IRLF 
 
 Elfl 
 
KONINGSMARKE, 
 
 OR, 
 
 OLD TIMES IN THE NEW WORLD 
 
 "This affair being taken into consideration, it was adjudged 
 that Koningsmarke, commonly called the Long Finne, deserved 
 to die; yet, in regard that many concerned in the affair being 
 simple and ignorant people, it was thought fit to order that the 
 Long Finne should be severely *********." 
 
 Fragment of Minutes of Council in New- York. 
 
 NEW EDITION REVISED AND CORRECTED, 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. II. 
 
 NEW-YORK : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, 
 82 CLIFF-STREET. 
 
 1835, 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1835, 
 
 By HARPER & BROTHERS, 
 In the .Clerk s Office of the Southern District of New-YorK 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 BOOK FIFTH.- 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Then straight they seiz d their tomahawks, and fast (not very 
 They on their cruel business all silently did go, [slow) 
 
 Until they came to where the gentle stream did flow ; 
 And then with blood did quickly run the river Ohio." 
 
 Western Boatman s Balla4- 
 
 THE war party, accompanied by Koningsmarke, 
 and the new chief, the Jumping Sturgeon, dressed 
 in the manner before described, proceeded with 
 great celerity on its march towards the Ohio. The 
 savages never encumber themselves with baggage, 
 and generally fight in a breech-cloth, leggins and 
 moccasins. Although there is no punishment but 
 that of disgrace among them, they act in concert 
 on their war expeditions, and obey the orders of 
 the chief warrior with cheerfulness and punctuality. 
 The officers lay the plan of attack, and conduct 
 the operations until the battle commences, when 
 every man fights for himself, as if the victory de 
 pended on him alone. The order to advance or 
 retreat is generally given with a yell or a shout, 
 which is readily understood and obeyed. No 
 
 9S9819 
 
. - ^ ^ ^ X * * 
 
 I ** \ 
 
 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 corporeal punishment was permitted or practised 
 among these tribes, either in peace or war, except 
 in retaliation for similar outrages ; and such was 
 their abhorrence of stripes, that they never even 
 chastised their children. On one occasion, a chief 
 beat his son, a boy of about ten years old, during 
 the absence of its mother, who, on her return, was 
 so indignant at the outrage, that she took the boy 
 with her, and departed, like another Hagar, to the 
 wilderness. Her husband traced her to a distant 
 tribe, and, being unable to persuade her to return, 
 remained with her, and never joined his friends 
 afterward. The only punishment inflicted on 
 children, is that of ducking, which accounts for a 
 saying among them, that their pappooses are always 
 better in winter than in summer, as they do not mind 
 a ducking in warm weather. 
 
 The party proceeded with that silence and 
 celerity, so characteristic of the red men of the 
 western hemisphere, until they arrived within about 
 half a day s journey of the village inhabited by their 
 enemies. Each man was then forbidden either to 
 make a noise, or fire a gun, and they remained 
 lying on the ground, in the thick woods, until dark, 
 when they commenced their march, with even 
 greater caution and swiftness than before. Their 
 object was to effect a complete surprise, by ap 
 proaching the village without even alarming the 
 dogs, those watchful guardians of the night. About 
 two hours before day they arrived at the little town. 
 

 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 There was not a fire burning, and every soul in it 
 seemed fast asleep. Not a sound was heard, ex 
 cept the owl and the wolf, the former screaming, 
 the latter howling his dismal notes at a distance. 
 All at once, and just before the Muskrats and Mud 
 Turtles had made their final dispositions for the 
 onset, a deep-mouthed hound yelled forth the signal 
 of alarm, which was answered by a hundred others 
 in an instant. 
 
 At the sound of this well-known signal, the sleep 
 ing warriors of the village started up, and, seizing 
 their arms, rushed out, while the assailants as sud 
 denly came upon them. The village fronted close 
 on the river s bank, which consisted of two steps, 
 or terraces, rising one above the other, the upper 
 most receding fifteen or twenty paces in the rear 
 of the other. These are generally denominated, 
 at the present time, the first and second banks of 
 the rivers of the west. Below ran the Ohio, with 
 a deep and somewhat rapid current. 
 
 An Indian battle is like one of Homer s, and 
 consists, for the most part, in a series of personal 
 contests. Each one singles out his adversary, and 
 personal strength and prowess carry the day. 
 Dire was the yelling and shouting which suc 
 ceeded the alarm in the village. The warriors of 
 the Ohio, though taken by surprise, fought manfully, 
 and the various feats of arms performed that morn 
 ing, might throw into the shade the splendid acts 
 of tilt and tourney. Among those who most dis- 
 
 VOL. II B 2 
 
b KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 tinguished themselves on this occasion, was the 
 Jumping Sturgeon, who, making a virtue of neces 
 sity, and not daring to run away, fought right 
 valiantly, from pure instinct, to save his life. 
 
 He was singled out by a tall Indian, just about 
 daylight, who, watching the moment when he had 
 discharged his gun, and before he could load again, 
 quickly advanced upon him with his lifted toma 
 hawk. The Sturgeon clubbed his musket, and 
 both slowly approached, cautiously eyeing each 
 other. At length the tall chief let fly his toma 
 hawk, which his adversary watching, presented his 
 buffalo cap with such surprising judgment, that the 
 weapon was received upon one of the horns, and 
 fell innocuous to the ground, doing the Sturgeon 
 no other damage than that of setting his head to 
 ringing bob-majors. Taking advantage, however, 
 of the temporary confusion created by this said 
 ringing, the tall chief suddenly rushed upon the 
 ci-devant high constable of Elsingburgh, before he 
 could make a blow with his musket, and a mortal 
 contest of skill and strength took place. They fell, 
 the tall Indian uppermost. In this situation the 
 Indian began to yell horribly, and to feel for his 
 knife ; but, luckily for the Jumping Sturgeon, his 
 adversary wore, by way of ornament, that day, a 
 woman s apron, which he had bought from a French 
 trader, and, in the hurry of surprise, tied on over 
 his knife. This prevented his getting it out as 
 quickly as he otherwise would have done, and 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 7 
 
 enabled Lob Dotterel, alias the Jumping Sturgeon, 
 to get one of his thumbs into his mouth. This not 
 only disabled one of the Indian s hands, but embar 
 rassed the operation of the other, by the pain it 
 occasioned. At length the Indian got hold of the 
 blade of his knife, just below the haft, at the mo 
 ment the other found an opportunity to seize the 
 handle, chewing the Indian s thumb all the while 
 with great vigour. As the Indian pulled the knife 
 out of the scabbard, Lob gave his thumb a terrible 
 screw between his teeth, and, at the same moment, 
 jerked the knife through his hand, cutting the fingers 
 to the bone. This disconcerted the Indian, so that 
 he relaxed his hold, and, by a sudden effort, the 
 other threw him off and jumped on his feet, just as 
 the Indian did the same. The valiant Sturgeon, 
 however, continued to hold fast the Indian s thumb 
 between his grinders with singular tenacity, and 
 thus maintained a decided advantage over his an 
 tagonist, to whose ribs he was at length enabled to 
 apply the knife he had wrested from him. The 
 moment he felt the application, although it was 
 arrested by the said ribs, the Indian gave a yell, 
 and, with a violent start, drew part of his thumb 
 from betwixt the high constable s grinders, a por 
 tion of it remaining behind, and retreated with 
 great precipitation, leaving his adversary master 
 of the field. 
 
 In the meantime the battle raged with great fury 
 in the village, and along the river s bank. The 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 Long Finne having, in the confusion of the fight, 
 followed a stout chief to the edge of the first 
 bank, the latter suddenly turned about, seized, and 
 drew him down on the beach, just at the edge of 
 the water, where was hid an Indian boy, of about 
 fourteen or fifteen years of age. The Long Finne 
 fell uppermost, but during the struggle to keep him 
 down, the warrior said something to the Indian lad, 
 who ran up the bank like a deer, and almost in 
 stantly returned with a tomahawk. On perceiving 
 his approach, the large Indian put his arms about 
 Koningsmarke, and held him fast with all his 
 strength, while the other approached with his lifted 
 tomahawk. Thus pinioned, the youth had no other 
 resource but to watch the blow of the Indian lad, 
 which he opportunely arrested by a kick, that 
 knocked it from his grasp to some distance. At 
 this, the large Indian uttered an exclamation of 
 contempt for the lad, who immediately ran and 
 picked up the tomahawk, with which he again ap 
 proached, but with great caution, making various 
 evolutions and pretended blows to deceive Kon 
 ingsmarke, till he got an opportunity to give the 
 fatal one. Such, however, was the vigilance and 
 activity of Koningsmarke, that he escaped this time, 
 with a wound in his arm, that failed in disabling 
 him. Perceiving the lad was returning again to 
 repeat the blow, and being conscious that this mode 
 of warfare must result entirely to his disadvantage, 
 he made a sudden, violent, and unexpected effort, 
 
KONINGSMARKE. SJ 
 
 escaped from the embrace of the large Indian, 
 gained his feet, seized his musket, which he had 
 dropped in falling down the bank, and shot the 
 Indian boy through the heart, as he ran up a third 
 time with his tomahawk. 
 
 The large Indian was now on his feet also, and, 
 suddenly seizing Koningsmarke by the leg, pitched 
 him heels over head into the water. The same 
 impulse carried the Indian down the slippery bank 
 after him ; and now a desperate and deadly strug 
 gle ensued, each straining every nerve, and exert 
 ing every art and effort to drown his adversary. 
 Sometimes one would be under, and sometimes the 
 other, until, half strangled, Koningsmarke had the 
 good fortune to seize the Indian by the only lock 
 of hair he wore on his head. By this means he 
 was enabled to force his head under water, and to 
 keep it there. This appeared to decide the con 
 flict. The efforts of the Indian seemed gradually 
 to relax, and to become apparently unpurposed, as 
 if he was fast sinking into insensibility. Konings 
 marke relaxed his grasp, and discovered too late 
 the wily stratagem. The moment he let go his 
 hair the Indian was on his feet again, and the con 
 test was renewed, until, as they by degrees pushed 
 each other into the stream, they were borne by the 
 current beyond their depth. 
 
 The instinct of self-preservation soon took an 
 other direction. Each, as if actuated by one im 
 pulse, now let go of the other, and made for the 
 
10 KONINGSMARKB. 
 
 shore, to seize the weapons which were lying there, 
 consisting of the tomahawk and two guns, one of 
 which, belonging to the Indian, had not been dis 
 charged. The Indian was the better swimmer of 
 the two, and succeeded in gaining the shore first. 
 He ran to the loaded musket, and almost at the 
 same moment Koningsmarke seized the tomahawk. 
 The Indian raised the gun, took a sure and deadly 
 aim, and drew the trigger. The gun snapped, and 
 before the savage warrior could cock her again, 
 the active youth sprung upon him, and buried the 
 tomahawk in his burning brain. He uttered a hor 
 rible yell ; but even in the agonies of death, re 
 membering the point of honour, which among the 
 sons of the forest, consists in not leaving their dead 
 bodies in the hands of their enemies, with a dying 
 effort he plunged into the stream, where he was 
 carried down the current, beyond the reach of his 
 enemies. 
 
 By this time, the resistance of the Indian villa 
 gers had ceased. They had fought long enough 
 to enable their wives and children to escape be 
 yond the river, and having lost many of their best 
 warriors, besides others that were wounded, the 
 survivors took an opportunity, at a well-known sig 
 nal, to plunge into the stream, where, by dexter 
 ously diving at every discharge of their enemies, 
 and other evolutions, they finally gained the oppo 
 site bank, and disappeared. The victors then set 
 fire to the village, after plundering it; yelled, 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 11 
 
 danced, feasted, and sung, during the rest of the day, 
 and at night departed in triumph to their homes. 
 
 But we ought not to omit mentioning, that, after 
 all, the success of the expedition of the Muskrats 
 and Mud Turtles, was, in no small degree, owing 
 to that great medicine, Lob Dotterel s wig. The 
 wig had been solemnly consigned to the custody 
 of the principal priest, or conjurer, who clapped it 
 on his head, and accompanied the party. When 
 the battle commenced, the conjurer danced, sung, 
 cut capers, and made such an intolerable noise, as 
 to excite the particular attention of one of the hostile 
 chiefs, who immediately advanced to silence him. 
 The conjurer retreated the warrior followed 
 and, coming up with him, seized his queue, which, 
 to his utter dismay, came off, leaving the pate of 
 the conjurer perfectly uninjured. The simple war^- 
 rior of the forest was dismayed at this strange 
 wonder ; and it was soon whispered about that 
 the enemy were in possession of a great medicine, 
 which preserved their heads at the expense of their 
 hair. This discouraged the Ohio warriors, so that 
 they did not fight with a good heart afterward. 
 On such trifles do the fate of villages, cities, and 
 empires turn ! 
 
BOOK SIXTH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Of the vulgar, and in what it principally consists, 
 
 LOUNGING the other day into a bookseller s shop, / 
 I was somewhat astounded at hearing a fashionable 
 and exceedingly well dressed young fellow, affirm 
 that Fielding was an exceedingly vulgar writer. 
 Nay, he went so far as to say the same of Swift, 
 Pope, Smollett, Arbuthnot, Steele, and even Addi- 
 son, and that as to the early English dramatists, 
 with Shakspeare at their head, not one of them was 
 fit to introduce into genteel company. He con 
 cluded, by giving it as his decided opinion, that 
 until the present enlightened age, there had been 
 no such thing known, as a truly refined and well 
 bred literature. 
 
 We felt a strong disposition to contest this point 
 with the gentleman, but on comparing the material 
 and cut of his coat with our own, we were struck 
 with such a humiliating sense of inferiority, that 
 we were fain to retreat to our attic story, lest we 
 might be guilty of the violent indecorum of con 
 tradicting so well dressed a person. Reflecting in 
 
 VOL. ii c 
 
14 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 retirement on these matters, we gradually groped 
 our way, at last, to the probable origin of this the 
 ory of the well dressed critic, which is, we believe, 
 pretty generally received in all fashionable society. 
 With a considerable portion of romance readers, 
 every thing, not fashionable, is of course vulgar. 
 A worthy farmer, or mechanic, in a clean white 
 frock and thick-soled shoes, is vulgar, and therefore 
 ought not to be introduced into a genteel novel. 
 The picture of a village group dancing, is of ne 
 cessity vulgar, because they are not fashionably 
 dressed, dance with most unseemly zeal, vigour, 
 and activity, as if they actually enjoyed themselves, 
 and above all are egregiously ignorant of the waltz, 
 the gallopade, and the mazourka. In short, with 
 this class of readers and critics, every trait of na 
 ture, and every exhibition of character or manners, 
 or dress, which does not come up to the standard of 
 fashionable elegance, is necessarily low and vulgar. 
 
 Compared indeed with a masquerade, where all 
 the mysteries of intrigue are practised, or a fash 
 ionable ball, where nakedness stares us in the face, 
 the country hop may be perfectly innocent and 
 pure ; but still it must be low, vulgar, and indecent, 
 as a matter of course, because the dancers are not 
 fashionable people, nor the dances, decorations, 
 and music, such as would be tolerated by a fash 
 ionable amateur. 
 
 If we trace this vulgar error, for vulgar it seems 
 to us, in the highest degree, we shall find it in 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 15 
 
 general, flowing from a false opinion with respect 
 to what really constitutes gentility and refinement. 
 In the general estimation, these, as opposed to vul 
 garity, consist not in moral or intellectual superi 
 ority, but in mere outward dress, and certain ad 
 vantages of equipage, title, or wealth. With some, 
 gentility consists in eating with a silver fork, instead 
 of a knife ; with others, it consists in dining by 
 candle, instead of daylight ; with others, in talking 
 bad French instead of bad English ; with others, in 
 a constant and enthusiastic attendance on Italian 
 operas, which they cannot understand, in prefer 
 ence to English plays, which they can ; in short, 
 the most trifling peculiarity, either natural or af-. 
 fected, is sufficient to stamp a person as genteel in 
 the estimation of the votaries of fashion. Such 
 opinions are generally, if not always, the offspring 
 of ignorance and vulgarity combined ; and accord-, 
 ingly we shall for the most part find, that those who 
 declaim against books for being vulgar, and are 
 most afraid of their contamination, are the vulgar 
 themselves, or at least those pretenders to refine 
 ment who graduate gentility by the scale we have 
 just mentioned. 
 
 The ridiculous impression which the vulgar of 
 the class we are sketching, entertain with respect 
 to the indissoluble connexion of outward splendours, 
 and above all, rank and title, with refinement and 
 good breeding, is perhaps stronger in this country 
 than in any other. The imagination of the youthful 
 
16 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 American reader is early inflated with high- wrought 
 delineations of the splendours and the refinements 
 of royal and noble phantoms ; and the books from 
 which he receives his first impressions prepare him 
 for a false estimate both of himself and others. He 
 becomes accustomed to graduate his respect to 
 persons by the standard of rank and title, without 
 regard to any other criterion. 
 
 This early impression remains unimpaired by 
 subsequent experience, because here we seldom 
 have an opportunity of correcting it, by comparing 
 the gorgeous phantom of our imagination with the 
 real being we have been so long accustomed to 
 regard with such unqualified admiration at a dis 
 tance. Hence it is that we are too much accus 
 tomed to consider every thing said or done by the 
 higher orders of society, such as kings, princes, 
 and nobles, as perfectly genteel, and all that ema 
 nates from the lower orders, as necessarily low and 
 vulgar. For this reason too, it is absolutely indis 
 pensable that every heroine or hero of romance, 
 as well as all the principal actors, should be of a 
 certain rank, in order to escape the imputation of 
 vulgarity, than which nothing is more fatal to an 
 author and his book. Unfortunately for us repub 
 lican writers, we have neither kings or nobility to 
 render our literature genteel, except among the 
 Indians, and such have been the disadvantages of 
 this deficiency, that many of our young men are 
 actually obliged to go abroad to acquire a little 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 17 
 
 smattering of gentility. Until we can supply our 
 own domestic product of this sort, our less fortunate 
 writers must be content to remain subject to the 
 imputation of vulgarity, unless some other stand 
 ard can be found by which to regulate our opinions. 
 
 That there is such a standard, and that it is the 
 only true one, is, we think, quite incontrovertible. 
 If we come fairly to put the matter to the test, it 
 will be found after all, that the essence of vulgarity 
 consists more or less in its approximation to what 
 is vicious. It is, in fact, much more nearly allied 
 to morals, than to manners. Whatever partakes 
 of vice, or whatever leads the imagination by a nat 
 ural connexion, towards impressions allied to it, is 
 in a similar degree low and vulgar, without any 
 reference to rank, wealth, or station. 
 
 Thus when we read in the memoirs of the Mar 
 garine of Bareith, of a King of Prussia getting 
 drunk, and beating his wife and daughter, whatever 
 may be the rank of the parties, the scene is as es 
 sentially vulgar and indecent, as if it were laid in 
 the kitchen of a country tavern. So also when, 
 as in a late popular work of a justly celebrated 
 author, the reader is introduced to a court, and 
 presented with pictures the most immoral and 
 corrupt; with titled pimps and prostitute duch 
 esses ; with a parent seeking to compass the pur 
 poses of revenge, by placing an only daughter in 
 the power of a systematic seducer and voluptuary 
 
 not the rank of the actors, the splendours of a 
 VOL. ii c 2 
 
18 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 court, nor the false glitter thrown around the whole, 
 by the genius of the writer, can rescue the picture 
 from the imputation of sheer vulgarity. 
 
 What is called the world of fashion, for the most 
 part, presents little variety. The dress, the man 
 ners, modes of speech, and of existence, being all 
 formed on the same model, exhibit so little variety 
 of character, and so circumscribed a field for a 
 writer, that he is obliged to resort to other sources 
 for his materials, if he wishes to avoid the impu 
 tation of dulness and uniformity. A fashionable 
 lady, or a standard dandy, represents the whole 
 species, and it is only among that class of human 
 beings, who are free from the restraints of estab 
 lished manners and conventional modes of speech, 
 that we can find sufficient variety of humour and 
 character to give zest to a work of fiction. 
 
 It is for this reason, and not from any intrinsic 
 difficulty in delineating fashionable life, or any lean 
 ing towards vulgarity, that the best delineators of 
 life and manners, those who have been most suc 
 cessful in establishing a wide spread and lasting 
 reputation, have sought a large portion of their 
 materials among the middle and lower classes of 
 mankind. It is there that all the varieties of hu 
 man character are seen, as it were, displayed 
 without hypocrisy, and free from the restraints of 
 an inexorable code of fashion, that while it makes 
 actors of all, obliges them at the same time to 
 appear all in the same character. We do not 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 19 
 
 hesitate to say, that the absurd squeamishness, so 
 common now-a-days, which, while it shrinks from 
 vulgarity, tolerates vice in the disguise of fashion, 
 is in our opinion no evidence of delicacy or refine 
 ment in manners or in morals. The most corrupt 
 state of society is that in which people are con 
 tent to "dwell in decencies forever," where every 
 breach of the decalogue may be atoned for by 
 outward polish and outward decorum, and where 
 people are afraid of nothing so much as the impu 
 tation of not being genteel. We may also add, 
 that the dullest age of literature is that in which 
 authors are more apprehensive of being called 
 vulgar, than of being convicted of downright stu 
 pidity. A fashionable book is very apt to be as 
 dull as a fashionable party, simply because neither 
 of them have any approximation to nature. 
 
20 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 " Death ! what is it ? 
 It may be, tis hum 
 It may be, tis not too." 
 
 THE Muskrat and Mud Turtle warriors re 
 turned to their homes, bringing with them the body 
 of one of their chiefs, who had died of his wounds 
 on the second day of their journey. On coming 
 within hearing of the village, they uttered the death- 
 howl, as was their custom, to signify that they had 
 lost one of their number. This howl was perfectly 
 understood by the wives and mothers of the tribes, 
 who rushed forth, with dismal shrieks, to meet the 
 train, each one not knowing but that she had lost 
 a son or a husband. The body of the chief was 
 then placed on the shoulders of four of the most 
 distinguished warriors, and carried in procession 
 to the village, followed by the women and old men, 
 the former tearing their hair and uttering shrieks, 
 that echoed in the recesses of the forest. The 
 near relations of the deceased, however, followed 
 in profound silence, without exhibiting any marks 
 of affliction, it being considered unworthy of the 
 fallen chief for his kindred to weep over his fate. 
 
 They dressed the corpse, seated it on a mat, in 
 the posture to which the warrior was most accus 
 tomed when alive, and, sitting in a circle around 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 21 
 
 him, pronounced his funeral eulogy, by relating, 
 one by one, his exploits in battle, as well as those 
 of his ancestors. When these were finished, they 
 chanted a sort of funeral hymn, something to the 
 following effect, as nearly as it can be rendered 
 from their native language : 
 
 Thou art here, and yet thou art gone ! 
 
 Thou look st as thou didst before ; 
 Thou seemest a man, yet art none ; 
 
 Thou art gone, to return no more. 
 
 Thou art, yet hast ceased to be ; 
 
 Thy form and thy face appear ; 
 Thou hast eyes, yet thou canst not see ; 
 
 Thou hast ears, yet thou canst not hear. 
 
 Was it thou that talk d with us erewhile ? 
 
 Was it thou that went with us to fight ? 
 Was it thou that shared battle and toil ? 
 
 Was it thou that wert with us last night ? 
 
 Yes ! thou art here, and yet art away ; 
 
 We see thee, and yet thou art not; 
 Thy life is like yesterday 
 
 And nothing remains but what s nought. 
 
 That something which made thee alive, 
 Where is it what was it where, where ? 
 
 Twas a spirit that still must survive 
 In the stars, or the sky, or the air. 
 
 To that spirit these honours we pay 
 That spirit which still hears us mourn 
 
 That something which ne er shall decay, 
 That something which ne er shall return. 
 
 The body of the red chief was then carried to 
 a hut prepared for the purpose, where it remained 
 
22 KONUNGSMARKE. 
 
 twenty-four hours, during which time the tribes 
 were engaged in feasting and dancing. It was 
 then carried to the grave, and buried, sitting upright, 
 with the face to the rising sun. The friends and 
 relatives threw the arms of the dead warrior into 
 the grave, with pipes, tobacco, corn, and some 
 pieces of wampum. The grave was then closed, 
 and the name of the deceased, from that time, never 
 uttered by either his relatives or friends. 
 
 During the absence of Koningsmarke on the war 
 expedition, Christina and the Indian maid did little 
 else but ponder upon the dangers to which he was 
 exposed, and weep. They still continued to love 
 each other, although the secret consciousness of 
 rivalry, that gradually arose in the bosom of each, 
 prompted them to seek in separate solitudes the 
 indulgence of their feelings. At times, Aouetti, 
 after an absence of several hours, during which 
 she wandered in the woods, or along the bank of 
 the river, would return and weep on the bosom of 
 Christina. " I love you," she would say " I love 
 you ; but I know that you will be the cause of 
 my unhappiness. Sometime or other you will go 
 home, and he will follow you. I shall then be left 
 alone ; I shall lose my love, and there will be none 
 left even to pity me." Christina, safe in the con 
 sciousness of her love being amply returned, could 
 afford to pity her rival ; and she did pity her, al 
 though she could not help feeling a certain awk 
 ward sensation, that sometimes caused her to re- 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 23 
 
 turn the caresses of the Indian maid with a cold 
 ness that did not always escape her notice. " I tire 
 you," would Aouetti exclaim, and retire to weep, 
 and sing her melancholy songs. 
 
 How long the mutual friendship of these two 
 innocent girls would have continued to withstand 
 the jealousies of love, it is impossible to tell, for 
 now a more formidable rival announced herself, 
 and diverted their mutual fears to one object. The 
 Indian widow, who had saved the life of Konings- 
 marke by claiming him as her slave, being smitten 
 with the relation of his prowess in the late battle, 
 and his desperate encounter with the two Indians, 
 made known to the chiefs and sages her intention 
 of choosing him for a husband, in the room of the 
 one she had lost. This proposal was received 
 with approbation by all, and preparations were 
 made accordingly to celebrate the wedding with 
 great pomp. 
 
 This news came like cold steel to the hearts of 
 the two young women, who could now fully sym 
 pathize with each other. " We shall now mourn 
 together," exclaimed Aouetti ; " we shall both be 
 wretched. Let us never part." Koningsmarke, 
 however disinclined to this match, knew that if he 
 discovered any unwillingness, the insult would be 
 felt by all the tribe, and resented with the most in 
 flexible severity. He therefore appeared highly 
 sensible of the happiness and honour that awaited 
 him, resolving, at the same time, to lose not a mo- 
 
24 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 merit in concerting with Christina the means of 
 immediate escape. Watching an opportunity, 
 while she was taking a solitary walk, and when she 
 was out of the reach of observation, he met her, 
 shedding tears alone by the side of the stream. 
 
 " Christina, why do you weep ?" exclaimed the 
 youth. Christina started, and hastily wiped her 
 eyes. 
 
 " I have lost my home, my father, and all that I 
 loved, or that loved me. They have forgotten me 
 too, or they would, ere this, have sought me until 
 I was found. I shall never see them again. Is it 
 any wonder that I weep ?" 
 
 Koningsmarke sat down by her side, took her 
 hand, and kissed it. " Thou hast yet one friend 
 who will never desert thee. I have been as the 
 son of thy poor father ; I will be as the brother of 
 his child; dearer and nearer than a brother, if 
 thou wilt give me leave." 
 
 " Nearer and dearer thou canst not be," replied 
 the gentle maid, withdrawing her hand. " The 
 husband of another can be no nearer to me than a 
 brother. Thou wilt become a savage in thy heart, 
 and the parent of savages." 
 
 " Nay, give me thy hand," he replied ; " I swear 
 by the gratitude I owe thy parent, by the love I 
 bear to thee, by all my hopes here and beyond the 
 grave, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." 
 
 " But thou wilt wed with another ; and and" 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 25 
 
 Here she hid her face with her hands, and wept on 
 his shoulder. 
 
 " Hear me, Christina," cried the youth, " Were 
 the stake and the fagot the alternative, as I have 
 reason to believe they are, I would not wed any 
 but thee. I sought you to tell you so to concert 
 means for our escape to place all on one cast 
 to live for thee, or to die with thee. Barest thou 
 flee with me to-night, and risk the chance of being 
 retaken and tortured at the stake ?" 
 
 " I can dare all," replied Christina, " but only to 
 see thee in the arms of another." 
 
 Koningsmarke held her to his breast for a mo 
 ment, with a feeling of unutterable tenderness and 
 gratitude, and then proceeded to explain his plan 
 for escaping. By occasionally questioning the 
 savages, he had, without exciting their suspicions, 
 gained sufficient information, as he supposed, to 
 enable him to shape his course, so as to strike the 
 Delaware somewhere in the vicinity of Elsing- 
 burgh and Coaquanock. In pursuance of this plan, 
 it was arranged, that, while the Indians were feast 
 ing and carousing, as they proposed to do that 
 night, in honour of his approaching nuptials, they 
 should, separately, as soon as the savages became 
 intoxicated, as was their custom, repair to the spot 
 where they now sat, and from thence pursue the 
 route that Koningsmarke supposed would lead 
 them the nearest way home. 
 
 VOL, II D 
 
26 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 " Christina," said the youth, solemnly, " I cannot 
 disguise from thee the toils thou wilt be obliged to 
 sustain, and the imminent danger of our being over 
 taken, and tortured to death by slow degrees. To 
 me all this is nothing but for thee O God ! to 
 see thy snow-white skin blackened in the fire 
 thy beauteous limbs the sport of barbarous cruelty 
 thy precious blood thy life, dearer than all this 
 earth dearer than Heaven itself wasting wast 
 ing away, by drops breath by breath ! Think ere 
 thou shalt decide." 
 
 "If," said Christina, "the fatigue should bear 
 hard upon me, I will call to my aid the hope that 
 I shall meet my poor father ere long. If we are 
 overtaken, I will try not to despair ; and if we are 
 placed together at the stake, I will endeavour to 
 support the torture, by thy example, and God s 
 help." 
 
 " Let us part, then, at once," replied the youth ; 
 " and Heaven prosper us this night. Farewell. 
 Should you chance to come hither before me, wait, 
 and be not afraid." 
 
 He kissed her cheek, and they returned, sepa 
 rately and at different times, to the village, where, 
 luckily, owing to the preparations for the feast, 
 which occupied the attention of all, their absence 
 had not been noticed. 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 27 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 < But he got down on t other side, 
 
 And then they couldn t find him; 
 He ran fourteen miles in fifteen days, 
 And never look d behind him." 
 
 Mother Goose s Melodies, 
 
 THE night sat in with rout and revelry, with 
 drinking, feasting, dancing, and shouts, that rent 
 the solitudes of the forest, and silenced the very 
 howlings of its hungry tenants. On these occasions 
 it is usual to appoint persons to guard the arms of 
 the warriors, and keep themselves sober, lest, in the 
 mad excesses of drunkenness, the barbarous bac 
 chanals should get possession of them, and maim or 
 murder one another. Koningsmarke, at his par 
 ticular request, was appointed to this station, and 
 Lob Dotterel, much against the wishes of the 
 youth, appointed his assistant. The latter part of 
 this arrangement embarrassed Koningsmarke not 
 a little, since the company of the high constable 
 of Elsingburgh rendered his secret departure much 
 more difficult, and he did not dare to associate him 
 in his plan of escape, for fear of being betrayed. 
 
 As the night waned away, the scene of savage 
 debauchery became more disgusting and horrible, 
 Some were howling an unintelligible jargon, some 
 rolling upon the earth like drunken swine, and 
 others venting their excited passions in struggles. 
 
28 KONINGSARMKE. 
 
 in which the madness of rage was contrasted with 
 the imbecility of beastly intoxication. By degrees, 
 one after another, they sunk into a deep sleep, and 
 all remained quiet. Now was the eventful hour ; 
 but the presence of Lob Dotterel, whom Konings- 
 marke had vainly attempted to persuade to retire, 
 and leave him to watch alone, restrained his de 
 parture. At length his patience became exhausted, 
 and, desiring that trusty officer to await his return 
 a few moments, he seized a gun, a tomahawk, and 
 a knife, having previously provided himself with 
 ammunition, and hastily departed. 
 
 Approaching the appointed spot, his heart beat 
 with uncontrollable apprehension at not seeing 
 Christina. He pronounced her name, and he saw 
 her white figure glide from behind a tree. " I 
 thought you would never come," said the trembling 
 girl, as she panted in his arms. 
 
 " To hold thee thus," whispered Koningsmarke, 
 " is a happiness I could wish to last for ever ; but 
 there is not a moment to be lost ; let us away, and 
 God be our guide." 
 
 They struck into the forest, in the direction 
 marked out by the Long Finne, and had proceeded 
 about half a mile, when they thought they heard 
 footsteps behind them. 
 
 " We are pursued," cried Christina " We are 
 lost." 
 
 " Hush !" whispered the youth " perhaps it is 
 only some wild animal." 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 29 
 
 " Heaven grant it may be," said Christina ; "the 
 wolf or the bear would be more welcome than 
 man." 
 
 They stopped and listened in breathless anxiety. 
 Some one was heard trampling slowly through the 
 bushes, but whether man or beast could not be 
 discerned, as the moon had just gone behind a 
 cloud. Presently it emerged, and they could see 
 the figure of a man, at a little distance, watching 
 them. 
 
 " He must be quieted," cried Koningsmarke, 
 and grasping his gun, advanced a few steps 
 towards the figure. 
 
 " Oh don t kill him," cried Christina ; " perhaps 
 it is some friend." 
 
 " I will know soon," he replied. " Whoever you 
 are, speak, or die." 
 
 " A friend," exclaimed the figure, in the well- 
 known voice of honest Lob Dotterel. " I watched 
 you," said the high constable, coming up, " for I 
 observed you had something in hand. You would 
 not trust me but I will be true as steel. I mean 
 to go with you, and share your fate, be it what it 
 may." 
 
 " Thou art right welcome, Lob," quoth the Long 
 Finne " but every moment is a life to one or all 
 of us. Let us on." 
 
 Alternately assisting, supporting, and sometimes 
 carrying Christina, they passed rapidly on their 
 way, and, by the dawn of the morning, had pro- 
 
 VOL. II D 2 
 
30 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 ceeded several miles, without meeting with any 
 interruption, except what nature presented. Chris 
 tina complained of fatigue, and it was agreed to 
 rest a little while, as they supposed the savages 
 would sleep late that morning, from the effects of 
 the night s debauchery. They accordingly sat 
 down, and partook of some dried venison, with 
 which Koningsmarke had supplied himself. In a 
 few minutes they heard the report of a gun, and, 
 an instant after, a wounded deer bounded past 
 them, and fell dead within a few yards of where 
 they sat. Koningsmarke and the high constable 
 started on their feet at once, and stood ready for 
 what might follow. A few moments elapsed in 
 this state of suspense, when they observed two 
 Indians, armed with guns, approaching among the 
 trees. Quick as lightning, on observing the two 
 white men, they darted each behind a separate 
 tree, and, in almost as little time, the others did 
 the like, Koningsmarke snatching Christina, and 
 placing her behind him, under cover of the tree. 
 
 Each party now remained, w r ith their guns 
 cocked, watching till the exposure of some part of 
 the body of an adversary should give them an 
 opportunity of firing with effect. It has been 
 observed as a characteristic of the Indians, that 
 they never willingly come to a personal contest 
 with a white man, or engage, in fact, in any way, 
 if they can avoid it, till some advantage presents 
 itself. In this state of awful suspense, Konings- 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 31 
 
 marke seized an opportunity to motion to the high 
 constable to follow his example. He then took off 
 his hat, and waved it, as sportsmen do when they 
 wish to decoy a duck, alternately holding it out 
 from behind the tree, and snatching it back again. 
 His example was promptly followed by Lob, with 
 his buffalo cap. In the dense obscurity of morning, 
 in a deep forest, the two Indians were deceived 
 by this stratagem, and, believing it to be their an 
 tagonists thus peeping from behind their covert, 
 fired at the same instant. Both hat and cap fell 
 to the ground, and the two Indians rushed out, to 
 use the tomahawk and scalping knife on their fallen 
 foes. As they came on heedlessly, the two white 
 men took a deliberate aim, one at each, and fired. 
 The foremost fell dead ; the other bounded into the 
 woods, uttering the howl of pain and baffled rage, 
 and disappeared. 
 
 Instantly loading their guns, they proceeded on 
 their journey, with the increased apprehension, 
 arising from the possibility that the wounded savage 
 might reach the village, and alarm the warriors 
 into immediate pursuit. In passing by the dead 
 body of the savage, Christina, influenced and im 
 pelled by that fascination which horror exercises 
 over the human mind, involuntarily turned to look 
 at it, and recognised the features of Aouetti s 
 brother, who she now recollected had been out 
 several days on a hunting expedition. " Poor 
 Aouetti !" she mentally exclaimed, " I was born to 
 
32 KONINGSMARKE 
 
 be your bane" and Christina at that moment for 
 got her dangers, in thinking on the sufferings of her 
 kind-hearted sister. 
 
 Little occurred during the rest of the day, ex 
 cept increasing toils and difficulties in the march, 
 accompanied by increasing weariness. They made 
 a sort of litter of the branches, and, from time to 
 time, carried the weary girl upon their shoulders. 
 But their progress, slow at first, became more slow 
 as the day wore away, so that night overtook them 
 before they had completed twenty miles, accord 
 ing to their best computation. The apprehension 
 of pursuit, and the danger of being overtaken, now 
 yielded to the demands of nature, and they were 
 forced to take some rest. They formed a rude 
 shelter, with the bark and branches of trees for 
 Christina, while they laid down, one on each side 
 of the entrance. Weariness soon closed their eyes, 
 in spite of every motive for wakefulness. They 
 slept for several hours, and, probably, would have 
 slept till morning, had they not been roused by the 
 knell of death. Starting up, the two white men 
 found themselves, at the same instant, seized arid 
 pinioned, with their hands behind their backs, 
 before they could possibly make any resistance. 
 
 The wretched Christina, whom the sight of the 
 savage group, and the sound of their dismal yell, 
 had struck into a temporary insensibility to all 
 around her, was seized, and, sometimes dragged, 
 sometimes carried, forced along with her unfortu- 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 33 
 
 nate companions, towards the village from whence 
 they had attempted to escape. They passed by 
 the spot where the affray of the morning took place, 
 and pointing to the dead body of the chief, whirled 
 their tomahawks in the air, over the heads of the 
 two prisoners, giving them to understand at the 
 same time, they did not sacrifice them on the spot, 
 because they meant to torture them to death. 
 Taking up the dead body, they then marched in 
 procession to the village, chanting their death song 
 by the way. 
 
34: KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 " Theye tyed hymme toe ye fatale tree, 
 
 And lyghted uppe ye pyle, 
 And daunc d and sunge ryghte merrilie, 
 But he could ent rayse a smyle." 
 
 ON arriving at the village, the procession was 
 met, according to custom, by a crowd of women 
 and children, who, amidst yells and shrieks, de 
 nounced the most bitter imprecations upon the 
 wretched fugitives, and were with difficulty pre 
 vented from putting them to instant death. Among 
 the most violent of these, were the widow whom 
 Koningsmarke was to have married, and the mother 
 of Aouetti ; the one maddened with jealous rage, 
 the other, by the wild, unrestrained feelings of a 
 savage mother, who had lost her only son. The 
 Indian maid did not appear ; whether detained by 
 her own feelings, or from some other cause, we 
 cannot tell. 
 
 The savages, however wild, and free from the 
 ordinary restraints of civilized society, had yet 
 some forms of justice. A council of the chiefs 
 and old men was convened immediately, and the 
 case of the three captives taken into consideration. 
 After a grave debate, it was unanimously decided, 
 that Koningsmarke and Lob Dotterel, having both 
 been solemnly adopted into the tribe, and received 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 35 
 
 as brothers having deserted them, and, in so do 
 ing, taken the life of one of their bravest chiefs, 
 should perish by the torture that very day. With 
 respect to the poor white maid, there was at first 
 some doubts as to the degree of her participation 
 in the guilt of her companions. While balancing 
 on her fate, Aouetti rushed into the council room, 
 with dishevelled hair, and frantic gestures. She 
 threw herself, one by one, at the feet of the old 
 men, embraced their knees, and claimed of them 
 the pardon of her adopted sister. " She is inno 
 cent," cried the gentle maid ; " she only sought to 
 join her father. Which of you would blame your 
 daughter if she tried to escape from the white men, 
 and come to you ? I have lost my only brother, 
 and I am about to lose but spare me my sister, 
 that I may have some one to love." 
 
 The tears and supplications of the Indian maid 
 fell upon the hard hearts of the old men, and with 
 some difficulty, they consented that Christina should 
 be given in charge to her adopted sister. The 
 moment Aouetti heard their decision, she ran, with 
 the lightness of a deer, to the hut where the three 
 captives were confined, and, making her way in, 
 threw herself into the arms of her poor Mimi. 
 
 " Thou art safe thou art spared, my sister," 
 she exclaimed. "And our friends?" panted 
 Christina, in almost unintelligible accents. 
 
 The Indian maid, as if struck with a sudden 
 pang of recollection, slowly turned, looked at Kon- 
 
36 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 ingsmarke, and then hid her face in the bosom of 
 Christina. So expressive was her look and action, 
 that each of the wretched prisoners understood 
 what she could not speak. 
 
 " T is well," said Koningsmarke ; " a life of 
 wandering, wretchedness and poverty, in the old 
 world, is now to be brought to a miserable end in 
 the new. For myself but you, Oh ! you, my poor 
 Christina, what will become of you ? Thy pure 
 and innocent life is redeemed ; but who shall re 
 deem thy body from this woful captivity ? " 
 
 "Death," said Christina. "Dost thou think I 
 can know of thy tortures of the furies tearing 
 thy flesh of the flaming brands being thrust into 
 thy body the coals Oh God ! the live coals 
 being sprinkled on thy bare head, till madness, in 
 sensibility, and death relieve thee dost thou think 
 I can bear all this, and live ? No, no I shall die, 
 if not with thee, but a little while after thee." 
 
 " But live, I beseech thee, Christina," said Kon 
 ingsmarke, " for the sake of thy father, who" 
 
 " My father ! I shall never see him more. Per 
 haps ere this his gray hairs have been brought in 
 sorrow to the grave. Perhaps but it matters 
 little to him or me. When you are gone, who 
 shall guide me homeward ? who risk his life to re 
 store me to a parent, even if he lives ? No, no 
 I shall never see him more ? I have nothing to 
 live for, since you are lost to me." 
 
 " My hours are numbered," replied Konings- 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 37 
 
 marke, as he heard a distant shout " Come hither, 
 Christina nearer yet nearer. My arms are pin 
 ioned," continued he, with a melancholy smile 
 " you need not fear me." She approached, and 
 leaned her head on his shoulder. 
 
 " God bless thee, my dear one, for never blessing 
 fell upon a more innocent head than thine. In this 
 last hour, tell me one thing. Had we returned to 
 Elsingburgh in safety together, wouldst thou have 
 joined thy fate with mine in the presence of Heaven ? 
 wouldst thou have tried to forget the long-past 
 time, and lived only in the future ? " 
 
 " In the presence of Heaven, I would," replied 
 Christina " I would, had the shade of my mother 
 haunted our bridal bed. My love and my grati 
 tude should have conquered my remembrance of 
 the errors of thy youth." 
 
 " Then seal it with a last kiss ; and now, come 
 what will, by the blessing of God, I stand prepared 
 for whatsoever may happen. A little while, and 
 we shall meet again or I have been dreaming all 
 my life." 
 
 "Aouetti," continued he, to the Indian maid, who 
 had stood in a distant corner, with her face from 
 them, weeping " Aouetti, come hither." 
 
 She approached. " Take your sister s hand, 
 and promise to be kind to her when I am gone." 
 
 The Indian maid shook her head. " What ! will 
 you not promise me this, Aouetti ? " 
 
 " She must be kind to me," replied the Indian 
 VOL. ii E 
 
38 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 maid, " for I shall be more wretched than Mimi. 
 She will remember thy love, but I shall only re 
 member thy death." 
 
 " But you will promise to be kind to her ? " re 
 peated Koningsmarke. 
 
 " Yes, yes, if I can remember any one but thee 
 and myself," said Aouetti. 
 
 At that moment the door flew open with vio 
 lence, and a crowd rushed in. They seized Kon 
 ingsmarke and the poor high constable, who, ever 
 since his recapture, had been in a sort of stupor, 
 and hurried them towards the river side, where, 
 on a little level greensward, were placed two 
 stakes, around which, at a distance of three or four 
 paces, were placed piles of wood. In their pro 
 gress to the funeral pyres, Koningsmarke and Lob 
 Dotterel were harassed and beaten with sticks 
 by the women and boys, who vented their rage 
 in every possible variety of injury and insult. 
 Among these, the widow, whose affections had 
 been treated with such contemptuous ingratitude, 
 was the most conspicuous. With dishevelled hair, 
 and ferocious gestures, she followed him step by 
 step, taunting him with the beauties of his white 
 woman, alarming his fears by threats of terrible 
 Vengeance on poor Christina, and triumphing in the 
 prospect of his approaching tortures. 
 
 " Look !" cried the virago ; " yonder is the stake 
 and the pile ; I shall hear thee groan I shall see 
 the hot brands, the live coals scorch thee I shall 
 
KONINGSMARKE 39 
 
 see the knife and the tomahawk enter thy flesh 
 I shall see thy limbs tremble like a woman and I 
 shall laugh, when the drops of agony roll down thy 
 forehead." 
 
 Arrived at the stake, they proceeded to strip the 
 two victims, with the exception of their waists, and 
 to paint them black with charcoal and grease. 
 They were then fastened to the stake, and, all 
 being ready, the horrible ceremony was about to 
 begin, when Aouetti came running franticly to the 
 spot. Christina had sunk into a temporary insen 
 sibility, when the crowd carried ofFKoningsmarke, 
 and, on coming to herself, besought Aouetti to make 
 one last effort to reprieve the unfortunate youth. 
 
 " It is too late now," said the Indian maid " tis 
 too late ; they will spurn me ; they will beat me 
 away. They are mad with rage and cruelty." 
 
 " Then I will go," hastily exclaimed Christina, 
 starting up at the same time. " Perhaps they will 
 pity my sorrows." 
 
 " Pity !" said Aouetti, despondingly " Pity ! 
 they know it not. If you seek to stop them, they 
 will tear you to pieces." 
 
 " No matter no matter my heart is torn to 
 pieces already. Let them tear my flesh, I care 
 not. Come, come twill be too late." 
 
 " Tis too late already the smoke begins to 
 rise nothing can save him now." 
 
 " But, we can die too. Let us go let us go, oj 
 I shall run mad," 
 
40 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 " He killed my brother, and he loves not me," 
 said Aouetti ; " yet I will make one more effort, 
 even though they do spurn me. Stay here, my 
 sister, and I will soon return." Christina had 
 again sunk into a temporary insensibility, which 
 prevented her following. 
 
 "As the Indian maid approached, she called upon 
 them to stay a moment, ere they lighted the piles. 
 The noise was hushed, by the command of some 
 of the sages who were presiding at this solemn 
 ceremony, for so it was reckoned by the Indians. 
 Aouetti then urged every motive she could think of, 
 to induce them to spare the two victims. She stated 
 the rewards that would be given, if they carried 
 them to the Big Hats at Coaquanock, and the ter 
 rible vengeance the white men would take, when 
 they heard of the sacrifice of their brothers. 
 
 " If you spare them," said she, " their friends 
 will ransom them with great kegs of spirits, with 
 tobacco, pipes, powder, shot, and every thing you 
 want. If you put them to death, the white men 
 will find you out one day or other, and then wo to 
 the red men of the forest wo to their wives and 
 their children to themselves and their posterity. 
 Every drop of blood you shed this day, I prophesy, 
 will be repaid with rivers of blood. Spare these 
 white men, and let the tall youth be unto me the 
 brother I have lost." 
 
 " Thou meanest a husband," exclaimed the In 
 dian widow, who had listened with horrible impa- 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 41 
 
 tience to Aouetti s arguments. " Thou wouldst 
 take to thy arms the white man whose hands are 
 red with the blood of thine only brother ! Shame 
 of thy sex, and shame of the Indian name ! I 
 know thee and thy wishes ; I have watched thy 
 tears and thy sighs, thy lonely rambles, thy words, 
 nay, thy very looks. I demand that the shade of 
 my murdered husband, of this wretched girl s 
 murdered brother, of all those who have fallen 
 victims to the cursed arts and bloody policy of the 
 white men, be appeased, by the sacrifice of these 
 deserters from their adopted tribe. Else, may the 
 wrath of the Great Spirit confound your tribe, and 
 his malediction sweep you from the earth." 
 
 These words were answered by a shout of ap 
 probation from the crowd, and followed by the 
 acquiescence of the old men present, who again 
 decided that the ceremony should proceed. It 
 was now one of those bright, clear, still afternoons, 
 which are common in the month of September, 
 There was not a breath of air to curl the river, or 
 wave the leaves of the forest, nor a cloud to be 
 seen in the sky. At this moment, when they were 
 about to set fire to the funeral pile, a sudden burst 
 of thunder, loud and sharp, arrested them. The 
 eyes of all were turned upwards, with a sensation 
 of awe and surprise. From the most enlightened 
 philosopher, down to the most ignorant savage ; 
 from man, to the birds of the air, the beasts of the 
 field, it would seem there is something in the great 
 
42 KON1NGSMARKE. 
 
 operations of nature, such as tempests, earthquakes, 
 and thunder storms, that excites the apprehensions, 
 or at least the awe, of both reason and instinct. 
 It is not alone a fear of the effects of these terrible 
 demonstrations of irresistible power, that causes 
 this cowering or elevation of the faculties ; it is, 
 that by a direct operation, the mind is led to a con 
 templation of an infinite Being, by witnessing the 
 display of infinite power. 
 
 There was not a cloud to be seen in the sky, 
 and this circumstance occasioned the thunderclap to 
 have the appearance of something altogether super 
 natural. The fiends who carried the lighted brands 
 to fire the funeral piles, involuntarily paused, and 
 the Indian maid, taking advantage of the moment, 
 cried out : 
 
 " Hark ! the Great Spirit bears testimony against 
 this deed. You heard his voice in the air. It came 
 not from the clouds, for there is not a cloud in the 
 skies. It is the great Master of life that cries out 
 from above against his people that have offended 
 him. In his name I command you to stop in his 
 name I command you to spare these white men !" 
 
 The figure of the little Indian maid appeared to 
 dilate with the dignity of inspiration. Her eyes 
 were turned in eager gaze towards the heavens, 
 and she seemed as if she actually saw the visible 
 form of the Being whose judgment she had invoked. 
 The frantic rage of the women and boys yielded 
 to the influence of a superstitious awe. The elders 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 43 
 
 consulted together for a moment, and then decided 
 that the ceremony should be suspended till they 
 could offer a sacrifice, and ascertain the will of 
 the Great Spirit. The crowd then dispersed, dis 
 appointed, yet not daring to complain ; and Kon- 
 ingsmarke, with his companion, were again re 
 manded to the place whence they came, after being 
 washed, and permission given to dress themselves. 
 Here they were left, guarded without by sentinels, 
 to await the result of the appeal to the Great Spirit. 
 
44 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Farewell, farewell, my bonny maid, 
 
 Whom I no more shall see ; 
 I die, but I am not afraid, 
 
 Because I die for thee. 
 
 ***** 
 
 " Then came Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego." 
 
 CHRISTINA passed the interval between the 
 departure and return of the Indian maid, in that 
 limbo of vague and indefinite horror, in which the 
 human mind, as it were, takes refuge from its 
 miseries. The events of the two preceding days 
 had so harassed her mind, and worn down her 
 strength, as to produce that state of moral and 
 physical weakness, which diminishes the acuteness 
 of suffering, by its very incapacity of resistance. 
 The past, the present, and the future, offered them 
 selves to her mind, rather as horrible visions than 
 as cruel realities ; and when she saw the return of 
 Koningsmarke, she hardly comprehended the fact, 
 that he had at least received a temporary reprieve. 
 By degrees, however, the agitation of her mind 
 yielded to an irresistible drowsiness, and supported 
 in the arms of Aouetti, she sunk into a long and 
 quiet sleep, from which she awoke perfectly re 
 stored to a distinct comprehension of her present 
 situation. 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 45 
 
 In the meantime, the old men of the tribes had 
 called their principal priest or conjurer, to take the 
 usual measures for ascertaining the will of the 
 Great Spirit, in relation to the fate of the two white 
 men. A fire was kindled on the greensward, around 
 which Mackate Ockola, or the Black Gown, danced 
 and howled, and indulged in every possible contor 
 tion of visage, until he had exhausted his strength, 
 and worked up his mind into a species of real, or 
 imaginary, or pretended inspiration. From this 
 he gradually fell into a trance, which lasted about 
 half an hour, during which time the assembled old 
 men sat in a profound and awful silence. At length 
 Mackate Ockola seemed to awake, and remained 
 for awhile, staring around, as if unconscious of 
 his situation. Recovering by degrees, he started 
 upon his feet, and cried out in a hollow voice 
 " I have seen the Great Spirit. He came to me 
 in a dream, in the form of a bald eagle, and said, 
 4 Listen to me, Mackate Ockola, and hear what I 
 will. Many moons shall not appear and pass away, 
 ere the white men will grow in numbers like the 
 leaves on the trees. As they increase, my people 
 will decay and disappear. They will go out like 
 the embers of an almost extinguished fire, until 
 they have no habitations but their graves ; and 
 even in these they will not be suffered to rest, for 
 the white men, not content with what grows on 
 the surface of the earth, will tear up her bosom, 
 and lay your bones bleaching in the sun and the 
 
46 KONINGSMABKE. 
 
 wind, in search of riches and food. The deer will 
 disappear from your forests ; the fishes will be shut 
 out from your streams, by these people, who build 
 dams like the beavers ; and you will starve on your 
 hunting grounds. You cannot avoid your destiny, 
 but you may delay it, by destroying those whose 
 children, if they live, will destroy yours. Go and 
 tell my people, that for every drop of the white 
 man s blood they shall spare, their children and 
 their children s children will pay a thousand fold. " 
 This cruel message, the fabrication of the priest, 
 decided the fate of Koningsmarke and the luckless 
 high constable of Elsingburgh. It is impossible for 
 us to tell what were the motives of Mackate 
 Ockola,in thus urging the death of the two captives. 
 But it may be observed here, that the early sys 
 tems of religion, in all nations and countries with 
 which we have any acquaintance, are more or less 
 tinged with blood. Everywhere the priests have 
 demanded victims to propitiate their bloody dei 
 ties, and everywhere the altars have been funeral 
 pyres. The Mexican priests demanded human 
 sacrifices ; in other places, the blood of animals 
 sufficed ; and even among the Bramins, whose 
 religion forbids the shedding of the blood of brutes, 
 human victims are encouraged by the priests, to 
 expose themselves to every species of torture at 
 the feast of the Juggernaut, and to offer up their 
 lives on the altars of a cruel deception. Supersti 
 tion and fanaticism, in truth, delight in blood ; and 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 47 
 
 in all ages and nations their steps may be traced 
 by that infallible mark. It was reserved for the 
 mild and merciful system of religion under which 
 we live, to banish all atonements of blood, all sacri 
 fices of animals ; to make the offerings of the heart 
 a substitute for the torture of victims ; and, had 
 not the love of wealth, the lust of power, and the 
 pride of opinion, marred the beautiful system, so 
 as to wrest its precepts to the purposes of avarice 
 and ambition, it had come down to us, even to this 
 day, without its snow-white surplice be ing sprinkled 
 with the blood of a single victim. But here, alas ! 
 as in all preceding systems of faith, the avarice, 
 the ambition, the bigotry, and the pride of opinion, 
 which seem the besetting sins of man, have exer 
 cised their pernicious influence, and, first and last, 
 caused the shedding of more blood than has ever 
 smoked upon all the Pagan altars of the world. 
 Thus has the purest, the most mild, and the most 
 perfect system of humanity ever propounded to 
 mankind, been impiously made the pretext for every 
 species of cruelty and bloodshed ; and, what is per 
 haps still more to be lamented, its divine precept of 
 love to all our fellow creatures, converted into a 
 warrant, not to say a duty, to hate all those who 
 do not think and believe exactly like ourselves. 
 
 But to return from this digression, which we 
 hope the reader will pardon. Koningsmarke and 
 his companions in affliction remained ignorant of 
 the decision we have just recorded. We will not 
 
48 KONINGSMA.RKE. 
 
 say happily ignorant, since, perhaps, actual cer 
 tainty would have been preferable to the doubts 
 which harassed their minds. When Christina 
 awoke from her long sleep, with mind and body 
 both invigorated, it was some moments before 
 she came to a full consciousness of her situation. 
 " Where am I ?" exclaimed she. " In the arms of 
 thy sister," whispered the Indian maid. 
 
 Christina looked around the hut. By the dim 
 light of an almost extinguished fire, she observed 
 two figures in a sitting posture, leaning against the 
 wall. " Who is that ?" whispered she to Aouetti. 
 
 " It is he" replied the Indian maid, 
 
 " They have spared him then," shrieked poor 
 Christina; "my sister has prevailed, and he is 
 safe!" 
 
 " Safe till to-morrow," replied the other. 
 
 " No longer ?" 
 
 " No longer. To-morrow I know not what may 
 become of him. Our priest is to decide, and he 
 never leans to mercy." 
 
 Koningsmarke, observing that Christina was 
 awake, called out to her 
 
 " Christina ! wilt thou not come near me ?" 
 
 "Come thou to me," replied she, preserving, 
 even in this trying moment, that sentiment of deli 
 cate propriety which never forsakes a virtuous 
 female. 
 
 " I cannot I am fastened to this spot." 
 
 Christina approached, and by the light of the 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 49 
 
 fire, perceived he was bound to one of the posts 
 that supported the simple edifice. 
 
 "He asks not for me," thought Aouetti, and 
 wept in secret. 
 
 In this, which each seemed to have a presenti 
 ment was the last hour they should spend together, 
 for the signs of day now began to appear, Kon- 
 ingsmarke and Christina preserved towards each 
 other a deep solemnity of deportment, from which 
 all the little outward endearments of love were 
 banished. 
 
 "I have a conviction," saidKoningsmarke, "that 
 thou wilt yet live to be received to the arms of thy 
 father." 
 
 " To the arms of my Heavenly Father," returned 
 Christina, " for none other shall I ever behold. If 
 the sun sees thee die this morn at its rising, it will 
 set at night on my breathless body." 
 
 " Nay," returned Koningsmarke, " say not so, 
 my best love. Thou hast motives to live, and duties 
 to perform, when I am gone. Thou hast known 
 me but a little while ; thy father thou hast known 
 from the first breath of that life which he gave thee. 
 Return the blessing, and live for him." 
 
 " I shall never see him more," cried Christina. 
 
 "When I am gone," continued the other, "and 
 when you see your father, tell him that I remem 
 bered his kindness, even when the flaming brand 
 was pointed at my naked throat, and the coals of 
 fire were about being poured on my uncovered 
 
 VOL. II F 
 
50 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 head. Tell him that I protected you while I could 
 - that I exposed my life to preserve yours and 
 that I perished in a last effort to restore you to his 
 arms. Should he ever know what thou knowest, 
 he will forgive me, as thou hast, for the sake of 
 what I have done and tried to do for thee. Wilt 
 thou" bear him this message from me, Chris 
 tina?" 
 
 Christina could not answer, for her emotions 
 almost stopped her breath. Her eyes were dry, 
 but her heart wept tears of blood. For awhile 
 she remained insensible in his arms. At that mo 
 ment the door of the hut was opened, it being now 
 broad daylight, and Koriingsmarke, with his unfor 
 tunate companion, whose stupor became every 
 hour more profound, were untied from the post, and 
 conducted out of the hut. The youth motioned to 
 Aouetti, and, pressing the inanimate form of Chris 
 tina to his heart, as for the last time, imprinted a 
 kiss upon her cold forehead, and gently gave her 
 to the arms of the Indian maid. 
 
 " Be good to thy sister," whispered he. 
 
 " I will but say good-by to poor Aouetti." 
 
 " Good-by and may thy Maker and mine bless 
 thee/ replied Koningsmarke, and hastily left the 
 place without looking back. 
 
 The same preparations we described on the pre 
 ceding day were renewed, and the two captives 
 fastened to the stake. The brands were again 
 lighted, the knife and the tomahawk lifted to begin 
 
KONTNGSMARKE. 51 
 
 their work, and the revengeful barbarians standing 
 on tiptoe to enter on the bloody business. But 
 again Providence interposed. All at once the 
 hands of the brand-bearers were arrested, and the 
 eyes of every one turned in a direction towards 
 the river, along whose banks appeared a train of 
 white men, bearing a white flag, the universal em 
 blem of peace and good-will. As they came nearer, 
 the stiff and stately form of Shadrach Money penny, 
 followed by eight or ten others, dressed in broad- 
 brimmed hats, with their arms folded upon their 
 bosoms, were distinguished, walking with slow and 
 steady pace towards the spot occupied by the old 
 men of the tribes. They were accompanied by 
 others, bearing a variety of articles of Indian trade. 
 They came in peace, and they were received in 
 peace by the sons of the shade. The policy of 
 William Pcnn with regard to the Indians, can never 
 be sufficiently praised or admired. From his first 
 arrival at Coaquanock, to the period of his final 
 departure, he preserved peace with the ancient 
 proprietors of the soil and the game, by the simple 
 expedient of dealing with them as if they were 
 his equals. He bought their lands at a price equiv 
 alent to the advantages they yielded to the original 
 occupants ; restrained his people from all encroach 
 ments upon those the Indians thought proper to 
 retain ; and so inviolably kept sacred the stipula 
 tions of his first purchase, that it has been said, 
 
52 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 with equal truth and bitterness, that " it was the 
 only treaty not ratified by oaths, and the only one 
 that was never violated." 
 
 By these means, and by the peaceful deport 
 ment of his people on all occasions, William Penn 
 acquired and retained the confidence and good 
 will of the Indians, in a degree of which there are 
 few examples. Indeed, we may safely say, that 
 none, without resorting to the agency of supersti 
 tion or force, ever attained so great an influence 
 over the violent, capricious, and intractable tempers 
 of the savages of North America ; a singular race, 
 with whom all attempts at civilization only seem 
 to destroy their good qualities, and convert them 
 from barbarians into beasts. 
 
 The Big Hats, as the Indians called them, were 
 not unknown to some of the old men of the tribes, 
 who had treated and traded with them, at Coaqua- 
 nock, and who now received Shadrach and his 
 suite as old acquaintances. By means of an in 
 terpreter, they entered on business forthwith. 
 
 " Thou comest as a friend," said Ollentangi. 
 
 " Yea, verily," quoth Shadrach ; " I come from 
 William Penn, who is the friend of all mankind, 
 of all countries and colours. He hath heard thou 
 hast two white men, and a maiden with them, taken 
 at the burning of Elsingburgh. Verily, that was 
 a bad act, sachems. What had they done unto 
 thee, that thou shouldst set fire to their houses, and 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 53 
 
 carry their women and children into captivity? 
 had they not buried the hatchet and smoked the 
 calumet with thy tribe ? " 
 
 " True," replied Ollentangi, " but they had killed 
 our game, and shut out the fish from our rivers, by 
 building dams like the beavers ; therefore we made 
 war upon them." 
 
 " Yea, verily," quoth Shadrach, who, by the 
 way, loved a controversy in a peaceable way, 
 almost as well as William Penn himself " Yea, 
 verily, but the wild beasts of the forest belong to 
 any body ; they are given to all that can catch 
 them. Neither are the fish thine, since they swim 
 through all parts of the great seas, and wherever 
 they will. Until thou shalt catch them they are 
 not thine." 
 
 " True," replied Ollentangi, with infinite gravity, 
 " but if the white man prevents the fish from com 
 ing to us, how can we catch them ? We shall 
 starve in the meanwhile." 
 
 "Verily," quoth Shadrach, "lam fain to con 
 fess the truth of thy words. There is no argument 
 so strong as necessity. But still thou shouldst not 
 have made war against them for this. Thou 
 shouldst have gone to law, and, peradventure, 
 obliged them in a peaceable manner to break down 
 the obstructions that did prevent the fish from 
 passing upwards." 
 
 " True, uncle," rejoined Ollentangi " we have 
 
 VOL. ii F 2 
 
54 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 heard something of that same law. It is a contest 
 of talking, and he that talks the longest, wins the 
 cause. Now you white men can out-talk us, and 
 we can beat you in fighting. Should we not be 
 great fools to choose the former mode of deciding 
 our differences?" 
 
 " Yea, I must needs confess of a truth there is 
 some little shadow, as it were, a small modicum 
 of a glimmer of carnal reason in what thou sayest. 
 But verily I must not pretermit the business of my 
 mission, for the two captives are kept all this while 
 in a parlous condition. Art thou ready to hear 
 me in the spirit of peace ? " 
 
 " Say on in the spirit of peace," replied Ollen- 
 tangi. 
 
 " In the spirit of peace, then," quoth Shadrach, 
 raising himself on tiptoe, and cocking his beaver, 
 " in the spirit of peace I come from the good Wil 
 liam Penn, who is thy friend in the gospel, (and, 
 verily, considering thy pagan state, out of the gos 
 pel likewise,) to say unto thee thus wise : Listen 
 I speak his words, and not mine own. 
 
 " William Penn hath learned, by means of the 
 (I may say) providential agency of a certain pro 
 fane tie-wig, (which, judging from the bald pate 
 of yon captive, must have appertained unto him,) 
 that the people, (meaning thee,) calling themselves 
 (as I may say, idly and profanely,) the Muskrats 
 and Mud Turtles, are in possession of certain two 
 white men, (who, I am inclined to believe, must be 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 55 
 
 those tied to the stake yonder,) together with a 
 young maiden, daughter to him who calleth himself 
 the Heer Piper, (who I must aver to be somewhat 
 of an uncourteous little man,) all three carried 
 away captives from the village of Elsingburgh. 
 Now thus saith William Penn : inasmuch as thou 
 lovest good watch-coats, he hath sent thee half a 
 score of these ; and inasmuch as thou lovest glass 
 beads, and other pernicious vanities of the flesh, 
 (to say nothing of the devil,) he hath sent thee ten 
 strings of these, wherewith to pamper the pride 
 of thy ears and noses ; and inasmuch as thou lovest 
 tobacco, he hath sent thee a score of tin tobacco- 
 boxes, filled with that egregious pufFardo, called 
 tobacco, (which by the way, I should hold in sin 
 gular abomination, were it not that it was hated 
 by James, called the First, that enemy to the saints.) 
 For all which good things, William Penn, as afore 
 said, asketh nothing but the freedom of the three 
 aforesaid captives, that they may be delivered to 
 their friends." 
 
 " Brother," quoth an old Indian, " brother, thou 
 hast forgotten one part of William Penn s message." 
 
 "Yea, verily !" replied Shadrach, "what is that?" 
 
 " It runneth thus," replied the Indian : "And in 
 asmuch as thou lovest fire, William Penn hath sent 
 thee two kegs of water, wherewith to get right 
 merry, and drink his health." 
 
 " Of a certainty, Muskrat," said Shadrach, " the 
 truth is not in thee, for my message hath nothing 
 
56 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 of such import appertaining to its contents. Wil 
 liam Penn dealeth not in rum, brandy, or any other 
 liquid abominations ; neither is he moved by any 
 kind of spirit but that of righteousness. But do 
 ye straightway consult together what answer I 
 am to bear with me to Coaquanock." 
 
 While the old men were consulting, Shadrach, 
 like a redoubtable plenipotentiary, caused the 
 watch-coats, the glass beads, and the tobacco-boxes, 
 to be ostentatiously displayed before the longing 
 eyes of the savages. The more they looked, the 
 more they waxed willing to surrender the captives, 
 until at length Ollentangi announced to Shadrach, 
 that they had no objection to make the exchange, 
 provided the widow, who, as affianced to Konings- 
 marke, ought to have a voice in his disposal, gave 
 her consent. But that notable virago, on being 
 applied to, flatly refused to sanction the treaty, and 
 loudly demanded the sacrifice of her ungrateful 
 slave, who had scorned her love, and forsaken her 
 for a whey-faced girl. Hereupon, Shadrach Mon- 
 eypenny drew from his pouch a beautiful string of 
 sky-blue glass beads, which he courteously and 
 gallantly tied about the neck of the inexorable 
 widow. He then produced a small looking-glass, 
 which he held up before her, that she might see 
 herself thus apparelled, making her understand, at 
 the same time, that these things should be her s, 
 provided she would consent to the reprieve of 
 Koningsmarke. The widow s heart was melted ; 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 57 
 
 she acquiesced in the freedom of her affianced 
 husband, and departed, with a delighted heart, to 
 contemplate herself and her beads in her looking- 
 glass. 
 
 No obstacle now remained to the release of the 
 two captives, who had listened to this negotiation 
 with a breathless solicitude. They were accord 
 ingly untied, washed, dressed, and conducted to 
 the hut where we left Christina and the Indian 
 maid. The meeting between the former and Kon- 
 ingsmarke, after such a parting as we have de 
 scribed, was accompanied by feelings that, though 
 repressed by the presence of the strangers, may 
 be easily imagined. Immediate preparations were 
 made for their departure, lest the savages might 
 repent their bargain, after the novelty of possess 
 ing the coats, beads, and tin boxes, had passed 
 away. Poor Aouetti was quite broken-hearted at 
 the parting with her sister. She would have ac 
 companied her, but was prevented by her mother 
 and friends. Christina, too, could not, in the midst 
 of the new visions of joyous hope that danced 
 before her fancy, forget the gentle kindnesses, the 
 sisterly affection of the little Deer Eyes. But a 
 secret feeling which she could not repress, pre 
 vented her encouraging the idea of Aouetti going 
 to Elsingburgh. She therefore embraced her with 
 tears, kissed her cheek, and bade her sometimes 
 remember her sister Mimi. "Ah!" replied the 
 
58 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 artless maid, " I know I should, I ought to be happy, 
 for you and he will be happy ; but I shall be so 
 miserable when you are gone, that I shall soon 
 die. I could have borne his death, for we would 
 have mourned together ; but I cannot survive his 
 departure with you." Shadrach now summoned 
 his troop, and the procession departed from the 
 village, to return no more. 
 
 Before we conclude this book, it may be proper 
 to explain the causes which led to the release of 
 our three captives. The circumstance may serve 
 to show on what trifling chances the fate of indi 
 viduals sometimes turns. The Indian belonging 
 to the village on the Ohio, destroyed, as we have 
 related, by the Muskrats and Mud Turtles, who had 
 obtained possession of Lob Dotterel s wig, some 
 time afterward visited Coaquanock, and carried 
 that great medicine with him. As may naturally 
 be supposed, such an appendage excited no little 
 curiosity on the part of the Big Hats ; and a cor 
 respondent of the Royal Society of England, just 
 then established, set about preparing a paper upon 
 the subject, wherein he intended to prove, that some 
 of the Indian tribes wore wigs. Subsequent in 
 quiry, however, fully elucidated the phenomenon, 
 and the learned Pundit threw his memoir into the 
 fire. The wig made no little noise in the new 
 world, insomuch that some of the villagers occa 
 sionally neglected their own affairs, to talk on the 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 59 
 
 subject. But the good William Penn, putting all 
 the circumstances together, had little doubt that 
 the wig was connected with the fate of the cap 
 tives of Elsingburgh. With that humanity which 
 characterized all his actions, he lost no time in 
 preparing the mission of Shadrach Moneypenny, 
 which happily resulted in the redemption of our 
 three captives, as we have just related. 
 
 We must not omit mentioning, that the likely 
 fellow, Cupid, of whom we have of late said 
 nothing, because we had nothing to say, also ac 
 companied Shadrach, somewhat against his will. 
 He had lived a life of perfect freedom and idleness, 
 two things equally dear to his condition and colour, 
 the savages permitting him to lounge about, and 
 sun himself as much as he pleased. Cupid, in the 
 elevation of his heart, at thus seeing himself turned 
 gentleman, and his old enemy, Lob Dotterel, obliged 
 to labour for his behoof, one day incautiously let 
 out a secret, which he might better have kept, as 
 it led to consequences that finally involved not 
 only himself in destruction, but caused also the 
 death of his grandmother, the sibyl of the Frizzled 
 Head. 
 
 Omitting, at least for the present, the principal 
 incidents which betel Shadrach and his party on 
 their return to Coaquanock, we shall merely re 
 mark, that honest Lob Dotterel continued, during 
 the whole journey, stupified with the vicissitudes 
 
60 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 he had encountered within a short time past. Nor 
 did he exhibit any sign of consciousness till, on his 
 arrival at this renowned settlement, his wrath was 
 suddenly enkindled, at seeing a knot of little chil 
 dren making dirt pies in the middle of the street. 
 Hereupon the soul of the high constable of Elsing- 
 burgh, suddenly awaked to a perception of passing 
 objects ; and he threatened roundly to commit the 
 juvenile offenders. 
 
BOOK SEVENTH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Concerning the great value of dukes and earls in novel writing. 
 
 IT is quite impossible for our readers to conceive 
 a tenth part of the yearnings we have endured in 
 the course of this work, in consequence of not 
 having been able, without committing some unpar 
 donable violence, to introduce to their acquaintance 
 and familiarity a single titled person, for the pur 
 pose of giving dignity to distress, and point to our 
 jokes. The only man of high rank, the honour of 
 whose intimacy we enjoyed in our travels abroad, 
 was a certain Duke Humphrey, with whom we 
 occasionally dined. But as, to say the truth, we 
 can t declaim much in favour of his dinners or his 
 wine, we will not trouble our readers with an in 
 troduction ; for, to be candid with them, his notice 
 would confer no great honour, the said duke being 
 generally surrounded by a set of hungry authors, 
 who for the most part did not know where else to 
 get a dinner. 
 
 This incapacity we consider a most serious mis 
 fortune, inasmuch as novel writers, we mean those 
 who aspire to the notice and approbation of the 
 
 VOL. II G 
 
62 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 beau monde, may be said to be in the predicament 
 of certain insignificant people, who derive their 
 sole consequence from the company they affect to 
 keep, and to which they take occasion to introduce 
 their friends. These aforesaid persons, by affect 
 ing great intimacy with people of rank, retailing 
 their jokes, and sometimes pretending to disclose 
 their most secret thoughts, acquire the reputation 
 of high ton, and greatly excite the wonder and 
 admiration of the vulgar. We recollect a good- 
 natured, good-for-nothing sort of fellow of this kind, 
 who made it his sole business to introduce a certain 
 great man, of whom he was a kind of hanger-on, 
 to all his little acquaintance. By this means he 
 managed to attain to great consequence, in a cer 
 tain circle, and got numerous invitations to dinner 
 parties. Nay, he at last turned his great man to 
 so good an account, that a city heiress actually 
 was induced to marry him, solely on the score of 
 having it announced in the papers, that his titled 
 friend was at the wedding and gave away the 
 bride. 
 
 We have endeavoured to make all the amends 
 possible for the absence of what constitutes the 
 quintessence of the interest arising from works of 
 imagination, by the introduction of persons coming 
 as near to kings and nobility, as any that are the 
 natural product of our country. But, after all, we 
 are obliged to confess, that Indian monarchs, pro 
 vincial governors, nay, our good friend William 
 
KON1NGSARMKE. 
 
 Penn himself, though the illustrious founder of what 
 may almost be called an empire, are but poor sub 
 stitutes for dukes and earls, whose very titles tickle 
 the fancy so delightfully, that the reader seems all 
 the while swimming in an ocean of peacock s 
 feathers. 
 
 True it is, that we have a knight not a knight- 
 errant, but a genuine knight of James the First s 
 own dubbing, in reserve, as a sort of bonne bouche 
 for the last, in order to leave an agreeable impres 
 sion on the palate of the reader s imagination. But, 
 after all, what is a mere knight ? they are so plenty 
 now-a-days in old England, especially ever since 
 the battle of Waterloo, that the title has not been 
 able to entrap a single city heiress. " Your thirty 
 pound knights," as an old dramatist calls them, 
 who have barely enough to pay for their spurs, 
 swarm exceedingly, and are uncommonly anxious 
 to make every rich plebian Joan they meet, a lady. 
 Nay, not a few of the species have lately infested 
 our country, and, by their actual presence, irre 
 trievably robbed the fashionable young ladies of 
 one of their favourite subjects of contemplation, 
 by giving a clear demonstration that, whatever a 
 king, a duke, or a lord may be, a knight is but a 
 mere man with a " Sir" to his name. Such as he 
 is, however, we beg the reader to make the most 
 of him, when he vouchsafes his appearance. 
 
 To confess the honest truth, we are, as has been, 
 most likely discovered ere this, rather new in the 
 
64 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 trade of novel writing, having been partly induced 
 to enter upon it, as people engage in the tobacco 
 or grocery line, from seeing others prosper mightily 
 in the business. But we shall do better hereafter, 
 having felt the want of a hero and heroine of pro 
 per rank most sorely in the course of this work. 
 We take this opportunity of advertising our friends, 
 and the public in general, that we have at present 
 six new historical novels on the anvil, one of which, 
 we have contracted with our bookseller to ham 
 mer out every twelvemonth, and each of which 
 shall contain one legitimate, tyrannical king, at 
 least, provided there should be a sufficient number 
 remaining unhanged at that time. We have also 
 stipulated with our publisher, that not one of the 
 characters shall be below a right-honourable, or an 
 Irish peer, at least. Advising our readers to keep 
 a good look out for these high treats, we now pro 
 ceed with the thread of our history. 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 66 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Accursed be the stars *******#* 
 The fulsome sun, that shines on all alike, 
 Good, bad, indifferent, tag, rag, and bobtail ! 
 Satan s belied, and so is honest Cain, 
 And so am I but ********! 
 
 Lord 
 
 IT is now time to return, and take a look at the 
 worthy inhabitants of Elsingburgh, who had long 
 ago rebuilt their habitations, and were now each 
 one pursuing his usual avocations, under the salu 
 tary pressure of that necessity, which obliges man 
 kind to forget the past, in providing for the wants 
 of the present and the future. 
 
 As we before premised, the house of Dominie 
 Kanttwell was rebuilt and furnished, by the pious 
 exertions of his flock, before any body else had 
 provided for his own necessities ; and, notwith 
 standing the zeal with which that worthy man 
 declaimed against good works, on this occasion 
 he was pleased to exempt those which were done 
 in his especial behoof, from his malediction. In 
 deed, it must be confessed, the Dominie looked 
 upon charity, especially that charity which was 
 exercised in his own favour, as belonging to a 
 species of good works, which might, under certain 
 circumstances, be tolerated. Still he continued to 
 rail against the luxuries and indulgencies of this 
 
 VOL. II G 2 
 
66 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 world, although his capacious rotundity of figure, 
 his double chin, and large square silver buckles, 
 furnished shrewd indications, that the Dominie did 
 not feel it absolutely necessary to reinforce his 
 precepts by the authority of his example. 
 
 The good aunt Edith, according to the testimony 
 of Dominie Kanttwell, who had lately induced her 
 to make a will in favour of the church, grew every 
 day more perfect. So far did she carry her con 
 tempt for the things of this world, that she extended 
 it to all mankind, except a small circle of the elect, 
 who listened to her edifying instructions, and 
 talked scandal against all the rest of the villagers, 
 whom they were pleased to denominate " vessels 
 of wrath." Considering all these as objects of the 
 Divine vengeance, the good people thought them 
 selves bound to hate them also, and to decline any 
 exchange of kindness or social intercourse with 
 such wicked sinners. These simple, well-meaning 
 souls, thought that they became saints, by strictly 
 following the example of aunt Edith and the Do 
 minie. But they were mistaken. They became 
 spiritually proud, (the worst species of pride,) hard 
 hearted, arrogant, and supercilious, to all but the 
 chosen set ; incapable of social or kindred affec 
 tion ; strangers to the indulgence of pity ; bad 
 fathers, mothers, husbands, and wives ; and incor 
 rigible in their faults, because they cherished them 
 as virtues. In fine, while complacently viewing 
 themselves as exclusively belonging to the elect. 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 67 
 
 they treated all others as outcasts ; as beings 
 having no sort of affinity with themselves, and no 
 common interest with them, either in this world or 
 the world to come. Hence, all the kindnesses of 
 good neighbourhood, the civilities of social life, the 
 customary exchange of acts of courtesy and friend 
 ship, all those little ties which knit society together 
 by the best bonds, those of mutual benefits, pro 
 ducing mutual good-will all these gave place to 
 a harsh contempt, an arrogant superiority, on one 
 hand, and a settled hatred, or contemptuous indif 
 ference, on the other. Such is ever the result 
 of carrying to extremes the application of the 
 excellent precepts, which were doubtless only in 
 tended to check, but not destroy, those worldly 
 feelings and pursuits, which are essential, not only 
 to the happiness, but the very existence of man 
 kind, and are only pernicious to society, or indi 
 viduals, when operating without either moral or 
 religious restraints. 
 
 As to the good aunt Edith, she might with truth 
 be said to wallow every day deeper and deeper in 
 the mire of pious abstraction. Her time, during 
 the intervals between going to church, night meet 
 ings, and love-feasts, was usually passed in bed, 
 where she kept all the family waiting upon her, 
 and where she and the virago, Bombie of the Friz 
 zled Head, used to have divers keen encounters 
 of that sharpest of all sharp weapons, the tongue. 
 While the disconsolate Heer, to whom she was 
 
68 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 indebted for an asylum, a home, and all the com 
 forts of life, was sitting in solitary sorrow, remem 
 bering and lamenting his gentle and affectionate 
 child, without a soul to sympathize in his cureless 
 grief, the excellent Edith, considering him as little 
 better than one of the wicked, paid no attention to 
 his infirmities or his woes, except occasionally to 
 comfort him with the assurance that the loss of his 
 only child was a judgment upon him, for loving her 
 better than the church and the Dominie. 
 
 Sometimes the Frizzled Head, who, though a 
 shrew and a termagant of the first order, was not 
 altogether destitute of that carnal and worldly- 
 minded sympathy, which is held in such abomina 
 tion by the elect, when exercised towards the 
 sinful sons and daughters of men, would prepare 
 some favourite dish, or little nick-nack, to tempt 
 the waning appetite of her master. But so sure 
 as aunt Edith heard of this, though ever so sick 
 and weak, she would rise from her bed, as it were 
 by miracle, lay violent hands on the portion of the 
 good Heer, who fared on these occasions like poor 
 Esau, and carry it off to comfort Dominie Kantt- 
 well, or some one of the elect who had caught 
 cold attending upon a night meeting. Indeed, it 
 was the great object of the Dominie s policy, to 
 govern the community of Elsingburgh, by estab 
 lishing a sort of imperium in imperio in every 
 house of the village. This he effected by gaining 
 an ascendency over the married females, and thus 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 69 
 
 governing the household, in spite of the sinful and 
 inordinate grumblings of its liege and legitimate 
 lord. Some people may think this mode of acquir 
 ing influence was not exactly either fair or honest ; 
 but it is not our business (being a bachelor) to con 
 test the point. We only profess to tell what is 
 necessary to the progress and final catastrophe of 
 our history. 
 
 Numerous, not to say innumerable, were the 
 little societies established, under the influence and 
 patronage of aunt Edith and Dominie Kanttwell, 
 whose industry in collecting donations from men, 
 women, and children, was such that there was not 
 a bit of molasses-candy, or pennyworth of ginger 
 bread, wickedly devoured by the little urchins of 
 Elsingburgh. All went to the Dominie, and through 
 him nobody knew where. One society was the 
 parent of half a dozen more, until they multiplied 
 so fast, that the good women of the village had no 
 time to attend to domestic affairs ; and no traveller 
 could sojourn a night at Elsingburgh, without rising 
 pale in the morning, in consequence of having suf 
 ficed to satiate the appetites of innumerable caitiffs 
 of the carnivorous species, whose numbers always 
 furnish shrewd indications of good or evil house 
 keeping. The Dominie was the prime mover of 
 all these, and it was observed of him, that, like 
 Goldsmith s " man in black," he always went about 
 with his three-cornered cocked-hat, to collect sub 
 scriptions, but never was seen to put any thing into 
 
70 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 it himself. Hence it was affirmed by his admirers, 
 that he was a truly charitable person, who hated 
 ostentation, and always gave in secret. Like 
 FalstafF, however, though nobody, such was the 
 care he took to avoid discovery, ever detected him 
 in being charitable himself, he was certainly the 
 cause of charity in others. So much, indeed, did 
 he excel in the art of levying contributions on the 
 necessities of the poor, that, at one period of our 
 history, there was hardly a labouring man in the 
 village that had a whole coat to his back, or a 
 child that was not sorely out at the elbows ; nay, 
 it may with perfect veracity be affirmed, that a 
 majority of them were in the situation of the verita 
 ble "Dicky Doubt," as set forth in the famous 
 couplet of which Dicky is the hero. The follow 
 ing colloquy, between a worthy hard-working man, 
 called Fospe Ontstout, and his wife, relative to 
 these matters, has been preserved by the Histo 
 rical Society of Elsingburgh, and will better illus 
 trate the effects of the Dominie s exertions, than 
 any general details. There is a notice of Fospe 
 Ontstout appended to the article, stating, that be 
 ing at length reduced to actual poverty, by the 
 attention his wife paid to every body s wants and 
 affairs but those of her family, and the charity she 
 bestowed everywhere but at home, he retrieved 
 his affairs entirely, by the lucky thought of getting 
 appointed beggar to two or three societies : " thus," 
 as the old sly-boots of an author adds, " thus 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 71 
 
 nynglie deportynge hymselfe, belike untoe certaine 
 greene-hornes, who, after beyinge sorely plucked, 
 doe incontinentlye turne ymselves aboute, and 
 plucke others ynne theire turne." It is likewise 
 noted in the old manuscript, that Fospe s wife was 
 a plump, rosy-faced dame, and reckoned one of 
 the prettiest women in the whole village. 
 
 It was a cold, raw evening, and Fospe, after 
 being out all day in the sleet and rain, cutting wood, 
 returned home, cold, wet and hungry, and addressed 
 his wife as follows : 
 
 Fospe. Terese, my good girl, my feet are as 
 wet as a drowned rat. Give me a pair of dry 
 stockings from those I bought the other day of the 
 pedlar from New-York. 
 
 Terese. I can t, my dear ; I gave them all to 
 the society last night. The Dominie says we must 
 give all our sparings to the poor, and tells us we 
 shall never miss what we give away in this manner. 
 
 Fospe. Hum ! I wish the Dominie would make 
 his words good, for I feel just now very uncom 
 fortable, and miss very much the dry stockings you 
 gave away to the society. But I suppose there s 
 no help for it ; so, as I have no money just now, I 
 must borrow the shilling I gave Hans for Christmas, 
 and step over to the shop to buy a pair. 
 
 Terese. But, my dear, Hans has parted with his 
 money already. 
 
 Fospe. What, the young rogue has been at the 
 cake-shop, I suppose ? 
 
72 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 Terese. No, my dear, Dominie Kanttwell per 
 suaded us to give it to the society, and promised 
 to mention Hans, in his sermon next Sunday, be 
 fore the whole congregation. 
 
 Fospe. Well, what s done can t be undone ; we 
 must sell the pig, for my stockings are not only 
 wet, but worn out, and I must have a dry pair, wife. 
 
 Terese. To be sure, but, my dear, the pig is 
 gone too. 
 
 Fospe. What, has he run away, or been stolen ? 
 
 Terese. No, my dear ; but the Dominie begged 
 him for the society ; he assured me the pig would 
 be returned tenfold to us. 
 
 Fospe. Hum ! ay ! Well, Terese, just run to the 
 pig-sty, and see if the ten pigs have arrived. We 
 must part with one of them immediately. But 
 stay ; it is wet, and you d better not go out this 
 evening. Call Hans, and I ll send him. 
 
 Terese. Here he comes, my dear. 
 
 Fospe. Why, he looks like a beggar s brat, all 
 in rags. I wish, my dear, you would mend his 
 trowsers, for you see his knees are all naked. 
 
 Terese. I would, my dear, but really I havn t 
 time. The society has agreed to make up six 
 dozen suits for the poor children of Greenland, who 
 the Dominie assures us, are starving with cold, and 
 all my time is taken up in labouring for these dear 
 little sufferers. The Dominie says it will bring a 
 blessing on the family. 
 
 Fospe. Well, well, the Dominie, I dare say, is 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 73 
 
 right. Here, Hans, run to the pig-sty, and see 
 if the ten pigs are come. 
 
 Terese. Lord, my dear, you don t you re not 
 such a fool as to believe they are come already. 
 
 Fospe. Why riot, my dear? The Dominie 
 told you so, and every thing he says is true. But, 
 my dear, what have you got for supper? you know 
 I ve had nothing since breakfast. Can t you cook 
 some of the fat venison, left this morning ? come, 
 bustle, my dear, I m as hungry as a wolf. 
 
 Terese. But, my dear, all the fat venison is 
 gone; I 
 
 Fospe. What ! you and Hans, and the rest of 
 the little rogues, have made away with it hey ? 
 Well, never mind, I m glad you ve got good stom 
 achs and something to fill them. 
 
 Terese. No, no, my dear, we made our dinner 
 of the fresh fish you caught yesterday, from under 
 the ice. The Dominie begged the venison for a 
 poor family, he said had given all they could spare 
 to the society, and were now sick and starving. 
 
 Fospe. Very well, Terese, we mustn t refuse 
 to help people that are sick and starving. But 
 though I m not sick, I m almost starved myself. 
 Do bake me a warm Indian cake, will you ? come, 
 that s a good girl. 
 
 Terese. I would, my dear, but how worldly- 
 minded you are ! The Dominie says we mustn t 
 think of such things : don t you see the fire is all 
 gone out ? 
 
 VOL. II H 
 
74 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 Fospe. Yes, and feel it too ; but how came you 
 to let it go out, this raw, cold day ? 
 
 Terese. Why, my dear, Dominie Kanttwell 
 called for me to go with him to a meeting, and so 
 
 Fospe. Hum ! but what became of the children 
 while you were gone ? 
 
 Terese. Why, I locked them all up together, 
 and put out the fire, for fear of accidents. 
 
 Fospe. Careful mother ! Well, I ll go and 
 make a fire, and then you shall bake me the Indian 
 cake, while I dry myself by the blaze. 
 
 Terese. Yes, my dear, but 
 
 Fospe. But what, Terese ? 
 
 Terese. Why, to tell you the truth, my dear, I 
 am engaged to go with the Dominie to a protracted 
 meeting this evening, and it is now about the 
 time. The Dominie says, that baking cakes, mend 
 ing our children s clothes, and all that, is but filthy 
 rags, compared with night meetings. 
 
 The patience of poor Fospe was now quite ex 
 hausted ; " the d 1 take the Dominie," cried he, 
 " I wish he had my wet feet and empty stomach 
 for his night s portion with all my heart." Just 
 then the Dominie entered, with a stately step, and 
 sonorous " hem ! " that awed the spirit of the good 
 yeoman into silent acquiescence. Terese put on 
 her bonnet and cloak, and accompanied the Domi 
 nie to the love-feast, whence she did not return till 
 almost midnight. Poor Fospe went to bed wet 
 and hungry, and could not help thinking, as he said 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 75 
 
 his prayers, the Dominie might be better employed 
 than in teaching well-meaning women, that the 
 neglect of their domestic duties in this world was 
 the surest passport to happiness in the world to 
 come. 
 
 Before concluding this chapter, it is our desire 
 to have it distinctly understood, that we enter not, 
 either directly or indirectly, upon any questions 
 connected with religious controversies, or the util 
 ity of any of those numerous societies, which the 
 zeal, the humanity, or the ostentatious vanity of 
 mankind have instituted. All we design is, to re 
 late what happened in the famous village of Elsing- 
 burgh ; and if in so doing, it should appear that 
 indiscreet zeal, sometimes, is found at war with 
 social duties and social happiness, and that ill-di 
 rected charity often impoverishes the industrious 
 without relieving the idle, let us not be blamed for 
 these consequences. They only furnish additional 
 proof, that excess is in itself the root of all evil, 
 and that whenever the blessed institution of reli 
 gion interferes with our social and moral obliga 
 tions, it ceases to be the conservator of human 
 happiness, as well as of human virtue. As the 
 excesses of sensual indulgence destroy the capacity 
 for more refined gratifications, so do those of a 
 fanatical religion blight and wither the most amiable 
 feelings of the heart, rendering us insensible to 
 many of the purest, the most exalted delights of 
 which our nature is susceptible. 
 
70 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 " Let fools gaze 
 
 t bearded stars, it is all one to me 
 As if they had been shaved. 
 I will out-beard a comet any day, 
 Or night either, marry." 
 
 ALL this while the poor Heer remained without 
 a hope, without a comforter, his mind ever running 
 on the blue-eyed maiden he had, peradventure, 
 lost for ever. The judgment which, according to 
 aunt Edith s theory, had fallen upon his head, for 
 the punishment of his sinful delights in contem 
 plating the mild virtues, and gentle, unobtrusive 
 charms of his duteous, affectionate daughter, 
 seemed only to bind him more closely to the earth, 
 for he could think of nought but her. His sole 
 employment was in doing nothing, although he was 
 incapable of sitting still more than a minute at a 
 time. Like Bombie of the Frizzled Head, he wan 
 dered and wandered about, almost without purpose, 
 or even consciousness, until some sound, some ob 
 ject, some nothing, as it would seem, struck upon 
 one of those chords by which every thing that is 
 beautiful or sweet in nature is connected with the 
 memory of those we love, and have lost. Then 
 ;iis trembling lip, and wan, wet eye, bore testi- 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 77 
 
 mony, that the light still continued to burn, though 
 the lamp which held it seemed quite broken to 
 pieces. 
 
 He no longer took an interest in the affairs of 
 his government, which now fell into the hands of 
 master Wolfgang Langfanger, who thereupon took 
 his full swing of public improvements. He caused 
 new streets to be opened in every direction across 
 the fields, which the good people of Elsingburgh 
 avoided in dry weather on account of the dust, 
 and in wet, on account of the mud. Thus the fine 
 grassy lawns, and rich fields, that whilom yielded 
 a golden harvest of grain, were cut up and laid 
 waste, to wait till the village should grow over 
 them. The unlucky proprietors were in this way, 
 as it were, cut with a two-edged sword ; they were 
 obliged to pay for these improvements, and at the 
 same time lost the products of their fields. But 
 the masterpiece of Langfanger s policy was that of 
 pulling down an old market, and building a new 
 one in another part of the village, in the manage 
 ment of which business he is supposed to have laid 
 down the first principles of the great and thriving 
 science of political economy, or picking people s 
 pockets on a great scale. He caused the people 
 living near the old market to pay roundly for its 
 removal as a nuisance ; and then he caused the 
 people that lived about where the new one was to 
 be built, to pay roundly for the vast pleasure and 
 advantage of its neighbourhood. Thus he pinched 
 
 VOL. II H 2 
 
78 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 them through both ears, and got the reputation of 
 a great financier. 
 
 There was muckle scratching of heads at El- 
 singburgh, and serious complaints made to the 
 governor ; but that good man paid little or no at 
 tention either to his own wants or to those of his 
 people. He was, indeed, desolate and forlorn. 
 The Dominie now seldom came near him, because 
 he refused to be comforted by his assurances that 
 the loss of his only child was a great blessing, if 
 properly considered ; aunt Edith was quite elevated 
 above the world and all things in it, save the meet 
 ing of the elect & societies, love-feasts, and the 
 like. She held such bereavements as the loss of 
 children, parents, friends, and brothers, as trifles 
 which affected none save the worldly-minded, the 
 chosen vessels of wrath ; and considered the per 
 formance of domestic duties as among the filthiest 
 of those filthy rags, miscalled good works. Nay, 
 the veritable Bombie of the Frizzled Head, al 
 though she continued duteously to serve up the 
 favourite dish of pepperpot at supper time, obsti 
 nately refused to sympathize with him in the ex 
 tremity of his sorrows. 
 
 " Ah ! if my poor lost Christina were here," would 
 he sometimes exclaim, when any little string was 
 touched that brought her loss home to him " ah ! 
 if she were here, I should not be left thus alone. 
 But what is an old man like me, without the tender 
 and duteous ministrations of a virtuous daughter? 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 79 
 
 he is a trunk, whose roots are decayed whose 
 branches are blighted whose heart, hollow and 
 decayed, is only the refuge of the worm that never 
 dies. Snow Ball, witch, devil, whatever thou art, 
 tell me, dost thou think I shall ever see my poor 
 Christina more ?" 
 
 " I have seen what I have seen I know what 
 I know." 
 
 " Well, well," impatiently rejoined the Heer ; 
 " I suppose you do ; most people can say that of 
 themselves. But hast thou seen, and dost thou 
 know, more than other people ? Answer me, house 
 keeper of Satan dost thou think we shall ever 
 meet again ?" 
 
 " There perhaps," replied the Frizzled Head, 
 pointing her horn-headed stick towards the blue 
 sky, that was studded with stars, among which the 
 new crescent of the moon held its course, like a 
 bark of pearl in a sea of azure " there, where 
 the purified spirit finds its last serene abode or" 
 dropping her stick to point to the earth " there, 
 where" 
 
 " Away, thou screeching day-owl," interrupted 
 the Heer ; " blasted be the heart that conceived, 
 the breath that shall utter such a prophecy ! Why, 
 I I indeed have sometimes soiled my immortal 
 spirit with the stain of worldly sins ; but she Oh ! 
 she was pure as the flake of snow in its midway 
 flight from the Heavens, ere it reaches this contami 
 nated earth ; she was" 
 
80 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 " Ay, Heer, she was and which of us, in look 
 ing back, cannot put our finger on the point of time 
 when we too were innocent ? Months have passed 
 away, since thy daughter left thee, but in less time 
 than that, according to thy book of faith, the angels 
 lost their place in Heaven ; a third part of the stars 
 that glittered around the throne of Him who made 
 us all, black, red, and white, alike, tumbled to the 
 earth ay, lower than the earth into the bottom 
 less gulf; he who was called the Son of the Morning, 
 fell among the rest, and foremost of them all. Wilt 
 thou say, then, that because thy daughter was pure 
 and innocent months ago, she must of necessity be 
 so still?" 
 
 " Pestilent imp of darkness, seed of sulphur, 
 scourge of my blasted hopes, torturer of my bro 
 ken heart," cried the Heer, " be silent, or tell me 
 what thou really knowest of my lost child." 
 
 " I know," replied the Frizzled Head, " that she 
 still lives, for had she died, I should have seen and 
 spoken with her, ere her body had passed into the 
 tomb. I know she lives, but that is all I know. 
 Whether thou wilt ever see her, here or hereafter, 
 I cannot tell ; and if I cannot, none other can ; for 
 I have seen what I have seen I know what I 
 know. I saw thy child carried like a lamb from 
 its fold, in company with the wolf that seeks to 
 devour her ; I warned him by the memory of the 
 past, the hope of the future ; I adjured him by the 
 fate of the mother, by the kindness of the father, 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 81 
 
 the affection of the daughter, by all that good men 
 hold sacred and villains scorn, to be unto her a true 
 and watchful shepherd : he appealed to Heaven he 
 would. But if man is a wolf to man, what is he 
 to woman ? At first, the cringing slave, and next 
 the unfeeling tyrant." 
 
 " But, shall I see her again before I die ?" reit 
 erated the Heer, who, in the weakness of sorrow, 
 sought to wring from the Frizzled Head, even what 
 he would not dare to believe when it was uttered. 
 
 " The revolving sun often brings every thing 
 back to where it was before. Thou mayest, per 
 haps, see her again ; she may one day come to thee, 
 when she hath forgotten herself and her parent ; 
 when time, and hardships, and the example of those 
 around her, have worn out all traces of thy gentle, 
 delicate and duteous daughter. She may return 
 with a painted face, and limbs dilated into a clumsy 
 magnitude, by toil and exposure to the wintry 
 winds, and the labours which brutal man puts on 
 our sex, when neither honour nor shame restrains 
 his wanton tyranny ; she may come with a pa 
 poose !" 
 
 " Hence !" burst forth the almost maddened Heer ; 
 "hence, wholesale dealer in the devil s haber 
 dashery ; away 1 offspring of wrath and fire ; 
 drown thyself in the river, hang thyself on the 
 highest tree of the forest, or rather live, and waste 
 away thy black and blasted flesh in tortures, such 
 
82 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 as thou hast inflicted upon a poor childless old man 
 -begone, and der teufel hole dich" 
 
 This was the first time the Heer had relapsed 
 into High Dutch since the loss of Christina, and, if 
 the truth were known, it is believed the Frizzled 
 Head purposely provoked him in this manner, that 
 he might sometimes forget his daughter in rage 
 against his slave. But she failed in her object. 
 The anger of the master was momentary ; the 
 grief of the father was without end. 
 
KONINGSMARKE* 83 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 "Were it not that I pity the multitude of printers, these 
 chapters had never been written. But besides, I find it neces 
 sary to refresh my dulness every day by eating, for, by r lady, 
 Minerva loves the larder." 
 
 AFTER a conversation similar to that recorded 
 in the last chapter, the Heer seated himself discon 
 solately in his old arm-chair, and was silently and 
 sorrowfully contemplating a picture, representing 
 his little daughter Christina, then about a year old, 
 nestling on the bosom of her mother, now no more. 
 As a specimen of art, the picture was not worth 
 a stiver ; but the Heer would not have parted with 
 it for the whole wealth of his territory, for it was 
 almost the only memorial, save that which he car 
 ried in his old broken heart, of the two beings he 
 had loved better than all the world besides. While 
 thus seated, the good man communed with his 
 heart, in something like the following soliloquy: 
 
 " Ah ! wife of my bosom, and daughter of my 
 heart s blood, ye are gone from me, though in the 
 common course of nature, I should rather have 
 departed before you. Where are ye now, my 
 companion in youth, my solace in old age ? The one 
 is a saint in Heaven but the other ! my sprightly, 
 kind-hearted, duteous daughter ! Her eyes, the 
 colour of Heaven, are long ere this closed in dark- 
 
84 
 
 KONINGSMARRE. 
 
 ness ; her cheeks, the colour of the rose, are clay- 
 cold and blanched now the prey of sorrow, and 
 the worm. Or perhaps she still lives, a wretched 
 outcast of the woods, the companion of wild beasts, 
 the slave of men wilder than they ; shut out from 
 her customary society, deprived of the solace of 
 parental affection, and robbed of all that makes 
 existence aught but a weary burden, a weight that 
 crushes the elastic spirit to the earth, and points it 
 to the grave as its only refuge. My daughter ! 
 my only, my beloved child !" 
 
 As the Heer thus indulged himself in melancholy 
 ponderings, his attention was called off by a distant 
 noise, that came to his ear like the shouts of joyful 
 exultation. He listened, but again all was silent. 
 What can it mean thought he. But the thought 
 was only momentary, and he sunk into his usual 
 train of dark and dismal contemplation. Again 
 the shout was repeated, still nearer, by the noisy 
 tongues of the village train, whose unladen spirits 
 were ever ready to seize occasions for noise and 
 jollity. Nearer, and still nearer, came the rout, 
 until at length the attention of the Heer was roused 
 by something which struck upon his heart like a 
 repetition of Christina s name. He started up, 
 and, hurrying with faltering steps to the window, 
 beheld, a little way off, a crowd of people, in the 
 midst of which seemed to be a tall, stately figure, 
 mounted on horseback, with something that looked 
 like a woman seated behind him. The waning 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 85 
 
 lamp of his aged eyes would not permit him to 
 distinguish any more. Yet and the hope glanced 
 upon his heart like lightning yet, if it should be 
 her, returning at last to his arms ! As the eye, 
 when long accustomed to darkness, shuts close its 
 lids at the slightest ray of light, so does the mortal 
 spirit, weakened by age, long-suffering, melancholy 
 thoughts, and dark forebodings, become overpow 
 ered by the first ray of hope that glances into its 
 gloomy recesses. It often happens, too, that the 
 ardent desire to realize a darling hope, is checked 
 by an apprehension that certainty, instead of lead 
 ing to fruition, will only lead to disappointment. 
 To minds naturally weak, or weakened by long- 
 suffering, uncertainty is less painful than to know 
 the worst. 
 
 From one or both these causes, the good Heer, 
 instead of going forth to learn the truth, returned 
 trembling to his chair, and there sat waiting, al 
 most in a state of insensibility, the approach of the 
 crowd. 
 
 " My father ! where, where is he ?" exclaimed 
 a voice that went to the innermost soul of the old 
 man, who sat riveted to his chair, without the 
 power of speech or motion. A moment after, a 
 figure rushed in and threw herself at his feet, kissed 
 his hands, and wept upon them. 
 
 " My father, hast thou forgotten Christina, or, 
 Oh ! heavenly powers ! perhaps he has forgotten 
 himself ! speak to me, dear father, or kiss me, or 
 
 VOL. II I 
 
86 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 press my hand Oh, do something to show thou 
 rememberest and lovest thy child." 
 
 The Heer pressed her hand, in token that he 
 had not forgotten his daughter, but it was some 
 minutes before he became sufficiently recovered 
 to take her to his bosom, weep over, and bless her. 
 When he did, the scene was so moving, that the 
 spectators shed tears of sympathy ; and even the 
 dry and parched cheeks of Shadrach Moneypenny 
 exhibited indications of moisture. 
 
 " But you must thank my deliverers," said Chris 
 tina, when the first strong feelings of joy had sub 
 sided. 
 
 " And who are they ?" answered the Heer, 
 wiping his eyes and looking round. "Ah! Long 
 Finne, art thou there? I dare almost swear thou 
 hadst a hand in my daughter s preservation : come 
 hither boy, thou art thrice welcome. Is it not so, 
 Christina ?" 
 
 " I owe my life to him," replied Christina, "but 
 not my liberty, father." 
 
 " To whom then ? if he is present, I will hug 
 him in my arms ; if absent, I will seek him through 
 the world but I will thank him ; if he be poor, I 
 will make him rich ; if he be rich, he shall have 
 my everlasting gratitude. Stand forth, whoever 
 thou art ; the guilty are not ashamed of their evil 
 deeds why should the virtuous blush for theirs ?" 
 
 The stiff and upright form of Shadrach Money- 
 penny now advanced with measured steps towards 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 87 
 
 the Heer, who, on perceiving it approaching, started 
 up, and hugged Shadrach, with such good- will, that 
 the head of the governor actually dislodged the 
 hat of the other, and it fell to the floor. Shadrach 
 stooped down with great deliberation, and, picking 
 up the hat, placed it on his head and said 
 
 " Take notice, friend Piper, I pulled not off mine 
 own hat, in reference to thy dignity, or that of thy 
 master, the bloody-minded man, who carrieth the 
 gospel of peace upon the incarnadined point of his 
 sword. It fell by accident, verily." 
 
 " Be it so," returned the Heer; " thou shalt wear 
 thy beaver in the presence of kings, nay, of the 
 king of kings, if thou likest, my noble benefactor, 
 to whom I owe more than I can ever pay." 
 
 " I am not thy benefactor, friend Piper," quoth 
 Shadrach, " and thou owest me no more than that 
 good-will which we are enjoined to bear towards 
 all our neighbours. What I have done was by the 
 command, (or rather, at the request) of William 
 Penn, (for we obey no orders from any man, or 
 body of men, except we list,) who sent me forth 
 with into the wilderness, with store of glass beads, 
 tobacco, and the like, to redeem thy daughter, to 
 gether with him they call the Long Finne ; likewise 
 friend Dotterel, commonly denominated among the 
 aboriginals the Jumping Sturgeon ; and lastly, the 
 coloured lad, bearing the heathen appellative of 
 Cupid, the which I do entreat thee as a partic 
 ular favour, to have christened over again, in 
 
88 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 which case I will accord myself to stand god 
 father." 
 
 " Well, then," replied the Heer, " I shall be 
 think myself of some means worthily and magnifi 
 cently to reward both the good William Penn and 
 all those who have been the instruments of his 
 benevolence in the redemption of my dear child, 
 whose return to my bosom is as the warmth of 
 spring to the torpid animals of the forest." 
 
 " William Penn wants no rewards, neither do 
 I," quoth Shadrach. " When he despatched me 
 forth into the wilderness, and I departed in accord 
 ance with his wishes, it was not as if on an expe 
 dition of trade or profit. We will exchange with 
 thee good offices, but we cannot sell them." 
 
 " Well, but, der teufel" replied the Heer, a little 
 ruffled 
 
 " Swear not all," interrupted Shadrach "friend 
 Piper, swear not at all. And, now I bethink me, 
 if thou wishest to exhibit thy gratitude to William 
 Penn, or me, his chosen vessel, let it be in the utter 
 abandonment of that unseemly custom, which, I 
 am aggrieved to say, savours of the company and 
 good-fellowship of Satan and his imps." 
 
 At any other time, this sally of Shadrach would 
 have brought the wrath of the Heer upon him, in 
 a great tempest of expletives ; but now he had got 
 his daughter s hand in his, while she herself was 
 seated on the little stool, which whilom supported 
 his gouty foot, and felt so happy at the moment, 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 89 
 
 that he had neither room nor words for any other 
 feeling. 
 
 " Say, then," said he at length, in reply to Sha- 
 drach s exhortation " say that I will come myself, 
 and thank him for having restored tome my child; 
 and think to thyself that I will never forget thy 
 good offices." 
 
 " I will so say," rejoined Shadrach. "And now, 
 albeit I have finished my mission, and done the 
 bidding (or rather the request) of William Penn, 
 I will essay my return from whence I came. Fare 
 well, friend Piper swear not at all." 
 
 Shadrach then shook hands with the governor, 
 the Long Finne, and the likely fellow Cupid, whom 
 he exhorted to take to himself a new name, of 
 Christian seemliness. He also looked about for the 
 Jumping Sturgeon, who, however, was found want 
 ing, being at that time busily employed in keeping 
 order among his old enemies, the roistering urchins 
 of Elsingburgh. The spirit then moved Shadrach 
 Money penny to approach the fair Christina, which 
 he did with great gallantry, his beaver being up in 
 front. 
 
 "Maiden," quoth Shadrach, "humph! verily 
 thou art fair, and comely therewithal : I will shake 
 hands with thee for old acquaintance sake. Ver 
 ily, humph I say again thou art exceeding fair 
 and comely: I will salute thee, maiden, being 
 thereunto moved by having sojourned with thee in 
 the wilderness. Verily, humph I say a third 
 
 VOL. II 1 2 
 
90 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 time, maiden, thou art altogether and without equal 
 fair and comely ; I will embrace thee in the spirit, 
 being thereunto moved by" 
 
 But Shadrach, as he opened his arms to carry 
 into execution his sober wishes, like another Ixion, 
 embraced a cloud. Christina had taken advantage 
 of his habit of elevating his eyes to the ceiling, to 
 slip away, unperceived by the good man, who, 
 without the least appearance of being ruffled and 
 disquieted at the disappointment, gravely observed 
 that the maiden was over bashful. He then turned 
 himself as on a pivot, and departed amid the grate 
 ful thanks of all, save the Long Finne, who never 
 forgave Shadrach the sin of having touched the 
 red lip of Christina. 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 91 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 " Most heart-commanding faced gentlewoman, even as the 
 stone in India called basilinus hurts all that look on it, and as 
 the serpent in Arabia called smaragdus delighteth the sight, so 
 does thy celestial, orb-assimilating eyes both please, and, pleas 
 ing, pain my love-darted heart." 
 
 Euphues, and his England. 
 
 WHEN Shadrach Moneypenny had gathered 
 himself together, and departed for Coaquanock, the 
 Heer and his little party, being left alone, drew 
 into a circle, and began to compare notes one with 
 another. Perhaps one of the most pleasing results 
 of the meeting of long separated friends is this 
 mutual interchange of the relations of past events. 
 Our little self-love is gratified in telling all that has 
 happened to us, and our curiosity, perhaps a better 
 feeling, feasted with the chronicle of what has 
 befallen others. Alternately the hero and the 
 auditor of these domestic legends, each one enjoys 
 a temporary hour of supremacy, and all are pleased, 
 because all have their turn in talking. The happy 
 Heer, seated between his daughter and the Long 
 Finne, holding a hand of the former, questioned, and 
 answered, and listened, and talked, like a boy ; for 
 the return of his darling had made him feel young 
 again. 
 
 The party consisted only of the three, with the 
 occasional intrusion of the Frizzled Head, and her 
 
92 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 likely grandson, who, under various pretences, 
 went and came, without having any positive errand 
 to justify the intrusion. The good aunt Edith was, 
 as usual, lying a-bed, too sick even to admit of a 
 visit from her niece, which she feared might agitate 
 her so much that she would not be able to attend 
 a prayer meeting on the ensuing evening. The 
 worthy Dominie Kanttwell, too, was either en 
 gaged, or pretended to be so, and came not to 
 congratulate the Heer on the return of his only 
 child from captivity among the wild men of the 
 woods. Indeed, it was shrewdly suspected, that 
 the good man, as well as aunt Edith, were both 
 somewhat mortified at the failure of their favourite 
 doctrine of temporal judgments, on this occasion, 
 as exemplified in the happy return of Christina ; 
 and there were those who did not scruple to in 
 sinuate, that the Dominie was sorely wounded in 
 spirit, at the downfall of a plan for benefiting the 
 church, which depended on the absence of the fair 
 Christina. 
 
 " Ah ! poor Ludwig !" cried the Heer, as Kon- 
 ingsmarke related the manner in which he had 
 cheated the savages of their bloody feast " ah ! 
 brave, merry, thoughtless rogue ! he lived only for 
 the present breath he drew, and thought not of the 
 next moment, much less of the morrow. Jolly 
 Varlett ! he was as brave as the great Gustavus, 
 not to mention another person, whose name it 
 would not become me to utter, being that self- 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 93 
 
 praise is but another name for self-blame. He used 
 to say, that a man who feared not what the present 
 moment could bring, yet shrunk from the next, was 
 like a superstitious blockhead, that would wrestle 
 with flesh and blood, and run away from his own 
 shadow. Honest Wolfgang Langfanger and he 
 could never agree, for Wolfgang thought nothing 
 of the present, I mean in a worldly point of view, 
 while Ludwig held, that in the firm of past, present, 
 and future, the first and the last were little more 
 than sleeping partners. Ah ! pleasant, merry 
 Varlett ! would I could hear him sing again ! But 
 now," continued the Heer, addressing himself to 
 Koningsmarke " now tell me about thyself. How 
 didst thou live, and how did my poor little girl en 
 dure the savage thraldom hey ? Thy hand is not 
 so soft nor so white as it used to be, my daughter," 
 said he, as he pressed it tenderly in his own. 
 
 This led to a recapitulation of the events detailed 
 in our preceding chapters, in which Christina and 
 Koningsmarke, alternating, related their dangers 
 and sufferings, omitting certain scenes, only in 
 teresting to the performers. The Heer alternately 
 laughed and wept. As they related the adventures 
 of Lob Dotterel s wig, and the adoption of that 
 trusty officer into the tribe of the Muskrats, he in 
 dulged in bursts of merriment, and ever after called 
 him by the name of the Jumping Sturgeon. The 
 sufferings of his child melted his heart ; and when 
 she told him of the kindness of little Aouetti, the 
 
94 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 Deer Eyes, he declared his determination to have 
 her sought out, and brought to Elsingburgh, that 
 he might reward her by the affection of a father, 
 for her goodness to his daughter. Christina, how 
 ever, for some reason or other, which, as she did 
 not avow, we should hold ourselves guilty of be 
 traying her confidence if we disclosed, did not 
 second this motion, and the good Heer was too 
 happy to notice her apparent indifference to her 
 adopted sister. 
 
 " And now," exclaimed the Heer, when they 
 had finished the relation of their adventures "and 
 now, Koningsmarke, my dear son, for such thou 
 hast been to me, tell me how I may best reward 
 thee, for having saved the life of my child, and 
 watched over her safety in the desolate wilderness. 
 I have wealth, more than enough for my wants, 
 speak, and as much of it is thine as shall place 
 thee above the world." 
 
 Koningsmarke replied not, but shook his head, 
 and looked at Christina. 
 
 " No ?" said the good Heer, answering his look 
 and shake of the head, " No ? thou art proud, then, 
 and disdainest to be repaid for thy kindness to an 
 old man and his daughter, with money. But re 
 member, I am at least thy debtor for a handful of 
 Mark Newby s halfpence," added he, smiling. 
 
 " Money cannot repay me for what I have done 
 for thy daughter," rejoined Koningsmarke, with an 
 air and tone of melancholy pride. 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 95 
 
 "No? Der teufel! but what? thou boldest thy 
 favours above all price then ?" 
 
 " None think less than I do of what I have done 
 for others : what others do for me, is a different 
 affair." 
 
 " Well, then, I have some influence with the 
 great Gustavus, who, no doubt, remembers the 
 good service I did him, in taking a corporal s guard. 
 I will use it in thy behalf, and entreat him, as I am 
 old and feeble, and wish for retirement, to appoint 
 thee my successor in the government of New 
 Swedeland hey ?" 
 
 The Long Finne again shook his head, and was 
 silent. 
 
 " What ! then, du galgen schivenkel? exclaimed 
 the Heer, waxing wroth apace " what ! then thou 
 disdainest my friendship, and contemnest my grati 
 tude ? Hark ye, henckers knecht, be pleased to 
 comprehend, that I hold when a man refuses to 
 be repaid for the favours he confers, he cancels 
 the obligation. Look ye, Long Finne am I not 
 old enough to be thy father ? am I not the repre 
 sentative of the great Gustavus ? am I not obliged 
 to thee for the safety of my only child ? Sfoot, 
 sir and dost thou dare to tell me, thus to my face, 
 that it is not thy pleasure to be rewarded ? Now 
 mark me, youngster either name thy reward, or 
 fight me to-morrow morning with good broad 
 swords. I ll teach thee to encumber me with a 
 load of gratitude sufficient to smother Shadrach 
 
96 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 Moneypenny s great horse, and then refuse to 
 assist me in getting rid of it. Come, stripling, name 
 thy reward, or shalt smoke for it to-morrow." 
 
 Koningsmarke dropped on his knee, and, taking 
 the hand of Christina, pressed it to his lips and 
 his heart. 
 
 " I deserve her not I ask her not I dare not 
 ask you for her. But, Oh ! Heer if she owes her 
 life to me, as well as to thee if I have watched, 
 and toiled, and fought for her if I have borne her 
 in my arms, when her own limbs refused to sup 
 port her, through the irksome wilderness if I have 
 been to her as a brother, to you as a son think 
 what I could wish not what I ask, or deserve as 
 a recompense the only recompense you can be 
 stow, or I accept." 
 
 " What ! henckers knecht my daughter, hey ? 
 By the glory of the immortal champion, Gustavus, 
 but that is indeed cancelling the obligation ! Thou 
 first gavest me my daughter, and now thou wilt 
 take her away again. Thou wouldst rob me of 
 the treasure thou hast just found and restored 
 to me ?" 
 
 " Not rob thee, Heer ; I would wish to double 
 the blessing, by adding to the solace of a daughter s 
 tender ministry, the support of a duteous, grateful 
 son." 
 
 " And thou wouldst not ask her to abandon her 
 poor old father ?" 
 
 " No we would live and die with thee. Thy 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 7 
 
 house should be our home ; and, if it so pleased 
 Heaven, our graves should be close to thine." 
 
 " Sayest thou, coward ! ha ! thou hadst rather 
 marry, then, than meet my old rusty broadsword ? 
 well, thou art a prudent young stripling after all. 
 Christina, hast got a fever, for within these last 
 fifteen minutes, thy pulse hath risen to a truly 
 alarming pitch ? Christina, what shall I say to this 
 worthy lad, who so well understandeth the value 
 of his services? truly, honest Finne, thou shalt be 
 made superintendent of the Indian trade, being as 
 thou so well comprehendest the mysteries of bar 
 gaining." 
 
 If a young woman can possibly be brought to 
 say yes, to such a question as that of the Heer, it 
 must be when she is alone with the person that 
 asks it, unless we are mistaken in our recollection 
 of the pure and delicate Dan Cupid, that whilom 
 used to fan the flame of love in female hearts. 
 Christina replied not. 
 
 " Well," said the Heer, " silence gives consent. 
 Thou art no true woman, Christina, if thou art not 
 ready to devote thyself to the wishes of one, who 
 gave thee life, and of that good-looking youth who 
 hath preserved it more than once. Here, Long 
 Finne, here is her hand ; if she dissents, she has 
 only to signify as much by withdrawing it." 
 
 Christina did not withdraw her hand, although 
 her pale cheek, and trembling frame, bore testi 
 mony that though she gave herself to Konings- 
 
 VOL. II K 
 
08 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 marke, it was not with that ample trust, that bound 
 less confidence, that measureless hope, with which 
 the ardent, inexperienced maid so often throws 
 herself, her virtues, her wealth, and her beauty 
 into the bosom of man. 
 
 " This day shall be kept as the happiest of my 
 life," cried the Heer. " It is yes, it is the day 
 I was married, the day of thy birth, Christina ; the 
 day too in which Heaven gave thee to me a second 
 time, that I might secure thy happiness by giving 
 thee to one whom Providence made the instrument 
 of thy preservation. Blessed be this day !" 
 
 "It is the day of thy wife s death, too !" exclaimed 
 the Frizzled Head, who w T as always flitting about 
 like the bird of night, and always croaking. " It is 
 the day of thy wife s death ; thy wife, who, if she 
 could at this blessed moment lift the shroud and 
 come among you, would hold up her bloodless 
 hand, and shriek in ghostly accents against this 
 unhappy union ; forbidden by the memory of the 
 past, the auguries of the future. I, that know what 
 thou, Heer, knowest not I, that have seen what 
 thou didst not see, I tell thee, Heer, I tell thee, 
 weak maiden, and," holding up her withered finger 
 in scorn, to Koningsmarke, " I tell thee, that rathe 
 than this accursed marriage shall take place, I will 
 say what shall blast thy purpose and send thee 
 wandering again to another new world, if such 
 there be. Better be dead than wedded thus." 
 
 " Housekeeper of Satan !" answered the Heer, 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 99 
 
 "avaunt, fly, skip herald of wrath and abom 
 ination ! When was it that I was ever inclined 
 to be merry, that thou didst not essay to turn my 
 gayety into gloomy forebodings ? when did I ever 
 open my heart to the memory of past, or the an 
 ticipation of future happiness, that thou earnest not, 
 like the raven, to croak me into fancied misery ? 
 when did the sun shine ever warm on my heart, 
 that thou didst not come and freeze it stiff and cold? 
 Away, and howl in churchyards, at midnight; 
 scream into the ear of guilt thy accursed maledic 
 tions. Be silent with that eternal clapper of thine, 
 or speak to be understood, or" 
 
 " I do howl in the ears of guilt, and I speak to 
 be understood by those I wish to understand me. 
 Those now hear me, who know full well what I 
 mean, yet dare to despise my warnings ; who 
 would rush into each other s arms, even though 
 the grave of a mother lay between them and their 
 desires ; who but the time is not yet come, that 
 I must and will speak out." 
 
 " Then, in the name of Heaven, be quiet till 
 then, and do not mar this happy hour. I would 
 thou wert silent, even as the grave thou speakest 
 of; for thy talking is worse than the screech-owl, 
 the wolf, and the Indian, all joining in concert with 
 the midnight storm. How is it, that thou wouldst 
 mar the happiness of thy master and young mis 
 tress?" 
 
 " I mar their happiness !" retorted the Snow 
 
100 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 Ball ; " I seek to prevent their misery ; to save 
 virtue from the contamination of vice ; to revenge 
 the death of her, who, of all thy colour and thy 
 race, was the only one whose kindness to me was 
 never accompanied by insult whose benefits were 
 never cancelled by capricious tyranny. Heer, 
 why do I take an interest in the prosperity of thy 
 household ? why do I seek thy happiness ? It is 
 not that thou art, in the language of thy haughty 
 race, my master, but because thou wert the hus 
 band of the kindest being that ever breathed the 
 breath of life. Daughter of my mistress, why do 
 I watch over thy welfare ? It is not that thou art 
 the child of my master, and I thy slave, but that 
 she was thy mother, and that with her latest breath 
 she besought me to be unto thee a watchful and 
 devoted servant, to see that no harm fell upon thy 
 innocent head. Such I have been such I will be, 
 until I join my mistress, where I may be permitted, 
 though black as ink, to say to her snow-white spirit, 
 I did my duty to her at least." 
 
 " The yellow plague seize thee, thou incompre 
 hensible riddle of darkness," cried the Heer. " Be 
 gone, for I swear to thee, Snow Ball, the Long 
 Finne shall marry my daughter, though thou talkest 
 thyself white in the face. To-morrow shall be the 
 day, and then, when I have secured my girl a pro 
 tector in weal and wo, in storm and sunshine, I am 
 ready to obey that call which, sooner or later, 
 brings all mankind to their last muster. Depart 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 101 
 
 in peace, old sinner, and hold thy peace, if such a 
 matter be possible." 
 
 "I go," replied the Frizzled -Head, without 
 moving a step. " Heer ! Heer ! thou wilt remem 
 ber, when I am dead, in sorrow and remorse, that 
 I warned thee, yet thou wouldst not listen. When 
 the storm comes, and thou and thine shall be laid 
 low in the dust, thy roots bare., and thy branches 
 broken, like the trees after a whirlwind, then thoa 
 shalt weep, and tear thy gray hairs, and call upon 
 the mountains to fall, the rocks to cover thee : but 
 it will be vain. Thou shalt invoke death, but he 
 will not come ; thou shalt seek the grave, but it 
 will not open to thee ; thou shalt live, despairing, 
 until thy legs shall refuse to carry thee, thy hands 
 to lift themselves to thy head, and thy mind and 
 body become those of the helpless infant." 
 
 During this mysterious colloquy, Christina had 
 remained speechless and motionless, her cold and 
 almost lifeless hand grasped in that of Konings- 
 marke, who himself remained silent, as if overawed 
 by the horrible fluency of the sable prophetess. 
 There is something allied to the sublime in futurity ; 
 and even the strongest mind, fortified by the con* 
 sciousness of innocence, involuntarily shrinks when 
 the veil is withdrawn, and renders the homage of 
 its fears, where it refuses that of its faith. 
 
 " Daughter of the kindest mistress that ever fell 
 to one of our unhappy race," resumed Bombie of 
 the Frizzled Head, addressing Christina, " wilt thou 
 
 VOL. II K 2 
 
102 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 devote thy virtue, thy beauty, thy life, to this man, 
 who " 
 
 * Who twioe aved mine," hastily interrupted 
 Christina ; "I am bound by my faith to do so. 
 When we^ parted never expecting to meet again; 
 when he was going to be tortured at the stake, for 
 having sought to restore me to my father ; and 
 when it seemed hardly within the compass or the 
 power of fate to restore him to me, or me to my 
 home, I promised to be his, if we ever lived to 
 return hither. I will keep my word, let what will 
 follow ; I will pay the debt of gratitude I owe 
 him, though it be at the price of a broken heart, a 
 blasted fame ; yea ! even though my mother s spirit 
 should " Here the poor maiden covered her face 
 With her hands, and became choked with her rising 
 emotions. 
 
 " Then be the curse of thy mother on thy head, 
 and on the heads of. all that shall be born of thee, 
 as the curse of Cain was upon him and all his pos 
 terity" 
 
 Here Christina uttered a shriek, and fell insen 
 sible into the arms of her father. The Heer raved 
 in agony. " To-day," he cried, " the Lord restored 
 to me a lost child, and to-day, ere yet I had kissed 
 and blessed her, thou thou, black and malignant 
 devil, hast destroyed her. But thou shalt pay for 
 this, thou and all thy accursed race." 
 
 " Better thus better dead, than to live as thou 
 mayest yet live to see her, with a blighted cheek, a 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 103 
 
 broken heart, and a conscience gnawed, morning, 
 noon, and night, sleeping and waking, by the worm 
 that never dies," replied the sibyl. 
 
 What more she would have said was inter 
 rupted by the intrusion of Lob Dotterel, followed 
 by a number of the villagers, having in custody the 
 body of that likely fellow Cupid. Their presence 
 turned the current of Bombie s feelings into another 
 channel, and the disclosures that followed led to 
 consequences which will be related in the succeed 
 ing chapters. 
 
BOOK EIGHTH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Showing that there is as much reason in boiling as in roasting of 
 
 IT hath been aptly and truly said, that " there 
 is reason in the roasting of an egg." But, assu 
 redly, if the roasting of an egg to please every 
 palate requires great discretion, the boiling of one is 
 a matter of much more difficult attainment. Some 
 people like their eggs as hard as a bullet, in defi 
 ance of that mortal foe to good eating, erewhile 
 known by the name of the spleen, afterward chris 
 tened bile, and now of universal acceptation, as 
 dyspepsia. Others will have their eggs raw, or 
 so nearly raw, as to puzzle human reason to decide 
 whether they are raw or boiled. A third party, 
 who may be denominated tertium quids, prefer 
 them half-boiled, and so on, through every grada 
 tion, from one extreme to the other. 
 
 It is astonishing, what a number of families there 
 are, both in the old and new world, whose peace 
 almost entirely depends on the judicious boiling 
 of those oddities, which, from the first cackling of 
 the hen to their being served up at the breakfast 
 
106 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 table, or hatched into chickens, seem destined to 
 give great trouble to the fair sex. Certain it is, 
 that the boiling of eggs is a matter of great mo 
 ment to the peace of society and the happiness of 
 mankind. We have seen a lord of the creation 
 put out of humour for a whole day, because his egg 
 had been kept ten seconds too long in the skillet. 
 Nay, we have more than once beheld a lively, 
 good-humoured Frenchman, who was the life of a 
 stage-coach all night long, eat twenty hard-boiled 
 eggs in the morning at breakfast, and grumble all 
 the while at the cook, the house, and all within it, 
 except the pretty bar-maid. 
 
 And here we will observe, that the best possible 
 test of a gentleman is his behaviour at a dinner, 
 breakfast, or supper table, in a hotel or steam-boat. 
 It is there that his pretensions are put to the touch 
 stone, and that fine clothes fail to hide from obser 
 vation the clown that lurks beneath them. If we 
 find him snatching at every dish within his reach ; 
 filling his plate with fish, flesh, and fowl ; eating as 
 if his last, or rather his first meal were come ; and, 
 at the same time, looking about with eyes as wide 
 open as his mouth, to see what next to devour- 
 not velvet-cloth coat, dandy pantaloons, or corset 
 dire, will suffice to place him in the rank of gen 
 tlemen. Were we to express our idea of a well* 
 bred man in one word, we would say, he was a 
 gentleman, even in his eating ; nor would we hesi* 
 to place any man in that class, who, being 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 107 
 
 fond of soft eggs, should be able to eat them boiled 
 hard, without grumbling. We remember, for we 
 delight to remember every thing connected with 
 that gay, good-humoured, sprightly old gentleman, 
 Deidrich Knickerbocker, that he always superin 
 tended his eggs himself, by a stop-watch, and more 
 than once came near to scalding his fingers, in his 
 haste to rescue his favourites from the boiling ele 
 ment, ere the fatal crisis was passed. 
 
 This diversity of taste extends to almost every 
 enjoyment and luxury of life, more especially to 
 books, in the composition of which, notwithstanding 
 so many appearances to the contrary, we will 
 venture to say, that almost as much reason is ne 
 cessary, as in the roasting or boiling of eggs. Some 
 readers like what are called hard studies, as some 
 men like hard eggs ; while others luxuriate in raw 
 sentiment, and melting, drivelling, ropy softness. 
 Some delight in impossible adventures, and others 
 in common-place matter of fact. In short, it is 
 quite unnecessary to insist on what the experience 
 of all mankind verifies every hour of the day. 
 
 It is in order to accommodate, as far as possible, 
 every class of readers, that we have endeavoured, 
 in the course of this work, to do what we are fully 
 convinced can easily be done, namely, please all 
 sorts of people, whether lovers of hard or soft 
 eggs. We mean all those who are naturally in 
 clined to be pleased with every thing; which class 
 includes, beyond doubt, a majority of mankind ; 
 
108 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 for, as to the critics, and other ill-disposed people, 
 whose pleasure consists in being displeased, we 
 have nothing to say to such unreasonable people, 
 except that whatever faults are incorporated into 
 this work, were wilfully placed there, for the sole 
 purpose of affording them the pleasure of grum 
 bling a little. 
 
 Our introductory chapters are intended for the 
 deepest philosophers, who will find therein matters 
 of weighty import ; our historical details are for 
 the inveterate lovers of truth ; our love scenes for 
 all whom it may concern ; our gravity for the aged ; 
 our jests for the young ; our wisdom is at any 
 body s service that can find it out ; and the sublime 
 declamation of the Frizzled Head is particularly 
 intended for the refreshment of ladies and gentle 
 men of colour, who, it is presumed, will become 
 ere long sufficiently enlightened to scold their 
 masters, and bully their mistresses, into a proper 
 sense of equality. 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 109 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 " From fire, and water, and all things amiss, 
 Deliver the house of an honest justice." 
 
 THE interruption to the eloquence of the Frizzled 
 Head, recorded in the last chapter of the seventh 
 book of this veracious history, was, as the reader 
 may recollect, occasioned by the intrusion of a 
 crowd of the inhabitants of Elsingburgh, headed by 
 Lob Dotterel, having in custody the goblin Cupid. 
 Lob s hand had been out so long, that, although by 
 no means an ill-natured or malicious person, his 
 fingers itched to lay hold of a culprit of some kind 
 or other. The moment, therefore, that he resumed 
 the duties of high constable of Elsingburgh, he 
 began to look about sharply, and make most dili 
 gent inquisition into the affairs of the village, in 
 order, if possible, to catch some one tripping. 
 Failing in this, he bethought himself of certain 
 boastings of Cupid, during their captivity among 
 the Indians, from which it appeared, that this likely 
 youth had not only given information to the hostile 
 savages, but" actually caused, by his immediate 
 agency, the blowing up of the magazine, and 
 consequent destruction of Elsingburgh. 
 
 The high constable, stimulated by a longing de 
 sire of labouring once again in his favourite voca- 
 
 VOL. II L 
 
110 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 tion, perhaps actuated, too, by a consciousness of 
 the necessity of exposing and punishing a crime 
 so dangerous to the existence of all the little com 
 munities that were springing up in this new world, 
 as that of conspiring with the savages, laid this 
 information before master Wolfgang Langfanger. 
 Langfanger was at this time perfectly at leisure 
 to attend to the affair, having just wrought up the 
 village to a state of improvement, to which nothing 
 could be added and nothing taken away, since, in 
 truth, he had left the good people exceedingly 
 bare of all resources for either public or private 
 emergencies. By his direction, Lob Dotterel forth 
 with summoned the posse comitatus, and proceeded 
 to search for the goblin Cupid, whom, it is recorded, 
 they found most lovingly consorting with his old 
 friend Grip, who still survived, and discovered 
 nearly as much sensibility, on this occasion, as the 
 far-famed dog of Ulysses, from which honest Grip 
 was very possibly a lineal descendant. 
 
 The moment master Lob laid his terrible paw 
 on the shoulder of the goblin Cupid, in the way of 
 hostility, did honest Grip take a similar liberty with 
 the heel of the high constable, which he continued 
 to hold in his teeth, but without actually biting 
 through the skin. Lob was no Achilles, and if he 
 had been, he was, like that hard-talking hero, at 
 least vulnerable in the heel. The salutation of 
 Grip was therefore highly obnoxious to the high 
 constable, who called on the posse to assist him in 
 
KONINGSMARKE. Ill 
 
 the discharge of his functions. But not one of these 
 worthy citizens had the least inclination in the 
 world to risk an encounter with the white tusks 
 of Cupid s guardian angel, for the public benefit. 
 They therefore contented themselves with calling 
 off the dog, who resisted all their coaxing and blan 
 dishments, till one of them bethought himself of 
 producing a bribe. Every dog has his price, and 
 the fidelity of Grip, sorry we are to record it, 
 yielded to the irresistible seductions of the marrow 
 bone. All the excuse we can allege for this igno 
 minious conduct, is, that poor Grip had been much 
 neglected in the absence of his friend Cupid, and 
 that he was now half starved. But, after all, we 
 fear this circumstance only furnishes another indi 
 cation of that downhill course of every thing in this 
 world, which is so clearly discerned by every man 
 after he passes the age of forty, and begins to go 
 downhill himself. It is then that, like a passenger 
 in a locomotive, while sitting apparently still, he 
 sees every thing else going backwards, though in 
 reality it is himself that is outstripping all things, 
 in his progress to the end of his journey. Be this 
 as it may, the dog seized his bone, and, retreating 
 to his strong hold under an old piazza, began to dis 
 cuss it with such earnestness, that his old friend 
 Cupid was carried away, without exciting even a 
 growl of disapprobation. 
 
 " Well, master constable," quoth the Heer, &a 
 Lob entered with Cupid in custody, " what is the 
 
112 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 matter now? hast thou been exercising thy func 
 tions already ? hast thou caught a sinner, hey ? 
 Take notice, I pardon him outright, for no one 
 shall date his shame or his punishment from the 
 day when my child was returned to me from the 
 wilderness. What hath this boy done ?" 
 
 Lob Dotterel then proceeded to detail the con 
 fession, or rather boast of the goblin, that they 
 might thank him for their captivity, and the burn 
 ing of Elsingburgh, as he had not only given infor 
 mation to the savages of the proper time for making 
 the attack, but had actually himself blown up the 
 magazine. 
 
 "It is a lie : he never said so, or, if he did, 
 he bore false witness against himself," cried the 
 Frizzled Head, who had discovered great agita 
 tion from the moment Cupid was brought in by 
 Lob Dotterel. 
 
 " Silence !" exclaimed Lob, with the gravity of 
 the worthy Rinier Skaats, erewhile crier and 
 queller of noisy curs and falling shovels and tongs, 
 in the ancient city-hall of Gotham, now levelled, 
 like the good Rinier himself, with, yea, below the 
 dust of the earth. 
 
 " Silence thou !" retorted Bombie of the Frizzled 
 Head ; " silence I scraper of night-cellars, inquisitor 
 of dungeons, keen-scented hound of two legs, 
 whose delight is to hunt down, equally, the guilty 
 who sin wilfully, and the innocent who cannot 
 defend themselves," 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 113 
 
 " Silence ! I say," cried the Heer, in a voice of 
 unequalled authority; "silence! dost think there 
 is nobody to talk but yourselves, ye scum of a 
 kettle of boiled porpoises ? If we all talk at once, 
 I should like to know where the listeners are to 
 come from, der teufel hole dich" 
 
 " I will not be silent," quoth the Snow Ball ; "I 
 will speak, Heer, for it is the only right reserved 
 by our unhappy race. Shall we be trod under 
 foot, and not turn ? Shall we be beaten, and not 
 curse ? Shall we be oppressed, ground to the 
 earth, abused, insulted, manacled, enslaved, and 
 not rail ? Heer ! Heer ! the heart and the tongue 
 cannot be held in fetters ; the one will engender, 
 the other mutter curses in secret, even as dogs 
 howl to the moon, when there is nothing else to 
 bay. Beware, beware ; it is but for me to speak 
 out, and the fabric of thy happiness will crumble 
 to the earth ; thou wilt go down to the grave, not 
 as a happy old man, beholding his children and his 
 children s children sporting around his decaying 
 roots, but like a wretched being, seeking in death, 
 not immortality, but a refuge from recollections of 
 the past, that swallow up all fears of the future. 
 Touch not a hair of that boy s head, or thy own 
 gray hairs shall assuredly go down to the grave 
 in anguish and unutterable despair." 
 
 " Had it been any thing but this," rejoined the 
 Heer, who, stout-hearted as he was, could not help 
 feeling, he might not exactly tell how, at these mys- 
 
 VOL. II L 2 
 
114 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 terious denunciations " had it been any lesser 
 offence, I would have pardoned it, and offered up 
 my forgiveness at the shrine of this happy day. 
 But the crime of this boy is one that endangers 
 the safety and the lives of communities and states ; 
 it has cost us our good town and fort of Elsing- 
 burgh, both consumed in the flames ; it has cost us 
 the lives of our dear and w r orthy counsellor Ludwig 
 Varlett, and the poor Claas Tomeson, his wife and 
 child : and it has cost me months of unutterable 
 misery. My own sufferings I might forget ; those 
 of my child I might forgive ; but, as the guardian 
 and protector of my people, I must see justice done 
 upon one who has been the instrument of destruc 
 tion to their homes, and of exile, bondage, and 
 tortures, to their friends and neighbours. As I 
 live, thy grandson shall be tried to-morrow, if it 
 please God ; and if he doth not clear himself of this 
 heavy charge, so surely as the morrow comes, he 
 shall be made to feel at least some part of what 
 he hath made others feel and suffer. Go thy ways, 
 old woman, and pray that thy lad may be found 
 innocent, for it is only his innocence that can shield 
 him now." 
 
 " Innocent !" retorted the Frizzled Head-" In 
 nocent ! Dost thou tell me, Heer, that innocence is 
 a surety against condemnation and punishment in 
 this world ? I, that have seen the finger of scorn 
 pointing at an innocent child, not for its own guilt, 
 but the guilt of its parents I, that have seen the 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 115 
 
 strong giant, wickedness, bestriding the world, and 
 crushing the unoffending helpless beneath him I, 
 that have seen innocent hearts broken asunder, by 
 being made to bear the burden and the shame of 
 others crimes I, that have everywhere beheld 
 the seeds of good reaped by the wicked, and the 
 seeds of evil gathered by the virtuous man I ! 
 talk to me of my child s innocence being a shield 
 of protection ! Had I not forgot to laugh, long, 
 many long years ago, I would laugh in thy face, 
 Heer, though my burden in this life is to bear the 
 heavy load of inferiority to the lowest, the meanest, 
 the vilest of thy race." 
 
 " He shall be tried by the laws of the land, and 
 adjudged by his neighbours," quoth the Heer. 
 
 " The laws of the land !" rejoined the Snow Ball. 
 " Had he any voice in making these laws ? Has 
 he has any interest or stake in that society to which 
 he is held in subjection, and to whose welfare he 
 is to be sacrificed ? Neighbours say you ! He 
 hath no neighbours ; they will sit in judgment upon 
 him, not as beings placed on a level with a slave, 
 sharing his feelings, his wrongs, and his resentment. 
 No, Heer, that which alone gives rise to the sym 
 pathy between man and man, is when he puts him 
 self in the place of his neighbour, and asks his 
 heart what he would do r or feel, or suffer, if placed 
 in his neighbour s situation. But alas ! my master, 
 what sympathy can there ever be betwixt the free* 
 man aad the slave." 
 
116 KON1NGSMARKE. 
 
 " Go thy ways," mildly, yet firmly replied the 
 Heer, waving his hand for her to depart. " There 
 is some truth in what thou sayest j but still I declare 
 to thee, he shall clear himself of this crime to 
 morrow, or lay down his life to- expiate it. Go thy 
 ways. I pity thee but thou talkest to the winds." 
 
 " Then may thy last petitions on thy death-bed, 
 be howled out to the winds, as I do now ! But it 
 is not alone I and mine that shall suffer ; thou and 
 thine, Heer, will live to rue the hour when the only 
 being that owns kindred or fellowship with me in 
 this wide world shall be made a spectacle and a 
 victim. Before I go, as I shall surely go, when 
 that hour arrives, I will lay that on thy heart shall 
 make it bleed or break ; I will pour out a vial of 
 wrath on thy gray head, and on the innocent head 
 of thy child, shall blast and scorch them, as the 
 lightning scorches the earth, so that neither grass, 
 nor herbage, nor any thing green, ever grows there 
 again." 
 
 " Let it be so if it must, it must. I shall do 
 my duty, let come what will," quoth the Heer, at 
 the same time directing that a high court should be 
 held on the morrow, for the trial of Cupid, who, in 
 the interim, was intrusted to the care of Lob Dot 
 terel, to be guarded with all possible vigilance. 
 The sable lad had all this while maintained a dogged 
 silence, either trusting to the overwhelming elo 
 quence of his grandmother, or actuated by that 
 unconquerable obstinacy, which is so often a cha- 
 
KONINGSMARKB. 117 
 
 racteristic of his race, and which in the ignorant 
 is called stupidity in the enlightened, philosophy. 
 The party then dispersed their various ways ; 
 and it may not be beneath the dignity of this his 
 tory to record, that the good Heer, who was thus 
 ready to brave the mysterious denunciations of 
 Bombie,in order to further the sacred ends of justice, 
 that night went to bed without his supper, either 
 because he had no appetite, or rather, as we be 
 lieve, that the Frizzled Head refused to cook his 
 favourite dish of pepperpot. 
 
118 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 " Hem ! grass and hay. We re all mortal !" 
 
 BETIMES the next morning, the trial of the likely 
 fellow Cupid came on in the high court of El- 
 singburgh; where presided the Heer in person, 
 assisted by Counsellors Langfanger and Pfegel, 
 and prompted in the mysteries of that most mys 
 terious of all sciences, the law, by six folios of juris 
 prudence, each one nearly a foot thick, and contain 
 ing sufficient matter to confound the universe. 
 
 The prisoner was brought in by Lob Dotterel, 
 the gravity of whose deportment would have done 
 credit to a much greater man than himself, and 
 whose attention seemed equally divided between 
 Cupid, and a parcel of his old enemies, the boys, 
 who pressed forward to see what was going to 
 become of their sable playmate. Among those 
 who attended the trial was Bombie of the Frizzled 
 Head, whose agitation was singularly contrasted 
 with the apparently stupid insensibility of her 
 grandson. The prisoner, in fact, seemed almost 
 unconscious of his situation, and stood with folded 
 arms, staring around the room with a vacant ab 
 straction, as if he had no concern in what was going 
 forward. 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 119 
 
 Those important forms, so essential to the very 
 existence of lawyers, if not of the law, being gone 
 through, and the indictment read, charging the 
 prisoner, among other matters, with conspiring 
 against the life of the great Gustavus, Cupid was 
 asked the usual question of " guilty, or not guilty V 9 
 He made no reply, and continued obstinately silent, 
 affording, in this respect, a singular contrast to her 
 of the Frizzled Head, who it was impossible to 
 keep quiet, though Lob Dotterel cried " silence 1" 
 loud enough to be heard across the broad river. 
 
 This refusal to plead had like to put a stop to 
 the whole business. Counsellor Langfanger quoted, 
 from a volume ten inches thick, a case which went 
 to establish the doctrine, that it was impossible to 
 try a criminal who would neither confess his guilt, 
 nor assert his innocence. The Heer, on the con 
 trary, produced a book, at least two inches thicker 
 than the other, and printed in black-letter besides, 
 which rebutted the authority of Counsellor Lang- 
 fanger s case, and held it sound law to proceed upon 
 the silence of a criminal, in a case of this kind, as 
 on a confession of guilt. We shall not trouble the 
 reader with the arguments adduced in support of 
 one or other of these doctrines, but content our 
 selves with stating the decision of the court, which 
 was, that they would waive insisting upon an 
 answer, and proceed with the trial. 
 
 The business was soon over, as at that time 
 there was not a single lawyer in the whole com- 
 
120 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 munity of Elsingburgh ; a proof how much this 
 new world has improved since, there being hardly 
 a village of that size at present in the country, 
 that hath not at least two lawyers in it, to puzzle 
 the justices and confound the laws of the land. 
 Besides the frequent boasts of Cupid, during the 
 abode in the wilderness, one or two persons de 
 posed, that they had seen that likely youth hover 
 ing about the magazine, and at length stealing away 
 in great haste, a few moments before the explo 
 sion took place. He was asked if he had any 
 witnesses to produce in his behalf, or any thing to 
 say for himself, but he remained silent as before. 
 The proofs were so clear, that there was little, if 
 any, room for doubt, and the court, after a few 
 minutes consultation, agreed in pronouncing him 
 guilty, and sentencing him to be hanged, for having 
 conspired with the savages, thereby occasioning 
 the destruction of the village, and the loss of several 
 lives. 
 
 This sentence was received by the prisoner with 
 the same immoveable indifference he had hitherto 
 preserved ; he made no gesture, he moved not his 
 lips, but continued, as before, to gaze around, with 
 out appearing to notice any thing. There was an 
 awful silence throughout the whole court, for there 
 is something in the annunciation of a disgraceful 
 and violent death, from the mouth of a judge, ani 
 mated by no passion, prejudice, or resentment, but 
 standing there as the oracle of the laws, the mouth- 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 121 
 
 piece of the community, to denounce against the 
 offender the just punishment of his crime, that 
 makes the most volatile serious, the most unthinking 
 shudder. Even the fluent Bombie seemed for once 
 quelled into silence, by the shock of this awful dis 
 pensation, and she followed her condemned grand*- 
 son out of the court in dead silence, her head bent 
 down upon her bosom. 
 
 Between the condemnation of Cupid and the time 
 appointed for his execution, the Frizzled Head em 
 ployed herself in making interest with Christina, the 
 Long Finne, and, indeed, every one whose inter 
 cession she thought might induce the Heer to miti 
 gate the punishment of her grandson. But the 
 Heer remained immoveable to the solicitations of 
 his daughter and the Long Finne. The crime was 
 of too deep a die ; the example of pardon might 
 be of the most pernicious consequences ; and the 
 prerogative of mercy ought never to be exercised 
 to the endangering the safety of the state, or the 
 security of life and property. 
 
 The day before the execution, Bombie essayed, 
 for the last time, to move the Heer in behalf of 
 her grandson. 
 
 " Art thou resolved that he shall die on the mor 
 row ?" said she. 
 
 " As surely as to-morrow shall come, so sure as 
 the sun shall rise, even so surely shall he never 
 live to see it go down," replied the Heer. 
 
 " Thou hast forgotten, then, the services I have 
 
 VOL. II M 
 
122 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 done to thee and thine ; thou no longer remem- 
 berest that I have been to thy wife, who is gone, a 
 faithful handmaid ; that I ministered to her in sick 
 ness and in health, and that, when she died, she 
 bequeathed me to thy care and protection : thou 
 hast forgot that it was I that bore thy infant daughter 
 in my arms, when her own limbs would not support 
 her ; that it was I who, when her mother died, did 
 all I could to supply the place of a mother to her ; 
 and that I have watched, and do still watch, over 
 the welfare of thy child, even while thou art doom 
 ing mine to a shameful death. Thou hast forgotten 
 all this, Heer !" 
 
 " Say not so," rejoined the Heer, " for so it is 
 not. I remember thou hast been to me and mine 
 a faithful slave, and I am grateful for thy kindness, 
 but" 
 
 " But what ?" interrupted the Frizzled Head. 
 " Thou wouldst strive to persuade me of thy good 
 will, while thou refusest me the last request I shall 
 ever make thee. Of what use is thy gratitude to 
 me, if thou wilt not permit it to sway thy actions? 
 what avails it, if, when thou inflictest a wound of 
 death, thou shalt whine in my ear, that thou art 
 sorry for it ? Say that thou wilt spare his life, and 
 I will believe in thy gratitude." 
 
 " If the risk of sparing him were mine alone," 
 said the Heer, " I would not hesitate ; but I am 
 not acting for myself. The safety of my people 
 depends upon the punishment of those who con- 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 123 
 
 spire to destroy them, as did thy grandson. Were 
 I to let him loose, he might again occasion the 
 destruction of our village, and how then should I 
 answer it to my God, my king, or my people ?" 
 
 " Yes !" retorted the Frizzled Head, with bitter 
 ness, " Yes ! such is the code and the heart of the 
 white man. His duties are ever conflicting with 
 each other, and even the precepts of forgiveness, 
 inculcated by the book which he pretends came 
 directly from Heaven, must yield to laws of his own 
 making. As a Christian, it is his duty to pardon ; 
 as a legislator, to punish offences. He cannot love 
 his country without being unjust to his friends, nor 
 fulfil his duties to the puolic, but at the sacrifice of 
 kindred affection, and domestic ties. But, once 
 more once more, and for the last time, art thou 
 resolved, Heer?" 
 
 " I am." 
 
 " Fixed as fate ?" 
 
 " As I live, I swear that, so far as rests with me, 
 he shall pay the forfeit of his dark and malignant 
 crime, before mid-day to-morrow. Trouble me 
 no more I am deaf to thy petition." 
 
 " Then thus may it be with thy petitions, now, 
 henceforth, and for ever more, whether addressed 
 to thy fellow-creatures, or to Him who made us 
 all. If thou callest for sympathy, mayest thou meet 
 with scorn; if thou askest for kindness, mayest thou 
 be answered with the bitterness of contumely ; if 
 thou criest out for bread, mayest thou receive a 
 
124 KONINGSMARKB. 
 
 stone ; and if, in the last hour of thy existence, 
 struggling between life and death, time and eter 
 nity, fearing, hoping, trembling, expiring, thou shalt 
 address thy last prayer for pardon to the throne 
 of thy Maker, may he turn a deaf ear, as thou hast 
 done to mine." 
 
 So saying, she departed from the presence of 
 the Heer, and took her way through the village, 
 stopping at every house, and madly calling on the 
 inhabitants to interfere, and rescue her grandson 
 from what she called the tyranny of the governor. 
 But her exhortations produced little or no effect. 
 The people had suffered too much from the trea 
 sonable practices of Cupid, to>feel any sympathy 
 for him ; and they were so accustomed to consider 
 the declamations of Bombie of the Frizzled Head 
 as little better than mysterious parables, coming 
 from the mouth of one who possessed little in 
 common with ordinary mortals, that few paid 
 much attention, to her from, any other motive than 
 fear. 
 
 Early the next morning there was a great bustle 
 observed in the village, for this was the morning 
 big with the fate of Bombie s grandson. This was 
 the first example of a capital punishment that ever 
 occurred in Elsingburgh, and the effect was pro- 
 portionably profound. Every body seemed agitated 
 and in motion, yet nothing was doing. All avo* 
 cations were suspended, and, although there was 
 a great deal of talking, it was all in whispers. A 
 
KONTNGSMARKE. 125 
 
 certain deep impression of horror reigned all 
 around, and the imagination was filled with nothing 
 but images of death. Yet such is the apparent 
 inconsistency of human nature, that there was not 
 a soul in the whole village, except the Heer s family, 
 that was capable of motion, who did not attend 
 the execution of Cupid. Men, women, and chil 
 dren, impelled by that mysterious fascination which 
 draws the bird to the fang of the rattlesnake, and 
 sometimes impels the human being to precipitate 
 himself from the brow of the precipice, poured 
 forth, on this occasion, to witness what struck them 
 with horror in the exhibition, and made the night 
 terrible for a long while afterward. The people 
 of the country, and those who live in retired vil 
 lages, see so little of novelty, that they are ex 
 tremely fond of sights, and are almost equally 
 attracted by any thing that breaks in upon the 
 monotony of their existence. It is not that people 
 love to witness spectacles of horror, or the effusion 
 of human blood, but that they want excitement, 
 and often seek it after a strange manner. 
 
 The goblin Cupid had not spoke, since the mo 
 ment of his apprehension by Lob Dotterel. To 
 the exhortations of Dominie Kanttwell, as well as 
 the lamentations of his grandmother, he turned a 
 deaf ear ; and it was impossible to discover, by 
 any outward indications, whether terror or obsti 
 nacy was at the bottom of this apparent insensi 
 bility. When conducted to the foot of the gallows, 
 
 VOL. II M 2 
 
126 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 he looked about as if he were rather a spectator 
 than an actor in the scene ; nor did the agonies of 
 the poor old sibyl, his grandmother, who, when she 
 came to take leave of him, discovered a degree 
 of intense feeling, that drew a tear from many an 
 eye, make the least impression upon him, or draw 
 forth one single returning endearment. 
 
 " Farewell, my son," said she, giving him a last 
 embrace ; " despised, deformed being of a despised 
 race, farewell. I have loved thee the more, for 
 that thou wert hated by all the world contemned 
 by the most despicable of the white man s race 
 hooted at by the very beggar that slept in the sun 
 by the road-side and everywhere, and at all 
 times, the sport of capricious power. . Why should 
 I lament thee ? Thou art going where, even ac 
 cording to the creed of thy oppressors, all will be 
 equal, and where, I say, thou wilt have thy turn 
 to play the master. Yes ! I see it -I feel it I 
 know it ! Each dog shall have his day, and why 
 not so with man ? Millions of people live and die 
 in the belief, that the ox which is driven, the horse 
 that is rode, the sheep that is eaten by man, shall, 
 in some future revolution of time, drive, ride, and 
 eat the tyrant who did even so unto them. And 
 shall not our race have their turn? It. must be so, 
 here or hereafter," 
 
 The Frizzled Head was waxing sublime and 
 incomprehensible apace, when Lob Dotterel ap 
 prized her, that if she had any thing more to say 
 
KONING3MARKE. 127 
 
 to the poor deformed creature, she must say it 
 soon, as his last moment was come. 
 
 The Snow Ball turned herself about, looked all 
 around the circle with a scrutinizing eye, and said, 
 as it were to herself, " he is not here." Then, as 
 if at that moment, for the first time,, struck with 
 that feeling of absolute and inevitable certainty, 
 under which the agony of the heart is quelled for 
 a time, and hope sinks into listless despondency,, 
 she quietly retired a little way from the gallows, 
 and stood immoveable, leaning on her stick. She 
 saw the fatal knot tied ; the cap, which shut out 
 time, and enveloped eternity, drawn over his eyes ; 
 heard the last exhortation, the hymn that was to 
 waft his soul no one knew where,, without moving 
 a muscle, or uttering a word. The noise of the 
 cart, as it drew from under the fatal tree, seemed 
 for a moment to shake her old crazy frame. She 
 gazed for a minute, while her grandson was hang-, 
 ing in the mid-air, and was silent, till the total 
 cessation of motion in his limbs announced that all 
 was over. Then, letting fall her stick, clasping 
 her old withered hands, and raising her eyes to 
 Heaven, she shrieked out 
 
 " Tis done and may all the cruel, accursed 
 race of the white man thus perish, as thou, my 
 poor boy,, hast perished. Yes ! yes ! ye proud, 
 upstart crew, the time shall come, it shall surely 
 come, when the pile of oppression you have reared 
 tp the clouds shall fall,, and crush your own head&. 
 
128 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 Black men and red men, all colours, shall combine 
 against your pale, white race ; and the children 
 of the master shall become the bondsmen of the 
 posterity of the slave ! I say it I, that am at this 
 moment standing scarce nearer to time than to 
 eternity I, that am at this moment shaking hands 
 with death, and my body and spirit taking their 
 last leave of each other I say it and I say my 
 last." 
 
 The tough old heart-strings that had so often 
 been tested, in the hard gales of life, now cracked, 
 and gave way ; the strong frame that had endured 
 so many hardships, all at once refused to endure 
 any more, and in less than a minute after Bombie 
 uttered these words, she sunk to the ground, over 
 whelmed by the agony of her feelings. 
 
 Numbers flocked around, as is usual in these 
 cases, and one of the crowd exclaimed to the 
 others, " raise her up." " Raise her !" repeated 
 the Frizzled Head, the last energies of life trembling 
 on her tongue " Raise her ! none but Him who 
 broke down the eternal barriers between the quick 
 and the dead ; who called at the mouth of the 
 sepulchre, and awoke the sleeping dust ; who tri 
 umphed over death and the grave, can raise this 
 withered old trunk. The hour is come it is past 
 Wait, boy I come." Her eyes closed, and she 
 departed to a better world. 
 
 The crowd dispersed, overwhelmed with terror; 
 and that night there was little sleep in the village 
 
HONING SMARKE. 129 
 
 of Elsingburgh. The good housewife lay wakeful 
 and afraid by the side of her tired husband, who, 
 ever and anon, as he fell into a doze, was roused 
 by some question from his trembling partner, fearful 
 of being awake all alone ; while the little urchins 
 could not close their eyes, without shutting in the 
 horrible picture of Cupid dangling in the air, and 
 the Frizzled Head expiring on the ground. For a 
 long time their spirits haunted the village, in the 
 dark nights ; and it was currently reported that 
 Lob Dotterel, through whose agency the goblin 
 Cupid came to his end, received nightly visits from 
 the pair of sable ghosts, who, it was affirmed, were 
 just as black as when alive. Many people argued 
 from this circumstance, that they were evil spirits, 
 but as they never were positively convicted of 
 doing any harm, we are inclined to hope the opinion 
 was without any foundation. 
 
130 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 " If thou haddest prayed but halfe so muche to me, 
 As I have prayed to thy relykes and thee, 
 Nothynge concernynge myne occupacion, 
 But straighte shulde have wroughte one operation." 
 
 The Four P s. 
 
 THE reader may chance to recollect the oath of 
 Governor Piper, that, notwithstanding the opposi 
 tion of the mysterious Bombie, the Long Finne 
 and the fair Christina should be wedded on the 
 morrow. Many days had elapsed, yet Christina 
 was not a wife, which shows how careful people 
 should be of taking rash oaths. The Heer, in truth, 
 had been too busy all this while to attend to his 
 own private affairs. Besides the vexatious trial 
 and execution of Cupid, and the eternal exhorta 
 tions, threats, and prophecies of his grandmother, 
 there was a storm gathering in the north, that 
 menaced the downfall of his authority, as well as 
 that of the Swedish crown in the new world. The 
 King of England, Charles the Second, being one 
 day informed that Cornelius De Witt had caused 
 to be painted a great picture, or rather an " abusive 
 picture," as his majesty was pleased to call it, 
 representing the said De Witt, with the attributes 
 of conqueror in a naval fight with England, fell into 
 a bad humour, and determined to go to war with 
 the Dutch. 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 131 
 
 A consequence of this war, as every body 
 knows, or ought to know, was the capture of the 
 Dutch possessions in what was called the New 
 Netherlands, in North America, and a surrender 
 of all their claims, by treaty, at the conclusion of 
 peace. These claims, now reverting to England, 
 comprehended all the settlements below Coaqua- 
 nock, to the mouth of the Delaware river, although 
 these were originally founded by the Swedes, who 
 disallowed the Dutch claim, and professed to hold 
 under an express grant or recognition from Eng 
 land. In this complicated state of affairs, it was 
 plain, that the right of the strongest was worth all 
 the rest of these rights put together ; and that, 
 consequently, the power of the good Heer rested 
 on a rather ticklish foundation. Several messages 
 had passed between him and Governor Lovelace, 
 of New- York, who, about this time, signified to the 
 Heer, that unless he agreed to a surrender upon 
 terms, he should in a few months send a power 
 adequate to force a surrender without any terms 
 at all. Governor Piper had received sufficient 
 information from New- York, to satisfy him that 
 his power was totally incompetent to resist the 
 puissance of Governor Lovelace, and that he had 
 nothing to do but surrender at discretion, when 
 ever the summons was given. He was, therefore, 
 just now, suffering the unpleasant anticipation of 
 being shortly obliged to return to a private station, 
 which, albeit that it is usually denominated the 
 
132 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 " post of honour," is not much coveted by most 
 people, more especially those who have been ac 
 customed to posts of profit. 
 
 These public perplexities naturally drew off the 
 attention of Governor Piper from the affairs of his 
 daughter, who, on her part, however, although she 
 had consented to become the wife of Konings- 
 marke, still discovered an insurmountable objection, 
 in her behaviour, actually to commit matrimony 
 with that youth. We call him a youth, on account 
 of his being so much younger than ourselves, 
 although, in truth, he was not much under thirty 
 years of age> notwithstanding he looked younger. 
 Indeed, the struggles of poor Christina, betwixt 
 gratitude and love, on one hand, and filial affection 
 and duty towards the memory of her mother, on 
 the other, now that she was returned to her home, 
 and out of the reach of the daily and hourly anxi 
 eties which occupied her during her captivity, 
 returned again as violently as ever. The antici 
 pation of her union with Koningsmarke afforded 
 her no pleasure, and she seized every pretext to 
 elude or put aside his solicitations to fulfil her own 
 promise, and the wishes of her father. As they 
 walked one evening along the little stream we 
 have heretofore mentioned, they came to the place 
 where Koningsmarke had rescued Christina from 
 the pollution of the poor maniac. The sight of 
 this spot recalled more vividly to her recollection 
 the terrors of that horrible hour. She shuddered, 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 133 
 
 and looked in his face with an expression of love 
 and gratitude, that found its way to the innermost 
 folds of his heart. 
 
 " What do I not owe thee," whispered she softly, 
 at the same time pressing closely to his side, as if 
 terrified with the very phantom of her memory. 
 
 " Thou owest me nothing at least nothing that 
 thou canst not easily repay," replied Konings- 
 marke. " I ask nothing from gratitude, every thing 
 from love. Be mine, Christina, as thou hast pro 
 mised. Thy father wishes it." 
 
 "And my mother?" replied Christina, with a 
 penetrating look. 
 
 " She is beyond the reach of this world," replied 
 the youth. " Nothing that passes here below, 
 nothing that thou canst do, or leave undone, neither 
 thy virtues nor thy faults, can reach her knowledge. 
 The grave is the eternal barrier between the pre 
 sent and future state of existence. It breaks the 
 ties of kindred, it severs the bonds of love and 
 friendship. We shall be rewarded and punished 
 for the past, in the future, and that is all. We 
 cannot know what is passing in this wretched 
 world ; we cannot look down from the skies, and 
 see what is done and suffered by those we love, 
 and yet enjoy the delights of beatitude. Christina, 
 my beloved Christina, do not sacrifice thy own 
 happiness, as well as mine ; do not refuse to fulfil 
 the wishes of one parent, and that a living one, in 
 a vain and futile idea that it will rejoice the spirit 
 
 VOL. II N 
 
134 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 of one that is dead. Spirits never rejoice or grieve 
 at aught that passes here." 
 
 " Did my father know what I know," rejoined 
 Christina, " he would spurn thee for asking, and me 
 for granting what thou askest." 
 
 " But he knows it not, nor ever will know it. 
 Now that the tattling Bombie is gone, thou art the 
 only being on earth that knows how much thou 
 hast to forgive towards me. Once mine, or even 
 if never mine, I know thy generous nature will 
 bury the secret from all the world besides." 
 
 " But can I bury it so deep that it will not haunt 
 me, morning, noon, and night, as it doth now ? I 
 cannot hide it from my own heart ? it is like the 
 spectre to the guilty mind, and ever seizes the 
 moment of forgetfulness, to come when least ex 
 pected, and dash away the cup of bliss, just at the 
 very lips." 
 
 " Christina," said the Long Finne, in a severe 
 and solemn tone, " I cannot endure this life much 
 longer. Weighed down as I am, by the recol 
 lections of the past, I would not be, or even seem, 
 presumptuous, impatient, or unreasonable ; but why 
 didst thou first give thyself to me ? and why dost 
 thou now withhold the gift ? Be what thou wilt, 
 but be it wholly." 
 
 " Why !" exclaimed the unhappy girl, bursting 
 into a paroxysm of passionate wo "why is it that 
 man, and woman too, are ever the sport of con 
 flicting duties and wishes ? why is it that the ten- 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 135 
 
 derness, or, if you will, the weakness of woman s 
 heart, so often betrays her reason, and places her 
 good name, her peace of mind, her welfare, here 
 and hereafter, in the power of man ? At this mo 
 ment, when the fate of my mother is full before my 
 eyes, who shall dare blame me, if, here on this spot, 
 where I myself was saved from a fate ten times 
 more dreadful, I should waver, like a wretched 
 being, as I am, between conflicting feelings, wishes, 
 and duties ? that when I call to mind our captivity 
 together, our mutual dangers, and thy unwearied 
 kindness, I should stand, incapable of a lasting de 
 cision, fluctuating and inconsistent despicable in 
 mine own eyes, perhaps in the eyes of thy better 
 judgment promising, one day, what I shrink from 
 performing my heart torn, my temper variable, 
 my very reason sometimes tottering under the 
 weight of its perplexities ? Give me a little time, 
 and I promise, on the faith of woman, to be thine, 
 as I have covenanted." 
 
 " Well, then," replied he, tenderly, " I will wait 
 with patience thy decision, and live, or rather exist, 
 in the anticipation of my happiness." 
 
 " Happiness !" rejoined the maid ; " believe it not, 
 hope it not : the recollections of former times forbid 
 it. Those who have not laid in the past a founda 
 tion for future happiness, have erected their hopes 
 on the sand in barrenness and sterility." 
 
 The two lovers returned home, little satisfied 
 with themselves, or each other. Koningsmarke 
 
136 KONINGSMARKE.. 
 
 accused Christina, in his own mind, of wavering 
 and caprice ; and Christina herself suffered the 
 torments of self-reproach, as at one moment she 
 charged herself with forgetting the obligations of 
 filial duty, and the next, of being insensible to love,, 
 founded on the sacred obligations of gratitude. 
 But these struggles were speedily brought to an 
 end by a train of events, which we shall reserve 
 for the next chapter. 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 137 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 There came a knight of gallant fame, 
 Sir Robert Carre was hight his name, 
 On ship-board, with his jolly crew, 
 And said Sir Piper, how d ye do ? " 
 
 WE have before taken occasion to allude to cer 
 tain disputes which were, ever and anon, revived 
 between the potent settlements of New- York and 
 Elsingburgh, which, from time to time, menaced 
 the very existence of the latter. The storm thick 
 ened every day, inasmuch, as that King Charles, 
 who, unquestionably, was of happy memory in his 
 time, had granted all the claims of the Dutch in 
 North America to his brother James, Duke of 
 York, afterward King James the Second, also of 
 blessed memory, in his time. But, as the memory 
 of kings, like every sublunary thing, hath its day, 
 it is but fair to apprize the reader, who may be a 
 little rusty in history, in consequence of not having 
 paid due attention to historical romances, that 
 neither of those illustrious princes are thought 
 much of in these days of impiety and republicanism. 
 
 However this may be, his grace of York forth 
 with took possession of the colony of New Am 
 sterdam, to which he obtained an undoubted right; 
 first, by conquest, and next, by christening it over 
 
 VOL. II N 2 
 
138 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 again, whereby it acquired, and still happily retains,, 
 the name of New-York to this day. This fair and 
 renowned colony, with its beautiful city, its Dutch 
 burgomasters, dumpling dowagers, and cherry- 
 cheeked girls, was now governed in the name of 
 the proprietary, by Colonel Richard Lovelace, an 
 old cavalier and soldier, who had been an actor in 
 the parliamentary wars, and cherished a mortal 
 antipathy to puritans, republicans, and all sorts of 
 people who refused to drink, and sung psalms 
 through their noses. Inde ed, his politics formed 
 the ruling principles of action with the colonel, 
 who, among other matters, got tipsy every after 
 noon, and turned his back upon all sorts of meeting 
 houses ; not so much out of affection for wine, or 
 indifference to religion, as because his enemies, 
 the puritans,, or crop-ears* as he was wont to call 
 them, hated drinking, and loved long prayers. 
 With all this, he valued himself upon his gallantry 
 to the fair sex, and cherished to the last a portion 
 of that dignified courtesy to damsels, particularly 
 those that were young and pretty, which consti 
 tuted one of those beautiful characteristics, that 
 threw something like an air of refinement even 
 over the barbarous ages of chivalry. 
 
 Governor Lovelace professed,^ moreover, a most 
 bitter and sovereign contempt for the king-people 
 of this free and high-spirited quarter of our mun 
 dane sphere, derived from his early habits of think 
 ing and acting. Passive obedience, and non-re- 
 
KGNINGSMARKE. 139 
 
 sistance, were his creed, and in his private opinion 
 worth all other commandments put together ; and 
 if the governor ever hated one thing beyond all 
 others, it was a person in private life who meddled 
 with public affairs. Writing,, on one occasion, to 
 his valiant captain, Sir Robert Carre, on occasion 
 of some troubles in the then newly-acquired pos 
 sessions on the lower Delaware, the governor 
 gravely observes : " as for the poor deluded sort> 
 I think the advice of one of their own country 
 men is not to be despised, who, knowing their 
 temper well, prescribed a method for keeping them 
 in order, which is, severity, and laying such taxes 
 on them as may not give them liberty to entertain 
 any other thoughts, but how to discharge them." 
 
 This method we hereby humbly recommend to 
 Messieurs of the Holy Alliance, as summing up, 
 in the smallest possible compass, the quintessence 
 of a pure system of legitimate government.. That 
 they may be sure of receiving the benefit of this, 
 precious morceau, we have specially directed our 
 bookseller to transmit to each of the " Three gen 
 tlemen of Verona," a copy of this our work, with- 
 a reference to this particular page. 
 
 There was one feature, and that a leading one?, 
 in the character of Governor Lovelace, which, 
 however, in a great degree tempered and neutral 
 ized his tyrannical maxims of government. He 
 hated trouble more than all the representatives of 
 majesty, that ever presided in this new world, and 
 
140 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 his love of ease so equally balanced his love of 
 sway, that, although abstractedly the greatest little 
 tyrant in the world, he was not guilty, so far as we 
 have investigated the history of those times, of a 
 single act of oppression, during the whole period 
 he presided over the colony. It is, indeed, a sin 
 gular circumstance, and only to be explained by 
 this peculiarity in his character, that this same 
 governor was the identical person who voluntarily 
 delegated a great portion of his civil authority, in 
 the city, to a board of five aldermen, whereby he 
 laid the foundation of that puissant council, which 
 hath since presided over our destinies, to the great 
 glory and advantage of the community. One of 
 his regulations, most peculiarly praiseworthy, and 
 the revival of which we strenuously recommend, 
 was, that no play should be performed, and no book 
 published, until it had been first read, and approved 
 of, by the board of aldermen. As these worthy 
 censors had very little time, and no inclination ta 
 read books, the number of manuscripts multiplied 
 exceedingly. His excellency boasted, that in con 
 sequence of this simple expedient, the mischievous 
 art of printing became almost extinct in his do 
 minion, and the repose of his reign was not inter 
 rupted by the intrusion of a single new book. Such 
 was Colonel Richard Lovelace ; a brave soldier, 
 an indolent statesman, with a head none of the 
 clearest, and a heart never shut, except to Presby 
 terians, roundheads, and meddling politicians. 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 141 
 
 Governor Lovelace, soon after being quietly 
 settled in his government, despatched a summons 
 to the Heer Piper, to surrender his town and fort 
 of Elsingburgh forthwith " to the obedience of his 
 majesty King Charles the Second," &c. The Heer 
 declined the invitation, inasmuch as King Charles 
 and his master were at peace, and he had no in 
 clination whatever to disturb the harmony that 
 reigned between them. Anticipating, however,, 
 that this summons would be followed by a visit, 
 Governor Piper despatched the Long Finne and a 
 party with presents to the neighbouring Indians, 
 willing them to take arms in his favour. This they 
 declined, with secret wishes, however, that the 
 two belligerants would mutually exterminate each 
 other. In addition to this, the Heer fell into a 
 violent bustle, and incontinently busied himself for 
 several days in doing nothing, as is customary with 
 people who talk a great deal and swear roundly. 
 
 Thus waned away the time, until one morning, 
 a fine south wind blowing right up the river, the 
 little colony was alarmed with the sight of three 
 vessels of war, bearing upwards, their sails all set, 
 and colours flying, in gallant trim. They came 
 like birds upon the wing, each, as the sailors say, 
 when the white foam gathers in waves at the bows,. 
 " carrying a bone in her teeth," and advancing so 
 rapidly, that, ere the wise heads of Elsingburgh 
 could guess, or reckon, what they wanted, or 
 whither they were going, conjecture was at an end?, 
 
142 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 by the ships coming to anchor directly opposite 
 the town, as if in scorn of the formidable battery 
 of swivels erected for its defence. Lob Dotterel 
 wanted to call out the posse comitatus, and take 
 these intruders into custody, but his ardour was 
 restrained by the Heer, who anticipated, with ex 
 ceeding low spirits, the speedy termination of the 
 Swedish dynasty in this new hemisphere. He felt 
 his greatness tottering, and undoubtedly soliloquized 
 on the slippery nature of human power, after the 
 manner of Cardinal Wolsey, and other great men. 
 In less than an hour, a boat put off from the 
 largest ship, bearing a white flag, in token of peace, 
 as is customary, when a message is sent, which, 
 if not complied with, is to be followed by blows. 
 This boat conveyed the famous Sir Robert Carre, 
 one of those brave and hardy adventurers, who 
 preceded, or followed, the discovery of this new 
 world. They were a species of knights-errant, 
 who, instead of being enlisted in the cause of love 
 and beauty, set forth to seek their fortunes on the 
 high seas, or in the new world, where rumours of 
 boundless wealth allured them to risk all, and float 
 on the tide which then began to set towards the 
 west. The greater portion of these were most 
 devout enemies to the pope and the Spaniard; 
 against whom they waged perpetual hostilities, 
 pretty much regardless whether the respective 
 countries were at peace or not, religious zeal and 
 antipathies being held as sufficient causes for making 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 143 
 
 "War, independently of those grounds of complaint 
 which are usually put forth to justify an appeal to 
 arms. These adventurers were, unquestionably, 
 men of talents and bravery, but, if the truth must 
 be told, they were no great respecters of property, 
 and thought little of plundering a town on the 
 Spanish Main, or boarding a galleon, without the 
 ceremony of inquiring whether the laws of nations 
 justified the act. They belonged, generally, to the 
 race of younger brothers ; which, in countries like 
 England, where the estate is principally monopo 
 lized by the first-born, has produced a large portion 
 of those whose crimes have dishonoured, or whose 
 bravery and talents have exalted and ennobled the 
 national character. Although it would be gross 
 injustice to class these wild, adventurous spirits, 
 with the bloody and desperate race of bucaniers 
 which succeeded them, still we think it cannot be 
 doubted that they in some measure prepared the 
 way for those remorseless enemies of the human 
 race. The custom of making war upon the Spanish 
 settlements in the new world, in the loose and 
 unauthorized manner practised by the first adven 
 turers, gradually relaxed the restraints imposed by 
 the laws of nations, and in the end led to that entire 
 abandonment of principle, and that total disregard 
 of the claims of justice and humanity, which cha 
 racterized those wretched miscreants called the 
 bucaniers, whose very courage constituted the 
 greatest of their crimes, since it conquered the 
 
144 KONINGSMAIIKE. 
 
 only restraint which villains acknowledge in the 
 commission of enormities, 
 
 Sir Robert Carre was a man of few words, which 
 peculiarity rendered him particularly disagreeable 
 to the Heer, who liked very much to talk a great 
 deal before he came to a decision. The knight 
 laconically, and categorically, demanded the sur 
 render of Elsingburgh and its dependances to the 
 Governor of New- York, as representative of the 
 King of England, to whom the right to all these 
 territories appertained, by discovery, purchase, 
 conquest, and various other grounds, each of which 
 was amply sufficient to establish the right of the 
 strongest. Governor Piper comprehended, pretty 
 clearly, that he must positively comply with this 
 request, or demand, because the hostile force was 
 amply sufficient to level his town and fort to the 
 dust in two hours at farthest. But the good man 
 wisely determined to put a bold face on the busi 
 ness, and not ignominiously surrender, without a 
 long discussion, which he looked upon as the next 
 best thing to a stout defence vi et armis. In short, 
 he was resolved upon a negotiation, let what would 
 happen, and privately stipulated with himself to 
 have at least threescore-and-ten articles for the 
 security of the persons and property of his people, 
 and the honour of his government, in the capitula 
 tion. Preparatory to this, he pompously demanded 
 four-and-twenty hours to consider of this summons. 
 But Carre was a person equally averse to wasting 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 145 
 
 time as words ; he, therefore, very unceremoniously 
 replied, that as it was impossible to make any de 
 fence, there was very little use in considering about 
 it ; he therefore allowed him twenty-four minutes, 
 instead of twenty-four hours, to decide. 
 
 " Der teufel /" quoth the Heer, " that is not time 
 enough to decide which side of the mouth I shall 
 smoke my pipe this morning, much less to settle 
 about the surrender of a whole province." 
 
 " Well, but if there is no choice, where is the 
 use of taking time to consider ? If a man must, 
 he must, governor." 
 
 " Must ! du galgen ! I see no must in the case. 
 I would have thee to know, sir knight, if it were 
 not for the shedding of Christian blood, to which I 
 have much disinclination, being partly convinced by 
 my friend William Penn, that there is no use for 
 it in this world, I would, peradventure, blow thee 
 and thy ships sky-high, henckers knechts and all." 
 
 "No use in shedding Christian blood !" exclaimed 
 the knight. " Why, d n my blood, governor, if 
 I don t think you ve turned papist. Why, sblood ! 
 what would become of us soldiers, if there was to 
 be no cutting of throats, hey ? Would you make 
 rascal leather-aprons of us, and set us cheating in 
 a small way for a living, instead of growing rich 
 by plundering towns, and noble feats of arms? 
 But come, the time is just out ; is it capitulation, 
 or must I wipe thy town out of the map of the 
 universe in the twinkling of an eye ?" 
 
 VOL. n o 
 
146 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 " Patience patience, sir knight ; where is the 
 use of being so hasty ? You see I am in no hurry." 
 
 " Faith, governor," replied the other, " that is 
 generally the case. There is all the difference in 
 the world between one who gives and one who 
 takes ; but come, security of person and property 
 is the word, and where these are safe, what sig 
 nifies a change of masters, hey ?" 
 
 " And the honour of the Swedish crown ?" 
 replied the Heer. 
 
 " Oh ! as to that it shall be as full of honour as 
 an egg s full of meat. I shall take special care 
 of that myself!" 
 
 " And our religion ?" 
 
 " Nobody shall touch a hair of its head. You 
 may have just what you like, and as much as you 
 will, always excepting popery, which I have sworn 
 against, and Presbyterianism, which his excellency 
 Governor Lovelace doth not abide, drunk or sober." 
 
 " Well, well," quoth the Heer, with a long and 
 deep-drawn sigh, " if I could keep it from thee, I 
 would bury thee, thy comrades, thy governor, and 
 thy king, in the sand of this good river, ere I would 
 give up my sword. As it is here, take it ; and 
 now I am resigned to the lot of a private man, a 
 situation which all great persons fall in love with, 
 when they can do no better. I will retire unto 
 my little farm yonder, and plant cabbages, like 
 another Dioclesian." 
 
 So saying, the Heer delivered up his trusty 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 147 
 
 blade ; and thus the dominion of New Swedeland 
 passed from the superintendence of the Heer Piper 
 for ever. No prodigy, that we know of, accompa 
 nied this transfer of empire, which, by the way, 
 Dominie Kanttwell pronounced a judgment upon 
 the people of Elsingburgh, who about this time 
 began somewhat to relapse into the wicked practice 
 of ballad-singing. 
 
 After taking formal possession of Elsingburgh 
 and its dependances, in the name of his sovereign, 
 firing a salute in honour of his conquest, and ap 
 pointing a provisional junta, Sir Robert Carre 
 weighed anchor, and returned with his fleet to 
 New- York, where, on reporting his success, his 
 excellency Governor Lovelace gave a great turtle- 
 feast, at which his five newly-created aldermen 
 are reported to have done great credit to the gov 
 ernor s selection, by their excellent judgment in 
 eating. The only remarkable circumstance which 
 followed the capture of Elsingburgh was the mys 
 terious disappearance of the Long Finne, who was 
 missing from the time of Sir Robert s departure ; 
 but whether he went with him, was kidnapped, or 
 forcibly carried off, or what was become of him, 
 none knew, or at least, if any one did know, the 
 secret was kept with singular discretion. 
 
 Various were the conjectures of the people of 
 the village, as to the strange disappearance of the 
 youth ; but as not one of these came near the truth, 
 we shall not trouble the reader with reciting them. 
 
148 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 The good Heer was sorely perplexed, and could 
 liot help reverting to those suspicions which had 
 arisen in his mind on the first appearance of the 
 Long Finne, as related in the early part of this 
 history. These suspicions were strengthened by 
 the insinuations of Othma-n Pfegel and the Dominie, 
 who both related certain mysterious facts concern 
 ing Koningsmarke, which, whether true or false, 
 afforded grounds for a suspicion that there was a 
 good understanding betwixt him and the English 
 commander. As to our poor blue-eyed village- 
 maid, the fair and gentle Christina, though her 
 feelings were kept to herself, or, at least, vented 
 only in solitude and darkness, yet we can venture 
 to affirm, that she had her own thoughts of this 
 mysterious affair. Young women, and especially 
 young women in love, judging by themselves, are 
 prone to ascribe every action of their lovers to the 
 influence of that single passion, which, while it 
 subsists in all its youthful warmth and purity, is 
 their own guide and polar star. Christina thus 
 attributed the disappearance of Koningsmarke, 
 not to any treasonable practices against the colony, 
 or any fear of discovery and punishment, but to 
 pique or disappointment, on account of her having 
 so often resisted his persuasions for a speedy union. 
 44 But if so, he will think better of it, and return 
 speedily," would she say to her innocent heart, 
 which, even at that moment, trembled with a latent 
 fear, lest the promised hope might never be real- 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 149 
 
 ized. Every hour that passed away without 
 bringing him back, diminished her confidence in 
 the hope of his return ; and when a fortnight had 
 elapsed, without either seeing or hearing of him, 
 her pale cheek and dim eye, her careless dress, and 
 her indifference to those little domestic cares and 
 incidents which so pleasantly and beneficially em 
 ploy the hours of woman, all combined, served to 
 indicate to an observing eye, that harassing state 
 of feeling, which, when long continued, either 
 triumphs over the body or the mind. 
 
 VOL. II 2 
 
BOOK NINTH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 In which the author turns traitor, and betrays the secrets of 
 the craft. 
 
 THIS being the last time we shall appear in our 
 own proper person before the reader, in the course 
 of the present work, and as possibly we may never 
 meet again, it has occurred to us, that as it is cus 
 tomary for old friends, when about to part for ever 
 in this world, to confess their secrets to each other, 
 disclose their inmost thoughts, and ask each other s 
 forgiveness for all past offences, we will follow so 
 good an example on this occasion. As to the gentle 
 reader, however, we will not exact disclosures that 
 might possibly place him in an awkward predica 
 ment. If, as peradventure may have been the case, 
 he hath sometimes thought us dull, or occasionally 
 prosing and obscure, so that he was sometimes 
 inclined to suspect that either the author or him 
 self lacked clearness and comprehension, we give 
 him full permission to keep all such impressions a 
 profound secret from the whole world, and most 
 especially from ourselves. Whatever confessions 
 we shall make, will be entirely disinterested, and 
 
152 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 without any view to a similar confidence on the 
 part of the reader, who is welcome to keep his 
 own secrets. 
 
 Our critical readers will have, no doubt, remarked 
 that we have taken most of the mottoes of our chap 
 ters, from the works of an old lady whose poetry 
 was never, we believe, very fashionable, except in 
 the nursery. For this we had special good reasons, 
 which, though we have a perfect right to keep to 
 ourselves, we will include in our general confes 
 sion. Candidly speaking then, we were governed 
 in our preference by a vehement admiration of the 
 beautiful simplicity of this old lady s writings, which 
 we think is not to be matched by any poet, ancient 
 or modern. Many poets, it is true, have lately 
 written verses entirely, destitute of all meaning, 
 and remarkable for a childish simplicity, very 
 edifying to exceeding small children ; but, with 
 great reverence be it spoken, they have never been 
 able to reach the perfection of Mother Goose in 
 these respects. They cannot disguise from the 
 judicious reader, that they do really possess some 
 small glimmerings of understanding, and with all 
 their affectation of simplicity, we perceive, very 
 distinctly, that if they were to give nature fair 
 play, they could, in all human probability, write 
 poetry not altogether destitute of common sense. 
 Without, therefore, meaning any disrespect to this 
 class of poets, whom we place on the summit of 
 our beaver, we must be permitted to say, that 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 153 
 
 we think Mother Goose entitled to be put at the 
 head of the great school of namby-pamby, not 
 withstanding the very formidable rivals that have 
 lately sprung up to contest her claim. 
 
 We are aware that more than one old-fashioned 
 critic is of opinion that poetry is written to be 
 understood, and that it should not only mean some 
 thing, but that the meaning should be easily com 
 prehended. But if this is true, where would be 
 the use of writing poetry at all, if it is like plain 
 prose, equally adopted to the most ordinary un 
 derstanding ? The object and end of poetry we 
 maintain, is to wrap our meaning up in a certain 
 veil of obscurity, which rouses the curiosity of the 
 reader sufficiently to give an interest to the lines, 
 and thus avoid the difficult task of constructing a 
 story for that purpose. Whether the reader is 
 excited by a curiosity to know the issue of the 
 tale, or the meaning of the author, is quite a matter 
 of indifference, as the interest is, in our opinion, the 
 same. Pope says the reader will excuse us for 
 quoting from one whose claim to the title of poet 
 has been almost forfeited, by mingling too much 
 good sense with his rhymes Pope says, that 
 " True, no meaning puzzles more than wit," and 
 hence, a poet who excels in the obscure, or what 
 is still better, the art of no meaning, is lawfully 
 exempted from the labour of exercising his inven 
 tion in the construction of a story, or the concate 
 nation of ideas. 
 
154 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 This obscurity has been the foundation of the 
 immortality of many of the greatest poets of ancient 
 and modern times, and what is of equal importance, 
 has produced a race of industrious commentators, 
 which else had probably never existed, except, 
 perhaps, in the persons of pains-taking pin-makers, 
 or pickers of oakum. Where is the poet whose 
 fame is more universal than that of Shakspeare ? 
 Yet, if he was not the most obscure writer that 
 ever existed, where is the use of the five hundred 
 commentators that have distracted his five hundred 
 millions of readers, with so many opposite inter 
 pretations of his meaning, that they are left like 
 the honest gentleman, who sets out on a ride over 
 the famous island of Manhattan, and sees so many 
 ways before him, that he does not for the soul of 
 him know which to choose. We might instance 
 hundreds of other great poets, who, if we believe 
 their commentators, never wrote a line in their 
 whole lives, that did not require twenty more to 
 explain its meaning ; but will content ourselves 
 with this one, and that the greatest and most 
 obscure of all, if we are to judge from his commen 
 tators, many of whom we cannot but liken to the 
 wise man, who lighted his apartment by placing 
 the candle under a bushel. 
 
 Some of our readers may, in like manner, find 
 fault with us, in that our mottoes in general have 
 no more application to the subject matter of the 
 chapter, the nature of which they are supposed to 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 155 
 
 indicate, than the texts of certain preachers have 
 to their sermons. Now we frankly confess that 
 this is entirely intentional, and with a view to pro 
 duce an addition to the perplexity of the reader, 
 as well as to veil the real nature of what is to fol 
 low from his eye. And in this we are fully justified 
 by the examples of many popular writers of the 
 present school of romance, whose sole object in 
 selecting their mottoes, is evidently to mislead the 
 reader, and thus increase his delight in finding the 
 contents of the chapter exactly what he did not 
 anticipate. 
 
 Others of our worthy and most respected read 
 ers, who have, doubtless, more than once caught 
 themselves yawning, yea, napping, over some of 
 the details and digressions in our work, have per 
 haps accused us of unnecessary circumlocution, 
 wanton verbosity, and unfeeling minuteness, in 
 description or narrative. Here, too, we confess 
 a wilful design ; and, in order in some measure to 
 justify this apparently inexcusable trifling with his 
 time and patience, we will let the reader into the 
 very arcana of the great mystery of authorship. 
 
 Be it known to thee, then, O ! most patient of 
 mortals ! that the modern Macsenases, the biblio 
 poles of the United or as they might aptly be 
 called, the Untied States are, for the most part, a 
 race of heathens, belonging to no Christian church 
 that we have any cognizance of. They are neither 
 Trinitarians nor Unitarians, and do eschew any 
 
156 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 work comprising more or less than two volumes, 
 containing a certain number of pages. Whether 
 this exclusive preference of this particular number, 
 is derived from the fact of its being the precise 
 number of a man s legs, or arms, or eyes, or ears, 
 we have never been able to ascertain. There is 
 some occult mystery in the thing, which we leave 
 to the five hundred commentators of Shakspeare, 
 to elucidate into greater obscurity. 
 
 But whatever be the cause, the effect is exceed 
 ingly lamentable in regard to all authors of a short 
 wind, who consequently strive to contract their 
 journey and get to the end of it as soon as possible. 
 In order to complete the requisite number of 
 volumes of the prescribed size, all the art of the 
 writer, printer, papermaker, and publisher, is put 
 in requisition. The former, instead of keeping his 
 story constantly in view, and recording only such 
 particulars as are essential to its progress and 
 catastrophe, must beat the cover, like a hound at 
 fault, running this way and that way, and de 
 scribing various circles that bring him just to the 
 point where he was before. The paper manufac 
 turer must invent a kind of pasteboard, to make the 
 book appear as respectable as possible ; the printer 
 must scatter his types, so as to cause them to look 
 like unto a flock of blackbirds frightened from a 
 field of corn, and leave space sufficient for a rail 
 road at each margin ; and the publisher must keep 
 it a profound secret, that there is just as much in 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 157 
 
 the two volumes, as might be very conveniently 
 comprised in one of the same dimensions. 
 
 But the unlucky author, and the still more un 
 lucky readers, are after all the real victims. The 
 former is obliged to use all the art of his profession, 
 not in bringing his story to a catastrophe, but in pre 
 venting it from, as it were, running ashore before 
 the voyage is concluded. Hence it is that the simple 
 and unknowing reader, is so frequently out of all 
 patience at seeing the author, when the end of the 
 tale lay as it were directly under his nose, pretend 
 not to see it, and turn away, to look for it a great 
 way off, or peradventure begin to talk about some 
 thing else, until both the reader and himself entirely 
 forget where it was they left the thread of the story. 
 
 Various and vexatious indeed are the shifts and 
 expedients to which the unfortunate author is 
 obliged to resort, to spin out the requisite number 
 of pages. He must record the most minute and 
 insignificant particulars, and leave nothing to the 
 imagination of the reader. Thus though it must 
 be obvious to the most ordinary understanding, 
 that the hero and heroine must necessarily eat 
 and sleep like other people, it behooves the author 
 carefully to note down whenever they do so, and 
 apprize the reader at the same time, whether they 
 slept comfortably and ate with a good appetite ; 
 nor ought he on any occasion to omit the bill 
 of fare, most especially if it consists of a goodly 
 array of French cookery, which is indispensable in 
 
 VOL. II P 
 
158 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 a fashionable novel. Neither must he ever on any 
 occasion put his principal characters to sleep, with 
 out especially describing the bed, the curtains, the 
 furniture of the room and the room itself, so that 
 every reader may have a perfect idea of the whole. 
 
 In the morning, when they get up, he must play 
 the dressing-maid, or valet, and be careful to equip 
 them in character, omitting not a single article, 
 however minute. Nor is this all; he must be 
 careful to dress them at least three times a day in 
 a genteel and becoming manner, taking especial 
 care that they appear in the most approved cos 
 tume, so as not to disgrace the author, or bring his 
 knowledge of these important matters into con 
 tempt with the fashionable reader. If he invites 
 one of his dramatis persona to a grand dinner, or 
 a grand party, he knows nothing of the art of 
 writing if he omits to record the exact juxta-posi- 
 tion of the company at the former, or the exact 
 number of people at the latter, together with all 
 the particulars of the decorations, the fashion and 
 cost of the lamps, the colours and materials of the 
 curtains, and most especially the names of all the 
 titled persons present, this last being one of the 
 most important requisites in a fashionable novel or 
 romance. 
 
 Should he peradventure find himself at a loss for 
 an incident to serve as a connecting link to his 
 story, he is obliged to resort to the expedient of 
 introducing a character or characters, having no 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 159 
 
 connexion, and no agency in the business of the 
 piece, and set them discussing politics, religion, 
 metaphysics, or political economy, through some 
 half a dozen pages, during which, though the story 
 stands stock still, the book goes on swimmingly. 
 Indeed his never-failing resource on these occa 
 sions, is to keep on talking, until he can turn 
 himself round a little, and see his way clearly. 
 
 Sometimes he may be likened to a fashionable 
 well-dressed young gentleman, who unexpectedly 
 beholds his tailor approaching with a long bill in 
 his hand, and pretending not to see him, turns sud 
 denly round a corner and distances him with a 
 quick step. So the unlucky author, more than once 
 in the course of his lucubrations, finds himself unex 
 pectedly just at the end of his story, when the first 
 volume is scarcely completed, and is fain to wheel 
 about, and scamper away without once looking 
 behind him until he is fairly out of sight of the un 
 welcome intruder. 
 
 Sometimes he resembles the redoubtable com 
 mander of a ship, who after driving about in a fog 
 for days, all at once finds himself in imminent 
 danger of being wrecked on a lee-shore, before his 
 voyage is half finished. In such a situation nothing 
 is left him but to set all hands to work to make as 
 much noise as possible, by talking, hallooing, and 
 bawling through their tin trumpets, until haply the 
 vessel claws offby degrees and continues her course 
 triumphantly. Just so the writer who is mulcted 
 
160 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 in two volumes by the bookseller, must always 
 resort to noise and talking when in jeopardy of 
 gaining land before his time, in which case he 
 would, as it were, forfeit the passage-money, and 
 make a losing venture. 
 
 We could enumerate a number of other excel 
 lent expedients for lengthening out a tale after the 
 manner of the most approved writers, but shall 
 stop short here, lest the reader might suspect us of 
 inditing this and our other introductory chapters 
 solely for a similar purpose, a suspicion than which 
 nothing can be more unjust and unfounded. We 
 take this opportunity solemnly to assure him, that 
 we hold ourselves above such arts ; that we con 
 sider the said chapters the very cream of our 
 book, and that if he will only ponder over it with 
 due attention, he may, if possessed of an ordinary 
 comprehension, become in time quite as wise as 
 the author. With the sincere wish that he may 
 do so, we commence the ninth and last book of 
 our history, bidding him at the same time an affec 
 tionate farewell. 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 161 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 "If ye be set on mervaylynge, 
 Then shall ye heare a mervaylouse thing ; 
 And though, indeed, all be not new, 
 Yet suer the most part shall be true." 
 
 TIME and the world alike move on unceasingly 
 and in the selfsame undeviating pace, let what will 
 happen. The keenest misfortunes of individuals, 
 the death of men who have filled the world with 
 their glory, the change of dynasties, and the revo 
 lutions of empires, affect not the general course of 
 events, or the great business of the human bee-hive. 
 The daily wants of mankind, the necessity of ex 
 ertion, the gratification of the passions, one or 
 other, or all combined, still keep up the busy cur 
 rent of life, which continues its course without 
 ceasing, and will only be finally arrested, when 
 the consummation of the great scheme of infinite 
 wisdom and power shall have arrived. 
 
 Three weeks had now nearly elapsed, since the 
 total subversion of the authority of the Heer, and 
 the mysterious disappearance of the Long Finne. 
 The inhabitants of Elsingburgh continued in the 
 quiet pursuit of their daily avocations, and scarcely 
 ever thought of the great revolution that had over 
 turned, in the language of historians, their happi 
 ness and prosperity. It was only the Heer and 
 
 VOL, II P 2 
 
162 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 his gentle daughter, on whom this wave of ill-for 
 tune had especially expended its violence. The 
 former not only felt his diminished consequence, 
 but now actually experienced what may be truly 
 called one of the greatest misfortunes incident to 
 human nature. Being restricted from all partici 
 pation in the new government, he knew not what to 
 do with himself, and was at length reduced to the 
 necessity of taking two naps extra, to assist him 
 in getting through the livelong, tedious day. The 
 fiend ennui laid hold of him with leaden gripe, and, 
 had it not been that he at last luckily took to the 
 Job-like business of fishing inveterately in the 
 neighbouring river for amusement, it is impossible 
 to say what might have been the ill consequences, 
 to a man having nothing to do, and at the same time 
 being naturally inclined to be busy. As for poor 
 Christina, she complained not, she wept not, except 
 in secret ; and to those who judge of the depths 
 of the waters by the noise they make, rather than 
 by their stillness, she seemed as if nothing was the 
 matter with her. 
 
 In this state were the various persons and things 
 appertaining to our history, when, on a certain 
 night, there gathered together, about the spacious 
 chimney of Master Oldale s castle, a group of 
 village blades, whose deeds of drinking used to 
 stand recorded in veritable chalk, in one corner 
 of that sanctum sanctorum, vulgarly yclept the bar. 
 The company consisted of Wolfgang Langfanger, 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 163 
 
 Othman Pfegel, and Lob Dotterel, who, being each 
 equally deprived of their vocation under the an 
 cient system of Elsingburgh, were compelled, in 
 sheer self-defence, to pass part of the time at the 
 inn, to hear the news, and kill the common enemy 
 of all idlers. Besides these, there was Master 
 Oldale, who, like a trusty publican and sinner, 
 that understood his business, was ever accustomed 
 to encourage the practice of tippling, not only by 
 precept, but example. The fifth personage, who 
 completed the group, was a singular itinerant 
 genius, called Lowright, a travelling pedler, tinker, 
 and what not, who regularly traversed the wilder 
 ness between New- York and the river Delaware, 
 once a year, with his pack on his back, and as 
 regularly, as is usual with such losel wights, did 
 incontinently cheat about one-half of the men, and 
 all the women of Elsingburgh. He was well known, 
 and, to say truth, not much respected, not only 
 among the Indians, but also by the inhabitants of 
 the little villages, that now began to peep forth in 
 groups of log huts, at intervals " few and far be 
 tween," in the desert. Mankind unquestionably 
 have a natural aptitude to be cheated in one way 
 or other; sometimes by rulers, sometimes by slaves, 
 and sometimes by pedlers. Besides, Lowright was 
 not only a pestilent rogue, but a merry rogue, who 
 sung excellent songs, told the most bloody stories, 
 and withal never cheated any body but in jest. 
 When charged with his rogueries, he always turned 
 
164 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 them off with an excellent joke, accompanied by 
 an irresistible laugh ; and it is well known, that if 
 you keep people, and especially women, in a good 
 humour, you may cheat them out of any thing. 
 Much of the news that passed between New-York 
 and Elsingburgh was brought by this strolling 
 wight ; for at that time it was a rare thing for any 
 one to venture on a journey through this wild 
 country. 
 
 It was now waxing late in the evening ; the 
 night was becoming excessively dark, and the 
 flashes of lightning which penetrated the crevices 
 of the windows, followed by the distant and mut 
 tering thunder, gave indication of a coming storm. 
 The conversation turned on the late events of the 
 village, and especially the fate of the goblin Cupid, 
 and his mysterious grandmother, whose night-walk 
 ings still continued the common theme of the vil 
 lage. Lob Dotterel was called upon to verify 
 these legends, and, after wetting his whistle, look 
 ing cautiously about the room, and drawing his 
 chair a little more within the circle, cleared his 
 throat, and attested to the following facts, in the 
 midst of peals of thunder, that now became more 
 loud and frequent : 
 
 " You must know," said the ci-devant high con 
 stable, " that one night it was the Wednesday 
 night following the death of Cupid and his grand 
 mother I had been out late on business." Here 
 Master Oldale tipped the company a wink, which 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 165 
 
 conveyed to their comprehension that Lob had 
 been tippling at the sign of the Indian Queen, 
 rather more than beseemed a discreet, sober man. 
 " When I got home, I proceeded to undress my 
 self, and was just standing before the glass, tying 
 on my nightcap, when, as I am a Christian man 
 and a living sinner, I saw in the glass the face of 
 the black witch Bombie, looking just over my 
 shoulder, with eyes as red as coals, and lips moving 
 as if she was speaking, though I could hear nothing. 
 I looked round, though my head moved on my 
 shoulders, like a door on rusty hinges, but nobody 
 was there. I looked in the glass again, and there 
 was the ghastly face glaring over my shoulder as 
 before, with red eyes, and blue lips moving with a 
 quivering motion, without uttering a word. Often, 
 as I turned my head to look behind me, I saw 
 nothing ; but the moment I turned to the looking- 
 glass, the face appeared, just peering over my 
 shoulder. Presently I felt two cold hands on my 
 back, and the face in the glass came so close to 
 mine, that I felt its breath against my cheek." 
 
 " I never heard of a ghost breathing before," 
 said Lowright ; " but maybe the spirits of ladies 
 of colour are different from those of white people. 
 Go on, master constable." 
 
 " The weight of the hands on my shoulders grew 
 heavier and heavier, till at last I fell flat on my face 
 upon the floor, unable to support it any longer. 
 What time I lay there I can t tell, but when I came 
 
166 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 to myself, and looked about, there was nothing in 
 the room but old Grip, the dog, who lay fast asleep 
 in a corner." 
 
 As Master Dotterel concluded his story, there 
 came a terrible flash of lightning, followed by an 
 awful crash of thunder, that seemed to have dashed 
 the universe to atoms. The company gradually 
 contracted their little circle, until their knees mixed 
 with each other, and, late as it was, no one seemed 
 inclined to go to rest, amid the uproar without 
 and the solemnity within doors. The crash was 
 followed by an awful silence, until the tinker ex 
 claimed, " There will be bitter weather by-and-by, 
 and, for my part, I could never sleep in a thunder 
 storm. Come, landlord, another tankard, and Mas 
 ter Wolfgang will tell us a story, to pass away the 
 time." 
 
 The tankard was brought, and Master Wolf 
 gang, at the request of the company, commenced 
 his story as follows : 
 
 " Many years ago, it was in my native country 
 of Sweden, I happened once to be benighted at a 
 distance of several miles from any house. It was in 
 the summer season, and much such a night as this. 
 The thunder rolled incessantly, followed by contin 
 ued flashes of lightning which blinded both me and 
 my horse. By the light of one of these, I thought 
 I could distinguish an old ruined building, that I 
 took to be the remains of a church, which I knew 
 from report was situated somewhere hereabouts. 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 167 
 
 I heard the roar of the tempest approaching nearer 
 and nearer, while the big drops of rain began to 
 fall thicker and faster every moment. There was 
 no alternative, but to weather the storm without 
 a shelter, or seek it in the old church, which, though 
 the windows were broken and the doors decayed, 
 was still better than nothing. I had an invincible 
 antipathy to churches and churchyards at night ; 
 but then I hated a wet jacket even more than I 
 feared ghosts ; so I e en dismounted, led my horse 
 inside of the door, and groped my way into a pew 
 in one corner, where there was tolerable shelter. 
 Presently the rain came in torrents, the thunder 
 rolled, and burst, and crashed, and the lightning 
 flashed upon the white tombstones, that peeped 
 above the sills of the windows. Soon I began to 
 feel the effects of a long day s journey, and, stretch 
 ing myself out on the seat, I gradually fell fast 
 asleep. After sometime, I was disturbed by a 
 strange sound, not unlike the tremulous quaver of 
 the screech-owl, * hoo \ hoo ! hoo ! I opened my 
 eyes, and the first object they met was a tall ghastly 
 female figure, leaning over me, with her face close 
 to mine. During njy nap it had cleared up, and 
 the bright moonbeams, pouring into the windows, 
 and ruined roof and walls, fell directly on the 
 spectre before me. To my dying day, I shall never 
 forget the lank face, hollow cheeks, and glaring eyes, 
 as, with raised hands, the long, skinny, and bony 
 fingers of which were extended over me, it re- 
 
168 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 peated the quaver, in a shrill, hollow tone, and 
 bent down and kissed me, with lips that seemed 
 covered with the damps and mildews of the sepul 
 chre. I shrunk, and shuddered as if death had 
 sealed me his own in that horrible kiss, which was 
 followed by the same tremulous hoo ! hoo ! hoo ! 
 My limbs refused to obey the impulse of my fears, 
 and, for the life of me, I could not make a single 
 p^ort to escape, but felt as I had sometimes done 
 _n dreams, where we struggle in vain to stir hand 
 or foot. At this moment the day began to dawn, 
 and a gun from a neighbouring fortress announced 
 the morning. The figure started at the explosion, 
 which broke on the deathlike silence, and echoed 
 far and wide. Hoo ! hoo ! hoo ! cried the spectre 
 of horror, as she stooped again and gave me one 
 of her infernal kisses. She then moved slowly 
 away, and disappeared, I could not tell how, in the 
 obscurity of a distant corner of the ruined building. 
 " When I was assured of its being gone, I started 
 up, mounted my horse, and proceeded rapidly to 
 a village about four miles distant, where I ordered 
 breakfast. I had scarcely been here half an hour 
 when I heard the same noise which had alarmed 
 me so much in the church. What is that T I ex 
 claimed, as one of the attendants came in. Oh, 
 replied she, tis only a poor crazy woman, that 
 wanders about these parts, but never hurts any 
 body, and never says any thing but hoo! hoc! 
 hoo ! And kisses every body ? No they sav 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 169 
 
 she only kisses those who are going to die very 
 soon. I kept the secret of her salute, although, to 
 tell the honest truth, gentlemen, I considered my 
 self, for a whole year afterward, as little better 
 than a dead man. This happened more than 
 twenty years ago, and yet, at times, and especially 
 in such a night as this, the impression of my adven 
 ture in the old ruined church is as fresh as if it had 
 happened yesterday. But come, Master Lowright, 
 the night wears apace, and there is no ventur 
 ing out in the uproar and darkness. You must 
 keep us company in another tankard and another 
 story." 
 
 " With all my heart," replied the jolly pedler ; 
 "let me wet my whistle, and you shall have a 
 story that will astonish you all." The tankard 
 passed round, and Master Lowright commenced 
 his legend. 
 
 " You must know, gossips, that, though I come 
 from New- York, I don t live in the city, but in a 
 deep forest about four miles off on the island, where 
 every thing is as wild, and in as perfect a state of 
 nature, as it was the day of the deluge. My house 
 is of a single story, containing a single room, which 
 serves me for parlour, kitchen, and hall. My bed 
 is in the attic story above, and is gained by means 
 of a ladder. I have no family, except a dog and 
 a cat, and there is not a house within sight of my 
 solitary abode. Why I have chosen such a situa 
 tion is an affair of my own, and I shall, therefore, 
 
 VOL. II Q 
 
170 KONINGSMARKfc. 
 
 not trouble you with my reasons for preferring this 
 retired and lonely spot. 
 
 " One summer evening, I was sitting smoking 
 my pipe at the door of my castle it was some 
 where, I think, about four years ago when I 
 observed a man coming towards me, with a staff 
 in his hand, and dressed in the style of a common 
 beggar. As he advanced up the little path which 
 led to my dwelling, I observed that he was tall 
 and straight in his person, and that his face was 
 remarkably handsome. Altogether, indeed, he was 
 the likeliest person I have seen in a long time, 
 except the young man called the Long Finne, 
 who was here last year, and whom I saw carried 
 to prison in New- York the other day." " What !" 
 exclaimed Wolfgang Langfanger, " is the Long 
 Finne in New- York?" "Ay, that he is, to his 
 cost, for he is condemned to be whipt through the 
 streets, and afterward sold to Barbadoes as a slave, 
 for having conspired, it is said, with the savages, 
 against the English power. But I will go on with 
 my story, for I see Master Dotterel begins to wax 
 sleepy. 
 
 " As the beggar approached me, he began, in 
 the usual way, to beg for a lodging, as the night 
 was setting in dark, and the path to the city, being 
 through the woods, would be difficult to find. But 
 I have only one bed in my house, replied I, and 
 that I generally like to keep to myself. 
 
 " Beggars must not be choosers, replied he; 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 171 
 
 I can sleep on the hearth by the fire. I have 
 made harder lodging than that in my time, and so 
 I have wherewithal over my head, I care little 
 what is under it, provided it is not harder than a 
 stone. 
 
 " But, replied I, I know you not ; I live alone 
 here in the woods, and it is not usual to take peo 
 ple into our houses, without knowing something 
 of them. 
 
 " * What ! quoth the beggar, looking round on 
 my poor household with a dry sort of air, you are 
 afraid I shall rob you ? Only to think of the differ^ 
 ence between us ! I am equally a stranger to you, 
 and yet, you see, I am not afraid to sleep in your 
 house. But the beggar sings before the robber/ 
 
 " The humour of the rogue pleased me ; I at 
 length consented that he should stay the night, and 
 make his pillow on the hearth-stone. We sat up 
 till almost midnight, chatting over our adventures, 
 and then went to bed. But some how or other, I 
 couldn t sleep; or, if I did fall asleep for a moment, 
 it was only to be awakened with frightful dreams. 
 On one of these occasions, I thought I heard a stir 
 in the room below, and, cautiously creeping to the 
 opening, saw a sight that froze every drop of my 
 blood into an icicle." 
 
 " What was it?" exclaimed Lob Dotterel, open 
 ing one eye, and drawing his chair closer into the 
 corner. 
 
 " It was the beggar, busily employed in whet- 
 
172 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 ting the point of a knife, that appeared to me at 
 least a yard long. Ever and anon he would feel 
 the point, shake his head, as much as to say, it 
 won t do yet, and then set to work sharpening it 
 again. I had not the least doubt that he intended 
 to murder me, under an impression that I had 
 hoarded up money in my business. I therefore 
 prepared myself for defending my life as well as I 
 could. I had a pistol, but, unluckily, it wanted 
 a lock, and an old rusty sword, without edge or 
 point." " Ay," quoth master constable, "like one 
 of your excellent razors." " Or rather, like your 
 excellent wit," replied the pedler, and incontinently 
 got the laugh on his side. 
 
 " What was to be done ? I began to distil into 
 a jelly, and felt both courage and strength fast 
 fleeting away, as too often happens in these hours 
 of sore extremity. Desperation at last supplied the 
 place of valour and discretion, and I determined, 
 instead of waiting till the wretch had sharpened his 
 knife, so as to stick me through and through in the 
 twinkling of an eye, to come upon him by surprise, 
 and carry the war into his own camp. I therefore 
 suddenly plumped down upon him, with my trusty 
 blade in hand and what d ye think, gentlemen, 
 was the consequence ?" 
 
 " Why, you killed him," said the whole company 
 with one voice. 
 
 " No ! HE KILLED ME !" 
 
 Here the whole company started up, as if by 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 173 
 
 one impulse, and stared in silent horror at Master 
 Lowright, marvelling whether it was really him 
 self sitting among them, or only the ghost of 
 himself. 
 
 At the moment of this ecstatic climax of wonder 
 and dismay, there was a loud crash of thunder, 
 succeeded by a tremendous bouncing, thumping, 
 howling, and shrieking, in the garret above, that 
 appalled the stoutest hearts of the whole company, 
 and caused each man to press close to his neigh 
 bour in trembling agitation. Presently something 
 was heard to fall, with a weight that shook the 
 floor, through the opening which led by a ladder 
 into the attic story ; the lamp, that stood nearly 
 under it, was suddenly extinguished, and there was 
 a hissing, and spitting, and howling, in the dark 
 ness, as if the fiends had suddenly decamped from 
 their ordinary abodes, to take lodgings at Master 
 Oldale s castle. All was horror, dismay, and con 
 fusion ; not a soul dared stir from the spot where 
 he was planted, and not a soul uttered a word, 
 save the ci-devant high constable, who, on this 
 occasion, disgraced his valorous exploits among 
 the Indians, by roaring lustily for help, being fast 
 held by the leg, by Othman Pfegel, who had tum 
 bled flat on the floor. The cry brought Mistress 
 Oldale, with a candle, which at once disclosed the 
 cause of all this uproar, in the persons of two cats, 
 who had, agreeably to the custom of these amiable 
 animals, been making " cruel love," after the man- 
 
 VOL. II Q 2 
 
174 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 ner of certain affectionate couples, who act upon 
 the old saying, that the falling out of lovers is the 
 renewal of love. The discovery forthwith put an 
 end to the merrimaking. Each man felt an in 
 ternal consciousness of having been frightened at 
 nothing, and sneaked away to bed, without the 
 ceremony of bidding good night. 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 175 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 " He is in prison, let us go to him 
 He cannot come to us. His thoughts alone are free ; 
 They ll fly abroad, like to old Noah s bird, 
 And tell him that the earth affords no place 
 Of rest but that no friend to take his hand, 
 And buoy him above the boundless waves. 
 Let s go to him." 
 
 NEWS fly swift everywhere, but most of all in 
 a country village. It was soon communicated to 
 the Heer Piper and his fair daughter, that the 
 Long Finne had been carried a prisoner to New- 
 York, and condemned to be whipt, and sold to 
 slavery. The pedler was called up, and stated, 
 that the youth had been seized the night before the 
 sailing of the fleet, as he was taking a solitary walk 
 along the river side ; conveyed on board the ships ; 
 transported to New- York; tried for treasonable 
 practices ; condemned, and sentenced to these 
 ignominious punishments. Such indeed was the 
 sad story of Koningsmarke, who had been seized 
 and taken to New- York in manner aforesaid, 
 and there brought to trial before the governor and 
 his council. It was in vain that he asserted his 
 innocence, and that at the time he was accused of 
 these crimes he was a subject of Sweden, and 
 owed no allegiance to any other power, much less 
 a power which exercised no authority in New- 
 
176 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 Swedeland. He was answered, that the Swedes 
 from the first had no right to the territory they 
 occupied, which, in fact, appertained to Great 
 Britain by discovery. Koningsmarke was therefore 
 living under an usurped government, and could 
 claim no immunity on the score of not owing alle 
 giance to a power which, though not actually in 
 possession, always had the right. The council, 
 consisting of the governor, Thomas Delaval, and 
 Ralph Whitfield, on these grounds, decreed as 
 follows : 
 
 " That Koningsmarke, commonly called the Long 
 Finne, deserved to die ; yet, in regard that many 
 concerned with him in these practices might also 
 be involved in the pra3munire, if the rigour of the 
 law should be extended, and amongst them divers 
 ignorant and simple people, it was thought fit to 
 order, that the Long Finne should be severely 
 whipt, and stigmatized with the letter R, with an 
 inscription in great letters on his breast, that he 
 received that punishment for rebellion ; and after 
 ward to be secured till sent to Barbadoes, or some 
 other remote plantation, to be sold." 
 
 When Christina heard of this terrible sentence, 
 her heart failed her, and she sunk insensible into 
 the arms of her father. Every species of bitter, 
 indelible disgrace was combined in this punishment; 
 and who is there, that cherishes a friend, or adores 
 a lover, but would rather have heard that he was 
 dead, than thus scourged, branded, and sold 1p 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 177 
 
 slavery? When Christina came to herself, she 
 desired to be conducted to her chamber and left 
 alone. After remaining there an hour or two, she 
 sent for her father, who found her pale, feeble, and 
 nearly exhausted with the misery of her feelings. 
 Yet there was a speaking energy in her light blue 
 eye, that indicated she was labouring with some 
 resolve that possessed her whole soul. 
 
 " How art thou now, my dear daughter ?" said 
 the Heer. 
 
 "Well very well," replied Christina ; "but, my 
 father, I have one request to make thee, which, as 
 thou valuest my happiness, nay, my very life, I 
 beseech thee to grant me. Wilt thou V 
 
 " What is it, my dear one ?" answered the Heer, 
 with affectionate sympathy; "it must be impossible, 
 if I refuse it to thee. What is it ?" 
 
 Christina looked wistfully in his face, and replied 
 " HE saved my life ; he bore me in his arms, as 
 a mother her only offspring ; he watched over me 
 in the wilderness ; lie risked death and torture in 
 the attempt to restore me to thee ; and shall not I 
 do something to requite all these obligations ?" 
 
 " All that can be done to rescue him from this 
 disgrace and misery shall be done. I will send, 
 and demand him as a subject of my master." 
 
 " Alas !" replied Christina, " when I wanted his 
 aid, he did not send ; he came himself; he risked 
 all for me, and shall not we risk something for him? 
 Let us not send, but go to him, father. Kindness 
 
178 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 should never come at second-hand. Even those 
 who cannot ward off the calamities of others, may 
 alleviate them by sympathy." 
 
 w But think, my love, what will the world say 
 of thy pilgrimage ? Will they not taunt thee with 
 the reproach of following a degraded, condemned 
 criminal a lover, whose affection is thy disgrace, 
 and whom to love is infamy ?" 
 
 " Father," replied Christina, " I know that it is 
 for the honour and happiness of my sex, that they 
 should, in all the ordinary circumstances of life, 
 conform to the strict rules of female decorum, and 
 pay due deference to the opinions of the world. 
 But I also know, father, that there are times and 
 occasions, when love, gratitude, filial duty, parental 
 affection, attachment to our country, nay, even the 
 desire of fame, not only justify, but demand a de 
 parture from common rules, and the sacrifice of 
 those delicate restraints, which otherwise should 
 never be disregarded. To save a husband, I 
 should be applauded for this act, even though he 
 were unworthy my affection. Shall I not do like 
 wise for one to whom gratitude at least has bound 
 me for ever V 
 
 ** But think of the toils and dangers of the jour 
 ney, my daughter." 
 
 " Thou forgetest, father," replied Christina, with 
 a languid smile "thou forgetest I am used to 
 traverse the wilderness. The errand I go upon 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 179 
 
 Xvill make me heedless of the way, except as it 
 may delay our efforts till they shall be too late." 
 
 " Ah !" replied the old man, with a melancholy, 
 doubting shake of the head, " come when they 
 will, I fear all our endeavours will be too late, or, 
 at least, in vain. What hast thou to offer, to tempt 
 the statesman to forego an act of policy like this?" 
 
 " My tears, my thanks, my prayers, my ever 
 lasting gratitude. Surely, father, the bosoms of 
 men are not turned into stone by the exercise of 
 power, nor can they be insensible to the delight 
 of making the heart leap in the bosom of a lonely 
 stranger." 
 
 " Well, well I will no longer oppose thee, my 
 girl. We will go, in God s name ; and, if it be 
 necessary, I, even I, will humble myself before 
 Richard Lovelace, rather than see thee mourn 
 thyself into a shadow, and die of a broken heart. 
 I have lost thee once, and know the agonies of such 
 a bereavement. We will go, and speedily." 
 
 Christina threw herself into the arms of her pa 
 rent, and exclaimed amid her tears " Oh ! that I 
 may live to repay my father for all his kindness." 
 
 When it was known that the Heer and his daugh 
 ter were going to undertake this long journey, 
 part of which was through a forest, as yet trodden 
 only by wild beasts and red men, with now and 
 then a wandering being like Lowright, half a dozen 
 of the villagers came in a body, and offered their 
 
180 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 services to escort their ancient chief and his daugh 
 ter. " We will paddle a canoe for you to the falls, 
 and we will carry you in a litter of boughs, when 
 the way is wet and deep, or you become tired." 
 The Heer was affected by their good-will, and, 
 shaking the hand of each, accepted their offers, 
 with hearty thanks. Even in the depression of his 
 feelings, and amid the downfall of his power, the 
 heart of the Heer swelled with honest pride, to 
 find that, though the means of bestowing benefits 
 on his neighbours had passed away, they still 
 remembered his kindness in the days of his pros 
 perity. So easy, indeed, is it for rulers to make 
 themselves beloved by the people, that whenever 
 we hear the cries of the multitude ascending against 
 kings and their ministers, and see their arms raised 
 in opposition to their will, we are certain that pride, 
 arrogance, misgovernment, and oppression, are at 
 the bottom of this discontent. 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 181 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 "Not all the roses grafted on her cheeks, 
 Not all the graces dancing in her eyes, 
 Not all the music set upon her tongue, 
 Nor all the lilies that lie on her breast 
 In dazzling whiteness, are of half the worth 
 Of that true faith, which is a woman s crown." 
 
 IN two days all was ready; and one calm morn 
 ing, in the merry month of June, our little party 
 embarked on the flood tide that set briskly up the 
 river, in their light canoe. A gentle southern 
 breeze rippled the surface of the waters, and cooled 
 the summer air into a balmy freshness, exquisitely 
 grateful to the senses. First, they passed Coaqua- 
 nock, then a little thriving village, but since become 
 a noble city, honoured in its illustrious founder, and 
 thrice honoured in the residence of a sage whose 
 precepts enlightened, whose example adorned a 
 subsequent age. "Light skimmed the pine canoe 
 along the low banks, fringed with tufts of water- 
 willows, that bent down and kissed the waves, as 
 they approached the little settlements of Burlington 
 and Bristol, where a few clear fields around a 
 cluster of rustic buildings, announced the com 
 mencement of that great change in the aspect of 
 the country, and the destinies of its ancient inhabi 
 tants, which is rapidly pervading the new world, 
 
 VOL. II R 
 
182 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 and will probably not stop, until it has passed from 
 the Atlantic of the east to the shores of the ocean 
 of the west, with an impulse unabating and irre 
 sistible. 
 
 The falls, where Trenton now stands, was the 
 last settlement of white men on the Upper Dela 
 ware. From thence was one wide extended forest, 
 through which roamed the Tirans, the Tiascons, 
 the Raritans,and a hundred other wandering tribes, 
 long since extinct, or represented by a few de 
 generate beings, who seem only to live for the 
 purpose of proving that the red man was born for 
 the shade, the white man for the sunshine. All these 
 were now on good terms with their new neigh 
 bours from Europe, and our little party journeyed, 
 unmolested, from the falls, through the forest, 
 along where the classic fanes of Princeton now 
 attract the youth of our country from all quarters ; 
 where Kingston, and Brunswick, and Woodbridge, 
 and Rahway, now swarm with a little busy fry, but 
 where at that time no trace of cultivation was to 
 be seen, till they came into the vicinity of Eliza- 
 bethtown, then just settled. Christina and the good 
 Heer, when fatigued with walking, or when the way 
 was more than commonly rough, or obstructed, 
 were carried by their faithful escort on a litter of 
 boughs ; and when they came to a stream that 
 was not fordable, they launched their light canoe, 
 and paddled to the other side. 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 183 
 
 At what is called Elizabethtown Point, where 
 they were sorely annoyed by moschetoes, our little 
 party embarked on the tide that carried them 
 rapidly through the Kills. Neither the waters 
 nor the land on either side presented the gay 
 and moving scene that they do now. No oyster- 
 boats plied their busy rakes ; no fleet of painted 
 shallops and pettiaugers, such as are now every 
 moment seen gliding past each other like the 
 winds ; no steam-boats unfurled their smoky pen 
 nants to the breeze ; and the only animated beings 
 besides themselves, were the gulls that skimmed 
 the surface of the waters, and the fish that sported 
 beneath. Where the little villages, the whitening 
 spires, and thickly-strewed farm-houses, now ani 
 mate the landscape on either side, was nothing but 
 lofty trees, on the dead branches of which was 
 here and there seen the fish-hawk, watching to 
 pounce upon his finny prey, and the eagle waiting 
 his opportunity to make him resign it. The mo 
 ment the hawk hacl seized his prize, and rose into 
 the air, the lordly eagle flew forth and pursued 
 him till he let it drop, when darting with incon* 
 ceivable velocity, the regal robber seized it ere it 
 reached the waters. 
 
 So beautiful a scene might have charmed a 
 heart that dwelt not upon deep objects of interest, 
 that swallowed up all sympathy with nature and 
 her enchanting pageantry. But the attention of 
 
184 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 the good Heer and his daughter was concentrated 
 on one idea, and they remained unmoved by the 
 fair succession of objects that passed rapidly before 
 their eyes, until they opened upon the delightful 
 bay, and city, which seemed rising from its capa 
 cious bosom. For a moment, each was animated 
 by a spark of wonder and admiration ; but the 
 thought that they were now approaching the place 
 and the hour, which was to seal their fate as happy 
 or miserable beings in this world, speedily assumed 
 its ascendency, and shut out all other thoughts and 
 feelings. Arriving at New- York, our little party 
 landed, like pilgrims in some desert country, or, at 
 least, where they felt as lonely as in the midst of 
 the desert. Strangers to the place, and every soul 
 within it, they knew not whither to seek a shelter, 
 but wandered about the little crooked streets and 
 lanes, as objects of wonder, rather than sympathy, 
 to the busy inhabitants. 
 
 Passing, at length, by the door of a comfortable 
 looking mansion, the ears of the good Heer and 
 his daughter were saluted with some lines of an 
 old ballad, which was familiar to their recollection, 
 chanted by a voice that seemed like one they had 
 heard somewhere before. 
 
 " Bless me !" exclaimed the Heer, involuntarily ; 
 " if it was not quite impossible, I should think I 
 heard our old neighbour, Wolvert Spangler, sing 
 ing one of his ditties." 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 185 
 
 The exclamation was overheard by the singer, 
 who came straight to the door, exhibiting the little, 
 chubby, round, jolly face of the identical ballad- 
 singing cobbler of Elsingburgh. The moment 
 honest Wolvert saw the old man and his daughter, 
 he recognised them, and ran and took the hands 
 of the Heer, and shook them cordially, with tears 
 of joyful welcome. 
 
 " My old master," cried he, at last, " it makes 
 my heart glad to see thee. And thou, too, my 
 little mistress, wilt let a humble old acquaintance, 
 who hath often taken measure of thy little foot, 
 welcome thee to this good city." 
 
 " In good sooth, Wolvert," quoth the Heer, "thy 
 welcome is well timed, and grateful to our hearts- 
 as our necessities. We are here as strangers, 
 without house, or home, or friends " 
 
 " Sayest thou so," interrupted Wolvert, " I am glad 
 of it I am heartily glad of it, for then thou wilt, 
 perhaps, accept of me as a friend, and my house 
 as thy home. Never wilt thou enter a threshold, 
 where thou shalt be more welcome, or meet with 
 hearts more glad to administer to thy happiness. 
 Come forth, dame," cried he ; " thou hast not forgot 
 the kindness of my benefactress, to me and mine, 
 when I had neither house nor home. I have often; 
 told thee of it." 
 
 At this call there came forth, with active alacrity, 
 a comely dame, neatly and comfortably apparelled* 
 
 VOL. II R 2 
 
186 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 and, with courtesy and smiling look, besought them 
 to enter and make themselves at home. " We 
 will accept thine offers frankly," said the Heer, 
 " not only because we know not whither else to 
 go, but most especially, that thy welcome seems 
 to be truly and sincerely tendered." 
 
 " Else may one of the heaviest of Dominie 
 KanttwelPs judgments befall me and mine my 
 house and all within it," quoth honest Wolvert, as 
 he showed the father and daughter into his com 
 fortable little parlour, the floor of which was sprin 
 kled with sand from the seashore, as white as the 
 driven snow. After partaking of some refresh 
 ments, which were pressed upon them with genuine, 
 honest earnestness, the Heer, whose heart was 
 scarce ever so shut up but that good cheer warmed 
 and expanded it into something like honest jollity, 
 addressed his host as follows : 
 
 " Neighbour Spangler, I am glad for thy sake as 
 well as my own, that thou seemest so comfortably 
 settled, and seemingly, therewithal, so well to do 
 in the world. Thou hast been industrious and 
 saving, I dare swear for thee, hey ? for, if I recol 
 lect right, when thou badest farewell to Elsing- 
 burgh, in sober sadness, thou didst not over and 
 above abound in the good things of this life, hey ? 
 Tell us thy peregrinations." 
 
 " That is soon done," replied the other ; " after 
 leaving Elsingburgh, I found my way to the Hoar- 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 187 
 
 kill, where I had a brother, a skipper, who owned 
 a small vessel, with which he plied along the coast, 
 to and again. I got a passage with him to New- 
 York, where I went forth into the streets to seek 
 my fortune. Providence, I humbly hope, in spite 
 of the judgments of Dominie Kanttwell, conducted 
 me to the owner of this house, then a worthy and 
 thriving shoemaker, who, luckily, wanted a jour 
 neyman, and took me on the recommendation of 
 my face. This was not the only good turn my 
 face did me, for, in about a year, my master died, 
 leaving his widow all his possessions. The comely 
 dame was fond of music, and in good time my 
 ballads made an impression on her heart. To cut 
 short a long story, and a tolerably long courtship, 
 I married an excellent wife, who made me quite 
 independent of the world, and to whom, I trust, I 
 have been, and always shall be, a good husband. 
 Not only this, Heer, but Governor Lovelace has 
 lately made me one of his five aldermen, and con 
 sults me on all great occasions of state, because, 
 as he is pleased to observe, I always agree with, 
 him in opinion, which is a proof of my being a 
 person of sound discretion. So you see, my worthy 
 old master, my old friends, the ballads, have been 
 the making of me, after all." 
 
 The Heer pondered a few moments on this piece 
 of biography, and then addressed himself to Al 
 derman Spangler, in an anxious tone, and with a 
 
188 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 hesitating manner, as if afraid of hearing a reply 
 to his questions. 
 
 " As thou art in the confidence of the governor, 
 thou canst, perhaps, tell me something concerning 
 the fate of a youth, who is dear to us, at least, to 
 me, and whom thou mayest remember at Elsing- 
 burgh, as commonly known by the name of the 
 Long Finne. We have learned that he is here, 
 and in jeopardy of life and liberty." 
 
 " You have learned the truth," replied the other. 
 " Poor lad ! I have made every effort to save him 
 from punishment, for what, I have every reason to 
 believe, he is not guilty of. I have even opposed 
 the will of the governor, until he begins to waiver 
 in his opinion of my great discretion. But his 
 excellency is exceedingly prejudiced against Kon- 
 ingsmarke, because his behaviour, during his ex 
 amination before the council, was rather bold, and 
 according to the governor s acceptation, savoured 
 of a crop-ear and Presbyterian parliament rebel." 
 
 " In what predicament stands he now ?" asked 
 the Heer. 
 
 " He stands," replied the other, " condemned to 
 be publicly whipt, and afterward sold as a slave 
 to Barbadoes. The first part of the sentence is to 
 be inflicted to-morrow, by twelve o clock." 
 
 " Thou hadst better retire with our kind hostess, 
 my daughter," said the Heer, addressing Christina, 
 whose emotions almost shook her frame to dissolu- 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 189 
 
 tion, as the thought crossed her mind that it was 
 now too late to save poor Koningsmarke, at least 
 from disgrace. But she resisted the motion to 
 retire. 
 
 " I came to see all, to hear all, and to bear all, 
 if Providence will vouchsafe to give me a few days 
 strength. The time presses, and what is done 
 must be done speedily, or never. Good Wolvert, 
 canst thou procure me the means of seeing Richard 
 Lovelace this night ?" 
 
 " I fear not, maiden," replied Wolvert ; " he is 
 now on Staten Island, on a shooting party to kill 
 bears, and will not return till late, if at all. But 
 he will of necessity be here in the morning." 
 
 " Wilt thou see him in the morning before the 
 hour arrives, and gain me admission to his pre 
 sence ?" 
 
 " If God will so help me as to succeed, it shall 
 be so," replied he. 
 
 "Can I not see him?" said Christina, with 
 anxious and delicate hesitation. 
 
 " What, the youth ? No, not to-night. He is 
 confined in the fort, and none can see him, without 
 an order from the governor. But to-morrow be 
 of good heart, my poor maiden to-morrow we 
 will essay what we can do. Richard Lovelace is 
 a passionate man, but he is not cruel. Let us put 
 our trust in Heaven." 
 
 " I do," replied Christina, " but my fears over- 
 
190 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 power my trust. Would, Oh ! would to Heaven 
 this night were past, for I fear my mind will fail 
 me, ere the hour approaches when I shall most need 
 its support, and that of my Maker. Father, I would 
 wish to retire, and prepare for the morrow." 
 
 Christina was conducted to a chamber by the 
 good dame, who discreetly left her alone, after 
 seeing that nothing was wanting to her comforts. 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 191 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Unlock these iron gates, I say ! 
 
 And give me up your prisoner ; 
 
 Fore Heaven, ere long we ll hamper him 
 
 With bonds, to which your iron chains 
 
 Are as Sampson s burnt flax. 
 
 THE fatigues of a long and tedious journey could 
 not conquer the wakeful agony of poor Christina, 
 who paced her room backwards and forwards, till 
 the crowing of the cock announced the approach 
 of the morning, which was to decide upon her 
 happiness or misery. The rising sun found her 
 pale and worn with anxiety and suffering; yet 
 there was a firmness, a composure in her voice and 
 manner, which indicated a mind wound up to meet 
 the events of the day, let them take what turn they 
 might. 
 
 Soon as the hour af which the governor usually 
 finished his breakfast arrived, the kind-hearted 
 Spangler went forth to solicit an immediate inter 
 view for the Heer and his daughter. His excellency 
 happened to be in high good humour that morning, 
 having just heard some news from England, which 
 gave him particular satisfaction, but which, having 
 no especial reference to our history, we shall pass 
 over just now. 
 
 " What tell ye me, alderman ! the old governor 
 
192 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 of Elsingburgh come hither with his daughter, to 
 solicit the pardon of him they call the Long Finne? 
 Body o me ! is she young and handsome hey?" 
 
 " She is pale and sad," replied Spangler ; " but 
 the damsel has fair blue eyes, is of exceeding 
 comely features, and her shape is without fault." 
 
 " What ! no Dutch dowdy, shaped like a tub 
 hey ? Well, I shall put on my regimentals, and you 
 shall go and bring the old Heer and his daughter 
 hither." 
 
 The alderman departed on his errand, and the 
 governor proceeded to dress for his audience of the 
 fair young Swede, whose limbs trembled so that 
 she could scarcely support herself, as they came 
 into the presence of him who derived a present 
 consequence beyond all other human agents, from 
 having in his dispensation the fate of Koningsmarke. 
 The old cavalier was struck with the beauty of our 
 heroine, and with mingled gallantry and compas 
 sion, conducted her to a chair. After a moment s 
 embarrassment, Christina said to the Heer : 
 
 " Father, the hour draws nigh, each moment is 
 precious." 
 
 The Heer then, in a firm, manly, and feeling 
 manner, required the pardon and enfranchisement 
 of the young Swede called Koningsmarke, who in 
 all that he had done, had acted under his orders, as 
 lawful and unquestionable representative of the 
 King of Sweden, then possessed of, and exercising 
 jurisdiction over the territory of Elsingburgh. 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 193 
 
 " But he invited the savages to take arms, and 
 thereby endangered the lives of many of the sub 
 jects of my master. This was against the laws 
 of God and man, and he deserves the severest 
 punishment." 
 
 " The laws divine and human," replied the Heer, 
 " authorize the means of self-defence at least ; and 
 the practice of thy nation, as well as of all the first 
 adventurers in this new world, hath been to enlist 
 the savages in their wars with each other. He 
 did not invite the red men to invade thy town, or 
 murder thy people, but to assist in defending our 
 lives and property. For this he had my commis 
 sion, and if any one is to blame in this business, 
 here I render myself thy prisoner, to take the 
 consequences of an act which was not his, but 
 mine." 
 
 " But," said Lovelace, " it is in proof from the 
 testimony of thy own people, that he continued his 
 practices among the savages, after the surrender 
 of Elsingburgh, and- that he was, consequently, 
 guilty of conspiracy and treason against the king s 
 majesty of England." 
 
 " That is impossible," replied the Heer, " because 
 he was with me during the whole period of the 
 negotiation, and also that which followed the sur 
 render of my power, until the evening preceding 
 the departure of the fleet, when, as I understand, 
 he was kidnapped and forcibly carried away by 
 the agents of Sir Robert Carre. Who among my 
 
 VOL. II S 
 
194 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 people gave thee such false and wicked informa 
 tion?" 
 
 Governor Lovelace opened a drawer, and pro 
 duced a letter from Othman Pfegel, conveying these 
 charges against the Long Finne, and referring to 
 Dominie Kanttwell for a full corroboration. 
 
 " The galgen scliweiikel? exclaimed the Heer ; 
 " the Long Finne shall cut off his ears, and a slice 
 of the Dominie s tongue, if he ever lives to get 
 back to Elsingburgh ; and if he does not, I will 
 live a little while longer, if it be only to do that 
 good turn to a youth whom I loved as my own 
 son." 
 
 "But what proof hast thou of this?" rejoined 
 Lovelace. 
 
 " The word, or, if thou pleasest, the oath of a 
 man of honour," quoth the Heer. 
 
 " And mine also," faltered the weeping Christina. 
 " The young man was never absent from me, all 
 this while, long enough to hold any communication 
 with the savages." 
 
 " Indeed !" quoth Lovelace" is the young man 
 nearly related to thee ?" 
 
 " No ; not a drop of blood that runs in his veins 
 is of kindred with mine. I owe him nothing on 
 that score, but I am indebted to him for life, and 
 more than life. Why," continued Christina to her 
 self, after a struggle and a pause, " why should I 
 shrink, from what my heart dictates, and gratitude 
 makes it a crime to omit? The moments are 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 195 
 
 numbered the clock strikes eleven one hour, and 
 but one hour more, to wrestle with fate." 
 
 Rising from her seat, Christina tottered towards 
 Governor Lovelace, and sunk at his feet. 
 
 " Oh, sir ! exclaimed the maiden, with clasped 
 hands, " if thou canst not yield to justice, which 
 demands the release of the innocent, yield thou to 
 the prayers of mercy, which entreats his pardon at 
 thy hands. At other times I might veil my maiden 
 modesty, and shrink from the avowal, but now, I 
 proclaim to thee that this youth is my affianced 
 husband, that both gratitude and love have bound 
 me to him for ever, and that if he is disgraced by 
 public stripes, and sold to captivity among the slaves 
 of the Indies, not he alone, but I, shall feel the 
 blows and the chains. My father, too, will become 
 ere long a childless old man, bearing on his shoulders 
 a burden of misery, greater than even his weight 
 of years. Think of all this, and feel as I and rny 
 father would feel for thee, wert thou and thy 
 daughter thus pleading before us for life and death, 
 Thou hast a daughter, perhaps?" 
 
 The gallant, hearty old cavalier wiped his eyes, 
 and, hastily approaching the fire-place, rung the 
 bell. A servant entered immediately. 
 
 " My carriage, instantly ; do you hear ? in-- 
 stantly." He then sat down and employed hin> 
 self in writing, till the servant announced the car-r 
 nage was ready, when he arose, and, approaching 
 Christina, gave her the billet he had just finished. 
 
196 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 " Thou shalt bear the first tidings thyself, my 
 daughter," said Lovelace, " for so I feel for thee. 
 Enter the carriage with thy father, drive to the 
 prison, deliver this letter to the keeper and may 
 those who would shrink from such exertions as 
 thine never taste the delight which is now preparing 
 for thee. Go and bring the young man with thee 
 hither. No thanks there is not a moment to be 
 lost." 
 
 He then handed Christina to the carriage, placed 
 her in it with her father, and bade the coachman 
 drive to the prison with all possible speed. The 
 clock struck twelve a few minutes after they left the 
 governor s mansion, and Christina, as she counted 
 the last stroke, exclaimed, in an agony of feeling 
 
 " We shall come too late. Oh ! I know him so 
 well ! I know that if he is once made a public 
 spectacle if the lash but once outrages the sacred 
 dignity of manhood it will be as if he were lost 
 to us for ever; he will die, or, at least, he will never 
 see us more." 
 
 A few minutes brought them to the fort, which 
 served as the prison for state criminals, where they 
 perceived a bustle and confusion in the hall as they 
 approached. As they came nearer, they could see 
 a tall figure struggling with one or two soldiers, 
 who seemed striving to strip him of his upper gar 
 ments ; a measure which he appeared to resist with 
 all his might. 
 
 " Pooh ! pooh !" exclaimed one of the soldiers, 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 197 
 
 in a rough voice ; " there is no use in resisting, and 
 you may as well take it quietly." 
 
 " Is there no hope they will shoot me ?" replied 
 the struggling prisoner. " Must I be whipt like a 
 slave ?" 
 
 " As sure as your name is Long Finne," replied 
 the other. " Here comes the tickler, with his cat- 
 o -nine-tails ; if you had as many lives as a cat, he d 
 scourge them all out of you, I ll swear for it." 
 
 " Then God forgive me !" exclaimed the youth, 
 as he snatched the bayonet which the soldier carried 
 stuck in his belt, and directed it to his own bosom. 
 At that instant, and just as the point became died in 
 blood, a voice that went to his soul, exclaimed : 
 " Hold ! in the name of Heaven ! thy honour is 
 saved !" The next moment Christina sunk into 
 his arms, and her pure white bosom was stained 
 with the blood of him who pressed her to his heart. 
 When the blue-eyed maid saw the blood, she started 
 away in horrible despair. " Am I then too late ? 
 Hast thou done the deed ? O ! righteous powers, 
 one moment had saved him and me, and that mo 
 ment was wasted !" 
 
 Koningsmarke solemnly assured her that he was 
 not hurt, and that his arm was arrested by her 
 voice, just in time to save his life. 
 
 " And such is thy love for me !" said Christina ; 
 " thou couldst not endure a little for one who would 
 suffer all for thee." 
 
 "Any thing but stripes and brands. Couldst 
 
 VOL. II S 2 
 
198 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 thou, dear Christina, bear to link thy fate with that 
 of a man who bore on his back the scars of dis 
 grace, and on his brow the brand of indelible in 
 famy r 
 
 " Yes !" replied she, raising her eyes to Heaven, 
 as an appeal to the ordeal of truth : " Yes ! but 
 neither thou nor I could bear it long." 
 
 " Come, come," cried the Heer, who now for the 
 first time found the use of his eyes and tongue 
 " come, come, you young fools, don t stand here 
 talking and crying before these rough and tough- 
 hearted knaves, who, I see, don t know whether to 
 laugh or cry. Mr. Jailer, is the order sufficient ?" 
 
 " Perfectly so, sir : the young gentleman is free 
 to depart when he pleases." 
 
 " Well, then, let us depart, in God s name," quoth 
 the Heer to his young companions. " And here is 
 something to make merry with, boys," throwing a 
 handful of rix-dollars among the men of bolts and 
 bars, who greeted him with cheers, as he departed, 
 and took coach for the governor s. 
 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 When heroine and hero haply wed, 
 It is all one to us as they were dead ; 
 Since in all ages it hath been the way, 
 That funeral or marriage ends the play. 
 
 GOVERNOR LOVELACE received the party with 
 great cordiality, and felt his heart warm with honest 
 benevolence, as the father and daughter poured out 
 their gratitude in thanks. 
 
 " Give me thy hand, young man," said he to the 
 Long Finne. " The assurances of this worthy old 
 gentleman, backed by the entreaties of this fair 
 lady, have convinced me thou hast been basely 
 slandered. Give me thy hand ; I hope there is no 
 ill blood between us." 
 
 " None," replied Koningsmarke ; " the wisest 
 men may be deceived ; it is only the virtuous and 
 just that will acknowledge and repair their errors." 
 
 " And I," rejoined his excellency, " hereby cove 
 nant to forgive myself, and all my enemies, on one 
 condition ; which is no other than that, as I perceive 
 with sufficient clearness this young couple contem 
 plate joining their fates together ere long, thou, 
 Governor Piper, wilt lay thy commands upon them 
 to honour my house with the ceremony, and there 
 withal charge them, upon pain of forfeiting thy 
 blessing, to permit me the pleasure of giving away 
 
200 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 a lady, whom, if I were a young man, as I once 
 was, I would dispute the possession of with Guy of 
 Warwick himself. What sayest thou, governor?" 
 
 " I say," replied the Heer, " yea, I swear, that 
 it must, and shall be so, or I will withdraw my 
 consent in favour of the backbiter Othman Pfegel, 
 whom I do contemplate to beat lustily on my return. 
 Art thou content, my daughter ?" 
 
 " Dear father, allow me till to-morrow to decide." 
 
 " Very well, but, der teufel ! what has got into 
 thee, girl ? When any thing turns up to separate 
 thee from the Long Finne, thou art half mad ; and 
 when I am willing to unite you together, thou art 
 more than half a fool, I think, and don t altogether 
 know thy own mind. But harkye, girl, be ready 
 to-morrow morning either to consent to marry the 
 youth, or never to see him more." 
 
 " I agree to the alternative, father," replied 
 Christina, bending her head down upon her bosom. 
 
 Governor Lovelace now drew the Heer aside, 
 and whispered him, " come with me, and let us 
 leave them together I dare swear the matter 
 will be settled to our satisfaction ;" and thereupon 
 the two old gentlemen left the room together. 
 Koningsmarke, then taking the hand of Christina, 
 said 
 
 " Christina, thou hast this day made me thy 
 debtor in a sum of gratitude, which I can never 
 repay. Dare I ask thee to add to it by comply 
 ing with the wishes of thy father ? I speak not of 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 201 
 
 my own happiness, but of his. He will rejoice in 
 our union." 
 
 " Believe it not hope it not," replied Christina. 
 " Oh, how I rejoice in the events of this day, which 
 have enabled me to repay, at least, some of my 
 obligations to thee ! Thou didst once save my life 
 and honour, and I have helped to redeem thine. 
 Thus far are we even, as to the past ; as to the 
 future, believe not that I can ever join my fate in- 
 dissolubly to that of a robber at least, to one who 
 has been an associate of robbers. The debt of 
 gratitude repaid, I can yield nothing to affection." 
 
 " A robber !" exclaimed the Long Finne, starting 
 away from her with dismay and astonishment " a 
 robber !" 
 
 " Yes ! I have said it ; for the truth compelled 
 me, at last, to utter the word, which I have carried 
 in my heart as a poisoned dagger, from the very 
 moment, when, at one and the same time, I became 
 thy debtor in an eternal weight of gratitude, and 
 discovered thou weft unworthy of my love. Nay, 
 deny it not ; thy whole behaviour, from first to last, 
 hath acquiesced in the imputation. None but rob 
 bers could have acted as thou and thy companions 
 acted." 
 
 " But I do deny it. I appeal to facts, to the 
 whole history of my past life, to the eternal foun 
 tain of truth, to God, and man. I have never been 
 what thou hast named me." 
 
 This solemn denial led to explanations, which, 
 
202 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 for the purpose of compressing in as short a space 
 as possible, we shall give in the way of a con 
 nected narrative, and in our own words. For this 
 purpose it will be necessary to go back to the 
 period when the Heer Piper resided in Finland, 
 with his wife, a timid, gentle being, their daughter 
 Christina, and the Frizzled Head, then to all ap 
 pearance as old as on the day she died. 
 
 At that period, and, indeed, it hath ever since 
 been too much the case with the north of Europe, 
 to the vexation, and ruin, and degradation of the 
 cultivators of the soil, the province was infested 
 with soldiery, who, quartered among the inhabitants, 
 too frequently acted like so many freebooters, rather 
 than as protectors of the lives and property of the 
 people. It was in those days, and it is still the 
 custom, for the petty princes of the north to hire 
 out their subjects at so much per head, to cut the 
 throats, not of the enemies of their country, but of 
 those of the worthy potentate who paid for their 
 services. The regiment of Holstein, commanded 
 by Colonel Koningsmarke, was, in this way, em 
 ployed in the service of Sweden, at that time on 
 the eve of becoming embroiled with the Catholic 
 powers of Germany. These foreign auxiliaries 
 and hirelings, as might be supposed, having no 
 attachment to the soil, no common interests, or 
 affinities of blood or affection with the people, too 
 often acted as their oppressors, and plundered and 
 insulted them at pleasure. 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 203 
 
 One summer evening, in the absence of the Heer, 
 as Christina, then a little girl of about six years 
 old, and her mother, were sitting, just about the 
 twilight, in a little low parlour, whose open win 
 dows looked out on a charming rural landscape, 
 tinted with the soft, enchanting, changeful hues of 
 evening, on a sudden they were broken in upon 
 by a party of ruffians, armed, and apparently half 
 mad with liquor, who rudely seized both mother 
 and daughter, and, by w r ay of a good joke, fright 
 ened them almost into convulsions. They shrieked 
 and screamed, but without any other effect than 
 to bring forth old Bombie, who assailed the intru- 
 d.ers with the most bitter reproaches she could 
 devise. This brought the attention of the drunken 
 rout towards the Frizzled Head, whom they seized, 
 and, with great ceremony, proceeded, as they pre 
 tended, to decapitate forthwith. 
 
 Among the party was a fair, light-haired, blue- 
 eyed youth, apparently about fifteen years of age, 
 who, however, kept aloof, and partook not in any 
 of these outrages, until, incited by the taunts, and 
 ridicule, and, finally, commanded by the leader of 
 the party, he came forward reluctantly, and affected 
 to assist in restraining the violent efforts of poor 
 Bombie, whose hands they were endeavouring to 
 bind. The moment the boy came near enough, 
 Bombie seized him by the collar, and, tearing off 
 his ruff, disclosed a large and singular scar, just 
 under his ear, in the shape of a cross. Christina, 
 
204 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 whose eyes were naturally turned in that direction, 
 also saw the scar, which was impressed on her 
 memory, not only by the terrors of the scene, but 
 by the exclamation of the Frizzled Head, who 
 cried out 
 
 " Ah ! ha ! thou bearest a mark not the mark 
 of Cain, but one by which I shall know thee, 
 whatever changes time and chance may produce. 
 Thou earnest a sign, which to others may be the 
 emblem of salvation, but which to thee, sooner or 
 later, shall be the signal of disgrace and condem 
 nation. I will remember thee." 
 
 The youth stood abashed, and took the oppor 
 tunity of a momentary pause, to whisper the leader 
 of the party, a threat of representing the affair to 
 his father, if they proceeded to any further violence. 
 The whisper was, however, unnoticed by those 
 whom it was intended to benefit. The party, after 
 eating, drinking or wasting every thing they could 
 find, finally departed, and returned to their quarters. 
 The agitation and fright produced by this scene of 
 outrage, operating upon the gentle spirits and weak 
 frame of Christina s mother, threw her into a 
 nervous fever, which in a few weeks terminated 
 her life. The impression of these events was never 
 effaced from the mind of Christina ; and, in truth, 
 it may be said, that it strengthened with age, and 
 every little while received a deeper shade of horror, 
 from the exaggerated declamations of the Frizzled 
 Head; who, as her memory became less retentive 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 205 
 
 and connected, substituted the youth with the scar 
 for the principal actor in the death of her beloved 
 mistress. In this way does memory often exag 
 gerate the past, almost as much as hope does the 
 future. 
 
 The regiment of Koningsmarke marched the 
 next day to a distant part of the country ; and, 
 indeed, the knowledge of this event, was what 
 principally imboldened the ruffians who belonged 
 to that corps, to the outrage we have related. It 
 is not within our plan to follow the Long Finne, 
 step by step, till his appearance at Elsingburgh. 
 Suffice it to say, that he was left, by the death of 
 his father, an extravagant daring adventurer, with 
 out money, or the means of subsistence : that, not 
 long afterward, when his mother died in great 
 distress, she gave him a letter to her brother, the 
 Heer s old friend, Caspar Steinmets, who received 
 him as a son, and with whom he lived for some 
 time. Old Caspar, however, was a man who 
 thought no more of to-morrow than a grasshopper, 
 but sung, and basked in the sun, and was merry all 
 day long. Such men seldom leave much behind 
 them, except a sort of equivocal posthumous fame, 
 made up of a kind recollection of their generosity 
 and good humour, mixed with a few shrugs of pity, 
 at their want of prudence. 
 
 Old Caspar died ; his money was all spent ; his 
 salary, as high bailiff to a prince whose territories, 
 we are credibly informed, extended over two 
 
 VOL. II T 
 
206 KON1NGSMARKE. 
 
 square miles, throughout which he held absolute 
 sway, ceased with his latest breath; and when 
 honest Caspar was fairly housed in the final asylum, 
 there was nothing left to his heir, but the recollec 
 tion of his kindness, that last legacy of gratitude, 
 which the good heart delights to cherish as a keep 
 sake for ever. 
 
 In casting about where to choose his future lot, 
 or, in other words, what he might do to keep soul 
 and body together, when the few rix-dollars he had 
 about him should be melted into thin air, and iden 
 tified with the things that have been, young Kon- 
 ingsmarke, who was called the Long Finne, gentle 
 reader ! because he was born in Finland, and nearly 
 six feet high, was attracted by the new world. It 
 was now about the time when the dashing adven 
 turers ; the ruined lads, who had wasted their 
 inheritance ; the younger brothers, who never had 
 any inheritance at all ; the hero, alive to glory ; 
 the daring spirit, willing to stake his life on the 
 chance of unbounded wealth ; " and, lastly, the pious 
 convert, ready to do all, to dare all, and to suffer 
 all, were, each and every one, turning their faces 
 towards the setting sun, as to a region where some 
 might retrieve their fortunes, others enjoy the lib 
 erty of their consciences. Koningsmarke knew 
 that Sweden claimed rights, and had a settlement 
 in this quarter of the world, and that was all he 
 knew. He was little aware that this territory was 
 governed by the Heer Piper, whose house, when 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 207 
 
 a boy, he had entered in the manner aforesaid ; 
 and, indeed, he had long since forgotten the whole 
 affair, as we forget our boyish frolics when arrived 
 at the age of manhood. He took the first oppor 
 tunity of embarking for the new world ; arrived 
 at the Hoarkill ; proceeded to Elsingburgh : where 
 he fell into the custody of that vigilant police officer, 
 Lob Dotterel, and was recognised by Bombie, who 
 accidentally discovered the scar, which, as rather 
 unbecoming to his appearance, he generally hid 
 with a high ruff. 
 
 Koningsmarke, at the conclusion of this expla 
 nation, solemnly assured Christina that every word 
 of it was true ; that he had extenuated nothing ; 
 and that, any farther than hath been just related, 
 he had no participation in an event which he had 
 first learned from the Frizzled Head, on his arrival 
 at Elsingburgh, but in a manner so mysterious and 
 exaggerated, as almost convinced him he was ac 
 tually a murderer. Christina, too, when she looked 
 attentively backwards, and traced the progress of 
 her impressions with regard to this painful event, 
 could not but acknowledge, that they were in a 
 great measure derived from the declamations of 
 Bombie. 
 
 To the foregoing explanations of the Long Finne, 
 we beg leave to prefix a few of our own. In ad 
 dition to the declamatory exaggerations of the 
 Frizzled Head, it is probable that the Long Finne 
 himself may have contributed to mislead our 
 
208 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 readers, by occasionally indulging in that inflated, 
 romantic style, too common with those of exalted 
 imaginations calling himself an outcast, to whom 
 the elements themselves afforded no refuge ; a 
 prey to the worm that never dies as if for the 
 sole purpose of making himself interesting. To 
 this we may add, that we ourselves, with the most 
 disinterested intentions of enhancing the reader s 
 perplexity and delight, in perusing this work, have 
 now and then coloured the charges of the Frizzled 
 Head, and the admissions of the Long Finne, a little 
 highly. Should the reader be ill-natured enough 
 to find fault with us for thus verifying the old pro 
 verb that " a story never loses by telling," we shall 
 take care how we treat him to another mystery. 
 
 The explanation of Koningsmarke, with his so 
 lemn assurances of its truth, removed a load that 
 had long pressed on the heart of Christina, and 
 when he again besought her to comply with the 
 wishes of her father, she held out her hand with a 
 smile, such as had not lighted up her eyes for a 
 long time past. 
 
 " The will of my father shall be obeyed," said 
 the blue-eyed maiden ; "for now I trust that so it 
 can be done, without any offence, either to my 
 father, or my mother that is in Heaven. Good 
 Providence ! I thank thee ; I can now conform 
 to his wishes, and consult my own heart, without 
 wedding myself to never-dying remorse. I am 
 thine for ever." 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 209 
 
 A kiss and an embrace sealed this covenant, just 
 as the two old squires entered the room. 
 
 " Well," quoth the Heer, " are we to be united 
 to-morrow, never to part, or to part, never to meet 
 again ?" 
 
 " She has said that to-morrow she will be mine," 
 replied the Long Finne, " and she never broke her 
 word." 
 
 " Did I not tell thee," quoth the cavalier Love 
 lace, " that there was nothing like leaving them 
 alone ? Egad, there is always two to one against 
 a woman in such a case, not to say two to nothing; 
 for there is the lover and the lady on one side, and 
 nobody on the other." 
 
 " Well, then," quoth the Heer, " to-morrow shall 
 see thee one." 
 
 " Nay, let it be the day after to-morrow," re 
 joined Governor Lovelace : " I must have time to 
 bid the company, and, fore Heaven, Heer ! but 
 we ll carouse a little, shall we ?" 
 
 " Verily," replied the other, " I see no special 
 reason why the heart of an old man like me may 
 not, on an occasion like this, rejoice and be glad. 
 I will drink a bumper to the name of the best of 
 daughters with thee." 
 
 " Ay, and to every letter of her name, or my 
 name is not Richard Lovelace." 
 
 This matter being concluded upon, the prepa 
 rations were made by the hearty cavalier Love 
 lace, to celebrate the wedding, in a style suitable 
 
 VOL. II T 2 
 
210 KONINGSM ARKE. 
 
 to his own dignity, and the regard he began to feel 
 for Christina, whose appearance and character had 
 won his warm heart. One thing he especially 
 stipulated, to wit, that the ceremony should not be 
 performed by a crop-ear parson, nor the wedding- 
 dress made by a French milliner. The former 
 part of the stipulation was easily accorded, and the 
 latter was entirely unnecessary, as there was not 
 a single French milliner at that time in the whole 
 province. 
 
 At length the happy hour arrived, which for ever 
 united Koningsmarke and Christina in one fate and 
 one name. All the dignitaries of the city were 
 bidden, not forgetting Alderman Spangler and his 
 dame ; and it was the opinion of the young ladies 
 present, that the bridegroom was quite as handsome 
 as the red-coats of Governor Lovelace s staff, who 
 made such havoc in the tender hearts of the pretty 
 maidens of New-York. Truth, our governing 
 principle in this history, obliges us to state that 
 Governor Lovelace, the Heer Piper, Alderman 
 Spangler, and one or two others, did carouse it 
 lustily till the second crowing of the cock, when 
 the governor s old black valet entered the room, 
 and informed his excellency that it was high time 
 to go to bed, an intimation which he never failed 
 to attend to with perfect docility. 
 
 The day but one after the wedding, the Heer, 
 his daughter, and the Long Finne, bade the worthy 
 cavalier Lovelace farewell, and embarked in his 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 211 
 
 state-barge, for Elizabethtown Point, where they 
 took up their line of march, and arrived in due 
 time, without any accident, at Elsingburgh. After 
 sojourning a few days, they retired to a beautiful 
 farm, on the banks of a little river, about halfway 
 between Elsingburgh and Coaquanock, where, in 
 rural ease, rural quiet, the enjoyment of leisure, 
 health, and competency, combined with exercise 
 and employment, they passed quietly down the 
 stream of life, with as much content as falls to the 
 lot of this world. But the Heer and his daughter 
 could never agree on the subject of rural economy. 
 Christina was for planting flowers, and ornamental 
 shrubs, and beautifying all around ; while the Heer 
 had a most pestilent propensity for the useful, and 
 valued a patch of cabbages above a bed of tulips- 
 of a thousand dyes. Christina at length succeeded 
 so r far as to make him promise to pay some little 
 attention to ornament, and cultivate a few favourite 
 flowers, which engagement he conscientiously kept, 
 by planting a notable bed of cauliflowers. 
 
 In process of time the good Heer saw his race 
 prolonged, in the person of a little blue-eyed grand 
 son, concerning whom he balanced three whole 
 days, in sore perplexity, whether to call him after 
 the immortal Gustavus, or his good friend the Gov 
 ernor of New- York. Gratitude at length got the 
 better of loyalty, and the boy was christened 
 Richard Lovelace. The Heer privately cove 
 nanted with himself, at the same time, that the next 
 
212 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 should be called Gustavus Adolphus,let what would 
 happen. 
 
 As we like to follow old customs, sanctioned by 
 the example of our betters, we will conclude by 
 gratifying the reader s curiosity with regard to the 
 other principal characters of our history. 
 
 Lob Dotterel being, by the influence of the Heer 
 with Governor Lovelace, reinstated in his office of 
 high constable, passed the rest of his days in busy 
 importance, and happy assiduity, only that he was 
 occasionally molested by the intrusion of the ghost 
 of Bombie of the Frizzled Head, which never for 
 gave his agency in the catastrophe of the likely 
 fellow Cupid. 
 
 Poor Othman Pfegel having been confidentially 
 apprized, that the Long Finne intended to take the 
 first opportunity of giving him a sufficiency of 
 drubbing to last him all the days of his life, de 
 parted suddenly not this world, but the village of 
 Elsingburgh, and settled down at the Hoarkill, 
 where nobody thought it worth while to molest him. 
 
 The worthy Heer Piper lived happily to a good 
 patriarchal old age, and though he sometimes sighed 
 over the recollection of his departed glories, it was 
 but a momentary feeling, which the duteous atten 
 tions of his daughter and the smiles of his grand 
 children soon soothed away. He seldom went 
 from home, except once a year to visit his good 
 friend William Penn, arid the worthy Shadrach 
 Moneypenny, with whom he had many a bout 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 213 
 
 concerning the wearing of hats, the propriety of 
 making bows, and the moving of the spirit. But so 
 far from making any impression on the dry soil of 
 Shadrach, it was observed that whenever he saw 
 the Heer approaching he would adjust his beaver 
 with most determined emphasis, and give it a smart 
 rap on the crown, as if in defiance of his old 
 antagonist. 
 
 Dominie Kanttwell, not long after the capture of 
 Elsingburgh, married the prettiest and richest girl 
 in the whole village, and the next Sunday preached 
 a mortal philipic against the lusts of the flesh, and 
 the mammon of unrighteousness. On this un 
 looked-for backsliding of the Dominie, aunt Edith 
 took a distaste to his doctrines, turned Sweden- 
 borgian, and married Wolfgang Langfanger, then a 
 spruce widower, who privately declared, one night 
 at Master Oldale s, that the improvement of this 
 good lady was the hardest task he ever undertook 
 in his life. 
 
 Shortly after the marriage of Dominie Kantt 
 well, that worthy died suddenly, after a New- 
 Year s supper. He was succeeded by a man full 
 of charity, full of humility, and all the examples of 
 a virtuous pastor. Without pride, without arro 
 gance, and without hypocrisy, there was a beau 
 tiful simplicity in his life and actions, a kindness, a 
 gentleness, a forbearance, harmoniously combined 
 with a holy zeal, a never-tiring industry in doing 
 good to all, that marked him out as one of those 
 
214 KONINGSMARKE. 
 
 chosen shepherds sent by Heaven as a blessing to 
 some chosen flock. Cheerful without levity, he 
 joined in all the innocent amusements of his simple 
 parishioners, and happy himself in the consciousness 
 of a useful and virtuous life, as well as in the rational 
 anticipation of a blissful eternity, he walked among 
 his people, not as a shadow darkening all around, 
 but as a sun cheering, animating, blessing those 
 who basked in his smiles. 
 
 Careless of his rest, and his personal labours, he 
 was ready at all times, by day and by night, to go 
 forth to comfort the afflicted, relieve the sick, and 
 sooth the dying. He asked nothing for himself, and 
 he gave every thing to others ; he laboured not in 
 his own vineyard, but in that of his master, and the 
 fruits of his exertions soon became visible to every 
 eye. A cheerful, innocent gayety, again began to 
 appear in the village ; the people went forth to 
 their daily occupations with smiling hopes, that 
 caused every one to exert themselves in their 
 various pursuits. Begging began to take refuge in 
 the labours of its own hands, and found its reward 
 in the comforts of independence, and the approving 
 smile of the excellent pastor, who never lost an 
 opportunity of rebuking the idle, or applauding the 
 industrious, for well he knew that among all classes 
 of mankind, and most especially the labourers, idle 
 ness is but another name for sin and misery. 
 
 In short, blessed by such an example, and led 
 by such a guide, it was not long before Elsingburgh 
 
KONINGSMARKE. 215 
 
 became the model of a virtuous and happy village, 
 and it might be said with truth, that neither poverty 
 or vice was any longer known among them. Such 
 are the benefits of a good example combined with 
 good precepts, and such the blessings of a pious 
 shepherd who fulfils his duties to Ms Maker, to his 
 creatures, and to the holy calling by which he is 
 sanctified and ennobled. 
 
 END OF KONINGSMAIIKE. 
 

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