The sun bathed the dust of Pearl Street wherever it could steal
between the layers of the thick-leafed boughs overhead. I lounged on
the doorstep of our cozy, red-brick house by the corner of Garden
Street, and reread the letter from Master Juggins which the
supercargo of the Bristol packet had delivered a half-hour earlier.
My Hart is reejoiced, deare Lad, at ye Ezcelant report of yon
which is come From Governour Burnet. Granny was so Plesed she
sang untill ye Prentises sent word above-stares Beseching a
Treate of ale which ye Swete Soul dispached at once. I have This
Day taken out ye Papers of partnership in Your name, and when
this Reches you ye sign above ye Doore will run as Juggins &
Ormerod.
Murray's discomfitur hath had Exceding Advantageous efects in ye
Citie and ye Marchaunts who Earley did Clamor for ye freedom of
Trade with ye French are now Perceveinge how ye Planne of
Governour Burnet did Sette to their Profit in ye Longe Runne.
Use your Own Judgments, I praye you, in developping ye Provincial
Trade and draw Upon mee at will for what Funds you Maye need.
Grannie and I do send you our Love and Respect and She biddes me
say she Considders 'Twas ye Actte of Godde I was sette Upon in ye
Mincing Lane what time you Came to my Rescue. We desire that you
and Mistress Marjory may Deem ye house in Holbourne your home and
'twould deelight our Eyes might we See you Here. Butte of that
you will bee ye Judges. Ye New World is ye world for Youth, of
that There can bee no Dispute.
I do Enclose ye Miniature of your Mother which an Agente hath
secured from ye Jew on ye Quai de l'Horloge in Paris as you Tolde
mee and Agane do Salute you with Afectionate Regarde and asure
you and your Wife all ye Love that Words may encompass.
I drew the miniature from my pocket and recalled the damp, wintry day
in Paris I had made up my mind to quit the Jacobite cause and try my
fortune at all risks in England; the pang with which I had abandoned
the last link remaining with my dead parents; the rough trip in the
smuggler's lugger; the wet landing at night on the dreary Channel
coast; the fruitless attempts to enlist the aid of former friends;
the hue and cry upstart cousins had raised; the flight to London;
the----
"Ha, there, Ormerod!"
I looked up to see the burly figure of Governor Burnet rounding the
corner. He waved a handful of papers at me.
"The packet hath brought great news!" he cried.
"What is it, your Excellency?"
"The Lords of Trade have seen the light, ---- 'em! After we had
overridden 'em and pounded sense into their thick heads with mallets,
by gad! But they are coming around to our view, and for that a
humble provincial governor should be thankful, I daresay. Do but
hark to this!"
And, standing with legs spread apart in the middle of the paved
sidewalk, he read:
"And seeing that the resentment of the Six Nations is so deeply
stirred by reason of the tabling of the law, we are resolved that the
provincial Government shall have authority to impose the duties upon
trade-goods for Canada as before. And his Excellency the governor
shall be required to file a complete report of the situation with
such addenda, facts and statistics relative to amounts and totals of
trade and fluctuations therein in the recent past as may be helpful
to their lordships in reaching a final decision in this matter."
He shook the paper with a quaint mixture of derision and satisfaction.
"A final decision, forsooth! The plain truth, Ormerod, is that the
protests of the French Court have aroused our merchants at home to a
realization of the dangers they ran, and now that Murray is defeated
and broken his friends and fellow-plotters have no reason for pushing
their intrigue. 'Tis a commentary, indeed, upon the brains we have
at Whitehall. I say naught of the City men, who after all can not be
expected to be familiar with politics and the interplay of national
ambitions.
"There is more of the same tone as that I read, but I will not burden
you with it. Do but wait until I write them, as I shall by the first
sailing, that the price of beaver is declined again at Montreal to
half our quotations at Albany. Aye, and that we are sending into the
wilderness country this Summer twice the number of traders who went
out last year.
"But I am selfishly occupied with my own interests, Ormerod. Here is
a matter which more nearly concerneth yourself."
He produced a large rolled sheet of parchment, imposingly enscrolled,
across the top of which ran the legend: