"There is a pure republic--wild, yet strong--
A 'fierce democracie,' where all are true
To what themselves have voted--right or wrong--
And to their laws denominated blue;
(If red, they might to Draco's code belong.)"--HALLECK.
Such was my haste in quitting the church, that I did not turn to the
right or the left. I saw the light, but well-rounded form of Mary Warren
loitering along with the rest of the party, seemingly in waiting for me
to join them; and crossing the road, I sprang upon the stile, and thence
to the ground, coming up with the girls at the next instant.
"What is the meaning of the crowd, Hugh?" asked my sister, pointing down
the road with the stick of her parasol, as she put the question.
"Crowd! I have seen no crowd. Everybody had left the church before I
quitted it, and all has gone off peaceably. Ha! sure enough, that does
look like a crowd yonder in the highway. It seems an organized meeting,
by George! Yes, there is the chairman, seated on the upper rail of the
fence, and the fellow with a bit of paper in his hand is doubtless the
secretary. Very American, and regular, all that! Some vile project is
hatching, I'll answer for it, under the aspect of an expression of
public opinion. See, there is a chap speaking, and gesticulating
manfully!"
We all stopped, for a moment, and stood looking at the crowd, which
really had all the signs of a public meeting about it. There it had
been, the girls told me, ever since they had quitted the church, and
seemingly engaged much as it was at that moment. The spectacle was
curious, and the day being fine, while time did not press, we lingered
in the fields, occasionally stopping to look behind us, and note what
was passing on in the highway.
In this manner, we might have walked half the distance to the Nest,
when, on turning to take another look, we perceived that the crowd had
dispersed; some driving off in the ever-recurring one-horse wagon, some
on horseback and others on foot. Three men, however, were walking fast
in our direction, as if desirous of overtaking us. They had already
crossed the stile, and were on the path in the field, a route rarely or
never taken by any but those who desired to come to the house. Under the
circumstances, I determined at once to stop and wait for them. First
feeling in my pocket, and making sure of the "revolver," which is
getting to be an important weapon, now that private battles are fought
not only "yard-arm and yard-arm," but by regular "broadsides," starboard
and larboard, I intimated my intention to the girls.
"As these men are evidently coming in quest of me," I remarked, "it may
be as well, ladies, for you to continue your walk toward home, while I
wait for them on this stile."
"Very true," answered Patt. "They can have little to say that we shall
wish to hear, and you will soon overtake us. Remember, we dine at two on
Sundays, Hugh; the evening service commencing at four, in this month."
"No, no," said Mary Warren, hurriedly, "we ought not, _cannot_, quit Mr.
Littlepage. These men may do him some harm."
I was delighted with this simple, natural manifestation of interest, as
well as with the air of decision with which it was made. Mary herself
colored at her own interest, but did not the less maintain the ground
she had taken.
"Why, of what use can we be to Hugh, dear, even admitting what you say
to be true?" answered Patt; "it were better for us to hurry on to the
house, and send those here who can assist him in such a case, than stand
by idle and useless."
As if profiting by this hint, Miss Coldbrooke and Miss Marston, who were
already some little distance in advance, went off almost on a run,
doubtless intending to put my sister's project into execution. But Mary
Warren stood firm, and Patt would not desert her friend, whatever might
have been her disposition to treat me with less consideration.
"It is true, we may not be able to assist Mr. Littlepage, should
violence be attempted," the first remarked; "but violence is, perhaps,
what is least to be apprehended. These wretched people so little regard
truth, and they will be three to one, if your brother be left alone;
that it is better we stay and _hear_ what is said, in order that we may
assert what the facts really were, should these persons see fit to
pervert them, as too often happens."
Both Patt and myself were struck with the prudence and sagacity of this
suggestion; and the former now came quite near to the stile, on which I
was still standing, with an air as steady and resolute as that of Mary
Warren herself. Just then the three men approached. Two of them I knew
by name, though scarcely in person, while the third was a total
stranger. The two of whom I had some knowledge, were named Bunce and
Mowatt, and were both tenants of my own; and, as I have since learned,
warm anti-renters. The stranger was a travelling demagogue, who had been
at the bottom of the whole affair connected with the late meeting, and
who had made his two companions his tools. The three came up to the
stile, with an air of great importance, nor could the dignity of their
demeanor have been greater had they been ambassadors extraordinary from
the Emperor of China.
"Mr. Littlepage," commenced Mr. Bunce, with a particularly important
physiognomy, "there has been a meeting of the public, this morning, at
which these resolutions was passed. We have been appointed a committee
to deliver a copy of them to you, and our duty is now performed by
handing you this paper."
"Not unless I see fit to accept it, I presume, sir," was my answer.
"I should think no man, in a free country, would refuse to receive a set
of resolutions that has been passed by a meeting of his
fellow-citizens."
"That might depend on circumstances; the character of the resolutions,
in particular. The freedom of the country it is, precisely, which gives
one man the same right to say he cares nothing about your resolutions,
as it does you to pass them."
"But you have not looked at the resolutions, sir, and until you do, you
cannot know how you may like them."
"That is very true; but I have looked at their bearers, have seen their
manner, and do not quite like the assumption of power which says any
body of men can send me resolutions, whether I like to receive them or
not."
This declaration seemed to strike the committee aghast! The idea that
_one_ man should hesitate to submit himself to a yoke imposed by a
_hundred_, was so new and inconceivable to those who deem majorities all
in all, that they hardly knew how to take it.[29] At first there was an
obvious disposition to resent the insult; then came reflection, which
probably told them that such a course might not prove so well, the whole
terminating in the more philosophical determination of getting along
easily.
[Footnote 29: The prevalence of the notion of the omnipotence of
majorities, in America, is so wide-spread and deep, among the people in
general, as to form a distinctive trait in the national character. It is
doing an infinity of mischief, by being mistaken for the governing
principle of the institutions, when in fact it is merely a necessary
expedient to decide certain questions which must be decided by somebody,
and in some mode or other. Kept in its proper sphere, the use of
majorities is replete with justice, so far as justice _can_ be exercised
among men; abused, it opens the highway to the most intolerable tyranny.
As a matter of course, the errors connected with this subject vary
through all the gradations of intellect and selfishness. The following
anecdote will give the reader some notion how the feeling impressed a
stranger shortly after his arrival in this country.
A year or two since the writer had in his service an Irishman who had
been only two years in the country. It was a part of this man's duty to
look after the welfare of certain pigs, of which one occupied the
position of a "runt." "Has your honor looked at the pigs lately?" said
the honest fellow, one day. "No, not lately, Pat; is there any change?"
"That there is, indeed, sir, and a great change. The little fellow is
getting the _majority_ of the rest, and will make the best hog of 'em
all!"--EDITOR.]
"Am I to understand, Mr. Littlepage, that you refuse to accept the
resolutions of a public meeting?"
"Yes; of half a dozen public meetings put together, if those resolutions
are offensive, or are offered offensively."
"As to the resolutions, you can know nothing, having never seen them. Of
the right of any number of the people to pass such resolutions as they
may think proper, I presume there can be no question."
"Of that right, sir, there is a very great question, as has been settled
within the last few years, in our own courts. But, even if the right
existed, and in as broad a way as you seem to think, it would not form a
right to force these resolutions on me."
"I am, then, to tell the people you refuse even to read their
resolutions, 'Squire Littlepage?"
"You can tell them what you please, sir. I know of no people, except in
a legal sense, and under the limited powers that they exercise by law.
As for this new power, which is rising up in the country, and has the
impudence to call itself the people, though composed of little knots of
men got together by management, and practised on by falsehood, it has
neither my respect nor dread; and as I hold it in contempt, I shall
treat it with contempt whenever it comes in my way."
"I am, then, to tell the people of Ravensnest you hold them in contempt,
sir?"
"I authorize you tell the people of Ravensnest nothing, as coming from
me, for I do not know that the people of Ravensnest have employed you.
If you will ask me, respectfully, as if you were soliciting a favor
instead of demanding a right, to read the contents of the paper you hold
in your hand, I may be willing to comply. What I object to is a handful
of men getting together, setting themselves up as the people, pretending
to authority in that capacity, and claiming a right to _force_ their
notions on other folks."
The three committee-men now drew back a few paces, and consulted
together apart for two or three minutes. While they were thus employed,
I heard the sweet gentle voice of Mary Warren say at my elbow--"Take
their resolutions, Mr. Littlepage, and get rid of them. I dare say they
are very silly, but you will get rid of them all the sooner by receiving
the paper." This was woman's advice, which is a little apt to err on the
side of concession, when her apprehensions are aroused; but I was spared
the pain of not complying with it, by the altered tone of the trio, who
now came up to the stile again, having apparently come to a final
decision in the premises.
"Mr. Hugh Roger Littlepage, junior," said Bunce, in a solemn voice, and
in a manner as precise as if he were making some legal tender that was
of the last importance, and which required set phrases, "I now ask you,
in a most respectful manner, if you will consent to receive this paper.
It contains certain resolutions, passed with great unanimity by the
people of Ravensnest, and which may be found to affect you. I am
directed respectfully to ask you, if you will accept this copy of the
said resolutions."
I cut the rest of the speech short by receiving the proffered paper, and
I thought all three of the worthy ambassadors looked disappointed at my
having done so. This gave a new turn to my ideas, and had they now
demanded their resolutions back again, they should not have had them, so
long as the revolvers could do their duty. For a moment, I do believe
Bunce was for trying the experiment. He and his companions would have
been delighted to have it in their power to run up and down the country
crying out that the aristocrat-landlord, young Littlepage, held the
people in contempt, and had refused even to accept the resolutions they
had deigned, in their majesty, to pass. As it was, however, I had
sufficiently rebuked the presumption of these pretenders to liberty,
avoided all the consequences of their clamor in that behalf, and had an
opportunity to gratify a curiosity to know what the leaders of the
meeting had been about, and to read their resolutions. I say, the
leaders of the meeting, for it is very certain the meetings themselves,
on all such occasions, have no more to do with the forming or
entertaining the opinions that are thus expressed, than if they had been
in Kamtschatka the whole time. Folding the paper, therefore, and putting
it in my pocket, I bowed to the committee, saying, as I descended the
stile on the other side of the fence--
"It is well, gentlemen; if the resolutions require any notice, they'll
be sure to receive it. Public meetings held of a Sunday are so unusual
in this part of the world, that this may have interest with that small
portion of the State which does not dwell at Ravensnest."
I thought the committee was a little abashed; but the stranger, or the
travelling demagogue, caught at my words, and answered as I walked away,
in company with Patt and Mary Warren--
"The better day, the better deed. The matter related to the Sabbath, and
no time so suitable as the Sabbath to act on it."
I will own I was dying of curiosity to read the resolutions, but dignity
prevented any such thing until we had reached a spot where the path led
through a copse, that concealed us from observation. Once under that
cover, however, I eagerly drew out the paper, the two girls drawing near
to listen, with as lively an interest as that I felt myself in the
result.
"Here you may see at a glance," I cried, shaking open the folds of the
paper, "the manner in which the _people_ so often pass their
resolutions! All this writing has a very school-master air, and has been
done with care and a deliberation, whereas there was certainly no
opportunity to make a copy as fair as this of anything out in the
highway where the meeting was actually held. This proves that matters
had been cut and dried for the sovereign people, who, like other
monarchs, are saved a great deal of trouble by their confidential
servants."
"I dare say," said Patt, "two or three men down at the village prepared
everything, and then brought their work up to the meeting to be read and
approved, and to go forth as public sentiment."
"If it were only honesty approved by even those who heard it read, it
would be another matter; but two-thirds of every meeting are nothing but
dough-faces, that are moulded to look whichever way the skilful manager
may choose. But let us see what these notable resolutions are; we may
like them, possibly, after having read them."
"It is so extraordinary to have a public meeting of a Sunday in this
part of the world!"
I now set about reading the contents of the paper, which, at a glance, I
saw had been very carefully prepared for publication, and no doubt would
soon figure in some of the journals. Fortunately, this business has been
so much overdone, and so many meetings are held that flatly contradict
each other, though all represent public sentiment, fire is made so
effectually to fight fire, that the whole procedure is falling into
contempt, and the public is actually losing the great advantage which,
under a more temperate use of its power, it might possess, by making
known from time to time, as serious occasions offered, its true opinions
and wishes. As things actually are, every man of intelligence is fully
aware that simulated public opinions are much the most noisy and active
in the country, and he regards nothing of the sort of which he hears or
reads, unless he happen to know something of the authority. It is the
same with the newspaper press generally; into such deep discredit has it
fallen, that not only is its power to do evil much curtailed, but it has
nearly lost all power to do good; for, by indulging in licentiousness,
and running into the habit of crying "wolf," nobody is disposed to
believe, were the beast actually committing its ravages in the flocks of
the nation. There are but two ways for a man to regain a position from
which he has departed; the one is by manfully retracing his steps, and
the other is by making a circuit so complete that all who choose to
watch him may see and understand all sides of him, and estimate him
accordingly. The last is likely to be the career of demagogueism and the
press; both of which have already gone so far as to render retreat next
to impossible, and who can only regain any portion of public confidence
by being satisfied with completing their circuit, and falling in the
rear of the nation, content to follow those whom it has been their
craving ambition to lead.
"At a meeting of the citizens of Ravensnest," I began to read aloud,
"spontaneously convened, June 22d, 1845, in the public highway, after
attending divine service in the Episcopal meeting-house, according to
the forms of the established denomination of England, on the church and
state system, Onesiphoras Hayden, Esquire, was called to the chair, and
Pulaski Todd, Esquire, was appointed secretary. After a luminous and
eloquent exposition of the objects of the meeting, and some most pungent
strictures on aristocracy and the rights of man, from Demosthenes
Hewlett and John Smith, Esquires, the following expression of public
sentiment was sustained by an undivided unanimity:--_Resolved_, That a
temperate expression of public opinion is useful to the rights of
freemen, and is one of the most precious privileges of freedom, as the
last has been transmitted to us in a free country by our ancestors, who
fought and bled for free and equal institutions on free and equal
grounds.
"_Resolved_, That we prize this privilege, and shall ever watch over its
exercise with vigilance, the price of liberty.
"_Resolved_, That, as all men are equal in the eyes of the law, so are
they much more so in the eyes of God.
"_Resolved_, That meeting-houses are places constructed for the
convenience of the people, and that nothing ought to be admitted into
them that is opposed to public sentiment, or which can possibly offend
it.
"_Resolved_, That, in our judgment, the seat that is good enough for one
man is good enough for another; that we know no differences in families
and races, and that pews ought to be constructed on the principles of
equality, as well as laws.
"_Resolved_, That canopies are royal distinctions, and quite unsuited to
republicans; and most of all, to republican meeting-houses.
"_Resolved_, That religion should be adapted to the institutions of a
country, and that a republican form of government is entitled to a
republican form of religion; and that we do not see the principles of
freedom in privileged seats in the house of God."
"That resolution has been got up as a commentary on what has been
circulated so much, of late, in the newspapers," cried Mary Warren,
quickly; "in which it has been advanced, as a recommendation of certain
sects, that their dogmas and church-government are more in harmony with
republicanism than certain others, our own Church included."
"One would think," I answered, "if this conformity be a recommendation,
that it would be the duty of men to make their institutions conform to
the Church, instead of the Church's conforming to the institutions."
"Yes; but it is not the fashion to reason in this way, nowadays.
Prejudice is just as much appealed to in matters connected with
religion, as with anything else."
"_Resolved_," I continued to read, "That in placing a canopy over his
pew, in St. Andrew's meeting-house, Ravensnest, General Cornelius
Littlepage conformed to the spirit of a past age, rather than to the
spirit of the present time, and that we regard its continuance there as
an aristocratical assumption of a superiority that is opposed to the
character of the government, offensive to liberty, and dangerous as an
example."
"Really that is too bad!" exclaimed Patt, vexed at heart, even while she
laughed at the outrageous silliness of the resolutions, and all
connected with them. "Dear, liberal-minded grandpapa, who fought and
bled for that very liberty about which these people cant so much, and
who was actively concerned in framing the very institutions that they do
not understand, and are constantly violating, is accused to being false
to what were notoriously his own principles!"
"Never mind that, my dear; there only remain three more resolutions: let
us hear them. _Resolved_, That we see an obvious connection between
crowned heads, patents of nobility, canopied pews, personal
distinctions, leasehold tenures, land-LORDS, days' works, fat fowls,
quarter-sales, three-lives leases, and RENT.
"_Resolved_, That we are of opinion that, when the owners of barns wish
them destroyed, for any purpose whatever, there is a mode less alarming
to a neighborhood than by setting them on fire, and thus giving rise to
a thousand reports and accusations that are wanting in the great merit
of truth.
"_Resolved_, That a fair draft be made of these resolutions, and a copy
of them delivered to one Hugh Roger Littlepage, a citizen of Ravensnest,
in the county of Washington; and that Peter Bunce, Esq., John Mowatt,
Esq., and Hezekiah Trott, Esq., be a commitee to see that this act be
performed.
"Whereupon the meeting adjourned, _sine die_. Onesiphoras Hayden,
chairman; Pulaski Todd, secretary."
"Whe-e-e-w!" I whistled, "here's gunpowder enough for another Waterloo!"
"What means that last resolution, Mr. Littlepage?" asked Mary Warren,
anxiously. "That about the barn."
"Sure enough; there is a latent meaning there which has its sting. Can
the scoundrels intend to insinuate that I caused that barn to be set on
fire!"
"If they should, it is scarcely more than they have attempted to do with
every landlord they have endeavored to rob," said Patt, with spirit.
"Calumny seems a natural weapon of those who get their power by
appealing to numbers."
"That is natural enough, my dear sister; since prejudice and passion are
quite as active agents as reasons and facts, in the common mind. But
this is a slander that shall be looked to. If I find that these men
really wish to circulate a report that I caused my own barn to be set on
fire--pshaw! nonsense, after all; have we not Newcome, and that other
rascal in confinement, at this moment, for attempting to set fire to my
_house_?"
"Be not too confident, Mr. Littlepage," said Mary, with an anxiety so
pointed that I could not but feel its flattery--"my dear father tells me
he has lost most of his confidence in innocence, except as One above all
weaknesses shall be the judge: this very story may be got up expressly
to throw distrust on your accusations against the two incendiaries you
have taken in the act. Remember how much of the facts will depend on
your own testimony."
"I shall have _you_ to sustain me, Miss Warren, and the juror is not
living, who would hesitate to believe that to which you will testify.
But here we are approaching the house; we will talk no more on the
subject, lest it distress my grandmother."
We found all quiet at the Nest, no report of any sort having come from
the red-men. Sunday was like any other day to them, with the exception
that they so far deferred to our habits as to respect it, to a certain
extent, while in our presence. Some writers have imagined that the
aborigines of America are of the lost tribes of Israel; but it seems to
me that such a people could never have existed apart, uninfluenced by
foreign association, and preserved no tradition, no memorial of the
Jewish Sabbath. Let this be as it may, John, who met us at the door,
which we reached just after my uncle and grandmother, reported all
quiet, so far as he knew anything of the state of the farm-buildings.
"They got enough last night, I'se thinking, Mr. Hugh, and has found out
by this time, that it's better to light a fire in one of their own
cook-stoves, than come to light it on the floor of a gentleman's
kitchen. I never heard it said, sir, that the Hamericans was as much
Hirish as they be Henglish, but to me they seems to grow every day more
like the wild Hirishers, of whom we used to hear so much in Lun'un. Your
honored father, sir, would never have believed that his own dwelling
would be entered, at night, by men who are his very neighbors, and who
act like burglariouses, as if they were so many Newgate birds--no. Why,
Mr. Hugh, this 'Squire Newcome, as they call him, is an hattorney, and
has often dined here at the Nest. I have 'anded him his soup, and fish,
and wine, fifty times, just as if he was a gentleman, and to his sister,
Miss Hopportunity, too; and they to come to set fire to the house, at
midnight!"
"You do Miss Opportunity injustice, John; for _she_ has not had the
least connection with the matter."
"Well, sir, nobody knows anything nowaday--I declare, my eyes be getting
weak, or there is the young lady, at this very instant!"
"Young lady! where?--you do not mean Opportunity Newcome, surely?"
"I does though, sir, and it's she, sure enough. If that isn't Miss
Hopportunity, the prisoner that the savages has got up in the cellar of
the old farm-house, isn't her brother."
John was quite right; there was Opportunity standing in the very path,
and at the very spot where I had last seen her disappear from my sight,
the past night. That spot was just where the path plunged into the
wooded ravine, and so far was her person concealed by the descent, that
we could only perceive the head, and the upper part of the body. The
girl had shown herself just that much, in order to attract my attention,
in which she had no sooner succeeded, than, by moving downward a few
paces, she was entirely hid from sight. Cautioning John to say nothing
of what had passed, I sprang down the steps, and walked in the direction
of the ravine, perfectly satisfied I was expected, and far from certain
that this visit did not portend further evil.
The distance was so short that I was soon at the verge of the ravine,
but when I reached it Opportunity had disappeared. Owing to the thicket,
her concealment was easily obtained, while she might be within a few
yards from me, and I plunged downward, bent only on ascertaining her
object. One gleam of distrust shot across my mind, I will own, as I
strided down the declivity; but it was soon lost in the expectation and
curiosity that were awakened by the appearance of the girl.
I believe it has already been explained, that in this part of the lawn a
deep, narrow ravine had been left in wood, and that the bridle-path that
leads to the hamlet had been carried directly through it, for effect.
This patch of wood may be three or four acres in extent, following the
course of the ravine until it reaches the meadows, and it contains three
or four rustic seats, intended to be used in the warmer months. As
Opportunity was accustomed to all the windings and turnings of the
place, she had posted herself near one of these seats, which stood in a
dense thicket, but so near the main path as to enable her to let me know
where she was to be found, by a low utterance of my name, as my tread
announced my approach. Springing up the by-path, I was at her side in an
instant. I do believe that, now she had so far succeeded, the girl sunk
upon the seat from inability to stand.
"Oh! Mr. Hugh!" she exclaimed, looking at me with a degree of nature and
concern in her countenance that it was not usual to see there--"Sen--my
poor brother Sen--what _have_ I done?--what _have_ I done?"
"Will you answer me one or two questions, Miss Opportunity, with
frankness, under the pledge that the replies never shall be used to
injure you or yours? This is a very serious affair, and should be
treated with perfect frankness."
"I will answer anything to _you_--any question you can put me, though I
might blush to do so--but," laying her hand familiarly, not to say
tenderly, on my arm--"why should we be _Mr._ Hugh and _Miss_ Opportunity
to each other, when we were so long Hugh and Op? Call me Op again, and I
shall feel that the credit of my family and the happiness of my poor Sen
are, after all, in the keeping of a true friend."
"No one can be more willing to do this than myself, my dear Op, and I am
willing to be Hugh again. But, you know all that has passed."
"I do--yes, the dreadful news has reached us, and mother wouldn't leave
me a moment's peace till I stole out again to see you."
"Again? Was your mother, then, acquainted with the visit of last night?"
"Yes, yes--she knew it all, and advised it all."
"Your mother is a most thoughtful and prudent parent," I answered,
biting my lip, "and I shall know hereafter how much I am indebted to
her. To _you_, Opportunity, I owe the preservation of my house, and
possibly the lives of all who are most dear to me."
"Well, that's something, any how. There's no grief that hasn't its
relief. But, you must know, Hugh, that I never could or did suppose that
Sen himself would be so weak as to come in his own person on such an
errand! I didn't want telling to understand that, in anti-rent times,
fire and sword are the law--but, take him in general, Sen is altogether
prudent and cautious. I'd a bit my tongue off before I'd got my own
brother into so cruel a scrape. No, no--don't think so ill of me as to
suppose I came to tell of Sen."
"It is enough for me that I know how much trouble you took to warn me of
danger. It is unnecessary for me to think of _you_ in any other light
than that of a friend."
"Ah, Hugh! how happy and merry we all of us used to be a few years
since! That was before your Miss Coldbrookes, and Miss Marstons, and
Mary Warrens ever saw the country. _Then_ we _did_ enjoy ourselves, and
I hope such times will return. If Miss Martha would only stick to old
friends, instead of running after new ones, Ravensnest would be
Ravensnest again."
"You are not to censure my sister for loving her own closest associates
best. She is several years our junior, you will remember, and was
scarcely of an age to be _our_ companion six years ago."
Opportunity had the grace to color a little, for she had only used Patt
as a cloak to make her assaults on me, and she knew as well as I did
that my sister was good seven years younger than herself. This feeling,
however, was but momentary, and she next turned to the real object of
this visit.
"What am I to tell mother, Hugh? You will let Sen off, I know?"
I reflected, for the first time, on the hardships of the case; but felt
a strong reluctance to allow incendiaries to escape.
"The facts must be known, soon, all over the town," I remarked.
"No fear of that; they are pretty much known already. News _does_ fly
_fast_ at Ravensnest, all must admit."
"Ay, if it would only fly _true_. But your brother can hardly remain
here, after such an occurrence."
"Lord! How you talk! If the law will only let him alone, who'd trouble
him for this? You haven't been home long enough to learn that folks
don't think half as much of setting fire to a house, in anti-rent times,
as they'd think of a trespass under the old-fashioned law. Anti-rent
alters the whole spirit."
How true was this! And we have lads among us, who have passed from their
tenth to their eighteenth and twentieth years, in a condition of society
that is almost hopelessly abandoned to the most corrupting influence of
all the temptations that beset human beings. It is not surprising that
men begin to regard arson as a venial offence, when the moral feeling of
the community is thus unhinged, and boys are suffered to grow into
manhood in the midst of notions so fatal to everything that is just and
safe.
"But the law itself will not be quite as complaisant as the 'folks.' It
will scarcely allow incendiaries to escape; and your brother would be
compelled to flee the land."
"What of that? How many go off, and stay off for a time; and that's
better than going up north to work at the new prison. I'm not a bit
afraid of Sen's being hanged, for these an't hanging times, in this
country; but it is _some_ disgrace to a family to have a member in the
State's prison. As for any punishment that is lasting, you can see how
it is, as well as I. There've been men murdered about anti-rentism, but,
Lord! the Senators and Assemblymen will raise such a rumpus, if you go
to punish them, that it won't be long, if things go on as they have,
before it will be thought more honorable to be put in jail for shooting
a peace-officer, than to stay out of it for not having done it. Talk's
all; and if folks have a mind to make anything honorable, they've only
to say so often enough to make it out."
Such were the notions of Miss Opportunity Newcome, on the subject of
modern morals, and how far was she from the truth? I could not but smile
at the manner in which she treated things, though there was a homely and
practical common sense in her way of thinking that was probably of more
efficiency than would have been the case with a more refined and nicer
code. She looked at things as they are, and that is always something
toward success.
As for myself, I was well enough disposed to consider Opportunity, in
this unfortunate affair of the fire, for it Would have been a cruel
thing to suffer the girl to imagine she had been an instrument in
destroying her brother. It is true, there is no great danger of a
rogue's being hanged, nowadays, and Seneca was not sufficiently a
gentleman, though very tenacious of the title, to endanger his neck. Had
he been a landlord, and caught lighting a fire on the kitchen-floor of
one of the tenants, the State would not grow hemp enough for his
execution; but it was a very different thing to catch a tenant at that
work. I could not but ask myself, how many of the "honorable gentlemen"
at Albany would interfere in _my_ behalf, had matters been reversed? for
this is the true mode of arriving at the "spirit of the institutions;"
or, rather, I have just as good a right to affirm such is their
"spirit," as any one has to assert that the leasehold tenure is opposed
to them; the laws and institutions themselves being equally antagonist
to both.
The results of the interview I had with Opportunity were: firstly, I
kept my heart just where it was at its commencement, though I am not
certain that it was in my own custody; secondly, the young lady left me
much encouraged on the subject of the credit of the Newcomes, though I
took very good care not to put myself in her power by promising to
compromise felony; thirdly, I invited the sister to come openly to the
Nest, that evening, as one of the means to be employed in attaining her
ends--as respects Seneca, be it remembered, not as respects _me_; and
lastly, we parted just as good friends as we ever had been, and
entertaining exactly the same views as regards each other. What those
views were it may not be modest in me to record.