with its regular
blows. Merry voices are heard there, and the loud
laugh echoes through the woods, for friends have come
from the settlements, and ten acres of wood are to be
cut down in one day. Sleighs are arriving with their
neighbours and relations, from whom they have lately
parted ; and at night there will be a festive assembly
at a place which, until the year before, when the road
was made and the house built, was in the heart of
a howling wilderness. There is nothing about such a
dwelling to make you think it desolate, although lone-
liness is its characteristic. Converse with the forester,
a fine, manly, native settler, and you find he has
visions of a mill on his brook ; he talks of keeping
fifty head of homed cattle in a few years. As soon
as his mill is finished, this log-hut is to be superseded
by a large framed house ; and that miserable shed,
as he calls his stable, is to give place to a spaci-
ous bam, seventy feet long and fifty feet wide. He
is full of merriment, confidence, and hope. In the
former place, a pious resignation, a placid content-
ment, hearts chastened and subdued into a patient
endurance of toil, and a meek but firm reliance on
the superintendence of a Divine Providence, form a
strong contast to the more animated and self-relying
forest family.

The wintry blast howls round their dwelling, like a

LIFE IN A COLONY.

191

remorseless and savage foe. Its hollow, mournful
voice appals the heart with painful recollections of its
overpowering strength ; and the poor besieged family,
as they encircle their little fire at night (drawn still
closer together now by their mutual fears and afifec-
tions), offer up a silent prayer to the throne of grace,
and implore tne continued and mercifiil protection of
Him who is always a father to the fatherless. At this
season the road is covered, in common with the dreary
desert, with deep snow. In the clear light of an un-
clouded sun, its direction may be ascertained by an
experienced traveller, and by him alone ; but, at night,
or in stormy weather, it is a vast and trackless field,
where the fatigued and bewildered stranger is doomed
to inevitable death.

To afford shelter and assistance to the traveller,
to fiimish him with a guide, and speed him on his
way, was the object which John Lent had in
view in settling on the " Ridge." He was aided by
the subscriptions and encouraged by the personal as-
sistance of those on either side of the desert who
were interested in the road, or in the benevolence of
the undertaking. A house and bam were erected
with much labour and difficulty (for all the materials
were brought from a great distance), the Court of Ses-
sions granted him a n>ee tavern license, and the legis-
lature of the province a small sum of ten or twelve
pounds a-year, in consideration of the importance of
this house to the mail communication to that part of
theprovince.

The Ridge contained about thirty acres of land.
These were soon cleared and brought into cultivation,
and produced his winter's store of hay, and yearly
supply of wheat and vegetables. His sheep and cows
wandered over the plains, and found in summer, in an
extended range, sufficient food on the scattered and
short, but sweet, herbage of white clover, and the
leav€;s of the dwarf bushes. The bog supplied him
with fuel and materials for cultivating his nelds, while

192

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

the proceeds of his little inn enabled him to obtain some
of those articles of groceries that habit has rendered
indispensable to the poorest people in this country.

Such was the condition of this family. They de-
rived a scanty but a certain provision from the sources
I have described. Year followed year with little
variation. Their occupations came and ceased with
the seasons. Time passed silently away, and, as there
were few incidents of importance that interested them,
its flight was unperceived and unmarked. The three
eldest daughters had severally left home for service
in the next town, which was a seaport ; had married
and quitted the country ; and the lamily, at the time
I am speaking of, consisted of John Lent, his wife,,
and three little girls, the youngest of whom was seven
years of age. When I arrived at this house last
summer, Mrs. Lent did not at first recognise me. Old
age had so completely covered my visage with his
wrinkled and repulsive mask, that the features of
manhood were effectually concealed from view. It had
removed my hair, deprived me of my teeth, obscured
my eyes, and disfigured my cheeks with unseemly
furrows.

These ravages of time, however, are wisely per-
mitted or ordained, to prepare us to leave a world
which we can no longer either serve or adorn. In
proportion as we lose our personal attractions, man-
Kind recede from us ; and, at last, we mutually take
leave of each other without a sidb or a tear of regret.

What years had gradually effected for me, misfor-
tune had suddenly and deeply engraven upon her.
The young and cheerftil woman whom I had known
was now a staid and care-worn matron ; the light and
elastic step of youth had been succeeded by the slow
and heavy tread of limbs stiffened with toil, and her
hair had blanched under grief and anxiety. My voice
first attracted her attention. She said she knew it,
and was certain it was that of an old and kind friend,
and entreated me not to think her ungrateful if she

LIFE IN A COLONY.

193

could not recall my name, for her poor head had been
confused of late. On discovering who I was, she com-
municated to me a brief outline of her melancholy
story, the details of which I subsequently heard from
others at Shelburne.

During the previous winter, her husband had set
out on foot for the nearest town, to procure some little
necessaries for the house, and Intended to return the
next day. The subsequent morning was fine, but the
weather, as is often the case in this variable climate,
suddenly changed. At noon it began to snow ; to-
wards evening the wind had risen to a gale, and clouds
of sleet were sweeping over the desert with resistless
fury. Once or twice she went to the door, and looked
out, but withdrew immediately, nearly blinded and
suffocated by the drifting storm. Her evening meal
was prepared for her husband. The table, with its
snow-white cover, stood ready for his reception. The
savoury stew simmered on the hearth, and the pota-
toes gave out their steam in token of readiness, while
the little earthem teapot and unleavened cake, the
never-:&iling appendages of a settler^s meal, were ready
to cheer him on his return. '^ Ah, here he is !'^ she
said, as the outer door suddenly opened, followed by
thick volumes of snow that nearly filled the little
entry. ^' No, that is the wind that has forced it open.
He won't be here to-night; we had better go to
supper. He saw the coming storm, and remained in
town. I often wonder how he can foretel the weather
80 well. He knows when a thaw, or a frost, or a fall
of snow, or a tempest is approaching, hours before-
hand. He was too wise to try the barren to-day."

His absence gave her no anxiety whatever; she
had become familiar with the storms, and dreaded them
only for others who were strangers and unwary. He
had often been away before, and there was nothing
unusual in his not arriving now. It was a proof of
his sagacity, and not of his danger.

The gale continued unabated throughout the second

194

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

i\ ■ii

day, and she neither expected him nor prepared for
his reception. The third day ^as calm and tranquil ;
the whirlwind had spent its fury, and, having rolled
up its wreathy pillows, sunk down and reposed in
utter exhaustion. The snow-birds came in numbers
about the bam, to feed on the hayseed of the stack-
yard, and the cattle were set at liberty, to relax their
stiffened limbs, and to go to the spring in quest of
water. The affrighted and half-famished poultry issued
from their hiding-places, and clamorously demanded
that attention that had been so long withheld, while
the ill-omened crow came at the well-known signal,
to enforce his claim to a share of the food, as a house-
less and a friendless stranger. The children, too,
were released from their prison, and life and animation
were asain to be seen round the Lone House.

As the mother stood at the door, and looked abroad
upon the scene, a little spring bird, the first harbinger
of that glad season, carolled merrily from the leafless
apple-tree at the side of the cottage.

" Thank God !*" she said, " winter is now nearly
over, and its storms and trials ; we have seldom moro
than one very heavy gale of wind after that little bird
comes to sing us a song of spring. Your father will
be at home early to-day .''^ And she sent the eldest
girl to the snares set for catching wild rabbits. ^^ They
will be all abroad to-day f**^ she said ; ''see if there are
any there for his dinner."

In a short time the child returned, with two of
these little animals in her hand, and the table was
again spread; but he came not. He would return,
perhaps, she thought, in the evening; for, when he
did not arrive at noon, he seldom reached home until
sunset. But night came with its accustomed meal,
and his place was still vacant. To-morrow would be
post-day; he had very properly waited, she said, to
come with Ainslow. She was glad of it, for he was
lame, the walking was heavy, and he had a pack to
carry. Yes, they would both be here early in the

LIFE IN A COLONY.

195

day. Doubt, fear, or misgiving, never entered her
mind. She had great confidence in his judgment ;
whatever he decided on was right, and it was prudent
and much more agreeable for him to travel in company
with the postman, who had all the news, and was a
pleasant and obliging man. The next day brought
again and again merry faces to the door, to look over
the dreary bog, and catch the first glimpse of the
sleish.

At last, a shout proclaimed its approach, and the
whole group were assembled to see the little dark speck
that was moving forward in the distance, and gradually
enlarging into a distinct form. It was anxiously
watched, but was slow in coming, as everything in
life is that is impatiently waited for.

The arrival of the postman was an important event
at this little habitation. He was a part of that world
on either side of them, of which they had heard and
formed vague conceptions, but which they had never
seen. Their 1^ther''s return, too, was an afifair of great
interest. He 'did not very firequently leave home ;
and, when he did, he always brought back some little
present to the mother or her children, from some kind
persons, whom their attentions and peculiar situation
and character had converted from strangers into friends.
They were little events, to be sure ; but these little
incidents constitute ^^ the short and simple annals of
the poor.*" They are all that occur to diversify the
monotony of their secluded life. The postman came,
but he had no companion. He drove his sleigh to the
opposite side of the road, where the bam stood, and,
leaving it there, he proceeded to the house. He was
met by Mrs. Lent, who shook him cordially by the
hand, and said that she had expected her nusband
with him, but supposed he was not ready to come.

The dinner, however, was now waiting, and she
pressed him to go in and partake with the family of
their humble meal.

** Have you seen John f*

X 2

196

THE OLD JUDGE J OR,

The truth had now to be told, which Ainslow did
in the kindest and most considerate manner. After

{)reparing her mind for the reception of very bad news,
le proceeded to inform her, tnat as he crossed the
wooden bridge, at the black brook in the bog, he ob-
served John Lent sitting on the floor, with his back
resting against the rail, a stiffened and frozen corpse.
He had evidently been overpowered by the storm,
which, coming from the eastward, blew full in his
face, depriving him at once of his breath and his
strength ; and, having sat down exhausted to rest
his wearied limbs, he had sunk into that fatal sleep in
which the soul, without a struggle or a sigh, passes
into another and a better world. He added, that he
had taken him up in his arms, and lifted him into the
sleigh, where he now was ; and that he had covered
him with a rug, and driven to the bam, that she might
not be too suddenly shocked by the awful sisht of
the dead body ; and concluded with those consolatory
remarks which, though unheard or unheeded, are
usually addressed to those who are smitten down by
sudden affliction.

Before he had finished his narrative, a loud, long-
continued, and piercing cry of distress arose from the
sleigh that thrilled the whole group, and brought them
instantly to the door. The poor man''s faithful and
affectionate dog had discovered his master, and the
strong instinct of the animal revealed to him at once
that he would never more hear that voice of kindness
and fellowship that had cheered him from day to day,
or receive his food from that hand which had always
been extended to feed or to fondle him. The postman
then drove the sleigh to the door, lifted out the life-
less body, which had been frozen in its sitting atti-
tude, and, placing it in the same position on a large
chest, in a corner of the strangers' room, rested its
back against the wall. It looked like a man not dead,
bnt sleeping. He then withdrew the family into their
sitting-room, and, having placed some oats in a bucket

(

LIFE IN A COLONY.

197

before his horse, who ate them as he stood in his har-
ness, he occupied the few remaining minutes of his
time in endeavouring, as he best could, to condole with
and comfort the poor widow and her helpless family.
He was astonished at her fortitude. Her agony, it
was evident, was almost insupportable, but she gave no
vent to violent and unavailing lamentations. He was
not the first, as he will be by no means the last, to ad-
mire this quality of the female mind when roused by
great events to deep thought and cool and deliberate
action. Weak, timid, and powerless as woman is, in
the minor troubles and trials of life, when real danger
and great afflictions are to be encountered, she rises
superior to fear, calls in the aid of a judgment always
good, when confidently relied on, and a moral courage
surpassing that of man, because its foundations are not
built on the delusive laws of honour, but deeply laid
in conscious innocence, in a strong sense of the obliga-
tions of duty, and a pious and firm reliance on the
might and goodness of God. Thus supported and
strengthened, she sustains burdens disproportioned
to her sex, and successfiiUy resists afflictions that over-
power the vigour and appal the courage of man.

The poor widow heard him calmly and patiently,
though words seemed to fail her when thanking him
for his kindness. This portentous silence, however,
deceived him. There are calamities too heavy to be
borne, and misfortunes may overpower by surprise,
that could be successfully resisted if their advent were
known. Although the blow did not prostrate this
miserable woman, it stunned her .into insensibility.
Thought and memory seemed suspended. Incapable
of action herself, she was passive in the hands of her
childi'en. She had but one confiised and indistinct
idea that remained. She thought her husband was at
home, and asleep in the adjoining room, but his long
slumber and unbroken silence did not alarm her.
When her meals were prepared by her daughter, she
would look round and say, ** CaU your father — tell

198

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

him we wait for him ;" or, at night, she would look
into his room and admonish him it was prudent to
wake up and go to bed, or he would take cold. The
poor children gazed at her, wondered, and shed tears.
Helpless, unprotected, and alone in the world, their
little hearts failed them ; and the inquiry often and
often occurred to their minds. What is to become of
us ? Death, that sat embodied in one human form in
that house, and had laid his cold, benumbing hand on
another, whom he appeared to have marked for his
victim, seemed ready to devour them all. Silence first
disclosed to them their solitude, and solitude their
danger. On the third evening, they clustered as usual
round their mother^s chair and prayed j but she was
unable to join them. She looked at them, but did not
seem to comprehend them. They then tried, with
faltering lips and tearful eyes, a verse of a hymn, one
that she had always been fond of; but two voices were
now wanting, and they were alarmed at the feeble and
plaintive sound of their own. The chords of the
widow'^s heart vibrated at the sound of the music, and
she looked about her as one awaking from slumber.
Thought, feeling, and sensibility returned ; the foun-
tains of her affections opened, and a flood of tears
mingled with those of her children. She inquired of
them the day of the week, and whether any person
had been at the house since the postman left it, wrung
her hands in agony at the thoughts of the len^h of
her stupor, and, having affectionately kissed and
blessed her little one^, went to bed to weep unseen, and
pour out her griefs and petitions undisturbed to Him
who has graciously promised His protection to the
widow and the orphan.

In the morning, she rose more composed but sadly
changed. Years had revolved in that night, and len
their tracks and furrows on her faded cheek ; and the
depth, and stren^h, and acuteness of her mental
sufferings had rendered her hair as white as the snow-
wreath that death had folded round her husband as a

LIFE IN A COLONY.

199

win(linc[-sheet. Ttie strugdo had been violent, but
Huccessful. She was afflicted, but not subdued — ^ereil,
but not destitute. She was sensible of her situation,
and wiUinj^ to submit with humble resignation ; aware
of her duties, and ready to undertake them. She stood
between the living and the dead. A fearful debt was
to be discharged to the one, subsistence and comfort
were due to the other. She commenced the morning
with prayer from a church formulary that had been
given her by a travelling missionary, and then went
about her usual duties. As she sat by her fireside in
the evening, she revolved in her mind the new sphere
in which she was placed. As any doubt or difficulty
suggested itself, her loss became more and more ap-
parent. How was her husband to be buried ! The
ground was frozen to the depth of three feet, and she
was unable to dig a grave. She dare not go to the
next neighbour's, a distance of seven miles, for she
could not leave her children. She could not send her
eldest daughter, for she did not know the way ; and
she, too, might be lost. She must wait for the post-
man ; he would arrive in three days, and would assist
her. If not, God would send relief when least ex-
pected. Everything, however, about her, everything
she had to do, and everything she required, mixed it-
self in some way with recollections of him she mourned,
and reminded her of some habit, word, or act of his.
Even the weather now made her shudder. The storm,
like a giant refreshed with sleep, arose again in all its
might, and swept across the desert with such unbroken
force that the snow appeared rather like a moving mass
of drifl than distinct and separate flakes. It was just
such an evening as when her husband perished.

She shuddered, and drew her children nearer to her
on the hearth. They had always loved each other,
but their affection was greatly increased now, for they
knew that death was a reality. They had seen it, and
felt its effects. It had lessened their number once —
it could do so again. They had been told they were

200

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

mortal, now they knew it. It was an awM disclosure
to them, and yet what was death ? It was not annihila-
tion, for the body remained. That which had in-
habited and animated it was incorporeal, and had de-
parted unseen. It was that unknown, invisible, and
mysterious spirit, they had unconsciously loved, for
the corpse shocked and terrified them. They had been
instructed that there was a soul that survived the
body, but they could not comprehend it. They now
saw and shuddered at the difference between the livino;
and the dead. It was palpable, but still it was not
intelligible. Poor little innocents ! it was their first
practical lesson in mortality, and it was engraved on
their aching hearts too deeply ever to be forgotten.
Their affection now became more intense and far
more tender, for solicitude had blended with it and
softened it. Yes, their little circle was stronger for
having its circumference reduced ; it could bear more
pressure than before, if the burden were unhappily
increased.

The time for rest had now approached, and the widow
was weak and unwell. The thought of her unburied
husband oppressed her. The presence of death, too,
in the house, for so long a time, was a heavy load for
her nerves ; and, unable to sustain her feelings and her
reflections any longer, she resorted to her evening
prayers with her little family, and added to the pre-
scribed form a short and simple petition of her own.
Her voice was almost inaudible, amid the din and roar
of the tempest, to those around her ; but it penetrated
far above the elements, and reached the throne of mercy
to which it was addressed.

Relieved, refreshed, and strengthened by this devo-
tional exercise, they gathered again arouna the hearth
ere the fire was secured for the night, and were engaged
in some little consultation about the daily duties that
were to be assigned to each, when they were aroused
by a loud and violent knocking at the door. The
mother arose and opened it with a palpitating heart.

LIFE IN A COLONY.

201

Three strange, wild-looking, haggard men, entreated
admittance for God's sake, for they were famished, and
nearly chilled to death with the cold. What a con-
trast for that hitherto quiet and noiseless household!
There were these men stamping on the floor, shaking
oflf the snow from their clothes, beatin^ their hands
together, throwing down their packs, talking loudly,
and all speaking at once — all calling for food, all de-
manding more fire, and all rejoicing in their shelter
and safety. The children huddled together in affright,
in the corner of the room, and the poor mother trimmed
her lamp, rebuilt her fire, and trembled as she reflected
that she was alone and unprotected. Who are these
men ? she asked herself. Houseless in the storm, her
heart replied, " Would to Heaven there had been such
a shelter for my poor John Lent ! We need not fear,
for God and our poverty are our protection.*' She
told them they were in the house of death — that her
husband lay dead, and, for want of assistance, unburied
in the next room ; but that all that could be done for
them she would do, though at such a time, and in such
a place, that all, of course, would be but very little.
She advised them to keep at a distance from the fire ;
and, having ascertained that they were not frost-bitten,
set about getting them some refreshment.

While at work, she heard all that they had to say
to each other ; and, with the quickness oi observation
peculiar to the natives of this country, soon perceived
they were not equals — that one of them spoke with a
voice of authority ; that another called him, Sir ; and
the third only answered when he was spoken to, and
that all three were sailors. They had a fearful tale
of trouble and of death, to which frequent allusion was
made. They were the captain, mate, and steward of
a ship that had been wrecked that day on the coast
beyond the hilly land in front of the cottage, and
were the sole survivors of ten, who, on that morning,
were pursuing their course on the ocean in perfect con-
fidence and safety. A hearty naeal was hastily pre-

K 5

202

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

pared, and more hastily despatched. Liquor was
then asked for ; she trembled and obeyed. She was a
lone woman, it was a dangerous thing, and she hesi-
tated ; but a moment''s reflection suggested to her that
it was impossible they could either forget her loss or
their own.

A fresh difficulty now occurred, to understand which
it is necessary to describe the house. The chimney
stood in the middle of the building, opposite the front
door, which opened into a small entry. On the right,
was the family sitting-room, or kitchen, where they
were now assembled, adjoining which were two bed-
rooms. On the left, three rooms were similarly ar-
ranged, and devoted to the accommodation of strangers.
In the apartment corresponding to the one they were
in, was the frozen body of her husband, restmg on
a chest, in a sitting attitude, as I have before de-
scribed. In order to prepare their beds, it was neces-
sary to pass through tnat room, into which she had not
ventured since she had recovered from her stupor.
She was perplexed and distressed, but, at last, having
stated to the captain her difficulty, he at once ordered
the steward to go and make the requisite arrangements.
The master and mate having been thus provided for
the night, some blankets were given to the steward,
who slept on the hearth, before the kitchen fire.

In the morning, the latter was sent to dig a grave
for poor John Lent, while the other two, having pro-
cured the requisite tools, made him a coffin, into which
he was placed with great difficulty, from the rigidity
of his limbs. The little pony was then harnessed to
the sledge, and the body was followed by the family
and their guests to its last resting-place. The beau-
tiful burial service of the church was read over the de-
ceased by the captain, amid the heartfelt sobs of the
widow, the loud lamentations of the children, and the
generous tears of the sailors. The scene was one that
was deeply felt by all present. Thert was a commu-
nity of suffering, a similarity of situation, and a sym-

LIFE IN A COLONY.

203

pathy among them all, that for the time made them
forget they were strangers, and feel towards each
other like members of one family. The mariners had
twice narrowly escaped death themselves : first, from
shipwreck, and then from the intensity of the weather;
while seven of their comrades had been swept into
eternity before their eyes. The poor widow, in losing
John Lent, appeared to have lost every thing — her
friend, her support, her companion, and protector'; the
husband of her heart, the father of her children. She
had afforded them food, shelter, and a home. They
had aided her in a most trying moment with their
personal assistance, and comrorted her with their sym-
pathy and kindness.

The next morning, her guests visited the seashore,
in order to ascertain whether any portion of the cargo
of their vessel could be saved. When they arrived at
the scene of their disaster, they found that the vessel
was gone ; she had either fallen oflf from the precipi-
tous cliff upon which she had been thrown by the vio-
lence of the sea, or been withdrawn by the reflux of
the mountain waves, and had sunk into the deep
water, where her masts could just now be discerned
under its clear and untroubled surface. The cabin,
which had been built upon the deck, had been broken
to pieces, and fragments of it were to be seen scattered
about on the snow. Some few barrels and boxes from
the steward's pantry had been thrown on shore, con-
taining stores of various kinds, and also the captain''s
hammock and bedding. These were divided into two
small lots, of equal weight, and constituted two sleigh
loads, for the travelling was too heavy to permit them
all to be carried at once. The captain presented them,
together with a purse of ten sovereigns, to the poor
widow, as a token of his gratitude 6r her kindness
and sympathy for his distress. She was also recom-
mended to examine the shore from time to time, after
violent gales of winds, as many loose articles would no
doubt hereafter float to the surface ; and these, by a

204

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

written authority, he empowered her to apply to her
own use.

On the succeeding morning, the postman returned
with his mail, and ftirnished a conveyance for the
steward. The captain and mate followed, under his
guidance, with Mrs. Lent's little pony and sledge.
They now took an affectionate leave of each other, with
mutual thanks and henedictions, and the widow and her
family were again left to their sorrows and their
labours. From that day she said an unseen hand had
upheld her, fed her, and protected her, and that hand
was the hand of the good and merciful God of the
widow and the orphan. There were times, she added,
when the wounds of her heart would burst open and
bleed afresh ; but she had been told the affections re-
quired that relief, and that Nature had wisely pro-
vided it, to prevent a worse issue. She informed me
that she often saw her husband of late. When sitting
by her solitary lamp, after her children had fallen
asleep, she frequently perceived him looking in at the
window upon her. She would sometimes rise and go
there, with a view of conversing with him, but He
always withdrew, as. if he was not permitted to have
an interview with her. She said she was not afraid
to meet him ; why should she be ? He who had loved
her in life would not harm her in death. As soon as
she returned to her seat, he would again resume his
place at the window, and watch over her for hours to-
gether. She had mentioned the circumstance to the
clergyman, who charged her to keep her secret, and
especially from her children, whose young and weak
nerves it might terrify. He had endeavoured to per-
suade her it was the reflexion of her own face in the
glass; that it was a natural effect, and by no means
an unusual occurrence. But no one, she added, knew
so well as those who saw with their own eyes. It was
difficult, perhaps, for others, who had not been so
favoured and protected, to believe it, but it was, never-
theless, strictly true ; and was a great comfort to her

LIFE IN A COLONY.

205

to think that his care and his love existed for her be-
yond the grave.

She said many people had advised her to leave that
place, as too insecure and inconvenient for a helpless
woman ; but God had never failed them. She had
never known want, or been visited by illness, while
she and her children had been fed in the wilderness,
like the chosen people of the Lord. He had raised
her up a host of friends, whose heart He had touched
with kindness for her, and whose hands He had used
as the instruments of His mercy and bounty. It
would be ungrateM and distrustful in her to leave a
place He had selected for her, and He might perhaps
turn away his countenance in anger, and abandon her
in her old affe to poverty and want. And, besides, she
said, there is my old man ; his visits now are dearer
to me than ever j he was once my companion — he is
now my guardian angel. I cannot and I will not for-
sake him while I live ; and when it is God's will that
T depart hence, I hope to be laid beside him, who,
alive or dead, has never suflfered this poor dwelling to
be to me a " Lone House.*"

CHAPTER XL

THE keeping-room OF AN INN;
OR, JUDGE BELER*S GHOST.

NO. I.

The more I see of Nova Scotia, the more I appre-
ciate the soundness of the counsel given me by my
friend Barclay, who recommended me, instead of com-
mencing a continuous tour of the provinces,, to select
some one colony, live in it for the space of a year at
least, and study the people, their habits and institu-
tions, and then resume my travels. " The store of
knowledge thus acquired," he said, " would enable me
to comprehend many thinj^s afterwards which would
otherwise appear unintelligible." I am now daily reap-

206

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

ing the advantage of this judicious advice. Neither
the Americans nor the provincials, who differ from
each other nearly as much as from the English, are
so easily understood as the vanity of a traveller would
lead him to suppose. To be known, they must be
studied ; and to study them properlv requires time
aiid the aid of resident friends. We have lately been
spending a fortnight at Halifax, amid the festivities
and gaieties of that hospitable town.

The last three days previous to our departure were
marked by intense cold. The harbour smoked like
a basin of boiling water (the steam of which is not
inaptly called the Barber), and then froze into a mass
of ice of great depth and solidity. The streets were
almost deserted, and the few persons who were to be
seen upon them hurried to and fro, as if unable to
withstand the severity of the cold. The snow sounded
hard and crisp under their feet, and the nails of the
wooden houses, yielding to the sudden contraction
occasioned by the frost, separated with a noise not
unlike the report of pistols. Small and almost im-
palpable crystalline particles of snow floated in the
air like down. The western sky assumed a light,
reddish colour, resembling that of a summer''s sunset ;
and the Dartmouth hills, on the opposite side of the
harbour, and all distant objects, appeared, not only
more distinctly visible, but very much nearer than
usual. Sounds underwent a similar change, and be-
came more audible and more distinguishable. The
heated air of our room, when it came in contact with
the glass of the window, froze into btoutiful, trans-
parent, silvery coatings, exhibiting, in the delicate
texture of their brilliant tracery, every imaginable
form of landscape, figures, trees, and variegated pat-
terns, like exquisite embroidery. The beauty of this
Sartial encrustation of the glass no language can
escribe, and I confess to having spent much time in
the childish amusement of studying and admiring the
infinite variety of shapes it presented. Our dinner.

gai
ad(
the]

LIFE IN A COLONY,

207

Neither
'er from
lish, are
)r would
must be
res time
ely been
jstivities

ure were
ked like
ti is not
a mass
?ets were
)re to be
nable to
sounded
lis of the
ntraction
aoise not
nost im-
d in the
a light,
9 sunset ;
de of the
not only
irer than
, and be-
>le. The
tact with
ul, trans-
i delicate
naginable
ated pat-
ty of this
uage can
h time in
airing the
ir dinner,

though colder than was agreeable, smoked as if it
were still undergoing the process of cooking. The
strong, clear, blazing fire appeared to give out no heat,
and our visible breaths painfully reminded us that
the frost had penetrated everywhere but into our lungs.

The foUowin;^ day, the weather suddenly relaxed
(for it is said that extreme heat or cold seldom con-
tinues in this country beyond seventy hours). Its
last effort and whole strength were expended, during
the night, in a white frost, which, under the rays of a
clear and unclouded sun, illumined and beautified
every object covered with its white and brilliant
mantle. By ten o'*clock, the magical transparencies
had disappeared from the windows. Lar^e, clear
drops of water trickled from the roof, and, as if unwill-
ing to quit a bed on which they had so long reposed,
clung with tenacity to the eaves, and congealed again
in the form of long and pendent icicles. About noon
a shower of tears preceded their inevitable fall, and
gave warnin<' of an approaching thaw. The wind,
which had blown steadily, but very moderately, from
the north-west for several days, gradually diminished
until it ceased altogether. A few long-drawn sighs
and audible breathings indicated the waking up and
subsequent approach of a southerly gale. Meanwhile,
the soft and balmy air, and the delicious weather that
generally intervenes between the departure and arrival
of these two contending winds, had tempted the whole
population of the city to be abroad. The Tandem
Club and the four-in-hands of the garrison were out ;
and the double and single sleighs of the townsmen,
enveloped, as well as their inmates, with ^rs, and their
horses, decorated with bells fancifully arranged, and
many-coloured rosettes, enlivened the streets ; while
gaily-dressed pepple on foot and numerous equestrians
added to the animated and variegated scene which
they themselves had come to admire.

Barclay, who had been only waiting for a change of
temperature, now drove up to the door in his tandem,

208

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

to take me back to Illinoo. His sleigh was a light but
compact vehicle, containing accommodation in front
for two persons, and a seat behind for a servant. It
was the best-appointed and most comfortable one l/
had seen in the colony, and his horses were noted]
for their beauty, speed, and docility. In a fewj
minutes, we were on our way to the country.

*' I am in great doubt,*" he said, " how to drivei
I should like to proceed slowly, in order to enjoy the
charming weather ; but I fear we shall have a heavy
fall of snow, and that at no great distance. Observe
the singular aspect of the sky. It looks clear, but it
is not transparent. Although there is a strong light
and a total absence of clouds, the sun is, nevertheless,
obscured. Those long, dark, heavy masses assembling
in the east, and abicun^ their time for mischief, are
charged with snow ; and the heavens have a yellow,
and, what we call in this country, a creamy appear-
ance : all which signs, when they follow intense cold,
such as we have experienced these last three days, and
a heavy, white frost, like that of the past night, are
certain indications of a storm. It is bad philosophy,
however, to allow anticipations of the future to mar
the enjoyment of the present. We must govern our-
selves according to circumstances. Let us proceed
leisurely at first ; and, if a gale overtake us, my horses
have both bottom and speed to keep pace with' it.''

There is something very novel and amusing in the
scene presented by a main road in winter, in the pro-
vinces, when traversed by the extraordinary looking
vehicles of the country. Here you encounter a load
of hay, of such huge proportions as to occupy, not
only the whole track, but nearly the whole highway,
drawn by a long, extended line of five or six horses.
Nothing can exceed the difficulty ayd inconvenience
of passing one of these moving stacks of hay (for such
they appear), an operation always performed at the
risk of upsetting, and often occasionmg serious injury
to the horses and sleighs of the less favoured travellers.

LIFE IN A COLONY.

209

In any other part of the world, this is an evil that
would soon be remedied, but those who own or drive
these teams are the multitude, and the gentlemen
whose lives and property are perilled are but few in
number ; aud, according to every rule of responsible
government, it is held to be reasonable that the few
should cive way to the many. Then you meet ano-
ther and still more powerful team, drawing the wooden
frame of a house, or an enormous spar, of dimensions
suitable for the mast of a seventy-four gun ship, either
end of which is supported by a short, massive sled.
As soon as you have escaped these dangerous neigh-
bours, your nerves are again tested by a prodigious
load of wood, extending eight or ten feet in length,
and at least six or seven feet in height, bound together
by four small stakes, the ends of which are secured in
the runners, and the tops insufficiently and carelessly
bound by a rope or chain. Seated on this travelling
wood-pile is the driver, who, by the aid of a long
whip and the intonations of his voice, without any
rein whatever, directs half-a-dozen horses, if not ac-
cording to your ideas of safety, to his own entire
satisfaction.

Having escaped these perils, you have leisure to be
amused at a countryman sitting astride on the back of
an enormous pig, the uppermost one of some twenty
or thirty frozen carcases of pork which he is carrying
to market ; who is followed by a man with a load of
empty barrels, piled as high in the air as the tops of
the trees, and destined for the fisheries. Behind these
are numberless sleds, having bodies like large packing-
boxes filled with mutton, poultry, butter, cheese, and
other rural productions. Such are the objects you
meet in your progress to the country : those that you
overtake and pass are loaded with every conceivable
variety of supplies for themselves or retail traders.
For some distance from Halifax you encounter but
few foot passengers, and they are so poorly clad,
and carry such heavy burdens, that you are struck

210

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

with compassion ; which you have scarcely time to
entertain or express before your ear is assailed with
the loud laugh or cheerful song of the merry, thought-
less Negro. He has secured his food for the day, and
doubts not that Providence will provide for him on
the morrow, and. therefore, like a true philosopher,
never suflfers doubt or anxiety to trouble his mind.

While noticing and remarking on these objects, we
glided on with inconceivable ease. The snow had
slightly melted, and settled into a more compact form ;
there was neither friction nor resistance, and the
runrera passed over it as lightly as an oiled substance.
Meanwhile, the colour of the road became altered.
The pure and unsullied white covering looked yellow
and dirty — the usual forerunner of a change of weather.
A south wind, which had hitherto blown at intervals
in fitful gusts, and moaned heavily through the streets,
now arose into a steady gale, and the leafless branches
of the forest creaked and laboured under its influence.
A few loose, detached, and damp flakes of sleet, of
uncommon size, began to fall around us, while the
hasty return of all the sleighs that had preceded us
bespoke the apprehension of their drivers.

We immediately increased our speed, but the falling
of the snow increased faster, and soon assumed, in
its rapid and compact descent, the appearance of a
dense cloud. The clear and cheerful sound of the
bells became dull and heavy, and finally ceased alto-
gether, and our sleigh and ourselves were soon covered
with a heavy, adhesive white coating. As we pene-
trated fiirther into the country, we found that the road,
according to the prediction of Barclay, presented a
less hardened surface, and that the travelling was both
deeper and more laborious.

" Now, my firiend," he said, " while I occupy my-
self with driving, endeavour, as well as you can,
to guard us on the right, while my servant keeps a
vigilant watch on the left hand ; for I intend to put
my horses to their utmost speed, and am afiraid of

LIFE IN A COLONY.

211

running into some of the country teams. The flakes
are getting smaller, flner, and drier; the wind has
risen higher, and shifted to the east; and we are
going to have a gale of unusual violence."

The storm, fortunately, was in our backs ; but the
rapidity of our motion tnrough the white and dazzling
snow nearly deprived us of the power of vision. A
sudden turn of the road, which momentarily exposed
us to the full sweep of the blast, showed me the accu-
racy of my friend's predictions, for we plunged directly
through an enormous drift that lay extended across
our track like a wave of the sea, particles of which,
lifted by the wind, nearly suffocated us and our horses.
As soon as we resumed a western course, our route
lay for several miles through a wood, and, availing our-
selves of its protection, we pressed forward as rast as
possible. ** God help those," he said, " who are
travelling the other way, and have to face this storm,
with poor or jaded cattle ! as for ourselves, we are
all right, and shall soon reach Mount Hope. Our
only diflBculty will be in the last mile of the road,
which we shall find, I fear, covered to the top of the
fences. Anything that horses can do, mine can effect;
but I am afraid that, in their struggles, they will
draw off the shafts or the Whipple tree. This is
decidedly the worst tempest I have known for twenty
years."

When we arrived at this critical part of our journey,
he requested me to take my seat in the back part of
the sleigh, in the lap of the servant, so as to lighten
the front of the vehicle when it pitched into the drifts,
and then, standing up himself, ne slackened his pace
and drove cautiously. At times, our noble animals
appeared perfectly buried in snow, and could only pro-
ceed by x^jaring and plunging forward, and we were
often compelled to stop and lift up the sleigh, or lighten
its weight, and disentangle the traces from the legs of
the horses. The last drift terminated like a wall.
The wind passing between the house and the outbuild-

212

THE OLD JUDGE J

OR,

ings, which were situated on opposite sides of the
highway at Mount Hope, swept all that part of the
road perfectly bare, and rolled up the snow on one
side into a precipitous bank. Here Barclay got out,
and, examining the depth, pronounced it impossible
for horses to pass it in harness. Having released
them from the vehicle, and procured assistance from
the inn, we managed, though not without much diflS-
culty, to remove the fence, and, by a circuitous route,
to conduct them in safety to the stables.

When we arrived at the house, we were at first
shown into a room warmed by a stove ; and shortly
afterwards into another, having one of the large, bla-
zing, glorious, wood fires of Nova Scotia. There is a
hospitable profusion about these rural fireplaces, and
a hearty welcome in their appearance, that contrasts
most favourably with the ingenious city contrivances
to administer the exact amount of heat with the least

J)Ossible expenditure of fuel. After a capital dinner,
or the larders of the inns at this season of the year
are always abundantly supplied, we drew up to the
cheerful fire, and admired the two brass giants, Gog
and Magog, (the andirons) who supported with ease
the enormous weight of wood.

The gale we had encountered, which still raged
wildly and furiously, led the conversation to incidents
resulting from similar events. Barclay related to me
the particulars of the great storm of 1798, when it is
said the greatest quantity of snow fell that was ever
known at any one time, and also mentioned a curious
occurrence that happened under his own view.

A few years ago, he said, when on his way to Cum-
berland (N.S.) in the spring of the year, he spent a
night on the Cobequid Mountains. For several days
previous the weather had been uncommonly fine, and
numerous flocks of wild geese were seen pursuing their
annual migration to the north. The morning after his
arrival, an enormous flock of these birds, meeting with
a storm of hail and freezing sleet, were observed re-

LIFE IN A COLONY.

213

turning on their track in the form of the letter A, a
firrure which they adopt to enable the stronger ar(^
hardier ones to lead the advance. Their sagacity is .^ »
great, that they are usually aware of the app^^^n'. it
a tempest, and avoid its effects by seeking ou< a jia*.
of shelter in due time. On this occasion, howe' ', ^^'^j
appear to have been unexpectedly overtaken • '
the sleet froze on them as soon as it fell, th ecamo
so overloaded and exhausted, that they descended into
a field immediately in front of the house, where the
whole of them were instantly taken prisoners, without
being able even to make an attempt to escape. Some
were eaten fresh by the family, others were preserved in

{)ickle, and the rest sent to the Halifax market, where,
le said, they put their feet to the fire before they went
to bed, and gave them a glass of hot whisk — whisk —
whiskey and water. The odd termination of the sen-
tence induced me to look up at the face of my friend,
and, lo ! he was fast asleep. The drowsy effects of the
large wood fire had mingled his thoughts or his wants
with his story of the birds.

For some time after we reached the house, tliere
were several arrivals from the country, among which
was the stage-sleigh from Illinoo, which had been up-
set more than once, and the top broken to pieces. All
the passengers spoke of the latter part of their journey
as one of greater difficulty and more danger than any
they had ever experienced. On the following morning
we found, to our dismay, that it was not only snowing
and drifting as fast as ever, but that there was not the
slightest appearance of a change.

" We must make up our minds,'* said Barclay, "to
remain here for a day or two. It is impossible for us
to leave this place in the present state of the roads,
and equally impossible for any others to arrive. I will
go and see who is in ' the keeping-room,' and what
amusement it can afford us ; for it vrould be quite
absurd for a traveller like you to be shut up all day
at an inn with such an old cynic as me, while there

214

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

may be many persons here well worth studying and
knowing."

The house at Mount Hope was. inconveniently
situated, being on the top of rather a high hill, but was
very well arranged for the accommodation of the diffe-
rent classes of persons that frequented it. It was a
long, narrow, two-story building, forming two sides of
a square, and having a double entrance, one at the side
and one at the front. Besides the apartments appro-
priated to the use of those who preferred to be alone,
there were two large rooms, one of which was devoted
to teamsters, pedestrians, and people of that descrip-
tion, connected with which was the bar. The other
was called the keeping-room, and generally reserved
for the use of the family, but where old patrons, friends,
and acquaintances, were not considered as intruders.
In the rear, and attached to this, was the kitchen,
larder, pantry, &c.

Barclay soon returned, accompanied by Miss Lucy
Neal, the manager of the household, a fine, hearty,
blooming, good-natured country girl, of about thirty
years of a^e, to whom. he introduced me. After chat-
ting awhile about the storm, and other indifferent
matters, she said she feared I must find it dull to be
confined so long to the house ; and added, that if I
felt inclined, she would be glad to see me after dinner
in the keeping-room — an invitation which I most rea-
dily and cheerfully accepted.

As soon as she retireoi, Barclay said —
" I have arranged it all for you. I have ordered
dinner at two o''clock, so as to enable us to spend the
whole afternoon below, where you will see one of the
oddest fellows in this country, Stephen Richardson, of
Clements, in the County of Annapolis. There is some
drollery about him, inexhaustible good humour, and,
amid all the nonsense he talks, more quickness of per-
ception and shrewdness than you would at first give
him credit for. Take him altogether, he is what may
be called a regular character. If I can manage it, 1

LIFE IN A COLONY.

215

will set him and others telling stories ; for nothing
illustrates the hahits, manners, and tastes of a popula-
tion more than their favourite topics."

About four o''clock we joined the party of travellers
assembled in the privileged room of the family. This
apartment wps about twenty-five feet in length, but
disproportionably narrow. The floor was painted, and
not carpeted, and the walls covered with a yellow
wash. The fireplace, which was of huge dimensions,
was furnished with a back-log that required the efibrts
of two men to roll it into its bed ; and surmounted by
a mantelpiece that was graced with one of Mr. Samuel
Slick'*s clocks, the upper half being covered by a dial-
plate, and the lower portion exhibiting a portrait of
General Washington mounted on a white charger,
with long tail and flowing mane. The sides of the
room were ornamented with a sampler worked on
canvass, and some coarse gaudy-coloured prints, among
which the most conspicuous were two representing
George III. and Queen Charlotte, wearing their crowns,
and severally holding in one hand a globe and in the
other a sceptre, as if playing a game of coronella. In
one comer was an open cupboard, fitting into the angle,
and exhibiting the best china and glass of the house.
In front of each window, was a stand supporting some
geraniums, monthly roses, and ivy.

The company consisted of about six or eight persons,
besides Miss Lucy and her sister. Mr. Stephen Rich-
ardson, to whom my attention had been previously
directed, .was a tall, muscular, awkward-looking man,
with a slight stoop in the shoulder. His manners were
free and easy, the expression of his face knowing and
comical, and his dress the light blue homespun common
to the country.

When we entered, a small, thin man, with a sour,
bilious face, and dressed in a suit of black cloth, was
entertaining the party with a grievance, for which he
expressed his determination to be avenged upon the
government at the next election. He had been at

216

THE OLD JUDGE; OR,

Halifax, it seemed, from whence he was just returning,
to solicit some little petty local office at Aylsford,
where he resided, to which he thought himself emi-
nently entitled by his valuable political partisan ser-
vices, but which, to his dismay, he found had been
disposed of to an earlier and more fortunate appli-
cant. Loud and long were his denunciations and com-
plaints.

" I don't pity you a morsel," said Stephen. " The
best office for a farmer is being his own overseer, and
the best fees those paid by his orchards and fields.
There is nothing so mean in folks like you and me as
office seeking, unless it is in wearing broadcloth instead
of homespun, as if a man was above his business.
Now, look at me," and he rose up and stood erect ; " I
am six feet four in my stockings, when unravelled and
bolt upright, and six feet five when stretched out on a
bench ; and, from the sole of my foot to the crown of
my head, I am dressed in the produce of my own
farm. I raised the flax and hackled it, and bred the
sheep and sheared the wool that made the linen and
the cloth I wear. . I am sort of proud of it, too ; for
a farmer, according to my ideas of things, ought to be
known by his dress, like an officer or a parson ; and
then, when folks see him, they'll know he ain't run up
a bill at a shop, and ain't cutting a dash in things he
han't paid for.

" I've known some very mean men in my time.
There was Deacon Overreach, now, he was so mean,
he always carried a hen in his gig-box when he tra-
velled, to pick up the oats his horse wasted in the
manger, and lay an egg for his breakfast in the morn-
ing. And then there was Hugo_ Himmelman, who
made his wife dig potatoes to pay for the marriage
license. Lawyer, ' ne continued, addressing himsSf
to Barclay, " I must tell you that story of Hugo, for
it's not a bad one; and good stories, like potatoes,
ain't as plenty as they used to be when I was a boy.
Hugo is a neighbour of mine, though considerably

LIFE IN A COLONY.

217

older than I be, and a mean neighbour he is, too.
Well, when he was going to get married to Gretchen
Kolp, he goes down to Parson Rogers, at Digby, to
get a license.

" ' Parson,' says he, * whafs the price of a license ?'
*' ' Six dollars,' says he.

" ' Six dollars !' says Hugo ; Hhafs a dreadful sight
of money ! OouldnH you take no less V

" ' No,' says he. ' That's what they cost me to the
Secretary's oflSce at Halifax.'

" ' Well, how much do you ax for publishing in
church, then ?'

"* Nothing,' says parson.

" ' Well,' says Hugo, * that's so cheap I can't expect
you to give no change back. I think I'll be published.
How long does it take r r

" » Three Sundays.'

" ' Three Sundays !' says Hugo. * Well, that's a
long time, too. But three Sundays only make a fort-
night, after all ; two for the covers and one for the
inside like ; and six dollars is a great sum of money
for a poor man to throw away. ' I must wait.'

" So oflf he went a-jogging towards home, and a-
looking about as mean as a new-sheared sheep, when
all at once a bright thought came into his head, and
back he went, as hard as his horse could carry him.

" ' Parson,* says he, " I've changed my mind. Here's
the six dollars. I'll tie the knot to-night with my
tongue, that I can't undo with my teeth.'

" ' Why, what in natur is the meaning of all this V
says parson.

" ' Why,' says Hugo, * I've been ciphering it out in
mv head, and it's cheaper than publishinsj bans, after
all. You see, sir, it's a potato-digging time; if I
wait to be called in church, her father will have her
work for nothing ; and, as hands are scarce and wages
high, if I marry her to-night, she can begin to dig our
own to-morrow, and that will pay for the license, and
just seven shillings over ; for there ain't a man in all

218

THE OLD JUDGE J OR,

Clements that can dig and carry as many bushels in a
day as Gretchen can. And, besides, fresh wives, like
fresh servants, work like smoke at first, but they get
sarcy and lazy after a while.'

" Oh, my ! said Miss Lucy, " did you ever hear
the beat of that 2 Well, I never !"

" Now, that's what I call mean," said Stephen.
" Mean !" said Miss Lucy, who was greatly shocked ;
" I guess it is mean ! I never heard anything half so
mean in all my bom days !"

"Well, I have, then," continued Stephen. "It
ain't near so mean as a farmer running about the
country, dressed up in superfine broad-clotn, a-looking
out for a little office. 1 11 tell you what, when aitia'
tions in the country fall vacant, folks to Halifax know
it as well as can be, for the town is just like a salt>
lick at the full of the moon, it's filled with stray
cattle. When father and 1 lived on Bear River, and
turned the young stock out to browse in the woods,
we never took the trouble to hunt them up, for they
were always sure to come to the banks at high-water
at the fiiU to get a drink of brine, for they are great
place-hunters, are stray cattle."

Here the little man in black, though evidently ac-
customed to these rough, rustic remarks, appeared to
wince under their application before strangers, and
made an attempt to turn the conversation, by taking a
letter out of his pocket-book, and asking Richardson
" if he would do him the fiivour to allow nim to make
him the medium of transmitting it to Halifax, having,
unfortunately, forgotten to deliver it himself."

" Which means, in plain English," said Stephen,
"you fetched it back by mistake. Why the devil
can't you talk plain ? There is nothing like homespun
talk and homespun cloth for a farmer. I'll take a
hundred of them, if you like. Let's see it !"

He then took the letter, and examined the address,
and, reversing it, looked at the seal and returned it,
saying —

LIFE IN A COLONY.

219

" Open that letter and read it to me, or I canH take
it. IVe made a vow never to carry a paper for any
mat unless I know what's in it. I got into an awiul
scrape, once, by carrying a letter that had a wafer in
it to Sir Hercules Sampson, the Governor that used
to be here a good while ago. I'll tell you how it was,
so that you may see it am't because I don't want to
oblige you, but just to keep out of a scrape myself,
when I know I am well off. One fall, just as I was a-
starting from home for Halifax in a vessel loaded with
apples and cider I raised on my own farm, and the
matter of five hundred boxes of smoked herrings
(which I caught and cured myself), who should come
along but Pete Balcom, with a letter in his hand.

" * Steve,"* says he, * just leave this at Government
House, will you, that's a good fellow, as soon as you
arrive in town, and I will do as much for you some
other time V

" ' Certainly,' says I ; *but, as my hands are sort of
dirty, do you take my pocket-book out of my jacket,
and stow it away snug, and he did so. Well, one
day, after I got to Halifax, and unlo: led the vessel,
as I was a-going along the street with my working
clothes on, who should I see a-galloping along from
parade but the Governor and a couple of other officers,
with their spurs a-jangling, and their swords a-dangling,
and their plumes a-nodding, talking and a-laughing
away like anything. Thinks I, I'lljust follow on to
Government House, and give Pete Balcom's letter to
one of his hired men. So, away I goes into one of
the great stone gates, and there was trees, and gravel-
walks, and little bushes, and a sort of garden-looking
place, and a great big front door. So, I backed out,
and went up the hill, and turned into t'other gate, and,
as I am a living sinner, there was another pleasure-
garden-looking place, and a front door there, too.
Thinks I, Goodness me, where's the back porch that
common folks like me go into ! These places are only
meant for great men and office-seekers, like our friend

L 2

22Q

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

Broadcloth here. So, I took a circuit all round the
house, till I came back to where I started from, like a
fellow lost in the woods, when I saw a baker drive in.
Come, says I to myself, 111 ax no questions, for that
looks as if you did not know, but V\\ just follow old
Dough, for, where the bread goes, he that raises the
flour has a right to go also. Well, out he jumps from
his cart, and takes a basket of loaves on his arm, and
dives down behind an iron railing alongside of the
street-door, and I after him. Though he knew the
way, and I didn't, I kept close up to him for all that ;
for a man that can overhaul a moose, ain't easy left
behind by a baker chap, I tell you. Well, we no
sooner got into the lower regions, than Sixpenny Loaf
lays down his basket, up with his whip, knocks at the
door, and off like a shot, leaving me and the basket there.

" * Hullo,' said I, * Mister, deliver your own freight
yourself, will you, if you please I it^s enough for me
to hand in Pete Balcom's letter ^ and, besides, I am a
stranger here.'

"But crack went the whip, and away went the
wheels, and the only, answer I got was, * Come in.'
So I opened the door, and there was a little, thin old
lady, with spectacles on, and her two daughters hand-
somely dressed. Mother was writing in a big book
that looked to me like a merchant's ledger, and the
two young women were making a bit of carpet, with
coloured yarns, in a small-sized quilting-frame. Thinks
'I to myself, I won't say nothing about that trick the
feller played me with the bread. If he don't choose
to stop for his pay, he may go without it. So says I —

" ' Marm, I've a letter for the Governor, that a
neighbour of mine, one Pete Balcom, asked me to
leave here for him ;' and I out pocket-book and gave
it to her, and she handed it to one of the galls, who
went out to hand it to some one else.

" ' Take a chair and sit down,' said old mother,
quite sociable-hke. * Be so good as to wait a mo-
ment, perhaps his Excellency the Governor may have

LIFE IN A COLONY.

221

ah answer for you ;' and then she went on writing as
before.

" That must have been the housekeeper you saw,"
said Miss Lucy, with the patronising air of a person
that thinks they know the world ; " and what you call
bits of carpet in frames, was rug- work.*"

" I don''t know who the plague she was,*" said
Stephen, " nor don''t care. I never saw her before^
and I never want to see her again.

" Well, as I was a-saying, that gave me time to
cast my eye round and think a bit upon things in
general ; and when I seed these nice-dressed women,
and well-furnished room, and flowers, and what not,
thinks I, if this is your kitchen-room, what must your
parlour be ? And then I looked at my clothes all
covered with dust, a little more nor half-worn, and
looking none the better for the tar of the ves-
sel. I won't say I wished for broadcloth, for I
didn''t, but I did long for my new suit of home-
spun, for I feel sort of proud of it, seeing I raised
the stuff, and my old woman wove it and made it, as
I said before.

" Well, just then in come a servant with a pair of
red breeches on, and gold garters, and white stockings

pulled up tight over a pair of legs about as big as

as big as what snail I say ! why, about as hi » as

your drumsticks, Broadcloth. The fellow looked as
much like a gentleman, and was as well dressed as an
eddy-gong, or chaplain, or whatever they call them,
and as impudent too ; for, says he, * Follow me V quite
short, like a chap that has received so many orders
that he begins to think at last he has a right to give
them himself. Thinks I, natur is natur, whether it'*s
on a farm or in a Governor's kitchen-room, for every-
thing «ets sarcy that's well-fed and has nothing to do.
Well, ne takes me through a long stone passage, as
cold as the nateral ice-house on (Granville Mountain,
and as dark too, then up a pair of stairs, and then turn
to the right, and then to the left, and then to the right

222

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

again, as folks tell you when you don"*! know the road.
It sort of crossed my mind as I followed the critter,
who seemed most too lazy to carry his shoes, I sup-
pose the Governor is going to offer me a glass of grog
for fetching that letter, and that Til take, for that^s
sociable and civil-like, though I wouldn'*t take all the
money in his house, for that''s mean, and don''t become
Homespun.

*^ At last. Breeches showed me into a large un-
furnished room, without a carpet or a curtain, as bare
as my thrashing-floor, with nothen in it but two un-
stuffed wooden sofas, and a table with a large writing-
book and an inkstand on it. On one side sat a ser-
geant with his sword on, and on the other a thirteen-
penny soldier with his ba^^onut on, and there he left
me standing in the middle of the room, without
saying as much as, ' By your leave,' or anything else.
In less than half-a-minute out come the Governor, a
great, tall, thin, bony man, like myself, with a bald
head, a nose as big as a brass knocker, and a pair of eyes
as sharp, bright, and wicked, as Lucifer's, (loup cermer)
with his great big sword by his side, and his spurs on,
jist as I saw him in the street, only he had his hat
with its white feathers in his hand. As soon as he
came in, up jumps the sergeant and the soldier, and
stood as straight as two ramrods.

'•'' '• How dare you hand me such a letter as thai, Mr.
Balcom V said he.
*' * Goveraor ! ' says I.

" * Silence !' says he. * It admits of no excuse.'
'"'' I never heard no more after that, I was so taken
a-back, and me with my old working-clothes on, look-
ing like Old Scratch himself; but on he went^ foam-
ing and roariiiglike a fteshet, and klomping, klomping
round on the board floor, and waving his arms like a
windmill. Thinks I to myself, This is what I call an
indictment, and they are a-going to send me to the
guard-house as sure as the world ; and then I looked
first at the sergeant, and then at Thirteenpence, and

LIFE IN A COLONY.

223

I seed I could pitchfork them fellows out of the win-
dow as easy as a sheaf of wheat : but then there was
the Governor. If I was to lay hands on him, even in
self-defence, I knew it would be rebellion, besides
goins; agin the grain, for I am a loyal man, and so was
my father before me ; and besides that, I wam''t sure
I could handle him either if I was to try. TLcn I
thought Vd make a run for it, and if I had known the
way, I think I should ; but what in the world can you
do in a house that has as many doors in it, almost, as
there are days in the year t So I made up my mind
to face it like a man.

" ' Governor,' says I, * will you just answer me one
question 2'

"^ ' Silence, Mr. Balcom !' says he ; * I have nothing
to say to you.'

" * Man alive,' says I, * do you call all this saying
nothing ? Besides, my name ain't Balcom, and never
was, I tell you. You have got in a wrong pew, you
may depend.'

'' * What the devil is your name, thenf says he.

"'Why, folks call me Stephen Richardson, when I
am at home,' says I ; ' and I know no more about that
letter than the man in the moon. I only brought it
just to oblige you and Pete Balcom.'

" * Why didn't you tell me that before V says he.

" * Because you wouldn't let me,' says h

" With that he half turned and waived his hand,
and the sergeant and the soldier sp7:Ting forward, and,
as I thought they were a-going for to seize me, and I
knowed I hadn't done nothing wrong, except not dres-
sing myself decent, I stepped back as quick as wink
two paces, and squared ou.

" ' Stop !' says I. ' The first man that lays a hand
on me, I'll level him as flat as a pancake : so stand
dear.'

'* The Governor laughed right out at that, and
the two soldiers opened the front door to let me
out, instead of leading me all round by the kitchen,

224

'»■ ;

THE OLD JUDGE j OH,

the way I came in ; and up steps Sir Hercules, and
says he —

** * You are a fine, manly fellow, and I admire your
spirit. I wish I had a battalion of such men as you
are. I am very sorry for the mistake. I beg your
pardon,^ and so on.

" Well, when a creat man like a Governor conde-
scends that way to humble himself to a poor man, to
say he begs his pardon, it kind of overcomes you, and
cools you down as quick as a cup of water does a kettle
of boiling maple sap.

*' * I (fon't olame you a morsel,' says I, * Governor :
but I blame Pete Balcom, though : he hadn't ou^ht to
have made a fool of me after that fashion. This is the
first office ever I filled in my life, and that was none
of my seeking being a letter-carrier; and when I get
home ril give Pete JJalcom the first quarter's salary
in the shape of as good a licking as ever he got since
he was born, and then I'll resign the commission.'

" ' No, no, my good friend,' said the Governor,

Satting me good-naturedly on the shoulder, *pray
on't break tne peace ; I should be very sorry to be
the cause of any further annoyance to you.'

*''' But I didn't promise him, fo when I promise I
keep my word : and, beside, he sort of looked at me as
if he wouldn't care much if I did give him a quilting.
Well, the first time I met Mister Pete Balcom after I
returned home, I just up and says —

*' * Pete,' says I, ' what was in that letter of yours
that you gave me to take to the Governor V

*' ' What is that to you ?' says he.

" * It is a ^5 .od deal to me,' 1 said ; * for I want to
know what sort of business I was partner in ?'

*^ *■ Well, ask about and find out,' said he, quite
sarcy.

" * I'll get it out of you as I get my wheat out of
the ear, by thrashing it out,' says I. * So here's at
you ;' and I turned to, and I gave such a tanteening
as he never had since he was raised, I know. The

, LIFE IN A COLONY.

225

Sostage of that letter came to a round sum, you may
epend. I got sued for an assault, was dragged
through two courts, and got cast in ten pounds'
damage, and twenty pounds cost ; and what's more,
after all, never found out to this day what was in that
letter. Since then I've made a vow never to carry a
paper for any man, unless he iirst shows me whaf's in
it. If you donH think proper, therefore, to break the
seal of that one, and read it to me, you may send it
by some one else, and there is an end of it."

After some general and desultory conversation, my
friend Barclay related the particulars of an apparition
that had been much talked of at Halifax lately ; and,
for the purpose of drawing out a story from Kichard-
son, which lie knew he was very fond of telling, asked
him if he believed in the existence of ghosts?

" Well, I don't know,'' said Stephen ; " I didn't
used to oncet upon a time, but I've lamed better now.
I am not a man that's easily darnted. A feller that's
had a fair stand-up fight with a she-bear weighing six
hundred weight, and nothing but a jack-knife in his
fist to defend himself with, as I have, and killed her
too — ay, and skinned her arterwards, don't deserve to
be called a coward, I know. I warn't brought up in
the woods to be scared by an owl, I tell you ; and,
therefore, what I say I'll stand to. I have seed a
ghost, ay, and fit with a ghost, too : and look here,"
(and, undoing his cravat, he exhibited the back part of
his neck), " look here, there's the marks of its teeth ;
that I shall carry to the grave with me. It was old
Judge Beler's ghost. You have heem tell of old
Judge Beler, and how oneasy he was, seei -' that he
never was buried, haven't you ?"

None of the company had come from that part of
the country where Stephen lived, therefore, no one
knew of a circumstance which had occurred in the
early settlement of the province, and all answered
in tne negative.

" Not hear of Judge Beler!" he said. " Well,

226

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

that^s strange, too ! I thought everybody had heard
of him aud his ghost. Well," says Steve, ** Til tell
you. There is Digby, do you see, as might be there,'*
pointing with the handle of his whip to the floor;
" well, away up there," pointing to another spot, ** is
Annapolis, as you might say ; and there they stand,
one at each end of the basm, looking at each other,
but just twenty miles off by water, like two folks at
each end of a long election table. Well, all up this
side of the basin is Clements Township, stretching
right away from one town to the other. Well, when
the country was first settled after the American
rebellion, this Clements was laid out for the Dutch
and Germans that served in the war. There was
three locations : one on the shore, and that the Long
Island Dutch lived on ; behind that was another
range given to the Waldeck soldiers ; and behind that
another called the Hessian line, because the Hessians
had lands laid off to them there.

** In those days, there were nothing but bridle-
roads, because they always rode on horseback when
they didnH walk ; but they wam't tumpiked up for
wheels as they are now into highways. Well, among
the Long Island loyalists, there was one Judge Beler —
at least, so they used to call him. He wamH like
our supreme judges, regular halter-broke and trained,
but a sort of magistrate judge, and in his own country
(New York State) belongea to a kind of sheep-skin
court, as folks nicknamed them. Still he was called
Judge, and was a man well-to-do in the world, and
well-known, and liked all through them settlements,
and spoke German like a book, and could crack up all
the hard lumps of words like a harrow, into powder,
as fine as a b, ab. Well, he used to be often riding
aiway back into the Hessian line, and spending a few
days there. Sometimes they said he was surveying
land, and laying off lots. At other times, they said
he went to chat at old Milner''s (not old Tom^s thafs
there now, but old Tom'*s father^s), and talk and fight

LIFE IN A COLONY.

227

over the battles of the rebellion war ; and sometimei
they said the Judge — for he warnH by no manner of
means up in years — used to go to see Vogler Vroom's
daughter, old Mrs. Wagner that was afterwards.
Minna Vroom, they say, was a rael fine gall in her
day, full of health, and strength, and spirits, as a
four-year old colt, and yet a great houselceeper too.
Juddng of her as she was when I seed her, which
was long after she had lost the mark of mouth ....''^

" Why, Mr. Stephen, ain't you ashamed to talk
that wav of the ladies ?■" said ^Ii^s Lucy.

*' A body could hardly believe she ever was so un-
common handsome (but then there ainH a wrinkled
old woman in the country they don't say was pretty
oncet) ; for she must have always been a little too
much of the Dutch build for fi^re, according to my
notions ; too short, too square about the ....''

" Never mind describm^ her," said Miss Lucy:
*' go on with the story. There is nothing in uaiure
I am so fond of as a good ghost story."

" Well, I never knew it fail," replied Stephen :
" one handsome woman never cares to hear about
another handsome woman. Her &i.ther, by all accounts,
was plaguy well off, and as she was an only child, if
the Judge s mouth watered when he looked on Minna,
and thoun;ht of the beautiful rolls of yarn and home-
spun, and fat hams, and smoked bee^ that were hang-
ing about so tempting, not to speak of the yellow
and white shiners tied up in the long stockings in the
big chests, — why it ain't to be wondered at, that's all.
Maybe he did, and maybe he didn't ; but most likely
he went like other folks on his own business, whatever
it was, whenever he liked, and whenever he pleased,
and gave no account and axed no leave. Well, oncet
he went, and, faith, he never returned again. It was
in the forepart of winter 17S6, as I have heard tell.
Folks down to the shore thought the Judge was pay-
ing a long visit, and wondered he didn't come back ;
and people on the Hessian line road thought it was a

228

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

long time since he had gone home, and wondered he
didn'*t come to see them again. At last, it was as
clear as mud he was missing. Some thought he had
got lost in the woods, others thought he had got
scalped and killed hj the Indians, and some reckoned
he had got a cold shoulder from Minna Vroom, and
that he had taken it so much to heart he had left the
country ; and nobody knew anything for sartain.

" Well, days and weeks passed on and passed on,
and no tidings was ever heard of him, and at last
folks gave over talking of him, and he was sort of
forgot and out of mind. For time, like the big roller
of the Agricultural Society, as it rolls on, fetches all
things to a level, or presses them into the earth out
of sight, so that they don''t attract attention no more.
And queer sort of farmers books make too : first they
plough up land to make it loose and light, and then
they roll it as hard as ever, and undo all they have
done, and that they call science ; and it may be science,
but it ain^t common sense, and don''t stand to reason.
But thaf^s neither here nor there, and, as I was a-
sayinfi^, one day the next spring, just as the lakes had
opened, Frederic Crowse was ranging about the woods
for a stick to make ox-bows of, when who should he
see in the middle of the great lake near the Hessian
road but Judge Beler, seated as quiet and as nateral
on his horse as life ! There was a little wind at the
time, and a ripple on the water, and the Judge was
riding with his head towards home, and his horse
making a slow motion like a canter, but not advancing
forward a bit. At first, he thought he was swimming
the lake, for that would make a very short cut for
him, and he stood a while and stared at him ; but
seein' that he didn't go ahead, he called out to him as
loud as he could call.

"'Judge!' said he; but the Judge didn't look
round.

*' * Squire !' said he; but the squire didn't speak.

*» * Mr. Beler !' said he ; but Mr. Beler didn't

LIFE IN A COLONY.

229

answer, but j ist went on rising and bending to every
wave like a bow of the body, but still remaining in
one spot.

" ' Good gracious !' says Fred to himself ; * the
water is so shocking cold at this season of the year, it
has almost chilled him to death. What onder the
sun shall I do V

*' Well, away he went as hard as he could run for
his life, and alarmed all the neighbours, and down
they came, with axes, and ropes, and tools, and what
not, and made a raft, and put off into the lake to help
him. The sun was just then setting as they shoved
out from the shore, and when they got about half way
to him they saw that his eyes were gone, and his face
was all swelled, and his flesh was bleached, and bloated,
and slimy, and that he looked awful bad ; and they
were dreadfiiUy frightened.''

" Oh, my ! said Miss Lucy, *' how horrid ! But
it's a beautiful story: go on !" And she drew her chair
nearer to Richardson.

" Well, they were skeered to go up to him," con-
tinued Stephen ; " and they stopped, awed like, and
gazed and gazed, without saying a word j and when
they give over rowing, the judge and his horse gra-
dually settled down, slowly — slowly — slowly, until
nothin' but his head was above water, and then he re-
mained for a minute or two longer, as if he didn't like
to leave his old friends for ever and ever, c id down he
went altogether, and sunk to the bottom.

" It would have been no more than decent and
neighbourly, perhaps," he added, " to have fished him
up, and given him Christian burial. But I won't say
fished him up, neither ; for, poor man, he was passed
that, I guess, unless they had baited their hook with
Minna Vroom, and that would have made him jump
out of the water like a salmon, I do suppose. Many
a man has been caught...."

*' Why, Mr. Richardson, how you talk !" said
Miss Lucy ; " it's actually ondecent that — it's

230

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

I a ii

shocking ! You ought to be ashamed of yourself, so
you ouffht."

" Well, grappled him up, then," he said : "for
folks that are neglected that way by all the world, ex-
cept by frogs and poUywogs, are oneasy, and walk,
and he has terrified the whole country ever since.
The old stock of them that knew him never mentioned
him without fear ; and some said that they had actu-
ally seen him afterwards in that lake (which now goes
by the name, and I suppose always y/'nu »f Beler'^s
Lake). Well, the next generation, thou-' +'iey be-
gan to frighten children, by telling them t ..^ would
send for the Judge if they behaved bad, soon gave
over that sort of idle talk, and said there was no doubt
he was up and stirring sometimes. Many people de-
clared that they had heard him, in the winter time,
muttering under the ice, in some unknown tongue;
for the German language has long since gone out in
those parts. I know my &ther said he oncost seed
him gallop like mad on his old black mare across that
lake in a snow squall, and sink through the ice with a
report like a cannon. And old Dr. Bodhme said he
had known strange noises there, quite near ; and when
he'd stop to listen, he would hear the same at the
other end of the lake, as if he was trying to get
through ; and then he would hear him strike the bot-
tom of the ice with his fist such a blow, that it seemed
as if it would crack it clear across, though it was three
feet thick.

" Well, I never met that man yet that I was afraid
of; and as for ghosts, I never see one in all my bom
days, and did n t believe there was any, and therefore
couldn't tell whether I was skeered or not. Still,
somehow or another, it was a melancholy, dismal place,
for no one would settle near it, and I can't say I much
liked going by there alone, for it ain't pleasant to think
of spirits and such things in the dark, if you have no
one to talk to. I won't say, nether, I haven't heard
those noises myself, especially when the lake is a-going

LIFE IN A COLONY.

231

to break up in the spring ; and I have heard some of
those awful reports, like thunder in the ice, too, but I
am not certain I havenH heard the same under other
lakes ; at all events, though they made me feel kind of se-
rious like, they never skeered me. Well, one night— it
was on the 1 7th of March, I recollect the day, for I was
at Pat Doyle^s that afternoon at Digby, and he said it
was St. Patrick'*s day, and I drank a considerable some,
though not to say I wam''t sober, nether — ^when I came
to the lake, it was a little after daylight down, just twi-
light enough to see the road, and muoi as a bargain, too,
when I heard this rumbling under the ice, a rolling,
moanin?, hoarse, onnateral kind of sound, and then came
one of those cracks that go off like a twelve-pounder.

" * Hullo !' says 1 to myself, * the old Judge is on-
easy to-night ; howsumever, I never hurt a hair of his
head, and he has no call to me, good or bad ; so, dead
or alive, I donH fear him.**

*^ Just then, I sartainly did hear a most powerful
yell. It went through me like lightning, and seemed
to curdle my very blood. Oh ! it was an awfiil scream,
you may depend, and seemed onearthly like, or as if
the devil was in the unburied human that gave it. I
stopped a moment, and all was still again, but the
hollow, rumblin"*, echo4ike voice under the ice.

** ' What in the world is all this V says I to my-
self; * as sure as fate, Beler''s ghost is no joke, but
downright reality. There's no mistake. I'll take my
oath I heard that scream of his, and I think, Steve,
you had better be a-jogging on towards home, or you
may hear what ain't good for your hearing, and see
what ain't good for sore eyes.'

''*■ So I just gave the beast a tap of the whip, and
moved on. Well, as soon as you leave the lake, you
come to a sharp pinch of a hill, and then you go down
into a steep, heavy-wooded hollow, and then mount
another smart hill, and pass on. This happened
twenty-five years ago next March, and at that time it
was still little more than a bridle-path, and the trees

^32

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

lapped across it in places. Now, in that hollow, two
large hemlocks had got canted well over on one side,
windfalls like, and were catched by two large spruces
on the other ; so there was just room to stoop low
down on the saddle, and squeeze under, and much as
ever, too — almost a scrape. Having rid that way in
the morning, I knew the track, kept to the left, bent
forward on the neck of the horse, and went through.
Just as I cleverly cleared it, old Beler sprung ri^ht
on the crupper, seized me round the waist, and yelled
just as he did when he got out of the lake, first in one
ear and then in the other. Oh, how the woods rung !
His breath was so hot, it most scalded me, and the
scream cut me through the head like a knife ; and
then he clasped me so tight round, the body, he near
about squeezed the wind out of me. If I didnH sing
out, ifs a pity, and the more I hollered, the louder
he shriekea. I won''t pretend for to go for to say that
I warn't frightened, because that wouldn't be true ; I
was properly skeered, thafs a fact. I expected every
minute to be clawed off, and plunged into the lake.
I didn't know what to do. Human strength, 1 knew,
was of no avail agin supemateral beings, so I took to
prayer.

" *Our Father....' says I.

" The moment I said that, he let go yellin', and
seized me by the nape of the neck with his teeth, and
bit right through the grizzle. Oh, it was a powerful
nip, that ! the pain was enough to drive one mad, and
I fairly roared like a bull, it hurt me so.

" In the mean time, the horse began to rear and
plunge most furiously ; for the poor dumb animal
knew, as well as could be, it had a ghost-rider, besides
its lawful master, to carry. At last, it kicked so like
old Scratch, it sent us both flying heels over head, the
Judge on one side, and me on the other side of it. I
fortunately held on to the rein, and jumped up like
winkin', and the horse stood head to him, snorting
and blowing like a porpoise. I shall never forget that

LIFE IN A COLONY.

233

scene, the longest day I ever live. The Judge had
no hat on ; his face was all hairy and slimy ; his eyea
looked some wild animaPs, they had such a fiery, rest-
less, wicked glance, which I expect was the ghost
looking out of the dead sockets of the unburied skele-
ton — at least, that^s my idea of it ; and his teeth was
the only white-looking thing about him : but then,
teeth last a long time, particularly when kept from the
air, under water, in the long matted grass and lily-
roots. I hardly got a real good look at him, before
he rolled himself up into a ball, like a porcupine, and
shrieked — oh, how he shrieked ! I heard him after-
wards, for the matter of three or four minutes, (for you
may depend I didn**t stay to keep him company longer
than I could help) while I was oalloping off as hard as
ever my horse could lay legs to the ground. I wouldn't
encounter that old Judge agin, for anything in this
blessed world. Thafs the first, and the last, and the
only time I ever see a ghost ; and I never desire to
see another.'"*

" What did your neighbours think of that story T'
said Barclay.

" Well, I didn't want to brag," said Stephen ;
*' but, since you've axed the question, this I will say
for myself — there never was a man in the whole county
of Annapolis, that so much as even hinted that he
didn't believe it, except old Parson Rogers, of Digby ;
and plague take me if I think them ministers believe
half they preach themselves, they are so loath to be-^
lieve other folks. The parson one day jist up and
axed me all about it.

" * Steve,' says he, ' they tell me you have seen the
old Judge ; is that true ?'

" * Oh, parson !' says I, * now you are only a goin'
for to banter me ; let me alone, now, that's a good
soul, for that ain't a subject to banter on ; and I
inight say something I would be sorry for, perhaps/

** *I am not a going to tease you, Stephen,' he
said : ' I really want to hear it as it happened, if it

234

THE OLD JUDGE : OR,

ever did haj^pen. They say you had a hard struggle
with him ; is that true V

" ' True as gospel/ says !•

** * Were you quite sober that night, Steve,' said
he. * You know, folks sometimes see double on St.
Patrick's Day.'

" ' See !' says I, * parson ; I not only see him, but
felt him, too. Look here, where he left the marks of
his teeth on me !' and I stripped and showed him the
* Do you believe now I says I.

scars.

" ' I never heard that ghosts had teeth before,
Steve,' said he, most provokin' cool — ' no, never.'

" ' Did you ever see one 2' says I ; * so come, now,
answer me that.'

" ' No, says he ; * I never saw one, and never ex-
pect to.'

" *How the plague can you tell, then,' says I,
* whether thev have teeth or not ? But I have seen
one, do ye romd : and I can swear they have teeth-^
pla^uv sharp ones, too — breath as hot as a tearkettle,
and claws as long and as strong a bear.'

** *■ Stephen,' said he, * my son, I didn't think you
were so easily frightened.'

" * Frightened !' says I ; and I began to get cross
with his banter, as if I would go for to tell a lie, or be
such a fool as not to know what I was a talking about
— ' firightened, is it ?' said I ; * it's more than ever
you could do to skeer me, though you have been

freachin' against the devil and all nis imps ever since
was bom. But do you go to Beler's Lake on St.
Patrick's night, and if the Judge is to home, and a
talking and a stirring under water, do you ondervalue
him as I did, and say you ain't afraid of him, dead or
alive, and if he don't frighten you into believing what
you hear, and believing what you see, and into linow-
ing the difference between a bite and a kiss, then you
are a braver man than I take you to be, that's all.

" * rUgo with you the next 17th day of March,'
saia he.

LIFE IN A COLONY.

235

" * Thank vov ,■* "r'ic!. I ; * Fd rather be excused/

" * Well, 1 11 gv/ with or without you, just as vou
please, on the 17th of next March, if you will first
go to Nick Wyland^s, and see that Colonel Brown^s
crazy boy (the one that roasted his brother) is well
chained up. Ifs my opinion that that mischievous
maniac broke loose, or slipped out that night, and
attacked you ; and the only wonder is that, with his
superhuman strength, he didnH kill you. You had a
great escape. But as for a ghost, Steve.... ^

" ' Parson,' says I, * do you believe the Bible V

" *Yes,' says he, ^Ido.*^

" ' Well, then,' says I, * believe in Judge Beler's
ghost. I have seen him, and heard him, and felt him,
and have the marks to prove it. You are Parson
Rogers, ain't you V

" * Yes.'

" ' Well, so you are j but how do I know it 2 Because
I've seen you, heard you, and felt you. Well, that's
the way I know the ghost. I tell you, I have heard,
seen, and felt Judge Beler's ghost.'

CHAPTER XII.

THE KEEPING-ROOM OP AN INN;

OB, SEEING THE DEVIL.

NO. II.

Miss Lucy, who had listened with ^eat interest
and attention to Richardson's story of Judge Beler's
Ghost, pronounced it " beautiftil !"

'' Oh, Mr. Stephen," she said, *' that is a charming
tale. There is nothing in natur I am so fond of as
a good Ghost story ; it is so exciting, although I don't
just altogether like to hear them too late at night,
neither before going to bed, for they are apt to keep
one awake, or set one a-dreaming. That part of it
where the judge rises from the lake, a-cantering on

236

THE OLD JUDGE J Oft,

his mare, and never going a-Iiead, like a rocking-horse,
is grand ; and so is that part where the people on
the raft first see that it is not a living bein^, but a Ghost
or a dead human, and suddenly stop rowing, and stare
and stare at him with all their eyes, until he slowly
sinks out of si^ht for ever ! What a pictur that
would make, if there was any one that could take it
off naterally ! I think I can see it, and the lone
dismal lake, just as you have described it. And then
agin, when the Ghost comes through the ice with a
noise like thunder, jumps up behind you on the horse,
and screams and yells like mad, and seizes you by
the nape of the neck with his teeth, and you so
scared all the time ! Oh, it's fun alive ! It beats all.

LXl Sa • • •

" You wouldn't have found it such fun, then," naid
Mr. Stephen, " I can tell you, if you had a-been
there, for he would have just turned-to, and eat you
up at oncost, like a ripe peach ! He found me rather
tough, I reckon ; but if it had been your beautiful
tempting neck, Miss Lucy, he'd a-never a-left off, after
he had once a-j^ot a taste of it, until he had finished
it, I know. If I was a young man, I...."

" Which you ain't," said Miss Lucy : " and so
there is no excuse for your talking such nonsense, so
be done, now. But the part I don't like, is the talk
you had with the parson at Digby, for that seems to
throw a doubt on it, or to explain it. Now, I don't
want to hear a good Ghost story cleared up. I do
believe in them, and like to believe in them. Spirits
ain't permitted, according to my idea, to wander about
the earth merely to scare decent folks out of their
senses, but for some good purpose or another ; and
although we can't always see them, who can tell that
they don't surround us, notwithstanding, watching
over us when asleep, guarding our steps, shielding U6
from evil, and putting good thoughts in our minds ?
That's my belief, at any rate."

*' And a very sublime, beautiftil, and poetical belief

LIFE IN A COLONY.

237

it is, too, Miss Lucy,"" said the little man in black,
whom Richardson denominated Broadcloth, but whose
real name I found was Lay ton j *' I sympathize with
you in that rational, sensible, and agreeable theory.
The very idea of holding communion with ethereal
spirits, has something elevating and ennobling in it.
I believe in them, ana should like to see them about
me and my couch. We read that, in the olden time,
angels visited the earth, and conversed freely with
mortals.'"

" Celestial beings ? Celestial nonsense f" said Mr.
Stephen; " you're a pretty fellow to encounter ghosts,
ain't you 2 Why, man alive, you'd go mad, or die of
fright in a week, if your wishes were fulfilled j you
would, upon my soul ! You are the lust man in the
world to want to see apparitions, I can tell you. Now,
just look here. Miss Lucy. Broadcloth married his
third wife last fall, and a nice, tidy, smart, managing
body she is, too, as you will see between this and
Annapolis county line. The only sensible thing he ever
did was to marry her, and the only onsensible thing
she ever did was to take up with the like of him !"

" Thank you, sir," said Layton ; " I am much
obliged to you for the compliment."

"Oh, not at all!" coolly rejoined Mr. Stephen;
" I mean what I say. I never flatter, and when I say
civil things like that, people are welcome to them, for
they deserve them. Now, Miss Lucy, just fancy this
beautiful bridegroom ondressing himself, blowing out
his candle, and hopping into bed...."

" Why, Mr. Stephen," she said, " ain't you ashamed
to talk so?"

" And hopping into bed like a frog on all fours,
when, lo and behold ! if he'd his way about spirits,
he would see two ghosts standing at the foot of his
bedstead, grinning horribly, and stretching out their
long, thin, bony arms, and shaking their rattling,
skinny fists, and making all sorts of ugly faces at him
and his bride, or beckoning him this way with their

238

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

','

hands'*'' (and he got up, and, stooping forward, suited
the action to the wora), " looking enticing like, and
waving him to come^ and follow them to the cold,
damp grave, and sing ditties there through his nose
with them in chorus, with earwigs and toads. Oh,
yes, by all means, it^s well worth while for a man who
nas married three wives to talk of living with ghosts,
ain't it ? Or, jist suppose now....""

" Have the goodness, Mr. Richardson," said the
little man, ** to make your suppositions less personal
and less offensive, if you please, sir — ^your conversa-
tion is very disagreeable.'*^

But the incorrigible talker went on without attend-
ing to him —

" Or, jist suppose him going across the Devil's
Goose Pasture at night."

"Tie Devil's Goose Pasture!" said Miss Lucy;
** what in natur is that? What under the sun do you
mean ?'*•

*' The great Aylesford sand-plain," said Stephen ;
" folks call it, in a giniral way, * the Devil's Goose
Pasture.' It is thirteen miles long, and seven miles
wide ; it ain't jist drifting sand, but it's all but that,
it's so barren. It's oneaven, or wavy, like the swell
of the sea in a calm, and is covered with short, dry,
thin, coarse grass, and dotted here and there with a
half-starved birch and a stunted misshapen spruce.
Two or three hollow places hold water all through the
su-iimer, and the whole plain is cris-crossed witn cart
or horse-tracks in all directions. It is jist about as
silent, and lonesome, and desolate a place as you
would wish to see. Each side of this desert are some
most royal farms, some of the best, perhaps, in the
province, containing the rich lowlands under the
mountain ; but the plain is dven up to the geese, who
are so wretched poor that the foxes won't eat them,
they hurt their teeth so bad. All that country there-
abouts, as I have heard tell when I was a boy, was
oncost owned by the lord, the king, and the devil.

LIFE IN A COLONY.

239

The glebe lands belonged to the first, the un^nted
^vilderness lands to the second, and the sand plain fell
to the share of the last (and people do say the old
gentleman was rather done in the division, but that
IS neither here nor there), and so it is called to this
day the Devirs Goose Pasture. Broadcloth lives on
one side of this dry paradise. Now, just suppose him
crossing it to visit a neighbour of a dusky nignt, when
the moon looks like a dose of castor oil in a glass of
cider....*"

" What an idea,'** said Miss Lucy ; " well, I never
in all my bom days ! did you ever, now V

** When all of a sudden down comes two ghosts
on moonbeams (not side-saddle fashion, the way galls
ride, but the way boys coast down hill on sleds, belly-
flounder-fashion), and lay right hold of him with their
long, damp, clammy, cold arms, one pulling hiAi this
way, and the other pulling him that way— one raying
' You shall,' and t other saying, * You shan't'— one
saying, * Oome to me,' and t'other saying, * Stay with
me ;' and he a-saying, * I wish old rfick had both of
you !' And then fancy, when he returns home, his
wife saying — ' Broadcloth, who were those two onruly,
onmannerly galls, that was romping so ondecent in
Goose Pasture? you ou^ht to be ashamed of yourself,
so you ought, to be acting that way !' and he afraid
to tell her, and she growin jealous and he a-growing
mad. Oh, yes, take your own way. Broadcloth, in-
vite ghosts to your house ; they don't cost nothing
to feed them, and they have wings instead of horses,
and don't want oats. They are cheap guests, and very
entertaining, especially to a lucky dog like you, that
has had three wives, one reclining alongside of you,
and a-looking up admiring and loving into your eyes,
as much as to say, * Well, they don t look a bit like
onripe limes, though they be a little yallow or so ;'
and two other ladies standing near you, knowing
every thought, hearing every word, watching like
weasels, and as jealous as all natur. Oh, it wouldn't

I' :

240

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

)nake you nervous a bit. You would like to see ihem
about your couch, I know you would."

** Mr. Stephen," said Layton, rising in great anger,
** this is too bad. You first take the liberty to drink
more than any two men can stand, and then talk in a
style that no man in the world can bear. You or I
must leave the room, that's a fact."

" liord bless jou," said Stephen, ** there'*s no occa-
sion for either of us to leave the room ; it''s big enough
for both of us. I didn't mean no harm, you know
that as well as I do ; only when I hear folks a-talking
nonsense, I like to rub them down good-naturedly a
little, thafs all. I wonH say I havenH been drinking
a little, though ; but there is no danger of my being
seized for it, for all that. Lawyer," addressing him-
self to Barclay, " did you ever hear of Andrew Wal-
lace seizing a man that was drunk, and putting him
up at auction ? I must tell you that stoiy. Squire
Wallace was a captain in the militia, and one day,
after training was over, and jist before the men was dis-
missed from parade, he took a guard with him, and made
a prisoner of Pat Sweeney, who was a most powerful
drinker — drink as much at a time as a camel almost.

*' ' Pat,' says he, ' I seize you in the King''s
name !'

" ' Me !' says Pat, a-scratching of his head, and
looking abroad, bewildered like ; * Pm not a smuggler.
Touch me, if you dare !'

" ' I seize you,' says he, ' for a violation of the
Excise Law, for carrying about you more than a
gallon of rum without a permit, and to-morrow I shall
sell you at auction to the highest bidder. You are a
forfeited article, and I could knock you on the head
and let it out, if I liked — no nonsense, man.' And
he sent him off to gaol, screaming and scratching like
mad, he was so frigntened.

" The next day Pat was put up at vandeu, and
knocked down to his wife, wno bid him in for forty
shillings. It's generally considered the greatest rise

LIFE IN A COLONY.

241

ever taken out of a man in this country. Now, I am
in no danger of being Boizod thougli I won't say but
what I have tiidted a considerable some several times
to-day."

The truth is, Mr. Richardson, notwithstanding his
maxims of worldly wisdom, t' which he was so fond
of treating his friends wher iway from home, drank
freely. His head, I was toid, seen id able to resist
the utmost effects of !iquor ; and aliiifugh he boasted
that he was never known to be drunk, lie omitted to
mention that he, nevertheless, oflen swallowed as
much rum in a day as would intoxicate three or four
ordinary men.

"If you are fond of spirits, Broadcloth," he con-
tinued, " I advise you to leave ghosts alone, and make
acquaintance with good old Jamaica spirits. Instead
of frightening you out of your wits, they will put wit
into you, and that won**! hurt you at no time. If
ou contiL o to drink cold water much longer, my

y, your iii/tbers will perish of the dry-rot, as sure
as you are born. You look as yaller as a pond-lily
now ; end it is all owing to living like them, on bad
water. Man was never made to drink water, or Natur
would have put him on all-fours, with his mouth near
the running streams, like all animals intended to use
it. But man was calculated to stand straight up upon
his pegs, with his mug as far away from the cold
springs and fish-spawny brooks as possible, and had
apple-trees, and sugar-canes, and barley, and what
not, given him, and sense put into his pate to distil
good liquor from them, and hands to lift it up to his
lips when made, and a joint in his neck to bend his
head backward, that it might slip down his throat
easily and pleasantly ; and, by the same token, here
is your good health, old fellow, and wishing you may
have better beverage in future than horses and asses
have. Now, Jamaica spirits I would recommend to
you; but as for ghosts and onairthly spirits, why, a
fellow like you that has had three wives...."

'I'

242

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

Here Lavton protested so strongly against the
repetition oi these indecent allusions, that Miss Lucy
interfered in his hehalf, and forhade Richardson to con-
tinue his annoyance ; and, by way of changing the
conversation, asked if any other person in the company
knew a good ghost-story.

" Certainly," said Stephen ; " here is my old friend
Thompson : when he was a boy, he and his father and
mother saw the Devil one night. Fact, I assure you,
and no mistake ! Come, Apple-Sarce," he said, tap-
ping a stout, good-looking countryman on the shoulder,
" tell Miss Lucy that story of seeing the Devil. It's
a capital one, if you could only tell it all through your
mouth, instead of letting half of it escape through your
nose, as you do."

" Seeing the Devil !" said Miss Lucy ; " how you
talk !"

** Yes, the real old gentleman," said Stephen ;
** horns, hoof, tail, and all !"

" Well, I never," said Miss Lucy, " in all my born
days ! Oh, that must be grand, for it''s more than
any ghost-story ! Oh, pray tell it, Mr. Thompson ;
do, that^s a good soul ! But don''t begin it just yet,

J)lease ; I have some small chores to see to about the
10 use, and will be back in a few minutes, and I
wouldn't miss a word of it for any thing !"

During the pause in the conversation occasioned by
the absence oi Miss Lucy, a person of the name of
Bayley, a passenger in the " Stage Sleigh," from Illinoo,
entered the room. Barclay immediately recognised
him as an old acquaintance ; and so did Richardson,
who appeared to know every body in the country.
After their mutual greetings were over, Barclay con-
gratulated him upon having received the appointment
of Collector of His Majesty's Customs at the port of
Rainy Cove. Mr. Bavley replied, that he was sorry
to inform him that he bad been superseded.

" I was," he said, " as you may suppose, very
strongly recommended by the most influential people

LIFE IN A COLONY.

243

at Halifax, who were well acquainted with my father^s
long and valuable services, and my own strong per-
sonal claims ; and was nominated by the head of the
department, and appointed by the Governor in a man-
ner that was particularly gratifying to my feelings.
I accordingly relinquished my ordinary business, and
devoted myself to the duties of my new office. I held
the situation for several months, when, one Sunday
night, as we were just rising from family prayers, and
about to retire, I heard a loud knocking at the door.
A stranger entered, and informed me that he had been
appointed by the Board in England (who claimed the
patronage) to the office I held, and requested me to
deliver up to him the books and papers of the depart-
ment early on the following morning. Ill-judged and
improper as the time chosen for this communication
was, 1 was pleased that it was so, for the occupation
in which we had all just been engaged had not been
without its effect on my feelings, and I was enabled to
control the impatience and irritation to which I might
otherwise have given vent, and refrain from saying and
doing what I might have afterwards regretted ; for,
after all, he was in no way to blame, except, perhaps,
for an unseasonable visit. It has, however, been a
serious injury to me, by causing me to relinquish a
business which I find it very difficult to regain ; and
is one of those things of which, as colonists, we have
great reason to complain."

" Squire," said Stephen, " don't you live at the
comer of King's Street, at Rainy Cove 2*"

" I do."

" And ain't there a platform to the house, that you
go up seven or eight steps to reach the front door ?

"There is."

" Then 111 tell you how I'd serve a fellow out that
came to me of a Sunday night, to gladden my heart
with good news, like that chap. First, I'd take him
by the nape of the neck with one hand ; for, you see,
tnere is a collar there, and a waistcoat, and a neckcloth,

244

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

and a shirt (if the feller had one afore he came here),
and all them make a good strong grip — do you mark ?
and then Td take him by the slack of the seat of his
trousers, which gives another good hold, with the
other hand, for that makes a good balance of the body,
and then Td swing him forward this way (and he
put himself into attitude, and illustrated the process) ;
and rd say, ' Warny oncest,' then Td swing him
a-head again with a * Warny twicet,' and then oncest
more, with a ' Warny three times !' liy this see-saw
— do you mark ? — Td get the full sling of my arras
with all the weight of my body and his too ; and then
IM give him his last shove, with ' Here yow go !"* and
Fd chuck him clean across the street, into neighbour
Green's porch, and neighbour Green would up, and
kick him into the road, without ever saying a word, for
smashing his stoop-door in j and stranger, English-like,
would turn to and give him lip, and the constable would
nab him, and lug him off to gaol, for making an ondecent
noise of a Sabbath night. Td work it so, the gentle-
men of Rainy Cove would know where to find him, to
call upon him next day, and welcome him to their
town. Thaf's what I call a hard case of yourn, Squire,
and I'd like to see the feller that would fetch me a case
like that, and he nimble enough to get out of my house
afore I smashed it over his head, I know !"

The very proper conduct of Mr. Bayley under such
trying circumstances, no less than the singular lan-
guage of Richardson, induced me, after we retired
from the keeping-room, to ask some explanation of my
friend Barclay on this subject. He informed me that,
until about twenty years ago, the Custom House
establishment in this- colony was supported by fees of
office, which were then commuted by the province for
an annual payment of between .£^7000 and j£*8000,
upon the understanding that the patronage should be
transferred to the local government, by whom the
officers were to be paid. He added, that the usual
course is, for the head of the department at HsClifax to

LIFE IN A COLONY.

245

nominate a suitable person for a vacancy, and the
Governor to appoint; but that the provincial com-
missions to colonists have been so often superseded of
late, in the most unceremonious manner, that the
recent Lieutenant-Governor very properly refused to
have any thing to do with a patronage that was only
calculated to degrade his office, and diminish his
weight and influence in the province. I understand
that this improper interference of the Board of Customs
is severely felt and loudly complained of by colonists,
who, unfortunately, are so situated as to be unable to
obtain any employment or promotion out of their own
country ; and, therefore, very naturally feel that they
are at least entitled to those offices, the salaries of
which they furnish themselves. But this is foreign to
my subject. I give the conversation as it occurred ;
and, if it lacks amusement, it may furnish information
to those who have the power to set the matter right.

When our young hostess returned, Richardson
said —

" Ah, Miss Lucy, you have lost a capital story
while you was gone ! This gentleman, here. Squire
Bayley, saw the Devil also. lie came pop into his
house oncost of a Sunday night, in the shape of a
Custom House officer, seesed all his books, papers, and
income, and left him scratching his head and a-won-
dering where he was to find employment or bread,
and advised him to go to bed, and say his prayers,
and hoped they might do him much good. But
Thompson, here, seed him in his naked truth. Come,
Apple-Sarce, we are all ready now. Tell us vour story,
unless you will wet your whistle first with a little
brandy-and-water. You won'^t, won't you ? Then I
will — so here's to your good health ! Now, go on, old
Walk-'em-slow, we are all eyes and ears."

" When I was a boy," said Mr. Thompson, " I
used to live at a place called Horton Corner. I dare
say you have all neard of it."

" Heard of it !" said Richardson, *' to be sure I

246

THE OLD JUDGE; OR,

1 :i

have. I knew it afore you was bom. It was then
called the DeviFs Half- Acre. Such an awM place
for law, gamblin', drinkin,' fightin,' and horse-racin',
never was seen. Father used to call the people
Horton-tots. It reminds me of a drunken old rascal
called Knox, that used to live at Annapolis. He took
a day oncest, and hawled up all o? a sudden, a
teetotaller, and then lectured ; for the moment a
feller reforms here, he turns preacher, on the prin-
ciple that, the greater the sinner, the greater the
saint."

" ' Well,' says he, ' my brethren, when I used to
be drunk about the streets, the folks called me that
old blackguard Knox; when I left off drinking, it
was old Knox ; when I got new clothes, it was Knox ;
and now, my brethren, I am always called Mr. Knox —
this is the ladder of virtue.'

" Now, that's the case with your Horton Comer.
When it was the sink of iniauity, it went by the name
of the Devil's Half- Acre ; when it grew a little better,
ifc was Horton Comer ; and now they are so genteel,
nothing will do but Kentville. They ought to have
made old Knox custos rogororum."

" If you know the stonr, Mr. Stephen," said Thomp-
son, " you had better tell it yourself."

((

Thank you," said Stephen. " I know the sum

you

total, but I can't put down the figures,
cipher it out your own way."

" Well, as I was a sayin', when I was a boy I lived
at Homton Comer, now called Kentville, and my
father and mother kept a public house. Father was
well broughten up, and was a very strict and pious
man."

" Yes," said Stephen ; " and, like most pious men,
used to charge like the Devil."

" Mr. Richardson," said Thompson, very angrily,
" you had better let my father alone."

" Why, confound you, man," replied Stephen, *' I
have got the marks to this day ; if I was to home, I

LIFE IN A COLONY.

247

ous men.

could show you the bill. Fourpence a quart for oats,
wine measure, and the oats half chaff. You had
better say nothin' about piety, old Sugarstick."

'' Mr. Richardson, perhaps you would like a candle
to go to bed,''^ said Miss Lucy. '' Ifs very rude of
you to talk that way, so it is ; and, besides, it spoils
a story to have it interrupted all the time after that
fashion."

" I beg your pardon, miss," said Stephen, " I didnH
mean no offence ; and Thompson knows me of old :
it''s jist a way I have, bantering-like ; nobody minds
me — they know it's all for their own good. How-
somever, go it, Thinskin," he said, slapping Thompson
on the back, " I won't stop you if you break your
bridle and run away."

"On Sunday," continued Thompson, "his house
was always shut up. None of the folks in the neigh-
bourhood was ever admitted ; and no liquor was sold
on no account to nobody. In those days there wam't
much travelling at any time, anii on Sunday nobody
hardly travelled ; for old Squire M'Monagle picked them
up at Windsor on one side, and fined them, and old
Colonel Wilmot picked 'em up at Aylesford on t'other
side, and not only fined them, but made them attend
church besides. Officers and lawyers were the only
ones a'most that broke rule. Every officer drew his
sword, and swore he was travelling express on king's
business, and magistrates were afeered of their com-
missions if they stopped a government messenger.
And every lawyer swore, if they dared to stop him,
he'd sue both magistrate and constable, and ruin them
in costs. So these folks were the only exceptions."

" I'll tell you what I have observed," said Stephen.
" Lawyers think law was made for every one else
to mind but themselves ; and officers have no law but
honour ; which means, if you promise to pay a debt,
you needn't keep it, unless it's for money lost at
cards ; but, if you promise to shoot a man, you must
keep your word and kill him. Now, don't say a

248

THE OLD JUDGE J OR,

word, miss — I am done ; Til shut up my clam-shell,
mum."

" Well, father did not like to refuse oflicers, for
they were dangerous men, and might be on king'*s
business."

"And bled freely, says you," addressed Mr.
Richardson, with a wink.

" But lawyers, he knew, needn't travel of a Sunday
unless they liked ; and, when they did, he generally
gave them a cold shoulder. Well, one fine summer
Sunday, about one o'clock, when all the folks were
going down to Mud Creek, to see old Witch Wilson
dipt (that Elder Strong had converted from her wicked
ways), who should arrive at our house but Lawyer
Scott ! I was but a boy at the time, but I can recol-
lect him, and what happened then, as well as if it was
yesterday. He was a tall, stout, bony man, about the
size of Stephen."

" And why don''t you say about as handsome, too ?"
added Bichardson.

" With light-coloured hair, and a face somewhat
kinder, paled by study ; a good-natured body, in a
general way, when he was pleased, but an awful man
when he was angry. They say he was the greatest
speaker of his time, and carried all afore him ; and
that, when he was talking to a jury, he could take
the opposite lawyer and turn him inside out like, and
then back again, as easy as an aid stocking ; and, as
for charader, he could skin a man*s off, and tear it all
into little pieces as small as bits of paper, that no
living man could put together again ; and all the
time make judges, jury, witnesses, and hearers, roar
with laughter, so you could hear them a mile off.
The whole county used to attend courts in those days
to hear the sport. Things are greatly altered now.
Lawyers have no fun in 'em no more. They are dry
sticks ; and, if any one makes a joke, the Judge looks
as sour as if he had swallowed a pint of vinegar."

"They are like your old 'Devil's Half- Acre,' of

LIFE IN A COLONY.

249

Mr.

Hornton Corner,"" said Stephen. " They have got so
infernal genteel, they have altered their name and
very natur. Once upon a time, th^y used to be called
attorneys j now, forsooth, they are solicitors : for-
merly they were styled lawyers, but now nothing but
bannisters will do, and nice bannisters they are for a
feller to lean on thafs going down stairs to the devil."

"True,"'^ continued Thompson, "times are sadly
altered. It will be many a long day before you see
the like of old Lawyer Scott. Well, he drove up to
the door in a gig — waggons hadn't come into fashion
then, and people either travelled on horseback with
saddle-bags, or in gigs j but, in a general way, pig-
skin carried the day on account of the roughness of
the roads — I think I can see him now, with his great,
big, bony, high-stepping bay horse (we haven''t got
such horses no more now-a-days), and his little gig
with the wooden pig-yoke spring (to my mind the
easiest, and lightest, and best spring ever made for a
rough country), and his gun and his fishing-rod
fastened cross ways to the dash-board. He came along
Hke a whirlwind. You know how sandy the flat is
at Kentville, and there was a stiff breeze a-blowing at
the time; and he always travelled at a smashing,
swinging trot ; and, as he streaked along the road,
the dust rose like a cloud, and all you could see was a
flying column of drifting sand. Father was standing
at the front gate when he reined up and alighted.
• " ' How are you, Thompson V said he ; ' how is
the old lady, and all to home to-day V

" * None the better for seeing you of a Sunday,'
said father, quite short."

*•• There is your pious man !" said Stephen.

" Well, it was enough to make him grumpy, for he
had got his go-to-meeting clothes on, and all the
world was a-going to see the old witch dipt j and
mother was all dressed, and was to spend artemoon
with old Mrs. Fuller, that married her sister's hus-
band's brother — Crane Fuller that was; and they

M 5

250

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

knowed, in course, that they'd have to go and take off
their toggery and tend on the lawyer."

" * Where is the. hired man ?' says Scott.

" * Gone to meeting,'' says father.

" * Where's the boys, then V said he.

" * Gone there, too, said the old gentleman.

" ' Well, I'm sorry for that,' says lawyer. ' Just
ontackle this horse and put him up yourself, will you ?
— ^that's a good fellow.'

** ^ Thou shalt do no work,' says father, * thou, nor
thy servant,' and so on, all through it.

" ' I'll tell you what,' says Scott ; * by Jove ! if
you don't go this minute, and onhamiss that horse,
and take care of him,' — and he went to the gig and
took out his horsewhip, and began to flourish it over
father's head, with the lash looped in, club-like — ^ if
you don't go and take that horse, I'll....'

" ' What will yoi* do ?' says father (for he was clear-
grit, regular New England gmger.) So, turning right
round short, and doublin' up his fists, ^ What will you
do, sir r

" There was your pious man," said Stephen. " He
wouldn't put up a horse of a Sunday, but he'd fight
like a game-cock for half nothin'. Well done, old
boy ! swear your father was a pious man, until you
believe it yourself, will you 2"

" * What will you do 2' says father.

" * Why, by the Lord,' says Scott, ' if you don't,
and you know I am able....'

" * You are not,' says fiither. ' You never was the
man, and I defy you!'

" ' If you don't go and do it this minute, I'll— I'll —
I'll just go and do it myself. Ah, my old cock !' said
he, a-givin' him a slap on the back, so hard, that it
gave him a fit of the asthmy ; ' so you got your Ebe-
nezer up, did you ? I have you there, at any rate.
Now, do you go off to meetin', says he, * you and the
old lady, and I'll put up the horse myself, and smoke
my pipe till you come back, for I don't want to mis-

LIFE IN A COLONY.

251

lest you in the least.** So with that he turned to, on-
harnessed his horse, put him into the stable, and went
into the house and lit his pipe ; and father and mother
went off to meetin' and left nim."

" A nice temper to go to meetin' in !" said Stephen.
^* But pious men are always amiable and good tem-
pered."

" Well, they stayed to see the dipping, and then
went to visit Mrs. Fuller, and it was considerable well
on to sundown when they came home, and mother
began to feel compunctious, too, at leaving the lav/yer
so long alone; but father was strict, and had scruples
of conscience, aud wouldnH relax for no one. As soon
as they drove up to the door, out runs lawyer.

" * How do you do, Mrs. Thompson V said he ; for
he was a sociable man, and talking kindly came natural
to him. * Bless me, I thought it was your daughter,
you look so young and handsome ! you have positively
taken a new lease ! Let me help you out.^

" He was a great tall man ; and he went up to the
gig and held out both hands, and when she sprung out,
he managed to have her jump so that he caught her in
his arms, and carried her to the door. What he said
to her I don't know; but no man knew better
what flattery to whisper to a woman than he did;
and, whatever it was, it put her in a good humour,
and she bustled about and got his dinner ready in
no time. The table was set in the room where the
old folks were, but father wouldn''t talk, and hardly
answer him at all, and when he did it was quite short.
At last, says Scott, with a wicked twinkle of his eye,
for he was full of mischief, and had the sliest eye you
ever see —

" * Thompson,' says he, * I saw an old friend of
yours in Aylesford to-day, Nancy Noley; she made
many anxious inquiries after you, and desired to be
kindly and gratefully remembered to you.'

*' * Who f said mother.

" * Nancy Noley,' said the lawyer.

252

THE OLD JUDGE j OR,

"'Nancy De\ii!' said father. *I know there ia
such a woman in Aylesford, but I never spoke to her
in all my life/

*' ' Strange, too," said lawyer, * for she told me to
tell you the cow you gave her last spring got cast in
the field and died, and she hoped you would either
give or hire her another, and said how liberal you had
always been to her/

(( (

A cow !' said mother.

" ' A cow !' said father.

" ' Yes, a cow,** said lawyer. ' Why, what in the
world has got into you to-day V said Scott ; ' you
won't know your old friends, you wonH hear me, and
you won''t hear of Nancy or her cow.''

" ' Well, well,** says mother, ' here''s a pretty how do
you do! What in the world are you giving cows
to Nancy Noley for?' and she began to cry like
anything.

" ' Lawyer,' says father, ' leave my house this
minute ; if you don't go out, I'll put you out.'

" * Indeed you shan't,' says mother ; ' if you put
him out, you shall put me out, too, I promise
you. If you had been half as civil to him as you
are to Nancy Noley, it would have been better for
both of us,' said she, ciying most bitterly. ' I'll
have your tea ready for you, lawyer, whenever you
want it.'

" Father seed a storm a-brewin', so says he —

" ' Well, then, if he stays I'll go, that's all ; for I'd
as soon see the Devil in the house as see him.'

" * Mr. Thompson,' says lawyer, with a serious face,
* don't use such language, or you may see the Devil in
earnest.'

" * I defy you and the Devil, too, sir!' said he.

" ' Recollect, Mr. Thompson, you say you defy the
Devil, and you are in a devilish and not a Christian
temper.'

" ' I defy you both, sir!' said father, and he walked
out into the orchard to cool himself."

LIFE IN A COLONY.

253

** Improve his temper, you mean," said Stephen,
*' by eating sour apples. There never was an apple in
your father''s orchard that wouldn''t pucker u pig'a
mouth."

" In the evening, we had tea, but father was not
present ; he did not come into the room all about ten.
We were then just separating tor the night. Sajs
mother, says she —

" * Father, will you ask a blessing f

" ' I might ask a long tim'fe,' said he, * before I could
obtain one on a lawyer — a mischief-maker, and a sab-
bath-breaker.'

" ' Thompson,' said lawyer, for he was a good-
natured man, * I am sorry if I have offended you ;
come, shake hands along with me, and let us part
good friends.'

" ' I'd as soon shake hands with the Devil,' said
father."

" What a sample of a meek, pious man !" said
Stephen.

" * Only hear him, Mrs. Thompson!' said lawyer;

* he'd sooner, he says, snake hands with the Devil than
a Christian man ! That's a dangerous saying, sir,' he
said, a^turninff agin and addressing himself to father,

* a very foolish and very rash speech ; he may shake
hands with you sooner than you imagine. You have
heard of the story of the Devil and Tom Ball ; take
care there ain't another of the Devil and Jack Thomp-
son. Good night to you.'

** I was a little boy then, about twelve years old,
and when there was anybody sleeping in the house
there was a bed made for me in mother's room. Father
and I went to bed, and mother seed to the house, and
to putting out lights, and raking up wood fires, and
putting the birch-brooms in water, for fear of live coals
m them, and setting rolls to rise in the dough-trough,
and covering them with a blanket, seeing the galls was
in and a-bed, bolting the doors and what not, and at
last she came to bed, too. Father either was or pre-

254

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

■-1 r,

tended to be asleep, and not a word was said till some
time after mother tiad turned in. At last, said she—

"*Johnr

" Father didn^t answer.

** * John, dear!^ said she, giving him a gentle shake,
* dear John !'

** * What do you want V says father.

" * Are you asleep, dear V said she.

*' ' No ; but I wish you would let me go to sleep,"
said he.

** * Well, so I will, love,** says mother ; * but there
is jist one thing I want to know, and then you may go
to sleep.'

"* Well r says he.

** * Why didn't you read the cow as usual to-night T

" * Bead what V says father, turning round towards
her.

" * Bead the cow, dear, before we went to rest.'

** * Bead the Devil !' said he; * what in the world do
you mean by reading the cow i I believe the woman
IS crazed.'

" ' Oh, dear, 1 believe so, too !' said she ; * and
gracious knows I have enough to drive me mad.' And
she cried and sobbed like anything.

** ' Oh, ho !' says he, * if you are going to take on
that way, good night,' and he turned back again.

" * On !' says she, * that's the way you always treat
your lawful-wedded wife ; and when 1 ask you a civil
question, the Devil is the best word you can find for
me.'

" * Well, what on earth are you at V said ho. ' What
under the sun do you want ?'

" * Why,' says she, * John dear, why didn't you
read and expound this evening, as usual on Sabbath
night, some portion of the wretched creature after so
much temptation of the wicked one to-day ? It would
have been good for body and soul, and if we couldn't
have digested it all, for our temper, we might at least
have tried to do so.'

r. f '

LIFE IN A COLONY.

255

" * Oh, I see,' says father, * what's runnin'' in your
head ! you are pretendin'' to talk about readiii' a cnap-
ter, and want to talk about Nancy Noley and the cow,
and so you have mixed them all up in a jumble:
woman like, you never could come straight to the
point/

" * Well, now, you can't wonder, can you, dear, if
I am troubled in mind ? What's the truth of it ?'

" ' The truth, Polly, dear,' says father, * is jist this.
Nancy Noley is a liar, the lawyer is a liar, and you
are a fool.' '

*' A meek Christian, that old Jack Thompson, wam't
he ?" said Stephen ; ^* and monstrous polite to his
wife, too !"

" ' Fool !' said mother. * Oh you wretched, wicked
monster ! first to deceive, and then to go to abuse your
lawful wife that way !'

'' ' Yes,' says father, ' a fool ; and a stupid one,
too ! I wish old Nick had you all before you conspired
to bother me so confoundedly,' and then he pretended
to snore.

'' And mother began to sob and scold, and the more
she scolded the louder he snored. At last both got
tired of that game, and fell off to sleep, and all was
quiet once more.

" About an hour or so after this I was awaked by
an odd rushin? kind of noise, and a strange smell in
the room, and I called to mother, but she said she
didn't hear anything, and told me to go to sleep again.
At last she gave a violent scream, and waked up father.

" * Father! father!' said she. 'Look here, John!'

" * What on earth is the matter nowT said he :
' what ails the woman V

" * Hush,' says mother, ' the Devil's come ; you
know you wishea he might take us all away, and here
he is — oh-o-o-o— oh-o-o-o !'

" * Poor thing !' says father, quite mollified ; * poor
Polly, dear, I've been too harsh with you, I believe.
You have gone mad, that's a fact.'

Ril !

Ill

256 THE OLD JUDGE; OR,

*' * I am not mad, John,'' said she. * I am wide awake :
there — there ! don't you see his great fiery eyeballs V

" * Oh, lay down, dear,'* says father, ' you have been
dreaming, and are frightened. Lay down, dear, and
compose yourself.'

" ' I tell you, John, I haven''t been dreaming ; there
he is again ! look, look !'

*' * Where, where V said father.

'• ' There, there !' says mother, * by the door : don't
you see his two red-hot, fiery eyeballs, and a great ball
of fire at his tail V

" ' Heavens and earth !' says father, slowly, * what
is that I see V

" ' Do you see his two great eyes now?' says mother.

" ' I see four,' says father. * This all comes of that
horrid lawyer !' said he.

" ' From that horrid Nancy Noley,' " said she.

" Oh, my, what a beautiful story ! ' said Miss Lucy,
pouring out a glass of cider, and handing it to Mr.
Thompson. " I am sure you must be dry. Oh, my
gracious, what a nice story !"

" Your good health, miss. Where was I ?" asked
Thompson.

" Where one said it was the lawyer's doin's," she
replied, " and the other Nancy Noley's."

" Oh, exactly: ' Lawyer,' said he ; * Nancy,' says
she.

" * Nancy be d d !' said he.

" In the midst of all this hubbub I got awfully
frightened myself, you may depend, and begn^n to cry
lustily, and mother called out —

" * Neddy, Neddy, cover yourself up in the clothes
this minute, dear ! Keep close ; the Devil and Nancy
Noley's here. Here they come .'—here they come ! —
slowly come ! Oh, it's a trying thing to look on the
Devil !' And she gave an awml scream, and it retreated.

" * In this dreadful moment,' says mother, ' when
evil spirits are abroad, and the sound of rushing winds
is heard, and the Devil is roamin' about seeking whom

LIFE IN A COLONY.

257

to devour, and human hearts are quaking, I conjure
you, John Thompson, to tell me, is that story of Nancy
Noley true V

" ' Ifs a d — d lie !'' says father. \

" He had hardly got the words out of his mouth
before all the china and glass ranged in the little three-
cornered show-closet came down on the floor withamost
tremendous smash, the broken piece j rebounding on
our beds, and nearly blinding us. All now was silence
for a minute or two, when mother said —

" ' John, what an answer you got to your assertion !
This is a judgment ; and, oh, may it be executed
mercifully upon you — a sinfiil, fallen, deceitftil man !
Get up and light a candle ; the Devil loves darkness
and eschews the light. "*

" ' Well, to tell you the truth, Polly,' says he, * Vm
a'most afeered ; and, besides, the floor is all covered
with broken glass; and ifs as much as one''s life worth
to go stumbTin"* about among sharp-cornered bits of
crockery, bottles, and what not.' "

" You had better tell us agin he was clear-grit, real,
New England ginger, hadn't you?" added Stephen.

" ' Your conscience fails you, John, that's it. Con-
fess, then, and I'll forgive you,' she said, ' and tell me
how it was that you fell into the snares of that wicked

woman

I tell you I hope the Devil may fly away with
me in earnest, if it's true !' said father.

" At that instant there was a hollow sound, like
that of flapping of enormous wings ; and father and
mother, who were sitting up, saw the balls of fire again
for an instant, when they were both knocked down,
and the window at the head of the bed was dashed out
with great violence. Mother's cap was torn to threads
on one side, and ^ome of her hair pulled out, while the
temple was cut open, and one eyelid much lacerated.
Father had his cheek dreadiully scratched, and the
skin nearly torn from his nose.

" • I can stand this no longer,' said mother ; * the

258

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

((

smell of brimstone is so strong I am e''en a''most suffo-
cated. I must get up and strike a light/ And she
felt for her shoes, and, putting them on, groped her way
to the kitchen.

" When she returned with the candle, she stood a
minute at the door, as if afraid to enter, or dumb-
founded at the destruction of the contents of her cup-
board. Her first thoughts were of me —

" ' Neddy, dear Neddy !' said she, ' are you alive V

" * Yes, mother,' said I.

" ' Are you hurt V said she. * Are you all safe and
sound V

Yes, mother,' said I.

The Lord be praised for that !' said she. * And
now let me see what's here.' And she sot the candle
on the floor, and, standing ever so far off, she took
the broom, and with the tip eend of the handle held
up the valence, first of ray bed, and then of hem, and
peeped under ; and then she made me stand up, and
she beat the bed, as folks do a carpet to drive the dust
out ; and then she told father to rise and dress him-
self, and, while he was a-getting up, she began banging
away at the bed, and managed, either by chance or by
accident done a-purpose (for nothin' furies a woman
like jealousy), to give him some awfiil whacks with the
broom-handle.

' What are you at V says father. ' How dare you?'
' The evil one may be concealed in the bed, dear !
Oh, I shall never forget,' she said, ' her awful fiery
eyes, and the blow she gave me over the head with her
tail when she broke the window !'
Who r said father.

Satan,' said mother. * Oh, the wicked creature,
how she has clawed your face and broke my china !'

" The thoughts of that loss seemed to craze her
a'most, and make her as savage as a bear ; and she hit
him a crack or two agin, that made him sing out pen-
and-ink in real earnest. At last, he caught hold of
the broom-stick in his hand, and said —

((

.d% i

LIFE IN A COLONY.

259

" ' What in the world do you mean by striking me
that way? What ails you, woman?'

" * Did she strike her own lawful husband, then V
said she, in a coaxing tone. * Did she lift her hand
agin her own John ? Poor, dear, lost man !
Well, I shouldn't wonder if I did, for I'm e'en
a'most out of my senses. Here's your shoes, get up
and dress.'

" And when h let go the broom-handle, she
stretched it across the bed, and lifted the blind, and
exposed to view the broken sash and glass of the
window.

" ' See here — see here, John !' she said ; ' here's
where she escaped.'

" ' Who?' said father.

*' ' Why, Satan,' says mother. ' Did you think it
was Nancy?'

*' ' Oh, don't bother me !' said he.

" Long and loud were mother's lamentations over
her china. Her beautiful old, real china bowl, that
belonged to Governor Winthorp, of Massachusetts,
oDe of the oldest governors of the State, from whom
she was descended ; her beautiful painted jar, which,
though often broken, was mended as good as new, but
now was gone for ever ! Her set of gilt teaware, that
belonged to Judge Strange, who sentenced the two
men to death for murder at Lunenburg ; and a china
lamb, that broke its legs and its neck in its fall ; and
a shepherdess, that was split in two from top to bottom
by Washington on horseback ! Tears mingled with
the blood that trickled down her cheeks, and her voice
was choked by fear, grief, and pain. Father never
uttered a word. He assisted her m packing up all the
pieces and fragments into a large basket with wool, to
be reproduced and mended, if possible, afterwards.
When this was done, they dressed each other's wounds,
and sat by the kitchen fire.

" ' Polly,' says father, ' what account are we to give
of this night's work ? If we are silent, it will bef said

260

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

we have lifted our hands against each other ; if we
relate the whole truth, our house will he avoided as
haunted, and our friends will desert us as possessed of
evil spirits. We are sorely tried with afflictions.
This is a judgment on me.' And he shed tears.

" ' Then you are guilty, are you V said she. ' You
confess, do you?""

" ' Polly, dear,' said he, ' I am an innocent man of
the slanders of that vile lawyer, and here is my hand ;
it grieves me you should doubt me. Fll take an oath,
if you wish it, love !'

" ' Oh, no, don't swear, John !' said she. ' Your
word is as good as your oath !' "

" She knew him better than you, Thompson," said
Stephen ; " for I guess it's six of one and half-a-dozen
of the other."

" ' I believe you, John,' she said ; ' and, from
this time forth, I shall never think or speak of it

again.

' Now you talk sense,' said father. ' But what
shall we say ! How shall we account for this night,
for the destruction of our china, and for the marks of
violence on ourselves r

" ' You say you are innocent V

" ' I am.'

" ' Then some way will be opened unto us to save
us from disgrace.'

" ' Easier said than done,' he replied.

" ' I tell you it will be done,' said she.

" Here they were disturbed by the early summons
of the lawyer.

" ' Hullo, Thompson ! where's my bag ?'

" 'Answer him softly,' said mother; 'you may
want his advice.'

" ' Oh, is that you, lawyer V replied father. ' How
are you this morning ? I hope you slept well last
night, Mr. Scott. Will you have a glass of bitters ?
Is there anything I can do for you.' "

''* What a pious hypocrite !" said Stephen.

LIFE IN A COLONY.

261

immons

" ' No, I thank you, not now. But where's my
bafj ? It had two silver-grey foxes in it, worth fifteen
pounds. I was taking them down to HaHfax, as a
present to Sir John Went worth."*

" Mother rose, and put her finger to her lip, and
then went to her chamber and brought out the bag
wliich she had seen near the door, and wondered over
in clearing up her room.

" ' There it is,' she said, as she handed it to fiither,
' there it is ; 1 told you a way would be opened to us.
It's nothing but a pair of foxes, after aH !'

" At breakfast the lawyer lamented over his foxes,
and mother over her china ; but, pleader as he was,
mother beat him all hollow.

" ' I am sorry for the loss of your china, Mrs.
Thompson,' said he ; ' and will replace it all, when I
go to Halifax, with much better. It was I who untied
the bag and let the Devil loose on you, in the form of
those two foxes ; for, to tell you the truth, your hus-
band behaved unhandsomely. He treated one poor
Devil very badly yesterday, and spoke very disrespect-
fully of another one behind his back. Recollect the
old proverb, ' Talk of the Devil, and he will be sure to
appear.' "

" Well 1 never, in all my born days," said MitMx
Lucy, '•heard such a beautiful story end in nothing at
all, like that ! Oh, now, only think of all that interest
being excited and kept up by two nasty, horrid, dirty,
common, smelly foxes ! And then for to come for to
go for to call that ' seeing the Devil !' "

" It's quite as much as I should like to see of him,"
said Stephen.

" Well, it's not as much as I should like to h<.-ar of
him, then," replied Mins Lucy. " Well, I never !
It's a great shame, now, so it is ! The idea of calling

that

' seeing the Devil !

1 11

II ;;

(•■■■^

' 1^

262 • THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

CHAPTER XIII.

THE KEEPING-ROOM OF AN INN;

on, A LONO NIGHT AND A LONG STORY.

NO. IIT.

Soon after the conclusion of the last story of
*' Seeing the Devil,"''' with which Miss Lucy expressed
herself so much dissatisiied, the company separated for
the night. The storm still raged with unahated ftiry,
and the prospect of its continuance for another day
quite exhausted the patience of Mr. Richardson. He
stretched out both his legs and his arms, and expanded
his jaws to their fullest extent, and proclaimed the day
to have been the most tiresome he ever spent in his life.

" I never saw one that was too long to home,**^ he
said, " for I can always find enough to do. Fine days,
rainy days, and stormy days, are all alike to me.
Out-doors or in-doors, a body needn't be idle; but,
away from home, with your head like horned cattle,
fastened in the stanchels, a-chewing of the cud, or sit-
ting before the fire, a-workinw as hard as you can,
turning one thumb over the other, is dull music. It
mrl' 3 a slow day of it, and this has been about the
longest I ever passed; though, after all, it ain^t
to be named with an endless night I once spent. It
was longei* than you. Broadcloth, who are only five
feet nothin', and something beyond me, who am six
feet and a considerable piece to spare ; and, before we
part, I will tell you how and when it was.

" In the fall of 1820, I think it was, when I lived
to the head of Bear River, I took a notion into my
head one day to go out a moose-calling ; so I strapped
on m^ powder-horn and sbot-bag, and put some balls
into my pocket, and took a trifle to eat with me, and
sot off alone into the woods. Well, fir^;. I visited oae
mooseground, and then another, and I nov<^ see thorn
so scarce in all my life ; and, at laat, by .he md of the
third day, I got off ever so far from hoiiie ?muj to the

LIFE IN A COLONY.

263

southward, and my provisions got out, and I couldn't
see bird nor beast, nor anything to feed on, and I was
a'most starved, that's a fact. Says I to myself, says I,
* Shall I go back while I'm able, or shall I hold on
and trust luck V and, seein' that I never failed yet, I
thought I wouldn't give in, but persevere ; go 1 drew
my belt tighter round my stomach, which was pretty
empty, I aci assure you, and pushed on to a place
where I thought I couldn't fail to find moose ; and all
I had to feed upon after the second morning was the
inside bark and juice and scrapings of wild poplars.
In the spring, a body might live on it for a week, I do
suppose ; but in the fall, it's kind of dry and stringy,
and hard fare, you may depend. At last, night came,
and I began to call the moose again.

" This is the way, stranger," he said, addressing
me : " you fold up a piece of birch-bark like a short
speaking-trumpet, as I fold this paper, and then go
like the voice of the cow-moose — this feshion :" and
he uttered some extraordinary lowings, which Miss Lncy
pronounced very horrid and disagreeable, but which
i^arclay and others eulogized as capital imitations ;
** and then," he said, " if there is a herd in the
neighbourhood, one or more of the leaders are sure to
answer it, and come to the spot where the sound rises.
Well, I had been at this sport so long, and been out
of food such a length of time, I was quite weak and
hardly able to call ; but, howsomever, call I did ; and,
bymeby, I heard a great whapping fellor come thrash-
ing and crashing, and rearing and tearing, along
through the trees, as easy as ifhe was moving through
tall grass, and I was getting ready to have a shot at
him, as soon as he stood still to blow, and snort, and
listen again, or as he past on, when the first thing I
knew was he went right slap over me, and trod me
under foot, knocking the wind out of me, and nearly
breaking every rib in my body. Thinks I to myself,
what under the sun shall I do now ? I am e'en a most
starved to death ; every created thing seems to keep

264

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

out of my way except one, and that one wants to teach
me to keep out of his ; and if I ainH starved, I ain't
quite sure I ain'*t bruised to death.

" Just then, I heard an owl hoot, and although they
ainH very good to eat at no time, they are better than
nothin** to a starving man. So I lay down on my
back, and began to mveigle him, for I have been so
much in the woods, I can imitate every sound that's
in them — when, looking up, what should I see but a
pair of bright eyes in the tree above me, and I let
slip, and down came a porcupine. What a godsend
that was ! didn''t he get out of his jacket and trousers
in double quick time ! There never was a gentleman
got a good warm fire made up for himself at such short
notice, I know ; and didn't raw fat meat taste, for the
first time, better than that that's well done ! Arter
that, I lay down and took a nap, and gin up the
moose hunt, and minded next day to start for a cross
road, that I expected to reach by night, where I knew
a settler, one Increase Card, lived, and where I could
put up and refresh a bit. Well, when morning came,
I sot oft*, and, as is always the case in this world, when
you don''t care a morsel about things, you can have
lots of them ; and, when you do, you can't get them
for love or money. So, the next day, I shot partridges
for my breakfast, and partridges for my dinner, and
let other fellows run, as sodger officers do desarters,
without looking arter them; and, when I least ex-
pected it, came all of a sudden on a moose, and shot
him, just as I reached the road.

" About seven o'clock, not very long after sundown,
I came to the house of Increase Card, leg-weary, foot-
sore, and near about beat out.

" ' Crease,' said I, ' my boy, how are you I I never
was so glad to see any one afore in all my life, for I'm
all but used up. Have you got a drop of rum in the
house V

" * Yes,' says he, ' I have ;' and, pulling out a large
stone bottle from his closet —

LIFE IN A COLONY.

265

" * Here's a little,"* said he ; * wait till I get you
some water.'

" ' I guess I won't spoil two good things,' said I,
and I poured out half a tumbler of the naked truth,
and drank it off like wink. ' Now,' says I, * one good
turn deserves another. I'll take a glass of water, if
you choose, for I always like to see the quality go first.'

" Well, we sot by the fire, and talked over farming
and crops, and politics and old times, and what not,
and cooked some moose steaks, and eat and cooked,
and cooked and eat, as fast as contract-work, and then
went to bed. But afore I left the room, Increase
said —

" ' Steve,' says he, ' Miss Card, my wife, and the
little ones, are gone to Oapersues, to see her father,
old Captain Salmon. I am going after them afore
day to-morrow, to fetch them back in the waggon.
Do you just help yourself in the morning to whatever
you want, and rake up the fire carefully, and put the
house-key under the step of the door.'

" ' Why, Crease,' said I, ' was your wife a Salmon ?
I never kuowed that afore.'

" * Yes,' says he, * one of the Salmons of Tusket,
old Captain Noah's daughter.'

" ' You showed your sense,' says I ; 'they are the
best fish going ; and I see you know how to manage
her, too. You have given her the line, let her run
off the whole length of it, and now are a-reeling of
her up, and a-going to slip a landing-net under her,
bag her, and fetch her home. It's the only way with
women and fish. If you snub 'em too short, they
spring and flounce like the Devil — tangle the line, or
break it, and race right off. You wam't bora yes-
terday, I see. How many young salmon-trout have
you?'

" ' Two,' says he.

"'Ah!' said I, 'your name is capital bait to a
courting-hook.'

"'How?' said he. .

266

THE OLD JUDGE; OR,

m-^i^

" * Why, Increase/ says I ; 'ifs a grand name, that/

" * What a droll fellow vou be I** said he, laughing ;
* you ain't a bit altered, for you always was a liinuy
man ever since I knowed you ;** and then, taking up a
quart bottle with a candle stuck in it —

" * Follow me,' he said, * and Til show you where to
sleep/

" ' Stop,' says I, ' Crease, don't be in such a pucker
of a hurry ; just have out that stone jug again, that's
a good fellow, will you ? that I may drink Miss Kitty,
your wife's health, afore I go.'

" * Sartainly,' said he, ' and I ax your pardon for
not offering it again to you ; but, the fact is, I railly
forgot ; for, to tell you the truth, I never take any
myself.'

" ' N'i3ither do I,' says T, * in a general way, when I
am to h<>me, for it's a bad habit and a bad example to
the boys, unless I am shocking dry, as I am just now ;
but, somehow or another, I consait my wife uses too
much salt, both in curing her hams and corning her
beef; and I often tell her so, though she won't hear to
it, for I am. p.lways awful dry after dinner.' Well, I
poured out a rail good nip, and then, holding it up,
' Crease Card,' says I, ' here's Miss Kitty, your wife's
health, and the same to you, and wishing you may
have a strong hand of cards, all trumps and all honours.
Now, make haste, and I'll follow in your trail ; for I
feel as strong as a bull-moose a'most.

" Well, he took me into a room that had a carpen-
ter's work-bench in it, and tools, and shavings, and
boards, and what not ; and then passed into a place
thnt had been a porch, and then into a nice, snug,
t bedroom ; and, putting down his ready-made
c stick on a table, he bid me ffood night, and then

jff to his own roost. Well, I takes two chairs
and puts them to the bottom of the stretcher, and
hauls out the bed two foot or more — for no bedstead
in a general way is long enough for me, and it ain't
pleasant to have your legs a-dangling out of bed — and

LIFE IN A COLONY.

267

tlien T mod in, took a good stretch out, uiid was
asleep ( me.

" \\ < ; V ig in no hurry, and not intending to get
up early, 1 took a good long sleep ; and, when I woke
up, I shoved out, first one leff, and then the other, to
prove all was right in those distant parts ; and then I
drtw a long hreath to try if the ribs was in the right
place to home, after the trampling and kicking of that
ere confounded moose ; and then Irubbed my eyes, and
found it was still dark, so I turned round again, and took
another famous nap. * Now,"* says I, to myself, ' it's
time to be a-stirring f and I sot up in bed, and looked
and looked, and all was as dark as ink. ' Steve,' says
I, ' you are getting old, you may depend. Oncest on a
time, you used to do up your sleep into one long
parcel, but now you are so tired, you don't rest sound,
and have to content yourself with a piece at a time ; —
it ain't day yet, try it again.' ♦

" Well, I tossed and turned, and rolled about ever so
long, and, at last, I snoozed away again, and, when that
was over, I up and out of bed, and felt for the window,
and looked out, and it was as dark as ICgypt; and then
I put a hand to each cheek agin the glass, and nearly
flattened my nose agin the pane, and stared and stared,
but there warn't a star or the least streak of light to be
seen ; so back I went to bed agin, but I couldn"'t sleep :
no how I could work it : I had had enough, or was
too tired ; but I don't like to give in till I can't help
myself; so I began to count one, two, three, four, up
to a nundred, and then back agin, one, two, three,
four, and so on — but it was no go. Then I fancied I
was driving a flock of sheep over a notch in the fence,
one by one ; and when two got over the fence at oncest,
I'd drive one of them back, and begin agin ; but it
didn't confuse me to sleep ; and then I tried a rhyme :

'I wish I had a load of poles

To fence my garden round.

The pigs they do break in and root,

And all my sarce confound.' ^

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WIBSTIR.N.Y. MSSO

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268

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

And then I chased a little black boar round and round
the garden walks, till I grew dizzy, and slipt off into
a good solid nap. Well, when this was over, I looked
up, and still all was as dark a^ ever, and I got more
tired of the bed than of the three days'* moose-hunt :
so, thinks I, Til get up and go to the keeping-room,
and light my pipe, and wait for daybreak ; — but this
is a most mortal long night, thaf's certain ; or, per-
haps, Fve got cold, and can'*t see out of my eyes.
Well, that idea did startle me, you may depend ; so I
went to the window agin, and looked through as hard
as I could, till I strained my peepers out a'most, but
no daybreak was there. * Perhaps it's a heavy land-
fog,"* says I ; so I lifted the sash, and just as I was a-
popping my head out, 1 got a crack over the pate that
actilly made the fire fly from my eyes. * Hallo !' says
J, ' what in natur is all this ? — let me think about it.
Where am I?^ — Am I in Increase Card'*s house? —
What ails me, that I can't sleep ? — or am I buried
alive by an earthquake ? — or has the sun forgot to get
up this morning! — or what in the world is to pay
now ? — ril try tne door.' Well, I opened the door,
and felt along out to the porch, and along the wall to
the house door, when the light fell on me all of a
sudden so dazzling bright, it nearly blinded me, and
made me wink like an owl.

" It was two o'clock in the day, at the least, and
the sun shining away as clear and as hot as iron
melted to a white heat. The fact is. Increase had
built an addition to the house, and had lathed and
plastered outside of the windows, and hadn't yet cut
out fresh places in the end of the room for them, and
it was agin this new wall that I knocked my head.

'* Well, I didn't know whether to be mad or to
laugh ; but I didn't see I had any one to be mad with
but myself, and as I never laugh except at other folks,
I didn't do neither one nor the other, but struck a
light, went into the dark room, dressed myself, re-
turned, and made a most royal dinner and breakfast

LIFE IN A COLONY.

269

all in one, shouldered a haunch of venison, and started
for the settlements. That was a most — a particular
long night, and was more than a match, after ail, for
this tremendous long day/'

On the second morning, although the wind had
subsided, it still snowed fast and heavily at intervals,
but Barclay foretold the entire cessation of the storm
in the course of the afternoon. Having taken an early
dinner, as on the preceding day, we again adjourned
to the keeping-room, about three o'clock, for the pur-
pose of listening to the various stories and anecdotes
told by the company, which are so illustrative of the
habits and tastes of the people. The conversation, for
some time after we joined the party, was desultory,
and not worth recording; all, however, agreed that
the opening in the clouds which disclosed a patch of
blue sky in the west was the forerunner of a fine even-
ing, which had a visible effect on the countenances
and spirits of every body. One of the passengers of
the stage sleigh, who, it afterwards appeared, belonged
to the Commissariat department at Halifax, called
Miss Lucy on one side, and earnestly pressed some
request upon her, that I did not distinctly hear, to
which she objected that it was rather late, and the
roads impassable. I heard something, however, about
taking the open fields and a violin, which seemed to
convince her, for she went to the kitchen and gave
orders that appeared to meet with remonstrance, but
which was effectually silenced by the young lady raising
her voice, and saying, " Just you go and do as vou
are told, now, and no nonsense ;" and shortly after-
wards I heard a sleigh, with its merry bells, leave the
house. As soon as she had resumed her seat, she
asked a stranger who sat next to her, either to sing a
song, or to tell a story ; and, upon his choosing the
latter, inquired whether he knew a good ghost-story.

" No," he replied, " I have never seen a ghost ;
but ril tell you what I have seen — something much
worse, lately."

Ill

270

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

" Worse than a ghost ?" she replied ; " what in the
world can that be? Come, do tell us: I like such
stories horridly. What was it V

" I was attacked by a pack of wolves last week."

" Wolves ! *" exclaimed the young lady ; ** how
shocking ! what a dreadful thing it is that they have
found their way here ! Where, under the sun, do
you suppose they came from ? for father says, none
were ever seen in this province till last year ; and he
don't more than half believe there are any here
now."

" Nor I, either," said Stephen ; *' nor never will,
till I see the marks of some of them."

" The first I ever heard of the wolves, Miss Lucy,"
replied the stranger, " was at Fredericton, in the next
province. About three years ago, the inhabitants
were very much astonished at finding large herds of
deer in the woods, of a species never seen in the
country before, and only met with in the very northern
part 01 Canada; but the cause was soon apparent, in
the great numbers of wolves ^hnt began to infest the
forest at the same time, and ♦ ^ lad evidently driven
these animals before them, ana hunted them across
that vast wilderness. Several packs of wolves last
year were known to have crossed the narrow isthmus
that connects New Brunswick and Nova Scotia ; and,
having once established themselves here, I fear we
never shall get rid of them, unless the Legislature
offers a large bounty to the Indians for their destruc-
tion. It is the Canada wolf; and, from being better
fed, is, in my opinion, a larger animal than the
Spanish." •

" Did one of them ever give you a nip ?" said
Mr. Richardson, " as Judge Beler did me ? Heavens
and earth ! talk of a wolfs teeth — it's nothing to the
jaw of an old judge. Did any of them bite you ?"

" No," he said, " I am happy to say they did not."

" Well, that's a pity, too," remarked Stephen ;
*^ because, if one of them had taken you by the nape

LIFE IN A COLONY.

271

of the neck, and just let his teeth meet through it,
you're! have had the marks, do you see ; and ifs a
great satisfaction that, when fellors don''t believe you.
I wish one of them had a-given you the mark of mouth :
I should like to see how they write their name.*"

•' Thank you," said the other : "I was not so for-
tunate, it appears, as you were."

" They tell me," said Stephen, " if you stoop doon,
put your head between your knees, and look backwards
to a wolf, or a bear, or a tiger, or what not, nothing in
the world dare face it. It will scare the devil, will a
man'*s face turned upside down : particularly if you
can go like a horn ; for music is what they can''t stand,
any how ! See ; this is the way :" and he suited the
action to the word, put himself in the extraordinary
attitude, and made a capital imitation of the sound of
a conch-shell, as blown at all the farm-houses in the
country, to call the people who are in the fields home
to their dinner. The third rehearsal was followed by
just such a yell as he describes himself to have uttered
when the ghost seized him by the neck ; so loud, so
clear, and so appalling, that it was evident it was not
designed as an imitation, but as a manifestation of
fear, or of pain.

In a moment, we were all upon our feet; and
really the sight was a most alarming one. A little
bull-terrier of old NeaFs, that lay under the table, see-
ing this extraordinary being intruding upon his do-
main, and defying him to combat, accepted the chal-
lenge, and seized him by the nose ; and it was not
without great difficulty he was choked off, and ex-
pelled from the room. Stephen was badly cut, but
not dangerously, and he bore it like a man. After
order was a little restored. Miss Lucy said —

"Now, Mr. Richardson, you have obtained your
wish. You have got the mark of truth stamped upon
you a second time. Your veracity is engraved on
both sides. Suppose the gentleman tells us the story
of the wolves."

272

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

n':i

" Oh, them cursed bull-dogs !" said Stephen, whose
voice was nearly stifled by a wet cloth held to hia
nose J '* those buU-dof^s are an exception to all rules.
They ain't afraid of man or devil ; but FU bet my life
on that trick, if it was tried on a wolf. Jiut come,
stranger, let's hear the story of the wolves. I hope it
is a good one, and that you will tell it well, and then
I won't think so much of this nip on the nose."

** Last Monday week," said the stranger, '* I left
Halifax in a sleigh, with a young friend of mine, for
the wilderness beyond Musquedoboit, for the purpose
of hunting the moose and carriboo deer. We took our
provisions, blankets, guns, and ammunition with us ;
and having met an Indian, (Joe Cope) by appoint-
ment, at the Thirty Mile Inn, we left our horse and
sleigh there, and divided our equipments into three
parcels ; my friend and myself carrying the lighter
packs strapped in the shape of knapsacks on our
shoulders, and the Indian the guns and heavy lug-
gage. As the days are short at this season of the
year, we only proceeded ten miles further, and halted
at the log-house of a settler, whose clearings are the
last to be found in that direction."

" You don't mean to say you walked ten whole
miles in one day, do you ?" said Stephen. " Why,
that was an awftil stretch for a hunter ! Didn't you
feel tired, old seven leaguer ?"

" Here we spent the night," continued the stranger,
" and were most hospitably received, and abundantly
provided with a substantial and excellent supper...."

" Gad, you needed it !" interposed Stephen, "after
such an everlasting long tramp.'

"And in the evening we sat round the fire and nar-
rated stories, as we are now doing."

"I hope they were better ones," said Stephen,
" than this yam.'*

" People who live in the woods keep good .hours ;
and, as we intended to start- a little before the dawn of
day, we had every disposition to follow their example,

LIFE IN A COLONV.

273

and retired early to rest. In our liainpor of provision
was a bottle of brandy j and before I wont to bed I
offered some to the family ; but they declined, saying,
they never drank any kind of ardent spirits. The
Indian had no such scruples, and took off his glass
with great apparent relish, observing, that the strong
water was very good. The settler remarked, that
though none of his family used anything of the sort,
there was an old sempstress, or school-marm, in the
house, who did, when she could got it, which was very
seldom...."

" Poor old critter r said Stephen.

" And begged me to give her a little when she came
in. Accordmgly, when Aunty, as she was called,
made her appearance, I offered hcT some of the crea-
ture comfort, which she accepted with apparent hesi-
tation.""

" As gals do kisses,*" said Stephen ; for which in-
decent interruption ho was severely rebuked by Miss
Lucy, and positively ordered either to be quiet, or to
leave the room.

" The old lady made many previous inquiries about
its strength, and expressed great fears as to its effect
on her head. Her relish, however, notwithstanding
her apprehensions, was not less than that of the
Indian.^'

" ril answer for it," said Stephen, " she made awful
wry faces, and shook her head, and hissed through her
teeth like a goose arter it slipped down, as much as to
say, ' Don''t think I like it, or am used to it, for it's
as hot as fire V "

" We now separated for the night, each ona retiring
to his bed, except the Indian, who made up the fire,
and, stretching himself out on the hearth, was asleep
almost before his limbs had settled into their place.
In the morning, Joe Cope called us, before the break
of day, our traps were again packed, and we took a
hasty breakfast, and entered the forest. While put-
ting up the things, I observed that the brandy bottle

N 5

274.

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

; -n

was nearly empty, and blamed myself for having left
it within reach of an Indian, whose thirst is generally
insatiable. After the cold exposure and fatigue of a
day'*s hunting, a little brandy is a great restora-
tive..."

*' Lord bless you," said Stephen, *' it wouldn't hurt
you at no time !"

" And such a sensible diminution of the stock I felt
to be an irreparable loss ; but it was done, and it was
no use to commence our excursion with scolding ; so
I swallowed the disappointment instead of the brandy,
and proceeded."

" About as bad a swap as you ever made in all your
life !" added Stephen.

'* After travelling some two or three miles, Mr. Joe
Cope, who had never spoken a word since we left the
house, (for Indians seldom talk when travelling) asked
me abruptly if I had missed any brandy. I replied, I
had observed that the bottle was not so full as I ex-
pected."

" * Ah,' said he, ' sarten white woman very fond of
big drink !'

** ' What do you mean by that V I inquired.

"'Why,"* said Joe, '•Indgens, you know, always
sleep with one ear open, and when that goes to sleep,
t'other one opens. Well, last night, maybe twelve
o'clock, I hear door move softly ; open ear wakes
t'other ear, and I listened. Well, old Aunty come
out and look all round the room, then stop, then come
where Joe was, look all over him, and see Joe fast
asleep, then she go to table, and pour out one very
big drink, holdin' breath good spell while going down
throat easy, then give one long soft blow, all same as
puff of smoke, which m^n, very good dat brandy —
feel all over — ^good. Then she go softly back, gettum
in bed, but no fasten door. Aunty no afraid of Indgins
scalp her that night, so she leave her door just so,'
putting his two hands together, but not allowing them
to touch eadi other. ^ Well, about four, maybe, this

LIFE IN A COLONY.

275

morning, Aunty comes agin, walk in' on toe, take an-
other very big suck at bottle, walkin"* back on heel,
though, that time, very heavy — clump, clump, clump
—and shut up door bang, and go in bed again very
heavy, all same as one lump. Sarten white woman
very fond of big drink !' said Joe.*"

*' I say, stranger," said Mr. Stephen Richardson,
with a very snuffling intonation of voice, " I thought
you was a-goin' to tell us of the wolves. What''s that
old woman taking your brandy wot to do with it ?"

" That was a very fatiguing day. We walked with
our loads twenty-two miles into the close forest, and
then we came to a barren, which, though only three
miles wide, where we emerged, stretched away to the
right as far as we could see. I proposed encamping
for the night at the edge of this open plain, so that we
might avail ourselves of the shelter, and commence
our hunt in the morning, as the Indian told us we
were certain of meeting with the moose and "'irriboo
on its skirts, in consequence of the herbage io be
found under the snow in certain wild meadows it con-
tained. But Joe, with his usual sagacity, said, we
were to windward, that our fire would certainly be
scented by the deer, and we should find them too wild
to be approached, and advised us to cross over to the
other side before we bivouacked."

" Why, in course," said Stephen, " it stands to
reason : any fool knows you can't throw hot ashes to
windward, without hurting your eyes."

" We pushed across the plain, therefore, with what
speed we could. The tracks of wild animals now be-
came very numerous : those of the moose, carriboo,
wild cat, loup cervier, foxes, and wolves even, were
plainly distinguishable on jjhe fresh snow."

" Why, man alive !" said Stephen, " did you ex-
pect to see the tracks of tame animals there ?"

*' The latter I had never seen," continued the
stranger ; " for, as 1 have before observed, they had
only arrived in the province about two years. When^

276

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

we had advanced to within a short distance of the op-
posite side, a herd of carriboo suddenly turned the
wooded promontory before us, and passed to the left
in a smart trot.

** * Take the leader,' said the Indian, handing me a
gun. * Be cool, and take steady aim ; and if he
wounds him," addressing my companion, and giving
him the other gun, *• do you fire at the same one, or
you may wound two, and get neither.'

" Following his instructions, I took deliberate aim
at the first of the file, and brought him down ; but he
was almost immediately up and in motion again, when
my friend fired and killed him. It was a fine fat
buck ; but the Indian gave us but little time for ex-
mination or exultation. He urged us to seek the
cover immediately, and encamp for the night, as the
day was now far spent, and darkness fast approaching,
and promised to return himself forthwith, and secure
the naunches. We accordingly pushed on, forgetful
of all fatigue, and in a few minutes the axe was at
work in erecting a temporary shelter, and in preparing
firewood for the night.

" Who in the world ever heard of using an axe,
and making a fire right among deer ?" said Stephen.
*' Town-hunters and officers beat all natur. They
walk a mile and then stop to drink, and one mile
more and stop to eat, and one mile farther and stop
to smoke, and another mile and then want to rest, and
then manage four miles more arter four more stops,
and camp for the night. Then they send an Indian
a-head to shoot a moose, and come back and say, what
fine fun deer-hunting is !"

" As soon as the poles were adjusted for receiving the
spruce boughs, which we y^^e instructed how to en-
twine, Joe Cope took two large sheets of birchen bark in
which the luggage was enclosed, and slinging them with
thongs over his shoulder, reloaded a gun, and returned
to the carriboo. It was quite dark when he made his
appearance with his load of venison; but we had com-

LIFE IN A COLONY.

277

pleted our arrangements for the night. Light spruce
boughs were spread for our bed, the exterior covering
of branches excluded the wind, and a good blazing fire
was ready for cooking our steaks. Joe shook his head.

'* ' Ah,^ said he, ' sarten white man scare more
nor kill !'

" He immediately piled more spruce boughs on the
outer covering, caremlly stopping up every crevice
where the fire-light could be seen, and then, hanging a
blanket over the narrow doorway, commenced prepar-
ing the steaks.

" ' Sarten,' he said, ' wolf hunts well. When I
come to the barren, wolf had got there afore me, and
was making supper oflf carriboo without cooking.'

" The steaks were excellent. I had toiled hard.. .."

" Very," said Stephen. " It is a wonder it didn't
kill you !"

" Was very hungry, and made a capital supper.
The brandy bottle was then produced, but its con-
sumptive appearance gave too sure indication that its
end was fast approaching."

" ' Sarten,' said Joe, who participated in our disap-
pointment, * sarten white woman very fond of big
drink !' "

" It's a pity, then, you hadn't been fond of a big
bottle yourself," said Stephen. " What the plague
was a quart among three people I"

" Such a day of fatigue, terminated by such a
supper, soon disposed us all for sleep ; and having
examined the priming of our guns, and put them in
a place secure from accident, and replenished our fire,
we stretched out for repose. My friend and the In-
dian were soon asleep ; but the novelty of the scene,
the entire loneliness of our situation, the vivid recol-
lection of the slaughter of the deer, the excitement
occasioned by the numerous traces of wild beasts in
our immediate neighbourhood, and the last story of
the wolf^ whose howl I could now distinctly hear in
the direction of the carcass, caused such a quick sue-

278

THE OLD JUDGE }

OR,

f n

cession of ideas, that it was nearly an hour before I
dropped into a sound sleep. How long I was in that
state of oblivion I cannot tell, but, judj^ing by the
state of the fire, which was then reduced to a heap of
glowing coals, it must have been about midnight.../'

" As to that," said Stephen, " it depends on the
nature of the fuel. If it was soft wood, it would burn
out in an hour ; if hard wood, it would keep alive all
night." '

** When I was disturbed by something like a growl.
The place where I had laid down was just opposite to the
door, and I had fallen asleep with my face to the fire."

" Then you just had your head where you ought
to have had your feet," said Stephen.

** When I opened my eyes, judge of my conster-
nation when they encountered those of three or four
wolves, who, attracted by the smell of the venison,
had traced it to our camp, from one of the poles of
which it now hung suspended most temptingly. They
had torn away the blanket which had been hung over
the door, and there they stood, their backs bristled,
their eyes glaring, and their white teeth glistening in
the light, and uttering a sort of suppressed growl, and
just ready to spring on their helpless and drowsy prey.
My first thought was of the guns ; but, alas ! they
were close to the enemy, tied to the stakes of the wig-
wam, for fear of falling and doing mischief, and, there-
fore, wholly out of reach. The axe was outside, and
there was not even a brand of fire that could be
grasped, all was so completely burnt to coals. I then
bethought me of my long knife : If I could only get
at that and open it, I felt that, if I could not defend
myself successfully, I should at least die hard."

" What a beautiful story !" said Miss Lucy. " That
is very exciting ! It's very awful ! Tell us quick,
did you get at the knife ?"

" The knife was in the left pocket of my coat, and
I was lying on my left side. I carefully put my arm
behind me, and cautiously raised my body a little, so

LIFE IN A COLONY.

279

as to enable me to put my hand into the pocket ; but
I]could not extract it without turning over. In the
mean time, they kept slowly advancing, an inch or 8o
at a time ; and one of them, seeing the meat within
hia reach, became quite enraged, when, encountering
my eyes, he sprang across the fire, and seized me by
the throat in a minute.''^

*' Show me the marks,*" said Stephen j " show me
the marks, and TU believe it ! Hang it, man, if you
had only a-put your head between your legs..,.''*

" Do be quiet,"' said Miss Lucy, " and let him go
on; you spoil the story ! So he caught you by the
throat r

*' Yes, he caught me by the throat. But at that
instant I sprang to my feet, called out to the Indian,
and hoped oy the first shock to force the animal over
on the fire. He had loosened his grip, and I now had
him by the windpipe j but it required the whole of my
nmscular strength to hold him, while I passed my eye
in rapid succession from one to the other of his com-
panions, who stood ready to spring on me, and tear me
to pieces. While thus engaged, the wolf with which I
was in contact, by one desperate effort, threw me on
my back, and the whole were instantly upon me.

" * Sarten,** said Joe Cope, * sarton white man mad !
What you choking Joe for ?' said he.

" ' Oh, Joe,"* I said, * my good fellow, I hope I
haven't hurt you ! I was dreaming, and I thought I
was attacked by the wolves.'

'* ' Ah !' he said ; * sarten white man eat too much

t It

supper.

" Well, and what then V said Stephen.

" Why, that's all," replied the stranger.

" All ! ' said Stephen, in great astonishment. " Why,
man alive, it's no story at all, or else you don't know
how to tell it. You might as well call half an apple
a whole apple. If you cut oflf a dog's tail, it's a dog
still, do you see ? or dock a horse, there is the horse
left to the fore, and, perhaps, looking all the better

280

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

'! ^"f!

of it. But a story is like a snake, all tail fi'om the
head ; and if you cut there, you don't strike the tail
oflf, but cut the head off. You knock the life out of
it at oncest — kill it as dead as a herring. Your story
is like a broken needle, it has got no point ; or like
an axe without an edge, as dull as a hoe. Take my
advice, my old moose-misser, and the very next time
you are axed to sing a song, or spin a yarn, choose
the first. It''s better to sing a ditty that has no tune,
than tell a story that has no fun.*"

" Why, how would you have me tell it V said the
discomfited stranger.

" You might as well,'' rejoined Stephen, " ask me
what I say when I say nothing, as to ask me how to
tell a story that is no story. If I was to be so bold as
to offer my advice, I should say tell it short, this way —

'* ' Once upon a time, when pigs were swine, and
turkeys chewed tobacco, and little birds built their
nests in old men's beards, a youngster that had no
beard went out a hunting. He thought he could shoot,
but couldn't, for he fired at a carriboo and missed it :
was frightened to see the tracks of wild beasts instead
of tame ones in the woods ; ate for his supper what
he neither killed nor cooked ; got the nightmare ; fan-
cied he saw three hungry wolves, woke up and found
but one, and that was himself. Now, there is the hair
and head, body and bones, and sum and substance, of
your everlasting ' long story.' "

CHAPTER XIV.

THE KEEPING-ROOM OP AN INN;

OB, THE CUSmON-DANCE.

NO. IV.

The storm baffled by its long continuance all the
signs and prognostics upon which Mr. Richardson
usually relied. He made frequent reference to the

LIFE IN A COLONY.

281

almanac, to ascertain the age of the moon and the
state of the tide, predicting that it would cease at the
ebb or the flood of the latter, or the rising or setting
of the former ; and admitted, that every rule of ex-
perience had failed him but one, namely, that when
the first quarter of the moon happens — as upon the
present occasion — to occur late in the afternoon, snow
or rain is apt to fall during the greater part of the
following week. This last hypothesis was a great
comfort to him, as he prided himself not a little upon
his knowledge of the weather, and appeared, like most
observers of the heavens, to have a theory to suit
every contingency. The little patch of blue sky be-
fore-mentioned had now gradually enlarged itself,
until it extended over the whole heavens, and the sun
set clear and unclouded, and was succeeded by a fine
starlight night. The scene was so quiet and so beau-
tiful, it was difficult to imagine that we had just
emerged from a storm of such extraordinary violence
and duration.

" Look at that !**' said Stephen, exultingly : " didn't
I tell you so ? I knowed how it would be when them
other signs failed (for there is no rule without an ex-
ception) ; and I never was beat yet, though I must say
this was a difficult case. Tell you what, it stands a
farmer in hand to study the sky and the marks of
water and earth, so as to look out in time for falling
weather, who has hay to make and get in, and grain
to stock and to carry to home. I"*!! back an old far-
mer and an old spider agin all the world for a know-
ledge of these subjects ; for, as for sailors, I never see
one yet that knew anything about the matter but
this — that when it blew hard it was time to shorten
sail, ril tell you the difference, it's just this : — The
farmer has got his own crop and his own food to save j
the sailor, the sails and rigging, and beef and pork of
his owner ; and it stands to reason — seeing that the
skin is nearer than the shirt — that the farmer must
know the most."

282

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

And then soliloquizing aloud, rather than addressing
any one in particular, he continued —

" What in natur becomes of all them endless num-
bers of clouds that have passed over to the westward
these two days ! A body would think, when they
meet a head-wind they would have to return back agin
to where they came from, for that seems agreeable to
the course of things in a general way. I wonder whe-
ther a wester begins lower than them, gets under
them, and shoves them right up out of sight, and
clears them off that way, or kinder splits them in two
like a wedge, and throws one-half north, and t'other
half south ? That's a thing, now, I should like to
know, for it has always kind of puzzled me. There's
something very odd about all winds. The south wind
seems to uncork all drains, and swamps, and such
things, and you can actually smell it hours and hours
afore it comes ; and in spring and fall it sends a-head
a little white frost, as a kind of notice that it's on the
way. Well, the east wind is a searching one too. It
gets into your joints, and marrow, and bones; and
you can feel it afore you see it. If it warn't for that,
I don't think we should have any rheumatis in this
country. It's a bad wind, and brings colds, and con-
sumptions, and pauper emigrants from Great Britain
(that know a plaguy sight more about breaking heads
and houses than breaking up lands), and fogs and
shipwrecks, and rust in wheat, and low spirits, and
everything bad onder the sun. A wester, agin, is a
blustering kind of boy — comes in in a hullabolloo, but-
end foremost, and kicks away the clouds right and
left, like anything. It's a fine, healthy, manly, bracing
breeze, that west wind of ours. You'd know it in any
part of the world if you was to meet it, which I'm
told you don't, for they say there's nothing like it no-
where else. Now, as to the north wind, I'll tell you
what, I wouldn't just positively swear I ever saw it
blow due north in this province. Yet father said,
and always maintained to his dying day, there was no

LIFE IN A COLONY.

283

such a thing as a rael north wind here ; and I cer-
tainly don't mind of ever seeing it. Nor-nor-west and
nor-nor-east is common; but a rael, genuine north
wind, by point of compass, I am of opinion is a thing
we have to make acquaintance with yet.*"

" Ah," said Miss Lucy, who just then resumed her
seat, " this is too bad ! All these stories end in dis-
appointment. The judge'^s ghost turns out nothing
but a madman ; the wolves are only seen in a dream ;
and the Devil, after all, is merely a fox."

" Yes," said Stephen ; " and a most particular sly
old fox too. Did you never know that before, miss ?
But thafs only one of his shapes. Sometimes he
comes in the form of a lawyer," (giving a knowing wink
to Barclay) " with a tongue as slippery as an eel —
cheat his master almost ; sometimes" (looking at me as
if he suspected I was a military man talking down to
my hearers) " as a sodger-officer, with a scarlet coat,
gold epaulettes, great big sword and spurs, and a
whapping long feather to catch young galls, as sports-
men catch trout with a red hackle ; and now and agin"
(looking admiringly at Miss Lucy) " in the shape of an
everlasting, handsome, bouncing lass, with an eye that
makes every one as wicked as herself, and...."

" And sometimes," retorted the young lady, " in
the shape of an u — gly, o — Id, d — isagree — able, on —
mannerly man, that interrupts people so, that it's
enough to make 'em wish he was in Jericho a'most."

" Why, how you talk, miss !" he replied. " Didn't
I see a ghost, and fight with a ghost, and haven't I
got the marks to this day ? What more would you
have ? And if you prefer wolf stories, here's a chap
that's not only seed a wolf, but actually had one get
into bed with him. Talk of romping ! Gad, that's
what I call a game of romps, in rael, right down
airnest, regular rough and tumble, without waitin' for
tickling. Come, old Broadcloth," said he, patting
Lay ton on the shoulder, "tell the young lady the
story of * the awkward bedfellow.' Tell her all about

? ^1

s *

'f< 1

284

THE OLD JUDGE J OR,

the wolf getting into bed along with you, and finding
you so precious dry, bony, and thin, he was afeerd
you'd turn the tables on him, and eat him up, and so
clawed right out agin."

Mr. Lay ton was about commencing his story, when
the young commissary, who had unpacked and pro-
ducea his violin, executed a flourish or two upon it to
ascertain if it was uninjured, and said —

" I beg your pardon, sir, but we expect some young
ladies here presently. I hope you will excuse me,
therefore, for just suggesting the propriety of coming
to the point as soon as you conveniently can."

" ' Cfoming to Frink,' you mean," said Stephen.
" Coming to the point is old-fashioned, and has no fun
in it ; but ' Come to Frink ' is all the go now. I'll
tell you how that sayin' was raised. Oncet upon a
time, in the House of Assembly in New Brunswick,
there was a committee a-sitting on a petition of a
harbour-master called Frink, and the lawyers talked
about everything, as they always do, but the petition ;
and an old member, who got tired out, and almost
wearied to death with their long yarns, used to stop
them every minnit, and say, ' Come to Frink ;' ana
when they wandered off he'd fetch them back agin
with a voice of thunder, ' Why don't you come to
Frink V His manner and accent was so droll, for he
talked broad Scotch (which is a sort of howl, growl,
and bark, all in one) it made every body laugh
a'most ; and now it's a by- word all over that province,
in the legislatur, and courts, and story-tellinw, and
everywhere, ' Come to Frink.' Now, Broadcloth," he
said, turning to Layton, *' you understand the gentle-
man. So, ' come to Frink.' "

Mr. Layton, as I have before observed, was a gentle-
man that was evidently on very good terms with himself
and the world. He was quite satisfied with his own
appearance and importance, and being fully impressed
with the belief that everybody coincided in opinion
with him, his face (now that, he had no grievance to

LIFE IN A COLONY.

285

relate) beamed with self-complacency. He was a short,
thin man, very erect, as most short men are (for they
feel that they cannot afford to stoop), and dressed with
considerable attention to what he considered the most
becoming manner, and cultivated a very imposing pair
of whiskers, cut and trimmed in a way to show that
he had visited foreign climes ; for he had been as far as
Newfoundland on one side, and Bermuda on the other.

He was, as my friend Barclay told me, one of a very
numerous class of persons in Nova Scotia, who, inhe-
riting an excellent farm, soon found that even farms
must be worked to be productive, and that, if a store
(as a retail shop is universally called here) be added
to their other employments, the profits of their
trade will enable them to dispense with personal
labour, and furnish an easy and comfortable road
on which to travel to an independent fortune. This
road, however, is, at very short distances, so intersected
by other broader and easier ones, that lead, some to the
sea-side, where there are frequent opportunities to
Texas, some to the court-house, others to taverns, and
most of them to a mansion, vulgarly called the jail,
that it unfortunately happens many people miss their
way, and, what is worse, seldom discover their error,
until the day is too far spent to return in safety.

Mr. Layton, besides being a former and trader, was
a justice of the peace, a commissioner of sewers for the
drainage of the vast alluvial meadows of his county, a
major in the militia, a supervisor of schools, and a
trustee of an academical institution in his own town-,
ship. He had read a good deal, for he took all the
newspapers published at Halifax, and had studied the
dictionary in a manner that had enabled him often to
detect inaccuracies in the pronunciation and orthogra-
phy of those who had had the benefit of a better edu-
cation. He was wont, I was told, to relate with great
pride, a philological discussion he had had with an
usher of Tadpole Academy, about the proper mode of
spelling College, which he maintained, by analogy to

286

THE OLD JUDGE J OR,

III

Knowledge, ought to be written with a d. The usher,
who knew as little of etymology as himself, admitted
that he was of the same opinion, but said, antiquity
-was on the other side. CfoUeges, he observed, were
established before our language was settled, and the d
having been omitted originally, the word had come
down to us with its present number of letters, and it
was too late now to alter it. If this explanation was
too far-fetched, it was, at all events, too plausible to be
refuted by Mr. Lay ton, who always contented himself
by remarking, with a sneer — " That it was rather hard
college men couldn't spell the name of their own insti-
tution." Those numerous offices held by Mr. Layton,
however honourable they might be in the estimation
of his poor neighbours, were all, alas ! rather sources
of expense than income to him — the farm and the
" store " being his main reliance. Either of those
v^ould have insured the possessor a comfortable and
independent support; but their unfortunate union,
like an ill-assorted match, soon produced mutual ne^-
le'3t, and, it was evident, would terminate in the rum
o'c'both. Such was the gentleman who now related
to us his adventure with the wolf.

" I live," he said, " on the Kentville river, in
Aylesford,..."

" Not on the river," said Stephen, " for that is not
die — or gram — either, my old amphibious boy ; nor
yet in the river, for your father pulled you out of that
many a long day ago, and hung you up to dry. You
Jook, for all the world, more like a salmon caught at the
wrong season of the year, badly cured and worse smoked
— so cussed thin no one can tell where the bone ends, or
the fish begins : tou^h as whalebone. Say, I live on a
fish-flake on the banks of the river, my old dun-fish."

" Really, Mr. Richardson," said Mr. Layton, rising
in great wrath, "I...."

"Jimmy," said Miss Lucy to her little brother, " call
in the dog. He has already made acquaintance with
Mr. Stephen's nose; perhaps he'll lead nim up to bed."

LIFE IN A COLONY.

287

" For gracious goodness' sake, don't bring in that
ere dog !" he said. " If you do, Til leave my marks
on him, that he'll carry to his dying day. Why, I
told you, miss, nobody minds me — it's my way. I
poke fun at every body, and every body pokes tun at
me ; and, if they get the best of it, they are welcome
to it ; for, in a ^ineral way, what folks get from me
they pay for. Howsomever, my pipe's out. I know
it ain't manners, and I won't mterrupt him agin.
Come," he said, turning to Lay ton, " come oft to
New Foundland with you, my old academy boy, and
shoot wolves. ' Come to Frink' now. "

" I live on the banks of the Kentville river, in
Aylesford," continued the little man....

" Well, you told us that afore," said Stephen.
" Why don*t you ' come to Frink V "

" On the mrm my father owned, and carry on
business there,..."

" And a pretty mess you make of it !" added
Stephen.

" Year before last, having a great deal of produce
in hand, I chartered a vessel for New Foundland, and
loaded her with cheese, apples, butter, hams, cider,
and other kinds of produce, and sailed late in the fall
for the town of St. John, hoping to reach there in
time for the Christmas market. Unfortunately we
deferred our departure too long...."

" That was, because you wouldn't ' come to Frink,' "
interrupted Stephen.

" We encountered dreadful weather all the passage.^
It was, in fact, one constant succession of snow-storms*
and violent gales of wind. The Captain was frost-
bitten and crippled, the men were scarcely able to keep
the deck, and the vessel could with difficulty be steered
at all. Indeed, we were far from certain of our exact

{position, never having had an observation since we
eft Nova Scotia ..."

" It's a pity you hadn't made more observations
before you quitted it," said Stephen ; " for, if you

288

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

had, you never would have left home at that season of
the year. Do you take 2"

" And, while we were discussing the point, all doubt
was removed by our being wrecked, about ten o'clock
at nifi^ht, on a bleak and desolate part of the coast.
I shall never forget the horrors of that night. Every
sea swept the Jeck. Bulwarks, boats, cabouse, and
everythmg, was carried away. The Captain and I
were the only persons in the after-part of the vessel.
How it fared with those who were forward, I could not
tell, for we could hold no communication whatever
with them, on account of the violence of the sea. That
night seemed without end, as it was without hope.
At last day broke, the storm subsided, and with it the
sea ; and I could distinguish the shore, and, to my
great joy, a long, low hovel, on the beach under the
cliff. I immediately went below for my gun, and re-
turning discharged it, and soon saw three men, half-
dressed, emerge from the hut, who waved a flag to us,

token of recofmition and assistance. Soon after-

wards, they hauled a boat down to the edge of the
water, and made preparations for boarding us ; but it
was nearly dark before the sea was sufficiently abated
to enable them to come off with safety. The people
forward were all drowned in the forecastle : the Captain
and myself were the sole survivors. At last they suc-
ceeded in taking us ashore, with our guns, ammunition,
and trunks, and saved as much provisions as would last
us during the winter. In the morning, the vessel had
disappeared. The storm had come on again during the
night, and she had gone to pieces. A few loose arti-
cles of inconsiderable value were washed ashore, but
the entire cargo was lost...."

" Yes,"" said Stephen ; " and it's my opinion the
farm sprung a leak tnat night, too. One or two more
such voyages to New Foundland, and the old home-
stead is a wreck, as sure as you are bom."

** As soon as the Captain recovered, who was a
strong, athletic man, of Herculean frame, formed by
Nature, as it were, for endurance...."

LIFE IN A COLONY.

289

" Hallo !" said Stephen ; " it's a pity the schooner'*
bottom wasn't as hard as them words : all the stones
in New Foundland wouldn't have knocked a hole
m it.

" He set out for St. John's with one of the inmates
of the hovel, and made his way, in the best manner he
could, across the interior. I was unequal to the task,
and remained, during; the whole of inrj,t tedious and
dreary winter, with the other two...."

*' If you had followed the example of Felix Piper,"
said Stephen, who always preferred talking himself to
listening to others, " it would neither have been a long
nor a tedious time. Felix, when he was a youngster,
went into the woods one season, with a lumbering
party, up the Kestegouch river; and, not knowing
what to do with himself during the long nights, he got
some birch-bark, and some dead coals, and stretchmg
himself out at iiill length (flounder fashion) on the
floor, taught himself, by the firelight, to make letters,
and learned to write, and then to cipher ; set up in life
on his own hook, and is now one of the richest mer-
chants and greatest shipowners in these colonies. He
learned the multiplication table, do you see; and
found out that two and two makes four, and twice four
makes eight, and so on. Now, with all your know-
ledge, you never got beyond the rules of subtraction
yet ; and only know, if you take one from three, two
remains. It would take a smart man to add up the
sum of his property now ; but you will soon find, with

frour subtraction ciphering, that you have only a naught
eft for a remainder ; and then^ my old academy boy,
I'll trouble you to learn algebra, and see if you can tell
how to subtract something from nothing. Brit come,
Broadcloth, on with your story ; but, cut it short, for
it ain't no great things the way you tell it. * Come
to Frink,' now. "

** Time hung heavily on my hands, you may well
suppose," continued the little man, *' during those long
and weary months. Oh, how often I sighed," and he

290

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

looked sentimentally at Miss Lucy, ^' for the summer
sky, the fragrant gales, and orange groves of the
charming Isles of }3ermuda !....^

** There would have been much more sense in sigh-
ing after the apple-sarce you forgot to insure,^^ said
Stephen ; ** but, never mind, * come to Frink.' "

** My two companions were Irishmen, who employed
themselves in making barrels and boxes for packing
fish, and in preparing for killing seals on the ice in
the spring. The hovel they lived in was a long, low,
shanty, built close under the cliff, for the purpose of
shelter. It consisted of one extended room, one part
of which was their cooper''s workshop, and the other
their dormitory and refectory...."

*' Plague take your Latin, man ! do speak English !"
said Stephen. " Ever since you have been a trustee
of Tadpole Academy, there is no understanding you."

" The house was not constructed, like our log huts,
of substantial timber, (for that is not to be had there),
but of poles interlaced with bark ; and the roof was
made of the same light materials. It was more like a
large Indian wigwam than anything else. Well, as I
was saying, we slept in one end of it, which was spa-
cious enough for personal convenience. The other
part held staves, a work-bench, some barrels, and
boxes, and tools. One morning, just a little before
daylight, our house appeared to be coming about our
ears. A portion of tne roof was suddenly crushed to
the floor, with a tremendous noise, apparently by a
part of the projecting cliff. I sat up m my bed, and
each one asked simultaneously the question, *• What in
the world is that V At that moment, something came
down, through another part of the roof, directly upon
my bed, which evidentlv had life and motion in it. It
fell with considerable rorce, and rolled over upon me
twice, when I uttered a loud shout...."

^* I don't doubt you did," said Stephen ; " there's

nothing like fright to make a fellow *■ come to Frink.'"

■ *^ And I heard it jump down on the floor. I imme-

LIFE IN A COLONY.

291

diately got up and stirred the fire, which had been
carefully covered with ashes for fear of accident, and
threw on it a handful of shavings, and in a moment
the cabin was illuminated as bright as day. Judge of
my surprise, when the first objects I saw were a carriboo
and a wolf; the former standing, snorting first at the
fire and then at the wolf, and the latter cowering in the
corner, and glaring horribly. We immediately took
down our guns, and stood ready to receive or give
battle. * Now, Pat,' I said, addressing myself to tlie
man who appeared to be the leader of the household,
* I will fire at the wolf; do you and Mike stand ready,
if I do not kill him, to bring him down : for, if he is
only wounded, he will grapple with one of us and die
hard.' I accordingly fired, and he sprung up about
three feet, rolled over, bounded forward, and fell again
near the carriboo, who instantly attacked him with his
fore-feet, and broke every bone in his body. My first
impulse was to have spared the stag, and secure him
alive, but he became so furious we were obliged to de-
spatch him. It was a most exciting scene, and the
more so as it was so novel and so wholly unexpected.
It appeared that the wolf was in hot pursuit of the
buck, who, in his desperation, leaped, without reference
to the locality, immediately over the cliff on to our
shanty, which, from being covered with snow, no doubt,
resembled a small iceberg, and was followed with equal
recklessness by his famished pursuer. I have pre-
served the skin as a trophy....'

" Of a man," said Stephen, *' who fired a gun to
save his life. It's few people have courage enough to
do that. But, tell me now, didn't that cure you of
going a-coasting in the winter ? Ain't you afeerd of
the water since that shipwreck 2"

" No," replied the little man, with an indignant and
injured air — " no, sir ; I despise a coward !"

" Well, well," said Stephen, with most provoking
coolness, " we won't dispute about words. It wouldn't
take much, as you say, to kill or to save such a little
fellow as you be."

' 02

292

TQE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

" I said no such thing, sir. DonH put your insolent
words in my mouth, if you please, uir/^

** Well," rejoined the other, ** you might have said
it, then, and not been far from the truth, neither.
Now, as you are determined to try your luck affin at
sea, I''ll give you a receipt that will save your life, if
every soul on board besides perishes.^

" I don''t require your receipt, sir ; when I want it,
I will ask you for it."

'* Yes, but you may want it some fine day, and it
is no harm to have it in caso of accidents. It is one
of the simplest and wisest rules I ever heard. I learned
it from old Telly- 1 -you at Annapolis. When I was a
boy, there was an old German barrack-master at thai
place, called Degrebbin, that the Duke of Kent placed
there. Thd crittur had served six months in tne old
American war, doing garrison duty, wbich means,

Elastering his head with soap and flour, and cleaning
is breeches with pipeclay ; and, as a reward for being
a German, got the post of barrack-master. He was as
tall, and thin, and stately, and solemn, as a church
steeple ; walked like a pair of compasses ; carried his
arms straight, like those of a wooden doll, kinder stiff
at the shoulder joints, and wore a queue long enough
for a horse'^s halter. He had been so long from home
in this country that he had forgot all his German, and^
having an enormous his mouth and whapping large
tongue, he never could leam to speak English : so he
talked gibberish. Instead of saying, * I tell y ou,"* he used
to say, * Telly I you ;' so I nicknamed him * Old Telly-
I-you.^ I recollect him as well as if it was yesterday,
for I used to stalk beliind him in the streets, and throw
back my head, and cock up my chin, just as he did,
and make Garman faces at him to make the boys
laugh, and got caught oncest and thrashed for it like
anything.

" Well, old Telly-I-you used to go to Digby some-
times on duty, and when he did, he used to take the
military four-oared barge with him, and send it back

LIFE IN A COLONY.

293

with orders to come in two days for him. When the
boat would come, heM keep it and the party there
sometimes for a whole week on a stretch, waiting for a
dead calm ; for he never would set into a boat if there
was the leastest morsel of wind in the world. At last
the commandant hauled him up for it.

♦* * Mr. Degrebbin,' said he, ' you keep my men too
long from their duty. I request you will always re*
turn immediately, sir, when the boat soea for you.^

" * My fery goot, high-priced, too-dear friend,' said
Degrebbin, * telly I you it to pass how came to happen
dat I keep de boat."*

** And he explained that he was once the sole sur-
vivor of a boating party, consisting of thirteen men,
which circumstance nad made him kind of nervous and
timid on the water ever since.

*' * Dear me,' said the commandant, who was a kind-
hearted man, though strict on duty matters — * dear
me, how did that happen', and how did you escape f

*' * Telly I you,' said Degrebbin, * that to pass how
came to happen.'

*^ And he paused, and looked wise, that the other
might admire his gumption. At last, he said —

" * Dis was de vay. I refused to ^o : so I was de
only one saved out oi dirteen souls and bodies !'

** Now, take my advise. Broadcloth, and follow old
Telly-I-you's receipt. * You'll never be drowned if
you stay to home on dry land.' It ain't every fool
knows that trick, I can tell you."

" * Come to Frink,' Mr. Stephen," said the commis*
flary. " Here they are ! I hear the bells. Make room
for the young ladies ! Now for a dance !" And he
played a short flourish on his violin, and said — " Here,
Mr. Stephen, hold a candle while I help the young
ladies out. Talk of ghosts and hobgoblins ! these are
the witches for me ! Oh, Miss Lucy !" and he put hia
arm gallantly round her waist, and, leading her to the
door, whispered something in an under-tone, for which
(though she appeared nothing loath to hear it) he got

'294

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

a good-humoured box on the ear, and was told he was
a saucy, forward, good-for-nothing, impudent man.

When he went to the door to receive our guests and
assist them to alight, we found two sheds (not sleighs,
but vehicles on runners, without seats, having nothing
but the floor, covered with buffalo robes, to sit upon).
One was driven by young Mr. Neal, and conveyed the
two Misses Glee ; and the other by Master Linn, and
carried his two sisters. A moonlight drive on the
snow, and the prospect of a dance, always exhilarates
the spirits, and the young ladies were in great force.
They were overjoyed to see their friends, the Misses
Neal. They remarkad that it was an age since they
had met : and they appeared to have so much to say
to each other, that there was no time given for intro-
ductions. When they saw several strangers, however,
in the room, they were quite shocked — so shocked, in-
deed, that they all talked at once, and all apologized
together. They didn''t expect to see company, they
said; they came for a sociable evening — they were
quite ashamed — they were not dressed — they were sure
they looked like frights ; they couldn't think of dan-
cing — they hadn't come prepared. They had nothing
but walking-shoes on : for the snow was so deep they
were afraid of taking cold. But they would try ; they
dared to say the gentlemen would be kind enough to
excuse them.

Miss Lucinda Linn was what Mr. Stephen called a
*' screamer" — that is, a girl in full health and spirits ;
tall, well-formed, and exceedingly handsome ; of an
easy carriage, self-possessed, and, as he graphically
described her, **■ as supple as an eel, and as full of ^n
as a kitten." Her sister was shorter, slender, delicate,
and really gracefiil ; but more shy, and less confident.

Miss Glee had one of the most beautiful com-
plexions I ever beheld, and a head of hair Venus her-
self might have envied. She had not to learn that
night, for the first time, that she was pretty ; her
beau and her glass had informed her of that fact long

LIFE IN A COLONY.

295

ago.

Her mouth was exquisite, and you could not
withdraw your eyes from it, for her utterance was so
rapid that it was necessary to watch its motions to
understand her. There was something inexpressibly
droll in the manner in which her words were olendedj
or rather fused, together. Miss Lucy told me she
was a little affected, but she was evidently mistaken
— for her conversation came so naturally from her lips,
nobody could suppose for a minute Art had any thing
to do with it ; and, besides, her hair was dressed with
an easy negligence of appearance that showed she did
not think she required any adventitious aid to set off
her appearance to advantage. On one cheek and
shoulder long ringlets fell in rich profusion, on the
other the hair was dressed plain ; a grave festoon
covered the upper part of the cheek, and the returned
end was simply fastened with a comb.

Her sister Jane was as light as a fairy, and as
easy in all her motions. She was a dark beauty —
a deep brunette. She wore a most provoking short
frock and petticoat — indeed, she could not help it,
the snow was so deep — but it displayed the sweetest
little foot and ankle in the world. She was very
unaffected, and prided herself on her candour. She
said what she thought, and sometimes gave people
what she called a piece of her mind. There was no-
thing remarkable in the dress of these young ladies,
unless in its similarity; each having broad, black
riband sandals to their shoes ; a little gauze half-
handkerchief pinned on the shoulders, and falling grace-
fully back from the front ; skirts that hung wonderfully
close to the figure — so much so, indeed, as to create
great admiration in Mr. Stephen, who vowed they were
as straight as bulrushes; and black mitts on their
hands, embroidered on the back in gaudy colours.

Miss Lucy's sisters having joined the party, the
commissary resumed his violin, and put us all in
motion, and we were soon in the mazes of a country-
dance, our fair hostess and myself leading off, and

■•J

296

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

Mr. Stephen keeping time to the music with his foot,
and occasionally making us all laugh with his original
and eccentric remarks. The ice was now broken, and
we all became as well acquainted as if we had known
each other for years. Tea and coflfee were introduced,
and the dancing renewed ; after which we had a sup-
per, and a most substantial one it was. In addition
to a turkey, ducks, chickens, and tongues, was a large
ham, the upper surface of which was garnished with
cloves of different sizes inserted perpendicularly, and
presenting a striking resemblance to a newly cleared
field dotted with its black charred stump of trees.
Large tarts (or pies, as they are universally called in
this country,) baked in plates, and composed of apples,
cranberry, pumpkins, and wild gooseberry, were dis-
tributed with a view rather to abundance than order ;
and reflected great credit on the skill of Miss Lucy,
for their flavour and quality were really excellent.
Home-made preserves, consisting of the orainary fruits
and berries of the country, occupied and ornamented
the centre of the table ; and cakes of every variety
and form, among which the favourite and very pala-
table dough-nut was most conspicuous, and distributed
wherever sufficient space could be found for them.
Cider, ginger-beer, and wine, with something more
potent for stron? heads like Mr. Stephen''s, though
not so freely used, were as liberally provided.

It was the first rural entertainment I had wit-
nessed ; and I understand that, though a similar one
cannot, of course, be so suddenly produced elsewhere
as at an inn, they are equally aoundant and good in
every substantial farmer'^s house in the province.
Then came the best and the merriest dance oi all, that
which leaves the most agreeable and enduring impres-
sion— ^the last. It was the cushion-dance. We all
formed a ring, in the centre of which was placed a
gentleman with a bell in his hand ; the company then
danced round him several times. When he rang the
bell, the dancing ceased, and he selected any lady he

LIFE IN A COLONY.

pleased, and kissed her ; then she took his place, and
the same ceremony was repeated, the choice devolving
upon her as a matter of course. To give the ladies
their due, th«y protested loudly against this amuse-
ment, and it was with some reluctance they consented
to join in it at all. Their choice (much to the chagrin
of the gentlemen, who pronounced the selection unrair)
always fell on young Master Linn, a lad of fourteen
years of age, who was the recipient of all their iavours ;
but they could not be prevailed upon to alter the
arrangement; while, on the other nand, they inva-
riably fled before they would submit to the forfeit
themselves ; and frequently it was not until they had
reached the next room that they were overtaken and
compelled to pav toll, and not then without a con-
siderable struggle. However, notwithstanding the
reluctance manifested by them at first to take a part
in the cushion-dance, it had the effect of exhilarating
the spirits of every one so much, that they very civilly
consented to its repetition, and it was immediately
renewed with increased animation. Mr. Stephen was
80 delighted with it, never having seen it before, that
he lamented most pathetically he was too old to par-
ticipate in it ; and vowed, with many extraordinary
{protestations, expressed in still more extraordinary
anguage, that he thought the union of kissing and
dancing the greatest invention of modern times.

" In my day, it was plaguy formal," he said : ** it
was merely join hands, go two or three times round,
cross over, and then obeisance. Oh ! catch a chap
waltzing, or whatever you call it, then with his arms
round a galPs waist ! why, it would make old mothers
and maiden aunties fairly faint ! Indeed, I ain't
just sure it wouldn't kill them on the spot ! What
a dance this cushion -dance would be for a man like
me — wouldn't it? — that has a pair of arms long
enough to take two forfeits all at oncest ? Ah, Broad-
cloth !" patting Lay ton on the shoulder so earnestly
as nearly to dislocate it, " you and Miss Lucy may

o 5

'II

5Si

. 1 V. ■ ■

298

S 1 1

111-

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

talk of ghosts till you are tired, man ; give me the
rael . . .'

*' Here it is,^' said Miss Lucy, handing him a
tumbler of what she called Mahogany, but which
looked uncommonly like brandy and water — '* here it
is J but"" (and she lowered her voice) *' don't talk non-
sense afore the strangers, or p'*raps they will think
they can do so too, and that I won t stand."

" Riwht," said Stephen ; " I see it all with half an
eye. I take, for a nod is as good as a wink to a blind
horse. Your health, my beautifiil young rose-bud !"

I have before explained that a door opened into the
keeping-room, which concealed the (almost perpen-
dicular) staircase leading to the bedrooms occupied
by the family. Several times during the evening I
had heard a whispering and laughing behind thir door ;
but, while we were occupied in the last dance, it sud-
denly flew open with great violence, and. gave admit-
tance to a very unexpected addition to our party.
Three little boys, brothers of Miss Lucy (who had
been sent early to bed that they might be out of the
way, but who had been attracted by the music, and
taken post there for the purpose of peeping through
the crevices and key-hole), m their eagerness to obtain
a good view, had forced the latch, and were precipi-
tated into the centre of the room among the company,
with no other covering on than their shirts, and exhi-
bited a contiised heap of bare heads, legs, and arms.

As a matter of course, the young ladies were dread-
fully shocked and alarmed, and screamed violently;
but the uproarious shouts of delight with which the
unwitting intruders were received by the rest of the
company were so irresistible, that the contagion of
the merriment overcame their nervousness, and at
last they joined heartily in the general laughter. The
two eldest boys, as soon as they recovered from the
shock of their fall and surprise, made good their
retreat ; but the youngest, running behind Miss Lucy,
endeavoured to envelop himself in the folds of her.

LIFE IN A COLONY.

299

clothes, and thereby conceal the want of his own ;
and, in so doing, threatened to reduce her to the same
state of destitution as himself. After an ineffectual
struggle, on her part, to extricate herself from his
embarrassing embraces, she retreated backwards to
the staircase, and then, turning round, pushed the
little offender in, and shut the door upon him, with no
very gentle admonition to go to bed, and a smack
that sounded somewhat louder than a kiss, which
was followed by an exclamation very unlike laugh-
ter.

" Well, I never, in all my bom days I" said Miss
Lucy.

*' Nor I either !" said Miss Glee. " Did you ever V

" Well, I want to know," said Miss Linn.

" Say no more about it, ladies,'' added the com-
missary, resuming his violin."*- " It's your turn with
the bell, Miss Lucinda. Come, begin !"

" Ay, * come to^ Frink !'" said Stephen, and the
order of the evening was again restored.

As soon as the dance was concluded, Mr. Stephen,
who had been extremely excited by the sight and sound
of the forfeits, and the *' distress " under which they
were " levied," sprung forward from his seat with great
animation, and, taking up the tongs and shovel, placed
them transversely on the floor,

*' I will show you now, my beauties," he said, " the-
prettiest, and spryest, and difficultest dance you ever
see — * the kitchen-dance !' Few men can go through
that with the cross-hop and double back-shuffle, quick
as wink, without as much as touching or brushing with
heel or toe; and women can't do it — ^no how they
can't work it, on account of their frock- tails. It re-
quires a quick eye, a clear head, and an active foot, I
can tell you ; and with boots like mine I defy any one
here or elsewhere to do it as supple as I can. General,"
he said, addressing himself to the young commissary,
to the infinite amusement of every body present,
" can you play * Zacky in the meal-tub V "

;,;«,.!

300

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

!!■:!

** ' Zacky in the meal-tub V " replied the other, re-
peating his words in unfeigned astonishment ; ** no :
I never heard of it before !

" Well, ' Jinny Kitoorv r "

** No, my good fellow, ' he said, laughing ; ** nor
* Jenny Kitoory,' neither."

"• Well, ' High Betty Martin,' that will do. Can
you play that, my young coals-and-candles ?"

" No."

" No ? Why, what the plague can you play, then ?
Give us * Possum up a gum tree,' or * Oh, my kitten,
my kitten !' "

** How does the latter go T' said the good-natured
violinist. ^* Perhaps I may know it under another

name.

" Why, this way, my sealed-tender man," replied
Stephen, humming the fir for him. " Ah, that's it !"
he continued, exultingly, as the musician recognised
the tune ; " that's it. General Rations ! Now, Miss
Lucy, see, this is the wav !" and he exhibited feats of
agility that, for a man of his age, were trulv surprising.
But the young ladies were shocked. They said the
dance was low, noisy, and vulgar ; protested that they
had never seen or heard it before, and never desired to
see it again ; and, moreover, wondered what sort of
society Mr. Stephen must have kept to have acquired
such coarse manners and savage habits. It might do for
negroes, they said, but it certainly was not fit, and v.cT?r
was intended, to be exhibited before company. U it
failed, however, to secure the approbation of the ladies,
it was duly appreciated by the young men, who were
uncommonly delighted with it, and testified their gra-
tification so loudly and so warmly that Stephen ex-
claimed, with evident pride—

*^ That's nothing, my hearties, to what I oncest could
do, and guess I can still do ; but these confounded boots
are as thick and as hard in the sole as a ploughshare.
Who can do this!" and, taking up a tumbler filled with
water, he held his head erect, and, placing the glass on

LIFE IN A COLONY,

301

his crown, he put his arms a-kimbo, and commenced
anew the difficult evolutions of the " Tongs and shovel,*'
or " Kitchen-dance." The unceasing clatter of his boots,
the absurd and comical expression of his face, and the
singularly grotesque contortions of his body, convulsed
the commissary with laughter, who, playing irregularly
and without regard either to time or tune, so disturbed
and enraged poor Stephen, that he lost his balance, and,
entangling his feet oetween the legs of the tongs, he
was precipitated with his tumbler and its contents
upon the floor with a crash that seemed to threaten a
descent into the cellar.

" Who is thai dreadfiil man ?" said Miss Glee.

" I am sure I don't know," said Miss Linn, with a
disdainful toss of her pretty chin. " He is no acquaint-
ance of mine, I assure you ; but whoever he is, he is
quite tipsy, I am sure. Come, let's be moving now,
for it's getting well on to morning, and I am dread-
fully frightened."

*^ Lucy, dear," said Miss Lucinda, in a patronising
and expostulatory tone, "why do you admit such
creatures as that fellow into the keeping-room ? he is
only fit to herd with the coms in the bar. Who is the
horrid animal, and where in the world does he come
from ?"

" Oh, it's only his way, dear," said Lucy. ** He is
a sort of oddity — a kind of privileged person. Nobody
minds him. He is Mr. Stephen Kichardson, of Bear
River in Clements."

*' Oh, so I should think !" replied the other ; " but
bears are dangerous, and ought not to be suffered to go
at large...."

" Lest they should hug !" said Mr. Stephen, who,
hearing these flattering remarks, came softly up behind
his fair defamer, and, seizing her round the waist,
lifted her up and punished the sweet, pert little darling,
as he called her, by passing his rough beard first over
one of her cheeks, and then over the other, and greatly
increasing their colour at the risk of drawing the blood.

302

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

H fl

and then kissing her, to her inexpressible mortifica-
tion.

The sleds were now at the door, and the young
ladies took a most affectionate leave of their guests,
who, on their part, hoped the Misses Neal would soon
come and see them sociably, for it was really an ase
since they had met ; and besides, they were very lonely
in winter, being moped to death in the house, unable
to get out for the depth of the snow and the unbroken
state of the roads. I accompanied the Misses Linn
home, so as to see them safely over the drifts ; and
the commissary convoyed (as Stephen called it) the
two Misses Glee.

We had scarcely proceeded a hundred yards when
we were all precipitated into a snow-bank, which was
the cause of much merriment. It showed, however,
the necessity of precaution. I, therefore, took my seat
in the centre, and, extending out both my arms, one
lady took my right hand in her left, and the other my
left in her right, which had the effect of making a secure,
sociable, and agreeable support ; though, as Miss Lu-
cinda said, one that nothmg but the danger of upset-
ting could justify. When we returned, we sat by the
fire after the family had retired for the night, smoked
our cigars, and chatted over the events of the evening.
I was expressing my gratification to Barclay at having
had such a favourable opportunity of seeing the mode
in which people in the settlements in this country live ;
when he said —

" As a stranger, you would be apt ta be misled by
what you have seen this night. Don t undervalue these
girls from their freedom of manner. That freedom arises
tt'om the perfect security engendered by their situation.
Many oi them are connected, and all of them are
neighbours and friends. They meet like one family,
and live with and towards each other as such. Each
individual is dependant on the rest for mutual assist-
ance and good offices, and they constitute themselves
all the society they have. The protection that forma

hi;'!!

LIFE IN A COLONY.

303

arms, one

and ceremonies throw round the members of large
communities is not here needed. Where there is no
aggression to be dreaded, defences are not required.
They are simple-minded, warm-hearted, hospitable,
and virtuous people. The levity you see is the levity
of good spirits and conscious safety. The frank and
easy demeanour (you would call it boldness elsewhere)
is the manner of childhood, that has grown in both
sexes into the conduct of maturity. So far as my ex-
perience ^oes, I see no danger in it.^^

Here Mr. Stephen gave a low, prolonged whistle.
Whether it was designed to ascertain if his old enemy
the dog was in the room, or to denote that his means
of information were greater than BarcW's, and led to
a different conclusion, I do not know. He took up his
candle, however, and bade us good night ; and when
he got near the door where the commissary sat, said—

*' Friend Barclay, there is no danger to the sheep,
do you mind, when they play in the pasture by them-
selves; but when the wolf pays them a visit, the closer
they keep to home the better."

X ' CHAPTER XV.

THE KEEPING-ROOM OP AN INN;

OB, A CHASE FOB A WIFE.

NO. v.

On the following morning, all the guests assisted
Mr. Neal and his men in endeavouring to cut a
passage through the enormous drift that had ob-
structed our progress on the night of our arrival. The
route we had taken the preceding evening, when
escorting the young ladies to their homes, was tOo
circuitous and too inconvenient to be used even tem-
porarily by travellers, and nothing remained for us
but to open the main road, which was covered to the
tops of the fences for the space of a mile, or as far as

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the cleared land extended. As soon as we had re-
duced this snow-bank sufficiently to render it prac-
ticable, the cattle from the farm-yard were driven
through it, and then several yoke of oxen were at-
tached to a heavy wood-sled, and a track made for
the guidance of strangers. Although apparently a
work of vast labour, the opening was, in fact, efft?ted
with great ease, and in an incredibly short spaco of
time. The drift-shovel is made of dry wood, weighs
very little, and lifts a large quantity of snow at once.

Boad-breaking, as this operation is universally called
here, is considered by the young men of the country
as a pastime, as it nocessanly occasions an assemblage
of the whole neighbourhood, and affon^s ample oppor-
tunities for feats of agility and practical jokes, in
which the population of the rural districts so much
delight. Tnere were, however, no arrivals during the
day, nor did any of the party at Mount Hope venture
to leave it and become pioneers. In the afternoon
we adjourned again, for the last time, to the Keeping
Boom, for Barclay expressed his determination to force
his way to lUinoo on the following day ; and Mr.
Stephen Bichardson said, as the road to Halifax
would, from its position, be so much more obstructed
than that which lay through the woods, he had re-
solved to leave his horse, and perform the remaining
part of the journey on snow-shoes.

" I can't say my business is so very urgent neither,"
he observed ; ^^ but I can''t bear to be idle ; and, when
a man's away from home, things don't, in a general
way, go ahead so fast, or get so well done, as when
he is to the fore. Them that work never think ; and,
if the thinking man is away, the labouring men may as
well be away also, for the chances are, they will work
wrong, and, at any rate, they are sure to work badly.
That^ my idea, at any rate. But there is one com-
fort, any how ; there is no fishery law where I live ;
and, if there was, I don't think Mrs. Bichardson, my
wife, would be altogether just so sharp upon me as

LIFE IN A COLONY.

S05

Luke Loon was. I must tell you that story, Miss
Lucy. For inland folks like you have no idea of
what is going on sometimes sea-board ways. Plough-
ins the land and ploughing the sea is about as different
thmgs as may be, and yet they ain't more different
than them who turn the furrows or hold the tiller.
It ain't no easy matter to give you an idea of a
fishing-station ; but TU try, miss.

" We have two sorts of emigrants to this province,
do you observe ; droves of paupers from Europe, and
shoals of fish from the sea : old Nick sends one, and
the Lord sends the other ; one we have to feed, and
the other feeds us ; one brings destitution, distress,
and disease, and the other health, wealth, and hap*
piness. Well, when our friends the mackarel strike
m towards the shore, and travel round the province
to the northward, the whole coasting population is on
the stir too. Perhaps there never was seen, under
the blessed light of tne sun, any thing like the ever-
lasting number of mackarel in one shoal on our sea-
coast. Millions is too little a word for it ; acres of
them is too small a tarm to give a right notion ;
miles of them, perhaps, is more like the thing ; and,
when they rise to the surface, it's a solid body of fish
you sail through. It's a beautiful sight to see them
come tumbling into a harbour, head over tail, and tail
over head, jumping and thumping, sputtering and
fluttering, lashing and thrashing, with a gurgling kind
of sound, as much as to say, *■ Here we are, my
hearties ! How are you off for salt ? Is your barrels
all ready I — because we are. So bear a hand, and out
with your nets, as we are off to the next harbour to-
morrow, and don't wait for such lazy fellows as you be.'

" Well, when they come in shoals that way, the
fishermen come in swarms, too. Oh, it beats all
natur — ^that's a fact ? Did you ever stand on a beach,
miss, or on a pasture, that's on a river, or on a bay,
and see a great flock of plover, containing hundreds,
and hundreds, and hundreds of birds, come and light

S06

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

iiiM

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all at once in one spot, where, a minute afore, there
warn''t one ? Well, tnat'*s the way with humans on
the fishery-stations. Take Crow Harbour, now, or
Fox Island, or Just-au-Corps Point, or Louisburg, or
any of them places ; whenever the fish strike in, they
are all crowded right up in a minute, chock full of
people from all parts of these colonies and eastern
states of America, in fiats and boats, and decked
vessels, and shallops, and schooners, and pinks, and
sloops, and smacks, and every kind and sort of small
craft ; and, in course, where there are such a number
of men, the few women that live near hand just lay
down the law their own way, and carry things with a
high hand. Like all other legislators, too, they make
Enactments to suit themselves. Petticoat government
is a pretty tyrannical government, I tell you.""

"Why, Mr. Stephen f said Miss Lucy.

** Beff your pardon, "miss ; I actilly forgat that
time," ne continued. " I did make a hole in my
manners that pitch, I grant, and I am sorry for ii.
It don't do to tell the truth at all times, that s a fact.
The fishery regulation that I am a-going to speak of
is repealed now, I guess, every where almost, except
at the Magdalen Islands, and there, I believe, it is m
full force yet, and carried out very strict ; but I re-
collect when it prevailed here at Shad Harbour, and
poor Luke Loon suffered under it. Time flies so, a
tody can hardly believe, when they look back, that
things that seem as if they happened yesterday, actilly
took place twenty years ago; but so it is, and it
appears to me sometimes as if, the older events are,
the clearer they be in the mind ; but I suppose it is
because they are like the lines of our farms in the
woods, so often blazed anew, by going over agin and
agin, they are kept fresh and plain. Howsumever
that may be, it''s about the matter of nineteen years
ago come next February, when that misfortunate
critter, Luke Loon, came to me in a most desperate
pucker of a hurry.

LIFE IN A COLONY.

307

** ' Steve/ says he, * for Heaven's sake ! let me have
a horse, that'^s a cood fellow — >vill you ? to go to Shad
Harbour ; and 1 11 pay you any thing in the world
you'll ask for it.'

** * Are you in a great hurry V said I.

*' ' I must clap on all sail and scud before the wind
like the devil. 1 haven't a minit to lose,' said he.

" ' Then you can't have him,' said I, ' for you will
ride the beast too fast.'

*' You never saw a fellor so taken a-back, and so
chopfallen, in all your life. He walked about the
room, and wrung his hands, and groaned as if his
heart was breaking, and at last he fairly boo-hooed
right out —

" ' On my soul,' said he, * I shall lose Miss Loon,
my wife, for a sartentv ! I shall be adrift again in
the world, as sure as mte ! 1 have only to-morrow to
reach home in ; for, by the law of the fishery, if a man
is absent over three months, his wife can marry asain ;
and the time will be up in twenty-four hours. What
onder the sun shall I do J'

** * If that's the sort of gall she is, Luke,' said I,
' she won't keep ; let her run into another man's net
if she likes, for she won't stand the inspection brand,
and ain't a No. 1 article ! Do you just bait your
hook and try your luck asin, for there is as good fish
in the sea as was ever hauled out of it !'

** But he carried on so after the gall, and took it
so much to heart, I actilly pitied the critter ; and at
last consented to let him have the horse. Poor fel-
low ! he was too late, after all. His wife, the cunning
minx, to make up time, counted the day of sailing as
one day, which was onfair, oncustomary, and con-
trary to the fishery laws ; and was married agin the
night afore he arrived, to big Tom Bullock, of Owl's
Head. When Luke heard it, he nearly went crazy ;
he raved and carried on so, and threatened to shoot
Tom, seeing that he warn't able to thrash him ; but,
the more he raved, the more the neighbours' boys and

S08

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

gaXh *nade game of him, following him about, and
singing out —

*' * Get out of the way, old Dan Tucker,
You are too late to come to supper !' **

And fairly tormented him out of the fishery station."

" Ah !" said Miss Lucy, *' I know you made that
story— didn't you, now ? It ainH true, is it f

" Fact ! I assure you," said Stephen. " There is
others besides me that's a knowing to it."

" Well, I never !" said the young lady. " That
beats all I ever heard. Oh, my ! what folks fishing
people must be !"

" Well, there are some droll things done, and droll
people to do them in this world," replied Stephen.

An exclamation of delight from one of the little
boys who had fallen from uie concealed staircase into
the middle of the room, during the cushion dance of
the preceding night, recalled Miss Lucy's attention
to his delinquency ; and she sent the little culprit off
to bed, notwithstanding Mr. Stephen's earnest en-
treaties to the contrary. The young lady was inex-
orable. She said —

*^ That in an establishment like that of Mount
Hope, nothing could be accomplished without order
and regularity ; and that there were certain rules in
the household which were never deviated from, on any
account whatever."

" You don't mean to say," inquired Stephen, " that
you have rules you never alter or bend a little on one
side, if you don t break them, do you ?"

" Yes, I do !" said Miss Lucy. " I couldn't keep
house, if I didn't !"

" Well, you must break one of them for me, to-
night, my little rose-bud !"

"Indeed, I shall not !"

"Oh, but you must!"

" Oh, but I must not !"

" Oh, but you will, though !"

LIFE IN A COLONY.

309

« Oh, but I won't, though !"

" Well, we shall see,'*'' said Stephen ; " but you
were too hard on those poor little fellows. They are
nice, manly little boys, and I love them ; and, after
all, what is it they did, now f

" What became of poor Luke V said the inflexible
hostess, in order to turn the conversation. " I should
like to hear the rest of that story."

" Poor little dears !" said Stephen, regardless of
the question ; '4t was natural they should be curious
to peep at the dancing, and that their mouths should
water when they saw and heard them forfeits of kisses,
wam'*t it V

" Oh, never mind the boys, Mr. Stephen," she re-

5 lied. " It's time they went to bed, at any rate; but
iuke !-— did you ever hear of him afterwards ?"

** I didn't think you would be so hard-hearted, now.
Miss Lucv," he said, pursuing the subject ; " for it
was nothing to what happened to Hans Mader, a
neighbour of mine in Clements."

"Oh, I don't want to hear of Hans Mader: tell
me about Luke."

" Well, I will presently ; but I must tell you of
Hans first, for there is some fun in what happened to
him, and t'other is a'most a dismal, melancholy story.
Hans was an only child ; he was the son of old Jacob
Mader, of Clements. Jacob was rich — that is, for a
farmer — and was the most 'sponsible man in the town-
ship, by all odds. He turned off every year a sur-
prising quantity of stuff from his place for the Halifax,
St. John, or Annapolis markets, and Hans was his
supercargo, or salesman. The old man raised the
crops, and Hans was employed to dispose of them, and
turn them into cash. He was a tall, well-built, hand-
some, likely young man, as you'd see any where ; but,
foing so much to them large towns, kind of turned his
ead, and made him conceited and vain. He gave up
his honest homespun, like Layton here, and took to
broadcloth, and had his clothes made by a city tailor,

310

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

.S|

lis ;

Kasi

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and wore a black stock, and a silk waistcoat, and a
frilled shirt, and tight boots, and a gold watch-guard,
and curled his hair, and grew into a cretter that was
neither fish nor flesh, nor chalk nor cheese, as a body-
might say. He lost the look of a farmer, and never
got that of a gentleman; for clothes don''t make a
gentleman a bit more than boots make a farmer. A
man must be broughten up to the business like any
thing else, to be either the one or the other. The
only place he ever looked at home in his new toggery
was a-horseback; because, when he was there, he
knew what to do with his arms and legs, and was easy
and natural, for almost all the men folk in this country
are good horsemen, in a general way.

" None of the young galls to Clements liked him a
bit, for he was scorny and full of airs, and turned up
his nose at them, and looked at them through a round
bit of glass in a gold ring, that he called a quizzing-
glass J but still, there warn't one of them that wouldn't
nave taken him, either, if they had the chance, although
they all vowed they wouldn't ; for, in a general way,
women like to have a man that goes the whole figure,
and does the thing in the way they think genteel : and
there is no mistake about the matter; heirship, in
mother's eyes, covers a multitude of sins in a youn<jster.

*' Master Hans just amused himself with all the
likeliest galls in the neighbourhood, and kind of played
them off to feed his vanity, one arter another. First,
he began with Betsy Bisser. She was an only child,
too, like himself; and, in the course of things, would
own the farm adjoining him, and the two would have
made a'most a grand estate. It was just a suit-
able match for him every way ; and any body would
say, a nateral and a probable one ; but nateral things,
somehow or another, don't always come to pass in
this world ; it's the onlikely ones that seem to turn
up oftenest. She was a fine, healthy, hearty, hand-
some gall ; none of your pale, delicate, narvous, hys-
teriky cretturs, that arn't fit for nothing onder the

LIFE IN A COLONY.

811

sun but drinking tea, and laying about on sofas, read-
ing novels, like the onderboned, hollow-cheeked, skinny,
spindly breed, thafs going in this country now ; but
a rael solid, corn-fed gall, as plump as a partridge, as
hard as a winter apple, and as full of...."

" Pooh ! " said Miss Lucy, " what do you know
about young ladies? Go on with your story, and
then tell us of poor Luke Loon."

" Well, he always attended Betsy to singing-school,
or walked home with her from church, and would sit
down with her (on the ship-timber hauled out and left
there for exportation, by the wayside, up Moose-
River Hill) ever so many times agoing up the ascent,
because it was so steep, he said j but it was only for
an excuse to lengthen time out ; and would make eyes
with her, and inveigle her to make eyes with him, and
leer like a pair of doves ; or he would drive her out in
his fly, with his great, big, smashing, trotting horse,
* Buckety-witch ;' dance with no one else but her at all
the parties, and see her home arterwards, and then
stand at her gate, he on one side of it, and she on the
other side of it, whispering by the hour, till their
lips got half-budded on to each other''s cheeks, like
two colts in summer, putting necks together over a
fence to rub oflf flies. Well, the young ladies grew
jealous, and wondered what he could see in Betsy
fcsser to be so taken with her; and then turned to
pitying poor Hans for being so kooked in and fooled
by that artful, knowing woman, old mother Bisser,
and her forrard, impedent darter ; but they supposed
he was only a-going to marry her for her money,

" Well, when he'd get things to this pass, and
show the world he could have Betsy just for whistling
for her, if he wanted her, he'*d take up with Ann
Potter, and just go through the identical same ma-
noeuvres with her ; and when they'd drive past poor
Betsy Bisser, Ann would look round, so pleased, and
call out, ' How do you do, Betsy, dear 'i How are
all to home to-day V and put on an air of sweet keen-

SI 2

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

!t '

ness, that cuts into the heart like a razor dipt in oil^
and a sort of boasting, crowing kind of look, as much
as to say, * I have got hira, and got your place, too !
and hell not slip through my finders, as he did
through yours. Don't you wish you may get him
again V Then the womenkind would take to pitying
poor Betsy, (for no matches ever please mothers, if
they ain't in their own family) and say how ill she
was used, and what a scandalous shame it was for
Ann to try to inveide an engaged man ; and it would
sarve her right if Hans dropt her some day, just in
the same way, and so on. Well, sure enough, all at
oncost he gives Ann a chance to walk along with Betsy,
and compare notes together ; for he goes and flirts the
same way with another, and so on, all through the
piece, with every young woman worth galavanting
with. The drollest part of the whole thing was, every
gall thought she was to be an exception ; and how-
ever bad he had sarved others, he wouldn't sarve her
that way, on no account. Well, all this tomfooleir
didn't make him very popular, you may depend,
among the petticoat creation. Women forgive in-
juries, but never forget slights. Wrong them, and
they will exhibit the mildness of angels ; slight them,
and they will show the temper of the devil !'

" Why, Mr. Stephen," said Miss Lucy, *' how you
talk !"

*^ Fact, dear ; and there is no blame to them for it
neither. Females, you see, were made to please, and
to charm, and to win ; and if you tell them they dis-
please, disgust, and lose, it's just pure nature they
should flare up and explode like gun-cotton — make all
fly agin before them. Well, fish that will keep a-nib-
bling at bait, most often get the hook in their gills at
last; and Master Hans, who was trying the same sport
at Hali&x, got hauled out of water and bagged, one
fine day, afore he knew where he was. Country galls
are onsophisticated anglers; they don't know of no
bait but the coarse worm, and that requires a good

LIFE IN A COLONY.

313

appetite, and favourable weather, and right depth of
water, and so on. But city galls have a fly of every
colour, for everv season ; and if one won't do, they try
another, and sink it, or skim it over ' he surface, and
tempt the knowing deep-water chaps to an unwaiy
jump sometimes, that costs them their liberty, that all
the springing, and flouncing, and flapping in the world,
won't regain. It made a great talk, you may depend,
in Clements, when it was known Hans was married at
Halifax, and had brought back a town-bred wife with
him. Oh, creation ! what a wife she was for a farmer !
She was like a night-hawk, all mouth, wings, legs, and
feathers."

*' What a man you be !" said Miss Lucy.

" She was just made up of lace, ribands, muslins,
silks, satins, plumes, and artificial flowers, and actilly
was so thin she wore a monstrous large pillow behind, so
she might look solid and nateral, like our Dutch galls ;
but then, to have made that look of a piece, she should
have padded all over, so as to make things keep pro-
portion."

" Pooh ! nonsense," said Miss Lucy. " You don't
know what you are a-talking about ; it was nothing
but her bustle !"

" But I do know what I am talking about, miss !"
said Stephen. " I know no part of the body, whether
it's the bustle, as you call it, or the chest, or the hand,
or the foot, ought to be out of proportion. To my
notion, proportion is beauty in every thing under
heaven. Your bustle, now..."

** Do, for gracious sake, go on with your story!"
replied the young lady, impatiently, " and finish it as
quick as you can, and then tell me of poor Luke!"

** Oh ! how old Marm Mader ope^^ed her eyes and
stared when she seed this crittur come home for he,
to wait upon, that couldn't spin, or knit, or hackle, or
weave, or milk cows, or chum butter, or make cheeser
or do any airthly single thing on a farm. The poor,
romantic, milliner's-doll sort of thing, was so awful

f
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314

THE OLD JUDGE OR,

Bs ri-U

disappointed, so unused to country ways, and so lonely
and wretched, she was to be pitied too. She actilly
almost starved to death in the midst of plenty, for she
could n''t eat any thing they had. She hated smoked
herrings j the flavour of dry cod-fish made her faint ;
pickled pork was too fat and rancid; salt beef too hard
and indigestible; and brown bread only fit for the
penitentiary, while fried ham and eggs actilly poisoned
her.

" Though the country looked so green and beau-
tiful, she could n^t get out, and was a prisoner to home.
The grass was always wet, and she couldn't walk out
without spoiling her clothes or catching cold. The

foat once gave her a bump so hard, nothing but the
ig pillow saved her life. To get out of his way, she
climbed over a great high wooden fence, and tore her
gown all to pieces ; and, when she got into the field,
there was an enormous, nasty brute of a bull, with his
tail curled up in the air, and his nose bent down to
the ground, a-roaring, and a-pawing dirt with his feet,
as savage as possible, and he nearly frightened her to
death ; and, to escape from him, she had to run to the
next fence, and half clambered and half tumbled head
over heels over that. Well, it was like going out of
the frying-pan into the fire, for the clover there was
long, and tangled like a net, and tripped her up every
step, and the thistles hurt her ankles, and the grass-
hoppers got up her legs, and the black flies down
her oack, and the musquitoes nearly bunged up her
eyes.

" When she got to tbe road, she felt safe; and there
was a pond there, and an old wild goosy gander, with
his beautiftil, long, graceftil, taper neck, and black
riband-like stripe round it, and his small head, and
bright eye, and nis old white wife of a tame goose, and
their mongrel goslins. She never saw any thing half
so handsome in all her life; and she stopt and wanted
to pet the young ones, when old norwester made a
grab at her waist, and held on like a fox-trap, and

LIFE IN A COLONY.

315

beat her hips so with his wings, she was black and blue,
and hurt her arms so bad, they were all numbed (for
they hit awful hard blows, I tell you). Oh ! she ran,
and screamed, and sung out pen-and-ink like any
thing J but what is the use of running and screaming
in the country; there is no one there to hear you
or help you, if you do. There warn't a living thing
near her but an old mare and her colt a-feeding by the
wayside ; and they neighed, and squealed, and joined
in the race too. At last the frock-waist gave way, and
down dropt the goose and toddled back to his family ;
and oft* went the disconsolate bride to her home too.

" Well, home warn't free from vexations neither,
for the old folks kept such awful bad hours, it upset
all her habits, for they went to bed so early she couldn't
sleep till near morning ; and then the cocks crowed,
as if they were raving distracted at their wives snooz-
ing so long, and the cows called after their calves, and
the pigs after their food ; and this quiet, peaceable
farm-house appeared to her a sort of Tower of Babel.
To get a little rest, and be alone by herself, she took a
book and went to the beautiftil grove that stood on the
point of land that ran out into the magnificent basin,
and opened such splendid views, and went into the
pretty little summer-house-looking building, there to
sit down and enjoy herself, when, just as she opened
the door, she was nearly knocked over, and stifled by
clouds of saw-dust smoke, for it was a smoke-hut for
curing herrings j and the beach e'en-a''most poisoned
her, it smelt so horrid where the fish were cleaned.

" She was in a peck of troubles, that's a fact. Still
it didn't seem to take the nonsense out of her. When-
ever she went among the neighbours, she made them
stare, she talked so fine and so foolj^h about balls at
Mason's Hall, pick-nics at M'Nab's Island, steam-trips
up the basin, the parade and the military band, and
the fashions, and so on. She took me in hand oncest,
and ran on like a mill-stream, about a regatta and the
theatre, and how well Captain Drill of the 15th, and

Ki:|.,!

816

THE OLD JUDGE ; OH,

Major Halt of the 18th, and Colonel March of the 7th,
performed ; and what a charming little afterpiece the
farce of High Life below Stairs was.

" ' That''s a farce,' says I, * marm, we see played
every day of our lives, without going to a theatre for
it. Hans has been acting a part in that for this while
past ; and I am glad he has got a woman of sense for
his wife now, that will not let him make a fool of him-
self any longer .'*

" ' 1 don't understand you, sir,' she said.

" * Well, it ain't easy to see them things all at oncost,
my dear friend,' says I ; * but you will come to see it
all in its right light afore long, I make no doubt.'

** Well, to make a long story short, arter they had
been the round of all the parties to all their neighbours,
and shown off all their airs and all their finery, they
gave a large tea squall themselves to home, in return,
and invited all their acquaintance. Hans and his wife
undertook to astonish the weak nerves of the Clements'
folks, and to do the thing genteel. So, instead of
sitting down to a good, solid, well-found and furnished
tea-tjSble, sociably and comfortably, as we farmers do,
and help each other and ourselves, nothing must do
but have the things handed about to the folks, who sat
all round the room, as stiff and formal as their chairs,
doing company. Well, as they had no servants to do
this, the bound farm apprentice-boy was enlisted ; but,
just at the last moment, they recollected he had no
clothes fit for it ; so they got over this difficulty by
putting him into the trousers of Hans's, that were a
mile too long and too big for Lim. The legs they
shortened by turning in ; but the waist, what in the
world was to be done with that ? * I have it,' says
Hans ; so he lapped it over in places about his
loins, like reefing, and enclosed and fastened it all by
a belt.

" Arter the company had arrived, the little fellow
fetched in a large tray, as much as he could cleverly
stretch his arms to (indeed, it was so wide, it made

|;;;|,;;;T

LIFE IN A COLONY.

317

him stretch his eyes and his mouth, too, as if that
would help him), and went round to each one in order.
I seed the whole thing, with half an eye, in a minute,
and was determined to take a rise out of them ; so,
says I, * Hold the tray a little higher, my man,** and
I saw the belt slip up a bit j 'just a little higher yet,
my boy : there, that will do ;' and up went the belt,
and down went the trousers to his hips. ' Oh, my !'
says the poor crittur, and he actilly looked scared to
death. * Oh, my sakes V .'=:ays he, and I railly did pity
him, for he couldn't let go the tray, and he couldn't
hitch up or hold on to his trousers ; so he stretched
out both legs as wide as ever he could (he couldn't do
no more, if he had had a tray there too), and he kind
of skated, or slid, for the door, arter that fashion ; but,
when he got there, he stuck, and couldn't get through.
At last, he grew desperate, and tried to draw in one
foot and send it back acyain as quick as wink, so as to
pass out ; but he couldn't manage it, and down went
his trousers to his knees, and pitched him head fore-
most into the tray, slap on the entry floor. I ran
forward, and picked him up by his waistband, and
shook him into his trousers again, and carried him at
arms' length that way, kicking and squealing like any-
thing.

" * Here is a beautifiil little afterpiece, marm,'* says I
to Mrs. Mader, * called, High Life below Stairs. This
boy plays it just as well as Captain Drill or Major
Halt ;' and then, handing him to Hans, ' Here,' says
I, ' my friend, clap an old hat on him, and stand him
up in the corn-field to scare away crows, and let you
and me wait on ourselves, as we used to did, and the
old folks did afore us.'

" It cured them of their nonsense, though not just
at once, for folly is a disease that takes a course of
medicine ; but it cured them in the long run. You
may preach till you are tired, miss, and so the par-
sons will all tell you, and you can't effect much ; but
you can ridicule folks out of anything, ay, even out

318

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

& ' H

•■^ .J

1 d

t ,

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of that thafs good. So you see, Miss Lucy, you
liadnH ought to liave been so hard on those poor boys ;
it warn''t naif so bad as Hans Mader^s mishap, alter
all, was it i for one was mere accident, and the other
horrid, dirty pride."

" Well, well," said Miss Lucy ; *' I must say, it
was very mischievous of you, now ; and if you had
a-played me such a trick in my house, I never would
have forgiven you the longest day I ever lived. But
tell me what became of poor Luke Loon i I am curious
to know all the particulars about him."

But Stephen proceeded without replying.

" The next morning, Hans said to me —

"'Steve,' says he, 'I don't thank you a bit for
making such a fool of the boy when his breeches burst ;
it was a breach of hospitality.'

" ' Then, there is a pair of breeches V says L * Give
them to the boy, for he wants them, I tell you. Hans',
says I, ' no nonsense, now. I have a great regard for
your father, for he is an old and tried friend of mine ;
and I have a great regard for you, too, for there is
worse fellows going than you be ; but you have made
a grand mistake, my boy. You ain't a fit husband
for a town-bred girl, for you hain't nothing in common
with her ; and she can no more play her part on a
farm than a cat can play a fiddle.'

" ' Mind your own business,' says he, as short and
as snappish as you please ; ' I don t want none of your
impedence.'

" * Don't talk foolish, Hans,' said I, * now j rectify
the mistake. Don't snub her, for it ain't her fault,
she don't know about dairies, and looms, and them
things, a bit more than it is yours. You 'lon't know
a play from a circus, for neither of you had the
broughtens up. Now, when she wants to go to home,
take her there, and stay with her awhile, and she'll
lam. When a woman's married, and returns to her
father's house, she dt ' 't find her own place again very
easy ; and, if she does, it don't fit as it used to did.

LIFE IN A COLONY.

319

01 cunous

And don't flare up at what I am going to say, for it's
for your good. Your country ways and country talk
will kind of mortify her, and she'll miss the notice she
got from the men when she was single, and she'll want
to get back again to Clements; and here she'll be
proud of you, for you're the likeliest looking fellow in
these parts by a long chalk, and women do like a fancy
man, that's a fact. Critters that's bad broke, like
town galls, must be onbroke agin, and handled gently
and patiently, or they are ruined for ever. Be easy,
therefore, ^ith her, and she'll be all right arter awhile,
for she ain t wanting in the upper story.' They are
both cured."

*' Well, I'm glad you succeeded," said Miss Lucy,
*' but I can't say I take any interest in them. Now,
tell me Luke's story."

"That little brother of yours," he continued, "that
you are so severe with, is a beautiful boy ; I like him
because he looks so much like you, dear. Now, what
he did was nothing to what Hans' little boy did, for
Hans has a family now."

"Oh, the deuce take Hans' boy!" said Miss Lucy,
impatiently ; " I don't care a button about what Hans
or nis boy either did ; tell me about poor Luke."

" Well, as I was a-telling of you, said the incorri-
gible talker, " they were cured, but Hans' wife ran to
the opposite extreme. It's oftentimes the case a'most
with women that dress so fine for the streets, and so
flash for parties, that they ain't ginirally tidy to home ;
it's all show. They go out butterflies and return grubs.
She is a slattern noVf, and looks like a bird that's
hatching eggs. The plumage is all soiled, and the
colours faded, and half the feathers gone, and them
that's left look every way but smooth ; they hain't
time to go to the pond, wash, and pass their bills
through their wings and breasts. I thought I should
have died a-laughing, the other day. I went to Hans'
house with Lawyer Jackson, who was canvassing for
election, and Hans called his wife in. Just afore she

I .n

»j; "

I .-1] f

i j

If J

320

THE OLD JUDGE J OR,

came down stairs (for she ain't never fit to appear),
* Ann/ said she to the servant girl, ' does that liole in
my stocking show? will the lawyer see it, do you
think V

** * No,' says Ann, * I guess not f for she was too
tarnal lazy to go and get another pair.

'* Well, in slie walks, and her little boy with her,
that she's amazing proud of, he is so uncommon hand-
some. Well, the critter heard all the talk with the
help, and he follows his mother all about the room
wherever she went, a-looking down to her feet, and a-

f>eeping first at one and then at the other of them ; at
ast, he said —

" * Mother,' said he, * that hole in the heel of your
stocking don't show a bit ; nobody can see it ; you
needn't mind it.'

" Poor little fellow, she sarved him as you did that
nice little brother of yours, she just walked him out of
the room. I am very fond of youn» people of that
age, they are so innocent, and so full of natur and of
truth."

" Well, I wish there was more truth in you, then,"
said Miss Lucy. " You promised to tell me the story
of Luke, and now you won't, that's not fair."

But on he went as usual, without noticing her re-
quest.

** They are so transparent, you can see what's ope-
rating in their minds, and what they are at work at,
as plain as bees in a glass hive. Now, there is my
little boy Isaac — Ike, as we call hira — he made us all
laugh like anything the other day."

" Well, I dare say he did," replied the young lady ;
*' and I have no doubt he is as clever and as 'cute as
his father; but what has that got to do with the fishing
law V

" Let me tell you this story," said Stephen, " and I
am done. Ike always had a wonder^l curiosity to
see his great-grandfather, old Squire Sim Weazel, of
Wilmot, that he often heard the family talk of, but

LIFE IN A COLONY.

321

who hadiiH been to our house for some years. One
day, the old geutleman came to visit ua, and we sent
to the school-house to the master to give the boy a
holiday, seeing that the old squire had arrived. Well,
Ike he pulled foot for home, vou may depend, as hard
as ever he could lay leg to tfie ground, and, when he
came into the room, the old geutleman got up and held
out his hands to him.

" * Come here," she si id, * my dear, and shake hands
along with your great-grandfather.'

" ' I won t V says Ike.

" * You won''t I"* says squire.

" * No, says he, * i wonH : you are not a-going to
make a fool of me that way, I can tell you. You ain't
the right man.'

*' ^ But I am the right man,' said the old gentleman.

" ' I don't belie v^ it,' replied Ike.

" * Why not, my little dear ?' said he ; * why do
you suppose I ain't?'

" ' A pretty yr^«^-grandfather you be,' said Ike,
* ain't you I Why, you ain't half as big as father; and
as for grandfather, you ain't knoe high to him. Great-
grandrather ! eh I why, they might as well call me
one. And off he turned and went right away back to
school agin, aA cross aa a bear."

" Capital i said Miss Lucy, who wished to conci-
liate Richardson; "that's a capital story; it's the
best you have told yet. And now, Mr. Stephen,
there is just one favour I have to ask of you."

"Granted before told," he replied. "Anything
onder the sun I can do for you, miss, either by day or
by night, I am ready to do. I only wish we had
plenty more of such well broughten up excellent
housekeepers as you be, and such rael right down
hand ..."

" Now, don't talk nonsense," she said, " or I am
done. But just tell me, that's a good soul, is that
story of yours about Luke Loon true, or were you only
romancing 1 is it a bam or a fact T'

322

THE OLD JUDOE; OR,

" Fact, miss, and no mistake. Do you think, now,
I would go for to deceive you that way ! No, not for
the world. It's as true as I am here."

** Well, it's a very odd story, then," said Miss
Lucy — " the oddest story I ever heard in all my life.
What a wretch that woman must have been ! And
poor Luke, what became of him V

** Oh, don't ask me," replied Stephen, with a serious
air^" don't ask me that j anything else but that."

"Ah, do!"

" I'd rather not — excuse me, miss."

" Did he die of a broken heart 2"

" Worse than that."

" Did he make way with himself 2'

" Worse than that."

"Get desperate, do something awful, and get
hanged for it 2"

" Worse than that."

" Oh, my ! didn't you say just now you'd do any-
thing for me— oh ! you false man 2 And now you
have raised my curiosity so, I actilly can't go to sleep
till I hear it. Do you know the story, Mr. Bar-
clay 2"

" No ; if I did, I would tell it to you with plea-
sure."

" Do you, sir 2" applying to the commissary.

*' No, I never heard it."

** Is there no one knows it 2 Oh, how stupid of
you, Mr. Stephen, to tease a body so ! You might,
now.... Come, that's a dear man, do tell me !"

" Mv dear friend," said Stephen, with a sad and
melancholy air, " it's a dismal, shocking story j and I
can't bear to think of it, much lesisi to talk of it. You
won't sleep to-night, if I tell it to you, neither shall

I ; and I know you will wish I
was an untimely thing.

"What 2"

" The end of poor Luke !

" Then he is dead— is he 2"

had let it alone. It

LIFE IN A COLONY.

323

*' I didn't say he was dead."

" Ah, Mr. Stephen," she said, " don''t tf ise, now,
thafs a good man !" and she rose up, and stood behind
his chair, and patted his cheek with her hand coax-
ingly. " ril do anything in the world for you, if you
will tell me that story."

" Well," said Stephen, " I give in ; if I must, I
suppose I must: but, mind, I warned you before-
hand !"

» And then, looking round, and taking up an empty
decanter, as if to help himself to some brandy-and-water
before he began, he affected surprise at there being
nothing in it, and, handing it to the young hostess,
said —

" I must have the matter of half-a-pint of moho-
gony to get through that dismal affair.

" Certainly, certainly ; any thing you please !"
said Miss Lucy, who immediately proceeded to the
bar, situated in the other part of the house, to pro-
cure it.

As soon as she left the room, Stephen looked up and
laughed, saying —

" Didn't I manage that well ? They are very strict
people here about hours, and nothing in the world
will tempt them to open the bar after twelve at night.
That is one of the rules she never breaks, she says ;
but I told her Yd make her do it, and I have suc-
ceeded unbeknown to her. I never saw it fail yet:
pique a woman's curiosity, and she'll unlock her door,
her purse, her heart, or anything, for you. They
can't stand it. In fact, it ain t a bad story, but it's too
long to get through without moistening one's lips....
Ah, miss, there is no resisting you !" he continued, as
the young lady returned.

" No resisting the brandy-and-water, you mean !"
retorted Miss Lucy. " I believe, in my soul, you did
it a-purpose to make me break rules; but, come, begin
now."

" Well, here's my service to you, miss, and your

324

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

very good health ! Now, poor Luke Loon, arter his
wife ginn him the dodge (like all other water-fowl
when they are scarred out of one harbour light in
another), made for snug cove in Micmac Bay, where
there is almost a grand mackarel fishery. At the
head of the cove there lived one old Marm Bowers, a
widow woman, with whom Luke went to board. Poor
critter ! he was very dull and downhearted, for he was
rally werry fond of the gall ; and, besides, when a man
is desarted that way, it's a kind of slight put on him.
that nobody likes ...."

" I guess not," said Miss Lucy ; " but he was well
rid of that horrid wretch."

" People kind of look at him and whisper, and say,
' That's Luke Loon — him that big Tom Bullock cut
out !' And then sarcy people are apt to throw such
misfortunes into a man's face. It ainH pleasant, I
don't suppose. Well, Luke said nothing to any body,
minded his own business, and was getting on well, and
laying by money hand over hand, for he was a great
fisherman, and onderstood the Yankee mode of feed-
ing and enticing mackarel. Every body liked him,
and Mother Bowers pitied him, and was very kind to
him. The old woman had three daughters ; two on
them were nothing to brag on, quite common-looking
heifers...."

** Why, Mr. Stephen," interposed Miss Lucy,
" what kind of a word is that ?"

" But the other — that is, the youngest — ^was a doll.
Oh, she was a little beauty, you may depend ! She
was generally allowed to be the handsomest gall out of
sight on the Whole coast, far and near, by high and
low, black or white, rich or poor. But that wa'n't
all ; perhaps, there never was one so active on her
pins as she was. She could put her hands on the
highest fence (that is, anything she could reach), and
go sideways over it like anything ; or step back a few
paces, hold up her little petticoats to her knees, and
clear it like a bird. Stumps, gates, brooks, hillocks,

LIFE IN A COLONY.

325

nor hollows, never stopt her. She scarcely seemed to
touch the ground, she was so light of foot. When she
was a half-grown gall, she used to run young men
across the field as the crow flies for a dollar or a pound
of tea agin a kiss, and she kept up the practice after
she had grown up a young woman ; but she raised her
price to two dollars, so as not to be challenged too
often. Many a young man, in follering her over a
fence, has fell, and sprained his ankle, or put his
shoulder out, or nearly broke his neck ; while she was
never ki )wn to trip, or to be caught and kissed by no
one.*"

" W >^, .veil," said Miss Lucy, "what carryings
on ! What broughtens up ! What next, I won-
der!"

" Well, Luke, though he wam't so large, or so tall,
bony, and strong, as Tom Bullock, was a withy, wiry,
active man — ^few like him any where ; wrestling, run-
ning, rowing, jumping, or shinning up rigging ; and
he thought he''d have a trial with Sally Bowers, for a
kiss or a forfeit."

" He seems to have got over his troubles very easy,
I think," said Miss Lucy, " to begin racing so soon
with that forward, sarcy gall. Don''t you think so ?"

" Tell you what, miss," he replied, " man was
never made to live alone, as is shown by his being
able to talk, which no other animal is, and that is a
proof he must have a woman to talk to. A man''s
heart is a cage for love ; and, if one love gives him
the dodge, there's the cage, and the perch, and the
bars, and the water-glass, all so lonely and desolate,
he must get another love and put into it. And, there-
fore, it was natural for Luke to feel all-over-like when
he looked upon such a little fairy as Sally."

" Pooh !'^ said Miss Lucy. " Go on !"

" * So,' says he, ' mother,' says he, * here's the
money : I should like to run Sally ; I kind of consait
I can go it as fast as she can, although she is a
clinker-built craft.'

1*1

326

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

"* 'ih

" ' Nonsense, Luke,'' she said ; * you are no touch to
a fore-and-afterlike Sally. Don't be foolish ; I don't want
your money. Here, take it ! You have lost enough
already, poor fellow, without losing your money !'

" That kind of grigged Luke, for no one likes to
have mishaps cast up that way, even in pity.

" * What will you bet I don't catch her f says he.

** ' I'll bet you a pound,' said she. ' No I won't,
either, cause it's only a robbing of you ; but Sally
shall give you a chance, at any rate, if it's only to
take the consait out of you.'

" So she called in her darter.

" * Sally,' says she, * Luke is teasing me to let him
run a race of kiss or forfeit with you.'

" * Who — ^youT said she.

" * Yes, me !' said Luke.

" ' Why, you don't mean to say you have the
vanity to run me, do you V

" * 1 do, though.'

" She made a spring right up an eend, till her head
touched the ceiling a'most, came down with one foot
out a good piece afore the other, and one arm akimbo ;
then, stooping forward, and pointing with the other
close into his face^

" * You !' she said—* you ! Well, if that don't
pass ! I wonder who will challenge me next ! Why,
man alive, I could jump over your head so high, you
couldn't touch my foot ! But, here's at you, at any
rate. I'll go and shoe, and will soon make you look
foolish, I know.'

" Well, she took the twenty yards' start which she
always had, and off they sot, and she beat him all
haller, and would haul up now and then, turn round,
and step backward, with short, quick, light steps,
a-tiptoe, and beckon him with her hand, and say,
* Don't you hope you may ketch me? Do I swim too
fast for you, my young blowing porpoise !' And then
point her finger at him, and laugh like anything, and
round agin, and off like the wind, and over a fence

LIFE IN A COLONY.

327

le to let him

like a greyhound.* Luke never said a word, but kept
steadily on, so as to save his wind (for it wam't
the first time he had run foot races ) ; and, at last,
he began to gain on her by main strength. Away
she flew, when she found that, over stump land,
wild pasture, windfoUs, and everything, turned at
the goal-tree, and pulled foot for home for dear
life. Luke reached the tree soon after, and then
came the tug of the race ; but he had the endurance
and the wind, and overhauled her as she' ascended the
hill behind the house, and caught her just as she was
falling. She was regularly beat out, and panted like
a hare, and lay in his arms, with her head on his
shoulder and her eyes shut, almost insensible.

" ' Sally, dear!' said he; and he kissed her, but
she didn't speak.

" ' Dear Sally ! Oh, what shall I do V and he
kissed her again and again.

*' ' Speak, for Heaven''s sake, dear, or you will
break my heart. Oh, what an unfortunate man I be !'

*' At last, she kind of woke up.

" * Luke,' said she, ' don't tell mother that you
caught me, that's a good soul. There, now !' — and she
put her arms round his neck and kissed him — * there,
now, is your forfeit ! I've come to, now — let me go ;

^ Strange as this anecdote of the foot-race may seem, it is,
nevertheless, true, and occurred within the remembrance of the
author: —

" Non fabula rumor
Ille fuit.
The classical reader will be forcibly struck with its resem-
blance to the story of Atalanta, as told by Ovid: —
*' Forsitan audieris aliquam certamine cursus
Veloces superasse viros ♦ * ♦
* * * Nee sum potiunda nisi, inquit
Vecta prius cursu. Pedibus contendite mecum.
Pnemia veloci conjux, thalamique debuntur.
Mors prsetium tardis. Ea lex certaminis esto.*'
Well may it be said that there is nothing new under the sun.

328

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

and do you follow, but don't push me too hard, for
I'm fairly blown," and she took over the hill, and he
after her at a considerable distance.

" When they got back, said old Mother Bowers —

" 'Didn't I tell you so, Luke? I knowed you couldn't
do it : no man ever did it yet ! I hope you feel easier,
now your comb is cut. Here's your forfeit, I don't
want it. But this I will say, you have made a great
run for it, at any rate — the best I ever see any one
make yet !'

" * Who V said Sally. ' Do you mean him V and
she sprung up as before, and, coming down the same
way on her feet, and pointing at him with her fingers,
jeering like, said, 'Who ? — him — him ! why, the
clumsy lumokin feller don't know how even to begin
to run. I hope you feel better, sir V

" ' Well, 1 do,' said Luke, ' that's a fact ; and I
should like to run you agin, for I have an idea next
time I could catch you in real airnest !'

' " You do> do your said she ; ' then your ' like' is all
you are ' likely' to get, for I never run any one twicet !' "

" Oh, my !" said Miss Lucy, " what an artful, false
girl ! Well, I never ! But is that all ? Is that what
you call such a dismal story ?"

" Oh, I wish it was !" said Stephen. " The other
is the end, but this is the beginning. I'll tell you the
next to-morrow, it's getting late now. Don't press
me, my little rose-bud, it's really too sad."

" Ah, now, you promised me," she replied, " and
it's so different from anything I ever heard before.
Ah, do, that's a good man !"

" It's too long a story, it will take all night !"

" I don't care if it does take all night : I want to
hear the end of it."

" Well, then, I am afraid I must trouble you again,
miss," handing her the empty decanter, " for I've
drank it all berore I've got to the part that touches
the heart !"

" Ah, Mr. Stephen," she replied, " I'll get it for

LIFE IN A COLONY.

329

you, though I know y ". are making game of
time ; but if you art, 11? upsides with

me all the
ypiii some
of these days, see if I don't What an awfui \uii to
drink you are !" she said, as she returned with the
liquor. " Here it is — now go on."

" Well, arter the race, Luke felt a kind of affection
for the young gall, and she for him. I guess they
liked the flavour of them are kisses "

" Ain't you ashamed to talk that way 2" asked
Miss Lucy.

" And he proposed to the old woman to marry her,
but she wouldn''t hear to it at no rate. Women don't
much care to have a jilted man that way for their
daters ; cast-off things ain't like new, and second-
hand articles ain't prised in a genera,! way ; and be-
sides, the old lady was kind of proud of her girl, and
thought she might make a better match than taking
up with the likes of him. At last, winter came, and
things were going in in this dissatisfactory kind of
way, when a thought struck Luke. Sally was a'most
a beautiftil skater. She could go the outside edge, cut
circles one inside the other, write her name, and the
figures of the year, and execute all sorts of things on
the ice with her skates ; and Luke proposed to run
her that way for marriage, or twenty pounds forfeit if
he didn't catch her. It was a long time before the
old woman would consent ; but, at last, seeing that
Sally had beat him so easy afoot, she knowed, in
course, she could outskatehim on the ice like nothing;
and, therefore, she gave in, on condition that Luke,
if he was beat, should clear out and leave the Cove ;
and, as he couldn't get no better terms, he agreed to
it, and the day was fixed, and arrangements made for
the race, and the folks came from far and near to see
it. Some backed Sally and bet on her, and some
backed Luke and betted on him, but most people
wished him to win ; and there never was, perhaps, a
horse-race, or foot-race, or boat-race, or anything ex-
cited and interested folks like this ' Race for a Wife,*

330

THE OLD JUDGE ;

OR,

" The Cove was all froze over with beautiful glassy
ice, and the day was fine and the company assembled,
and out came the two racers. Sally was dressed in
long cloth pantalets, only covered by her skirt as far
as the knees, so as to admit of a free use of her limbs,
and a close-fitting body with narrow sleeves, and wore
a black fur cap on her head. Luke had on a pair of
seaman's trousers, belted tight round the waist, and a
loose striped Guernsey shirt, open at the neck, and a
knowing little seal-skin cap, worn jauntingly a one
side. It ain't often you see such a nandsome couple,
I can tell you. Before Sally left the house, her
mother called her a one side, and said —

" * Sally, dear, do your best, now, that's a good
gall ; if you get beat, people will say you let him do
it a purpose, and that ain't womanly. If such a
thing was to be that you had to marry him (and
would be so mean as to take up with another woman's
leavings), marry him conquering, and not beaten.
It's a good thing to teach a man that the grey mare
is the better horse. Take the conceit out of him, dear !'

" * Never fear, mother,' said she j * I'll lead him a
dance that goes so fast he won't know the tune he is
keeping step to, I know.'

" Well, they walked hand in hand down to the
Cove, and the folks cheered them again and again
when they arrived on the ice. After fitting on their
skates, they slowly skimmed about the Cove, showing
off, cutting all sorts of feats, of shines, evolutions, and
didoes, and what not ; when they come together again,
tightened their straps, shook hands, and took their
places, twenty yards apart, and, at the sound of a
conch-shell, off they started, like two streaks of light-
ning. Perhaps it was the most splendid thing ever
seen in this country. Sally played him off beautifully,
and would let him all but catch her, then stop short,
double on him, and leave him ever so far oehind.
Once she ran right round him, so near as to be able to
lay her little balance-stick across his shoulders, whack i

LIFE IN A COLONY.

331

with all her mi^ht. Oh ! what a laugh it raised, and
what shouts of applause, every cutting oflf or heading
of his received, or sudden pull up, sharp turn, or
knowing dodge of hem, was welcomed with ! It was
great sport/'

" Sport, indeed !" said Miss Lucy. " I never
heard anything so degrading; I couldn't have he-
lieved it possible that a woman would make a show of
herself that way before men, and in such an ondecent
dress, too !""

" The Cove fairly rung with merriment. At last
the hour for the race was drawing near its close (for
it was agreed it should only last an hour), and she
began to lead him ofif as far as possible, so as to double
on him, and make a dash for the shore, and was
saving her breath and strength for the last rush,
when, unfortunately, she got unawares into what they
call blistered ice (that is, a kind of rough and oneven
freezing of the surface), tripped, and fell at full length
on her face; and, as Luke was in full pursuit, he
couldn't stop himself in time, and fell also rignt over her.

" ' She is mine !' said he ; ' I have her ! Hurrah,
I have won !' "

" Oh, yes !" said Lucy, " it's ve^ easy to win
when it's all arranged beforehand. Do you pretend
to tell me, after the race in the field, that that wasn't
done on purpose ? I don't think I ever heard tell of a
more false, bold, artful woman !"

" Oh," continued Mr. Stephen, " what a cheer of
praise and triumph that caused ! It rang over the
ice, and was echoed back by the woods, and was so
loud and clear you might have heard it clean away
out to sea, as far as the lighthouse a'most !"

" And this is your dismal story, is it 2" said the
young hostess, with an air of disappointment.

" Such a waving of hats and throwing up of ftir
caps was never seen ; and when people had done
cheering, and got their heads straight again, and
looked for the racers, they was gone . ► . ,"

332

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

1 'li I fe'' I'

" Gone I" said Lucy. " Where r

** To Heaven, I hope !" said Stephen.

" Why, you don't mean to say they were lost,
do you ?

" Yes, I do !"

" Drowned r

** Yes, drowned."

" What! both of them r

*' Yes, both of them."

" What, did they go through the ice ?"

" Yes, through the ice. It was an air-hole where
they fell !"

*' Oh, my, how awful !"

" 1 told you so, miss," said Stenhen, ** but you
would nH believe me. It was awful, tnat's a fact !

*' Dear me I" ejaculated Lucy. " Only think of
poor Luke ; he was a misfortunate man, sartainly !
W ere they ever found ?"

" Yes, when the ice broke up, the next eastwardly
gale, they floated ashore, tightly clasped in each other s
arms, and were buried in one grave and in one coffin.
It was the largest Mineral ever seen in them parts ; all
the fishermen from far and near attended, with their
wives and darters, marching two and two ; the men
all dressed in their blue trousers and check shirts, and
the women in their grey homespun and white aprons.
There was hardly a dry eye among the whole of them.
It was a most affecting scene.

" When the service was over, the people subscribed
a handsome sum on the spot, a? a had a monument
put up there. It stands on the right hand of the gate
as you go into the churchyard at Snug Harbour.
The schoolmaster cut their names and ages on the
stone, and also this beautiful inscription, or epigraph,
or whatever it is called : —

* This loving pair went out to skate, ^
Broke through the ice and met their fhte,
And now lie buried near this gate ;
Tear, eighteen hundred and twenty-eight.* **

LIFE IN A COLONV.

Sdd

" Dear me, how very awful !" said Miss Lucy.
♦' I don't think I shall sleep to-night for thinking of
them J and, if I do, I know I shall dream of them.
Still, it's a pretty story, after all. It's out of the
common way, like. What a strange history Luke's
is ! First, losing his wife by the fishery -law, then
the race on foot for the tea or a forfeit, and at last
skating for a wedding or a grave ! It's quite a ro-
mance in real life, isn't it? But, dear me, it's one
o'clock in the morning, as I'm alive ! Mr. Barclay,
if you will see to the fire, please, before you go to bed,
that it's all made safe (for we are great cowards about
fire here), J believe I will bid you all good night."

" It ain't quite finished yet,' said Stephen. " There
was another young lady . . . ."

" Who ?" said Miss Lucy.

" A far handsomer and far more sensible gall than
Sally, one of the best brouehten up in the whole
country, and one that would be a fortin to any man
that was lucky enough to get her for a wife."

" Who was she, and where did she live ?" inquired
Lucy, who put down her candle and awaited the reply.

" To at home with her own folks," said Stephen ;
" and an excellent, and comfortable, and happy home
she made it, too. It's a pity Hans' wife hadn't seen
her, to take pattern by her."

" Luke's you mean," added Lucy, " if she's such a
nonsuch."

" Yes, and Luke's, too ; though Luke's wife warn't
fit to hold a candle to her. They hadn't ought to be
mentioned in the same day. Nobody that ever see
her that didn't love her, — old or young, gentle or
simple, married or single."

" She was no great shakes, then," said the young
hostess. '* She must have been a great flirt, if that
was the case."

" Well, she warn't, then ; she was as modest, and
honest, and well conducted a gall as you ever laid
your eyes on. I only wish my son, who is to man's

Sd4

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

estate now, had her, for I should be proud of her as a
darter-in-law ; and would give them a farm, and stock
it with a complete fit out of everything."

** If he's lite his father," said Lucy, " maybe heM
be a hard bargain for all that. Who is your sampler
that''s set off with such colours, and wants the word
* Richardson' worked on it V

" But then she has one fault," continued Stephen.

** What's that ? Perhaps she's ill-tempered j for
many beauties are so ?"

" No, as sweet-tempered a gall as ever you see.
Guess agin."

** Won't take your son, maybe ?"

" No ; she never seed him, I don't think ; for, if
she did, it's my notion her heart would beat like a
town-clock ; so loud, you could hear it ever so far.
Guess agin."

" Oh ! I can't guess if I was to try till to-morrow,
for I never was a good hand at finding out riddles.
What is it r

** She is a leetle, jist a leetle, too consaited, and is
as iuiimsitive as old Marm Eve herself. She says she
has rules that can't never be bended nor broken, on no
account ; but yet her curiosity is so great, she will
break the best regulation she has ; and that is, not to
open the bar arter twelve o'clock at night more than
once the same evening to hear a good story."

" Ah, now, Mr. Stephen," said the young lady,
** that's a great shame ! Only to think I should be
Buch a goose as to be took in so, and to stand here
and listen to all that nonsense ! And then heins
made such a ^oose of to my face, is all the thanks I
get for my pams of trying to please the like of you !
Well, I never ! I'll te even with you yet for that,
see if I don't ! Good night."

" One word more, please, miss. Keep to your
rules, they are all capital ones, and I was only joking ;
but I must add this little short one to them. Cir-
cumstances alters cases. Good night, dear," and he got

LIFE IN A COLONY.

S35

up and opened the door for hor, and whispered in her
ear, " I am in earnest about my son : I am, upon my
soul ! ril send him to see you. Don't be acorny,
now, thaf s a darling !''

" Do get awa^/"* she replied, " and don''t tease me !
Gentlemen, I wish you all good night i^

ver you see.

CHAPTER XVI.

A PIPPIN;

OR, SHEEPSKINS AND GARTERS.

The next morning, Mr. Stephen Richardson, having
left his horse at Mount Hope, and borrowed a pair of
snow-shoes from Neal, set out on foot for Halifax.
At parting, he shook me cordially by the hand, and
invited me to visit him, either during the following
month of March, or in the autumn, or, what he con-
sidered preferable, at both periods ; for th^^. he said,
he could instruct me how to hunt moose o.'^ tlie snow
like a man, or to stand as still as a stump, call them,
and shoot them like a boy.

*' I should like," he said, " to have you a few nights
in camp with me, to show you what wood-life is.
Hunting is done now in these parts ; there is only a
few of us old-fashioned fellows that know any thing
about it. Folks are so 'tarnel lazy, they won't go
any where without a horse to carry 'em ; and so deli-
cate and tender, they can't sleep any where but in a
feather bed. We do know how to raise calves, that's
a fact ; but, as for raising men, we've lost the knack.
It's a melancholy thing to think of. The Irish do all
our spade work ; machinery all our thrashing, sowing,
and husking ; and gigs and waggons all our leg-work.
The women are no good neither. They are all as soft
as dough. There ain't a rael, hard, solid, corn-fed
gall, like Miss Lucy, in the country any where a'most.
Mills do all their carding, and spinning, and weaving.

I I

If ^
I

S36

THE OLD JUDGE J OR,

They have no occupation left but to drink tea and
gossip ; and the men do nothing but lounge about
with their hands in their trousers' pockets, and talk
politics. What the Irish and machinery don't do for
em, they expect legislators to do. They actilly think
the sun rises in the Government-house, and sets in
the Province building.

" The last time I came from Halifax, all the idlers
in the bar-room of every public-house I stopped at got
round me in a circle. ' Whafs the news, Steve f
says they. * Whaf's our members a-doing of for us ?'
I had one answer for them all. ' Their a-going to hire
a nigger,"' says I, ' to hold a bowl, and an Irishman to
carry a ladle, and feed you all with spoon-victuals, for
you are too infernal lazy to feed yourselves.' They
didn't ax me any more questions, you may depend.
No, sir, they are all good for nothing. If you really
want to see forest life, come to me, and I'll show you
how to walk through the woods, and over wind-falls,
swamps, brooks, and what not, as straight as the crow
flies. Ah, sir, that's the sport for a man ! And it
takes a man to go through it, too, that's sartain.
When I go a-hunting, I don't take furious dogs to
seize a critter by the nose, and hold him while I shoot
him, but I give him a chance for his life, and run him
down myself; one is downright murder, but the other
is rael, genel-ous sport. And then, at night, I'll spin
you yarns that will make your sides ache with laughter,
I know. Good by, my friend ! You recollect my
name : they call me Steve Richardson, when I am at
home ; and my home is to Clements, and Clements is
in Annapolis county, and Annapolis county is on the
south-west side of tne Bay of Fundy."

And away he strode over the untrodden snow, as
lightly as if it were encrusted with ice.

" That is a very extraordinary fellow," said Barclay,
as he led me off to the stables to look at his horses.
** Notwithstanding all the nonsense he talks, he is a
most industrious, thrifty man, and his farm is in

LIFE IN A COLONY.

337

dden snow, as

excellent order, and well, though not scientifically
worked. We must visit him in the autumn. It
would be madness to hunt with him in winter ; no
man could keep pace with him, or run all day, as he
does, without nalting; and sleeping on the snow,
when heated by a long, hard chase, is attended with
<rreat danger to the health. You will enjoy it better
in his description, than in undergoing the fatigue and
exposure yourself. He has some capital stories, too,
that are worth going to Clements to hear."

On our return from the stables, we entered the bar-
room, to ascertain from the teamsters when they in-
tended to resume their journey, and to consult them
upon the state of the roads. It was a long, narrow,
apartment, similar in size and general appearance to
the keeping-room, but contained no furniture whatever,
except a table and a few benches. Across one end
of it was a counter, having tumblers and wine-glasses
upon it, behind which were casks and jars holding
various kinds of liquors. The walls were covered with
printed notices of auctions, advertisements of quack
medicines, and hand-bills calling public meetings for
the promotion of temperance or the organization of
political parties j while the never-fe,iling wooden clock
notified travellers of the lapse of time, or of the arrival
of that hour of mid-day that is always welcomed with
a libation of rum and water.

The room was nearly full of people. Some were
smoking, others drinking, and a few were putting on
their outer coats, and preparing to leave the house.
As we approached the door, we heard a person saying,
in a very loud voice, and with very rapid utterance, —

" I tell you he did — ^he did — ^he did ! Yes, he can
trot a mile in two minutes, and thirty seconds ; two
thirty is his exact guage, sir."

This declaration appeared to be contradicted, for it
was re-asserted as beiore, with the attestation of several
extraordinary slang oaths.

" I tell you he can — he can — he can ! What will

33S

THE OLD JUDGE ;

OR,

II i

you bet ? Go any thing you dare, now ! What will
you lay on it? Say something worth while. Say
twenty pounds, now ! I stump you, if you dare, for
twenty pounds ! You are brought to a hack, are
you ? Then if you darsn't, don't contradict a gentle-
man that way !"

This was said by a middle-sized but remarkably
powerful and active man, of about thirty years of age.
He was standing in the middle of the room, holding a
long hunting-whip, with the thong doubled in his hand,
and shaking it at the person with whom he was arguing.
He was dressed in a blanket-coat that reached to his
knees, cut in the Indian fashion, trimmed with red
cloth, and bound round the waist by a belt of the same
colour. A large, loose pair of grey woollen stockings
covered his boots and trousers. On his head was a
low-crowned fur cap, made of otter-skin, from the
back of which was suspended a black tail, four or five
inches in length. His neck was enveloped with
several folds of a yam comforter, similar in colour and
appearance to his sash. A long iron spur, strapped
on his left heel, completed his equipment. His coun-
tenance (at least, ail that could be seen of it, for he
wore an enormous pair of untrimmed whiskers, which
united under his chin, and protruded over his neck-
cloth and wrappings) exhibited a singular mixture of
firmness, quickness of temper, and good nature ; while
his bright, restless eye, peculiar forehead, and expres-
sive mouth, denoted both cunning and humour.

" Ah,*" said Barclay, as soon as he got a glimpse
of him, " here is Master Zeb Hunt ! He is what our
friend Stephen would call a ' Pippin,' or a regular * bar-
room bird.' He is a drover and horse-jockey, and
lives on the road, and is the pest of every tavern, and
the torment of all travellers ; for he talks so loud, he
can be heard all over the house. Let us go in ; he is
worth seeing, as a specimen of a class once very com-
mon in this country, and still more numerous uian is
desirable."

LIFE IN A COLONY.

339

Mr. Hunt lifted his cap to Barclay as he entered
the room, a mode of salutation not very common in
Nova Scotia, a short, free and easy nod of the head
being infinitely less troublesome and ceremonious, and,
therefore, in more general use."

" Morning to you, S(juire !" he said, in his accus-
tomed loud tone and familiar manner. " I am glad to
see you. I have been waiting for you for some time,
to look at a horse I have here, that will just suit you.
He is great, that^s a fact ; a perfect case, I assure you.
He can trot his mile in two minutes and thirty seconds,
and no break, shuffle-rack, or pace, but a handsome
round trot, with splendid knee action ; not pawing the
air like make-believe, nor pounding the road like break-
ing stones, but a sort of touch-me-light-and-go-easy
style, like the beat of a gairs finger on the pianny ;
and so gentle, a child can manage him. When you
want him to go, take up the reins and he''s off like a
fox ; when you want him to stop, throw them down,
and hell stand all day. The way he makes the spokes
fly round in a wheel, so that you can only see the
rim, as if it was a hoop, is amazing. It frightened me
at first, and I ainH easy scared by a horse. He is a
«M-perior animal, beyond all doubt. I never was
suited before in all my life, and I donH know as he ain''t
spoilt me, so I shall be suited agin. Sometimes I
think I can''t part with him any how, for I can't never
get another like him ; and sometimes I take a notion
into my head I ought to sell him, as it is too much
money for a poor man like me to have in a horse.
YouVe hearn tell of Heber of Windsor, haven't vou I
Well, he's crazy after him ; and, if he don't know a
pood one when he sees him, he does when he tries
him, and that's more than most men do. I'd like you
to have him, for you are a judge of a horse, — ^perhaps
the best in these parts (thouj^h I've seen the leak put
into you, too, afore now). You will take good care of
him, and I wouldn't like to see the critter knocked
about like a corn. He will lead your tandem

340

THE OLD JUDGE $

OR,

beautiful, and keep his traces up, without doing the
whole work and killing himself. A thread will guide
him ; and then he knows how to slack up a going-
down hill, so as not to drag the wheeler off his legs.
Oh, he'*s a doll ! His sinews are all scorpion tails
and whipcords, and he's muscle enough for two beasts
of his size You can''t fault him in no particular, for
he is perfect, head or neck, shoulder or girth, back or
loins, stifle or hock, or chest and bastions ; and, as for
hoofs, they actilly seem as if they was made a purpose
for a trotter. In fact, you may say he's the greatest
piece ot stuff ever wrapped up in a horse-hide. Come
and look at him, and judge for yourself. My price is
two fifty ; but, if you like him, say the word, and he
is yours at two hundred dollars, tor IM like you to
have him. I consait he'll suit you to a notch, and do
me credit too. Heavens and airth I ain't he the boy
to slip by the officers' tandems club to Halifax, like
wink, and you a sitting at your ease, pretending to
hold him in, and passing of them, nodding and laugh-
ing good-natured-like, as much as to say, * Don't you
wish you could keep the road now you've got it V

** Squire Barclay," said a man, who had just re-
moved a pipe from his mouth for the purpose of re-
placing it with a tumbler of rum and water, — " Squire,
you have heard Zeb Hunt talk afore to-day, I reckon.
1 have been listening to him while he has been a-run-
ning on like a mill-wheel, a-praising of his horse up to
the very nine as the pink of all perfection ; but he
never said a word about his soundness, do you mark ^
If you intend to make a trade with him, I guess you
had better be wide awake, for he is too much for most
folks : a man must rise early in the morning to catch
him napping."

" What's that you say, you leather-lipped rascal r
retorted the Pippin, as he advanced menacingly to-
wards his accuser. " How dare you put in your oar
when gentlemen are bantering for a trade, you ewe-
necked, cat- hammed, shad-built, lop-eared, onderbread

LIFE IN A COLONY.

341

villain ? You measure other folks' com with your own
bushel, and judge your neighbours by yourself— about
as bad a standard as you'll find any where. Squire,"
he continued, turning away with apparent contempt
from the man who had traduced him, *' if there is any
one thing I pride myself upon in the world, it is on
being candid. I am straight up and down ; what I
say I mean, and what I mean I'll stand to. I take
all mankind to be rogues, more or less, and, what's
more, canting, hypocritical rogues, too ; for they pre-
tend they are honest, all the time they are cheating
the world and the devil. Now, I am straightforward,
open, and above board. I pretend to nothing. I
won't say I'll not get the advantage if I can in a
horse trade, or any other trade. I don't deny it. I
avow it open. What sort of a deal would it be, were
I to get the disadvantage always? Why, in six
months, I shouldn't have a horse to trade with ; for,
what is trade, if you come to that, but gambling with
the chances in your favour ? I am not bound to tell
my horses' faults. I don't like to dwell on the faults
of my friends ; I praise their virtues. People don't
cry stinking fish, in a giniral way, in any market I was
ever in yet, because folks have noses, and can smell
for themselves. I don't talk of sprains, curbs, and
ring-bones ; people have eyes, and can see for them-
selves : and, if they are too plaguy careless to look,
whose fault is that ? No, sir, I scorn a dirty thing.
I conceal nothing. I say, publicly, I expect the ad»
vantage in a bargain ; and, if I can't get it, I don't
trade. That's my rule, sir ; and I don't care who
knows it. I hate and despise pretence. The world's
full of it. Every man, in a giniral way, has mor«
cloaks to cover his villany than shirts to cover his
back.

" My eyes were first opened to the baseness and
falsehood of mankind in elections. I had no idea
what rascals politicians were — canting about pa-
triotism, reform, public spirit, education, ameliorating

342

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

the condition of the people, and so on ; and all the
time using these slang words as blinds to conceal office
and place-seeking, selfish ends, grasping public money,
and what not. I first started in lire on the Tory
ticket, for I am a loyal man, and so was father afore
me. He was a refugee loyalist, and left the States
and all his property to follow the flag of his king into
this cold country, tha-t's only fit for wolves and bears.
Well, we had a great election to Digby, and we car-
ried in our Tory man. Lawyer 01am (him that was
raised on the mud flats to the joggin) ; and, when
our side won the day, and I went to get my share of
the plunder, he had the impudence to tell me all the
offices that could be spared must be given to the
Radicals, to conciliate them. ^ Conciliate old Scratch !'
says I : * giving them fellows sops, is like giving bits
of raw meat to bull-dogs ; it only makes them hun-
grier, fliriouser, and wickeder.' Sut so it was, and
so it always has been, with that party, in America ;
they don't stick to their friends, and I ginn them up
in clisgust, and changed sides right away.

^^ I am a candid man. I am willing to serve the
country, but then I like reciprocation, and the country
ought to serve me. Friendship can't stand on one
leg long, and, if it does, ifs plain it can'*t go ahead
much at any rate. Well, bymeby, the Bads come
in. ' Now,' said I, ' remember Zeb Hunt ; he wants
an office.' But, lo and behold ! the offices were all
wanted for the leaders, and there were none left for the
followers but the office of drudges. Seeing they were
both tarred with the same stick, one side of which had
too much liberality, and the other too much selfish-
ness, I thought mv chance would be better to lay hold
on both ends of the rope ; and I went on both sides,
one foot on one and one foot on t'other ; but they
pulled so far apart, they straddled me so wide, they
nearly split me up to the chin. Politics, squire, are
like pea-soup ; they are all very well and very good
when kept well stirred; but, as soon as the stir is

LIFE IN A COLONY.

343

over, the thin part floats up by itself, and the rich
and thick settles down for them who are at the bottom
of things. Who ever heard of a fellow like me being
choked by a government loaf, or his throat hurt by
the bone of a fish that's too large to swallow ? Now,
Fve taken uncle Tim's place ; I am neuter. I avow
it, for I'm a candid man ; and a fellow can't be honest
if he don't speak up plain. 1 am neuter now, and
courted by both sides, and whichever comes nearest
my mark will get me. But neuter is my ticket just
now.

*' You know uncle Tim ; he was small, very small
— not in stature, for he was a six-footer, but small in
mind and small in heart : his soul was no bigger than
a flea's. * Zeb, my boy,' says he to me one day,
* always be neuter in elections. You can't get no-
thing by them but ill-will. Dear, dear ! I wish I had
never voted. I never did but oncest, and, dear, dear !
I wish I had let that alone. There was an army
doctor oncest, Zeb, lived right opposite to me to Digby :
dear, dear ! he was a good friend to me. He was very
fond of wether mutton ; and, when he killed a sheep,
he used to say to me, * Friend Tim, I will give you
the skin if you will accept it.' Dear, dear ! what a lot
of them he gave me, first and last ! Well, oncest the
doctor's son, Lawyer Williams, offered for the town,
and so did my brother-in-law, Phin Tucker; and,
dear, dear ! I was in a proper fix. Well, the doctor
axed me to vote for his son, and I just up and told
him I would, only my relation was candidating also ;
but ffinn him my hand and promise I would be neuter.
Well, I told brother-in-law the same, that I'd vote
for him with pleasure, only my old fi:iend, the doctor's
son, was offering too ; and, therefore, gave him my
word also, I'd be neuter. And, oh, dear, dear ! neuter
I would have remained too, if it hadn't a-been for
them two electioneering generals — devils, I might
say — Lory Scott and Terry Todd. Dear, dear ! some
how or 'nother, they got hold of the story of the sheep-

I il

■S-iSi

5 ■ ■,«

344

THE OLD JUDGE J OR,

skins, and they gave me no peace day or night.
* What,' says they, * are you going to sell your country
for a flheepskin V The day of the election they seized
on me, one hy one arm, and the other by the other,
and lugged me off to the poll, whether I would or no.

" * Who do you vote for ?"* said the sheriff.

" * Would you sell your country for a sheepskin V
shouted Terry, in one ear.

" ' Would you sell your country for a sheepskin T
bellowed Lory, in the other ear.

" I was so frightened, I hardly knew what I did j
but they tell me I voted for brother Phin ! Dear, dear !
the doctor never gave me a sheepskin while he lived after
that. Dear, dear ! — that was an ugly vote for me !'

" Uncle Tim is right, neuter is the ticket ; friends
to both sides, and enemies to none — that's a fact !
Political leaders, squire, are an unprincipled crew of
selfish rascals. Talk of a horse-joclcey, sir ! What
is he to a man-jockey? Think of a fellor with pa-
triotism in his mouth, and office-seeking in his heart,
a-talking of sarving his country while he is sarving
of the devil ! Why, he is a villain, sir, whoever
he is ! There is nothing like candour ! Now, what
I tell you of my horse is true, sir ; and I must have
my price. Is there anything wrong in that ! Wrong
in a world where every class conceals motives ? Look
at lawyers now ...."

A smile on Barclay's face reminded him that he
was on deUcate ground, and he extricated himself very
adroitly.

'* Look at lawyers, take them*by and large, perhaps
they are about as candid men as you will see anywhere !"

A general laugh rewarded this skilful manoeuvre ;
but he proceeded without noticing it.

" Still some of them — I think you will admit that,
Mr. Barclay — some of them, though they scorn to tell
a lie themselves, tell other folks' lies to a jury ; and
then wind up by swearing they believe what they
have said is all true."

LIFE IN A COLONY.

345

;ket : friends

Leaving a topic into which he had so thoughtlessly
blundered, he continued —

^* But, of all the scoundrels in the world, perhaps
the doctors are the higgest by far. A candid doctor,
like a sound horse, ain t to be found in every street of
a city, I tell you. They are the boys for hiding igno-
rance and quackery under Latin words, or in red, blue,
yaller, and pink lotions, and extortion in bread-pills by
the cart loaa. They tell you they visit the poor gratis !
Perhaps that's the greatest lie ever told by man.
They take credit for these acts of charity with the
public, and debit the first rich patient with the amount,
in addition to his own bill. No doctor ever made a
bad debt yet ; for, if one man can't pay, another can.
It's only changing names, and it's all right. Accord-
ing to their creed, there is no harm in robbing Peter
to pay Paul.

" I'll tell you what — I knew myself oncest. Old
Dr. Green (you knowed him, in course — every body
knowed him) lived on Digby Neck. He was reck-
oned a skilfal man, and was known to be a regular
rotated doctor ; but he drank like a fish (and it's
actilly astonishing how many country doctors have
taken to drink), and, of course, he warn't always a
very safe man in cases where a cool head and a
ste^y hand was needed (though folks did say he
knowed a plaguy sight more, even when he was drunk,
than one-half of them do when they are sober.) Well,
one day old Jim Beid, who was a pot-companion of
his, sent him a note to come into town immediately,
without the loss of oiie moment of time, and bring his
amputating instruments with him, for there

was a

most shocking accident had happened at his house.
So in come the doctor as hard as ne could drive,, look-
ing as sorry, all the time, as if he didn't live by mis-
fortunes and accidents, the old hypocrite !

" ' My dear friend,' said he, solemnly, to Reid, and
a-taking of him by the hand, and giving it a doleM
shake—* My dear friend, what is the matter? — ^who

Q 5

346

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

is hurt ? And what the devil is to pay now ? How
thankful we all ought to be that the accident AiABiCt
occurred to one whom we all respect so much as you !'

"And then he unpacked his mstruments, off with
his coat, and up with his sleeves ; and, with one hand,
pulls a hair out of his head, and, with the other, takes
nis knife and cuts it in two, to prove the edge was all
right. Then he began to whistle while he examined
his saw, for nothing puts these chaps in such good
humour as cutting and slashing away at legs and
arms-— operating, as they call it — and, when all was
ready, says he —

" * Reid,'' says he, a-tapping him on the shoulder,

* where is the patient V

" Well, Reid opened the door of another room, and
there wan a black ooy a-holding of a duck on the table
that had broke his leg !

" * There is a case for amputation, doctor !** said he;

* but, first of all, take a glass of brandy and water to
steady your nerves. He knows you,' says he ; * hear
him how he calls out Quack, quack ! after you, as if
he was afraid to let you perform on him."

" Well, the doctor entered into the joke as good-
natured as possible, laughed like anything, whipped
down the grog, whipped off the leg, and whipped up
the knives and saws m no time.

" ' You must stay to dine, doctor,' said Reid (for the
joke was only intended to get him into town to drink
along with him) ; and he stayed to dine, and stayed
to sup, and, being awful drunk, stayed to bed, too.

" Well, every time Reid saw him arter that in town,
he asked him to come in and see his patient, which
meant to come in and drink ; and so he did as long as
the cask of rael, particular Jamaikey lasted.

" Some time after that, the old fellow sent in a bill
for operating, making a wooden leg, medical attendance,
and advice, per order, for twenty-five pounds; and,
what's more, when Reid wouldn't pay it, the doctor
sued him for it to court, and gained his cause. Fact,

LIFE IN A COLONY.

347

I assure you. I never knew a worse tricV than that,
unless it was one that that leather-lipped oreutleman,
Mr. Gates (who took the liberty of jeering at me and
my horse just now), played off in Aylesford, in com-
pany with this lamb, Master Ben Dale."

And he bestowed upon the pair such a look of ma-
licious mischief, that it was evident he was about dis-
closing a trick of trade, or substituting them for the
real actors in the transaction, for their astonishment,
and frequent and earnest denials, evinced that they
then heard it applied to themselves for the first
time.

Mr. Benjamin Dale, the person to whom he applied
the peculiarly expressive phrase of the country — " A
Lamb V* was '* a character**^ also, as well as himself,
but a specimen of a different species of the same ^enus
of drover and horse-jockey. Unlike Mr. Zeb Hunt,
he had but little to say for himself or his horses. He
h '.de no pretensions to the reputation of being a can-
did man. He was careful, quiet, and unobtrusive;
and relied more upon the agency of others, whom he
employed, than upon making broad assertions and dan-
gerous representations himself. He managed matters
so as to iiave purchasers sent to him, who had been
previously informed of all the valuable qualities of his
horses, and did little more himself than exhibit them
to the best advantage. He was rather reserved in his
communications; but made use of language which,
though extremely guarded, implied much more than it
expressed.

Though engaged in the same business with the
" Pippin,*" and equally expert and unscrupulous in hia
way, ne was as differ' ,nt a person as could well be
imagined. He was a tall, thin man, whom constant
exposure to the weather had so hardened, that he ap-
peared to disdain the effeminate wrappings generally
used in this country to guard against the intense cold.
He was poorly, and— everybody else but himself would
have said — very insufficiently clad. He wore a pair

848

THE OLD JUDGE $ OR,

of close-fitting pantaloons, made of coarse blue home-
•pun, of open texture, over which were drawn a pair
of long boots, the wide and capacious tops of which
appeared to be designed to catch the rain that might
fall from the skirts of a pea-jacket, which served the
double purpose of coat and surtout. This latter gar-
ment, notwithstanding the severity of the season, was
worn open at the breast, which was only protected by
a calico shirt. His neck, which was in proportion to
his height and skeleton-like form, derived some sup-
port from a stiff black stock, buckled so tight as to
account for the remarkable distension of his eyes,
while his head was held fast between two enormous
stiff shirt-collars that reached nearly to his ears. His
face was hard, hollow, bony, and thin ; his mouth
large, and armed with teeth of ^reat size and strength
(those in the upper jaw protrudmg considerably) ; nis
eyes were cold, fixed, and apparently vacant. Long,
coarse, black, Indian-like hair, fell straight on hu
neck and collar, and was occasionally removed from
the forehead by a shake of the head, not unlike the
twirl of a mop. Such was the person whom rivalry
or mischief prompted Mr. Zebuiun to associate with
Gates in the charge of fraud.

** Gates, squire,'"* said the Pippin, " set off last year
on a tour through the mountains to buy cattle ""

** ril take my oath,"' replied the other, *' I have not
been on the mountains these three years.'*'

" You was — ^you was — ^you was ! said Hunt, who
ut his hands on his hips, and, stooping forward until
lis face nearly touched that of his antagonist, uttered
this singular reiteration, with wonderftil rapidity,
rather through his teeth than with his lips — "It's
true — it's true—it's true !" and then, resuming his
natural position and manner, continued —

" Didn't I tell you, squire, that fellows that are bad
enough to play rogue, are fools enough to be ashamed
of it i Well, sir. He took a list of the names of all the
farmers that had cattie to sell in them altitudes, and

LIFE IN A COLONY.

349

he told this precious lamb, this pretty bird, Mr. Dale,
who is half bittern, half hawk — he is so tough, thin,
and long-sighted — to follow him along the road at a
distance of a mile or two, so as to be ready to play
into his hand when he wanted him. Well, the first
man he came to, he bantered for his cattle, offered him
a sum far below the market price, and estimated their
weight at just one-half what it was, and then, when
he'd see Dale a-jogcing along, he'd say, * Well, Til
abide by whatever the first person we find says, for
Fm for the fair deal, and only want what's right. Ah,
here is Mr. Dale ; he is reckoned as candid a man as
we have in these parts, and a good judge of cattle,
too.'

** * Mr. Dale, just halt a bit, if you please ! This
gentleman and me are about trading for this pair of
cattle, but he values his oxen at twenty-five pounds.
I say the price should be seventeen, for he is evidently
under a ^reat mistake about their weight. What do
you say ?

** Well, Dale, who had had his lesson all beforehand
in the matter, at first declined being umpire. He said
he was no judge ; he wouldn't value other men'€ things;
it was a thankless office, and seldom satisfied either
party, and so on. Till, at last, both parties begged
and pressed him so hard, he consented. Well, he
looked very wise, and walked round and round the
oxen, fueling them, and kind of measuring them with
his eyes, as if he was trying to be exact, and do what's
right and just. And, at last, he says —

" * I think, Mr. Gates,' says he, * with all due sub-
mission to your better judgment, they are worth more
than you say by three pounds. 1 value them at
twenty pounds, which is the right thing between man
and man, in my humble opinion !'

** Well, the farmer was awfiil disappointed, but he
couldn't help himself, seeing he had chosen him as
umpire ; and Gates pretended to get very wrothy, but,
being a man of his word, he would stand to his agree-

350

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

ment, though he vowed he would never take another
man^s judgment agin in business, as long as he lived.
So he just tricked him out of five pounds; and the
pretty pair went all through the mountains, and cheated
all tlie settlers they dealt with the same way."

Both of them denied the story in toto. They affirmed
that they had not only never travelled in company, but
had not been on the highlands for years.

" You did — you did — ^you did ! — you was — you
was — ^you was !' he repeated, with the same volubility
as before ; and then observed more deliberately —

" Oh, yes, deny it, of course ! It's the way of the
world. Pretend to be honest, and run down poor
Zeb. It's no harm to call him a rogue. I'll trouble
you, Mr. Gates, another time, to mindyour own busi-
ness, and not to interfere with me. That's only one
of your capers I have told. So, if you don't want to
hear more of them, take mum for your text and watch-
word in future.

" Now, sir," he said, resuming his conversation
with Barclay, "just be candid, and tell me, ain't there
tiicks in all trades, offices, and places, in the univarsal
world, as well as the horse trade \ Did you never
hear of a Government warehouse destroyed by fire,
being a grand excuse for every missing thing for years
arterwards \ or stores, condemned as unfit for use,
being returned to their place to make up for good ones
taken out \ or crowbars and pickaxes accounted for as
destroyed by the rats? or things received at one
measure and deUvered at another, and the difference
pocketed ? Did you ever know a carpenter slight his
work, or charge extra for things in his contract ? or a
blacksmith give you bad iron ? or a mason fill his wall
with rubbish, so that it fell down almost as soon as it
was built ? or a grocer mix sloe-leaves with tea, or turn
water into rum, or roasted Indian com into ground
coffee I or put gypsum into flour so as to make it weigh
heavy ? or a baker give you light weight ? or a legis-
lator smuggle or vote money into his own pocket?

LIFE IN A COLONY.

351

or any of them little practical jokes to make folks
lau^h ! Oh, how innocent the world is, isn't it ?
Why, even your cold, hard, dismal, covenanting
deacons can do a little bit of cheatery on their own
hook sometimes on the sly. Two of them was caught
in the very act no later than last week. Old Deacon
Bruce of Aylesford, last Monday week, bought a
sleigh of his fellow-deacon, Squire Bums, for five
pounds. On his way home with it, who should he
meet but Zeek Morse, a-trudging along through the
snow a-foot.

" ' Friend Zeek,' says the old Christian, ' won't
you get in and ride 2 Here's room for you, and
welcome.' ♦

" ' Don't care if I do,' said Zeek, * seeing that
sitting is as cheap as walking, if you don't pay for it.'
So he hops in, and away they go.

" Well, Zeek was mightily taken with the sleigh.

" * Deacon,' says he, ' how shall you and me trade
for it ? It's just the article I want, for I am a-going
down to Bridgetown next week to be married ; and it
will suit me to a notch to fetch Mrs. Morse, my wife,
home in. What will you take for it 2'

" ' Nine pounds,' said old Conscience. ' It cost me
seven pounds ten shillings, to Deacon Bums, who
built it ; and as it's the right season for using it, and
I can't get another made till next winter, I must have
nine pounds for it, and it ain't dear at that price
neither.'

" ' Done !' says Zeek — for he is an off-hand kind
of chap, and never stands bantering and chaffering a
long time, but says at once what he means, as I do.
* Done !' says he — ' 'tis mine !' and the deacon di'ives
up to his house, gets his pay, and leaves the sleigh there.

" Next morning, when Zeek went to examine his
purchase, he found there was a bolt left out by mis-
take, so off he goes to the maker, Deacon Bums, to
^et it put in, when he ups and tells him all about the
bargain.

■::l-^.«

352

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

" ' Did the old gentleman tell you my price was
seven pounds ten V said he.

" ' Oh yes,' said Zeek, * in course he did — there is
no mistake about it. Fll take my oath to it.^

" ' Well, so it was,"* said Burns. * He told you true.
He was to give me seven pounds ten ; but as there
was nobody hy but him and me when we traded, and,
as it ain't paid for yet, he might perhaps forget it, for
he is getting to be an old man now. Will you try to
recollect it ?

" ' Sartainly,' said Zeek. * I'll swear to it any
day you please, in any court in the world, for them
was his very words to me.'

" What does Deacon Burns do but go right off and
sue Deacon Bruce for seven pounds ten, instead of
five pounds, the real price; called Zeek as a witness
to his admission, and gained his case ! Fact, upon
my soul ! Wam't they a well-matched yoke of cattle,
them deacons, Mr. Gates ?

" What do you judge the pair of them are worth,
master Ben Dale, eh ? for you're a judge of weight
and prices, it seems, and ain't apt to overvaly things ?

*' Now , do you suppose. Squire Barclay, that clergy-
men are exempt from these tricks of trade ? I'll tell
you what . . . ."

^* Let the ministers be," said an old man (generally
known by those present as " Uncle Philip"), who was
standing on the hearth, and selecting from a long cord
ihaX was stretched across the fireplace, and sustained
woollen mittens, yarn comforters, and gaiters, such
articles as belonged to himself — " let the ministers
be, Zeb; you have spoken foolishly enough to-day;
don't speak profanely. You talk so loud, you make
my head ache * and so loosely, you make my heart
acne.

" Well, aII let them be if you say so. Uncle," re-
plied the Pippin. " It is not often I take a shy at a
parson or a crow, for it ain'^ considered lucky in a
giniral way. But it's enough to set a body raving

LIFE IN A COLONY.

S53

mad to hear a poor dumb beast that can't speak for
itself jeered at by a long-necked, long-backed, narrow-
chested, narrow-souled, wall-eyed, on^ainly crittur,
like that fellow Gates in the comer tnere, ain't it?
It's enough to try the patience of Job to hear a man
pass an opinion that don't know a horse from a cow,
except that one has horns and the other harn't. How-
somever, let all that pass. Have you seen ray horse,
Uncle Philip ? because, if you haven't, it's worth your
while just to come to the stables, along with me and
Squire Barclay, and take a look at him. I ain't
asnamed to show him, I do assure you. He'd tell
ou himself, if he could, what sort of a beast he is ;
ut, as it is, his make and parts must tell it for him.
Do you recollect the Slocum mare ? (I don't remem:*
ber whether it was John or Cale Slocum raised her,
but one of them did.) Poor Dick Hines (him that
afterwards owned the Circus) had her for a spell ; and
then she went to Windsor, and, I believe, died on the
Monkville farm at the forks of the river. Well, she
was generally allowed by good judges to be the best
of all the descendants of the Duke of Kent's Arabian.
Sometimes my horse Tommy reminds ?ii3of her; but,
Lord bless you ! she was no sort of a touch to him in
make, shape, or gait, by no manner of means. He
can't talk, as I said berore, but he can do what's far
better in a servant ; he can onderstand all you say,
and do all you want. Now there was the Polhemus
horse, that folks made such a touss about ; why ha
was no more to be compared to Tommv than . . . ."

" Well, well," said the old man, " I'll go with you
and look at him before I leave the inn ; but I am no
judge of these matters : so let us change the conver-
sation, if you please, till we go to the stables. How
is the old gentleman, your father ? I hope he enjoys
good health now."

" As to father, he is reasonable well, I give you
thanks," answered the Pippin, " as far as bodily
health goes : but he is weak here ; very weak, indeed,

r>*i '

^■

I' I

354

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

poor old man !" (patting his forehead with his fingers) —
"quite gone in the upper story. If you recollect,
Uncle I^hilip, he was always a great hand for barks,
and gums, and roots, and harbs, and simples of one
kind or another, and did a great deal of good among
his poor neighbours, saving them a power of money
in doctors' bills. Well, the old gentleman of late
years took a theory, as he called it — a kind of kink —
into his head, that anything worn tight about the
body brought on dropsy. Whenever he met b gall,
he used to stop and shake hands along with her, and
chat away for some time, and ask her how she was,
and if she ever had this, or that, or t'other complaint ;
and then he'd press his forefinger strong on the back
of her hand ; and, in course, if it was a plump hand,
it would make a Icind of dent, and look a little white
where he pressed it.

" * See, my dear,' he'd say, * you have a tendency
to dropsy; that white mark shows there is too much
water in the blood. You have something or another
on that's too tight. I hope you don't lace your stays
too hard V

" Well, they'd satisfy him on that score ; and then
he'd say —

" ' I know what it is !' and he'd make a dive for
their garters afore they knew what he was at.

" It got to be quite a joke at last ; and the best of
the fun was, nobody would help the women kind at all ;
for folks only laughed, and said it was old Daddy
Hunt a-looking for garters. At last the galls gave
him a pretty wide berth in the streets, cut comers
with him, or dodged him somehow or another, the
best way they could. He actilly has the matter of
thirty or forty pair of garters hung up in bis keeping-
room that he has captured privateering that way.
Such a collection you never see ! all colours of the
rainbow a'most — black, white, yeller, red, brown, blue,
green, and gracious knows what, made of everything
under the sun — tape, list, cotton, worsted, knittings.

LIFE IN A COLONY.

355

)re ; and then

binding, yam, India rubber, and everything. I call
it his Museum of Nateral Curiosities. The old gen-
tleman is very proud of them, I assure you ; for every
pair of garters, ne says, represents a woman whose life
he has saved."

" Well, upon my word !" said Uncle Philip, " you
are a pippin^ certainly, to tell such a storj? as that of
your father ! and a very pretty * pippin,' too !"

" Yes," he replied, *' but I haven't told you the best
part of it yet."

*' I don't want to hear it," said the old man ; *' it
shocks me dreadfully to listen to irreverence to parents !"

" I tell you, Uncle," he continued, *' there ain't the
leastest morsel of harm in the world in it ; and besides,
it will make you laugh, I know. He has giun up
chasing arter garters now. The last gall he met and
had a tusael with was Angelique d'Enville, a French
filly from Saint Mary's Bay. Oh, she was a sneezer,
you may depend ! She was used to row a punt cross-
nanded over the Briar Island, to pitch eel-grass into a
boat, and to haul cod-fish, and work in the open air ;
and all this exercise made her as strong and as springy
as a sturgeon. She warn't overly tall or overly stout ;
but a rael, well-built, well-proportioned craft, as you'd
see any where ; light on the foot, active in her gait,
and as free and suple in her motion as an Indian :
kind of nateral ease and ^race about her. One day
she was a-coming along the street in Digby, nearly
opposite the Queen's Warehouse, with her little black
handkerchief tied on her head instead of a bonnet (for
them Acadian French have never altered their dress
for two hundred years), and a little short boddice, and
a homespun petticoat, with blue and white up-and-
down stripes, and a pair of little moccasins on her feet,
all set off with beads, a-tripping along like a deer,
when father spied her and made up to her.

" * How do you do, Angelique ?' said he ; ' and how
is my kind and good friend, Freest Segoyne ? A dear,
worthy old man, that. Make much of him, for you

356

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

will never see the like of him again. And how is Joe
Joppy V (his name warn't Joppy, but Le Blanc, for
they always call each other by nicknames) ; ' and
what has become of Jodrie, that galloped his horse
through a heretic congregation, as he called them, and
nearly killed an old woman V and ever so many other
(j^uestions.

" At last he pressed his finger hard on the back of
her hand, and it left, as usual, a white dent.

" ' Dear me, Angelique,' said he, ' you have got the
dropsy !'

" Well, she half coloured up, and half flared up; and
she said he was a foolish old man, and was for making
tracks : but he held on to her hand as tight as a fox^
trap.

*'• * How is your stays V says he.

*' She just turned to and jabbered away ever so fast
in French about main-stays, jib-stays, and bob-stays,
and of being thrown in stays, and missing stays, and
I don't know what, for she knew every rope and ma-
noBuvre of a shallop ; but, as for a woman's stays, she
never heard of them, and didn't believe there were
such things.

" * What servlo'^ c^mld they be, and what could
they be fastened o V she askec^ * What is the use
of a stay, if it is . iayed to nothmgf

" ' Ah,' said he, ' then it must be them cussed gar-
ters !' and he made a plunge at her ankles and petti-
coats; but she was too nimble for him, and being
properly frightened, she drew, and let him have it
slap bang on the nose, so as to break the bridge of it !'

*' ' Take that,' said she, ' you old villain !'

" Father he got his Ebenezer up, too ; and, forgetting
he was contending with a woman, hit back right and
left, hard and heavy; and tho poor thing put both her
hands up to her eyes, and cried, and sobbed, and gin
in, and stood for him. When, lo and behold, she had
neither stockings nor garters on ! nothing but a short
pair of ribbed cotton socks that she had tcnit herself!

LIFE IN A COLONY.

357

It was a great take in, you may depend. But that
wasuH the end of it. He warn't clear of the scrape
yet. Angelique's step-father was a little fellow ahout
knee-high to a goose (what they call a * tot/ for his
fiither and mother were cousins, and his grandfather
and grandmother, too, and so were their sires and
dams for three generations up). He was all jaw and
bluster ; and when he heard the story, he hopped and
jumped about like a parched pea, and swore a whole
lot of oaths, every bit as big and twice as ugly as
himself.

" Next day he locked the house-door, and the whole
femily came down to Digby to Squire Herring's for
law, tor the French are great hands for going to court ;
and when I seed them a-goins: into his office, I joined
the party to see the sport. tS'ell, perhaps there ain't
in all J^ova Scotia a man that's so taken by beauty
as Lawyer Herring. The sight of a handsome w^oman
sets him oft' a-raving for an hour. He makes such a
touss about them, you'd think he never saw one afore
in all his life. Well, he had heard of Angelique, but
never seen her ; and he went up to her and shook
hands along with her, and set her down opposite to
him, aiid undid the handkerchief that went over her
head and was tied under the chin, so as to see the
bruises ; and he was struck up all of a heap in a mi-
nute, she was so amazing good-looking. Her hair,
instead of being done up with comSs, or plaits, or ring-
lets, was one mass of nateral curls, about three or four
inches long, the spleudidest thing ever seen under the
blessed hght of heaven ; and when she spoke, and her
eyes lit up and sparkled, and her pouting mouth
showed her two rows of ivory, she was something to
look at you don't see every day, I tell you. As for
lawyer, he didn't hear a word she spoke, neither did
he know what he said himself, for he was lost in amaze-
ment like, and ha^dxi d- uking aloud.

♦ ' J>^^ 1 bcaTejii? !' he said, ' what a striking wo-
a&n ! But s^^e vowed she was not; she declared by

358

THE OLD JUDGE ;

OR,

all the saints (and she had a string of them as long aa
a dead-letter list) she never struck a person in all her
life before, and wouldn't have hit the old man if he
hadn'^t a-behaved so very ondecent to her. But he
didn'*t heed her answer, if it were possible, he said, to
take her and put her into a tub of warm water and
soap. She said, she wasn''t hurt so bad, she didn't
need it ; or take her out of the sun and bleach her,
and restore her complexion ; she said he was mistaken ;
she didn't complain of such serious injury, but only of
the insult. Then he threw his eyes up to the ceihng,
meditating like, as if he had some scheme of taking
her to himself, halter-breaking her, and fetching of her
home ; but all at once, waking up like, as if it was
nothing but a dream, he said, ^ out then she sits cross-
legged on the floor, and eats clams out of an iron pot
with her fingers !'

" * Sir,' said she, * I don't understand what you
mean !'

^' ^ Go on, my dear,' said he ; and she finished her
story.

" * Phoo, phoo !' said the lawyer, * never mind ; it's
only old Daddy Hunt's way ; he's childish now, nobody
minds him !' and he phooh-phoohed the whole family
out of his office. Just as Angelique, who was the last
that departed, was leaving the room, he called her back.
' Angelique,' says he, * I lost the pin that fastened
your handkerchief,' and taking a gold one with a ruby
m it from his breast, he secured the two ends with it.

" What he did arter that, I don't know ; but I heard
a shuffling of feet behind the door, like people waltzing,^
and presently I heard something that sounde(| ama.zing
like a* sound box on the ear ; and out camrre XhgeHque,
laughing and looking as wide awake and as pleased as
fiin. Well, that affair cured father of that whim of
chasing ^alls for garters to save them from the dropsy.
Now he has another crotchet in his head."

I didn't ask you," said the old man, with some
asperity of manner, " about your father's occupations,

LIFE IN A COLONY.

859

le finished her

but how he was. Pray how is my old friend, your
mother I she must now be well up in years. I hope
she enjoys good health V

" Pretty well," replied Master Zeb ; " pretty much
as usual ; she is about and stirring, though she com-
plains a little of rheumatism lately, which father swears
18 all owing to her having worn her garters too tight
when she was a gall : but my opinion is, it was ^ Chick,
chick, chick !' that caused it."

" Chick, chick, chick !" said the other ; " what
under the sun's that ? I never heard of such a com-
plaint !"

" Lord bless you !" said Zeb. " I thought that
every body that know'd mother, know''d that story.
Five years ago, come next summer, the old lady made a
trip to Halifax, in one of our Digby coasters, to see sister
Susannah, that is married in that city to Ted Fowler,
the upholsterer, and took a whole lot of little notions
with her to market to bear expenses ; for she is a saving
kind of body, is mother, and likes to make two ends
meet at the close of the year. Among the rest, was
the world and all of eggs, for she was a grand hand in
a poultry-yard. Some she stowed away in boxes, and
some in baskets, and some in tubs, so tnat no one acci-
dent could lose them all for her. Well, under the
berths in the cabin were large drawers for bedding ;
and she routated that out, and packed them full of eggs
in wool, as snug as you please, and off they started on
their voyage. >Vell, they had nothing but calms, and
light airs, or head winds, and were ever so long in
getting to town ; and, when they anchored, she got
Her duds together, and began to collect her eggs all
ready for landing. The first drawer she opened, out
hopped ever so many chickens on the cabin floor,
skipping and Lopping about, a-chirping, ^ Chick, chick,
chick !' like any tning !

" * Well, if that don't beat all V said mother, and
she looked the very picture of dolefiil dumps. * I
hope there is no more of them

a-commg

into the

W' :'

360

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

world that way, without being sent for !' and she
opened a second, and out came a second flock, with a
* Chick, chick, chick !** and another and another, till
she pulled them all out. x lie cabin floor was chock
fill.' of tliom ; for the heat and confined bilge air had
hatched all the eggs that were in the close and hot
drawers.

** Oh, the captain, and passengers, and sailors, they
roared with laughter ! Mother was awful mad, for
nothing makes one so angry as accidents that set folks
off" a tee-hee-ing that way. If any body had been to
blame but herself, wouldn't they have caught it, that's
all ? for scolding is a great relief to a woman ; but, as
there wani'fc, there was nothing left but to cry ; and
scoldiiiE' and crying are two safety-valves, that have
saved many a heart from busting.

" Well, the loss was no great, though she liked to
take care of her coppers, too ; it was the vexation that
worried hor. But the worst was to come yet. When
she returned home, the boys to Digby got hold of the
story J and, wherever she went, they called out after
her, * Chick, chick, chick !' I skinned about half-a>
dozen of the little imps of mischief for it, but it only
made thum worse; for they hid in porches, and be-
hind doors, and gates, and ronces, as soon as they seed
her a-coming, and roared out, * Chick, chick, chick !'
and nearly bothered her to death. So she give going
out any more, and never leaves home now. It s my
opinion, her rheumatism is nothing but the effect of
want of exercise, and all comes from that cursed
« Chick, chick, chick V "

" Well, well," said the old man, " you are a pippin,
certainly, to tell such disrespectfiil stories as these of
your parents ! Give my respe^* +o them, wAen you
return home — ^that is, if ever } get home — and

tell them, that you are a credi your broughtens
up!"

" Wi\at do you mean by saying, if ever I do return
homer

LIFE IN A COLONY. .

361

)r */ and she
flock, with a

L another, till

»or was chock
bilge air had

close and hot

i sailors, they
wftil mad, for
I that set folks
[y had been to
lught it, that's
)man ; but, as
t to cry ; and
ves, that have

rh she liked to
Q vexation that
le yet. When
Tot hold of the
sailed out after
i about half-a-
it, but it only
:)rches, and be-
on as they seed
, chick, chick P
she give going
now. It s my
ut the effect of
m that cursed

m are a pippin,
iries as these of
lem, when you
get home — and
our broughtens

)ver I do return

road you are

i, it nas two

and the

18,

•n

»oar are

" I mean this, young man. The
travelling is a short one ; but, short as
turns in it — one leads to the Penitc
other to the gallows ! The fruit they
« pippins,' like you !" and he left the •<.

" Well,'' said Zebulun, '* that's what I call good,
now ! There ain't a man travels this road fonder of a
good story than Uncle Philip. The old canting hypo-
crite will recollect every syllable I have said, and will
repeat it all over, wora for word. I think I see him
a-sitting down with his old cronies, in a chimney-
comer, a-smoking of his pipe, and a-saying, ' Do you
know that poor, thoughtless, reckless boy, Zeb Hunt ?
Well, I'll tell you a story of him that will astonish
you, and make your hair stand an end !' and he'll turn
up the whites of his eyes like a dying calf, and edify
them by relating all about * A Pippin ; or. Sheepskins
and Garters.' "

CHAPTER XVII.

HORSE -SHOE COVE;

OB, HUFEISEN BFOHT.

NO. I.

I have been a good deal struck of late with the dif-
ference between that portion of the Anglo-Saxon race
established here and tne parent stock. You hear the
same language, you see the same dress, and, in the
large towns, you associate with people whose general
habits and usages of society are similar, and, at a super-
ficial view, are apt to conclude that you are among
your own countrymen. A closer inspection and a more
mtimate knowledge of them soon undeceive you ; and
the more you know of them, the greater does the dif-
ference appear.

The western half of Nova Scotia is niainly peopled
by the descendants of old colonists, with a slight inter-

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(716)S72-4S03

362

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

mixture of Scotch, and emigrants from the north of
Ireland. With the exception of a county settled by
Germans, and a township by French Acadians, this
population may now be said to be homogeneous.
Throughout it there is an individuality not to be found
in England. There are no hamlets, no little rural
villages, no collection of houses, but for the purpose of
trade ; and, of course, there is no mutual dependence
for assistance or defence. No system of landlord and
tenant, of farmer and cotter, and, consequently, no
motive or duty to protect and encourage on the one
hand, or to conciliate and sustain on the other. No
material difference in rank or fortune, except in the
capital, and hence no means to direct or even to influ-
ence opinion ; and, above all, no unity in religious
belief ; and, therefore, no one temple in which they can
all worship together, and offer up their united prayers
and thanksgivings as members of one great family to
their common Father in Heaven. Interest, therefore,
predominates over affection, and the ties of friendship
are weak. Every one lives by himself and for himself.
People dwell on their own properties at a distance
from each other, and every household constitutes its
own little world j but even here the habit of early mi-
gration from the parental roof, and a total want of
local attachment, added to a strong and confident feel-
ing of self-reliance, weaken the force of domestic love,
and the heart suffers. Woman, Vfe are told, was made
for man ; but, alas ! man in America was made for
himself. He is independent of the world, and can do
without it. He is frill of expedients, and able to sup-
port himself. He can, and often does, remove far into
the depths of the forest, where, alone and unaided, he
erects his own house, and ministers to his own wants.
While discoursing on this subject with the Judge,
he told me the following interesting story, illustrative
of this sort of isolated life, and of the habits of lone
settlers in the wilderness.

LIFE IN A COLONY.

363

3 north of
settled by
dians, this
nogeneous.
to be found
little rural
purpose of
dependence
bnalord and
q[uently, no
on the one
other. No
cept in the
ren to influ-
in religious
ich they can
ited prayers
3at family to
st, therefore,
)f friendship
1 for himself,
t a distance
mstitutes its
; of early mi-
»tal want of
onfident feel-
omestic love,
dd, was made
ras made for
d, and can do
i able to sup-
jmove for into
d unaided, he
s own wants,
bh the Judge,
•y, illustrative
habits of lone

As the scene of the tale I am about to narrate to ,
ou is on La Haive river, I must first inform you
ow and by whom that part of the country was settled.
Halifax was built in 1749. As soon as it was capable
of receiving and sheltering more than its own popula-
tion, 2000 persons were induced to emigrate thither
from Holland and Germany, and, in 1753, were settled
at an adjacent outport, to which they gave the name
of Lunenburg. The privations, sufferings, and dan-

fers encountered by these poor foreigners defy all
escription. At that time, Canada, Prince Edward''s
Island, and Cape Breton, were in possession of the
French, while the most fertile parts of Nova Scotia
were occupied by their countrymen, who were per-
mitted to retain their property upon a promise of
neutrality, which they found themselves unable to
perform. The Indians, who were then very numerous
and very hostile (for they had been instructed that
the English and their allies were the people who had
crucified their Saviour), were wholly devoted to their
interest, and bent on exterminating the intruders.
The inhabitants had no sooner erected their buildings,
than they found their situation so dangerous that they
were obliged to construct nine block-houses for their
defence, and enclose the town and settlement with a
high and stroDg picked fence. Notwithstanding these
precautions, the savages managed to kill, scalp, or
make prisoners of many of them, and the operations of
agriculture were wholly suspended. Cruelty usually
begets cruelty, and the Governor of the province offered
a reward of J^SO for every male Indian prisoner above
sixteen years of age, and £25 for his scalp, and a
proportionable bounty for women and < liildren when
brought in, alive or dead.

Such was the desperate condition of these poor emi-
grants, until 1760, when the French possessions on
this part of the continent passed into the hands of the
English. So great had been the depredations of their
enemies, that the population of Lunenburg had only

R 2

364

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

increased to the extent of seven souls in as many
years. In 1761, the Indians entered into a formal
treaty of peace with the local government at Halifax,
and the hatchet was buried with much ceremony, and
under a salute from the batteries, in a grave that had
been mutually prepared for it by those who were to be
benefitted by its sepulture.

After that period, the Germans (for, notwithstand-
ing the Belgic origin of some of them, they have
always been known by that name) began to settle on
difierent parts of the seashore, and the borders of
rivers, where the land was fertile, or the harbour
inviting ; for, in the absence of all roads, they could
only communicate with the capital by means of coast-
ing vessels.

Among those that strayed to the greatest distance,
was Nicholas Spohr. He explored La Halve (a
river about seven miles to the southward of Lunen-
burg), which, during the greater part of the preceding
^' tury, had been n'equented by fishing- vessels firom
nee, to the master of one of which it was indebted
tor its name, which it still retains. It is one of the
largest and most beautifiil rivers in this country, which
it nearly intersects. At its mouth there are a number
of islands of great beauty and fertility, forming well-
sheltered and safe anchorage-ground, which, tradition
says, were, in the olden time, the hiding-places of
pirates; and that venerable chronicler, ^^the oldest
fnhabitant," wUspere, were more recently the resort of
privateers.

Several miles above the entrance, Nicholas dis-
covered a part of the river which, by an enlargement
in a semicircular shape, formed a miniature harbour,
nearly enclosed, and effectually concealed by two
hooded promontories, that gave to the Cove a striking
resemblance to a horse-shoe. Here he found, to his
astonishment, a clearing that extended to the water^s
edge, and contained about forty acres of land, in the
centre of which was a long, low, wooden dwelling-house.

LIFE IN A COLONY.

365

1 as many
,0 a formal
at Halifax,
miony, and
v^e that had
> were to be

twithstand-
they have
to settle on
borders of
the harbour
, they could
ans of coast-

iest distance,
la Halve (a
•d of Lunen-
ihe preceding
-vessels from
was indebted
is one of the
►untry, which
are a number
forming well-
ich, tradition
ling-places of
"the oldest
f the resort of

Nicholas dis-
1 enlargement
iture harbour,
Baled by two
ove a striking
found, to his
to the water's
f land, in the
welling-house,

which, with an extensive projection in the rear, re-
sembled the letter T. On the right was a large sub-
stantial warehouse of the same materials, and, on the
left, a block-house constructed of hewn timbers, having
loopholes for muskets, and, on the first floor, four
window-shutters (one on each side), so arranged as to
admit of the discharge of a swivel, which was still on
its carriage. Between this floor and the roof there
was no ceiling, but the rafters supported a bell of suf-
ficient size to be heard across the river. On the slope
towards the forest, was a square field of about one acre
of land, surrounded by very large willows, and con-
taining in the centre some old apple-trees, planted so
closely together that their limbs were entangled one
with the other. This enclosure had originjuly been
laid out as a garden, and bore evident marks of taste
as well as care. The walks could still be traced by
low edgings, which had grown wild from neglect, by
currant and gooseberry-bushes, and rose-trees, and
sweetbriars, that now contended with tall rank grass
for sufficient air and light to support life. Near the
entrance was an arbour, built over a bubbling spring
of the purest water, and so completely covered by a
luxuriant woodbine, as effectually to exclude the rays
of the sun. A massive, rustic table, and seats of the
same strong material, evinced that it was designed for
use as well as ornament. On the former were rudely
carved many initials, and several names at frill length,
among which those of Charles Etienne Latour and
Francis d'Entrement occurred more than once.* On
a comer of the table, two clasped hands were neatly
but deeply cut in the wood ; and underneath the words
Pierre and Madeline, 1740. As if the cause of the
latter inscription were not obvious enofigh, poor Pierre
left a record that it was occasioned by the recollection

* The former had a grant from the King of France of the
whole country on both sides of La Haive, from its mouth to.
its source. Some of the descendants of the latter are still re-
siding in this province, near Yarmouth.

366

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

of ** the girl he left behind him ;*" for he added the
words of Ovid, " Scribere jussit amor."

The secluded and deserted, but romantic place, was
one of extraordinary beauty. It appeared like the
work of magic to the poor bewildered Nicholas ; but,
what was of far more consequence to him than its
loveliness, it was a discovery of immense value. He
therefore proceeded immediately to Halifax, and ob-
tained a grant of a thousand acres of land, the boun-
daries of which were so described in his patent as to
embrace this important property, to which he gave
the very appropriate name of Hufeisen Bucht, or
Horse-shoe Cove.

To account for these remarkable erections and ex-
tensive clearings, it is necessary to inform you that,
from the year 1606 to 1710, this province was con-
stantly changing owners. At every rupture between
the French and English, all the trading posts of the
former (in Nova Scotia, or Acadie, as it was then
called) were destroyed, and at every treaty of peace
the country was restored to its original proprietors.
The English contented themselves with damaging the
enemy, but made no attempt to penetrate into the in-
terior, or to form settlements. The establishment at
the entrance of the river La Halve had been several
times burned down, and a great deal of valuable pro-
perty carried off by the provincials of Boston. To
avoid the repetition of such ruinous losses, the French
selected this secluded spot, several miles farther up
the stream, for the purpose of storing and secreting
their furs, and of European goods for supplying the
Indians, v^ile fish and salt were alone kept at the
lower post. Nothing could have been better suited
for the purpose of concealment than this Cove, which
was not discernible from the river, and could only
be approached by boats through a narrow and wina-
ing entrance, nearly hidden by overhanging trees.
*It is no wonder, therefore, that Nicholas was asto-
nished and overjoyed at the discovery ; and, as soon

LIFE IN A COLONY.

367

added the

5 place, was
ed like the
holas ; but,
m than its
value. He
ax, and ob-
, the boun-
)atent as to
ch he gave
Bucht, or

ons and ex-
n you that,
Qce was con-
ure between
posts of the
it was then
aty of peace

proprietors,
lamaging the
e into the in-
iblishment at

been several
valuable pro-
Boston. To
s, the French
BS further up
and secreting
mpplying the
3 kept at the

better suited
s Cove, which
id could only
row and wind-
langing trees.
)las was asto-
; and, as soon

as his grant received the Governor's signature, he re-
moved his family thither, and took possession of " the
Hufeisen Bucht."

His joy was great but silent, for his heart moved
more rapidly than his tongue. He gave vent to his
pleasure in long protracted puffs of tobacco. He
walked round and round the premises, contemplating
the magnitude of the buildings, the value of the land,
tlie beauty of the orchard, and the strength of the
fort, as he called the block-house. He seldom spoke
to any member of his family, and then only to issue
some indispensable order. Once or twice, as he en-
tered the house, he kicked his dog for not rising up
raspectMly when the great landowner approached.
He ate but little, and drank rather more tnan usual.
He could not comprehend at one view the whole ex-
tent of his importance, but evinced every day that he
was gradually beginning to appreciate it. He was
observed to take up the horn mug which he generally
used, and throw it, with great contempt, into the
corner of the room, and, by a mute signal, called for
an old silver one, (that had descended to him through
three generations) as better suited to the dignity of
his new station. His attitude in sitting was much
changed. Instead of the easy and natural position
that bespeaks a man wholly unoccupied, his legs were
stretched out to their ftiU extent, his head thrown
back, and his eyes directed to the ceiling, to which he
offered the continued incense of tobacco fumes. Now
and then he was heard to utter the name of some
gentlemen at Lunenberg, as Rudolph, Von Zwicker, or
Oxner, who had belonged to good families in their own
country ; and when he did, it was with a scornful air,
and the word was followed by a contemptuous grunt,
and an uplifting of the right foot, as if he felt entitled
now to look down upon his betters, and would like to
give them an intelligible hint of his superiority.

His family went about their usual employments in
their accustomed manner, but Nicholas had as much as

S68

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

he could do in going his continued rounds, and in
digesting his unceasing admiration. His costume
underwent a change no less striking than his manners.
He discarded his old apparel, and dressed himself in a
suit which had hitherto been preserved with ereat care
for Sundays or holidays. Instead of his working cap,
he mounted a beautiful, low-crowned, broad-brimmed,
beaver hat; his best double-breasted coat, of blue
Saxon cloth, with its long waist, spacious skirts, and
immense gilt buttons, the brilliancy of which had
been preserved by woollen covers when not used : his
fine red cloth waistcoat, with its square flaps and
pewter buttons ; his black breeches and dark-ribbed
stockings; and, above all, his silver knee and shoe
buckles, which had belonged to his grandfather, the
huntsman of the great auke his master. His best
pipe was doomed to do daily duty, instead of gracing
festivals, as heretofore. It was a costly article, for it
had a silver cover, and its spacious bowl held twice as
much tobacco as a common one, while its long wooden
handle, tipped with ivory, bespoke the ease and afflu-
ence of its owner.

Thus attired, carrying the valuable pipe in his left
hand, and a cane with a horn head curiously carved
in the other, Nicholas slowly performed his incessant
perambulations. But man is a gross creature: he
cannot live on love, or subsist on air : he requires food.
The animal predominates over the spiritual nature.
Nicholas was recalled to these mean considerations by
the fact that, though his house was large, there was no
bread in it; and his cup, though made of silver,
wanted sufficient scheidam to fiU it, small as it was.
With great reluctance, therefore, and a feeling very
nearly resembling that of degradation, he condescended
to lay aside his new rank for awhile, and go to Halifax
with his two sons, in his shallop, to buy provisions
for his family. On taking leave of his wife, he at-
tempted an awkward imitation of a ceremonious bow,
and kissed her hand with an air of gallantry, for

LIFE IN A COLONY.

869

which he was very properly rewarded, by his indig-
nant frau, with a substantial box on tlie ear. If he
had lost his senses, there was no occasion, she thought,
for him to lose his heart ; and she was unwilling to
exchange the warm and affectionate embrace, to which
she had been accustomed, for cold, unmeaning buf-
foonenr like this. The wind bein^ fair, he set sail
with his two boys, and accomplished the voyage of
sixty miles in the incredible short space of three days,
and returned again with equal speed, to feast his eyes
once more upon his new property, which now appeared
more spacious than ever j for, with the exception of
government buildings at Halifax, there were none in
that town of equal size with his own.

He was now the proprietor of a larger estate than
he had ever supposed it possible he could own, and of
as much happiness as was at all compatible with
comfort, or a heart of common size could contain
with safety. fcoiAietimes, indeed, he would doubt the
reality, and, waking up in the night, would look out
on the tranquil scene, and ask himself whether it was
all as it appeared to be, or only the delusion of a
dream. Every thing was new to him. The plaintive
wail of the melancholy whip-poor-will; the lonely
hooting of the watchful owl ; 'the wandering, brilliant
myriads of fireflies, that rejoiced in the damp ex-
halations of the sedgy brook that flowed into the Uove ;
and the wild scream of the night-hawk, as it pursued,
with rapid and irregular flights, the winged insect
tribe, convinced him that he was awake, though in a
world of wonders — a stranger in a strarjge land ; and
he felt and knew that he dwelt on that land, not as a
serf, or labourer, or tenant, but as lord of the soil.
He would then recall to his mind his condition in his
own country, compare it with his present situation,
and sav, " Gott ist gut !"" (God is good) and return
to his bed with a thankful heart for all this unmerited
and unlooked-for prosperity. Upon one occasion, he
thought he heard noises of a far different kind ; and,

R 6

370

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

getting up, he beheld from the window one of the
wooded promontories illumined with watch-fires, and
dark, shadowy forms passing and repassing between
him and the strong red light. There was nothing but
magic about him; but who were these magicians!
Were they the fairies that had erected the buildings,
or demons who intended to destroy them ? He would
have liked to have had neighbours ; for as rich clothes
are but of little use, if there is no ore to see and ad-
mire them, so large buildings lose their value, if there
are not smaller and meaner ones to compare them with
to advantage : but he thought he could dispense with
these nocturnal visitors, whoever they might be.

Day dissolved the mystery, and dispelled, together
with his doubts, much of his peace of mind. They
were Indians, the savage and cruel enemies of the
emigrants. It is true they were then at peace with
the government, but they were a vindictive and
treacherous people. The place where they were en-
camped was an ancient burial-ground, to which they
had now resorted to deposit the body of a deceased
chief. Their manner was gloomy and unfriendly.
They evidently considered him an intruder, and were
at no pains to conceal their dislike. The new sachem
made him a long and animated speech in Indian, ac-
companied by some very frightfiil gestures, and some
flourishes of a tomahawk that made his blood curdle.
To this Nicholas, who was a man of undaunted courage,
replied, with much firmness, in an oration in German,
and gave effect to several passages by occasionally
pointing a pistol at the head of the savage warrior.
These two well-known weapons were the only things
that were intelligible, for their mutual eloquence, being
altogether untranslatable, was wholly useless. This
unsocial visit lasted a week, when, the fiineral rites
having been duly performed, the unwelcome guests
disappeared as suddenly as they had arrived, and
Nicholas was again left m a state of tranquillity.

His comfort had been much disturbed by this event,

LIFE IN A COLONY.

371

but still he was a very happy man. He was possessed
of a thousand acres of land, covered with valuable
timber, tilled with deer like a park, and intersected
with streams abounding in salmon, trout, herrings,
smelts, and a variety of delicate and excellent fish.
His buildings were as large as those of the steward of
his landlord in his own country, and he had neither
rent, taxes, nor tithes to pay. He had forty acres
ready for the plough, a proauctive orchard, and every-
thing his heart could desire, except money; but he
had that which would always produce it, an int x-
haustiblo supply of superior fuel for the Halifax
market. Ho, therefore, commenced a regular trade in
cord-wood, a traffic which the German settlers have
continued and monopolized to the present day. This
wood was cut off to the termination of the two pro-
montories that formed the heel of the Horse-shoe Cove ;
and the overhanging trees that concealed the entrance
and obstructed the passage of masts were removed, for
the double purpose of enaoling him to warp his shallop
into his own beautiful harbour, and to expose to the
admiring eyes of all who navigated the river the spa-
cious building of the " Hufeisen Bucht.''' Alas ! it
was a fatal ambition for poor Nicholas ; for, in pro-
strating these ancient trees, he had unintentionally
committed sacrilege, and violated the repose of the
dead — an offence that, in all countries and in all ages,
has ever been regarded with pious horror or implacable
resentment.

In the autumn of l777t he was engaged as usual in
his coasting trade ; and, in the latter part of October,
had returned from Halifax with a load of provisions
and stores for his family, in which he had invested the
proceeds of several cargoes. Casting anchor at the
mouth of the inlet, he dressed himself m his best attire,
and prepared to land with his two sons. He had no
sooner descended from the side of the vessel, and
seated himself in the stern of the boat, than he ex-
claimed^

372

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

** More magic !"

He hardly knew the wooded screen that concealed
his cove. The fairies had been busy in his absence,
and so altered the appearance of every tree, that he
could no longer distinguish one from another. The
maple had doffed its green, and assumed a bright red
III colour. The long pendent leaves of the sumach looked

shrunken, drooping, and yellow. The poplar had
suddenly become grey-headed, and the ash had been
nearly stripped of its foliage ; while those mischievous
and wonderful little artists had given new tints and
imparted new shades to every leaf of every tree and
every shrub of the forest. He had never beheld any*
thin? like this in his own country. He had observed
the leaves of the few trees he had seen to fade away
in autumn and perish on the approach of winter. This
process appeared to him to be as slow as their growth ;
it was a gradual decay of nature. But here death was
cruel as well as impatient, and, like a consumptive
fever, beautified its victim with hectic colour before it
destroyed it, that its loss might be more keenly felt
and lamented.

He was in a new world, and it was natural it should
contain new things, but he was not prepared for what
followed. When he entered the little placid Cove,
which lay glittering like a lake of molten silver beneath
the gaze of the declining sun, he was startled at be-
holding his house reversed and suspended far and deep
in its pellucid bosom, and the trees growing down-
wards with their umbrageous branches or pointed tops,
and all so clear, so distinct, and perfect, as to appear
to be capable of corporeal touch. And yet, strange to
say, far below the house, and the trees, and other
earthly objects, was the clear, blue sky, with its light,
fleecy clouds that floated slowly through its transparent
atmosphere, while the easle was distinctly visible,
soaring in unrestrained liberty in the subterranean
heavens. Every stroke of the oar separated the trunks
of those enormous aquatic trees, which divided to afford

LIFE IN A COLONY.

878

a passage to the boat, and then united instantly as
before. Had Nicholas been a forester or a bargeman
in his native land, these phenomena would still have
astonished him, for both are exhibited in this country
in a more remarkable degree than in almost any other
part of the world. But, having been merely a lands*
man, and never having' seen a collection of water till
he beheld the ocean, or a forester until he landed in
Nova Scotia, it is not to be wondered at if he felt be-
wildered, and occasionally doubted whether it was
safe to trust the evidence of his own senses. He was
not a little pleased, therefore, when he found himself
once more on land, and was convinced that his house
was in its right place ; but he was by no m°ans satis-
fied with the careless indifference with which its in-
mates regarded the approach of so important a person
as its lawful lord and master. He was resolved to
teach and enforce more respectful treatment for the
future, and accordingly was prepared by the time he
reached the door with a terse and sharp reproof where-
with to greet them.

He entered with the proud and haughty air of a man
who feels that he has suffered an indignity, but which
was superseded by an expression of intense horror, as
his eyes fell on the awful spectacle before him. There
lay the mangled bodies of his wife and children, his
slaughtered dog, and the fragments of his broken furni-
ture and rifled property. The fire on the hearth was
burned out, and all was as silent and as desolate as
when he first discovered it ; but, alas ! that silence was
the silence of death, and that desolation the work of
rapine and murder.

It was an appalling scene, and it was but too plain
whose infernal work it was, for the heads of all bore
the fatal mark of the Indian scalping-knife. Nicholas
and his two sons exchanged looks of agony and terror,
but they were speechless. They seemed all three spell-
bound, when the father fainted, and fell heavily for-
ward over the mutilated body of his unfortunate wife.

374

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

His sons lifted him up, and removed him to the hoat,
and from thence to the vessel, and immediately dropped
down the river to the settlement at its entrance, when,
taking all the male population, with their arms, on
board, thev returned to the Hufeisen Bucht, and
hastily buried the dead. They then pursued the enemy
with all speed, who, not expecting such prompt and
decided measures, had not proceeded far, or adopted
the usual precautions, when they were overtaken,
attacked, and defeated with great loss. On their re-
turn, they hanged four of the prisoners on the willow
trees in front of the house ; and the remaining two
were sent to Halifax, to be held as hostages, or dealt
with as the Governor should direct. Nicholas, with
his two surviving sons, returned to Lunenburg, the
latter having vowed never more to put their feet within
that magical and accursed house. '

The Indians had purposely abstained from setting
fire to the buildings. They nad been erected by their
old friends the French, whose language they began to
understand, and the forms of whose religion they had
adopted. It was possible they might require them
agam, and that the fortune of war might place them
in a situation to resume a trade that had proved so
beneficial to both. The proprietors were equally un-
willing to destroy a property which, though they
could never inhabit themselves, might afterwards be
sold for a large sum of money. They were, there-
fore, left standing, to terrify the navigators of La
Halve by the spectres and ghosts that always haunt a
scene oi violence and murder. Poor old Nicholas
never recovered the massacre of his family and the
loss of his property. His grief was, at first, most
acute and distressing. He would talk of his poor,
dear, dead frau ; of the Rhine-land, his happy home,
that he had so thoughtlessly left ; of his little, inno-
cent, slaughtered children ; and condemn his own
folly in desecrating the Indian burial-ground, and
thereby awakening their fearful vengeance. This was

LIFE IN A COLONY.

376

to the boat,
ely droj

ranee, when,
Lr arms, on
Bucht, and
d the enemy
prompt and
', or adopted
) overtaken,
On their re-
►n the willow
maining two
iges, or dealt
[icholas, with
nenburg, the
sir feet within

from setting
ected by their
[they began to
gion they had
require them
;ht place them
lad proved so
pe equally un-
though they
afterwards be
y were, there-
rigators of La
ilways haunt a
. old Nicholas
amily and the
at first, most
I of his poor,
s happv home,
lis little, inno-
lemn his own
al-ground, and
nee. This was

soon followed by a settled melancholy. He never
more took any interest in anything, or ever attended
again to business. He generally sat by the fire, into
which he looked vacantly, and smoked. He neither asked
nor responded to questions. His heart was broken.

One day he was missing, and great was, the con-
sternation in Lunenburg, for every person feared that
his own hand had put an end to his existence.
Diligent inquiry and search were made both in the
town and its neighbourhood, but no trace whatever
could be found of him. At last, some person, more
persons, more courageous than others, ventured, well
armed, to examine the " Hufeisen Bucht," and ascer-
tain if he was there ; and there they found him, ex-
tended on the grave of his wife and children, where
he had perished from cold, fatigue, and exhaustion.
He was interred where he lay, and in^j'eased the
number and the terrors of the nocturnal wanderers of
the Cove.

For many years the place was shunned by all,
except now and then by Indians, who occasion-
ally visited it to light their funeral fires, deposit their
dead, and chant their monotonous and dismal dirges.
Meanwhile, the buildings became much dilapidated.
The shutters of the blockhouse having been forced off
by the wind, the large bell, set in motion by its fitful
gusts, added its deep-toned and melancholy notes to
the wailing of the blast, and the affrighted bargemen,
as they hurried by the ill-omened spot, would say,
*' Old Nick is walking to-night, and tolling his bell."

Years rolled by, and emigration began to be directed
to the beautiful upland and rich alluvial soil that
border the noble river. Above, far above the Cove,
were settlements ; and below it was a continuous line
of farms : but for several miles round the haunted
house no man was so hardy as to venture. It was
eiven up to its lawful ranger, Nicholas Spohr, and to
his fearful companions, the ghosts, goblins, and spirits
of the " Hufeisen Eucht."

.flJ

376 THE OLD JUDGE ; Olt,

CHAPTER XVIII.
Horse-shoe cove;

OB, HUFEISEN BUCHT.

NO. II.

•

In 1783, a treaty of peace was signed with the
rebel colonies now forming the United States, and
their independence acknowledged by the mother-
country. This event was followed by a very great
emigration to Nova Scotia of men, who, preferring
their allegiance to their property, abandoned their
estates, and removed into the cold and inhospitable
wilds of this province. Most of these settlers (com-
monly known as Loyalists) were people of substance
and education, but in their train were many persona
of a different description, and very opposite character.
Every vessel that arrived for several months after-
wards, brought numerous parties of refugees. In one
from New York, was a Captain John Smith and his
family. Who or what he was, nobody knew : and as
these were subjects on which he maintained an impe-
netrable reserve, nobody but myself ever did know.
His object appeared to be retirement rather than what
is called settlement. Leaving his family at Halifax,-
he examined the adjacent country, and when at Lunen-
burg, hearing of the " Hufeisen Bucht," very much
to the astonishment of everybody, went to see it, and,
to their still greater surprise, purchased it, and an-
nounced his determination to reside there. At this
time, the Cove was as much hidden from view as ever;
for a new growth of wood had sprung up on the clear-
ings of Nicholas, and had a^ain so embowered its
entrance, that no part of the narbour, the buildings,
or the arable land, were visible from the river. The
house had fallen into a sad state of decay, and re-
quired very extensive repairs to render it tenantable,
and he experienced no little trouble in procuring work-
men to engage in such a hazardous enterprise. The Ger-

LIFE IN A COLONY.

377

mans absolutely refused, and he was compelledfto bring
mechanics from Halifax, who were unacquainted with
the horrid traditions and bad reputation of the place.
By dint of perseverance, a liberal expenditure of money,
and an easy, agreeable, and assured manner, he con-
quered all difficulties, and it was once more put into
as good order as when first discovered by poor Nicholas
Spohr. He then removed his family thither, and took pos-
session of the haunted house of the '* Hufeisen Bucht.''

This bold and decisive step, however, awakened the
fears and suspicions of his superstitious neighbours.
The Germans of Lunenburg always have been, and
still are, noted for their dislike to the intrusion of
strangers into their county, the whole of w^ich they
consider as a compensation for their emigration, or as
a reward for the toil and danger of settling it ; but at
the time I am speaking of this feeling almost involved
persecution. Trained in their own country to respect
and obey their superiors, they were willing to submit
themselves to authority; but who was Mr. John
Smith? Was that a real or fictitious name? His
habits and manners were unlike anything they had
ever seen. He had no connexion with the government
at Halifax, which he appeared neither to know nor
care about. Unlike themselves, he did not labour,
neither did he trade; and, unlike all other settlers, he
appeared to be amply provided with gold, which was
different from the ordinary coin of the realm, being
principally pieces of ei^ht, or wh?.^. were then known
as Spanish Joes. When his name was mentioned
they shook their heads, looked mysteriously, and
whispered of piracy, of hidden treasures, spies, traitors,
and persons who had fled from justice.

Captain Smith, as he was called, was a tall, sinewy,
athletic man, about thirty-eight years of age. His
gait and manner so strongly resembled those of a
sailor, as to induce a belief that a great part of his
life had been spent on the sea. In disposition he was
frank, manly, and irascible, while his conversation ex-

378

THE OLD JUDGE j OR,

i X

hibited such a thorough knowledge of the world, that
it was evident he was no ordinary man. He spoke
several languages fluently, and appeared to be familiar
with the principal ports in Europe and America. A
great part of his time was spent in fishing, hunting,
and boating, in all of which he exhibited surprising
dexterity. By most of his neighbours he was feared
and avoided — an annoyance for which he appeared to
derive some compensation from the friendsnip of the
Indians, whom he attached to him in a remarkable
degree, and in encouraging and provoking fears, the
absurdity of which he was either unwilling or too
proud to explain. Scill, although the people on the
river declined associating with him, they were afraid
to disobey a man who appeared to them to be in league
with supernatural powers ; and no one had his com-
missions at Halifax so well executed, or his freight so
punctually delivered, as he had. An intimate ac-
quaintance with the state of the atmosphere enabled
him to predict with great certainty the continuance or
change of wind, and the approach of a storm ; upon
which subject, whenever his opinion was accidentally
asked, he seemed to take a malicious pleasure in toll-
ing the bell of poor Nicholas Spohr, as if he derived
his information from its peculiar intonations.

Mrs. Smith, who was several years younger than
her husband, was an uncommonly handsome woman,
but the predominant character of her face was that of
melancholy, the cause of which appeared to be as mys-
terious as everything else about them. Whether it
arose from the total seclusion in which they lived,
from the loss of children, of which she at that time
appeared to have none, from ill-health, or from the
apprehension of some impending calamity, people were
unable even to conjecture.

The house exhibited a strange mixture of coarse
ftirniture and articles of considerable value. The
principal room, which had been unaltered from the
time of the French, was of unusual length, having a

LIFE IN A COLONY.

379

fireplace at either extremity, as if intended for the
reception of two tables — an arrangement which Cap-
tain Smith appeared to have approved and adopted,
as the furniture of each end was different, the one
resembling that of a parlour, and the other that of a
servants'* hall. At both sides of the chimney, at the
upper part, was a door leading into a bedroom ; a
corresponding arrangement was made at the lower end,
one apartment being a scullery and the other a sleeping-
room. I have before observed, that there was a large
projection in the rear, which gave to the entire build-
mg a resemblance to the letter T, and communicated
with the hall by a door in the centre. The whole
ground-flat of this part of the house was appropriated
to the double purpose of a larder and storeroom, and
contained the staircase that led to the attics.

The decorations of the hall bespoke a sportsman.
The walls were covered with the antlers of the moose
and carriboo, fowling-pieces, fusees, and pistols, most of
which had rich, and some antique mountings; and
also with fishing-rods, landing-nets, salmon-spears,
and every variety of a fisherman's gear. South Ame-
rican bows and arrows were also displayed there, from
the latter of which was suspended a card, marked
poison. Nothing excited such terror among his simple
neighbours as the accuracy of his aim, and the deadly
effect of these mysterious weapons. In hunting the
deer of the country, he always carried them, in addi-
tion to his gun, but never used them, unless there
was a herd which he was unwilling to disturb by the
noise of fire-arms. Upon these occasions, he resorted
to these quiet but certain messengers of death.
Whenever or wherever any animal was struck with
one of these missiles, in less than three minutes it fell
a victim, if not to the wound, to the poison ; and yet,
strange to say, though it destroyed vitality, it in no
way affected the flavour or the wholesomeness of the
venison. Even the savages beheld with awe a man
who possessed arms as noiseless as their own, as un-

380

ttlE OLD JUDtiE ; OR,

erring as those of the white men, and more ^atal thaii
either. Oii shelves near the door leading into the
pi*ojection were several articles of old and curiously-
rashioned silver, the form and workmanship of which
were wholly unlike anything of that century. It was
difficult to say whether they were the remnant of
family plate, or a collection resulting from a taste for
articles of antiquity. His neighhours, however, very
summarily decided that they wei*e the plunder of a
pirate. The mantelpiece was graced by a guitar, a
violin, and bugle, ana one or two exquisitely finished
and richly mounted miniatures. There were no car-
pets in any of the rooms, the place of which was sup>
plied by furs of bears and other animals.

With the exception of the fearful and deadly arrows,
which I have described, there was nothing in all this
to excite the surprise of the simple-minded inhabi-
tants beyond that of eccentricity, and resources to
which they were unaccustomed ; but at the lower end
of the room sat two beings who realized all that the
Germans had ever heard, read, or imagined, as incar-
nate devils. The familiar attendants on this dan-
gerous stranger were an old man and woman, of dimi-
nutive stature, as black as ebony, whose heads were
covered with wool instead of hair, having teeth of
extraordinary size and whiteness, and feet of enor-
mous length, half of which extended behind the ankle,
in the shape of a heel, and who spoke a language
neither Saxon, English, nor French.

The man, whom he called Oato, was several years
older than the female. His head was grey, which
contrasted strangely with the colour of his skin. His
arms were of uncommon length, and wholly dispro-
portioned to his height. His hands were small, and
his fingers long, slender, and bony, bearing a striking
resemUance to claws, while the palms and nails were
almost white. He was habited in a sort of frock-
coat made of seal-skin, gathered in at the waist by a
red sash, from which were suspended a fur pouch, and

LIFE IN A COLONY.

S81

a large knife^ covered by a leathern scabbard. The
rest of his apparel consisted of small-clothes and black
gailers. The wool on his head stood out from it like
the fleece of a sheep, and gave it a heavy and massive
appearance, while the outer and lower part was braided
into numerous small plaits, and fell on his forehead
and neck like pendent icicles. He wore a pair of
large gold earrings ; and a puncture through the nose
showed that that feature had, in times past, been
decorated in a similar manner. His shirt, which was
of white cotton, was secured at the breast by a large
circular silver brooch, in the form of a ring, from which
was suspended, by a short chain, a small piece of
curiously worked ivory, containing what was, no doubt,
of inestimable value to him, " a charm,*" of amber.
His countenance, though somewhat dull, and much
disfigured by the cheeks being tattooed, was, on the
whole, indicative of a kind and good disposition.

The female, who answered to the classical name of
Venus, was very small, very thin, and, for her age,
remarkably active. She wore on her head a bright
scarlet silk handkerchief, tied behind. Her dress
consisted of a short body, made of printed calico, with
gay and gaudy flowers on it, and a skirt of shining
glazed green cloth. Round her neck were wound
several rows of beads, which supported an ivory case,
similar in form, and devoted to the same purpose, as
that of her husband.

The English settlers, the descendants of a people
who, in New England, had believed in sorcery, and
burned witches, tnough not without a ftill share of
superstition, and on other points sufficiently terrified
at the new occupant of the haunted house, knew these
blacks to be Africans, and explained to the ignorant
foreigners that they were a people descended from
Cain, and destined by Providence to expiate the sin
of their progenitor, by being for ever the slaves of
white men. TWs, however, was merely an assertion,
unsupported by any proof whatever — ^terrible if true,

'liM.mm

382

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

but more awful if false. But true it could not be, for
they had never seen buoh beings in Germany, which
was a country that contained all that was worth see-
ing or knowmg in the world. They heard the ex-
planation, shook their heads, and disbelieved ; for
they were fully satisfied that Captain Smith was a
magician, and that his two servants were imps of
darkness, who either inspired his conduct, or executed •
his wicked commands.

Such was the house, its inmates, and the reputation
of both, in the year 1 795. Although the " Hufeisen
Bucht^^ was dreaded and avoided as much as possible •
by the inhabitants, there were two classes of persons
who constantly frequented it, and were always hospi-
tably entertained — the Indians, and sporting officers
from Halifax, of both the army and navv. The first
salmon I ever caught was on La Haive, when a
guest at the Cove j and even now, at this distance of
time, I recall, with great pleasure, an evening spent
in company with Mr. and Mrs. Smith, in listening to
the delightful conversation of the former, and the
sweet and melancholy songs of that most charming
and interesting woman. Judge of my surprise, there-
fore, when, the following year (1796), while at Lunen-
burg with the court (rather for pleasure than business,
for I was not then called to the bar), I met Captain
Smith in the custody of a number of armed men, on
a charge of having robbed and murdered a pedlar.
He begged me to accompany him to the prison and
procure a professional man to conduct his defence,
congratulatmg himself, at the same time, that, as the
court was sitting, and he was innocent, he would be
at large again in the course of a few days.

It appears that, about four or five years previous
to his arrest, in consequence of the increasing infir-
mities of the old Negro servant. Captain Smith had
brought a boy from Halifax as an ind^ited apprentice,
the son of a soldier, whose regiment was about to em-
bark for the West Indies. The loneliness of the place,

UPE IN A COLONY.

dS3

its bad reputation, and the mysterious conduct of ita
owner, filled the mind of the boy with terror and sus-
picion. He made several attempts to escape on board
of some of the coasting vessels that frequented La
Halve ; but such was tne general apprehension that
was entertained of Captain Smith's power and resent-
ment, no person was found willing to aid him in such
a dangerous enterprise. At last, availing himself of
his master''s absence, he swam to the opposite shore,
and proceeded through the woods to Lunenburg, which,
^fter a circuitous route, attended with incredible
labour and fatigue, he reached in safety. He imme-
diately preferred an accusation of tnurder against
the proprietor of the Gov 9. The particulars of the
charge, as appeared by his deposition, were briefly
these :—

He stated, that in the month of March immediately
succeeding his landing at the Hufeisen Bucht, there
arrived an officer from Halifax and a pedlar, both of
whom spent the ni^ht there ; that his master, who
had been absent all the afternoon, returned about
eight o''clock in the evening ; and that after supper the
pedlar, who appeared to be very weary, retired early,
and was conducted to a room above the projection,
usually occupied by himself, who that night slept be-
fore the fire, at the lower end of the hall. Mrs. Smith,
he said, also withdrew soon afterwards, leaving her
husband and the officer, who sat up late, drinking and
smoking.

To the latter the captain related the massacre of
poor old Nicholas Spohr s family, and the execution of
the four Indians, who were hanged on the willow-trees
in front of the house, which led to a desultory conver-
sation, in which they mutually related stories of mur-
der, robberies, and apparitions, which the boy stated
so riveted his attention, as to keep him awake during
the whole period they were up, and so terrified him, as
to occasion his sleep to be broken and uneasy. He
went on to say, thftt during the night he saw the door

384

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

of the projection open, and the two men issue fVom it,
carrying a dead body (partly covered with a cloak), of
the size and bulk of the pedlar, who was a remarkably
stout man ; that the feet appeared to be fastened to-
gether, and the arms coverea by the cloak ; that he
could not distinguish the features of the face, on ac-
count of the flickering light of the wood fire, but he
could plainly see the long black hair that covered it ;
that the body was naked, and the white skin as mani-
fest as if it were exhibited by daylight. He swore
positively that the person who supported the head wag
his master, but he was unable to identify the man who
carried the feet of the corpse, as he had never seen
him before or since, thougn his appearance was that
of a sailor. He further deposed, tnat he distinctly
heard the footsteps of the two men and the sound of
a sled on the crisp snow, until they were lost in the
distance; and that, at last, wearied and exhausted,
he fell fast asleep, and it was broad daylight when he
was aroused by the captain, who ordered him to get
up and replenish the fire, and then proceeded himself
to renew his own, and call the officer.

Shortly afterwards, he said, the two Negroes made
their appearance ; a hasty meal was prepared, and ar-
rangements made for moose-hunting; that, as they were
sitting down to the table, the officer asked where the
pedlar was, to which Mr. Smith replied that he had
departed early, while he had been absent catching some
fresh fish for their breakfast, and that lazy fellow
(meaning the deponent) was asleep before the fire;
and he was sorry to say, had left the house without
having had anything to eat. He further stated, that
as soon as his master and the officer were out of sight,
he followed the track of the hand-sled, which he traced
down to the Cove, and across it to the outer extremity
of the heel of the horse-shoe, where the current of the
river had swept away the ice, leaving that on the
sheltered and quiet Cove as firm and as solid as in the
middle of the winter ; that at ahdut thirty feet from

LTPE IN A COLONY.

385

the termination of the ice there was a large aperture
newly cut with an axe, and he could plainly perceive
the impression of a human body extended at full
length on the snow, which both there and at the edge
near the river was a good deal trampled down. He
had, therefore, no means, he said, of ascertaining whe-
ther the body was thrown into the river, to be carried
by its currents into the ocean, or sunk with heavy
weights through the hole in the ice, but that he had
no doubt whatever it was disposed of either one way
or the other.

He added, that he had never had a happy day
since, the secret had preyed so heavily on his mina,
deeply affecting his health, strength, and spirits, and
that he had frequently made inquiries at every oppor-
tunity that offered, and always heard that the pedlar
was a missing man. He concluded by stating, that
from about that period the manner of his master, who,
he was sure, suspected him of knowing something of the
murder, had undergone a very uniavourable change
towards him. Previously to this event, he had been
kind and considerate to him, but soon afterwards he
became severe and morose, and, as if to anticipate his
charge, or to account for it when made, had frequently
accused him of stealing a silver cup ; and had lately
threatened, if he did not produce it, to make him sleep
under the bell of old Nicholas in the block-house,
which he had no doubt was intended to be a prelude to
his own murder.

This was a serious charge, and what invested it
with more importance, was that it was well known in
the country that the pedlar, who had been traced
to the Hufeisen Bucht, had never been seen or heard
of afterwards ; and long before the accusation had as-
sumed this definite and positive form, a rumour had
been generally circulated and believed that he had
come to an untimely end there.

Smith, however, made very li^ht of all this, and said
that no man in his senses could believe sue' n ^nurd

386

THE OLD JUDGE : OR,

■4 '

story ; that the boy was not much more than half-
witted, and moreover, was a thief, as he had stolen
from him an antique silver cup, which, though of no
great intrinsic value, from certain circumstances con-
nected with it he prized more than all the rest of the
plate he had in his house. He said he recollected the
pedlar being there, and departing early in the morning,
and his scolding his servant Cato for allowing him to
go without his breakfast, and that the Negro excused
himself by saying that the man expressed a wish to do
so for fear of disturbing the household, but that be-
yond this all the rest of the story was an invention of
a disordered or wicked mind.

The testimony of Cato was all that he had to op-
pose to this connected and dreadful accusation, and his
counsel considered it indispensable that he should be
produced at the trial ; but, strange to say, not a man
m the place could be induced to go for him. The most
liberal reward was oifered ; but such was the hoiTor
every body entertained of the Hufeisen Bucht and its in-
mates, especially the blacks, that every one was afraid
to undertake the perilous voyage. Fortunately, there
was a vessel in the harbour at the time from the West
Indies, the master and crew of which had seen too
much of Negroes to give credence to such idle super-
stitions. As it was a case that admitted of no delay,
I prevailed upon the skipper to furnish me with a boat
and four men to row me to La Halve.

Leaving the barge at the entrance of the Cove, I
proceeded on foot to the house, and returned with this
important but fearAil witness, having first left direc-
tions with Mrs. Smith that we should be followed by
an Indian canoe to reconduct him in safety to his
home.

At the trial, the boy adhered to the storv to which
he had attested before the magistrate, without the
slightest variance or prevarication. There was such
an air of sincerity and truth in his manner, and such
a total absence of anything like temper or exaggera-

LIFE IN A COLONY.

387

•e than half-
e had stoleii
though of no
nstances con-
lie rest of the
recollected the
I the morning,
owing him to
J^egro excused
i a wish to do
, but that be-
m invention of

he had to op-
sation, and his
t he should be
)ay, not a man
ini. The most
vas the hoiTor
ucht and its in-
one was aftttid
rtunately, there
I from the West
L had seen too
ach idle suner-
bed of no delay,
me with a boat

of the Cove, I
,urned with this
first left direc-
, be followed b^
1 safety to his

„ stoiy to which
^e, without the
There was such
lanner, and such
)er or exaggera-

tion, that his evidence made a very strong laA un-
favourable impression against the captain. Smith's
lawyer made a very able and ingenious defence for
him, and called the African to prove that he had
seen the pedlar at daylight in the morning, and had
pressed him to remain and breakfast before his de-
parture.

I shall never fcget the effect produced on the
audience by the appearance of the Negro. The crowd
involuntarily drew oack and opened a free passage to
a being whom they regarded with the most pious
horror. When he was placed in the witness-box, all
those in the neighbourhood of it withdrew to a dis-
tance, as if afraid of his fearful influence upon them.
His testimony was clear, distinct, and positive as to
his conversation after daylight with the pedlar, and
completely negatived that part of the evidence of the
boy which went to prove the removal of the body
during the night.

The charge of the Judge was in favour of the pri-
soner. He stated to the jury that there was no posi-
tive proof of a murder, nor of the identity of the body ;
that it was quite possible that a weak-minded boy,
terrified by the superstitious character of the place m
which he lived, and the nature of the conversation he
had overheard that night, mi^ht have seen in a dream
that which he supposed he had beheld when awake ;
that pedlars, from their habits, were erratic people ;
and this one, though he might not again have repeated
his visits to La Haive, might still be pursuing his
wandering occupation in some other part of the pro-
vince; that in all cases the body of the deceased
should be found, unless its loss or destruction were
most satisfoctorily accounted for ; but that where the
evidence was weak on this point, the proof of a mur-
der ought to be so clear, so plain and conclusive, as
not only to leave no doubt upon the mind, but to ex-
clude any other possible hypothesis whatever: and
much more to the same effect ; and, after adverting in

s 2

388

THE OLD JUDGE J OR,

strong terms to the conflicting testimony of the blacky
he concluded by recommending a verdict of acquittal.
The jury, after retiring to their room, returned into
Court in a few minutes, and the foreman announced
their decision, which was, that the prisoner was Guilts/!
Smith was evidently taken by surprise, but he did
not lose his self-possession. He thanked the Judge
for his able and impartial charge, and assured him that
the day would come when the truth of his conjectures
and his own innocence would be fully established, and
maintained that he was a victim to the ignorance, pre-
judice, and superstition of the people. He was tnen
remanded to the gaol, and followed by a noisy, excited,
and turbulent crowd, that exulted in his conviction,
and longed for the gratification of witnessing the exe-
cution of the great sorcerer.

The day of the trial had been one of intense heat,
and, at times, the air of the small and over-crowded
court-house was almost insupportable. The succeeding
nisfht was remarkable for one of the most terrific
thunderstorms ever known ; a vessel in the harbour
and one or two buildings in the town were struck by
lightning, and a blockhouse, that overlooked and
guarded the settlement, was burned down.

In the morning, the prisoner and a sentinel, whom
the officious zeal or dislike of the community had
placed over him, were both missing. The convict's
room bore its usual appearance. The door was locked
and bolted, the iron grating of the window was secure,
and the massive bars that protected the flue of the
chimney were all in their respective places. The gun
of the watchman (which was found standing reversed,
the but-end up, and the muzzle secured to the ground
by the bayonet attached to it) alone remained to
prove that the flight of its owner had been violent and
sudden. No attempt was made to pursue the mur-
derer, whom no prison could restrain, and who could
call in the very elements to his aid to baffle the efforts
and defy the laws of man. ^

LIFE IN A COLONY.

389

All the wealth of all the county of Lunenburg
could not have bribed a person to follow the dreaded
owner of the "Hufeisen liucht." It was plain he was
in league with the Devil, and every one thought it was
the safest and wisest course to allow him to join his
Satanic friend and patron in peace. Great was the
lamentation over poor Caspar Horn, the sentinel, who,
every one believed, was carried off by Captain Smith,
or his African magician, and deposited in the grave of
old Nicholas Spohr, or sunk many fathoms deep in the
river with the murdered pedlar. It was a great event
for Heindrich Lybolt, the landlord of the great tavern
of Lunenburg, who disposed of more gin, rum, and to-
bacco on that day to his agitated and affrighted coun-
trymen, than upon any previous or subsequent occasion.

Everybody had heard strange noises and seen strange
sights during the preceding night. The gaoler as-
serted that his children were nearly suffocated with
the fumes of sulphur, and that the house shook as if it
had been rocked by an earthquake. One of the oldest
women in the town averred that she had seen a ball of
fire resting on the church steeple for several minutes ;
while piany persons maintainf d that they had heard
the most frightftil screams and yells ; and, although
they could not recollect the voice at the time, they
now remembered it resembled that of poor Caspar as
he was carried through the air. The foreman of the
jury declared that, at about twelve o'clock that night,
as he was leaving the tavern to proceed to his own
house in the next street, he encountered an enormously
tall, black man, with a pair of eyes that glistened like
fire, who immediately grappled him by his neckcloth,
and nearly choked him, and dragged him along with
him, with as much ease as if he had been a child, to
the edge of the woods, where he left him, almost
strangled, to find his way home as he best could,
having first inflicted many grievous stripes upon him ;
and he exhibited the marks on his throat and back,
which were distinctly visible for several days.

390

THE OLD JUDOE ; OR,

At the time I am speaking of, there was scarcely a
horse owned in the whole county of Lunenburg. All
the country people who had occasion to visit the town
united business with pleasure, and brought a waggon-
load of wood, or some agricultural production, to sell
to traders, who exported them to Halifax. These
waggons were drawn by oxen, haniessed by the horns
instead of the yoke, as used by settlers of American
descent. The great tavern (for there was but one
then in the place, which, strange to say, in the ab-
sence of all such animals, was called " Das Weisse
Ross," or White Horse) was surrounded by nume-
rous teams of this description, while their masters
were spending the money they had earned in the tap-
room. The terrors of the past night induced all the
farmers to leave town earlier on the following morning
than usual, that they might not be overtaken by night
or the convict before they reached their respective
homes.

As this procession moved off from the inn, loud
screams, mingled with many German oaths, were
heard from one of the carts, the owner of which pro-
tested that Captain Smith, or the Devil, lay concealed
in the straw in it. Many absconded, and left their
cattle to their fate ; others urged them to their utmost
speed ; while some, armed with pitchforks, more cou-
rageous than the rest, advanced to try the effect of
cold steel upon the demon.

Assailed on all sides, and dreadfully wounded by
his friends, poor Caspar Horn managed to roll over on
his back, and sit up and exhibit himself to the view
of his astonished and terrified countrymen. His neck-
cloth was tied tightly over his mouth, his hands were
secured behind him, and his feet firmly bound together
with a cord. When released, and enabled to speak, he
had but little to tell, and that little was most mar-
vellous. The last he recollected of the gaol was walk-
ing up and down in front of the prisoner'*s window,
with his musket on his shoulder ; the first thing he

LIFE IN A COLONY.

391

was

knew afterwards was that he was bound hand and foot,
speechless, and lying on his face nearly smothered
with straw; but how, when, or by whom this wi
effected, he was perfectly ignorant, having been in
state of insensibility the whole time.

The character of " Hufeisen Bucht,'' if it was in-
different before, became now perfectly terrible. The
owner had this day converted all rumours into reali-
ties, and had clearly shown that its occupants were in
league with the Prince of Darkness. Every accident
or misfortune that afterwards happened in the country
was laid to the charge of Captain Smith or the Devil.
Every calf that died, every cow that refused to yield
her milk, every boat that was upset, and every unsuc-
cessful voyage or failure of crop, was attributed to the
agency of this mysterious stranger. After his convic-
tion and escape he was never seen. The boatman
avoided the Cove, and the huntsman the forest that
surrounded the " Hufeisen Bucht." Whether he or
his family were there, no one knew, or had the wish

or the

courage

to ascertain ; all that was known was

that nobody had seen him.

The following year, I again accompanied the Court
to Lunenburg, and, procuring an Indian canoe, pro-
ceeded to La Haive, and entered the beautiful and
romantic little Cove. Eveiy thing about the house
seemed to wear the same aspect as when I had pre-
viously seen it, and everybody to be pursuing their
several occupations as before. Mrs. Smith received
me kindly and hospitably; but, though she well recol-
lected me, and the warm interest I had taken in her
husband'*s defence, she declined giving me any infor-
mation about him. She entered fully and freely, how-
ever, into conversation relative to the abominable
charge (as she designated it) that had been preferred
against him, and the still more extraordinary verdict,
which was neither supported by law nor evidence.
After partaking of some refreshment, I took my leave
of her, entreating her, if ever, on any occasion, she

I!
1

392

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

S (»»»/. J fell* I

thought I could be of any service either to herself or
her husband, not to fail to command me.

Into the upper part of the Cove fell a large stream,
which was fed by extensive lakes in the interior. Be-
side the desire I had to revisit the family, I had an-
other object in view, fishing for salmon, for which I
was fully equipped. Instead, therefore, of returning
to the river, I ascended the stream, which I tried with
indifferent success for about three miles, when my pro-
gress was arrested by a cataract of great height.
While pausing to consider whether I should attempt
to clamber up this precipitous ascent, or return to the
main river, I heard the sound of an axe at no great
distance from the right bank of the brook. Knowing
that this could alone proceed from an Indian encamp-
ment, I immediately hastened in search of it, for the
double purpose of obtaining a guide through the woods
to Petite Riviere, a distance of seven miles, and to
avoid the disagreeable necessity of again intruding
upon the privacy of Mrs. Smith. In a few minutes I
reached the place, and suddenly encountered my friend
the captain at the door of the principal tent, which
stood at about fifty yards distant from the others.
He was overjoyed to see me, and pressed me to remain
with him all night; an invitation which, for many
reasons, I was anxious to receive and accept.

" Here I am," he said, " in perfect security, as you
see, and also at perfect liberty ; being well guarded by
the ghosts and goblins of the ' Hufeisen Bucht ' on the
one hand, and on the other by my faithful allies, the
Indians, over whom I possess an absolute control. I
do not consider it prudent to reside constantly at my
house, because even cowards find courage in numbers,
and there is no telling what the posse comitatus of the
county might take it into their wise heads to do. I
frequently visit my family though, and sometimes
spend two or three days there at a time ; but upon
these occasions always take the prudent, though, I
believe, unnecessary, precaution of having outlaying

LIFE IN A COLONY.

393

to herself or

scouts, to give me the earUest intimation of an attack.
I often smile at the idle importance with which I am
invested, having nothing whatever remarkable about
me, but for having been all my life the victim of cir-
cumstances. I knew you were in the neighbourhood,
and my body-guard are now in search of you to bring
you hither. Bead this despatch *" (a note from his wife)
" while I recall them ;" and then, taking from one of
the posts of the tent a bugle, he blew the retreat.

I nave always admired the notes of this instrument,
the tones of which are so clear and powerfiil, and at
the same time so sweet ; but in the silence and solitude
of an American forest they are of a nature never to be
forgotten.

The paper he had put into my hands ran as follows :

" Mr. Sandford is now fishing on the brook ; seek
or avoid him as you think proper; but, from the strong
interest he expresses on your behalf, I recommend an
interview. E. M.''

I returned it to him, without making any remark
upon the signature, which plainly disclosed that Smith
was a fictitious name, and merely observed that he
ought not to be surprised if people, who were not aware
of his means of information, regarded his knowledge
with something more than astonishment. He then
crossed over to the encampment, and returned with an
Indian, to whom he conversed freely in his own lan-
guage, who immediately set about preparing a couch
for rae in the corner of the tent, made of light spruce
boughs, over which he spread some furs, and, in a few
minutes more, produced a capital supper of broiled
salmon, smoked herrings, and dried venison. In the
evening we walked up and down in front of the camp,
smoking and talking, until a late hour. The principal
topic of conversation, as you may naturally suppose,
was the crime of which he stood convicted.

*' It would be easy for me,*" he said, " to effect my
escape, if I thought proper to do so, and I certainly

S 5

■ .:T^'

394

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

would, if I were guilty ; but knowing the charge to be
false, and feeling how much flight would compromise
my character, 1 am determined not to leave tJie pro-
vince until I have first ascertained that the pedlar has
left it also. I have my Indian emissaries abroad seek-
ing him in all the settlements of the country, and am
now awaiting their report. That I am not what I
seem I need not tell you, but who and what I am, I
regret to say, I cannot at present inform you ; but
any person of common sense, I should have supposed,
would have found it difficult to believe that a man like
me could have been tempted to commit murder to pos-
sess himself of the horn-combs, the pins, needles, and
thread of a pedlar; and still less, if I were a magician,
as these people believe me to be, that I could content
myself with such mean plunder. I never was more
astonished in my life than at the verdict of the jury,
and the implacable resentment of the people. Poor
simpletons ! Did they suppose that I intended to re-
main in their miserable prison, to gratify their idle
curiosity while awaiting the intervention of govern-
ment ? for that that verdict could ever have been sus^
tained I cannot bring myself for a moment to imagine.
As soon as I entered the gaol, which is not strong enough
to hold a rat, I examined it most carefully and minutely,
and discovered, to my surorise, that one of the short
boards of tht floor, wnich is a single one, was loose.

" Before daylight of the morning of the trial, I lifted
it, and let myself down into a low cellar underneath,
which communicated by an open window with the
street. Escape, therefore, if necessary, I found to be
both easy and certain. The dark night and dreadful
storm that ensued afforded the opportunity that I de-
sired. Secreting myself near the cellar window, I
awaited a flash of lightning to ascertain the exact po-
sition of the sentinel, whom I immediately levelled by
a blow that rendered him insensible. I then secured
him in the manner you have heard ; and as it was an
object with me to increase the terror with which I was

LIFE IN A COLONY.

395

regarded, in order to prevent pursuit, I carried him to
one of the carts standing near the tavern, and covered
him with straw, to form a theme for a new tale of
wonder. Just as I turned into the street, I encoun-
tered that scoundrel the foreman of the jury, who en-
deavoured so basely to rob me of my reputation and
my life, and fearing that he might give the alarm, I
seized him by the neckcloth, which I twisted tight
enough to prevent him from calling for aid, and then
dragged him to the edge of the wood, occasionally
prompting his speed by a blow from an ox-goad.
Having reached this place in safety, I released him,
but chased him nearly half way back to the town, be-
labouring him unmercifully, and adding the loudest
and most terrific yells I could utter to the despairing
shrieks of the terrified juryman. Such infernal sounds
were never yet vented, and, perhaps, never will again
be heard in Lunenburg.""

Those were the unearthly screams that were sup-
posed to have emanated from Mr. Caspar Horn, the
valiant sentinel. The following morning Captain Smith
offered to guide me himself a part of the way to Petite
Riviere. He said that about two miles to the south-
ward of where we then were was a blazed line,* run
several years before by a government surveyor, which
would conduct me to a mill on the river, near which
was the best salmon fishery in the province. When
once upon it, he said, I could not miss the route; that
he was sorry he could not escort me the whole distance,
but he hoped to have the pleasure of seeing me on my
return.

After breakfast, armed with his gun and his fatal ar-
rows, attended by his dogs, and having his bugle slung
over his shoulder (for, he said, he never went beyond
the reach of its call to his allies), he accompanied me in
search of the line, which, he said, he had not seen for

* This is a term applied to a boundary marked by cutting a
chip out of every tree in the line run by the compass, and ad-
mirably well calculated for the purpose.

396

THE OLD JUDGE j OR,

li S^

several years, for it passed through a tract of land
covered with spruce-trees, and unintersected bv brooks,
which, of course, offered no attractions to the hunter or
fisherman. In less than half an hour from the time we
left the encampment, we reached the blazed line, which
was distinctly visible.

*' Here we are,*" he exclaimed ; " there can be no
mistake now ; it will lead you in safety to the river.
I will proceed with you about a mile further, which is
as far as is compatible witn mr safety, or the supposed
beat of my predecessor, poor Nicholas Spohr."

We had not travelled far, before a violent barking
of the dogs awakened our apprehensions. Smith im-
mediately paused, and examined the priming of his
^un, which he handed to me, and asked me to hold
for him a few minutes ; he then took off his bow, and
strung it, and exchanged it with me for the former.

" Let us advance cautiously," he said j '* there is
something unusual here — my impression is, they
have come upon a bear, and, if so, we may pos-
sibly need both the bullet and the arrow. Whatever
it is, they have treeM it, or brought it to bay, for it
is stationary, and we are close upon them. Let me
go a-head."

" The pedlar, by G — d !" were the first words I heard
from my excited companion, while loud and long con-
tinued howls from the dogs succeeded their barking.
It was a dreadful spectacle. The first object that met
our view was a pair of up-turned snow-shoes, beyond
which extended the skeleton of a man grasping a long
corroded knife ; near him lay a rustv pistol, which
had evidently been discharged ; by his side was the
tattered skin and the frame of an enormous bear, and
a. little further off the box containing the wares of the
unfortunate tramper. Smith was a man of great
nerve and self-possession ; though agitated, he was by
no means overcome. His first thought appeared to be
of his wife, and not of himself.

*' Emily must know this immediately,"'' he said.

LIFE IN A COLONY.

897

t words I heard

He then discharged his gun, and blew a long, loud
blast on his bugle, and repeated those signals several
times. After which, he proceeded to examine the re-
lative situation of the man and the bear, and conjec-
ture and describe the nature of the conflict which had
proved so fatal to both.

" How lucky it is, my good friend," he said, " that
you are here to instruct me what legal steps are ne-
cessary to be taken to virdicate my character, and
redeem me from the penalties of the law."

He then resumed his bugle, and sounded it with an
air of impatience, which was soon answered by a shrill
whistle, and the appearance of two Indians. To these
he made an animated harangue, in the Micmac lan-
guage, accompanied by much gesticulation after their
own manner, pointing alternately to the bodies, him-
self, and his house. One remained behind, and the
other disappeared with incredible speed, while we
returned by a direct course to the encampment. Ac-
cording to my advice, he ordered these people to remove
their tents immediately to the spot where we had
found the bodies, and not to permit anything to be
displaced from the position in which they had been
discovered. We then proceeded with all practicable
speed to the " Hufeisen Bucht."

The story is now soon told. The coroner was sent
for, and a jury with much difficulty assembled, and
taken by a circuitous route to the spot (for nothing in
the world would induce them to pass by the Cove),
and a verdict of accidental death was returned. From
what they saw, they were constrained to do so ; but as
everything was possible with a magician, they were far
from satisfied that the captain and his black sorcerer
had not conjured up those appearances to deceive the
public. But as they had suffered so much by his con-
viction, they now thought it not unwise to appease
his wrath by an apparent acquittal. When the box
was opened, the first object that met the astonished
sight of Smith was the silver cup, which had occa-

i^l

'■-M

398

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

sioned the early departure of the pedlar, and the un-
just suspicions aj];ainst the boy ; nor was he less sur-
prised by the production of a black fox-skin, which he
recognised as his own by a bullet mark through the
body, that had much impaired its value, and the loss
of which he had always attributed to the carelessness
or dishonesty of the person to whom he had entrusted
the freif^ht of his furs. After the discharge of the
jury, and our return to the " Hufeisen Bucht,*" while
discoursing upon these events, he suddenly re-
marked —

" That black fox-skin has recalled to my mind the
whole affair. The boy, afber all, had some foundation
for his charge. I now remember, that late on that
day on which the officer and the tramper arrived, I
found a vessel at anchor in the river, nearly opposite
to the Cove, and that the skipper, Peter Strump, pro-
mised me, when the wind should be fair, to take on
board to Halifax a very valuable roll of ftirs, which I
was desirous of sending to England. He was one of
the very few Germans who were either not afraid of
me or my place, or so fully believed in my power as
to deem it safe to comply with my orders. I recol-
lect prophesying to him that the wind would change a
little before daylight, and directed him, if such should
be the case, as it was a moonlight night, to come and
tap at my window, and I would assist him to convey
the package down to his boat. He accordingly came,
and we carried it from the projection through the hall
(where the boy slept), as noiselessly as possible, so as
not to disturb the officer. The manner in which it
was rolled, naturally exhibited the white tanned side
of the outer skin, and the projecting fur at the end
might easily have suggested the idea of the hair of
the head, while the cloak was thrown across it, to be
worn afterwards by myself, when catching fresh fish
for breakfast through the hole in the ice — a novel
mode of fishing suggested to me by the Indians. How
I should have overlooked or forgotten these particulars

LIFE IN A COLONY.

399

I cannot imadne, unless it arose from the profound
contempt I felt both for the boy and his story, or
from a fatality that has always accompanied me
through life, for I have ever been the victim of cir-
cumstances/^

• . ^ m • .

Two years after this event. Captain Smith called
upon me at Halifax, and informed me that he and his
family were about embarking on the following day for
England ; that he had brought away a few articles of
value with him from the Hufeisen Bucht, distributed
the rest among his old friends, the Indians, and burned
down the buildings, which being of little value in
themselves, and wholly unsaleable, could only serve
to record the misfortunes of their past, or awaken the
fears of their future owners.

At a subsequent period, I had the pleasure to renew
my acquaintance with him in his native land, Eng-
land, when he gave me a narrative of the causes that
compelled him to expatriate himself, and related to
me the particulars of his singular and adventurous life
in the colonies, under the assumed name of Smith,
the least remarkable of which was his residence at La
Halve. The land comprised within the grant of poor
old Nicholas Spohr at the Cove, and a large tract ex-
tending a considerable distance on each side of it,
remained derelict for many years; but as it was
covered with valuable timber, cupidity in time proved
stronger than superstition, and the forest has all long
since been removed, and the appearance of the place
is so effectually changed, that you would now find
great difficulty in identifying it. The story of Nicholas
and Captain Smith is only known to a few old men
like myself, and will soon be lost* altogether, in a

* As ttn illustration of the manner in which traditions be-
come confused, and finally lost altogether, the Judge told me
that the preceding year, when revisiting the scenes of his
youthful days, he ascended La Halve for the purpose of
taking a last look at the Hufeisen Bucht. He said, that having

'< s

400

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

country where there is no one likely to found a ro-
mance on the inmates and incidents of the *' Ilufeiiseu
Bucht."

CHAPTER XIX.

THE SEASONS

OR, COMERS AND GOERS.

*' The seasons in this colony," said the Judge, " are
not only accompanied by the ordinary mutations of
weather observed in other countries, but present a
constant and rapid succession of incidents and people.
From the opening of the ports to the close of naviga-
tion, everything and everybody is in motion, or in
transitu. The whole province is a sort of railroad
station, where crowds are perpetually arriving and

known it when a young man, in all its beauty, he could not
have believed it possible that the improvements, as the reckless
clearings in America are called, could have so transformed and
disfigured this lovely spot as they have done. He was shocked
to find that it was a common-looking, naked inlet, or indenta-
tion, in a great bare field, overlooked by an unsightly log-
house. Three small green mounds still marked the site of the
former buildings, but the glory of the place had departed for
ever. The people that resided upon it, who were squatters,
knew nothing of its history, beyond that of a murder having
been committed there by the Indians, in the first settlement of
the country. A more respectable family, living on the oppo-
site side of the river, asserted, that the original proprietor,
Nicholas Spohr, had been robbed, and barbarously killed, by
a pirate called Captain Kidd, or Captain Smith; that there
was a tradition that the buccaneers had buried great treasure
there ; and that one Jacob Lohnas, lately deceased, used to aver,
that at the full of the moon in September (about the time of
the first white frost), a little old man, with a long pipe in one
hand, and a cane in the other, had often been seen walking on
the beach at midnight ; that it was a long time since they had
heard the story, but they thought Jacob said he once heard
him ringing a little hand-belL

LIFE IN A COLONY.

401

(le
eit

lenarting. It receives an emigrant population, r.nd
)itlier hurries it onward, or furnishes another r f its
own in exchange. It is the land of * comers and <:!;fi"*'«.'
The yeomanry of the rural districts appv oitl. nounr
to the character of inhabitants than those vli-' ( 1 1
in towns or villages, but the love of change sii] . ». i
t-ven among them, and richer lauds, war.- . i a,

and better times, those meteor terms that aace them
hither, still precede them, and light the way to Canada
or the far west, to ruin or the grave.

** That portion which may be denominated society,
presents the same dissolving views. New groups gra-
dually fill the space vacated by others. The new
know not the old, and the old inhabitant feels that he
is in a land of strangers. Governors and their staffs,
admirals and their squadrons, generals and their regi-
ments, come and go, ere their names have become
familiar to the ear. Commissariat, ordnance, and dock-
yard establishments, are landing-places in the ascent
of life, where the aspiring and fortunate rest for a
moment, recruit their strength, and recommence their
upward journey. At the capital, all is change : it is
the abode of the houseless, the wayfarer, and the
stranger, but home is emphatically England to the
English, Ireland to the Irish, and Scotland to the
Scotch. To the Nova Scotian, the province is his
native place, but North America is his country. The
colony may become his home when the provinces be-
come a nation. It will then have a name, the inha-
bitants will become a people, and the people have a
country and a home. tJntil that period, it would
seem as if they were merely comers and goers.

" You will soon have an opportunity of witnessing
this moving mass of strangers, for the spring is now
opening. It arrives later here than elsewhere, has
but little time to remain, a vast deal of business to
despatch, and, being possessed of the power of ubi-
quity, is at work everywhere. It comes with a clear
unclouded sky, a bright and dazzling sun, and a soft

'•if

.>i-i

402

'V-}

E3r^ ^!

lil

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

and balmy south-west air. It pauses for a while, as
if to survey the extent of its labour, and smiles with
satisfaction and delight at the contemplation of its
own power, and the speed and ease with which it can
dissolve the chains of winter, and vivify and clothe
prostrate and inanimate nature. In an hour or two, the
snow begins to be soft and moist, the ice to glisten,
and then grow dim with trickling tears, while the
frozen covering of accumulated drifts releases its hold,
and slowly moves from the roofs of the houses, and
falls like an avalanche on the streets, which first as-
sume a yellow, and then a dingy brown colour. The
hills, meanwhile, pour forth their streams, which,
descending to low places in the vain hope of finding
their accustomed vents, form large pools of water, that
threaten to unite and submerge the town. Every-
body is occupied in preventing this calamity, and axes,
shovels, and bars of iron are in requisition, to force
the entrances of the subterranean caverns, and open
a passage to the sea.

" At night, time is given, by the cessation of the
thaw, for the waters to pass ofi", and in the morning
the work of destruction again commences. Long, bare
pieces of muddy street appear; teamsters may be
seen urging their weary cattle across these sloughs to
the sides of the road where the sun has had less
power, and there is still sufficient ice to support the
sleds ; little canals are everywhere in process of for-
mation, to conduct the water from courtyards, to the
reservoirs of the streets, and neij^hbours assist each
other with good-natured zeal in this work of mutual
defence. In a few days, the snow disappears from the
town, save here and there a black and slimy heap,
which a covering of ashes or of straw has p^tect^
from the searching rays of the sun. Is this a sudden
thaw peculiar to this climate, or is it the advent of
Spring! It is a question that may well admit of
doubt, and experience is in favour of either opinion,
until the answer is given from above. Everybody is

LIFE IN A COLONY.

403

abroad, and every head is raised to the heavens, and
vociferous greetings are given to the numerous heralds,
now proclaiming the termination of winter ; immense
flocks of wild geese are continually passing from North
to South, in their semi-annual migration. The first
comers have come, and, like all other emigrants, lose
great numbe/s on their arrival. Death is busy every-
where. The shop-boy has a holiday, the apprentice
makes one, the sportsman is in the field, and every
little urchin, in defiance of orders, and in contempt of
the penalties of domestic law, joins the corps of sharp-
shooters.

" This sunny weather is always succeeded by a
heavy gale from the southward, and the floating ice in
the river is driven into the basin of Minas, and thence
into the Bay of Fundy. Boats are seen floating on
its tranquil surfiice, and knots of strange-looking men,
with the gait of sailors but the dress of landsmen,
wearing long blue coats, beaver hats, and grey, home-
spun trowsers, and carrying bundles in their hands,
are standing in the streets in eager consultation. They
are the owners and mariners of the dismantled vessels
in the port, who have spent the winter with their
families on their farms, and are now preparing to bend
their sails, take on board a load of gypsum with which
the wharfs are covered, and proceed on their first
voyage to the States. The ' O ! heave-o !** or the
meriy cheerful sailors chorus, rises on the breeze, and
the docks are full of life and animation. Loud and
hearty cheers, from the noisy throng on the quay, an-
nounce that a vessel with the colonial symbol of
Spring — a spruce bough at her foretop — ^has just
cast anchor, the first comer, and that another
has just hauled into the stream, the first goer of
the season.

" Apart from this assemblage is a group of
women: many kind words and benedictions are heard,
many tears shed, and loving embraces exchanged in
this sad and sorrowing circle. It is a leave-taking of

. u

iiri

404

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

friends and relations, of some native females, who are
about to seek their fortune in the great republic,
where they are to cease to be servants, and become
factory ladies, and where they will commence their
career by being helps, and hope to terminate it by
becoming helpmates. Hope, and novelty, and a new
world are with the exiles, but memory, with its
happy past, and loneliness and desertion, with its
dreary future, is the lot of those they leave behind
them. Thus is it ever in life— it is not those who are
taken, but those who remain to mourn, that are to be
pitied. One man appears to hover round them in
great distress, unable to go, and unwilling to be sepa-
rated from them, and wanders to and fro, like one who
cannot decide what course to pursue. At last he
assumes the courage of desperation, joins the weeping
circle, and, after some apparent difficulty, prevails
upon one of them to walk apart with him, and mdulge
him with the melancholy pleasure of exchanging their
sad adieus in private. The fair one yields to his in-
treaties, and, after a short but embarrassing interview,
abandons her migration, and remains in her own
country, to consent to a union which she no doubt
thought ought to have been earlier proposed.

" The place of the weeping friends is soon supplied
by arrivals from the strange sail. In exchange for
tne * factory ladies' exported, American itinerant
pedlars, lecturers, and speculators, are imported. A
tall, thin man, with a pair of shoulders of remarkably
narrow dimensions, and a neck of unusual length,
dressed in a buit of black, with a satin waistcoat sur-
mounted by several coils of gold chain, and wearing a
f lazed leather stock, and a low-crowned, broad*
rimmed hat, mounts guard on the wharf over a large
black trunk covered with yellow copper-looking bolt-
heads, secured by clasps of the same brilliant metal at
the corners and edges, and having his name and title
on a long brass plate on the top, * Mr. John Smith,
P.P.M., CO., Mss,,' which enigmatical letters sig-

%^-,

LIFE IN A COLONY.

405

nify Professor of Phrenology and Mesmerism, Cape
Cod, Massachusetts.

" In a few minutes he is joined by a swarthy,
foreign-looking man, with a long beard and bald head,
and shabbily dressed, carrying a travelling haversack
on his shoulders, and something in a green bag above
it, resembling a violin. It is Mr. Nehemiah Myers,
singing-master to the tribe of Levi, as he calls him-
self, but the wandering Jew, as he is universally
known over the whole United States, every part of
which he has traversed on foot, supporting himself on
his journey by his musical talents. He visits houses
in the rural districts, and relates his travels, beguiling
the time with tales of liis strange adventures, until it
is late at night, when he is offered a bed, and, having
effected a lodgment, remains a day or two, singing or
playing on his violin, having a choice collection of
psalmody for sedate families, of fashionable songs, for
those who are fond of such music, and bacchanalian
ditties for the bar-rooms of inns. He is sober, amusing,
and honest, and accepts hospitality, or some trifling
remuneration for his services. He talks so familiarly
of Jewish history, that many people feel persuaded
they have seen and conversed with the real wanderer.

" The party is now increased by the addition of a
third person. He is a stout, jolly-looking fellow, with
a facetious expression of face, which is somewhat in-
creased by a knowing-looking travelling- cap worn
jauntingly on one side. He carries a carpet bag in
one hand, and a cloak in the other, both of which he
deposits on the trunk of skulls, diagrams, and calico
shirts, belonging to his friend, the phrenologist, in
order to await the landing of the rest of the party,
and they then proceed together to the inn. He takes
out a cigar-case, lights an Havanna of superior flavour,
puts both hands into his breeches-pockets, and com-
mences conversation with any one near him, with as
much ease as if he had known him familiarly for
many years. ,

406

THE OLD JUDGE : OR,

" ' Grand location for trade this, stranger,
what you may call the heart of the country.

Guess

it''s wnat you may can tne neart oi tne
Beckon it ain''t easy to ditto it anywhere. BeminSs
me of the rich bottoms of the Iowa — was you ever
there ? Great place for mills that. Will you have a
cigar V — * Thank you, I don't smoke.' * First chop
article, sir, I do assure you — presume you would be
pleased with it, if you did. Any mills heref —
* Several...' * Any wheat mills, I mean f— ' Oh, yes,
a good many.' * Have they the modern improvements,
the coolers, the cleansers, the brushers, dusters, and so
'' — * No, they are all common, old fashioned affairs.*'

* Ah !' said the jolly man j and he withdraws his hands
from his pockets, and, taking his cigar from his mouth
with one, knocks the ashes from it with the other, re-

E laces it, aiid resumes his old attitude, repeating to
imself the satisfactory ejaculation, ' Ahem !' which
seems to express that he has received the information
he desires.

*' * Which is the best inn here, stranger V — ' The
Stirling Castle.' ' Ahem ! where are them mills lo-
cated?' — 'On the Clyde and Jordan rivers.' *Ah!
and any good liquor at that are inn ?' — ' Very.' ' I
am glad to hear it. Ourn ain't patronised in a gineral
way, as it ought to be, as a native production ; and it's
always so everlasting new — it commonly wants eight
days of being a week old. Regular pyson. Who is
the principal mill-owner V — ' One Ebenezer Cranck.'
' Cranck ! Cranck ! not a bad name for a miller that !
Cranck ! come, I like that, now.'

'' The jolly man attracts attention ; he is a queer-
looking fellow, so free and easy, too, and so inquisitive.
Who is he ? Nobody knows, but Mr. John Smith ;
and the P.P.M., C.C, Mss., says he is Colonel Srtiut,
or the Smutty Colonel, as he is called in the States.
' Ah ! his lectures are not very delicate, then — not fit
for ladies to hear ; they won't go down in this country.
He had better keep his anecdotes for the bar-room of
a canteen.' — ' He is no lecturer,' rejoins Mr. Smith ;

LIFE IN A COLONY.

407

ager. Guess
the country,
re. Reminds
vas you ever
ill you have a

* First chop
jTOU would be
lills hereT —
r— * Oh, yes,
m^rovements,
lusters, and so
tiioned affairs.'
raws his hands
?om his mouth

the other, re-
3, repeating to
Aihem !' which
he information

anger r—' The
them mills lo-
rivers.'' *Ah!
—'Very.' '1
jed in a gineral
etion ; and it'*s
ily wants eight
yson. Who is
nezer Cranck.'
: a miller that !

he is a queer-
i so inquisitive.
'. John Smith;

Colonel Srtiut,
i in the States,
e, then — ^not fit
in this country,
the har-room of
ins Mr. Smith;

'no theorist, but a practical man. He has invented
an apparatus to attach to grist mills, to cleanse wheat
of tH smut. He has taken out a patent for it, and
come aere to dispose of it, and set up the gear. He
talks of nothing else, and is therefore called Colonel
Smut, or the Smutty Colonel. His name is Jonathan
Bancroft.** Corn brooms, horn rakes, bush pullers,
straw cutters, wooden clocks, and heaps of Yankee
notions, are now put on shore for Pineo Bigelo, who
intends to sell them, as he expresses it, for half nothing ;
and, if money is scarce, receive old iron, broken copper
or brass, rags, horns, or wool in return. His time is
short and precious, and he intends to give great bar-
gains to his friends.

" But who is that sedate-looking man with specta-
cles, who, having: landed a well-made, tall, bony horse
and a waggon, with an India-rubber awring over it, is
now taking his seat, a; ^ preparing to drive to the
inn ? He is a travelling doctor, and vender of patent
medicines. He can cure gout, rheumatism, dispepsey,
consumption, and all the other ills that flesh is heir
to. His medicines are strong but innoce *;, simple but
certain. They are all vegetable preparations, the
secrets of which have been purchased of the Indians,
or discovered by experience, and a thorough knowledge
of chemistry. The phrenologist knows him, and says
he has the bump of benevolence largely developed, and
the scientific faculties more extensively displayed than
he ever before observed. The doctor returns the com-
pliment, and tells of the large and respectable audiences
attracted by the lectures of his friend. The broom
and notion man is an unprofessional fellow, that lowers
the name of the great nation abroad by his tricks of
trade, and they do not know him ; while Colonel Smut
is able to speak for himself; and, as for his machinery,
it only requires to be seen to be admired, and to be
understood to be valued.

" Day by day, the exchange of ^m/gration for immi-
gration continues, with this difference, that those who

%
I':

i-i ?; '■(

408

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

go, seldom return, except to speak of disappointed hopes
and broken fortunes, and that those who come, remain
only for a season. Retreating winter now rallies, and
makes a last and desperate effort to regain its lost
ground. It rides on the cold northern blast, or, driving
the floating ice-fields of the St. Lawrence and Labrador
before it, fills the Straits of Northumberland, blockades
the adjacent harbours with its enormous icebergs, and
effectually retards all vegetation, when suddenly it
emerges again from the eastward, and covers the earth
with snow. Long, tedious, and fierce conflicts between
these two contending seasons ensue, till the succours
of advancing Summer terminate the contest. Spring
reigns triumphant. The lakes throw off their wmtry
torpor, the forest yields up its masses of snow, and the
evergreens of the deep ana shady swamps can no longer
conceal or retain the lingering ice. Thousands and
tens of thousands of nightingales (for so the rara cla-
vnitans of this country is humorously designated),
simultaneously send forth their nocturnal serenades,
and celebrate the victory that has released them from
prison. The incessant and uproarious delight of these
liberated captives must be heard to be fully compre-
hended, and the ear accustomed to its music before it
can confer the pleasure that it never fails to impart to
the natives.

" Spring has now so far advanced, that we can hardly
believe that lUinoo is the same place we beheld a few
weeks ago. The windows and doors of the houses are
all open — everything and evervbody seems to be in a
universal state of transition. The first of May gives
new lodgers to new houses, and a simultaneous ex-
change of tenants takes place, while those who do not
remove out of their tenements appear to abdicate nearly
every room in them ; for what is called the general
'house-cleaning' has commenced. Paint and white-
wash brushes are busy everywhere; floors, ceilings,
walls, and furniture, defiled by the smoke of a long
winter, undergo a general purification, to the infinite

LIFE IN A COLONY.

409

pointed hopes
come, remain
w rallies, and
egain its lost
ist, or, driving
and Labrador
and, blockades
i icebergs, and
a suddenly it
)vers the earth
nflicts between
11 the succours
ntest. Spring
ff their wmtry
p snow, and the
IS can no longer
Thousands and
10 the rara da-
ly designated),
rnal serenades,
ised them from
delight of these
8 fully compre-
music before it
ils to impart to

it we can hardly
we beheld a few
f the houses are
3eems to be in a
}t of May gives
imultaneous ex-
lose who do not
abdicate nearly
led the general
aint and white-
floors, ceilings,
smoke of a long
1, to the infinite

fatigue of servants, and the unspeakable annoyance of
the male part of the household, who are expelled by
mops, brooms, and scrubbing-brushes from their homes.
Even the streets scarcely afford a safe retreat from the
showers of water thrown upon or from windows, sub-
jecting the unwary stranger to the danger of sudden
immersion; nor does such a time of disorder and fatigue
shelter the operators from the effects of practical jokes,
or screen the offenders from immediate punishment.
A loud laugh, succeeded by a scream, attests some
prank, while the sudden irraption of a footman from
the hall-door, followed by the irritated housemaid, mop
in hand, exhibits the inconvenience of having sport con-
verted into earnest. While the houses are thus meta-
morphosed within, the streets present an equal change
without. Crates, deal cases, barrels, and boxes, publish
the arrivals of English spring goods, and the millinery
and fancy shops are crowded by ladies, who, having laid
aside their tippets, muffs, frirs, and warm cloaks, look
Uke beings of a different climate and another country.

" Spring, having now clothed the fields with verdure,
unfolded the bud, expanded the blossom, and filled the
air with fragrance, and the music of birds, departs as
suddenly as it arrived, and leaves the seed to be ripened
and the fruit matured by the succeeding season. A
deep blue sky, a bright and brilliant sun, a breathing
of the west wind, so soft and gentle as scarcely to
awaken the restless aspen, a tropical day, preceded by
a grey mist in the morning, that gradually discloses to
view the rich, luxuriant, and mellow landscape, and
shed a golden lustre over the waving meadows, and,
above all, the solitary locust, that seeks the loftiest
branch of the elm on the lawn, and sings his mono-
tonous song, when the feathery tribe are seeking the
cool retreats of the thickets, usher in the summer.
The sun has scarcely set behind the dark, wavy out-
line of the western hills, ere the Aurora Borealis mimics
its setting beams, and revels with wild delight in the
heavens, which it claims as its own, now ascending

410

THE OLD JUDGE } OR,

with meteor speed to the zenith, then diesolving into
a thousand rays of variegated light, that vie with each
other which shall first reach the horizon j now flashing
bright, brilliant, and glowing, as emanations of the
sun, then slowly retreating from view, pale and silvery
white, like wandering moonbeams.'

*' Its sportive vein is soon over, and, while you
watch for its re-appearance, hundreds of small vol-
canoes burst forth, from the depths of the forest, in all
directions, sending up long, black, dense masses of
smoke, that are suspended in the sky, and then illu-
minated by the columns of flame beneath, like sheets
of burnished gold. The woods seem as if they were
in a blaze everywhere, and would soon be wrapt in one
general conflagration. How bright and beautiful is
this nocturnal fire ! now rising with impetuous rage
above the tallest trees, then subsiding mto a smoul-
dering heap, and again encircling, like a wreath of light,
some tall pine, and waving from its top its banner of
flame, in token of victory. The giant tree, unable to
resist the devouring element, falls heavily under its
foe with a crash that shakes the very hills, and sends

^ The first appearance of the Aurora Borealis was very
astonishing to our ancestors, both in Europe and America. It
was first seen in England in 1716, and in British North America
in 1719. A very interesting account of the former was written
by the Rev. Thomas Punce, who was then in Europe. A minute
description of the latter was published at Boston by an anony-
mous author; both of which papers are to be found in the
second volume of the Collections of the Historical Society of
Massachusetts. It was first noticed at Boston at eight o'clock
in the evening of the 11th of December, 1719. This person
who describes it concludes his quaint account as follows : — " The
dreadfulness as well as strangeness of this meteor made me think
of Mr. y/atts's description of the Day of Judgment in English
Sapphick, and of these lines in Flatman : —

* When from the dungeon of the grave
The meagre throng themselves shall heave,
Shake ofif their linen chains and gaze
With wonder when the world shall blaze.' "

LIFE IN A COLONY.

411

olving into
ie with each
low flashing
iions of the
and silvery

, while you
f small vol-
forest, in all
36 masses of
nd then illu-
[i, like sheets
1 if they were
wrapt in one
I beautiful is
ipetuous rage
into a smoul-
reath of light,
its banner of
iree, unable to
srily under its
ills, and sends

irealia was very
id America. It
North America
rroer was written •
arope. A minute
■on by an anony-
be found in the
jorical Society of
at eight o'clock
9. This person
follows:— "Tbe
or made me think
gment in English

ive

11 heave,

ize

1 blaze."*

up sparkling showers of fire far away into the heavens.
The foresters have invoked the aid of this dreadful
element to disencumber the ground of its timber, and
thereby enable them to bring their land into cultiva-
tion. Alas! they sometimes fall victims thtu; olves
to their dangerous and rapacious ally. The summer
is a period of comparative repose, and the assizes are
held, and the judges and lawyers ' come and go,' and
the races are opened, and followed by balls and re-
gattas.

" But what is this procession, and whence all this
music 2 A remarkably light, open, but capacious car-
riage, the most beautiful thing of the kind ever seen,
as the handbills say, drawn by eight white horses,
which are managed with greater apparent ease and
security, without the aid of postillions, and directed
rather by certain cabalistic Yankee words, perfectly
unintelligible to all but the prancing steeds, than by
whip or veins, conveys the celebrated brass band of
New England, *the most distinguished in the whole
world.' Immediately behind this wonderful equipage
are some ten or twelve horses, gaudily (richly is a more
appropriate term) caparisoned. These * real Arabians,'
foals of the sun, are remarkable for their fire and
docility, their delicacy of limb, and great endurance.
Next comes cream-coloured ones of the same royal
stock as those in the stables of the Queen of England,
with magnificent side-saddles and housings, covered
with golden stars, and decorated with deep fringe
of the same valuable material, and then jet black
ponies, with long tails and flowing manes, so wild
and intractable that nobody but Sehor Caldero,
' Felix Bibb,' the great South American horse-tamer,
can manage, and in his hands they are as gentle as

lambs.

" A lon<y train of carriages bring up the rear, the
last of which, drawn by six Pensylvanian heavy dray-
horses, is most conspicuous. Whatever it contains is
carefully concealed from view by enormous folds of

T 2

412

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

^■^

snow-white canvass, and is doubtless very heavy, as it
requires a team of such uncommon strength to trans-
pose it. From the centre of this mass of canvass rises
a staflf which supports the British flag, a delicate com-
pliment to the sensitively loyal nerves of colonists,
who are always thrown mto epileptic and sometimes
into convulsion fits at the very sight of the rebel and
Republican flag of stars and stripes. It is the great
American Mammoth Circus, which means, of course,
in common parlance, exactly the reverse — namely,
that the company which usually exhibits during the
winter at Boston or New York separates in the
summer; the better portion of the performers and
most valuable horses being reserved ror a home tour,
and the most inferior or least expensive part sent into
the colonies. The handbills of the united company
answer just as well for the detachment, for the fame
of the corps is common property, and accompanies
each division wherever it goes.

'* This splendid pageant perambulates every street of
the town, amazing all the children, amusing all the
idlers, and delighting all nursery-maids and their
lovers at the prospect of an evening''s entertainment,
where they can see and be seer and of a walk after-
wards, in which they can neitlier be heard nor seen.
If the exterior of this exhibition be so attractive, what
nmst the performance of such wonderful horses and
celebrated men ? In a few minutes the whole country
is informed, both by rumour and, what is still more
to be depended on, printed notices, containing full-
len^h portraits of horses and riders, that the oppor-
tunity wl- 'ch may never again occur will be lost to-
morrow if not seized upon at once. As soon as this
gratuitous show (and it is very kind to disclose so
much for nothing) is over, the procession halts in a
field previously selected. The carriages take their
appointed places, and, in an indescribably short space
of time, an enormous tent is erected capable of accom*
modating two thousand people, and also a subsidiary

LIFE IN A COLONY.

413

one for the performers and rin^ horses. The British
flag is again displayed (for nothing American is heard
but the accent and nasal twang) ; tne music, God Save
the Queen ! which is very polite and considerate,
strikes up, and in two hours from their first appear-
ance in the town, they are prepared to astonisti and
delight their good friends of lUinoo.

** Almost everybody has seen the Circus, for this
company visits us annually, but every year it has
some attraction with all tne other part of the enter-
tainment. This season, it is an India-rubber man,
who puts his legs over his neck, and appears to be
without joints, or, if he has any, to enjoy some of a
peculiar construction. Last year, a man defied the
efforts of four horses to draw him from his position on
a wooden frame, and played with iron shots of thirty
pounds weight with as much ease as common balls.
Therefore, all must go and all must see — ^grumblers
there always will be: what community was ever
united? Some people are determined not to be
pleased, perversely saying that it conduces to idleness,
its tendency is immoral, and it withdraws large sums
from the country, which it can ill afiord, and falls
especially heavy on the poor and the improvident.
But servants will be indulged, and children must be
amused, and mammas and mistresses are kind inter-
cessors ; and what do they care if the horses are foun-
dered, spavined, or painted, or the actors depraved I
it is worth seeing, and must be seen, and there is an
end of the matter.

'' Is it an apparition, or a dream I it is passed and
gone, and notning is left to remind us th..t it has
been here, but the chorus of a negro song caught up
by the boys in the street, and shouted forth at every
corner at night ; or, a rumour that a child has broken
his leg, or injured his spine in attempting summersets,
afler the manner of little master Young, the preat
Phenomenon. Scarcely has the last cheer of applause
rewarded the last rehearsal of the last joke of the

■

i ^,

\:^

414

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

clown, ere the pegs are drawn, the cords loosened, and
the tents strucK, packed and reloaded ; the handsome
men, in yellow tignts with scarfs and gold-lace jackets,
are converted into teamsters, grooms, or musicians, in
rusty black clothes, and the procession is again in
motion to the next villa£:e. It is a tale that is told —
they are forgotten among the ' comers and goers/

*' Hut, if this is one of the lights of life to the
juvenile part of the comnmnity, here is a melancholy
shade — a general gloom succeeds — reflection will come.
The crops are bad, the potatoes have failed, the weevil
has destroyed the wheat, and long^ and continued rains
have damaged the hay crop. Fires at Quebec and
Newfoundland, the famine in great Britain and want
and poverty at home, have dried up the sources of
charity : — when, lo ! the highways are thronged with
groups of strange-looking, emaciated, squalid human
beings, such as, thank Uod ! this happy, thrifty, in-
dustrious country never produced, and, if we are left
to ourselves, never will and never can exhibit. A
strong stout man, dressed in a blue coat and brown
breeches, with a pipe in his mouth, his shoes in one
hand, and a short stick in the other, is followed by a
woman walking barefooted, and bending forward under
the weight of a child seated on the top of a dirty
bundle of infectious clothing, which is fastened on her
shoulders — two small, pale, shoeless girls, with unequal
pace, travel by her side ; and the rest of these paupers,
of various sexes, bring up the rear of this saa, silent,
and sorrowing party of emigrants.

" The door of the settler, which was never before
closed, is now guarded or bolted, and relief is timidly
administered through some aperture. Idleness, in-
subordination, and disloyalty, have induced poverty —
poverty has induced want — want emigration — and
emigration, amid foul air and bad food, has engendered
disease ; and these wretched exiles have carried it
through the country, and shook it out on the wings
of the wind, to be dispersed everywhere.

LIFE IN A COLONY.

415

t t

'* We arc poor ourselves — not from idleness, though
we might be more laborious ; nor from wilful inactivity,
in order to force others to feed and support us, for wo
are too proud and too right-nynded to do so ; nor
from oppression, for we know it not; nor from the
sterility of the soil, for this country could feed mil-
lions ; but we are poor, because it has pleased God to
withhold from the earth its wonted increase. How,
then, shall we maintain these unfortunate creatures i —
and why are they thrown upon our shores ? are they
sent here to starve, or to consume us also ? The
Lazaretto is full, though death decimates it daily;
for fresh victims are continually arriving to supply
their places. Thousands have lauded but to die, and
thousands have embarked, who were soon consigned
to the bosom of the great deep.

" Amid all the bad passions and bad feelings which
unprincipled and seditious agitators have called up in
the breast of these peasants, urging them on to resist-
ance and crime, how many good, affectionate, and de-
voted hearts are still to bo found among them ! Who
is that woman, and what is her history, who sits apart
from the rest, who are making their mid-day meal by
the road-side of viands prepared in yon house for its
own inmates ? Her head is resting on her hand, and
her countenance sad and distracted, while her mind is
evidently far, far away — perhaps among the green hills
of her own native land. The ship in which she em-
barked soon became an hospital, and day by day death
seized upon some one of her family, until all were
gone but her baby. She was alone in the world save
with this little one — she had seen them sink one after
another, and all her care and all her affections centered
on this helpless innocent. She watched it by day
and guarded it by night, and mingled her tears with
her prayers for its safety. But, alas I death is inex-
orable, and strikes the afflicted as relentlessly as those
who know no sorrow. It died, like the rest, and she
was left a childless widow. But she was not thus to

■i

'4'

416

THE OLD JUDGE ;

OR,

be separated from the object of her affections : she
concealed its death, dried up her tears, carried its little
corpse in her arms, carefully covered it from the rude
winds, caressed it, sung to it, and pressed it to her
heart. At last her secret was discovered ; but she
clung to the lifeless body with frantic energy, and
begged so earnestly to have it reserved for a grave,
that the captain kindly yielded to her entreaties. A
little coffin was made for it, and it was deposited in
the boat that hung over the stem, with a humane
promise that it should be preserved as long as possible,
and, if practicable, buried on shore. Day and night
she remained on deck, and kept her eyes on that she
could not enfold to her heart, and, even when dark-
ness overspread the heavens, sustained herself with
the melancholy consolation of dimly discerning it at
rest. At last they descried the eastern shore of the
province ; and in the evening the boat was lowered, a
grave was dug, and the body interred. The captain
inscribed the name of the harbour on a card, with the
bearings of the spot, and gave it to the agonized
mother. She received it listlessly, observing, * I
cannot forget it — it is engraved on my heart for
ever.'

" But, here is an Italian boy, with his monkey and
Imrdigurdy. He is willing to do something for his
own support, and, although he is an idler, he is a
menr one, and prefers a cheerfiil song to a begging
petition. That little fellow lives on a portion of the
oread and meat bestowed upon his monkey in recom-
pense for his performances, lays up all his money, and
nas visions of returning, buying out his father's land-
lord, and setting up for a Venetian gentleman. He
has already, in his dreams, made a great sensation in
the gay circles of his native place, and has enjoyed
the humiliation which his triumph will awaken to all
rivals. Nor does he forget that, besides amassing
wealth, he has acquired information, by perambulating
this continent, and become master of the English ana

LIFE IN A COLONY.

417

French laii£ lages. A traveller, a linguist, and a man
of fortune, happy dog ! here is half-a-crown for you.
Go on, dream, and prosper !

" But here is something of importance — a great
reform meeting is to be hew, at which the grievances
of the country are to be manfully declared, and suitable
remedies proposed. There is something touching in
the wrongs of a whole people, and any one with a
spark of generous patriotism m his heart must sympa-
thize with the suflferings and privations of the oppressed.
Perhapfl, they are over-taxed and borne down with
the weight of exactions. Not at all: there are no
taxes, and, what is better, they are exempt from any
portion of British burdens. Perhaps, their little ftind
raised by import duties is either expended without
their consent, or misapplied. By no means: they
impose these charges themselves, vote away funds,
and audit the accounts. As this pauper emigration
is a just subject of complaint, peniaps they intend,
and very properly, too, to remonstrate against it to
the Colonial office as a serious grievance. No ; that
is dangerous ground ; it might awaken a national feel-
ing at the next election. It is not to be thought of.
Then it is no tragedy at last ? Certainly not ; it is a
farce, and nothing more. The Governor, in the exer-
cise of his prerogative, has appointed the Honourable
Enoch Eels instead of Squire Solomon Sharp, to be
his secretary, and Mr. Thompson instead of Mr.
Jackson, to be auditor of road-accounts. It is observed,
too, by applying a jaundiced eye to a microscope, that
an Act passed last year for dividing parishes has
something very like No. 1 faintly inscribed on it,
from which it is fair to infer that there is a No. 2 in
reserve for the introduction of tithes : a resolution
therefore condemnatory of such men and measures is
unanimously carried amid great acclamation and ardent
protestations of their determination to lay down their
lives when needed, and their fortunes when acquired, for
the honour of the Queen, and the benefit of the province.

T 6

418

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

" A counter Conservative meeting is now convened,
at which the persons present, like those at the former
assenibly, are reported in the papers at only twice
their real number — a remarkable instance of political
veracity and integrity. The speakers on this occasion
deprecate any interference with the prerogative, and
maintain that the Governor has undoubted right to
select his officers from whatever party he pleases, pro-
vided he acts constitutionally, by choosing them from
their side, and that it matters verr ^ittb to the
country whether Eels or Sharp, Thomps; = r Jack-
son, is appointed, as nobody feels part •' >*"rly inte-
rested in either of them. As for the imposition of
tithes, they asseii; that nothing can show tne folly of
such a supposition more plainly than the fact that few
people in this poor country have ten calves, ten pigs,
ten haystacks, or ten sheep : children being the only
productions that ever reach that ominous and taxable
number. They very logically conclude, therefore, that
where there is no tenth, there can be no tithe. A vote
of confidence in the present ministry is carried, as a
matter of course mem. con.t with three cheers for the
Queen, three for the Province, and three for Conser-
vatives. Happy country, where you cannot find a
grievance ! and happy people, where your contest is for
men, and not for measures — for places, and not for
theories of government !

" But there is something to be seen this evening
infinitely more amusing than political jugglery, in
which all sides can join good-humouredly in approving ;
for, here is practical jugglery, and Signor Blitz will
take less money out of your pockets, and give you
more satisfaction in return. He again is followed by
a troop of rope-dancers, ventriloquists, German and
Swiss ballad-singers, giants, dwarfs, and precocious
children, all of whom say they have exhibited or per-
formed before the Queen of England, the King of
France, and the Emperor of Russia. Daguerreotype
men succeed, who take young ladies likenesses ; for-

LIFE IN A COLONY.

419

tune-tellers, who provide them husbands for sixpence ;
travelling jewellers, to furnish the wedding-ring ; tin-
reflector men, to bake the cake j strolling preachers, to
marry them ; and bell-ringers, ready to perform at the
ceremony ; while picture venders succeed, to amuse,
and singing and dancing-masters to teach the children.
These fellows seem to have an intuitive knowledge of
the wants of a new country, and to understand the
rapid growth of its population, and therefore very
wisely provide themselves with a stock of what may
be denominated the common necessaries of life. But,
in addition to those who purvey for the wants of
others, there are many who require you to provide for
their own. There are rebel Poles, who, when abroad,
complain of tyranny at home; Italians, ruined by
avalanches, who never saw the Alps; shipwrecked
mariners, who have only been half seas over ; women,
going to the States to join husbands they have never
yet found ; people burnt out, who never owned a
house; and raiser emigrants, with more gold con-
cealed in their rags than would purchase the farm
of the poor settler whose charity they receive and
deride.

"It is refreshing to turn from these vagrants to
what reminds us of dear old England. I love every-
thing that belongs to it, from the Queen on her throne,
and the standard that floats on the breeze at the
Castle, to the brave defenders of both — the soldiers.
Here is a detachment en route from St. John (New
Brunswick) to Halifax : they, too, like all others here,
are * comers and goers.'' I was forcibly struck, some
years ago, (for, at this distance of time, it would seem
a matter of course now), with the great change that
takes place even among themselves, by casually meet-
ing a company at this very place. ' What regiment
do you belong to V I said, addressing myself to a Ser-
jeant. ' The th, sir.' ' The ^th !' I said to

myself; 'dear me ! how many recollections that corps
recals ! How well I knew them ! How often I have

420

THE OLD JUDGE;

OR,

■'i A ' H**

^m : «

dined at their mess, rode, drove, hunted, fished, or
sailed with the officers, in days bygone ! They were
here in 1808, and left the country with Sir George
Prevost, to undertake the reduction of Martinique.
Are there any of them here now who were in the pro-
vince then V * No, sir ; I am the only man left that
was in the corps at that period. I was stationed at
this place, and worked two summers in your Honour's
garden. I am Tom Hodges."* — ' Ah, Hodges, is that
you, my good fellow ! I am glad to see you. Alas ! I
alone am left also of all those that started in life with
me, and, in the course of things, must soon follow
them, for I am much older than you are.' — ' I shall
leave the service too, sir, immediately : I am to have
my discharge next week." — * Then return to me, and
I will provide you with a home and employment while
I live. The old gardener who stands erect when he
addresses you, and gives you a military salute, is poor

Tom Hodges, the sole survivor of the dear old th

Regiment.

^* *■ But who is that man in irons, Hodges, sitting at
a table in the courtyard, eating the poor and scanty
fere of a prisoner ? H'.s hair is so long and shaggy,
and his clothing and general appearance so unsoldier-
like, I cannot understand what you can have to do with
him V * He does not belong to us, sir ; he deserted

from the ^th Regiment about eight years ago,

settled near the American line, married, and has a
family there. A friend to whom he entrusted his
secret, having quarrelled with him, lodged an infor-
mation against him. He was accordingly apprehended,
tried, and convicted, and is now on his way to a penal
colony, It was a heartrending thing, sir, to see the
poor fellow torn away from his wife and children.' —
' Yes, yes, Hodges, the way of the transgressor is
hard. Here is a trifle for him ; mitigate his sufferings
as far as is compatible with discipline and duty.'

" Autumn has now commenced : the days are very
perceptibly shorter, and the evenings are beginning to

Life in a colony.

421

^row too cool to sit out late in the open air. There
IS more of a breeze from the westward within the last
fortnight, and it is more bracing and invigorating than
when heated by the summer's sun. The harvest is
gathered, and a few days are devoted in the country to
Temperance meetings, at which the virtues of pure
cold water are extolled, and aptly illustrated by copious
libations of strong decoctions of hot tea and coffee.
Picknics follow, where the comparative value of gene-
rous liquors is tested, and at which the fair sex, who
provide and prepare the viands, are kindly permitted
to attend, and listen to luminous speeches on modem
philosophy, which teaches us to abandon the past, and
despise the present, in the sure and certain hope that
free-trade and new and untried theories of government
will make us all ' healthy, wealthy, and wise.' But,
though the principl' s and politics of our forefathers
are condemned without 'benefit of clergy,' some of
their practices are still retained. Men must assemble
— ^when they assemble, they must talk — ^when they
talk, they must drink (quietly, though, which means
privately, in unlicensed houses, for there are many
things that may be done in secret, that are not ex-
pedient or proper to be done in public, in which decent
catalogue drinking is now included) — and when men
drink, they will run horses, and when they run horses,
they will bet. Reforms are only applicable to public
officers, but not to reformers, for those who liberate
others must themselves be free. Scrub races, then (as
country races of untrained or broken down, and not
broken in, horses are called), must still be retained, it
seems. That noisy and inebriated crowd that occupies
the space where those two highways meet, and covers
the fences and throngs the doorwav of that decent-
looking temperance inn, to the well-feigned annoyance
of its inmates and the horror of all true friends of
sobriety, is employed in arranging the details and
betting on the result of a race between two farm
horses. When that is ended, it will be followed by

422

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

others equally interesting. In a little back room of
that temperance inn, the winnings are spent in the
purchase of numerous * yards of stone walP — a name
for brandy, omitted in the License Law, which is thus
evaded or defied.

** Tdrning in disgust from men who, while clamour-
ing for political, neglect the more needful and valuable
social reforms, we observe that there has been a slight
frost near the brook that brawls down the mountain
side, for there is a variegated, waving, scarf-like strip
of foliage extending each side of it, and marking all
its devious courses with its bright colours of a thou-
sand tints, while thft leaves of the trees on the dry
land have escaped this first stage of decay. In a few
days, the whole scene becomes changed, and all is
enveloped in a blaze of beauty. The larch rises like
a cone of gold ; the maple is clothed with a crimson
robe, fading in the distance into changeable shades of
brown ; the beech presents its bright yellow leaves,
gradually yielding to a strong green near the trunk,
where the frost has not yet penetrated ; and the birch,
with its white stem and gaudy colouring, is relievisd
by a pale grey tint, produced by the numerous
branches of trees that have already shed their leaves,
and by the rich glowing clusters of the fruit of the
ash ; while the tremulous aspen grieves in alarm at
the universal change around it, and timidly eimoses
its reversed leaf to the sun, in the vain hope or pro-
tecting it from its baleful influence. The dark and
melancholy-looking pines and firs defy the effects of
alternate heat and cold, and, as they tower above the
work of destruction, break with their pointed tops the
smooth, uniform, round outlines of the hard wood
trees. It is a rich and gaudy but transitory scene,
for the rude southern blasts will soon tear the fluttering
leaves from their stems, and the forest will again
exhibit the same cold, cheerless, naked aspect, as when
lately breathed upon by the first genial air of spring.

" Simultaneous with the fall of the leaf, is the ae-

LIFE IN A COLONY.

423

room of
it in the
—a name
ih is thus

clamour-
[ valuable
1 a slight
mountain
like strip
rkiug all
f a thou-
the dry
In a few
nd all is
rises like
I crimson
shades of
w leaves,
he trunk,
bhe birch,
\ relieviBd
numerous
)ir leaves,
lit of the
alarm at
y exposes
e 01 pro-
dark and
effects of
above the
I tops the
ard wood
)ry scene,
fluttering
all again
, as when
f sprinff.
s the de-

parture of the Admiral and the squadron from Halifax
for Bermui' . lie has been here for three summers
only, and he now departs to return no more. These
cards for a ball on board of the Centurion are designed
to conceal, under festivity, Yhe pain of separation from
friends who are doomed to part for ever — friends
found too late, or lost too soon, known just long
enough to be loved and lamented, and severed as
soon as acquaintance had ripened into affection. The
thunder of artillery from tne citadel, and the respon-
sive peal from the ' flag-ship,"* like the funeral honours
over the dead, close the scene between the departed
and their sorrowing friends. His brief sojourn is
ended — his place will soon be occupied by another, to
rule, resign, and pass away, like his predecessor. It
is life''s shortest span. It is also the season for relieving
regiments. The oflficers, from being constantly on
shore, have more opportunities of mingling intimately
with the inhabitants, and, consequently, weave stronger
ties of affection., the sudden disruption of which is
attended with more pain, because more hurtful, to the
feelings. The Governor''s term of five years has also
expired, and all his civil, military, and personal rela-
tions in the place are abruptly terminated, his staff
dissolved, his family removed, and the palace deserted
and gloomy. It is really a country of * comers and
goers.'

" I shall leave the text to moralists and preachers.
Custom has sanctioned the presentation of addresses
on such occasions, to express and record the respect
and sorrow of the community, and experience has
shown that the practice is a wise, grateful, and salutary
one. It is a pity, however, that proper bounds and
limits have not been assigned to a custom which is now
fast degenerating, not merely into an idle ceremony,
but into a ridiculous exhibition of folly. To-day sk
commander of a steamer, who mistook Newfoundland
for a fog-bank, and thereby endangered the lives of his
passengers and crew, nearly destroying the valuable

424

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

vessel, is entertained at a public dinner, and presented
with a piece of plate, and a flattering address, in which,
omitting all mention of his e^egious carelessness or
iterance, his coolness in peril, and his fertility in ex-
pedients, are highly extolldd, in terms equally honour-
able tS the understanding and ^ood taste of the sub-
scribers, and to the modesty of him who could hear
it without blushing, and receive it without mortification,

'* If the spring is short in this country. Nature has
compensated us for the deficiency, by giving us a
second edition of it at this season, called the * Indian
summer.'* The last fortnight is restored with sunny
skies, bland south-west winds, and delicious weather,
which has the warmth of spring without its showers, the
summer sky without its heat, and autumn nights without
their frost. It is Nature'*s holiday — the repose of the
seasons, the lingering beauty of maturity, ere the sno*./8
of age efface it ror ever. The savages seek their winter
quarters, by ascending the lakes and rivers to the hunt-
ing ground; the sportsmen are in the fields or the
woods, the farmer is busy with his plough, and the
mariner hastens homeward to dismantle his vessel, and
moor her securely before the approach of snow-storms.
The migratory birds, too, avail themselves of this lull
of the winds, and proceed on their southern journey,
to avoid the wintry blasts, while eveiy animal of the
forest selects his cavern, or his den, and makes all
those preparations that unerring instinct suggests for
his sarety or support.

" A heavy storm of rain, succeeded by a sudden
shift of wind to the north-west, brings winter upon
us in an instant : the lakes are covered with ice, the
swamps congealed into a solid mass, and the ground
frozen as hard as adamant. When the wind relaxes,
snow succeeds, until the whole earth is covered with it
to a great depth. Everybody is abroad, and in motion ;
the means of transport, which were suddenly suspended
by the fi'ost, are now fiirnished by the snow. The
^New Comers^ are delighted with the novelty, and

LIFE IN A COLONY.

425

presented
in which,
issness or
ity in ex-
[yhonour-
' the sub-
ould hear
rtification.
[ature has
iring us a
le * Indian
ith sunny
s weather,
lowers, the
its without
pose of the
I the sno*< 78
lieir winter
[} the hunt-
Ids or the
h, and the
vessel, and
ow-storms.
of this lull
•n journey,
mal of the
makes all
uggests for

a sudden
inter upon
ith ice, the
the ground
ind relaxes,
sred with it
in motion ;
j^ suspended
mow. The
ovelty, and

anxiously exchange runners for wheels, and leather for
furs, to essay an upset, (by no means a difficult feat)
and to try the speed of horses that have lost their
activitv with their youth, and who have already trained
several generations of * New Comers' before them.
The roads are now covered with sleds, the streetrwith
sleighs, and merry voices and merry bells proclaim
that the season has arrived when nearly all the porta
are closed until spring, and there can no longer be
arrivals or departures — Comers or Goers."

CHAPTER XX.

THE WITCH OP INKY DELL.

Among the various classes of comers and goers that
have at different times visited this country (continued
the Judge,) witches and apparitions have now nearly
ceased to honour or alarm us with their company.
Forty years ago they were very numerous, and every
village and settlement had its ghost or its sorceress.
Many well authenticated tales are told of their sayings
and doings, and of their marvellous power ; for when
was a story deficient of proof, where people are crafty
or credulous ? As a sample, I will tell you one that
was related to me by a person who had been for some
time suffering under the malignant influence of the
Witch of Inky Dell, in Cumberland, Nova Scotia.

Shortly after the termination of the American Re-
bellion, a number of the inhabitants of the old colonics
emigrated to this province, the majority of whom were
Loyalists, who, relinquishing their homes and posses-
sions, followed the flag of their kin? into this cold and
inhospitable country, while not a few belonged to the
opposite side, which they had either disgraced or
deserted. Every county of Nova Scotia received great
numbers of these " refigees," as they were called, and,
among others, Cumberland had a large proportion.
Driven from their homes and their ordinary occupa-

426

THE OLD JUDGE ; Oil,

'Ri;

tions, it was a long time before they settled themselves
in the country of their adoption, and many preserved,
during the remainder of their lives, the habits of idle-
ness engendered by war and exile. Taverns were then
places of much greater resort than at the present day,
when they are almost exclusively given up to travel-
lers, and the voice of contention or merriment scarcely
ever ceased within them, either by day or night.

The battles of the recent war were fought over again
with renewed zeal, and it must be admitted that these
Loyalists were a most distinguished body of men, in-
asmuch as it appeared that every individual ^as con-
fident that the result of the contest would have been
far different if the British Government had followed
his advice. These faithful and wise councillors daily
met, deliberated, and decided upon the fate of the
nation, but, alas ! they had no means to execute their
designs, and the world unfortunately went on as usual
without them.

Among this little loyal band was one Walter Tygart,
or Watt the Tiger, as he was more generally called
from the ferocity of his temper. He had held a com-
mission in the celebrated corps of cavalry known as
Tarlton''s Legion, and was a strong, well-made, active,
daring man ; he had distinguished himself during the
war as well by his valour as his cruelty, for it was a
favourite maxim of his that *' the Devil was the first
rebel,''^ and that therefore to spare a traitor was a
devilish and not a christian act, and was accordingly
noted for never having taken a prisoner, or given
quarter to a foe. He was a noisy, rollocking, dissi-
pated fellow, ^11 of anecdote, with some humour,
and a strong but dangerous propensity to practical
joking. My first recollections of Cumberland are con-
nected with the '* Loyalist Club " and Watt the Tiger,
the revolutionary anecdotes they severally related, or,
as the evening advanced, all told together, myself
being the only listener amid the clamorous party.

I remember an absurd anecdote he told of one of

LIFE IN A COLONY.

427

their brother members, who was absent that evening.
It is impossible to give you an idea of his manner,
though his Iangua<re may serve to show you the style
of man he was. The story referred to a Captain Ly-
bolt, a retired oflScer of German extraction, who had
recently been appointed a magistrate. He was a vain,
pompous, and ignorant man, not very scrupulous in his
conduct, and resolved to make his new oflSce as lucra-
tive as possible by means of fines, of which, at that
time, no account was ever exacted or rendered.

" I say, boys, old stick-in-the-mud is made a ma-
gistrate ; he IS, upon my soul ! fact, I assure you,
boys. The crittur has begun to fine already, and
where the fine goes the king''s fingers will never follow,
even if they were as long as a commissary''s. It would
have made you die a-laughing if you had seen his first
trial to-day, as 1 did, it would, upon my soul, boys !
fact, I assure you — I hope I may die if it wouldn't !
A chap crossing his orchard yesterday picked a few
of his apples, and ate them, which, in all christian
countries, is only a sociable, neighbourly act ; but old
cat-a-nine-tails, dod drot him ! called it foraging on
the enemy, marauding, plundering, and what not, and
issued a warrant against him for stealing. * What is
the use of being a justish,** he said, * if you can''t do
justish to yourself!' He did, upon my soul ! fact, I
assure you ! true as thunder, boys !

" To make the court look respectable, and scare the
poor devil, with his law and learning, out of his money,
he piled up great heaps of books on his table, business
ana earnest-like, took his seat on one side of it, and
made Corporal Cotton, his orderly, sit down on the
other, and act as clerk, and then ordered the constable
to bring in the prisoner. * Got for damme, what do
vcu mean, sir V said he, a-bristling up and a-bridling
like a whiskered Lucifer, * what do you mean by
stealing my apples V — ' Who \ meV ' Yes, you V —
' Stealing !' * Yes, stealing, sir !"* — ' Do you call that
stealing f ' Stealing ! to be sure it is.'

428

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

Tfi.

* Cotton/ said Lybolt, a-whispering to his orderly,

* bring in more book : he don'*t respect tne law, nor the
king''s appointment, nor the justisn. More book, sir f
and Cotton brought in several arms full of ' more book,'
and piled them up on the table. * Now,' said the
Captain, swelling out like a tarnation big bull-frog
ohock full of wind, * what do you say for yourself r —

* I didn't think it any great matter,' replied poor
pumpkin-headed red nose, * to eat a few apples — what
a touss you make about nothing !' — * Put that down.
Cotton,' said the captain ; * he confesses he stole them,
and calls thieving a touss guten himmel. I shall
teach him better for all time that shall be passed,
that shall be present, or shall come ;' and he snorted
like as if he seed an indgin, he did, upon my soul,
boys ! — fact, T assure you, fellows ! dod drot me if
he didn't ! ^ Constable, remove the prisoner till the
court deliberates on the punishment. Serious of-
fence, this. Captain Tygart,' he said to me, winking
and blinking luce an owl in the sun, * a very serious
offence, pillaging when on march through the territory
of a friendly power. It is death by martial-law ;' and
he ordered m the prisoner : * I pronounce you euilty,
sir,' said he, * and now I sentence you — ^you snail be
hanged — ^you shall be whipped— or you shall pay five
pounds, and you shall have your choice which.' The
poor crittur, who had no pluck in him, or he would
nave capsized him and his clerk, and buried both of
them under their books, paid th^ five pounds, showed
a leg, and made himself scarce. * Fary good offish.
Captain Tygart,' he said with a knowing wink, as he
podceted the fine — * fary good offish ! finefl are more
better nor apples — as apples are more better nor no-
thing. It shall be wortn more nor two hundreds in
one year'— true as rates, he did, upon my soul,
fellows ! I hope I may die if he didn't ! fact, I assure
you, boys !' "

Soon after that, I missed Watt the Tiger from his
** accustomed haunts," and understood he was par-

LIFE IN A COLONY.

429

i orderly,
, nor the
9ok, sir }'
Dre book,'
said the
bull-frog
irselff —
ilied poor
ies — what
dat down,
;ole them,

I shall
)e passed,
[le snorted
my soul,
Irot me if
er till the
Brious of-
), winking
iry serious
e territory
law;' and
^ou guilty,
)u snail be
Jl pay five
ich; The

he would
ed both of
s, showed
;ood offish,
ink, as he
3 are more
ier nor no-
undreds in

my soul,
!t, 1 assure

er from his
was par-

tially deranged. His conduct became suddenly so
strange, and he persisted so obstinately in refusing to
give any reason for his behaviour, that somebody
attributed his melancholy to a disturbed conscience,
and remorse for past misdeeds, while not a few be-
lieved that he had ween v'ited or claimed by the
Devil. It appeared that ' i;.» night, when returning
from the club, his horse arrived Pt his house before
him greatly terrific ^, followed pt:ie time afterwards
by his master, whjse clothes were torn and soiled,
and his countenance and manner much disturbed.,
Soon after, the same tiling occurred again, and he
was heard to mutter that he had been ridden hard ;
that the bit had hr^rt his mouth, and that his tongue
was frost-bitten from exposure to the weather. On
another occasion, he complained of having no oats, of
being shut in a stable without a halter, and kicked on
the leg by a black mare. But, on his last nocturnal
excursior something still more extraordinary hap-

Eeued, fov ue came home dreadfiilly fatigued and ex-
austed, barefooted and bareheaded, having exchanged
his ov^n clothes for a red flannel petticoat, that scarcely
reacl'.ed to his knees, and a woman's short dimity
bedgown.

From that time, he never ventured out at night,
and by day always carried a small bible in one pocket,
and the prayer-book in the other, though he was
never known to look into either of them. He became
reserved, solitary, and moody, and was often found
talking or muttering to himself about leaving the
country, taking his treasures with him (though, poor
fellow ! his only possessions were his farm, his cattle,
and a pension of fifty pounds a year), and crossing
over the seas, and placing his jewels, bars of gold,
and chests of money, in the Bank of England, and
spending the remainder of his days in the sporting
world, far away from all pirates, devils, witches, bridles,
side-saddles, and black mares. In fact, his conduct
and conversation were so incomprehensible, that he

430

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

was left to pursue his own meditations unmolested
and unquestioned. As soon as he ceased to be a
wonder, he ceased to be talked of, and, though not
forgotten, his name was seldom mentioned ; when, all
at once, he awakened, as it were, from this dream of
existence, and reappeared among his friends of " the
Loyalist Olub"" at the Oornwallis Arms with all his
former uproarious mirth and boisterous behaviour.

It was in the early part of June, 1 790, that he re-
joined his companions. The day was rendered memo-
rable by one of the most terrific thunder-storms ever
known in this country. For several hours, the roar
of thunder and incessant flashes of lightning nearly
deprived us of the power of vision or hearing, when
the whole forest in the neighbourhood of Inky Dell,
which lay to the eastward of the village, was suddenly
wrapt in flames, that illuminated the heavens with
their strong lurid light. It was a fearful spectacle,
and great apprehensions were entertained for the safety
of the straggling and detached settlements in that
vicinity, the inhabitants of which appeared thus sud-
denly to be deprived both of succour and escape.
That portion of the wilderness seemed peculiarly cal-
culated to extend the conflagration, for it consisted
chiefly of " soft wood," as the resinous evergreens of
America are usually denominated.

The valley was a deep and gloomy hollow, between
two high hills, and was clothea with a growth of ex-
ceedingly tall, thin, spiral fir-trees, known among
lumberers as scantling or ranging timber, which grew
so close together as to admit of no underwood or
shrubs. It was a forest of spars. For thirty feet,
at least, from the ground they exhibited no limbs,
after which a few thin branches protruded, loaded
with long, pendent streamers of grey moss, resembling
straggling locks of hoaiy hair, while their tops were
lost in a thick umbrageous covering, that was im-
pervious to the rays of the sun. It was, consequently,
a dark and gloomy wood. The very birds seemed to

*<';1

LIFE IN A COLONY.

431

avoid it, and the hardy little squirrel disdained to feed
upon the cones that grew in its dank and stagnant
atmosphere. The bat and the owl alone resorted to
it, and startled the traveller by their numbers and
nocturnal vigilance. Through the centre of it flowed
a thick, turbid, and lazy stream, which, from having
beds of coal, became perfectly black, and thus im-
parted to the valley the name of " Inky Dell." The
water, besides being discoloured, was as strong as
brine, from the numerous salt-springs that flowed into
it. The margin of tlie brook was covered, for some
distance, with dead trees and sickly and consumptive
dwarf hemlocks, that had perished or languished in
the unwholesome moisture with which the sub-soil
was saturated. Tall, coarse, slimy, aquatic grass,
partaking of the colour of the floods, afforded a shelter
for toads and reptiles, that lay concealed in its tangled
roots, as if ashamed of their domicile.

The dell was intersected by a gorge which, though
not descending as low as the level of the water, fiir-
nished a convenient opening for a road, which crossed
it at this place. On the western side of the valley
and brook stood a small log-house, in a field contain-
ing about an acre of land, immediately behind which
rose a conical hill, whose base was covered with such
timber as I have described. Beyond that was a
growth of stunted birches ; and at its top, which was
uncovered, was a fountain of pure water. It was,
probably, the value of this spring that led to the selec-
tion of the site for the house. Below the road, the
receding hills afforded a small strip of interval, which
had once been cleared and sown down with grass
seeds, and, though much overgrown, admitted a little
light into the landscape. On one side of the house
was the prostrate covering of a building, which had
evidently been a cow or horse-shed, but which, gra-
dually decaying where it touched the damp earth, had
sunk by degrees, until the roof lay by itself without
support on the ground.

' Shi

m''

'I'll

432

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

This wretched and lonely plaoe was the abode of
a poor woman, one Nelly Edwards. At the period I
have before alluded to, of the emigration from the old
colonies, now comprising the United States, she
arrived with her husband at Cumberland, and, shortly
afterwards, settled at Inky Dell. Who or what they
were no one ever knew. They held but little inter-
course with their neighbours, were known to live upon
very bad terms with each other, and were supposed
to have belonged to the rebel party, from whom they,
no doubt, had good reason to escape, as soon as law and
order were re-established. Edwards had evidently
lived much in the backwoods in the early part of his
life, for he was a devoted sportsman and hunter. He
was averse from industrious habits, and supported
himself by trapping and fishing in preference to tilling
the soil. They were both in bad repute, and were
shunned and avoided by the inhabitants as much as
thev could have desired themselves.

After a few years of this solitary life, Edwards sud-
denly disappeared. Whether he had perished in the
woods in a conflict with some wild animal ; by acci-
dent or by illness ; or had left the province and his
wife in disgust, was not known, nor, indeed, were
many inquiries or conjectures ever made. No one
felt mterested in his fate, and his absence was con-
sidered rather as a relief than otherwise by those that
travelled the road by that lonely and ill omened
place.

Mrs. Edwards was a short, erect, active little
woman, that appeared much younger than she really
was. Her breeding and extraction, it is said, were
lower than those of her husband, who was a man of
good address and some education. After his death,
or desertion, some advances were made by the neigh-
bours to offer their sympathies or assistance, but her
temper was so bad, and her language so coarse and
violent, that people became afraid of her, and as some
of her imprecations had accidentally come to pass, she

LIFE IN A COLONY.

433

abode of
period I

na the old

ates, she

d, shortly

what they

ttle inter-
live upon
supposed

lom they,

as law and
evidently

part of his

inter. He
supported

se to tilling
and were

as much as

wards sud-
ahed in the
I ; by acci-
ce and his
leed, were
No one
was con-
those that
ill omened

Ictive little

she really

said, were

Is a man of

his death,

the neij;h-

ice, but her

coarse and

md as some

to pass, she

began to acquire the not very enviable or desirable
appellation of Hag, or Witch. The character of the
place well accorded with such a supposition, and the
moment it was conceived and circulated, imagination
supplied many proofs and corroborations that Had pre-
viously escaped observation. It was remarked that as
soon as a shower of rain had ceased in summer, and
the wind had shifted to the west, the spring on the
top of the mountain emitted for some time a tall, thin
column of vapour, whence it was called the Witch's
Fountain, a name it is known by to this day, and pro-
bably will always retain. It was also noticed that the
fowls about her door were of a diflPerent breed from any
in the country, being quite black, and that her oat was
of the same malignant colour. Her knowledge of herbs
and simples, by which she worked many cures among
her ignorant neighbours, was also turned against her,
and unkindly attributed not to skill but to sorcery,
and the very natural inference was dra.wn that she who
could understand the virtues of plants must also know
their poisons, and could with equal ease extract the
one or the other.

Wearied and annoyed by these surmises and re-
proaches, she at last availed herself of the superstition
of the people to obtain a control over them, and render
them obedient to her wishes. She, therefore, foretold
fortunes by the assistance of a pack of cards, and the
mysterious fountain, that emitted steam without the
aid of fire, disclosed where stolen goods might be found,
by means of a skilM cross-examination of the appli-
cant or the confession of the thief, and sold cabalistic
charms that had the power of warding off misfortunes.
The numerous instances in which her prophecies either
ftilfilled themselves or were accidentally accomplished,
are really astonishing, and it is no wonder that the
whole country was filled with awe and admiration of
the power of " the Witch of Inky Dell ;*" many a fair
one listened in breathless expectation to the sentence
that Nelly Edwards was passing on her future life, and

434f

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

'f^'

returned to rejoice or murmur over the unalterable
decree.

There were those, however, who, though willing to
believe in her power, were reluctant to entrust her
with the secret of their hearts, and, therefore, confined
their inquiries to the single point, whether that which
they wished, or that which they dreaded, would come
to pass. As this evasion implied a doubt, if not of her
power, at least of her secrecy, she imposed severe
terms on her compliance. The applicant was desired
to come to her by moonlight, and compelled to ascend
the mount by its dark and winding path, ir company
with her and no other attendant, and then, iillmg a
cup, marvellously and curiously carved, with the pure
water from the fountain, to turn quickly round three
times, terminating the evolution with her face to the
east, and then to wish and drink. At the full of the
moon, the wisher of wishes was requested to repeat
the same ceremony ; and then the enchantress, after
consulting the appearance of the sky and the language
of the cards, encouraged or extinguished the hopes of
her suppliant.

'' All, however, were not so credulous, or so obe-
dient; and, among others. Watt the Tiger, who not
only threatened her with the penalties of the law and
personal chastisement, but claimed Inky Dell as a
pai*t of his property, to which it adjoined, and in the
grant of which it was included. Many and furious
were the wordy contests between these two violent

Eeople, who defied and denounced each other; and
ag and witch, and the dragon, on the one hand, and
marauder, murderer, and villain on the other, were
the mildest terms in their copious vocabulary of
abuse.

The locality of the fire was easily distinguished from
the windows of the inn. The day on which it occurred
was a club day, and several of the members had
arrived previous to the storm, and discussed the pro-
bable extent and origin of the conflagration. Some

LIFE IN A COLONY.

435

lalterable

villing to
trust her
, confined
hat which
)uld come
not of her
led severe
Eks desired
to ascend
- company
1, filhng a
h the nure
)und three
face to the
full of the
I to repeat
itress, after
le language
he hopes of

or so ohe-

)r, who not

the law and

Dell as a

and in the

and furious

two violent

other; and

e hand, and

other, were

cabulary of

ruishedfrom
it occurred
embers had
jed the pro-
tion. Some

attributed it to the natural and probable cause — ^the
lightning j others to the Witch, but most of them to
the Devil, who had no doubt claimed the fulfilment of
the compact into which he had entered with her, and
had come to enforce it, for no doubt was entertained
by any one present that the sudden, violent, and ex-
tensive fire must have consumed the house and all
within it. The lightning was succeeded by a tre-
mendous shower of rain, such as is seldom seen any-
where but in tropical climates, which gradually yielded
to a sudden shin of the wind to the westward, that
cleared off the clouds, and left everything as smiling
and as tranquil as ever. The rain had the effect of
arresting and partially extinguishing the fire, which
sent forth long, heavy, and black masses of smouldering
smoke, that rose gloomily into the sky, and slowly
passed away towards the east, until they were lost in
the distance.

An arrival from the scene of the fire confirmed our
apprehensions : the deep pine r^d fir forest in Inky
Deli was all destroyed, and Mrs. Edwards consumed,
together with her effects, in her house. Various were
the remarks made on this dreadftil calamity by the
company present. Some commiserated the poor wo-
man's misfortunes and untimely end, and felt as men
ought to do under such a dreadftil dispensation of
Providence. Others thought the country was well rid
of such a dangerous inhabitant, and not a few believed
it to be the work of her own wicked incantations.

" I never did believe in witchcraft," said one, " and
if I had been so weak, this event would have cured
me. What's the use of it, if she couldn''t foretell the
fire in time to get out of the way of it ?"

"You don''t believe?" said another. "Well,
thaf's good, now ! didn''t you go to her, when your
horse was shot, for advice ? and didn't she tell you it
was Felix Coon that did it I and didn't you get him
convicted f

Well, I did ; but it was only to please my wife,

((

436

Sl^*^

P? If:

THE OLD JUDGE J OR,

Miss Lincoln, for I knew it before I went. But
women have such infernal curiosity, they will always
ax a question as long as there is any body that will
answer it."

"Well, I don't know," said a third; "she is dead
now, and it's easy to kick a dead lion, any ass can do
that, but I believe she was a powerful woman, and
knowed more than a Christian ought to know. She
told Patience Fulton, old Caleb's daughter, she was
wrong named, for she wouldn't wait patiently, but
make a runaway match ; and, sure enough, my son
Ted helped her one morning next week out of her
bed-room window afore her father was up, and they
were married by Souire Tommy Watson, afore break-
fast. Will any one tell me, after that, she wam't a
gifted old lady ? Nobody ever prospered that quar-
relled with her. There is our old friend Captain
Tygart now, he has never been no good since she put
the curse and the evil eye on him ; he ain't no longer
himself, and goes wandering about like one possessed.
It's cheap talking about not being afraid of man or
devil; once, I don't think the Captain ever was; but
hang me if I like to hear people talk so rashly. How
comes it he carries the iuible in one pocket, and the
Prayer Book in the other, if he ain't timersome of the
old witch of Inky Dell i explain that to me, will you ?
Well, I declare," he continued, slowly and in an
alarmed tone, " well, I declare, talk of the Devil, and
he is sure to appear ! As I'm a living sinner, here is
Watt the Tiger, a-galloping down the road like mad,
looking as wild and as wide awake as a Cherokee
Indgin. I know him of old — he's not safe when he's
up m the stirrups that way. He is a wilful man
wnen his blood is up. What s to pay now, I wonder."

He had hardly uttered the words when the Captain
pulled up short at the door, dismounted, threw the
reins over a post, and burst into the room, saying,
" Hullo, boys ! are you here ? the old devil's dead ! —
clean gone ! burnt up to a cinder ! crisp as pie-crust,

LIFE IN A COLONY.

437

But

always
at will

s dead
can do
i,n, and
r. She
ahe was
ly, but
my son

of her
id they
B break-
^arn't a
\,i quar-
Oaptain

she put
lO longer
Dssessed.
' man or
as; but
r. How
, and the
ne of the
vill you !
id in an

evil, and
p, here is
like mad,
Cherokee
rhen he's
ilful man

wonder.'*'*
e Captain
hrew the

^ saying,
} dead ! —

pie-crust,

and twice as tough ! she is, upon my soul ! I hope
I may die if she ain't — fact, I assure you, fellows !
not a word of a lie in it — as true as steel. I am a free
man now — see if I ain'*t, boys V and he took up a
chair, broke the legs of it off by a heavy blow on the
floor, and then, seizing one of the bare, beat a tattoo
violently against the door for the landlord. " How
are you, old fellow T' he said, as the door opened.
" Hullo ! who the devil are you 2 Where is Mo-
gan r

" Dead, sir r

" Dead ! the devil he is ! I didn'^t know that. Ah,
I suppose she rode him to death, too ! Bring me some
wine, some of your best, too. I am going to stand a
treat to-night, and do you mind, see that it is good —
none of your black strap and mother of vinegar, but
the best port and madeira. Come, right about ! quick
march ! Poor Mogan ! ah ! well he was always an
everlasting coward—died of fright, I suppose, at seeing
that old hag of Inky Dell. Thank fortune, she is
gone now, quitted her post, deserted and blown up the
magazine. Ah, here is the wine ! come, boys ! Stop
a minute, though ; and he rose, and, taking the
hearthbrush, inserted the handle of it in the neck of
one of the decanters that had no stopper in it ; then,
summoning the maitre d'*hotel, whom he called old
corkscrew, by beating again at the door with a leg of
the broken chair, *^ Is that a fit stopper, sir, for a gen-
tleman ? You haven''t the honour of knowing me,
sir — so I will take the liberty of introducing myseltl
I am Captain Tygart, sir, at your service, late of
Tarleton''fl legion, a man that gives no quarter and
takes no nonsense. If you think you won t know me
again, you may stare a while longer ; or, if you don"'t
hear me, Til open your ears for you j"' but the terrified
man made good his escape.

" Well, boys,*" he continued, " I am glad to find
myself among you again, dod drot me, if I ain''t ! for
it looks like old times. We must make a night of it ;

!**

438

THE OLD JUDGE ;

OR,,

^n.Mi '

i' fi

80 come, fill your glasses, fellows ! Here's to poor old
Mogan'*s memory — he was rode to death, I do suppose,
poor devil ! '\ hard death that, too, particularly if he
was touched in the wind, as I am. That cussed rebel
bullet at the Oowpans that went through my lungs
spoiled my bellows for me, for I have the heaves now,^
if I run hara I should have died, too, if there had
been any fn''d in or back out in me ; and, as it was,
she near)/ fixed my flint for me. She is done for
herself, though, now, that's a fact, for Fve seen her
with my own eyes — I went to where the house stood,
and Mc for her with a long pole among the ashes, so
as to be certain of it, and, while poking about, I stirred
up something that looked like old Edwards's powder-
horn, and on it went like thunder, and scattered hor
bones all abroad like a bomb-shell. It knocked me
over, too, it did upon my soul ! but I am not easily
scared by gunpowder. Here is a pleasant journey to
her, and a nappy meeting with her old ally and mas-
ter, General scratch, himself! Bars of gold, my
boys, diamonds as big as plums ; gold and silver
9aints as big as babies, candlesticks as tall as com-t
stocks, and graven images fi:om the Spanish main —
Joes, half Joes, doubloons, Louis d'ors, guineas, and
every sort of coin ! ! They are all mine, fellows ! she
showed me the place — I know now the spot, the very
spot, where the pirates buried them. Fil have them
up now, blame my buttons, if I don't ! Fill your
glasses, boys : here is to the memory of my fiiends,
the pirates ! I thought there was luck in store for
me — I always had a kind of idea Captain Tygart's
services wouldn't go unrewarded. Hurra, boys ! here
is bettor luck still."

After the wine was exhausted, materials for making
punch were ordered, and the Captain proceeded to
Drew the intoxicating beverage.

" Two sweet and four sour, two weak and four
strong, boys," he said, " with a touch of rael Hyson to
flavour 'it-— that's the liquor to warm the heart — hot

LIFE IN A COLONY.

439

when you sleep under the table, and cold when you
bivouack under a bush in the field. It'*s the soldier's
fiiend, the ladies' joy, and the world's delight. It's
what Tarlton used to call the young man's oest com-
panion."

An enormous bowl was filled with it, and placed at
the head of the table with a large silver ladle in it,
having a solden guinea set in its centre, and a shaft of
twisted whalebone to prevent the direct communication
of heat to the hand. With this the tumblers were
supplied or replenished.

" Come, Tygart," said Major Taylor, (the presi-
dent of the club), " tell us the story of the witch and
the pirate's treasure."*

" Well, boys," he replied, " I'll tell you ; but first
fill your glasses. Come, Sandford, if ever you mean lo
be a judge, you must drink your way to the bench —
wine loosens the tongue, sharpens the wit, steadies the
nerves, and unlocks the imagination. Here's your
health, youngster, and hoping you may have a wig
before your head's bald, 'and a silk ^own before you are
an old woman ! Well, boys, it ain't a very pleasant
story to recollect— dod drot me if it is ! nor a very
creaible one for a man of honour to tell, but it's true
for all that, it is upon my soul ! I hope I may die if it
ain't ! — ^fact, I assure you — not a word of a lie in it —
I'm booked if it ain't ! and as you want to hear it, I
will tell it to you.

* Strange as this story may seem, it is nevertheless sub-
stantially true, the names and one or two minor circumstances
only being changed. The unfortunate man who laboured
under this extraordinary hallucination (either from delirium
tremens acting on a mind pre-occupied with hatred or fear of
the Witch of Inky Dell, or from mania of some other kind) not
only fully believed himself in the reality of the transformation
he described, but was so anxious to impress others with a due
sense of his veracity, that he reduced the narrative to writing
in the form of an affidavit, and attested it before a magistrate.
It is well known in Cumberland, where the scene is laid.

440

THE OLD JUDGE } OR,

** Well, you all recollect the last night but two that
I spent here. I went home early that evening, certainly
not later than two o'clock, sober as a judge, (though
they ain''t alv'ays the soberest neither.) As I neared
Inky Dell, who should 1 see but Nelly Edwards a-
fltanding in the middle of the road, with her arms
akimbo and her chin cocked up in the air, looking as
impudent as the Devil. * How do you do, Captain
Tygart V said she, a-droppin^ a most gallows polite
curtsey at the same time. * None the better of seeing
you,' says I, * at this time of night.' * Thank you,
sir,' said she ; * and, as you are in such a good humour
to-night, I have a small favour to ask of you. Lend
me your horse, if you please ?' * I'd see you damned
first, you old hag!' said I, *and then 1 wouldn't.'
* Don't be rash. Captain,' said she, * don't be rash. Let
me help you off.' * Stand out of the nay,' said I, * or
ril ride over vou !' and I plunged bo'^a spurs into the
horse, and I <fid try to knock her down, tnat's a fact,
but old Tarlton reared straight up an eend, and snorted
and leaped forward so short and sudden, I fell on the
broad of my back in the middle of the road, and off he
went as hard as his legs could carry him.

" The way she laughed, and jabbered, and yelled,
wa3 enough to wake the dead a'most, and she sat by
the wayside and mocked me. * Who'd a thought the
brave Captain Tygart would be afraid of a woman !'
she said ; ^ an old woman, too ? I hope you're not
hurt. Come to me, and I'll help you up. Why
didn't you hold on to the bridle ? They tell me you
were a trooper, a bold dragoon, a man that was naif
horse, half devil — but you are a lubberly fellow, at best,
a lout, a clown, a mere booby ;' and she advanced to-
wards me, and said, * Get up, sir, this minute.' * That
I will,' said I ; * and if I don't make food for crows of
you, you old hag, then say my name is not Watt
Tygart — that's all !' and up I got.

" But, boys — ^you'll hardly believe it— hang me, if
I didn't get up on all fours a tall, bony, black horse,

LIFE IN A COLONY.

441

and she put a bridle in my mouth, and jumped on my
back, and turned my head the other way, and cut aiid
lashed me with a long riding-whip, as savage as a
meat axe. When we got on the marsh, we were
joined by three other old women on black horses : I
won^t mention their names, but thib I will say, no
man on earth would have expected to see such re-
spectable old ladies playing such pranks in such
devilish company. Well, away we scampered, over
creeks, ditches, honey-pots, bogs, holes, and duck-
ponds, at an awful pace, the old witches laughing, and
swearing, and cursing awfully, and a-plying their
whips incessantly. I thought I should nave died for
want of wind, on account of the wound in my lungs ;
but, at last, we reached Fort Lawrence, and the old
women dismounted, and put us into the chaplain''s
0table, and lefl us until it was near day-dawn, when
back they came in great haste, jabbering and mutter-
ing in some unknown tongue, took us mto the yard,
jumped into their seats, and off like lightning the way
they came. At the place where we all met we all
separated again, and old Nell hurried me on, punishing
me every step with whip and spur most cruelly. At
last, she drew up at my gate and got off, and, taking the
bridle out of my mouth, and giving me a cut across
the hind quarters, said, *• Jump, sir !^ and I jumped
and cleared it, and fell down from exhaustion the other
side, and when I got up, I rose in my own shape and
dress — dod drot me, if I didn't ! and went to my own
house, and turned into bed, ashamed, mortified,
fetigued, and worried to death. I dare say you won''t
believe it, boys — ^but ifs a fact, I assure you — I hope
I may die if it ain''t ! — it is upon my soul ! true as
trainmg I My sides ached for a week, and were very
tender where I was spurred, and my mouth and tongu^
were very sore from the rusty old bit, and my heart it
was nearly broke to be saddled and made a beast of,
by that old she dragon, in such a shameful manner.
*^ The next time I was here, I walked home, with

44^

THE OLD JUDOE ;

OR,

a good stout stick in my hand, so as to be secured
against a fall, and to defend myself against her if I
could, and I positively made up my mind, if I caught
hold of the old screech-owl, to oeat her to death.
Well, just as I was returning, I met her again at the
self-same spot. ^Good eyening. Captain/ she said;
* so you are walking to-night? — ' What the devil is
that to youf I replied. * Nothing,' she said; *I
only wanted to borrow your horse, but you will
do yourself, I suppose, instead, though I must say
you are about the slowest and clumsiest beast 1
ever rode.' * Mother Edwards,' said I, * none of
your cussed nonsense now. Stand off, ' I beseech
you ; for if you dare to come within reach of me,
I'll murder you — I wiU, upon my soul ! and if I
have no power over you at night, seeing that you're
leagued with the Devil or some of his imps, 1 11 kill
you by day, as sure as there is a Heaven above
us !'— ^ Don't talk of Heaven, you villain !' she said,
nost provoking cool ; * you have neither lot nor
(artin it. But come, give me your hand, and prO'
mise to behave like a man, a neighbour, and a Chris-
tian, and relinquish your claim to Inky Dell, and I
will forgive you.'—* Avaunt, Satan !' said I, ' and
get behind me.' With that she uttered a fearftil yell,
and flew round as quick as wink, and jumped on my
back, and clung to me like a tiger, and my arms were
turned into legs, and myself into a black horse again,
in little less than half no time, and whack went the
whip, and dig iiamt the spur ; and off we dashed as
before, like a streak of lightning ; and the same old
women, mounted in the same way, joined us again,
and away we scampered over that everlasting long old
Tantramar marsh to the fort. As I arrived last I was
turned into the stable loose, without being put into a
stall, and got dreadfully kicked in the breast and legs,
by a wicked devil of a black mare, that laid me up tor
months ; and I was rode home, and leaped over the
gate as before, and, when I got my own shape, and

. LIFE IN A COLONY.

443

looked round for that wretched old miscreant, she was
clean gone out of sight. It was a dreadful ride that,
boys, you may depend ; and my tongue, being kept
out by the bits, got frostbitten, so it was actually too
biff for my mouth, and I had to keep snow on it all
vyinter to cure it. It feels so cold now even at the
thought of it, that I must have some more punch to
warm it. Come, fellows, fill your glasses ! Sand-
ford, you young rogue, stand up to your collar like a
man, and do your part — no heel taps, my fine fellows :
it ain't fair.

*' Well, boys, to make a long story short, the next
time I was here, and that was the last time I ever
darkened these doors, was in June, just three years
ago this month. I loaded a pair of pistols that hitch,
and put them into my pocket, and was determined to
have a crack at her, and, if that didn't do, to stay at
home always at night, when evil spirits are abroaa on
the face or the earth. Well, she met me again, as
usual, at the same spot. The very sight of her put
me into a cold sweat — dod drot me, if it didn't ! —

* You are late to-night, Captain,' said she, with a sort
of mock softness of voice and sweetness of manner.-—

* Better late than never,' said I ; and I up and fired
right into her face. ^ I thought you was a good shot,
Gaptain,' she said, coolly, ^ but your hand is out ; it's
some time now since you killed women and children,
and, besides, it's dark. Fire again, for you have
another pistol there — be cool now : take good aim, for
a murderer's arm is always unsteady.' '■ Take that,
you old hag,' said I, *• for your impudence !' and I fired
again right into her, and threw the pistol at her with
e& my might. * Missed it again, my bold dragoon,'
she said, laughing ready to kill herself. ^ Come, we
must be off, my pretty charger, for our time is short :'
then she waved her hand, and in a moment I was
wrapped in horse-hide the third time, and off we flew,
as before, only faster, for she was in a desperate hurry,
and thrashed me all the way, and called me a brute, a

444

THE OLD JUDGE , OR,

'H'' '^^''

cart-horse, a broken-winded beast, and anything she
could lay her tongue to.

" Well, we went through the same manoBUvre as on
the other two visits to the fort, but I was so out of
breath on my return, that, before I reached my gate,
I stumbled and fell, and, when I got up, there I was
in my own shape, and there was old Nelly with the
bridle in her hand. * Mrs. Edwards,' said I, ' I have
a favour to ask of you.' * What is it?' says she;
' anything I can do for you in the world I will do with
pleasure.' * Kill me on the spot,' says I, * but don'i
treat me like a beast.' ' Kill you, Watty dear !' she
said ; 'I wouldn't hurt a hair of your head for any-
thing under heaven. You are a brave man, and I
honour you — a handsome man, and I love you dear.
Kill you ! no, never.' * Then, give me my clothes,
madam, and let me go to my house.' ' Your clothes !'
says she ; ^ dear me ! I dropped them near the hay-
stack on Deacon Fulton's marsh. Come, I'll show you
where they are :' and she seized my hand and walked
back ; but, heavens and earth ! her walk was so ever-
lastingly fast, the utmost I could possibly do by run-
ning as hard as I could lay leg to the ground was to
keep up with her, it was actually worse than the horse-
gallop. When we came to creeks, and sloughs, and
miry places, she walked over them dry-footed, and I
nearly sank up to my middle, when she would drag me
out by the arm, till she nearly dragged that out, too.

" At last, we came to the Deacon s Honey pot, where
so many colts were smothered, and, as I had bo shoes
on, the bones of^the critters hurt my feet dreadfully.
When I got out of that, I looked about the nastiest
thing in all creation, covered over with red slime that
way, and she laughed like anything. ^Oome,' said
she, *' take a swim now across this creek, and wash
yourself; for on the other side is the haystack and
your clothes.' There was the stump of an old willow-
tree there, and I turned my back on her and sat down,
and rested my elbows on my knees, and buried my

LIFE IN A COLONY.

445

I she

as on
►ut of
gate,
I was
,h the
L have
she;
3 with
, don't
!' she
p any-
and I
L dear,
lothes,
[)thes!'
B hay-
)w you
ivalKed
ever-
ly run-
was to
horse-
is, and
, and I
rag me
t, too.
, where
shoes
•wiftilly.
nastiest
ne that
e," said
d wash
a,ck and
willow-
t down,
:ied my

head in my hands, devoured internally hy sorrow and
rage, and externally by black flies, musquitoes, and
ants, that had built a den in the dead log. My
heart bled, and my back bled, and my feet blea,
and I felt about the meanest of all living sinners.
* Captain Tygart,' said she, ' you are a brave man ; I
respect your courage and endurance f but I made her
no answer. * There is no back out in you.' I said
nothing, but I thought to myself, ' Oh, my stars ! I
wish to goodness I could back out of the old Witch's
clutches !' ' And you are a handsome man,' she con-
tinued; Hhe handsomest man in these parts. I really
admire and love you.' That word love made my very
blood curdle with disgust; it made me sick at the
f stomach — dod drot me, if it didn't ! * Will you marry
me, Watty V she asked. ' I'll see you d — d first,' I
said, 'and then i wouldn't !' ' Don't be rash, Watty,'
she said, coaxingly, and a-brushin^ the flies off my
back with some bulrushes ; ' don't he rash, dear. I
will be a fond and good wife to you, and I am not so
old as you think. I am a young woman. Press your
hand firmly on your eyes, and tell me what you see.'
Well, what I saw absolutely took away all my voice,
it astonished me so, and I didn't speak. ' What do
you seeT she said, again. *I see a beautiful girl,'
said I, * one of the most beautiful creatures I ever
beheld.' * Well, that's me, Wat*.y, dear; turn round,
and look at me— that's a love ;' and I turned round,
and sure enough there was old Nell put back in years
to twenty-four or twenty-five years pf age, as hand-
some and blooming as I suppose she might have been
at that time of life . Still I knew it was all witchcraft,
and I shuddered all over, and turned back again, and
put my hands to my face. * Will you many me now,
Watty dear ?' said she. ' I will give up sorcery, and
remain a young and loving bride. * Kill me,' said I,
* if you like— drown me in this Honeypot among
Deacon Fulton's colts — do what you like with me —
but I never will ally myself to the Powers of Dark-

446

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

ness. So no, there, now. Marry ! no, never ! I'll be
darned to darnation, if I do !' * DonH be rash, dear,^
she said again ; * you don't know what you are re-
fusing. I have untold gold.' * I don't care if you
have your weight of it twice over.' * Yes, but I have
fifty times that amount. I know where the pirates'
treasures are concealed — say but the word, and they
are yours. Press your hands on your eyes again, and
I wul show them to you. What do you see now T
* I see a large bay,' said I, * filled with islands ;' and
my heart jumped to my mouth the moment I beheld
it, for I knew it the first glimpse I got of it. It was
La Haive Bay, where we were at anchor three days in
a calm, on our way to Halifax ; but I didn't let on
that I know'd it. *■ Look again : do you see a light I
have put on one of those islands, to mark it for you V
' I do,' says I. * Well, what else do you seef Before
I answered her, I counted the islands right and left of
it, and took the bearings from the river, and the dis-
tance from the Cape all in my mind, so as to be sure
to know it again, and I do know it, boys — I do, upon
my soul ! 1 hope I may die, if I don't — fact, I
assure you, boys — true as Gospel ! ' Well, what do
you see f she said. ^ I see a cave,' said I, ^ and chests
of gold bars in it, and others filled with images, cruci-
fixes, censors, and long candlesticks of the same metal.'
*■ They are prizes from the Spanish main, dear,' said
she. ' What else do you see ? for that ain't half that's
there.' * Why, boxes of gold, coins of all sorts, and
frrest heaps of money piled up ; and trunks of jewels
of every size and variety.' ' Consent, and I will give
you all that, and another hoard on the mainland more
rich than that,' says she, ' Watty, and we will leave
this country and go where we ain't known, and live
rich and happy all the days of our life.'

" Well, i won't say I wam't tempted, because that
would be a lie which never yet disgraced Captain
Tygart's lips. A little loose talk I mead guilty to,
for soldiers are not parsons, aud.preacniug by general

LIFE IN A COLONY.

447

ril be
dear,"
ire re-
if you
I have
pirates'
id they
jn, and
) nowT
sf and
beheld
It was
days in
b let on
i light I
oryou r
Before
d left of
the dis-
I be sure
io, upon
-fact, I
what do
id chests
58, cruci-
le metal/
5ar,' said
alf that's
orts, and
of Jewels
will give
and more
will leave
and live

ause that
[ Captain
guilty to,
y general

orders is the duty of a chaplain : but a lie ! — I scorn it
as I do a nigger. I was tempted — thaf^s a fact. It
made my mouth water, so it actually choked me
almost, and made me drivel like an idiot ; but then I
thought what''s the use of all that wealth, after all, if
ill got. The pirates had to hide it, and leave it, and
it didn't save them from getting hanged ; and if I get
it by witchcraft, perhaps, it wouldn't make me happy
neither. It would be better to take it hereafter by
right of discovery. ' What do you say, Watty dear,
now 2 Will you marry me V ' No,' says I ; ' never !'
* Then take that,' said she, * you good-for-nothing,
stupid, heartless wretch !' fetching me a blow on the
side of the head, that knocked me down insensible on
the ground.

"When I awoke, it was broad ftiU day, the sun
was up a considerable piece, and actually blistered me
all over wb;^ 3 the insects had bit me. I was lame,
stiflf, sore, and faint ; and how in the world I was to
get home I couldn't tell for the soul of me. I couldn't
get back the way I came, for that was impossible, on
account of the miry ground; and to head all the
creeks, and go round all the Honey-pots, and leap all
the ditches, seemed past my strength; but it was
neck or nothing, and I tried it, and at last got off
the marsh, and reached Ned Dykin's place, and, seeing
the stable-door open, I thought Ned might be there
a-feeding of his cattle, and I went in to beg him to
lend me some clothes to make myself decent, and to
give me something to eat, for I was e'en a'most beat
out. The first person I saw, when I entered, was
Mrs. Dykins a-milking of her cows, and, as soon as
she got sight of me, she screamed, upset her bucket,
and off like a shot out of the other door, and I after
her, calling on her, for Heaven's sake, to stop and
speak to me ; but, the more I called, the more she
screamed; and away she flew to the house, and set
the dogs on me, and barred the door. The cussed
critters made at me so wicked, I was obliged to draw

* . 1

pi^; .30

«*S -^3

448

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

a stake from the fence, and stretch two of them out
before I could get away.

" Then off I goes to Jerusha Ohubbs. Well,
OhuUbs was away to the militia-training, and all the
men folk with him ; and, when I came to the door,
his daughter was stooping down at the woodpile, a
picking up chips in her apron; and, when she saw a
naked man coming up, she dropt the chips, and off
like a shot too, yelling like all possessed ; and old
Mother Chubbs, the she devil, got down the duck
gun, and swore she would shoot me, if I attempted to
come in, and I knew she would be as good as her
word, too, for she pinked more nor one of the rebels
that came plundering about her father''s house in the
war.

" It seemed to me as if all the world had turned
agin me, and I had a great mind to lie right down, and
cuss all creation and die ; and I believe 1 should, if it
hadn''t been that the thoughts of the pirates' treasures
kind of cheered me a little. While I was standing
doubting what to do, I spied a clothes-line hanging in
the yard, with ever so many things on it, so I went
there, to see if I could find anything to put on, but, as
ill luck would have it, they was all women's garments.
And there I was in another fix : at last I got despe-
rate, pulled off a red flannel petticoat of the old
woman's, and jumped into it, and then got a short bed-
gown, and squeezed into that, after a few rips, and
splits, and tears, in stretching it ; and off I went
home, where I scared even my own servants out of
their wits.

" I took to my bed, and kept it ever so long, for
^harne and vexation ; and at last I came to a resolu-
tion never to go out at night, when the Powers of
Darkness were let loose; and by day to carry the
Bible in one pocket, and the Prayer Book in the other,
for protection, seeing pistols were no good ; and there
I have been a prisoner ever since, till this day, when
the Devil flew away with the Witch of Inky Dell.

LIFE IN A COLONY.

449

Now, that's a fact, boys, I assure you — it is, upon my
soul ! I hope I may die if it ain't !

** You may talk, boys, about civilized warfare, such
as pitched battles, and sieges, and ambushes, and skir-
mishes, and cavalry charges, and hand to hand work,
but what is it, after all, fellows? — for I've been in
them all — why, just good schooling for a soldier, and
nothing more. And you may talk about Indian
warfare, (where a man wants all his wits about him, I
can tell you) and boast of tommyhawking, and scalp-
ing, and pistolling, and all that. And pretty hard
work it is, too, to have bullets flying about you every-
where, and you not see your enemy ; but what is it,
after all, but duelling at a hundred yards, with the
butt of a tree to .^over you ? It's cowardly work !
The weapon for a man, boys, is a bayonet, and then
it's a hurrah, a charge, and a squeak, and it's all over.

" If the British Government had taken my advice,
that cussed rebellion would have been ended in six
weeks. Says I to Sir Harry Clinton, ' Sir Harry,'
says I, ' hang every d — d rebel taken in arms, and the
game's ours m no time.' Says he, ' I'm afraid the
rebels will hang their prisoners in return.' — ' Serve
them right,' says I ; ' a — n them ! I hope they will.
Let them die fighting like men, and they will escape
hanging like dogs.' — ' It will exasperate the colonisi*,'
says he. — ' It exasperates them much more, your
Excellency,' says I, ' to see you pardon them villain*
that way. Sir Harry,' said I, ' mark my words — cou'
eiliation is the father , and clemency the mother ofr^el*
Uon^ and a d~-d 'pretty child it »», too ; haning all the
ignorance and meanness of ovts parent^ and the hypo-
crisy and cowardice of the others''

*' But that is neither here nor there, fellows. As I
was a-saying, talk of civilized warfare, or Indian war-
fare, or any warfare you please ; but the Lord preserve
me from Spiritual warfare ! Fact, I assure you, boys —
it is, upon my »oul ! I hope I may die if it ain't ! —
true as fate ! Fill your glasees, boys, then let's have

450

,^. 5

-m

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

another brew, and then hurrah for a song — ^the Major's
song:

The rebel flag^Vaved high in air.

Above the ragged crew,

Wheu Tarlton, &c."

As Captain Tvgart had promised, they certainly
made a night of it — such a night, indeed, as I never
saw before, and hope never to witness asain.

Poor Watt, the Tiger, is long since dead. He lost
his life in a vain attempt to raise the pirates'* treasure,
that the Witcli of Inky Dell disclosed to him in
La Halve Island. It was a very remarkable adven-
ture; and, some other evening, 1 will relate to you
how he came to his end, in endeavouring to under-
mine and blow up the Devil.

CHAPTER XXI.

COLONIAL GOVERNMENT.

When we rose from the breakfast-table yesterday, the
Judffe said, if you will have the goodness to accompany
me ir*o my study, I will give you an outline of the
Constitution of these Lower Provinces, which I have
drawn up for your information. There is no colonial
work professedly treating of the subject, and it is only
incidentally mentioned, or briefly referred to, in Eng-
lish law books. To render it as useful and intelligible
to yon as possible, I have given an abstract of it as it
existed until the year 1837, and then added an account
of the modifications it has subsequently undergone. I
have preferred this course to the usual mode of incor-
porating both into one, in order that you may clearly
comprehend the extent of those innovations, and form
an opinion as to the consequences that nil prohibly
result from such organic changes.

The Constitution of England, as it sto .d -t tL.> dis-
covery of America, had nothing in its iiature ^>roviding
for colonies. They have, therefore, at di'-tr' nt periods

LIFE IN A COLONY.

451

Major's

ertainly
I never

He lost
ireasure,
him in
3 adven-

to you
— unaer-

day, the
[jompany
e of the
ti I have

colonial
t is only

in Eng-
telligible
nt as it
1 account
^gone. I
of incor-
y clearly
and form
prob^l?lj

til > dis«

rovidin^

:t periods

of their growth, experienced very different treatment.
At first, they were considered lands without the limits
of the realm, and not annexed to it ; and, as the people
who settled these in partibus escteris were liege subjects,
the king assumed the right of property and government,
to the preclusion of the jurisdiction of the State.
He called them his foreign dominions, his possessions
abroad, not parts and parcels of the realm, and as not
yet annexed to the crown.

It was upon this principle that, in the year 1621,
when the Commons asserted their right to a jurisdic-
tion over them, by attempting to pass a Bill for esta-
blishing a free fishery on the coasts of Virginia, New
England, and Newfoundland, they were inarmed that
it was not fit for them to make laws for those countries,
which were not yet annexed to the crown, and that the
Bill was not proper for that House, as it concerned
America. Upon this assumption, the colonies were
settled by the king's licence, and the governments
established by royal charters ; while the people, emi-
grating to the provinces, considered themselves out of
the realm ; and in their executive and legislative ca-
pacities, in immediate connexion with the king as their
only sovereign lord. These novel possessions requiring
some form of government, the selection became ex-
ceedingly difficult.

At last, an analogv was supposed to exist between
the colonies and the Duchy of Normandy, and a some-
what similar constitution ^ was adopted as had been

* It is, however, observable that, although it was evidently
the intention of the mother country to grant the power of elec-
tion to the people of the colonies, so soon as they shouU be in
ft situation to receive a representative form of government, yet
the people assumed the right themselves, as appears by the
following extract from *• Hutchinson,'* vol. i, p. 94 . — " Vir-
ginia had been many years distracted under the government of
President, and Governors with Councils, in whose nomination
or removal the people had no voice, until, in the year 1620, a
House 4>f Burgesses broke out in the colony; the king nor

452

THB OLD JUDGE ; OR,

'• iK

used for the island of Jersey. The king having as-
sumed a right to govern the colonies without the in-
tervention of Parliament, so the two Houses of Lords
and Commons exerted the same power without his con-
currence. They appointed the Earl of Warwick Gto-
vernor-in-Chief of all the Plantations of America;
created a committee for their regulation, and passed
several laws concerning them.

Upon the restoration of monarchy, the constitution
of the colonies received a great change. Parliament
asserted, that all his Majesty'*s foreign dominions were
part of the realm ; and then, for the first time in their
proper capacity, interposed in their regulation and go-
vernment. From that period, sundry laws have heen
passed regulating their commerce, and having, in other
respects, a direct operation on them. The boundary
of jurisdiction between imperial and local Parliaments
had been settled by the mutual consent, or rather acqui-
escence, of both bodies, on the broad basis of constitu-

the grand council at home not having given any powers or
directions for it. The Grovemor and Assistants of the Massa*
chusetts at first intended to rule the people, but this lasted two
or three years only ; and, although there is no colour for it in
the charter, yet a House of Deputies appeared suddenly in
1634, to the surprise of the magistrates, and the disappointment
of their schemes of power. Connecticut soon after followed
the plan of Massachusetts. New Haven, although the people
had the highest reverence for their leaders, yet on matters of
l^islation the people, from the beginning, would have their
share by their representative. New Hampshire combined to-
gether under the same form with Massachusetts. Barbadoes,
or the Leeward, began in 1625, struggled under Governors, and
Councils, and contending Proprietors, twenty years. At length,
in 1645, an Assembly was called, and the reason given was
that, by the grant of the Earl of Carlisle, the inhabitants were
to have all the liberties, privileges, and franchises of English
subjects. After the Restoration, there is no instance on the
American continent of a colony settled without a representation
of the people, nor any attempt to deprive the colonies of this
privil^e, except in the arbitrary reign of James the Second."

LIFE IN A COLONY.

453

>owen or

tional liberty and common sense ; the supremacy of the
former having been acknowledged, in all external, and
of the latter, m all internal a^irs. Collision was thus
effectually avoided; and each body wisely confined
itself to those matters in which it was not only most in-
terested, but the best informed, and most competent
to decide. The unalterable right of property, however,
had been guaranteed to colonists, by the act renouncing
the claim of taxation, the 18th of George III., by
which it was declared ^^ that the King anaParliament
of Great Britain will not impose any duty, tax, or
assessment, whether payable in any of his Majesty^s
Colonies, Provinces, or Plantations, in North America
or the West Indies, except such duties as it may be
expedient to impose for the regulation of commerce ;
the net produce of such duties to be always paid and
applied to, and for the use of the Colony, Province, or
Plantation, in which the same shall be respectively
levied, in such manner as other duties, collected by
the authority of the respective General Courts or Ge-
neral Assemblies of such Colonies, Provinces, or Plan-
tations, are ordinarily paid and applied."*^

The rights of the Crown again, which were perfectly
compatible with the legislative supremacy of the Pro-
vincial Assembly, were duly guarded and secured, by
the negative of the Governor ; by his standing in-
structions not to give his assent to any law of a doubt-
ful nature without a clause suspending its operation,
until his Majesty's pleasure should be known ; and by
the power assumed and exercised, of disagreeing to any
law within three years after it had passed the Colonial
Legislature. There was originally much variety in
the constitutions of the several American Provinces,
arising out of the unlimited power of the King to grant
them upon such terms and conditions as he thought
proper; but, at the close of the Rebellion, in 1784,
they were in general reduced to three classes.

1st, Proprietory Governments^ granted by the Crown
to individuals, in the nature of Feudatory Principa-

454

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

( >

lilies, with all the inferior regalities and feudatory
Tiwwers of legislation, which formerly belonged to
Counties Palatine, on condition that the object for
which the grant had been made should be substantially
pursued, and nothing should be attempted in dero-
gation of the authority of the King of England. Of
this kind were Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Caro-
lina.

2nd, Charter Governments^ in the nature of civil
corporations, with the power of making by-laws, for
their own internal regulations, and with such rights
and authorities as were especially given to them in
their several acts of incorporations. The only Charter
Governments that remained at the commencement of
the Civil War, were the Colonies of Massachusetts^
Bay, Rhode Island, Providence, and Connecticut.

3rd, Provincial Governments^ the constitutions of
which depended on the respective commissions issued
by the Crown to the Governors, and the instructions
which accompanied them.

Under this authority. Provincial Assemblies had been
constituted, with the power of making local ordinances
not repugnant to the laws of England. For some
time previously to the Revolution in America, the
popular leaders affected to call the Provincial Esta-
tlishments, or King's Governments on the Continent,
Colonies instead of Provinces, from an opinion they
had conceived that the word Province implied a con-
quered country. But, whatever distinction there might
once have been between the terms Province, Colony,
and Plantation, there seemed now to be none whatever,
and ih <v were indiooriminately used in several Acts of
Pan t. A Provincial Government was immedi-

ately idant upon the Crown ; and the Kin? re-

main >vereign of the country. He appointed the

Governor and Officers of State, and the people elected
the Representatives, as in England. The Judicial
establishments were .similar to those of the mother
country, and their Legislatures consisted of a Governor,

LIFE IN A COLONY.

4^5

Budatory
nged to
bject for
tantially
in dero-
md. Of
id Caro-

of civil
aws, for
ih rights
them in
' Charter
ement of
ichusetta**
bicut.
iitions of
IS issued
itructions

I had been
rdinances
?or some
erica, the
;ial Esta-
'ontinent,
lion they
,ed a con-
ere might
J, Colony,
whatever,
il Acts of
s immedi-

Kinff re-
)intea the
)le elected

Judicial
e mother
Governor,

represc mg the Crown, a Council, or ITpor^ Hi use,
and a ^s, mbly chosen by and repri :8ntittg the
people ' o.

The tuiiowiug is a short account of the powers and
privileges exercised in Nova Scotia by these several
tranches, previously to the year 1 837.

Governor,

The Provinces of British North America were in
general comprised in one command, and the Captain-
General, Governor, and Commander-in-chief resided
in Canada. The Governors of the several provinces
were styled Lieutenant-Governors, and had the title of
Excellency, in consequence of being the King's imme-
diate representatives. The Governor of Nova Scotia
had the rank of Lieutenant-General, and was styled
Lieutenant-Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and
over hisMajesty''s Province of Nova Scotia and its de-
pendencies. Chancellor and Vice- Admiral of the same.
He was invested with the following powers : —

1. As Commander-in-Chief, he had the actual com-
mand of all the Militia, and, if a senior, military officer
of all the army within his Government, and he com-
missioned all officers of the Militia. He appointed the
Judges of all the different Courts of Common Law,
and nominated and superseded, at will, the Justices of
the Peace, and other subordinate civil officers. With
the advice of his Council, he had authority to summon
General Assemblies, which he might, from time to time,
prorogue and dissolve, as he alone should judge needful.
All such civil employments as the Crown did not
dispose of were part of his patronage, and, whenever
vacancies happened in such offices as were usually filled
up by the British Government, the Governor appointed
pro tempore^ and the persons so appointed were entitled
to the emoluments till those who were nominated to
supersede them arrived in the colony. He had, like-
wise, authority, when he should judge any offender in
criminal matters a fit object of mercy, to extend the

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456

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

Kinff''s pardon towards him, except in cases of murder
and nigh treason, and even in those instances, he was

g emitted to reprieve until the signification of the
oyalpleasnre.

2. The Governor had the custody of the Great Seal,
presided in the High Court of Chancery, and in general
exercised within his jurisdiction the same extensive
powers as were possessed by the Lord High Chancellor
of Great Britam, with the exception of those taken
away by particular statutes.

3. He nad the power by law of granting probate of
wills and administration of the effects of persons
dyins intestate, and, by statute, granted licences for
marnages.

4. He presided in the Court of Error, of which he
and the Council were Judges, to hear and determine all
appeals in the nature of writs of error from the Superior
Courts of Common Law.

6. The Governor was also Vice- Admiral within his
Government, althpugh he could not, as such, issue his
warrant to the Judge of the Court of Vice- Admiralty
to grant commissions to privateers.

6. He had an annual provision settled upon him, for
the whole term of his administration in the colony ;
and, that he might not be tempted to diminish the
dignity of his station by improper condescensions to .
leading menin the Assemoly, he was in general restrained
by his instructions from accepting any salary, unless
the same should be settled upon him bylaw within the
space of one year after his entrance into the Govern-
ment, and expressly made irrevocable during the whole
term of his residence in the administration, which
appeared to be a wise and necessary restriction.

A Governor, on his arrival in the Province, agree-
ably to the directions of his commission and his in-
structions in the first place, caused his commission as
Governor and Commander-in-Chief and also of Vice-
Admiral to be read and published at the first meetin?
of the Council, and also in such other manner as had

LIFE IN A COLONY.

467

been usually observed on such occasions. In the next
place, he took the customary oaths of office, and ad-
ministered the same to each member of the Council.
Every Governor, together with his commission, received
a large bod^ of instructions for his guidance in the dis-
charge of his various duties. In the event of his death,
the senior military officer took the command of the
colony until an appointment was made by his Majesty,
and was required to take the same oaths, and make the
same declaration as a Governor. Such were the powers
and duties of a Governor ; and the mode of redress for
the violation of these duties, or any injuries committed
bv him upon the people, was prescribed with equal care.
The party complaining had his choice of three modes —
1st, by application to Parliament ; 2nd, by complaint
to the Pnvy Council j 3rd, by action in the King's
Bench.

By statute 11th and 12th William III., cap. 12,
confirmed and extended by 42nd George III., cap. 85,
all offences committed by governors of plantations, or
any other persons in t}ie execution of their offices in
any public service abroad, might be prosecuted in the
Court of King'*s Bench in England. The indictment
was to be laid in Middlesex, and the offenders were
punishable as if they had been committed in England.
The Court of King'^s Bench was empowered to award
a mandamus to any Court of Judicature, or to the Go-
vernor of the Colony where the offence was committed,
to obtain proof of the matter alleged, and the evidence
was to be transmitted back to that Court, and admitted
upon the trial.

The Council.

The Council consisted of twelve members, who v; re
appointed either by being named in the Govemor^s
instructions, by mandamus, or by the Governor. Their
privileges, powers, and office, were as follows : —

1. They were severally styled Honourable, and took
precedence next to the Commander-in-Chief.

458

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

2. They were a Council of State, the Governor or
Commander-in-Chief presiding in person, to whom
they stood in the same relation as the Privy Council
in &! eat Britain does to the Sovereign.

3. They were named in every commission of the peace
as Justices throughout the Province.

4. They sat together with the Governor as Judges
in the Court of Error or Court of Appeal in civil causes,
from the Courts of Record, and constituted also a Court
of Marriage and Divorce.

5. The Council was a constituent part of the Legisla-
ture, as their consent was necessary to the enacting of
laws. In this capacity of Legislators, they sat as the
Upper House, distinct from the Governor, and entered
protests on their journals, after the manner of the
House of Peers, and were attended by their chaplain,
clerk, &jc.

House of Assembly,

The Assembly resembled the Lower House of Par-
liament in its fo) " *on, mode of procedure, and power,
within its jursvl jn, as far as the different circum-
stances of the country permitted. The freeholders were
assembled in the several counties and towns entitled
to representation by the King''s writ, and their suffrages
taken by the Sheriff. The members thus elected were
required by the Governor to meet at Halifax, the
capital of the Province, at a certain day, when the
usual oaths being administered, and a Speaker chosen
and approved, the session was opened by a speech from
the person administering the Government, in imitation
of that usually delivered from the throne, in which,
after adverting to the general state of the Province, he
called their attention to such local subjects as seemed
to require their immediate consideration.

The qualifications for a vote or representation, were
either a yearly income of forty shillings, derived from
real estate within the particular county or town, for
which the election was held, or a title in fee-simple of a

LIFE IN A COLONY.

459

lor or
whom
ouuoil

peace

udgeB
auses,
Court

egisla-
bing of
as the
ntered
of the
aplain,

f Par-
power,
sircum-
•s were
ntitled
iffrages
jdwere
bx, the
en the
chosen
shfrom
litation
which,
nee, he
seemed

, were
)d from
wn, for
pie of a

dwelling-house, or one hundred acres of land, five of
which must be under cultivation. It was requisite that
the title be registered six months before the test of the
writ, unless it were by descant or devise.

The Assembly continued for the term of seven (now
four years) from the return day of the writs, subject
nevertheless to be dissolved in the mean time by the
Governor, who had the power of proroguing the Legis-
lature, and appointing the time and place of its session,
with this constitutional injunction, that they should be
called together once at least every year.

Changes which have taken place since 1837.

An address to the Crown from the House of Assem-
bly in the year 1837, complaining of the constitution
of the then existing council, of its irresponsibility to
the people, of the manner in which its Legislative
proceed mgs were conducted, and of practical evils sup-
posed to result from these causes, was soon afterwards
Sallowed by its disorganization and reconstruction,
and by the separation of its executive from its legisla-
tive functions, which were assigned respectively to dif-
ferent bodies, designated as " The Executive Council,"
and " The Legislative Council." The Chief Justice
and Judges of the superior courts were excluded from
seats in either of the new Councils, and certain instruc-
tions were given to the Lieutenant-Governor, indicating
the principles that were to govern him in provisions
nommations of individuals to seats in the newly con-
stituted bodies, and suggesting, particularly, the neces-
sity of a representatation, as* lar as might be prac-
ticable, of all the leading classes and interests, espe-
cially of those connected with the agricultural districts,
as also the avoidance of a preponderance of any reli«
giouis persuasions.

An organic change was thus made in the constitu-
tion of the province ; and although the principle con-
tended for by the Assembly that it ought to exereiae a
control over the officers of Government and the Executive
Council, analogous to that which the House of Commons

460

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

possessed over the Ministers of State^ was, at first,
sternly denied, the claim was reiterated in subsequent
sessions, experiencing a gradually decreasing opposi-
tion, until, at a very recent period, it seems to nave
been conceded, to a greater extent perhaps, than was
anticipated by those with whom it originated.

The tenure of Colonial Offices, which, under the
old system, was nominally during the pleasure of the
Crown, but, practically, during the good behaviour
of the incumbent, was, as respects most of the higher
offices, except judicial and ministerial ones, declared,
by the despatch of a Colonial Minister, not to be equi-
valent to a tenure during good conduct, but to involve
the necessity of retirement whenever a change in the
person of the Governor, or expediency suggested by
motives of public policy, should be thought to require
it. The newly-constituted Executive and Legislative
Councils were, in some measure, recast from the mate-
rials which composed the old council, and some of
those, who had been members of the latter, were
retained with seats in both of the former ; others,
whom it was deemed expedient to reappoint, retiring,
by desire of the Crown, but with the rank attached to
the station which they had relinquished.

Soon ader the reconstruction of these bodies, the
principle, if not formally announced, was at least
generally understood to be that^ with the single excep-
tion of the late Provincial Secretary^ who retained a
seat in the new Executive Council without being a mem-
ber 0/ either of the Houses of Legislation^ a seat in one
or the other of the latter was to be an indispensable
condition to the privilege of sitting in the former ^ though
a community of sentiment on questions of public policy
was not deemed necessary. The retirement, how-
ever, from the Council Board of some of its members,
during the akiministration of Lord Falkland, immedi-
ately after a general election, induced a struggle in
the House of Assembly, between those who had retired
and their Parliamentary supporters, on the one hand,

LIFE IN A COLONY,

461

and those who adhered to the Governor, with their
upholders in the House, on the other. As the con*
stituencv, after the termination of that Parliament,
returnea a majority favourable to the opposition, a
practical result was, the relinquishment of all the seats
in the Executive Council to the majority in the new
House, and the transfer of the Crown offices, together
with the removal from office of the Provincial

jecrje-

tary, upon his resignation of his seat as an Executive
Councillor.

An attempt made by the present Lieutenant-
Governor, soon after he assumed the government, to
effect an arrangement between the leaders of the two
contending parties, with a view to the formation of a
'Council that would give the country the benefit of the
ability that both could furnish, was unsuccessful, but
the failure was thought to render necessary an appeal
to Downing Street, whence a despatch soon afterwards
emanated of sufficient importance to exercise a consi-
derable influence upon the future destinies of the
colony.

It recommended that in Nova Scotia, as in England,
tenure of office during good behaviour, in the ordinarily
received meaning of the phrase, should practically be,
thenceforth, the general rule of the public service,
whilst the exertion should consist of the case of a
limited ntmber of the higher public servants who might
be supposed to influence and direct the policy of the
Government, the tenure of place by whom should
depend upon their commanding a parliamentary ma-
jonty, and upon their holding seats in either one or
other branch of the Legislature. Seats in the Execu-
tive Council were also invested with a political cha-
racter, which was to be imparted to any other office
that might be held concurrently therewith.

Subject to these modifications, and with certain
guards and restrictions which the despatch particularly
mentioned, the Colonial Secretary instructed the
Lieutenant-Governor that no obstacle existed^ in his

X 3

462

THE OLD JUDGE ; OR,

opinion, in thepeeuliar eircumstancn of Nova Scotia,
ta the immediate application to it of the system of Par •
liamentary Government that prevailed in England,

Lord Durham's Commission,

The Legislative Council, which previously consisted
of twelve members, was increased to fifteen, and the
number of the Executive (to which all judicial autho-
rity was transferred) was limited to nine, but subse-
quent despatches have authorized the increase of the
latter, under special circumstances, and the former was
composed of twenty at the close of the last session.

Whether the departmental system of Canada should
be introduced into this country has been twice keenly
contested between the Conservatives, and the different
parties who at present act together under the name of
*' Great Liberals," and has been alternately rejected
and adopted. The Colonial Secretary, actuated by the
same kindly feeling that has always influenced his
predecessors, and entertaining the same sanguine hope
of the effect of concession, has, to a great extent, de-
cided the question in the affirmative.

What tne position of the Governor, in relation to
his Sovereign, nis Council, and the local Legislature is,
has been tolerably well settled in theory, by the assem-
bly having formally adopted Lord Metcalfs explana-
nation of it ; * but what it is practically, will always bo
a matter of great doubt, a^ much will depend on the
ability, integrity, and firmness of the man, and not a

^ And whereas his Excellency, Sir Charles Metcalf, has thus
explained, in an answer to an address from Gore, in Canada, his
views of Besponsible Government —

" With reference to your views of Responsible Government,
I cannot tell you how &r I concur in them, without knowi^
your meaning, which is not distinctly stated.

** If you mean that the Governor is to have no exercise of his
own judgment in the administration of the government, and is
to be a mere tool in the hands of the Council, then I totally
disagree with you. That is a condition to which I can never

LIFE IN A COLOWY.

463

Scotia^
fPar-
id.

insisted
knd the
autho-
subse-
) of the
ner was
ion.

k should
I keenly
lifferent
name of
rejected
i by the
iced his
ne hope
ent, de-

ation to
[iture is,
3 assem-
)xplana-
ways bo
I on the
id not a

has thus
inada, his

'eminent,
knowi^

Eiseof his

nt, and is

I totally

lean never

little on circumstances. That he will be occasionally
embarrassed there can be no doubt, for an imperium in
imperio is a difficult and complicated thing ; but it will

submit, and which her Majesty's Government, in my opinion,
never can sanction.

" If you mean that every word and deed of the Governor is
to be previously submitted for the advice of the Council, then
you propose what, besides being unnecessary and useless, is
utterly impossible, consistently with the due despatch of
business.

" If you mean that the patronage of the Crown is to be sur<
rendered for exclusive party purposes to the Council, instead of
being distributed to reward merit, to meet just claims, and to
promote the efficiency of the public service, then we are again
at issue . Such a surrender of the prerogative of the Crown is, in
my opinion, incompatible with the existence of a British colony.

" If you mean that the Governor is an irresponsible officer,
who can, without responsibility, adopt the advice of the Council,
then you are, I conceive, entr 'y in error. The undisputed
l\inctions of the Governor are sue i, that he is not only one of
the hardest worked servants of the colony, but also has more
responsibilities than any other in it. He is responsible to the
Crown and Parliament, and the people of the Mother Country,
for every act that he performs or suffers to be done, whether it
originates with himself, or is adopted on the advice of others.
He could not divest himself of that responsibility by pleading
the advice of the Council. He is also virtually responsible to
the people of the colony, and practically niore so than ever to
the Mother Country : every day proves it, and no resolutions
can make it otherwise.

** But if, instead of meaning any of the above-stated impos-
sibilities, you mean thaf the Government should be adminis-
tered according to the well-understood wishes and interests of the
people, that the resolutions of September 1841 should be faith-
fully adhered to, that it should be competent to the Council to
offer advice on all occasions, whether as to patronage or other-
wise, and that the Governor should receive it with the attention
due to his constitutional advisers, and consult with them on all
cases of adequate importance that there should be a cordial co-
operation and sympathy between him and them, and that the
Council should be responsible to the Provincial Parliament and

464

THE OLD JUDOE ; OR,

doubtless be a great gratification to the Parent State
to find that, whatever little dissensions may hereafter
arise, they can never be as in bygone days between the
local branches of the Legislature, but between those
bodies and herself; and wnat difficulties are there that
concession will net remove ? Other and minor altera-
tions were also made, the details of which it is not
necessary to trouble you with.

In this manner was introduced what is called ** Re-
sponsible Government,^ a term which those who first
used it have been most careful not to define. Alarmed
at the consequences to which it might possibly lead, if
fully carried out, or uncertain as to its practical effect,
they have left it to its own operation, in the hope that
experience might improve, or vigilance regulate, its
motion. Colonists, who are the subjects of tne experi-
ment, are not agreed among themselves as to its im-
port ; some supposing that it means the transfer of the
whole power of the Governor, who is virtually super-
people ; and that when the acts of the Goveraor are such as
they do not choose to be responsible for, they should be at
liberty to resign, then, I entirely agree with you, and see [no
impracticability in carrying on Responsible Government in a
colony on that footing, provided that the respective parties
engaged in the undertaking be guided by moderation, honest
purpose, common sense, and equitable minds, devoid of party
spirit.

" Therefore, resolved. That this House recognise in the above
documents the true principles of Colonial Government, as appli-
cable to this province."

This Resolution, of whichtheabove*i8an extract, is one of the
most extraordinary papers ever entered upon the journals of a
legislative body. It consists of the adoption, verbatim, of four
resolutions of the Canadian Legislature, of long extracts from
newspaper reports of the qieeches of two of the members of
their own body, and the answer of the late Lord Metcalf to an
address that had been presented to him by the people of the
Gore district, without one word of their own on the subject. It
may be found on the 67th page of the Journals of the Assembly
for 1844.

; State
reafter
en the
those
re that
altera-
is not

["Re-

10 first
larmed
lead, if
i effect,
pe that
lie, its
ex peri-
its im-
r of the
' super-
such as
Id be at
1 see [no
mt in a
parties
I, honest
rf party

le above
u appli-

se of the
lals of a
t of four
Bts from
nbers of
alftoan
e of the
ect. It
ssembly

LIFE IN A COLONY.

465

seded to his Council ; others, that it is the substitution
of party for moral responsibility, while not a few take
the most extreme views, considering it, on the one .
hand, as a panacea for every evil, and, on the other, as
fraught witn destruction to all that is ^good, and loyal,
and respectable in the country. If properly con-
trolled, limited, and directed by the authorities at
home, it is to be hoped it may be rendered, if not
beneficial, at least innocuous, allaying the fears of the
well affected, and disappointing the hopes of those
who, having nothing to lose, are always the advocates
of change. By comparing these modifications of the
machinery of the Executive and Legislative bodies
with their condition in 1837, and carefully perusing
the resolution of the Assembly expressing their view of
administration, and the despatclies of the Colonial
Minister, to which I have reference, you will, I hope,
be able to understand what the constitution of this
colony was, what it is now, and how, when, and by
whom these changes were effected.

Upon the questions which have agitated the public
mind so greatly, namely, whether the Colonial Minis-
ter could legally make those organic changes without
the sanction of the local or imperial Padiament,
whether they are conducive to the happiness of the
people, and suited to their condition, or compatible
witn colonial dependance, and others of a like nature,
I abstain from making any comment. My object is
to give those facts, but not to argue on them. I only
hope I have rendered myself intelligible ; but the
truth is, I take no interest in our little provincial
politics, and therefore am not so much at home on the
subject of these constitutional changes as Barclay is,
who is in the way of hearing More about them.

THE END.