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Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as
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THE
TRAVELLERS.
A TALE.
_DESIGNED FOR YOUNG PEOPLE._
BY THE
AUTHOR OF REDWOOD.
"Then slowly climb the many-winding way,
And frequent turn to linger as you go,
From loftier rocks new loveliness survey."
CHILDE HAROLD.
NEW-YORK:
PUBLISHED BY E. BLISS AND E. WHITE,
And Sold by
COLLINS AND HANNAY, NEW-YORK, AND CUMMINGS,
HILLIARD, AND CO. BOSTON.
1825.
_Southern District of New-York, ss._
BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the fourth day of April, A.D. 1825,
in the forty-eighth year of the Independence of the United States
of America, E. Bliss and E. White, of the said District, have
deposited in this Office the title of a Book, the right whereof
they claim as proprietors, in the words following, to wit:--
"The Travellers; a Tale Designed for Young People. By the author
of Redwood.
'Then slowly climb the many-winding way,
And frequent turn to linger as you go,
From loftier rocks new loveliness survey.'
_Childe Harold._"
In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States,
entitled, "An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing
the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and
proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned."
And also to an Act entitled, "An Act supplementary to an Act
entitled, an Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the
copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors
of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending
the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and
etching historical and other prints."
JAMES DILL,
Clerk of the Southern District of New-York.
J. Seymour, printer.
The following pages are inscribed to the youthful
brother and sister, who are associated with every
picture of unfolding virtue, in the mind of their
affectionate friend,
THE AUTHOR.
THE TRAVELLERS.
In the month of June, (the jubilee month of poets and travellers) in the
year eighteen hundred and eighteen, Mr. Sackville, his wife, and their
two children, Edward and Julia, made the grand tour of Niagara, the
lakes, Montreal, Quebec, &c. Both parents and children kept journals,
in which they recorded with fidelity whatever they observed which they
deemed worthy of note. We have been favored with the perusal of them
all, and have been permitted to make a few extracts from them, which we
intend to combine into a brief narrative, that we are sure will amuse
our young readers, provided their delicate essence does not escape our
unskilful hands.
First, it will be necessary that our readers should know into whose
society they are thus unceremoniously introduced.
Mr. Sackville, in the prime of life retired from the successful practice
of the law, to a beautiful estate in the country. Various motives were
assigned by his acquaintances for his removal; but as those diligent
inquirers, who so conscientiously investigate their neighbor's affairs,
are apt to pass over simple and obvious motives, those which, in this
instance, governed Mr. Sackville's conduct, escaped their observation.
The truth was, he had a strong predilection for a country life; he was
wearied with briefs and declarations; he loved above all things, the
society of his accomplished wife, and he ardently desired to participate
with her the happiness of educating their fine children; and besides, he
had many little plans of utility and benevolence, such as are naturally
suggested to an active and philanthropic mind on entering a new sphere
of life.
Mr. Sackville purchased a fine estate in the town of ----, in the state
of ----. We have left these blanks, which we are well aware are very
provoking to all, and especially to young readers, in order to allow
them to locate the amiable Sackvilles (the name we confess to be
fictitious) wherever they choose, north or south of the Potomac, east
or west of the Alleghanies; for we sincerely believe that such pattern
families are to be found in every section of our favored country.
Edward was ten, Julia eight years old, when they removed from town. They
felt a very natural reluctance at leaving the city, their companions,
and the only pleasures they had ever known. But the state of their
feelings will best appear by a conversation which occurred between
them and their mother, shortly before their removal, while Edward
was assisting her to pack up some vials, which with their contents,
composed his chemical laboratory.
"You are very good, dear mother," he said, kissing her, "to take such
pains to pack up these things: you have been in such a panic about
spontaneous combustion ever since the night you found the phosphorus[1]
on fire, that I expected my little cupboard and all its treasures would
be condemned. But," he added, with a sigh, "I suppose you think I shall
want my chemistry more than ever to amuse me in the country."
[1] Phosphorus is a matter which shines or even burns
spontaneously, and without the application of any sensible
fire.
"No, my dear boy, not more than ever."
"Oh, mother! Bob Eaton's father says the country is such a bore--and Bob
thinks so too."
"And what," asked Mrs. Sackville, "do Bob Eaton's father and Bob Eaton,
mean by a bore?"
"Why, they mean, certainly"----Edward began in a confident tone, and then
faltered a little: "that is, I suppose they mean, that----that----that----"
Edward found it as difficult to explain their meaning, as the original
utterers of the profound remark would have done if suddenly called on:
and he was glad to be interrupted by a soliloquy of his little sister,
who stood in one corner of the room, wrapping something in half a dozen
envelopes.
"Farewell!" she exclaimed, as the man says in the play, "'a long farewell'
to my dear dancing shoes--"
"Pardon me, Miss Julia," said her mother, "for cutting short such a
pretty pathetic parting: but here is another pair of dancing shoes,
which you will please to put with those you already have, and I trust
you will have the pleasure of dancing them both out before you come to
town again."
"Dancing them out, mother! shall we dance in the country?" exclaimed
both the children in one breath. "I thought," continued Edward, "that
we should have nothing to do in the country but get our lessons; and
all work and no play, you know, mother, makes Jack a dull boy."
"Oh yes, Ned, I know that favorite proverb of all children. I am sorry
to find that you have such a dread of the country. You know, my dear
children, that your father and I are devoted to your welfare, and that
we should do nothing that would not contribute to your happiness."
Edward had quick feelings, and he perceived that there was something
reproachful in his mother's manner. "I am sure," he said, "that Julia
and I wish to do every thing that you and papa like."
"That is not enough, my dear boy, we wish you to _like_ to do what we
like."
"But surely, mother, you cannot blame us for not wishing to go and live
in the country."
"No, Edward, I should as soon think of blaming poor blind Billy, because
he cannot see. Unhappily you have been entirely confined to town, and
are ignorant of the pleasures of the country. I only blame you for
thinking that your father and I would voluntarily do any thing to lessen
your innocent pleasures."
"Oh, mother!" exclaimed Edward, "we did not think any thing about that."
"Well, my dear, perhaps I am wrong in expecting you to _think_--reflection
is the habit of a riper age than yours. You must trust me for one year,
and at the expiration of that period, you and your sister shall decide
whether we return to town or remain in the country."
"Oh, mother! how very good you are. One year--well, one year won't be so
very long--only think, Julia, in one year we shall be back again."
"Not quite so fast, Edward," said his mother; "you are not to decide
till the end of the year."
"Oh, I know that, mama, but of course we shall decide to come back."
Mrs. Sackville looked incredulous, and smiled at his childish confidence
in his own constancy. "I see, mother, you don't believe me; but of
course, Julia and I can't wish to live away from every thing that is
amusing."
"Come, Julia, your brother has taken it upon himself to be spokesman,
but let me hear from you, what are the amusements that you so dread to
leave."
"Why, in the first place, mother, there is our dancing-school: every
time I go to take my lesson, Mr. Dubois says, 'Pauvre, Miss Julie, point
de cotillon; point de gavots in de country; ah, qu'il est sauvage--de
country.'"
"Dubois for ever!" exclaimed Edward, as Julia finished her mimicry
of her master's tone and grimace. "Oh, he is the drollest creature--and
Julia is such a mimic--the girls will have nobody to make them laugh
when she is gone."
Mrs. Sackville secretly rejoiced that Julia was to be removed, in a
great degree, from the temptation to exercise so mischievous a faculty.
She, however, did not turn the drift of the conversation to make any
remarks on it. "Console Mr. Dubois," she said, "my dear, Julia, with the
assurance, that your mother will take care that you do not lose the
benefit of his labors in the service of the graces. Your father tells
me, there is in our neighborhood a very decent musician, who does all
the fiddling for the parish. I have purchased some cotillon music, and
I hope your favorite tunes will soon resound in our new mansion."
"Oh, that will be delightful, mother, but Edward and I cannot dance a
cotillon alone."
"No, but we are not going to a desert. There are enough clever children
in the neighborhood, who will form a set with you; and now, Julia, that
I see by your brightened eye, that you think the affliction of leaving
the dancing-school will be alleviated, what is the next subject of your
regret?"
"The next, mother? what is next, Edward?"
"I do not know what you will call next, Julia, but I think the theatre
comes next."
"O! the theatre--yes, the theatre--how could I forget the theatre?"
"Well, my children, I think you can live without the theatre, as you
go but once, or at most twice in a season; a pleasure that occupies
so small a portion of your time, cannot be very important to your
happiness, or regretted very deeply."
"A small portion of time, to be sure, mother," replied Edward; "but then
you will own it is delightful: you yourself exclaimed the other night
when the curtain drew up, 'what a beautiful spectacle!'"
"Yes, my love, but nature has far more beautiful spectacles, and I have
kept you too long from them."
"But, mother," insisted Edward, "nothing can be so pleasant and
startling, as when the curtain suddenly draws up and discovers a
beautiful scene."
"It may be more startling, my dear Ned, but it is not half so delightful
as to see the curtain of night withdrawn in a clear summer morning, and
the lovely objects of nature lighting up with the rays of the rising
sun."
"But, mother, there is the orchestra--"
"And in the country, my dear, we have bands of voluntary musicians on
every side of us, who set all their wants, and all their pleasures to
music, and pour them forth in the sweetest notes, from morning till
night. These musicians will hover about our house and garden the entire
summer, and ask no reward, but to share with us our cherries and
raspberries; a small pittance from the generous stores of summer. But,
come, my children, what next?"
"What next, Julia? Let us think--Oh, there is the museum. I am sure,
mother, you cannot say a word against the museum--such a variety of
curiosities, and elegant specimens of every thing, and I have heard you
and papa both say, that it is a very instructive as well as amusing
place to visit."
"Certainly it is, my dear, a vast collection of natural wonders, and
artificial curiosities; and I am glad you value it sufficiently to
regret it. But, my dear children, nature has her museums every where:
her productions are all curiosities, and the more you study them, the
more you will admire the wisdom and goodness of their Creator. Every
vegetable that springs from the kind bosom of the earth--the earth
itself--the rocks--the pebbles--living creatures, their instincts and
habitudes--are all a study for you. The volume is open and outspread
before you: God grant me grace to train your minds and hearts, that
you may read therein--read with that enlightened understanding and
benevolent spirit, which prompted a christian philosopher to say, 'the
air, the earth, the water, teem with delighted existence. On whichever
side I turn my eyes, myriads of happy beings crowd upon my view.'"
Any farther record of the conversation would be superfluous, and might
prove tedious. It is our purpose to give some anecdotes of Edward and
Julia, and not their history.
As might have been expected, our young friends in the country, were like
beings rescued from an artificial mode of existence, and restored to
their native element; and when their mother, at the expiration of the
year, asked them if they were ready to return to town--
"Return to town, now, mother!" exclaimed Edward, "it is impossible."
"Some time or other, mama, perhaps we should like to go back, but not
now," said Julia. "We cannot go now, when we have so much to do. The
frost is just out of the ground, and Ned and I are as busy as bees in
our garden."
"And, besides," said Edward, "there is my brood of ducks, that the old
hen has just brought off; I am so curious to see her fright when they
take to the water; and there are my bantam pigeons; bantams are so
delicate, that you know, mother, I could not trust them to any body's
care but my own."
"I think old Caesar might take charge of your bantams, Ned," said Julia;
"but I am sure my pet lamb--"
"Oh, Julia," interrupted Edward, laughing, "give her the sentimental
french name."
"Very well, I will, and you may laugh as much you please: Orpheline--I
am sure Orpheline would not relish her food from any hand but mine, she
is so used to me; and my darling little partridges, that I am trying to
bring up to be domestic birds, I would not leave them before I have made
a 'satisfactory experiment,' as papa says; and then, mother, we did not
half fill our herbariums last summer. Oh, we have a world of business on
our hands," continued Julia, with the air of one who duly realized the
importance of her momentous concerns.
Mrs. Sackville smiled, but made no reply, and Edward said, "I was
thinking, mother, as I sat on the door-step last evening, and listened
to the hum of the happy little creatures that are waking up for the
season, that I had new eyes and new ears given to me, since I came
to live in the country. Even the hoarse croaking of the frogs in our
meadow, sounded pleasantly to me; quite musical."
"Equal to the music of the orchestra, my dear Ned."
"Not quite so fine, mother," replied Edward, "but it seemed to have
more meaning in it."
"You are right, my dear Edward," said Mrs. Sackville; "you have new
senses, or rather, your senses are unlocked to the reception of the
sweet influences of nature. I have more happiness than I can express to
you, my dear children, in finding that you have already imbibed a taste
for those pure pleasures, that will remain the same, whatever change of
condition or circumstances may await you."[2]
[2] Miss Hannah More, at the age of seventy-five, said to
Professor Griscom, 'the love of the country, and of
flowers, is the only natural pleasure that remains to me
unimpaired.'
Another year passed to this virtuous family, full of useful and innocent
occupations, and in the month of the already noted June, they left their
home. The parents with rational expectations of pleasure, from visiting
some of the most interesting scenes in our country, and the children
with the anticipation of unbounded delight, so characteristic of
childhood.
Their travelling party included Mr. Ralph Morris, a bachelor brother
of Mrs. Sackville. Mr. Morris was a man of intelligence and extreme
kindness of disposition, a little irritable, and when the sky was
clouded, and the wind blew from the wrong quarter, somewhat whimsical.
As we hope that our young readers will conceive a friendship for Edward
and Julia, before they part with them, they may have a natural curiosity
to know whether they were brown or fair, and all the etceteras of
personal appearance. Edward was tall for his age, (twelve) and stout
built, with the rich ruddy complexion and vigorous muscle of an English
boy. His eyes were large and dark, and beaming with the bright and
laughing spirit within: his hair was a mass of fair clustering curls,
which he, from a boyish dread of effeminacy, had in vain tried to subdue
by the discipline of comb and brush. His teeth were fine and white, and
with as little prompting from his mother as could be expected, he kept
them with remarkable neatness. His mouth was distinguished by nothing
but an expression of frankness and good temper. His nose, (a feature
seldom moulded by the graces) his nose, we are sorry to confess, was
rather thick and quite unclassical. His character and manners preserved
all the frankness and purity of childhood, with a little of that
chivalrous spirit which is such a grace to dawning manhood. For the
rest, we will leave him to speak for himself.
The sister's person was extremely delicate and symmetrical, with too
little of the Hebe beauty for childhood, but full of grace and
_gentillesse_.
Her complexion was not as rich as her brother's; but it had an
ever-varying hue, which indicated the sensibility that sometimes
suddenly swelled the veins of her clear open brow, lit up her hazel eyes
with electrifying brilliancy, and played in sweet dimples about her
mouth; in short, though she was not beautiful, she had an expression of
purity, truth, and gentleness, far more attractive than mere beauty; an
expression that was once happily described by a French lady, who said to
Mrs. Sackville, "when your daughter smiles, it seems to me, that it is
frankness and virtue that smile."
* * * * *
We are well aware that young people do not like to be harangued about
scenery; therefore, though our travellers sailed up the Hudson, we shall
resist every temptation to describe its beautiful features, features as
well known and loved as the familiar face of a friend; neither will we
detain them on the scarcely less beautiful Mohawk, though we are sure
they are not rebels against nature, and that their hearts would dilate
if we had the power to present to their imaginations this lovely stream,
winding through the valley it enriches, as it looked to the eyes of our
young travellers, brimfull from recent rains, reflecting in its living
mirror the verdant banks, the overhanging trees, the richly-wooded
hills, and the clear heaven.
It would be impossible to record the exclamations of the children. "It
is a perfect picture, mother, all the way," said Julia.
"I like every thing but these dronish farmers," said Edward. "See, papa,"
he continued, (not, perhaps, unwilling to display his agricultural
observation) "see, that groupe of men, black and white, all leaning
on their hoes, and staring at us, and they will stand and look just
so, until the next carriage comes along, while their corn is trying
in vain to shoot above the weeds that choke it. They seem to have no
more soul than the clods they stand upon. I wish some of the farmers
on the cold desolate hills of New-England had this fine soil."
"My dear Ned," replied Mr. Sackville, "I do not wonder at your
indignation. I have myself been marvelling, that, as a poet says,
'Nature should waste her wonders on such men;' but there is compensation
every where, or, as your mother would say, there 'are divers gifts.'
The man born to the inheritance of cold and sterile hills, is compelled
to be industrious, frugal, vigorous, and resolute to live, and thus the
advantages of his moral condition are more than an equivalent for the
physical advantages of a fine soil or climate, or both."
"Ah, well, papa," replied Edward, "if I had my choice, I should take
this fine soil on the Mohawk, and cultivate it with the mountain
virtues, industry, resolution, &c. and I might make a paradise here."
"A paradise, Ned!" exclaimed Mrs. Sackville, "do you remember that
Milton says,
Now morn her rosy steps in the eastern clime
Advancing, sow'd the earth with orient pearl,
When Adam wak'd?
If you would be a tiller of the earth, Ned, you must learn to like
early rising and hard work, better than you do now, and not go on living
so like the lilies of the field, that are clothed, though they toil
not." Edward looked a little crest-fallen.
"Your self-confidence provoked a gentle rebuke," said his father; "but
it is a very common mistake, my dear son, for those much older than you
are, to fancy they should avoid the faults others commit, if placed in
their situation. But, before you permit such a presumption, be sure
that you have resisted all the temptations in your own path, and have
performed all the duties which belong to the sphere Providence has
assigned to you. Here we are at the close of our day's journey, and my
admonition comes in very well, like the moral at the end of a tale; this
I think is one of the prettiest places on the river. If I mistake not,
the village opposite to us is Palatine."
The party alighted at Mrs. B's inn. The children entreated their mother
to take her port-folio, and stroll with them along the bank of the
river, while the tea was getting in readiness.
As they came opposite the ferry, they stopped for a moment to look at a
scow approaching the shore. There were several men in it, and among them
a black lad, who, at the moment the boat touched the shore, either by
accident, or by the contrivance of his mischievous companions, fell
overboard. While they gave way to a burst of merriment, the poor blackey
regained a footing on terra firma, and shook the water from his woolly
locks and dripping garments.
"You an't white yet, Cuffee," said one of his persecutors. "Look if he
has dyed the water," said another.
"Don't laugh," said Julia to Edward, who, with a boyish love of fun, had
joined in the laugh; "it is too bad to laugh at the poor fellow."
"You are right, Julia," said Mrs. Sackville. "It is hard to belong to a
degraded _caste_, to be born to the inheritance of jibes and jokes."
They continued their walk a little farther down the bank, discovering
new beauties at every step, till they came to a spot which Julia
insisted could not be surpassed; and arranging a nice cushion on the
grass with her shawl, she begged her mother to make a sketch there.
"Now, mama," she said, "you must take both sides of the river."
"You forget, Julia, that I cannot take a panorama view."
"Then you must leave out the inn, and the beautiful hill behind it, with
its sycamores and locusts, and the road that winds along the bank of the
river."
"Yes, my dear, here is the boundary of your picture:--this magnificent
elm-tree, that seems to pay its debt to the nourishing waters, by
extending its graceful branches over them."
"And don't fail, mother," said Edward, "to mark the deep shadow it casts
on that pier of the bridge they are building--and oh, do put in that
little skiff so snugly moored in the shade, and hooked to the tree--and
that taper church spire that stretches above the thick wood on the
left;--oh, if you could but paint it as it looks now, with that bright
gleam from the setting sun on it. And see, mother, just at this instant,
what a golden mist there is in the topmost branches of that tree."
"Stop your chattering one moment, Ned, till I get in this little brook
on the left, that is creeping so softly into the bosom of the Mohawk.
Oh, my children, it is an easy task to draw these lines so as to convey
a correct idea of forms and distances, but very difficult to imitate the
colouring of nature, the delicate touch of her skilful hand. How shall I
represent the freshness and purity that marks the youth of the year?--like
childhood, Ned, smiling and promising, and as yet unchanged by time."
"If not changed, not perfected by time, dear mother," said Edward,
kissing his mother. His manner expressed a mixture of admiration and
tenderness that went to her heart.
"You have spoiled my picture, Ned," she said, "I cannot make another
straight line. Come, Julia, take up the port-folio, and we will return
to the inn."
* * * * *
We hope our readers will not complain that we have not kept good faith
with them, if we have been tempted to loiter longer than we promised on
the banks of the Mohawk. To reward them for their patience (if perchance
they have exercised that difficult virtue, without availing themselves
of the skipping right--the readers' inalienable right) we shall make but
one stage of it from Palatine to Oneida, not once halting at any of the
beautiful grounds, waterfalls, or villages, that intervene.
It was mid-day, and a hot day too, when our travellers entered this
Indian town, which presents a striking aspect, situated as it is in the
heart of a cultivated and civilized country.
Huts are planted irregularly at some distance from the road, in fields
overgrown with rank grass. Half-naked Indians, yelling and hallooing,
were riding to and fro without saddles or bridles; on horses that looked
as wild as themselves. Some were stretched along the road-side, in a
state of brutal intoxication; others were lying under the shadows of
the noblest patriarchs of their woods, showing their patent right to
indolence as lords of the creation, while their women and girls were
sitting around them, busily making baskets and brooms. On the green
were groupes of men shooting arrows at a mark, playing at jack-straws,
football, and the various games of skill and chance by which the savage
drives away ennui--that demon that persecutes most fiercely at the
extremes of the human condition.
"One might almost fancy here," said Mr. Sackville, "that the march
of time had been stayed, and the land spell-bound, by some mighty
magician. The log-huts of these poor Indians are as rude structures
as the bark wigwams of their forefathers, and these rich lands are a
complete waste, except where we see here and there a little patch of
corn or potatoes. The savages certainly evince their faith in the
traditionary saying that 'the Great Spirit gave a plough to the white
man, and a bow and arrow to the Indian.'"
"And there," said Mrs. Sackville, pointing to some women who were
hoeing, "there is an illustration of another of their proverbs--'men
were made for war and hunting, and squaws and hedge-hogs to scratch the
ground.'"
Edward interrupted the conversation, to beg his father to stop in the
village long enough to allow him time to look into the interior of some
of the huts. While Mr. Sackville hesitated whether to incur the delay
necessary to afford this gratification to his son, the driver announced
that his off-leader had lost his shoe, and asked leave to stop at a
blacksmith's to have it replaced.
This request was readily granted; and while Mrs. Sackville entered into
some conversation with the blacksmith, who was a white man, Edward
bounded over a fence and across a field, towards a hut which was
scarcely perceptible except by a smoke that rose from it, and curled
through the branches of a lofty oak which stood before it.
As he drew near the hut, he heard a low voice, broken by sobs; he paused
for a moment, and then cautiously and softly advanced, till he came so
near as to hear distinctly what was said, and to see enough, through a
small aperture where the clay had fallen away from the logs, to prevent
his proceeding farther, and to excite his curiosity to its highest
pitch. An old Indian woman was sitting on the hearth-stone, her arms
folded, and her blanket wrapped close around her. It appeared that she
had seated herself there for the purpose of watching an Indian cake that
was baking on a shovel before the fire; but her attention had been so
abstracted, that the cake was burnt to a cinder. Her face and person
were withered by age; but her eye, as if lit up by an undying spark,
retained a wild brightness, and was steadfastly fixed on two young
persons who stood before her, apparently too much occupied with their
own emotion to notice her observation of them. The one was a young girl,
dressed in a riding habit and Leghorn travelling bonnet. Edward was
not very well situated for accurate observation; but though he was
at the first glance deceived by the brilliancy of the girl's colour,
heightened as it was by the excitement of the moment, his unpracticed
eye soon detected unequivocal marks of the Indian race, accompanied
and softened by traits of fairer blood. A young Indian stood beside
her, who, as Edward fancied, had a certain air of dignity and heroism,
that characterised a warrior chief;--still there was something in his
attitude and motions, that bespoke the habits of civilized life. His
dress, too, was a singular mixture of the European and Indian costumes.
He wore a jacket with long sleeves made of deer skin, and closely fitted
to his arms and breast. He had a mantle of blue broad cloth, lined with
crimson, made long and full, hanging over one shoulder, and confined at
the waist by a wampum belt. On a table beside him was lying a cap, like
the military undress cap of a British officer, with a plume of black
feathers tinged with crimson, and attached to the cap by a silver arrow.
The conversation between him and the girl was in French, and made up of
ejaculations and vehement protestations, from which Edward could not at
first gather any thing intelligible to him. The girl wept excessively;
the Indian's passion seemed too powerful for such an expression.
"You promise," he said, "Felice; but our old men say the winds are not
more changing than a woman's mind."
"Others may change; I cannot, Nahatton; you know I would not leave you
if I could help it."
"Could help it! can your father's right control nature's law? Oh,
Felice!" he added, smiting his breast, "that which I feel for you is
like the fires from the sun--the hurricane from the south--the tide of
the ocean;--I cannot resist it."
"Nahatton! Nahatton! you know I will return to you."
"Let me place this around your neck then," said he, detaching from his
own a chain made of porcupine quills, and curiously woven. "My mother
made it. She said it was a charm, and would keep me true to my own
people. I wore it in France, and I have returned to my tribe."
"Not about my neck, Nahatton," said Felice, as he raised his hands to
clasp the chain; "it looks too savage--bind it on my arm.----Why do you
hesitate?" she asked, as she stood with her arm extended, and her sleeve
pushed up.
"It looks too savage! Already ashamed of your mother's blood! Oh, there
is poison in your veins!" and as he said this he broke the chain, threw
it down, and crushed it under his foot.
"Oh, Nahatton, I did not mean that;--I am not ashamed of my indian
blood--I will make you any promise--I will swear, on my knees I will
swear to return to you."
"Swear then upon this," said he; and he took from his bosom a silver
crucifix, and offered it to her lips.
At this moment the old woman, who, as they spoke in French, only
understood as much as she could interpret from their gestures, rose,
and darting towards them, she laid her hand on the crucifix. "No, no,
Felice; swear not!" she said; "the oath will be written there," and she
pointed upward, "when you have broken and forgotten it."
Edward, in the intensity of his interest in the scene, had forgotten the
necessity of secrecy. He carelessly leaned his arm on some rails that
had been placed against the hut, one of them fell; the party within
started and looked around them, and Edward instinctively retreated. If
he went as swiftly as the wind, and once or twice thought he heard an
arrow whirring through the air behind him, we hope our readers will
impute it to the excited state of his imagination, and not deem him a
coward, 'even upon instinct.'
"Just in time, Edward, my son," said Mr. Sackville, who was standing by
the carriage in which the rest of the party were already seated; "but
what in the world ails you? you look as wild as if you had met a bear up
in the wood there."
"Oh, you would look wild too, father, if you had seen and heard what I
have. Oh, mother! Oh, Julia! you never will believe what I have to tell
you."
"I have something to tell you, too, Mr. Edward," said his mother; "and
as you are out of breath, and out of your wits, I will tell my story
first, which I assure you is quite a romantic little tale to pick up by
the way-side."
"Well, do be quick, mother, if you please, for what I have to say is so
wonderful."
"No doubt; each one always thinks his own wonder the most wonderful. But
I will not try your patience any longer. Do you remember our speculating
on an empty carriage, which we saw drawn up under a tree with a man
standing by it, about half a mile back?"
"Yes, very well--but what of that, mother?"
"It was an idle inquiry about that carriage of the good-natured
communicative blacksmith that led to the story, which I am going to tell
you. It seems that carriage is to convey a young woman to New-York,
whence she sails for France."
"Oh, I saw her--I saw her," exclaimed Edward. "It can be none other."
"Well, Edward," said Mrs. Sackville, "I will give place to you; for I
see you are in such a state of fermentation, that I am afraid your story
will evaporate in exclamations, while I am telling mine."
Edward thus relieved from restriction, proceeded to recount with the
animation of an eye-witness, all he had seen and heard. His audience
listened to him with the most flattering attention, and at the
conclusion, repaid him with exclamations, that proved they were
adequately impressed with the extraordinary scene he had witnessed.
Julia wished he had noticed whether the chief (for thus he had chosen
throughout his narrative to designate his hero) wore moccasins or shoes,
and whether his legs below his mantle, were bare, or covered with
leggins. She thought too, he might just have staid to see whether the
girl made the vow or not: and his mother congratulated him that the
Indians had not executed summary justice on him, and shot him flying for
a spy.
"My story," said Mrs. Sackville, "will serve, Ned, as a sequel to yours,
or rather, an explanation of it. It seems that this young girl, who is a
Miss Bernard, had left the carriage when we saw it, on the pretence of
going to take leave of her mother's sister, who is doubtless the old
woman you saw. You were so fortunate as to discover her real errand. She
is the daughter of a Frenchman--Rodolph Bernard. His family was noble
and rich: they and their fortunes were sacrificed in the convulsions of
the French revolution, and Bernard alone escaped and reached America,
with nothing but his life. It appears from my blacksmith's story, that
young Bernard had a good deal of spirit and enterprise, and more
education than most of the young nobles of that time. I wish you to
observe, my children, that knowledge is a treasure not impaired by a
change of circumstances, but an immutable good in every extreme of
fortune. Bernard remained in New-York for a year or two, and subsisted
by teaching French to some Americans, and mathematics to his own
countrymen. He was then employed by a company of French gentlemen,
to explore the western part of this State, then a wilderness, and
to furnish them such information as should enable them to make an
advantageous purchase of the government. This was not quite thirty years
ago: and then the cultivated country and beautiful villages through
which we have passed, were for the most part a trackless wilderness.
"At a wigwam in Oneida, where he had been compelled to ask for such
hospitality as it afforded, he was seized with the fever of the country
that usually attacked strangers. For weeks and months he was nursed by
an indian girl, famed among her people for her skill in such remedies as
their native wilds supply. You know, that in the history of the early
periods of all ages, we find the healing art assigned to women. You will
remember, Ned, in your favorite old ballads, many a kill or cure,
performed by cruel or tender leeches.
"Whether it was the indian maid's skill in medicine, that prevailed over
the disease at last, or her devoted kindness, it might be difficult to
determine; probably, Bernard thought the latter; for though she was,
as my narrator's tradition says, 'an uncouth maiden to look upon,' he
declared his love to her, and asked her hand of her father. The father
consented, but not till after some delay, nor till he had ascertained
that Bernard's rank entitled him to wed the daughter of a distinguished
chief. She was an only child too, and she was heir to enough land within
this Oneida reservation, to make a principality.
"The Frenchman understood how to manage it. His ties to his own country
were broken. All his affections and interests were concentrated here. He
has been a good husband and father--so indulgent as to permit his wife
on ordinary occasions, to wear her indian dress, to which it seems she
has a bigoted attachment. His children are well educated: and, Ned, our
blacksmith thinks, that your heroine Felice, would be a perfect beauty,
if she had such hair as your sister's, and the olive tinge could be
washed out of her skin.
"Bernard, since the late reverses in France, has returned there, and
recovered an immense property which had been sequestered by Napoleon.
"Last year his family received dispatches from him, by your 'chief,'
Ned--who, if not in reality a chief, is the son of a distinguished
sachem of the Seneca tribe, which is located some where on the shores
of Lake Erie. The old Seneca chief was converted to the Romish religion,
by a Catholic missionary, who persuaded him to resign his son into his
hands, to be educated a priest.
"It appears that neither European intercourse, nor the strict discipline
of a catholic school, have overcome the young man's preference of the
wild and lawless life of his tribe. As I said, on his return from
France, he brought letters from Bernard to his family, and here he
has played successfully the part of Othello the Moor, with this young
Desdemona; and the blacksmith thinks that Bernard will play the enraged
father to the life, as it has been his declared resolution from his
daughter's birth, that she should not wed an indian.
"For the rest of my story, it is explained by what you have witnessed,
Edward. The Seneca youth has visited his people, and returned here just
as Felice is on the eve of departure for France, in compliance with her
father's requisition. As to the future, whether she will remain constant
to her lover, as we are not seers, we cannot predict--we can only
guess."
Edward and Julia professed unbounded confidence in Felice's fidelity.
Mr. Morris did not see what the girl could do better. Indian she
undoubtedly was, and he thought it was a clear case for the application
of the Scottish proverb, 'hawks won't pick out hawks' een;' at any rate
it would be a piece of effrontery for her to turn her back upon her
indian lover, and expect to win a white one.
Mr. and Mrs. Sackville thought it possible that Julia might find
Frenchmen in whose estimation an ample fortune would atone for the
slight dishonour of her maternal ancestry.
Our travellers proceeded without accident or adventure along the
accustomed route through fine villages, whose rapid growth to maturity
remind one of the construction of a fairy palace by the touch of a
magician's wand. A few years ago this country was unexplored save by
the indian hunter, or perhaps a devoted missionary, or lawless trader.
A wheel had never entered it--a _shodden_ horse was a curiosity; now,
the road is thronged with market-waggons, stage coaches, and carriages
filled with idle, curious, or classic travellers, who go to 'the Falls'
to kill time, to increase their stores of knowledge, or to gratify
taste.
Mr. Sackville was constantly directing his children's observation to the
prompt enterprise and industry so conspicuous in a new country, and
stimulating their patriotism by pointing out to them the increasing
riches and resources of their native land. "For my own part," he said,
"I prefer the sentiment that is inspired by the peaceful triumphs of man
over nature, to the patriotism that is kindled on battle-grounds--if not
as romantic, it is certainly more innocent."
"Then I suppose, papa," said Edward, "that you prefer Virgil's georgics
to his epic."
"Thank you, Ned," replied his father, "for an illustration which proves
that your travels have not quite put your school out of your head. I
certainly do prefer the aspect of our cheerful dwellings, blooming
gardens, and fruitful fields, associated as they are in my mind with
innocent occupation and moral cultivation; to the ivy-mantled towers
and triumphal arches of the old world--they are the records of feudal
grandeur and high heroic deeds, but deeds too often of doubtful virtue,
and of fatal consequences. The melancholy poet may exult in describing
the 'spectres that sit and sigh' amid their ruins; but if I had the
_gifted eye_, my children, I should rather look upon the spirit of
Contentment that hovers over our land, and her sweet sister Hope, who
points with her finger of promise to the smiling prosperity produced by
busy hands and active independent minds."
* * * * *
When the travellers reached Black-rock, where they were to cross the
Niagara, they were compelled to await for some time the return of the
ferry-boat, which was then plying towards the Canada shore. While they
were detained, they amused themselves with a company of Irish people--raw
emigrants, who had just entered our territory, and were awaiting the
departure of the Erie steam-boat to convey them to the State of Ohio.
They had spread tents for their temporary accommodation--Edward and
Julia went from one to another, asking questions, and giving cakes and
dried fruit from their travelling stores to the children.
They were particularly struck with one buxom young girl with laughing
eyes and ruddy cheeks, who seemed to be a favorite with the whole
company, and not to belong to any one; for she went from tent to tent
kneading an oat-meal cake for one woman--dressing a lame arm for
another, and performing sundry miscellaneous offices that always fall
to the lot of those most useful people who have nothing in particular
to do. Julia offered her a piece of cake, by way of introduction, and
then asked her name:--"My name is Biddy Burns, an' please you, miss."
"And who did you come with, Biddy?"
"I left home with my cousin; but it pleased the Lord to take her to
himself before we came to Quebec, and she has left such a pretty
complement of children to her husband to take care of, that I must
e'en shift for myself."
"Do you like our country, Biddy?" asked Edward.
"Och, my master, I could not miss liking it, ye are all so free and
hospitable."
"But Biddy," said Julia, "how could you leave your father and mother,
and all your friends?"
"Sure it is, miss, if it thrives well with me they will all come after."
"Sure enough," said Mrs. Sackville, "these poor Irish do all come
_after_, sooner or later. Are you a catholic, Biddy?"
"I come from the north of Ireland, my leddy."
"You are a protestant, then?"
"Yes, my leddy; thank God and my mother, that taught me the rasonable
truth."
"Can you read, my good girl?"
"Indeed can I, my leddy. Thanks to the Sunday school, I could read in
the bible if I had one, without a blunder."
"Well, Biddy," said Mrs. Sackville, who thought it a good opportunity to
give a God-speed to the girl's pilgrimage--"here is a bible in my
basket--take it, and may it be the guide of your life."
Biddy poured forth her thanks in many a God-reward-ye, and then after
hesitating for a moment, she said, "I wish my leddy would condescend to
walk up here a bit, to a poor woman who needs a kind christian word,
poor crater." Mrs. Sackville and the children followed Biddy to a tree
which stood a little above the encampment of the Irish, where a woman
was sitting on a log with a sick child in her arms, and a boy of five
or six beside her.
She was a middle-aged woman, with a face originally plain, and deeply
seamed with the small-pox; but withal, there was an expression of honesty
and goodness, and of deep sadness, that interested Mrs. Sackville, though
at first it failed to draw the attention of the children from their
good-humored blithe companion.
"Does this woman belong to your company, Biddy?"
"Bless you, no, my leddy."--"I thought not," said Mrs. Sackville, who
was struck with the extreme neatness of the woman's appearance, which
presented a striking contrast to all the Irish, even to our friend
Biddy.--Her child's head was covered with a linen handkerchief--coarse
and patched, but white as the driven snow. There was scarcely a thread
of the original cloth in her children's clothes--neither was there a
hole in them--their faces and hands were perfectly clean, and their hair
neatly combed.
"You seem to find it possible, my friend," said Mrs. Sackville, patting
the little boy's face, "to keep your children clean in the most difficult
circumstances." "I try my best, ma'am," replied the woman. "And a slave,
my leddy," interposed Biddy, "she makes of herself for it. Do you know
that when I offered this morning to stay by the childer while she took
a bit of sleep, that instead of resting her soul and body, she went and
washed her things in the river, and got leave to iron in the house
yonder, and did it all as particular as it might have been done for you,
my leddy."
The poor woman was wetting the sick child's lips from a cup of water that
stood by her; and she took no notice of Biddy's remark. Mrs. Sackville
inquired into the particulars of the child's sickness, which she thought
would yield to some common restoratives which she had at hand; and just
as she was dispatching Julia for the dressing case which contained them,
a little rugged impish looking boy came towards them, throwing himself
heels over head, with a segar in his mouth, which he continued smoking
while he was making his somersets.--"Come, come, Goody Barton," said he,
without heeding Mrs. Sackville's presence, "come, we must be up and
moving. If we don't get over in this boat, I shall disappoint the
company at Chippewa to-night."
"Don't speak so loud, Tristy," replied the woman, "but take the pack to
the boat, and I will follow you."
"That surely is not your child?" said Mrs. Sackville, as the boy walked
off with the bundle singing, at the top of his voice, a very vulgar
song, and affecting to reel like a drunken man.
"No, thank God," said the woman, "he is a poor heaven-forsaken lad, who
is going into Canada. He has helped me along from Buffalo, and has
offered to carry my bundle to Chippewa."
It occurred to Mrs. Sackville to caution the woman to be on her guard,
for she thought Tristy looked wicked enough for any mischief; but a
signal from the boat obliged them all to hasten to the shore. Biddy good
naturedly took the eldest boy by the hand and led him to the boat, and
then took leave of all her new friends, pouring forth a shower of
prayers that God would bless them all, rich and poor.
The woman, whom we shall henceforth call by her name, Mrs. Barton, was
reserved in the expression of her feelings; but the tear of gratitude
she dropped on Biddy's hand at parting, was an equivalent for the girl's
voluble expressions.
There was, in all the poor woman's manner, an unobtrusiveness and
reserve uncommon in a person of her humble degree, and it interested
Mrs. Sackville more than any solicitation could have done. She
ascertained that Mrs. Barton was on her way to Quebec, where she _hoped_
to find her husband.
"And have you the means of getting there?" asked Mrs. Sackville. "It is
a great distance, my friend, and you cannot get across Ontario and down
the St. Lawrence for a trifle."