way, living together somewhat like monks. B------, our host, combines
more high and admirable qualities, of that sort which make up a
gentleman, than any other that I have met with. Polished, yet natural,
frank, open, and straightforward, yet with a delicate feeling for the
sensitiveness of his companions; of excellent temper and warm heart; well
acquainted with the world, with a keen faculty of observation, which he
has had many opportunities of exercising, and never varying from a code
of honor and principle which is really nice and rigid in its way. There
is a sort of philosophy developing itself in him which will not
impossibly cause him to settle down in this or some other equally
singular course of life. He seems almost to have made up his mind never
to be married, which I wonder at; for he has strong affections, and is
fond both of women and children.
The little Frenchman impresses me very strongly, too,--so lonely as he is
here, struggling against the world, with bitter feelings in his breast,
and yet talking with the vivacity and gayety of his nation; making this
his home from darkness to daylight, and enjoying here what little
domestic comfort and confidence there is for him; and then going about
all the livelong day, teaching French to blockheads who sneer at him, and
returning at about ten o'clock in the evening (for I was wrong in saying
he supped here,--he eats no supper) to his solitary room and bed. Before
retiring, he goes to B------'s bedside, and, if he finds him awake,
stands talking French, expressing his dislike of the Americans, "Je hais,
je hais les Yankees!"--thus giving vent to the stifled bitterness of the
whole day. In the morning I hear him getting up early, at sunrise or
before, humming to himself, scuffling about his chamber with his thick
boots, and at last taking his departure for a solitary ramble till
breakfast. Then he comes in, cheerful and vivacious enough, eats pretty
heartily, and is off again, singing French chansons as he goes down the
gravel-walk. The poor fellow has nobody to sympathize with him but
B------, and thus a singular connection is established between two
utterly different characters.
Then here is myself, who am likewise a queer character in my way, and
have come to spend a week or two with my friend of half a lifetime,--the
longest space, probably, that we are ever destined to spend together; for
Fate seems preparing changes for both of us. My circumstances, at least,
cannot long continue as they are and have been; and B------, too, stands
between high prosperity and utter ruin.
I think I should soon become strongly attached to our way of life, so
independent and untroubled by the forms and restrictions of society. The
house is very pleasantly situated,--half a mile distant from where the
town begins to be thickly settled, and on a swell of land, with the
road running at a distance of fifty yards, and a grassy tract and a
gravel-walk between. Beyond the road rolls the Kennebec, here two or
three hundred yards wide. Putting my head out of the window, I can see
it flowing steadily along straightway between wooded banks; but arriving
nearly opposite the house, there is a large and level sand island in the
middle of the stream; and just below the island the current is further
interrupted by the works of the mill-dam, which is perhaps half finished,
yet still in so rude a state that it looks as much like the ruins of a
dam destroyed by the spring freshets as like the foundations of a dam yet
to be. Irishmen and Canadians toil at work on it, and the echoes of
their hammering and of the voices come across the river and up to this
window. Then there is a sound of the wind among the trees round the
house; and, when that is silent, the calm, full, distant voice of the
river becomes audible. Looking downward thither, I see the rush of the
current, and mark the different eddies, with here and there white specks
or streaks of foam; and often a log comes floating on, glistening in the
sun, as it rolls over among the eddies, having voyaged, for aught I know,
hundreds of miles from the wild upper sources of the river, passing down,
down, between lines of forest, and sometimes a rough clearing, till here
it floats by cultivated banks, and will soon pass by the village.
Sometimes a long raft of boards comes along, requiring the nicest skill
in navigating it through the narrow passage left by the mill-dam.
Chaises and wagons occasionally go over the road, the riders all giving a
passing glance at the dam, or perhaps alighting to examine it more fully,
and at last departing with ominous shakes of the head as to the result of
the enterprise. My position is so far retired from the river and
mill-dam, that, though the latter is really rather a scene, yet a sort of
quiet seems to be diffused over the whole. Two or three times a day this
quiet is broken by the sudden thunder from a quarry, where the workmen
are blasting rocks; and a peal of thunder sounds strangely in such a
green, sunny, and quiet landscape, with the blue sky brightening the
river.
I have not seen much of the people. There have been, however, several
incidents which amused me, though scarcely worth telling. A passionate
tavern-keeper, quick as a flash of gunpowder, a nervous man, and
showing in his demeanor, it seems, a consciousness of his infirmity of
temper. I was a witness of a scuffle of his with a drunken guest. The
tavern-keeper, after they were separated, raved like a madman, and in a
tone of voice having a drolly pathetic or lamentable sound mingled with
its rage, as if he were lifting up his voice to weep. Then he jumped
into a chaise which was standing by, whipped up the horse, and drove off
rapidly, as if to give his fury vent in that way.
On the morning of the Fourth of July, two printer's apprentice-lads,
nearly grown, dressed in jackets and very tight pantaloons of check,
tight as their skins, so that they looked like harlequins or
circus-clowns, yet appeared to think themselves in perfect propriety,
with a very calm and quiet assurance of the admiration of the town. A
common fellow, a carpenter, who, on the strength of political
partisanship, asked B------'s assistance in cutting out great letters
from play-bills in order to print "Martin Van Buren Forever" on a flag;
but B------ refused. B------ seems to be considerably of a favorite with
the lower orders, especially with the Irishmen and French Canadians,--the
latter accosting him in the street, and asking his assistance as an
interpreter in making their bargains for work.
I meant to dine at the hotel with B------ to-day; but having returned to
the house, leaving him to do some business in the village, I found myself
unwilling to move when the dinner-hour approached, and therefore dined
very well on bread, cheese, and eggs. Nothing of much interest takes
place. We live very comfortably in our bachelor establishment on a cold
shoulder of mutton, with ham and smoked beef and boiled eggs; and as to
drinkables, we had both claret and brown sherry on the dinner-table
to-day. Last evening we had along literary and philosophical
conversation with Monsieur S------. He is rather remarkably
well-informed for a man of his age, and seems to have very just notions
on ethics, etc., though damnably perverted as to religion. It is strange
to hear philosophy of any sort from such a boyish figure. "We
philosophers," he is fond of saying, to distinguish himself and his
brethren from the Christians. One of his oddities is, that, while
steadfastly maintaining an opinion that he is a very small and slow
eater, and that we, in common with other Yankees, eat immensely and fast,
he actually eats both faster and longer than we do, and devours, as
B------avers, more victuals than both of us together.
Saturday, July 8th.--Yesterday afternoon, a stroll with B------ up a
large brook, he fishing for trout, and I looking on. The brook runs
through a valley, on one side bordered by a high and precipitous bank; on
the other there is an interval, and then the bank rises upward and upward
into a high hill with gorges and ravines separating one summit from
another, and here and there are bare places, where the rain-streams have
washed away the grass. The brook is bestrewn with stones, some bare,
some partially moss-grown, and sometimes so huge as--once at least--to
occupy almost the whole breadth of the current. Amongst these the stream
brawls, only that this word does not express its good-natured voice, and
"murmur" is too quiet. It sings along, sometimes smooth, with the
pebbles visible beneath, sometimes rushing dark and swift, eddying and
whitening past some rock, or underneath the hither or the farther bank;
and at these places B------ cast his line, and sometimes drew out a
trout, small, not more than five or six inches long. The farther we went
up the brook, the wilder it grew. The opposite bank was covered with
pines and hemlocks, ascending high upwards, black and solemn. One knew
that there must be almost a precipice behind, yet we could not see it.
At the foot you could spy, a little way within the darksome shade, the
roots and branches of the trees; but soon all sight was obstructed amidst
the trunks. On the hither side, at first the bank was bare, then fringed
with alder-bushes, bending and dipping into the stream, which, farther
on, flowed through the midst of a forest of maple, beech, and other
trees, its course growing wilder and wilder as we proceeded. For a
considerable distance there was a causeway, built long ago of logs, to
drag lumber upon; it was now decayed and rotten, a red decay, sometimes
sunken down in the midst, here and there a knotty trunk stretching
across, apparently sound. The sun being now low towards the west, a
pleasant gloom and brightness were diffused through the forest, spots of
brightness scattered upon the branches, or thrown down in gold upon the
last year's leaves among the trees. At last we came to where a dam had
been built across the brook many years ago, and was now gone to ruin, so
as to make the spot look more solitary and wilder than if man had never
left vestiges of his toil there. It was a framework of logs with a
covering of plank sufficient to obstruct the onward flow of the brook;
but it found its way past the side, and came foaming and struggling along
among scattered rocks. Above the dam there was a broad and deep pool,
one side of which was bordered by a precipitous wall of rocks, as smooth
as if hewn out and squared, and piled one upon another, above which rose
the forest. On the other side there was still a gently shelving bank,
and the shore was covered with tall trees, among which I particularly
remarked a stately pine, wholly devoid of bark, rising white in aged and
majestic ruin, thrusting out its barkless arms. It must have stood there
in death many years, its own ghost. Above the dam the brook flowed
through the forest, a glistening and babbling water-path, illuminated by
the sun, which sent its rays almost straight along its course. It was as
lovely and wild and peaceful as it could possibly have been a hundred
years ago; and the traces of labors of men long departed added a deeper
peace to it. I bathed in the pool, and then pursued my way down beside
the brook, growing dark with a pleasant gloom, as the sun sank and the
water became more shadowy. B------ says that there was formerly a
tradition that the Indians used to go up this brook, and return, after a
brief absence, with large masses of lead, which they sold at the
trading-stations in Augusta; whence there has always been an idea that
there is a lead-mine hereabouts. Great toadstools were under the trees,
and some small ones as yellow and almost the size of a half-broiled yolk
of an egg. Strawberries were scattered along the brookside.
Dined at the hotel or Mansion House to-day. Men were playing checkers in
the parlor. The Marshal of Maine, a corpulent, jolly fellow, famed for
humor. A passenger left by the stage, hiring an express onward. A
bottle of champagne was quaffed at the bar.
July 9th.--Went with B------ to pay a visit to the shanties of the Irish
and Canadians. He says that they sell and exchange these small houses
among themselves continually. They may be built in three or four days,
and are valued at four or five dollars. When the turf that is piled
against the walls of some of them becomes covered with grass, it makes
quite a picturesque object. It was almost dusk--just candle-lighting
time--when we visited them. A young Frenchwoman, with a baby in her
arms, came to the door of one of them, smiling, and looking pretty and
happy. Her husband, a dark, black-haired, lively little fellow, caressed
the child, laughing and singing to it; and there was a red-bearded
Irishman, who likewise fondled the little brat. Then we could hear them
within the hut, gabbling merrily, and could see them moving about briskly
in the candlelight, through the window and open door. An old Irishwoman
sat in the door of another hut, under the influence of an extra dose of
rum,--she being an old lady of somewhat dissipated habits. She called to
B------, and began to talk to him about her resolution not to give up her
house: for it is his design to get her out of it. She is a true virago,
and, though somewhat restrained by respect for him, she evinced a sturdy
design to remain here through the winter, or at least for a considerable
time longer. He persisting, she took her stand in the doorway of the
hut, and stretched out her fist in a very Amazonian attitude. "Nobody,"
quoth she, "shall drive me out of this house, till my praties are out of
the ground." Then would she wheedle and laugh and blarney, beginning in
a rage, and ending as if she had been in jest. Meanwhile her husband
stood by very quiet, occasionally trying to still her; but it is to be
presumed, that, after our departure, they came to blows, it being a
custom with the Irish husbands and wives to settle their disputes with
blows; and it is said the woman often proves the better man. The
different families also have battles, and occasionally the Irish fight
with the Canadians. The latter, however, are much the more peaceable,
never quarrelling among themselves, and seldom with their neighbors.
They are frugal, and often go back to Canada with considerable sums of
money. B------ has gained much influence both with the Irish and the
French,--with the latter, by dint of speaking to them in their own
language. He is the umpire in their disputes, and their adviser, and
they look up to him as a protector and patron-friend. I have been struck
to see with what careful integrity and wisdom he manages matters among
them, hitherto having known him only as a free and gay young man. He
appears perfectly to understand their general character, of which he
gives no very flattering description. In these huts, less than twenty
feet square, he tells me that upwards of twenty people have sometimes
been lodged.
A description of a young lady who had formerly been insane, and now felt
the approach of a new fit of madness. She had been out to ride, had
exerted herself much, and had been very vivacious. On her return, she
sat down in a thoughtful and despondent attitude, looking very sad, but
one of the loveliest objects that ever were seen. The family spoke to
her, but she made no answer, nor took the least notice; but still sat
like a statue in her chair,--a statue of melancholy and beauty. At last
they led her away to her chamber.
We went to meeting this forenoon. I saw nothing remarkable, unless a
little girl in the next pew to us, three or four years old, who fell
asleep, with her bead in the lap of her maid, and looked very pretty: a
picture of sleeping innocence.
July 11th, Tuesday.--A drive with B------ to Hallowell, yesterday, where
we dined, and afterwards to Gardiner. The most curious object in this
latter place was the elegant new mansion of ------. It stands on the
site of his former dwelling, which was destroyed by fire.
The new building was estimated to cost about thirty thousand dollars; but
twice as much has already been expended, and a great deal more will be
required to complete it. It is certainly a splendid structure; the
material, granite from the vicinity. At the angles it has small,
circular towers; the portal is lofty and imposing. Relatively to the
general style of domestic architecture in our country, it well deserves
the name of castle or palace. Its situation, too, is fine, far retired
from the public road, and attainable by a winding carriage-drive;
standing amid fertile fields, and with large trees in the vicinity.
There is also a beautiful view from the mansion, adown the Kennebec.
Beneath some of the large trees we saw the remains of circular seats,
whereupon the family used to sit before the former house was burned down.
There was no one now in the vicinity of the place, save a man and a yoke
of oxen; and what he was about, I did not ascertain. Mr. ------ at
present resides in a small dwelling, little more than a cottage, beside
the main road, not far from the gateway which gives access to his palace.
At Gardiner, on the wharf, I witnessed the starting of the steamboat New
England for Boston. There was quite a collection of people, looking on
or taking leave of passengers,--the steam puffing,--stages arriving,
full-freighted with ladies and gentlemen. A man was one moment too late;
but running along the gunwale of a mud-scow, and jumping into a skiff, he
was put on board by a black fellow. The dark cabin, wherein, descending
from the sunshiny deck, it was difficult to discern the furniture,
looking-glasses, and mahogany wainscoting. I met two old college
acquaintances, O------, who was going to Boston, and B------ with whom we
afterwards drank a glass of wine at the hotel.
B------, Mons. S------, and myself continue to live in the same style as
heretofore. We appear mutually to be very well pleased with each other.
Mons. S------ displays many comical qualities, and manages to insure us
several hearty laughs every morning and evening,--those being the seasons
when we meet. I am going to take lessons from him in the pronunciation
of French. Of female society I see nothing. The only petticoat that
comes within our premises appertains to Nancy, the pretty, dark-eyed
maid-servant of the man who lives in the other part of the house.
On the road from Hallowell to Augusta we saw little booths, in two
places, erected on the roadside, where boys offered beer, apples, etc.,
for sale. We passed an Irishwoman with a child in her arms, and a heavy
bundle, and afterwards an Irishman with a light bundle, sitting by the
highway. They were husband and wife; and B------ says that an Irishman
and his wife, on their journeys, do not usually walk side by side, but
that the man gives the woman the heaviest burden to carry, and walks on
lightly ahead!
A thought comes into my mind: Which sort of house excites the most
contemptuous feelings in the beholder,--such a house as Mr.------'s, all
circumstances considered, or the board-built and turf-buttressed hovels
of these wild Irish, scattered about as if they had sprung up like
mushrooms, in the dells and gorges, and along the banks of the river?
Mushrooms, by the way, spring up where the roots of an old tree are
hidden under the ground.
Thursday, July 13th.--Two small Canadian boys came to our house
yesterday, with strawberries to sell. It sounds strangely to hear
children bargaining in French on the borders of Yankee-land. Among other
languages spoken hereabouts must be reckoned the wild Irish. Some of the
laborers on the mill-dam can speak nothing else. The intermixture of
foreigners sometimes gives rise to quarrels between them and the natives.
As we were going to the village yesterday afternoon, we witnessed the
beginning of a quarrel between a Canadian and a Yankee,--the latter
accusing the former of striking his oxen. B------ thrust himself between
and parted them; but they afterwards renewed their fray, and the
Canadian, I believe, thrashed the Yankee soundly,--for which he had to
pay twelve dollars. Yet he was but a little fellow.
Coming to the Mansion House about supper-time, we found somewhat of a
concourse of people, the Governor and Council being in session on the
subject of the disputed territory. The British have lately imprisoned a
man who was sent to take the census; and the Mainiacs are much excited on
the subject. They wish the Governor to order out the militia at once,
and take possession of the territory with the strong hand. There was a
British army-captain at the Mansion House; and an idea was thrown out
that it would be as well to seize upon him as a hostage. I would, for
the joke's sake, that it had been done. Personages at the tavern: the
Governor, somewhat stared after as he walked through the bar-room;
Councillors seated about, sitting on benches near the bar, or on the
stoop along the front of the house; the Adjutant-General of the State;
two young Blue-Noses, from Canada or the Provinces; a gentleman "thumbing
his hat" for liquor, or perhaps playing off the trick of the "honest
landlord" on some stranger. The decanters and wine-bottles on the move,
and the beer and soda founts pouring out continual streams, with a whiz.
Stage-drivers, etc., asked to drink with the aristocracy, and mine host
treating and being treated. Rubicund faces; breaths odorous of
brandy-and-water. Occasionally the pop of a champagne cork.
Returned home, and took a lesson in French of Mons. S------. I like him
very much, and have seldom met with a more honest, simple, and apparently
so well-principled a man; which good qualities I impute to his being, by
the father's side, of German blood. He looks more like a German--or, as
he says, like a Swiss--than a Frenchman, having very light hair and a
light complexion, and not a French expression. He is a vivacious little
fellow, and wonderfully excitable to mirth; and it is truly a sight to
see him laugh;--every feature partakes of his movement, and even his
whole body shares in it, as he rises and dances about the room. He has
great variety of conversation, commensurate with his experiences in life,
and sometimes will talk Spanish, ore rotundo,--sometimes imitate the
Catholic priests, chanting Latin songs for the dead, in deep, gruff,
awful tones, producing really a very strong impression,--then he will
break out into a light, French song, perhaps of love, perhaps of war,
acting it out, as if on the stage of a theatre: all this intermingled
with continual fun, excited by the incidents of the passing moment. He
has Frenchified all our names, calling B------ Monsieur Du Pont, myself
M. de L'Aubepine, and himself M. le Berger, and all, Knights of the
Round-Table. And we live in great harmony and brotherhood, as queer a
life as anybody leads, and as queer a set as may be found anywhere. In
his more serious intervals, he talks philosophy and deism, and preaches
obedience to the law of reason and morality; which law he says (and I
believe him) he has so well observed, that, notwithstanding his residence
in dissolute countries, he has never yet been sinful. He wishes me,
eight or nine weeks hence, to accompany him on foot to Quebec, and then
to Niagara and New York. I should like it well, if my circumstances and
other considerations would permit. What pleases much in Mons. S------ is
the simple and childlike enjoyment he finds in trifles, and the joy with
which he speaks of going back to his own country, away from the dull
Yankees, who here misunderstand and despise him. Yet I have never heard
him speak harshly of them. I rather think that B------ and I will be
remembered by him with more pleasure than anybody else in the country;
for we have sympathized with him, and treated him kindly, and like a
gentleman and an equal; and he comes to us at night as to home and
friends.