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THE SKETCHBOOK OF GEOFFREY CRAYON, GENT. ........................................................................1

WASHINGTON IRVING.......................................................................................................................1

"I have no wife nor children, good or bad, to provide for. A mere spectator of other men's fortunes and

adventures, and how they play their parts; which, methinks, are diversely presented unto me, as from a

THE following papers, with two exceptions, were written in England, and formed but part of an intended

series for which I had made notes and memorandums. Before I could mature a plan, however, circumstances

compelled me to send them piecemeal to the United States, where they were published from time to time in

portions or numbers. It was not my intention to publish them in England, being conscious that much of their

contents could be interesting only to American readers, and, in truth, being deterred by the severity with

By the time the contents of the first volume had appeared in this occasional manner, they began to find their

way across the Atlantic, and to be inserted, with many kind encomiums, in the London Literary Gazette. It

was said, also, that a London bookseller intended to publish them in a collective form. I determined,

therefore, to bring them forward myself, that they might at least have the benefit of my superintendence and

revision. I accordingly took the printed numbers which I had received from the United States, to Mr. John

Murray, the eminent publisher, from whom I had already received friendly attentions, and left them with him

for examination, informing him that should he be inclined to bring them before the public, I had materials

enough on hand for a second volume. Several days having elapsed without any communication from Mr.

Murray, I addressed a note to him, in which I construed his silence into a tacit rejection of my work, and

begged that the numbers I had left with him might be returned to me. The following was his reply:

MY DEAR SIR: I entreat you to believe that I feel truly obliged by your kind intentions towards me, and that

I entertain the most unfeigned respect for your most tasteful talents. My house is completely filled with

workpeople at this time, and I have only an office to transact business in; and yesterday I was wholly

If it would not suit me to engage in the publication of your present work, it is only because I do not see that

scope in the nature of it which would enable me to make those satisfactory accounts between us, without

which I really feel no satisfaction in engagingbut I will do all I can to promote their circulation, and shall

This was disheartening, and might have deterred me from any further prosecution of the matter, had the

question of republication in Great Britain rested entirely with me; but I apprehended the appearance of a

spurious edition. I now thought of Mr. Archibald Constable as publisher, having been treated by him with

much hospitality during a visit to Edinburgh; but first I determined to submit my work to Sir Walter (then

Mr.) Scott, being encouraged to do so by the cordial reception I had experienced from him at Abbotsford a

few years previously, and by the favorable opinion he had expressed to others of my earlier writings. I

accordingly sent him the printed numbers of the SketchBook in a parcel by coach, and at the same time

wrote to him, hinting that since I had had the pleasure of partaking of his hospitality, a reverse had taken

place in my affairs which made the successful exercise of my pen allimportant to me; I begged him,

therefore, to look over the literary articles I had forwarded to him, and, if he thought they would bear

European republication, to ascertain whether Mr. Constable would be inclined to be the publisher.

The parcel containing my work went by coach to Scott's address in Edinburgh; the letter went by mail to his

residence in the country. By the very first post I received a reply, before he had seen my work.

"I was down at Kelso," said he, "when your letter reached Abbotsford. I am now on my way to town, and will

converse with Constable, and do all in my power to forward your viewsI assure you nothing will give me

The hint, however, about a reverse of fortune had struck the quick apprehension of Scott, and, with that

practical and efficient goodwill which belonged to his nature, he had already devised a way of aiding me. A

weekly periodical, he went on to inform me, was about to be set up in Edinburgh, supported by the most

respectable talents, and amply furnished with all the necessary information. The appointment of the editor,

for which ample funds were provided, would be five hundred pounds sterling a year, with the reasonable

prospect of further advantages. This situation, being apparently at his disposal, he frankly offered to me. The

work, however, he intimated, was to have somewhat of a political bearing, and he expressed an apprehension

that the tone it was desired to adopt might not suit me. "Yet I risk the question," added he, "because I know

no man so well qualified for this important task, and perhaps because it will necessarily bring you to

Edinburgh. If my proposal does not suit, you need only keep the matter secret and there is no harm done.

'And for my love I pray you wrong me not.' If on the contrary you think it could be made to suit you, let me

In a postscript, written from Edinburgh, he adds, "I am just come here, and have glanced over the

SketchBook. It is positively beautiful, and increases my desire to crimp you, if it be possible. Some

difficulties there always are in managing such a matter, especially at the outset; but we will obviate them as

The following is from an imperfect draught of my reply, which underwent some modifications in the copy

"I cannot express how much I am gratified by your letter. I had begun to feel as if I had taken an

unwarrantable liberty; but, somehow or other, there is a genial sunshine about you that warms every creeping

thing into heart and confidence. Your literary proposal both surprises and flatters me, as it evinces a much

I then went on to explain that I found myself peculiarly unfitted for the situation offered to me, not merely by

my political opinions, but by the very constitution and habits of my mind. "My whole course of life," I

observed, "has been desultory, and I am unfitted for any periodically recurring task, or any stipulated labor of

body or mind. I have no command of my talents, such as they are, and have to watch the varyings of my mind

as I would those of a weathercock. Practice and training may bring me more into rule; but at present I am as

"I must, therefore, keep on pretty much as I have begun; writing when I can, not when I would. I shall

occasionally shift my residence and write whatever is suggested by objects before me, or whatever rises in

"I am playing the egotist, but I know no better way of answering your proposal than by showing what a very

goodfornothing kind of being I am. Should Mr. Constable feel inclined to make a bargain for the wares I

have on hand, he will encourage me to further enterprise; and it will be something like trading with a gypsy

for the fruits of his prowlings, who may at one time have nothing but a wooden bowl to offer, and at another

In reply, Scott expressed regret, but not surprise, at my declining what might have proved a troublesome duty.

He then recurred to the original subject of our correspondence; entered into a detail of the various terms upon

which arrangements were made between authors and booksellers, that I might take my choice; expressing the

most encouraging confidence of the success of my work, and of previous works which I had produced in

America. "I did no more," added he, "than open the trenches with Constable; but I am sure if you will take the

trouble to write to him, you will find him disposed to treat your overtures with every degree of attention. Or,

if you think it of consequence in the first place to see me, I shall be in London in the course of a month, and

whatever my experience can command is most heartily at your command. But I can add little to what I have

said above, except my earnest recommendation to Constable to enter into the negotiation."*

* I cannot avoid subjoining in a note a succeeding paragraph of Scott's letter, which, though it does not relate

to the main subject of our correspondence, was too characteristic to be emitted. Some time previously I had

sent Miss Sophia Scott small duodecimo American editions of her father's poems published in Edinburgh in

quarto volumes; showing the "nigromancy" of the American press, by which a quart of wine is conjured into

a pint bottle. Scott observes: "In my hurry, I have not thanked you in Sophia's name for the kind attention

which furnished her with the American volumes. I am not quite sure I can add my own, since you have made

her acquainted with much more of papa's folly than she would ever otherwise have learned; for I had taken

special care they should never see any of those things during their earlier years. I think I have told you that

Walter is sweeping the firmament with a feather like a maypole and indenting the pavement with a sword like

Before the receipt of this most obliging letter, however, I had determined to look to no leading bookseller for

a launch, but to throw my work before the public at my own risk, and let it sink or swim according to its

"I observe with pleasure that you are going to come forth in Britain. It is certainly not the very best way to

publish on one's own accompt; for the booksellers set their face against the circulation of such works as do

not pay an amazing toll to themselves. But they have lost the art of altogether damming up the road in such

cases between the author and the public, which they were once able to do as effectually as Diabolus in John

Bunyan's Holy War closed up the windows of my Lord Understanding's mansion. I am sure of one thing, that

you have only to be known to the British public to be admired by them, and I would not say so unless I really

"If you ever see a witty but rather local publication called Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, you will find

some notice of your works in the last number: the author is a friend of mine, to whom I have introduced you

in your literary capacity. His name is Lockhart, a young man of very considerable talent, and who will soon

be intimately connected with my family. My faithful friend Knickerbocker is to be next examined and

illustrated. Constable was extremely willing to enter into consideration of a treaty for your works, but I

And that will soon be the case. I trust to be in London about the middle of the month, and promise

The first volume of the SketchBook was put to press in London, as I had resolved, at my own risk, by a

bookseller unknown to fame, and without any of the usual arts by which a work is trumpeted into notice. Still

some attention had been called to it by the extracts which had previously appeared in the Literary Gazette,

and by the kind word spoken by the editor of that periodical, and it was getting into fair circulation, when my

worthy bookseller failed before the first month was over, and the sale was interrupted.

At this juncture Scott arrived in London. I called to him for help, as I was sticking in the mire, and, more

propitious than Hercules, he put his own shoulder to the wheel. Through his favorable representations,

Murray was quickly induced to undertake the future publication of the work which he had previously

declined. A further edition of the first volume was struck off and the second volume was put to press, and

from that time Murray became my publisher, conducting himself in all his dealings with that fair, open, and

liberal spirit which had obtained for him the wellmerited appellation of the Prince of Booksellers.

Thus, under the kind and cordial auspices of Sir Walter Scott, I began my literary career in Europe; and I feel

that I am but discharging, in a trifling degree, my debt of gratitude to the memory of that goldenhearted man

in acknowledging my obligations to him. But who of his literary contemporaries ever applied to him for aid

or counsel that did not experience the most prompt, generous, and effectual assistance?

Preface The Author's Account of Himself The Voyage Roscoe The Wife Rip Van Winkle English Writers on

America Rural Life in England The Broken Heart The Art of Bookmaking A Royal Poet The Country

Church The Widow and her Son A Sunday in London The Boar's Head Tavern The Mutability of Literature

Rural Funerals The Inn Kitchen The Spectre Bridegroom Westminster Abbey Christmas The StageCoach

Christmas Eve Christmas Day The Christmas Dinner London Antiques Little Britain StatfordonAvon

Traits of Indian Character Philip of Pokanoket John Bull The Pride of the Village The Angler The Legend of

I am of this mind with Homer, that as the snaile that crept out of her shel was turned eftsoones into a toad I

and thereby was forced to make a stoole to sit on; so the traveller that stragleth from his owne country is in a

short time transformed into so monstrous a shape, that he is faine to alter his mansion with his manners, and

I was always fond of visiting new scenes, and observing strange characters and manners. Even when a mere

child I began my travels, and made many tours of discovery into foreign parts and unknown regions of my

native city, to the frequent alarm of my parents, and the emolument of the town crier. As I grew into

boyhood, I extended the range of my observations. My holiday afternoons were spent in rambles about the

surrounding country. I made myself familiar with all its places famous in history or fable. I knew every spot

where a murder or robbery had been committed, or a ghost seen. I visited the neighboring villages, and added

greatly to my stock of knowledge, by noting their habits and customs, and conversing with their sages and

great men. I even journeyed one long summer's day to the summit of the most distant hill, whence I stretched

my eye over many a mile of terra incognita, and was astonished to find how vast a globe I inhabited.

This rambling propensity strengthened with my years. Books of voyages and travels became my passion, and

in devouring their contents, I neglected the regular exercises of the school. How wistfully would I wander

about the pierheads in fine weather, and watch the parting ships, bound to distant climes; with what longing

eyes would I gaze after their lessening sails, and waft myself in imagination to the ends of the earth!

Further reading and thinking, though they brought this vague inclination into more reasonable bounds, only

served to make it more decided. I visited various parts of my own country; and had I been merely a lover of

fine scenery, I should have felt little desire to seek elsewhere its gratification, for on no country had the

charms of nature been more prodigally lavished. Her mighty lakes, her oceans of liquid silver; her mountains,

with their bright aerial tints; her valleys, teeming with wild fertility; her tremendous cataracts, thundering in

their solitudes; her boundless plains, waving with spontaneous verdure; her broad, deep rivers, rolling in

solemn silence to the ocean; her trackless forests, where vegetation puts forth all its magnificence; her skies,

kindling with the magic of summer clouds and glorious sunshine;no, never need an American ok beyond

But Europe held forth all the charms of storied and poetical association. There were to be seen the

masterpieces of art, the refinements of highly cultivated society, the quaint peculiarities of ancient and local

custom. My native country was full of youthful promise; Europe was rich in the accumulated treasures of age.

Her very ruins told the history of the times gone by, and every mouldering stone was a chronicle. I longed to

wander over the scenes of renowned achievementto tread, as it were, in the footsteps of antiquityto

loiter about the ruined castleto meditate on the falling towerto escape, in short, from the commonplace

realities of the present, and lose myself among the shadowy grandeurs of the past. I had, besides all this, an

earnest desire to see the great men of the earth. We have, it is true, our great men in America: not a city but

has an ample share of them. I have mingled among them in my time, and been almost withered by the shade

into which they cast me; for there is nothing so baleful to a small man as the shade of a great one, particularly

the great man of a city. But I was anxious to see the great men of Europe; for I had read in the works of

various philosophers, that all animals degenerated in America, and man among the number. A great man of

Europe, thought I, must therefore be as superior to a great man of America, as a peak of the Alps to a

highland of the Hudson; and in this idea I was confirmed by observing the comparative importance and

swelling magnitude of many English travellers among us, who, I was assured, were very little people in their

own country. I will visit this land of wonders, thought I, and see the gigantic race from which I am

It has been either my good or evil lot to have my roving passion gratified. I have wandered through different

countries and witnessed many of the shifting scenes of life. I cannot say that I have studied them with the eye

of a philosopher, but rather with the sauntering gaze with which humble lovers of the picturesque stroll from

the window of one printshop to another; caught sometimes by the delineations of beauty, sometimes by the

distortions of caricature, and sometimes by the loveliness of landscape. As it is the fashion for modern

tourists to travel pencil in hand, and bring home their portfolios filled with sketches, I am disposed to get up a

few for the entertainment of my friends. When, however, I look over the hints and memorandums I have

taken down for the purpose, my heart almost fails me, at finding how my idle humor has led me astray from

the great object studied by every regular traveller who would make a book. I fear I shall give equal

disappointment with an unlucky landscapepainter, who had travelled on the Continent, but following the

bent of his vagrant inclination, had sketched in nooks, and corners, and byplaces. His sketchbook was

accordingly crowded with cottages, and landscapes, and obscure ruins; but he had neglected to paint St.

Peter's, or the Coliseum, the cascade of Terni, or the bay of Naples, and had not a single glacier or volcano in

To an American visiting Europe, the long voyage he has to make is an excellent preparative. The temporary

absence of worldly scenes and employments produces a state of mind peculiarly fitted to receive new and

vivid impressions. The vast space of waters that separate the hemispheres is like a blank page in existence.

There is no gradual transition by which, as in Europe, the features and population of one country blend

almost imperceptibly with those of another. From the moment you lose sight of the land you have left, all is

vacancy, until you step on the opposite shore, and are launched at once into the bustle and novelties of

In travelling by land there is a continuity of scene, and a connected succession of persons and incidents, that

carry on the story of life, and lessen the effect of absence and separation. We drag, it is true, "a lengthening

chain" at each remove of our pilgrimage; but the chain is unbroken; we can trace it back link by link; and we

feel that the last still grapples us to home. But a wide sea voyage severs us at once. It makes us conscious of

being cast loose from the secure anchorage of settled life, and sent adrift upon a doubtful world. It interposes

a gulf, not merely imaginary, but real, between us and our homesa gulf, subject to tempest, and fear, and

Such, at least, was the case with myself. As I saw the last blue lines of my native land fade away like a cloud

in the horizon, it seemed as if I had closed one volume of the world and its concerns, and had time for

meditation, before I opened another. That land, too, now vanishing from my view, which contained all most

dear to me in life; what vicissitudes might occur in itwhat changes might take place in me, before I should

visit it again! Who can tell, when he sets forth to wander, whither he may be driven by the uncertain currents

of existence; or when he may return; or whether it may be ever his lot to revisit the scenes of his childhood?

I said, that at sea all is vacancy; I should correct the impression. To one given to daydreaming, and fond of

losing himself in reveries, a sea voyage is full of subjects for meditation; but then they are the wonders of the

deep and of the air, and rather tend to abstract the mind from worldly themes. I delighted to loll over the

quarterrailing or climb to the maintop, of a calm day, and muse for hours together on the tranquil bosom of

a summer's sea; to gaze upon the piles of golden clouds just peering above the horizon, fancy them some fairy

realms, and people them with a creation of my own; to watch the gently undulating billows rolling their

There was a delicious sensation of mingled security and awe with which I looked down, from my giddy

height, on the monsters of the deep at their uncouth gambols: shoals of porpoises tumbling about the bow of

the ship; the grampus, slowly heaving his huge form above the surface; or the ravenous shark, darting, like a

spectre, through the blue waters. My imagination would conjure up all that I had heard or read of the watery

world beneath me; of the finny herds that roam its fathomless valleys; of the shapeless monsters that lurk

among the very foundations of the earth; and of those wild phantasms that swell the tales of fishermen and

Sometimes a distant sail, gliding along the edge of the ocean, would be another theme of idle speculation.

How interesting this fragment of a world, hastening to rejoin the great mass of existence! What a glorious

monument of human invention; which has in a manner triumphed over wind and wave; has brought the ends

of the world into communion; has established an interchange of blessings, pouring into the sterile regions of

the north all the luxuries of the south; has diffused the light of knowledge, and the charities of cultivated life;

and has thus bound together those scattered portions of the human race, between which nature seemed to

We one day descried some shapeless object drifting at a distance. At sea, every thing that breaks the

monotony of the surrounding expanse attracts attention. It proved to be the mast of a ship that must have been

completely wrecked; for there were the remains of handkerchiefs, by which some of the crew had fastened

themselves to this spar, to prevent their being washed off by the waves. There was no trace by which the

name of the ship could be ascertained. The wreck had evidently drifted about for many months; clusters of

shellfish had fastened about it, and long seaweeds flaunted at its sides. But where, thought I, is the crew?

Their struggle has long been overthey have gone down amidst the roar of the tempesttheir bones lie

whitening among the caverns of the deep. Silence, oblivion, like the waves, have closed over them, and no

one can tell the story of their end. What sighs have been wafted after that ship! what prayers offered up at the

deserted fireside of home! How often has the mistress, the wife, the mother, pored over the daily news, to

catch some casual intelligence of this rover of the deep! How has expectation darkened into anxietyanxiety

into dreadand dread into despair! Alas! not one memento may ever return for love to cherish. All that may

The sight of this wreck, as usual, gave rise to many dismal anecdotes. This was particularly the case in the

evening, when the weather, which had hitherto been fair, began to look wild and threatening, and gave

indications of one of those sudden storms that will sometimes break in upon the serenity of a summer voyage.

As we sat round the dull light of a lamp, in the cabin, that made the gloom more ghastly, everyone had his

tale of shipwreck and disaster. I was particularly struck with a short one related by the captain:

"As I was once sailing," said he, "in a fine, stout ship, across the banks of Newfoundland, one of those heavy

fogs that prevail in those parts rendered it impossible for us to see far ahead, even in the daytime; but at night

the weather was so thick that we could not distinguish any object at twice the length of the ship. I kept lights

at the masthead, and a constant watch forward to look out for fishing smacks, which are accustomed to

anchor on the banks. The wind was blowing a smacking breeze, and we were going at a great rate through the

water. Suddenly the watch gave the alarm of 'a sail ahead!'it was scarcely uttered before we were upon her.

She was a small schooner, at anchor, with her broadside toward us. The crew were all asleep, and had

neglected to hoist a light. We struck her just amidships. The force, the size, and weight of our vessel, bore her

down below the waves; we passed over her and were hurried on our course. As the crashing wreck was

sinking beneath us, I had a glimpse of two or three halfnaked wretches, rushing from her cabin; they just

started from their beds to be swallowed shrieking by the waves. I heard their drowning cry mingling with the

wind. The blast that bore it to our ears, swept us out of all further hearing. I shall never forget that cry! It was

some time before we could put the ship about, she was under such headway. We returned, as nearly as we

could guess, to the place where the smack had anchored. We cruised about for several hours in the dense fog.

We fired signalguns, and listened if we might hear the halloo of any survivors: but all was silentwe never

I confess these stories, for a time, put an end to all my fine fancies. The storm increased with the night. The

sea was lashed into tremendous confusion. There was a fearful, sullen sound of rushing waves and broken

surges. Deep called unto deep. At times the black volume of clouds overhead seemed rent asunder by flashes

of lightning which quivered along the foaming billows, and made the succeeding darkness doubly terrible.

The thunders bellowed over the wild waste of waters, and were echoed and prolonged by the mountain

waves. As I saw the ship staggering and plunging among these roaring caverns, it seemed miraculous that she

regained her balance, or preserved her buoyancy. Her yards would dip into the water; her bow was almost

buried beneath the waves. Sometimes an impending surge appeared ready to overwhelm her, and nothing but

When I retired to my cabin, the awful scene still followed me. The whistling of the wind through the rigging

sounded like funereal wailings. The creaking of the masts; the straining and groaning of bulkheads, as the

ship labored in the weltering sea, were frightful. As I heard the waves rushing along the side of the ship, and

roaring in my very ear, it seemed as if Death were raging around this floating prison, seeking for his prey: the

A fine day, however, with a tranquil sea and favoring breeze, soon put all these dismal reflections to flight. It

is impossible to resist the gladdening influence of fine weather and fair wind at sea. When the ship is decked

out in all her canvas, every sail swelled, and careering gayly over the curling waves, how lofty, how gallant,

I might fill a volume with the reveries of a sea voyage; for with me it is almost a continual reveriebut it is

It was a fine sunny morning when the thrilling cry of "land!" was given from the masthead. None but those

who have experienced it can form an idea of the delicious throng of sensations which rush into an American's

bosom, when he first comes in sight of Europe. There is a volume of associations with the very name. It is the

land of promise, teeming with everything of which his childhood has heard, or on which his studious years

From that time, until the moment of arrival, it was all feverish excitement. The ships of war, that prowled like

guardian giants along the coast; the headlands of Ireland, stretching out into the channel; the Welsh

mountains towering into the clouds;all were objects of intense interest. As we sailed up the Mersey, I

reconnoitred the shores with a telescope. My eye dwelt with delight on neat cottages, with their trim

shrubberies and green grassplots. I saw the mouldering ruin of an abbey overrun with ivy, and the taper

spire of a village church rising from the brow of a neighboring hill;all were characteristic of England.

The tide and wind were so favorable, that the ship was enabled to come at once to her pier. It was thronged

with people; some idle lookerson; others, eager expectants of friends or relations. I could distinguish the

merchant to whom the ship was consigned. I knew him by his calculating brow and restless air. His hands

were thrust into his pockets; he was whistling thoughtfully, and walking to and fro, a small space having been

accorded him by the crowd, in deference to his temporary importance. There were repeated cheerings and

salutations interchanged between the shore and the ship, as friends happened to recognize each other. I

particularly noticed one young woman of humble dress, but interesting demeanor. She was leaning forward

from among the crowd; her eye hurried over the ship as it neared the shore, to catch some wishedfor

countenance. She seemed disappointed and sad; when I heard a faint voice call her name.It was from a

poor sailor who had been ill all the voyage, and had excited the sympathy of every one on board. When the

weather was fine, his messmates had spread a mattress for him on deck in the shade, but of late his illness had

so increased that he had taken to his hammock, and only breathed a wish that he might see his wife before he

died. He had been helped on deck as we came up the river, and was now leaning against the shrouds, with a

countenance so wasted, so pale, so ghastly, that it was no wonder even the eye of affection did not recognize

him. But at the sound of his voice, her eye darted on his features: it read, at once, a whole volume of sorrow;

she clasped her hands, uttered a faint shriek, and stood wringing them in silent agony.

All now was hurry and bustle. The meetings of acquaintancesthe greetings of friendsthe consultations of

men of business. I alone was solitary and idle. I had no friend to meet, no cheering to receive. I stepped upon

ONE of the first places to which a stranger is taken in Liverpool is the Athenaeum. It is established on a

liberal and judicious plan; it contains a good library, and spacious readingroom, and is the great literary

resort of the place. Go there at what hour you may, you are sure to find it filled with gravelooking

As I was once visiting this haunt of the learned, my attention was attracted to a person just entering the room.

He was advanced in life, tall, and of a form that might once have been commanding, but it was a little bowed

by timeperhaps by care. He had a noble Roman style of countenance; a a head that would have pleased a

painter; and though some slight furrows on his brow showed that wasting thought had been busy there, yet

his eye beamed with the fire of a poetic soul. There was something in his whole appearance that indicated a

ROSCOE. I drew back with an involuntary feeling of veneration. This, then, was an author of celebrity; this

was one of those men whose voices have gone forth to the ends of the earth; with whose minds I have

communed even in the solitudes of America. Accustomed, as we are in our country, to know European

writers only by their works, we cannot conceive of them, as of other men, engrossed by trivial or sordid

pursuits, and jostling with the crowd of common minds in the dusty paths of life. They pass before our

imaginations like superior beings, radiant with the emanations of their genius, and surrounded by a halo of

To find, therefore, the elegant historian of the Medici mingling among the busy sons of traffic, at first

shocked my poetical ideas; but it is from the very circumstances and situation in which he has been placed,

that Mr. Roscoe derives his highest claims to admiration. It is interesting to notice how some minds seem

almost to create themselves, springing up under every disadvantage, and working their solitary but irresistible

way through a thousand obstacles. Nature seems to delight in disappointing the assiduities of art, with which

it would rear legitimate dulness to maturity; and to glory in the vigor and luxuriance of her chance

productions. She scatters the seeds of genius to the winds, and though some may perish among the stony

places of the world, and some be choked, by the thorns and brambles of early adversity, yet others will now

and then strike root even in the clefts of the rock, struggle bravely up into sunshine, and spread over their

Such has been the case with Mr. Roscoe. Born in a place apparently ungenial to the growth of literary

talentin the very marketplace of trade; without fortune, family connections, or patronage; selfprompted,

selfsustained, and almost selftaught, he has conquered every obstacle, achieved his way to eminence, and,

having become one of the ornaments of the nation, has turned the whole force of his talents and influence to

Indeed, it is this last trait in his character which has given him the greatest interest in my eyes, and induced

me particularly to point him out to my countrymen. Eminent as are his literary merits, he is but one among

the many distinguished authors of this intellectual nation. They, however, in general, live but for their own

fame, or their own pleasures. Their private history presents no lesson to the world, or, perhaps, a humiliating

one of human frailty or inconsistency. At best, they are prone to steal away from the bustle and commonplace

of busy existence; to indulge in the selfishness of lettered eas; and to revel in scenes of mental, but exclusive

Mr. Roscoe, on the contrary, has claimed none of the accorded privileges of talent. He has shut himself up in

no garden of thought, nor elysium of fancy; but has gone forth into the highways and thoroughfares of life, he

has planted bowers by the wayside, for the refreshment of the pilgrim and the sojourner, and has opened pure

fountains, where the laboring man may turn aside from the dust and heat of the day, and drink of the living

streams of knowledge. There is a "daily beauty in his life," on which mankind may meditate, and grow better.

It exhibits no lofty and almost useless, because inimitable, example of excellence; but presents a picture of

active, yet simple and imitable virtues, which are within every man's reach, but which, unfortunately, are not

But his private life is peculiarly worthy the attention of the citizens of our young and busy country, where

literature and the elegant arts must grow up side by side with the coarser plants of daily necessity; and must

depend for their culture, not on the exclusive devotion of time and wealth; nor the quickening rays of titled

patronage; but on hours and seasons snatched from the purest of worldly interests, by intelligent and

He has shown how much may be done for a place in hours of leisure by one masterspirit, and how

completely it can give its own impress to surrounding objects. Like his own Lorenzo de' Medici, on whom he

seems to have fixed his eye, as on a pure model of antiquity, he has interwoven the history of his life with the

history of his native town, and has made the foundations of his fame the monuments of his virtues. Wherever

you go, in Liverpool, you perceive traces of his footsteps in all that is elegant and liberal. He found the tide of

wealth flowing merely in the channels of traffic; he has diverted from it invigorating rills to refresh the

garden of literature. By his own example and constant exertions, he has effected that union of commerce and

the intellectual pursuits, so eloquently recommended in one of his latest writings;* and has practically proved

how beautifully they may be brought to harmonize, and to benefit each other. The noble institutions for

literary and scientific purposes, which reflect such credit on Liverpool, and are giving such an impulse to the

public mind, have mostly been originated, and have all been effectively promoted, by Mr. Roscoe; and when

we consider the rapidly increasing opulence and magnitude of that town, which promises to vie in

commercial importance with the metropolis, it will be perceived that in awakening an ambition of mental

improvement among its inhabitants, he has effected a great benefit to the cause of British literature.

In America, we know Mr. Roscoe only as the author; in Liverpool he is spoken of as the banker; and I was

told of his having been unfortunate in business. I could not pity him, as I heard some rich men do. I

considered him far above the reach of pity. Those who live only for the world, and in the world, may be cast

down by the frowns of adversity; but a man like Roscoe is not to be overcome by the reverses of fortune.

They do but drive him in upon the resources of his own mind, to the superior society of his own thoughts;

which the best of men are apt sometimes to neglect, and to roam abroad in search of less worthy associates.

He is independent of the world around him. He lives with antiquity, and with posterity: with antiquity, in the

sweet communion of studious retirement; and with posterity, in the generous aspirings after future renown.

The solitude of such a mind is its state of highest enjoyment. It is then visited by those elevated meditations

which are the proper aliment of noble souls, and are, like manna, sent from heaven, in the wilderness of this

While my feelings were yet alive on the subject, it was my fortune to light on further traces of Mr. Roscoe. I

was riding out with a gentleman, to view the environs of Liverpool, when he turned off, through a gate, into

some ornamented grounds. After riding a short distance, we came to a spacious mansion of freestone, built in

the Grecian style. It was not in the purest style, yet it had an air of elegance, and the situation was delightful.

A fine lawn sloped away from it, studded with clumps of trees, so disposed as to break a soft fertile country

into a variety of landscapes. The Mersey was seen winding a broad quiet sheet of water through an expanse

of green meadow land, while the Welsh mountains, blended with clouds, and melting into distance, bordered

This was Roscoe's favorite residence during the days of his prosperity. It had been the seat of elegant

hospitality and literary retirement. The house was now silent and deserted. I saw the windows of the study,

which looked out upon the soft scenery I have mentioned. The windows were closedthe library was gone.

Two or three illfavored beings were loitering about the place, whom my fancy pictured into retainers of the

law. It was like visiting some classic fountain, that had once welled its pure waters in a sacred shade, but

finding it dry and dusty, with the lizard and the toad brooding over the shattered marbles.

I inquired after the fate of Mr. Roscoe's library, which had consisted of scarce and foreign books, from many

of which he had drawn the materials for his Italian histories. It had passed under the hammer of the

auctioneer, and was dispersed about the country. The good people of the vicinity thronged liked wreckers to

get some part of the noble vessel that had been driven on shore. Did such a scene admit of ludicrous

associations, we might imagine something whimsical in this strange irruption in the regions of learning.

Pigmies rummaging the armory of a giant, and contending for the possession of weapons which they could

not wield. We might picture to ourselves some knot of speculators, debating with calculating brow over the

quaint binding and illuminated margin of an obsolete author; of the air of intense, but baffled sagacity, with

which some successful purchaser attempted to dive into the blackletter bargain he had secured.

It is a beautiful incident in the story of Mr. Roscoe's misfortunes, and one which cannot fail to interest the

studious mind, that the parting with his books seems to have touched upon his tenderest feelings, and to have

been the only circumstance that could provoke the notice of his muse. The scholar only knows how dear these

silent, yet eloquent, companions of pure thoughts and innocent hours become in the season of adversity.

When all that is worldly turns to dross around us, these only retain their steady value. When friends grow

cold, and the converse of intimates languishes into vapid civility and commonplace, these only continue the

unaltered countenance of happier days, and cheer us with that true friendship which never deceived hope, nor

I do not wish to censure; but, surely, if the people of Liverpool had been properly sensible of what was due to

Mr. Roscoe and themselves, his library would never have been sold. Good worldly reasons may, doubtless,

be given for the circumstance, which it would be difficult to combat with others that might seem merely

fanciful; but it certainly appears to me such an opportunity as seldom occurs, of cheering a noble mind

struggling under misfortunes by one of the most delicate, but most expressive tokens of public sympathy. It is

difficult, however, to estimate a man of genius properly who is daily before our eyes. He becomes mingled

and confounded with other men. His great qualities lose their novelty; we become too familiar with the

common materials which form the basis even of the loftiest character. Some of Mr. Roscoe's townsmen may

regard him merely as a man of business; others, as a politician; all find him engaged like themselves in

ordinary occupations, and surpassed, perhaps, by themselves on some points of worldly wisdom. Even that

amiable and unostentatious simplicity of character, which gives the nameless grace to real excellence, may

cause him to be undervalued by some coarse minds, who do not know that true worth is always void of glare

and pretension. But the man of letters, who speaks of Liverpool, speaks of it as the residence of

Roscoe.The intelligent traveller who visits it inquires where Roscoe is to be seen. He is the literary

landmark of the place, indicating its existence to the distant scholar.He is like Pompey's column at

The following sonnet, addressed by Mr. Roscoe to his books, on parting with them, has already been alluded

to. If anything can add effect to the pure feeling and elevated thought here displayed, it is the conviction, that

the who leis no effusion of fancy, but a faithful transcript from the writer's heart.

As one who, destined from his friends to part, Regrets his loss, but hopes again erewhile To share their

Thus, loved associates, chiefs of elder art, Teachers of wisdom, who could once beguile My tedious hours,

For pass a few short years, or days, or hours, And happier seasons may their dawn unfold, And all your

sacred fellowship restore: When, freed from earth, unlimited its powers. Mind shall with mind direct

I HAVE often had occasion to remark the fortitude with which women sustain the most overwhelming

reverses of fortune. Those disasters which break down the spirit of a man, and prostrate him in the dust, seem

to call forth all the energies of the softer sex, and give such intrepidity and elevation to their character, that at

times it approaches to sublimity. Nothing can be more touching, than to behold a soft and tender female, who

had been all weakness and dependence, and alive to every trivial roughness, while threading the prosperous

paths of life, suddenly rising in mental force to be the comforter and support of her husband under

misfortune, and abiding with unshrinking firmness the bitterest blasts of adversity.

As the vine, which has long twined its graceful foliage about the oak, and been and been lifted by it into

sunshine, will, when the hardy plant is rifted by the thunderbolt, cling round it with its caressing tendrils, and

bind up its shattered boughs, so is it beautifully ordered by Providence, that woman, who is the mere

dependent and ornament of man in his happier hours, should be his stay and solace when smitten with sudden

calamity; winding herself into the rugged recesses of his nature, tenderly supporting the drooping head, and

I was once congratulating a friend, who had around him a blooming family, knit together in the strongest

affection. "I can wish you no better lot," said he, with enthusiasm, "than to have a wife and children. If you

are prosperous, there they are to share your prosperity; if otherwise, there they are to comfort you." And,

indeed, I have observed that a married man falling into misfortune, is more apt to retrieve his situation in the

world than a single one; partly, because he is more stimulated to exertion by the necessities of the helpless

and beloved beings who depend upon him for subsistence, but chiefly because his spirits are soothed and

relieved by domestic endearments, and his selfrespect kept alive by finding, that, though all abroad is

darkness and humiliation, yet there is still a little world of love at home, of which he is the monarch.

Whereas, a single man is apt to run to waste and selfneglect; to fancy himself lonely and abandoned, and his

These observations call to mind a little domestic story, of which I was once a witness. My intimate friend,

Leslie, had married a beautiful and accomplished girl, who had been brought up in the midst of fashionable

life. She had, it is true, no fortune, but that of my friend was ample; and he delighted in the anticipation of

indulging her in every elegant pursuit, and administering to those delicate tastes and fancies that spread a

kind of witchery about the sex."Her life," said he, "shall be like a fairy tale."

The very difference in their characters produced a harmonious combination; he was of a romantic, and

somewhat serious cast; she was all life and gladness. I have often noticed the mute rapture with which he

would gaze upon her in company, of which her sprightly powers made her the delight: and how, in the midst

of applause, her eye would still turn to him, as if there alone she sought favor and acceptance. When leaning

on his arm, her slender form contrasted finely with his tall, manly person. The fond, confiding air with which

she looked up to him seemed to call forth a flush of triumphant pride and cherishing tenderness, as if he

doated on his lovely burden from its very helplessness. Never did a couple set forward on the flowery path of

It was the misfortune of my friend, however, to have embarked his property in large speculations; and he had

not been married many months, when, by a succession of sudden disasters, it was swept from him, and he

found himself reduced to almost penury. For a time he kept his situation to himself, and went about with a

haggard countenance, and a breaking heart. His life was but a protracted agony; and what rendered it more

insupportable was the necessity of keeping up a smile in the presence of his wife; for he could not bring

himself to overwhelm her with the news. She saw, however, with the quick eyes of affection, that all was not

well with him. She marked his altered looks and stifled sighs, and was not to be deceived by his sickly and

vapid attempts at cheerfulness. She tasked all her sprightly powers and tender blandishments to win him back

to happiness; but she only drove the arrow deeper into his soul. The more he saw cause to love her, the more

torturing was the thought that he was soon to make her wretched. A little while, thought he, and the smile

will vanish from that cheekthe song will die away from those lipsthe lustre of those eyes will be

quenched with sorrow and the happy heart which now beats lightly in that bosom, will be weighed down, like

At length he came to me one day, and related his whole situation in a tone of the deepest despair. When I had

heard him through, I inquired: "Does your wife know all this?"At the question he burst into an agony of

tears. "For God's sake!" cried he, "if you have any pity on me don't mention my wife; it is the thought of her

"And why not?" said I. "She must know it sooner or later: you cannot keep it long from her, and the

intelligence may break upon her in a more startling manner than if imparted by yourself; for the accents of

those we love soften the harshest tidings. Besides, you are depriving yourself of the comforts of her

sympathy; and not merely that, but also endangering the only bond that can keep hearts togetheran

unreserved community of thought and feeling. She will soon perceive that something is secretly preying upon

your mind; and true love will not brook reserve; it feels undervalued and outraged, when even the sorrows of

"Oh, but my friend! to think what a blow I am to give to all her future prospects,how I am to strike her

very soul to the earth, by telling her that her husband is a beggar! that she is to forego all the elegancies of

lifeall the pleasures of societyto shrink with me into indigence and obscurity! To tell her that I have

dragged her down from the sphere in which she might have continued to move in constant brightnessthe

light of every eyethe admiration of every heart!How can she bear poverty? She has been brought up in

all the refinements of opulence. How can she bear neglect? She has been the idol of society. Oh, it will break

I saw his grief was eloquent, and I let it have its flow; for sorrow relieves itself by words. When his paroxysm

had subsided, and he had relapsed into moody silence, I resumed the subject gently, and urged him to break

his situation at once to his wife. He shook his head mournfully, but positively.

"But how are you to keep it from her? It is necessary she should know it, that you may take the steps proper

to the alteration of your circumstances. You must change your style of livingnay," observing a pang to

pass across his countenance, "don't let that afflict you. I am sure you have never placed your happiness in

outward showyou have yet friends, warm friends, who will not think the worse of you for being less

splendidly lodged: and surely it does not require a palace to be happy with Mary"

"I could be happy with her," cried he, convulsively, "in a hovel!I could go down with her into poverty and

the dust!I couldI couldGod bless her!God bless her!" cried he, bursting into a transport of grief

and tenderness. "And believe me, my friend," said I, stepping up, and grasping him warmly by the hand,

"believe me, she can be the same with you. Ay, more; it will be a source of pride and triumph to herit will

call forth all the latent energies and fervent sympathies of her nature; for she will rejoice to prove that she

loves you for yourself. There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in

the broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up, and beams, and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.

No man knows what the wife of his bosom isno man knows what a ministering angel she isuntil he has

There was something in the earnestness of my manner, and the figurative style of my language, that caught

the excited imagination of Leslie. I knew the auditor I had to deal with; and following up the impression I had

made, I finished by persuading him to go home and unburden his sad heart to his wife.

I must confess, notwithstanding all I had said, I felt some little solicitude for the result. Who can calculate on

the fortitude of one whose life has been a round of pleasures? Her gay spirits might revolt at the dark,

downward path of low humility suddenly pointed out before her, and might cling to the sunny regions in

which they had hitherto revelled. Besides, ruin in fashionable life is accompanied by so many galling

mortifications, to which, in other ranks, it is a stranger. In short, I could not meet Leslie, the next morning,

"Like an angel! It seemed rather to be a relief to her mind, for she threw her arms around my neck, and asked

if this was all that had lately made me unhappy.But, poor girl," added he, "she cannot realize the change

we must undergo. She has no idea of poverty but in the abstract; she has only read of it in poetry, where it is

allied to love. She feels as yet no privation; she suffers no loss of accustomed conveniences nor elegancies.

When we come practically to experience its sordid cares, its paltry wants, its petty humiliationsthen will be

"But," said I, "now that you have got over the severest task, that of breaking it to her, the sooner you let the

world into the secret the better. The disclosure may be mortifying; but then it is a single misery, and soon

over: whereas you otherwise suffer it, in anticipation, every hour in the day. It is not poverty, so much as

pretence, that harasses a ruined manthe struggle between a proud mind and an empty pursethe keeping up

a hollow show that must soon come to an end. Have the courage to appear poor, and you disarm poverty of its

sharpest sting." On this point I found Leslie perfectly prepared. He had no false pride himself, and as to his

Some days afterwards, he called upon me in the evening. He had disposed of his dwellinghouse, and taken a

small cottage in the country, a few miles from town. He had been busied all day in sending out furniture. The

new establishment required few articles, and those of the simplest kind. All the splendid furniture of his late

residence had been sold, excepting his wife's harp. That, he said, was too closely associated with the idea of

herself it belonged to the little story of their loves; for some of the sweetest moments of their courtship were

those when he had leaned over that instrument, and listened to the melting tones of her voice.I could not

He was now going out to the cottage, where his wife had been all day superintending its arrangement. My

feelings had become strongly interested in the progress of his family story, and, as it was a fine evening, I

He was wearied with the fatigues of the day, and, as we walked out, fell into a fit of gloomy musing.

"What," said he, darting an impatient glance, is it nothing to be reduced to this paltry situationto be caged

in a miserable cottageto be obliged to toil almost in the menial concerns of her wretched habitation?"

"Repined! she has been nothing but sweetness and goodhumor. Indeed, she seems in better spirits than I

"Admirable girl!" exclaimed I. "You call yourself poor, my friend; you never were so rich,you never knew

"Oh! but, my friend, if this first meeting at the cottage were over, I think I could then be comfortable. But this

is her first day of real experience; she has been introduced into a humble dwelling,she has been employed

all day in arranging its miserable equipments,she has, for the first time, known the fatigues of domestic

employment,she has, for the first time, looked around her on a home destitute of every thing

elegantalmost of every thing convenient; and may now be sitting down, exhausted and spiritless, brooding

There was a degree of probability in this picture that I could not gainsay, so we walked on in silence.

After turning from the main road up a narrow lane, so thickly shaded with foresttrees as to give it a

complete air of seclusion, we came in sight of the cottage. It was humble enough in its appearance for the

most pastoral poet; and yet it had a pleasing rural look. A wild vine had overrun one end with a profusion of

foliage; a few trees threw their branches gracefully over it; and I observed several pots of flowers tastefully

disposed about the door, and on the grassplot in front. A small wicketgate opened upon a footpath that

wound through some shrubbery to the door. Just as we approached, we heard the sound of musicLeslie

grasped my arm; we paused and listened. It was Mary's voice singing, in a style of the most touching

I felt Leslie's hand tremble on my arm. He stepped forward, to hear more distinctly. His step made a noise on

the gravelwalk. A bright beautiful face glanced out at the window, and vanisheda light footstepwas

heardand Mary came tripping forth to meet us. She was in a pretty rural dress of white; a few wild flowers

were twisted in her fine hair; a fresh bloom was on her cheek; her whole countenance beamed with smilesI

"My dear George," cried she, "I am so glad you are come; I have been watching and watching for you; and

running down the lane, and looking out for you. I've set out a table under a beautiful tree behind the cottage;

and I've been gathering some of the most delicious strawberries, for I know you are fond of themand we

have such excellent creamand everything is so sweet and still hereOh!"said she, putting her arm within

Poor Leslie was overcome.He caught her to his bosomhe folded his arms round herhe kissed her

again and againhe could not speak, but the tears gushed into his eyes; and he has often assured me, that

though the world has since gone prosperously with him, and his life has, indeed, been a happy one, yet never

[The following Tale was found among the papers of the late Diedrich Knickerbocker, an old gentleman of

New York, who was very curious in the Dutch History of the province and the manners of the descendants

from its primitive settlers. His historical researches, however, did not lie so much among books as among

men; for the former are lamentably scanty on his favorite topics; whereas he found the old burghers, and still

more, their wives, rich in that legendary lore, so invaluable to true history. Whenever, therefore, he happened

upon a genuine Dutch family, snugly shut up in its lowroofed farmhouse, under a spreading sycamore, he

looked upon it as a little clasped volume of blackletter, and studied it with the zeal of a bookworm.

The result of all these researches was a history of the province, during the reign of the Dutch governors,

which he published some years since. There have been various opinions as to the literary character of his

work, and, to tell the truth, it is not a whit better than it should be. Its chief merit is its scrupulous accuracy,

which indeed was a little questioned on its first appearance, but has since been completely established; and it

is now admitted into all historical collections, as a book of unquestionable authority.

The old gentleman died shortly after the publication of his work; and now that he is dead and gone, it cannot

do much harm to his memory to say that his time might have been much better employed in weightier labors.

He, however, was apt to ride his hobby his own way; and though it did now and then kick up the dust a little

in the eyes of his neighbors, and grieve the spirit of some friends, for whom he felt the truest deference and

affection, yet his errors and follies are remembered "more in sorrow than in anger," and it begins to be

suspected, that he never intended to injure or offend. But however his memory may be appreciated by critics,

it is still held dear among many folks, whose good opinion is well worth having; particularly by certain

biscuitbakers, who have gone so far as to imprint his likeness on their newyear cakes, and have thus given

him a chance for immortality, almost equal to the being stamped on a Waterloo medal, or a Queen Anne's

WHOEVER has made a voyage up the Hudson must remember the Kaatskill mountains. They are a

dismembered branch of the great Appalachian family, and are seen away to the west of the river, swelling up

to a noble height, and lording it over the surrounding country. Every change of season, every change of

weather, indeed, every hour of the day produces some change in the magical hues and shapes of these

mountains; and they are regarded by all the good wives, far and near, as perfect barometers. When the

weather is fair and settled, they are clothed in blue and purple, and print their bold outlines on the clear

evening sky; but sometimes, when the rest of the landscape is cloudless, they will gather a hood of gray

vapors about their summits, which, in the last rays of the setting sun, will glow and light up like a crown of

At the foot of these fairy mountains, the voyager may have descried the light smoke curling up from a

Village, whose shingle roofs gleam among the trees, just where the blue tints of the upland melt away into the

fresh green of the nearer landscape. It is a little village of great antiquity, having been founded by some of the

Dutch colonists, in the early times of the province, just about the beginning of the government of the good

Peter Stuyvesant (may he rest in peace!), and there were some of the houses of the original settlers standing

within a few years, built of small yellow bricks, brought from Holland, having latticed windows and gable

In that same village, and in one of these very houses (which, to tell the precise truth, was sadly timeworn

and weatherbeaten), there lived, many years since, while the country was yet a province of Great Britain, a

simple, goodnatured fellow, of the name of Rip Van Winkle. He was a descendant of the Van Winkles who

figured so gallantly in the chivalrous days of Peter Stuyvesant, and accompanied him to the siege of Fort

Christina. He inherited, however, but little of the martial character of his ancestors. I have observed that he

was a simple, goodnatured man; he was, moreover, a kind neighbor, and an obedient henpecked husband.

Indeed, to the latter circumstance might be owing that meekness of spirit which gained him such universal

popularity; for those men are apt to be obsequious and conciliating abroad, who are under the discipline of

shrews at home. Their tempers, doubtless, are rendered pliant and malleable in the fiery furnace of domestic

tribulation, and a curtainlecture is worth all the sermons in the world for teaching the virtues of patience and

longsuffering. A termagant wife may, therefore, in some respects, be considered a tolerable blessing, and if

Certain it is, that he was a great favorite among all the good wives of the village, who, as usual with the

amiable sex, took his part in all family squabbles, and never failed, whenever they talked those matters over

in their evening gossipings, to lay all the blame on Dame Van Winkle. The children of the village, too, would

shout with joy whenever he approached. He assisted at their sports, made their playthings, taught them to fly

kites and shoot marbles, and told them long stories of ghosts, witches, and Indians. Whenever he went

dodging about the village, he was surrounded by a troop of them hanging on his skirts, clambering on his

back, and playing a thousand tricks on him with impunity; and not a dog would bark at him throughout the

The great error in Rip's composition was an insuperable aversion to all kinds of profitable labor. It could not

be for want of assiduity or perseverance; for he would sit on a wet rock, with a rod as long and heavy as a

Tartar's lance, and fish all day without a murmur, even though he should not be encouraged by a single

nibble. He would carry a fowlingpiece on his shoulder, for hours together, trudging through woods and

swamps, and up hill and down dale, to shoot a few squirrels or wild pigeons. He would never refuse to assist

a neighbor even in the roughest toil, and was a foremost man in all country frolics for husking Indian corn, or

building stone fences; the women of the village, too, used to employ him to run their errands, and to do such

little odd jobs as their less obliging husbands would not do for them. In a word, Rip was ready to attend to

anybody's business but his own; but as to doing family duty, and keeping his farm in order, he found it

In fact, he declared it was of no use to work on his farm; it was the most pestilent little piece of ground in the

whole country; everything about it went wrong, in spite of him. His fences were continually falling to pieces;

his cow would either go astray, or get among the cabbages; weeds were sure to grow quicker in his fields than

anywhere else; the rain always made a point of setting in just as he had some outdoor work to do; so that

though his patrimonial estate had dwindled away under his management, acre by acre, until there was little

more left than a mere patch of Indian corn and potatoes, yet it was the worstconditioned farm in the

His children, too, were as ragged and wild as if they belonged to nobody. His son Rip, an urchin begotten in

his own likeness, promised to inherit the habits, with the old clothes, of his father. He was generally seen

trooping like a colt at his mother's heels, equipped in a pair of his father's castoff galligaskins, which he had

much ado to hold up with one hand, as a fine lady does her train in bad weather.

Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, welloiled dispositions, who take the

world easy, eat white bread or brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would rather

starve on a penny than work for a pound. If left to himself, he would have whistled life away, in perfect

contentment; but his wife kept continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness, and the ruin

he was bringing on his family. Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was incessantly going, and every thing

he said or did was sure to produce a torrent of household eloquence. Rip had but one way of replying to all

lectures of the kind, and that, by frequent use, had grown into a habit. He shrugged his shoulders, shook his

head, cast up his eyes, but said nothing. This, however, always provoked a fresh volley from his wife, so that

he was fain to draw off his forces, and take to the outside of the housethe only side which, in truth, belongs

Rip's sole domestic adherent was his dog Wolf, who was as much henpecked as his master; for Dame Van

Winkle regarded them as companions in idleness, and even looked upon Wolf with an evil eye, as the cause

of his master's going so often astray. True it is, in all points of spirit befitting in honorable dog, he was as

courageous an animal as ever scoured the woodsbut what courage can withstand the evildoing and

allbesetting terrors of a woman's tongue? The moment Wolf entered the house, his crest fell, his tail drooped

to the ground, or curled between his legs, he sneaked about with a gallows air, casting many a sidelong

glance at Dame Van Winkle, and at the least flourish of a broomstick or ladle, he would fly to the door with

Times grew worse and worse with Rip Van Winkle as years of matrimony rolled on; a tart temper never

mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use. For a long

while he used to console himself, when driven from home, by frequenting a kind of perpetual club of the

sages, philosophers, and other idle personages of the village, which held its sessions on a bench before a

small inn, designated by a rubicund portrait of his Majesty George the Third. Here they used to sit in the

shade through a long, lazy summer's day, talking listlessly over village gossip, or telling endless, sleepy

stories about nothing. But it would have been worth any statesman's money to have heard the profound

discussions which sometimes took place, when by chance an old newspaper fell into their hands from some

passing traveller. How solemnly they would listen to the contents, as drawled out by Derrick Van Bummel,

the schoolmaster, a dapper learned little man, who was not to be daunted by the most gigantic word in the

dictionary; and how sagely they would deliberate upon public events some months after they had taken place.

The opinions of this junto were completely controlled by Nicholas Vedder, a patriarch of the village, and

landlord of the inn, at the door of which he took his seat from morning till night, just moving sufficiently to

avoid the sun, and keep in the shade of a large tree; so that the neighbors could tell the hour by his

movements as accurately as by a sundial. It is true, he was rarely heard to speak, but smoked his pipe

incessantly. His adherents, however (for every great man has his adherents), perfectly understood him, and

knew how to gather his opinions. When any thing that was read or related displeased him, he was observed to

smoke his pipe vehemently, and to send forth, frequent, and angry puffs; but when pleased, he would inhale

the smoke slowly and tranquilly, and emit it in light and placid clouds, and sometimes, taking the pipe from

his mouth, and letting the fragrant vapor curl about his nose, would gravely nod his head in token of perfect

From even this stronghold the unlucky Rip was at length routed by his termagant wife, who would suddenly

break in upon the tranquillity of the assemblage, and call the members all to nought; nor was that august

personage, Nicholas Vedder himself, sacred from the daring tongue of this terrible virago, who charged him

Poor Rip was at last reduced almost to despair; and his only alternative, to escape from the labor of the farm

and the clamor of his wife, was to take gun in hand, and stroll away into the woods. Here he would

sometimes seat himself at the foot of a tree, and share the contents of his wallet with Wolf, with whom he

sympathized as a fellowsufferer in persecution. "Poor Wolf," he would say, "thy mistress leads thee a dog's

life of it; but never mind, my lad, whilst I live thou shalt never want a friend to stand by thee!" Wolf would

wag his tail, look wistfully in his master's face, and if dogs can feel pity, I verily believe he reciprocated the

In a long ramble of the kind, on a fine autumnal day, Rip had unconsciously scrambled to one of the highest

parts of the Kaatskill mountains. He was after his favorite sport of squirrelshooting, and the still solitudes

had echoed and reechoed with the reports of his gun. Panting and fatigued, he threw himself, late in the

afternoon, on a green knoll, covered with mountain herbage, that crowned the brow of a precipice. From an

opening between the trees, he could overlook all the lower country for many a mile of rich woodland. He saw

at a distance the lordly Hudson, far, far below him, moving on its silent but majestic course, with the

reflection of a purple cloud, or the sail of a lagging bark, here and there sleeping on its glassy bosom and at

On the other side he looked down into a deep mountain glen, wild, lonely, and shagged, the bottom filled

with fragments from the impending cliffs, and scarcely lighted by the reflected rays of the setting sun. For

some time Rip lay musing on this scene; evening was gradually advancing; the mountains began to throw

their long blue shadows over the valleys; he saw that it would be dark long before he could reach the village;

and he heaved a heavy sigh when he thought of encountering the terrors of Dame Van Winkle.

As he was about to descend, he heard a voice from a distance hallooing: "Rip Van Winkle! Rip Van Winkle!"

He looked around, but could see nothing but a crow winging its solitary flight across the mountain. He

thought his fancy must have deceived him, and turned again to descend, when he heard the same cry ring

through the still evening air, "Rip Van Winkle! Rip Van Winkle!"at the same time Wolf bristled up his

back, and giving a low growl, skulked to his master's side, looking fearfully down into the glen. Rip now felt

a vague apprehension stealing over him; he looked anxiously in the same direction, and perceived a strange

figure slowly toiling up the rocks, and bending under the weight of something he carried on his back. He was

surprised to see any human being in this lonely and unfrequented place, but supposing it to be some one of

On nearer approach, he was still more surprised at the singularity of the stranger's appearance. He was a

short, squarebuilt old fellow, with thick bushy hair, and a grizzled beard. His dress was of the antique Dutch

fashiona cloth jerkin strapped round the waistseveral pairs of breeches, the outer one of ample volume,

decorated with rows of buttons down the sides, and bunches at the knees. He bore on his shoulders a stout

keg, that seemed full of liquor, and made signs for Rip to approach and assist him with the load. Though

rather shy and distrustful of this new acquaintance, Rip complied with his usual alacrity; and mutually

relieving each other, they clambered up a narrow gully, apparently the dry bed of a mountain torrent. As they

ascended, Rip every now and then heard long rolling peals, like distant thunder, that seemed to issue out of a

deep ravine, or rather cleft between lofty rocks, toward which their rugged path conducted. He paused for an

instant, but supposing it to be the muttering of one of those transient thundershowers which often take place

in the mountain heights, he proceeded. Passing through the ravine, they came to a hollow, like a small

amphitheatre, surrounded by perpendicular precipices, over the brinks of which impending trees shot their

branches, so that you only caught glimpses of the azure sky, and the bright evening cloud. During the whole

time Rip and his companion had labored on in silence; for though the former marvelled greatly what could be

the object of carrying a keg of liquor up this wild mountain, yet there was something strange and

On entering the amphitheatre, new objects of wonder presented themselves. On a level spot in the centre was

a company of oddlooking personages playing at ninepins. They were dressed in quaint outlandish fashion;

some wore short doublets, others jerkins, with long knives in their belts, and most of them had enormous

breeches, of similar style with that of the guide's. Their visages, too, were peculiar; one had a large head,

broad face, and small piggish eyes; the face of another seemed to consist entirely of nose, and was

surmounted by a white sugarloaf hat, set off with a little red cock's tail. They all had beards, of various

shapes and colors. There was one who seemed to be the commander. He was a stout old gentleman, with a

weatherbeaten countenance; he wore a laced doublet, broad belt and hanger, highcrowned hat and feather,

red stockings, and highheeled shoes, with roses in them. The whole group reminded Rip of the figures in an

old Flemish painting, in the parlor of Dominie Van Schaick, the village parson, and which had been brought

What seemed particularly odd to Rip was, that though these folks were evidently amusing themselves, yet

they maintained the gravest faces, the most mysterious silence, and were, withal, the most melancholy party

of pleasure he had ever witnessed. Nothing interrupted the stillness of the scene but the noise of the balls,

which, whenever they were rolled, echoed along the mountains like rumbling peals of thunder.

As Rip and his companion approached them, they suddenly desisted from their play, and stared at him with

such a fixed statuelike gaze, and such strange uncouth, lacklustre countenances, that his heart turned

within him, and his knees smote together. His companion now emptied the contents of the keg into large

flagons, and made signs to him to wait upon the company. He obeyed with fear and trembling; they quaffed

By degrees, Rip's awe and apprehension subsided. He even ventured, when no eye was fixed upon him, to

taste the beverage which he found had much of the flavor of excellent Hollands. He was naturally a thirsty

soul, and was soon tempted to repeat the draught. One taste provoked another; and he reiterated his visits to

the flagon so often, that at length his senses were overpowered, his eyes swam in his head, his head gradually

On waking, he found himself on the green knoll whence he had first seen the old man of the glen. He rubbed

his eyesit was a bright sunny morning. The birds were hopping and twittering among the bushes, and the

eagle was wheeling aloft, and breasting the pure mountain breeze. "Surely," thought Rip, "I have not slept

here all night." He recalled the occurrences before he fell asleep. The strange man with the keg of

liquorthe mountain ravinethe wild retreat among the rocksthe woebegone party at ninepinsthe

flagon"Oh! that flagon! that wicked flagon!" thought Rip"what excuse shall I make to Dame Van

He looked round for his gun, but in place of the clean welloiled fowlingpiece, he found an old firelock

lying by him, the barrel encrusted with rust, the lock falling off, and the stock wormeaten. He now

suspected that the grave roysterers of the mountains had put a trick upon him, and, having dosed him with

liquor, had robbed him of his gun. Wolf, too, had disappeared, but he might have strayed away after a squirrel

or partridge. He whistled after him and shouted his name, but all in vain; the echoes repeated his whistle and

He determined to revisit the scene of the last evening's gambol, and if he met with any of the party, to

demand his dog and gun. As he rose to walk, he found himself stiff in the joints, and wanting in his usual

activity. "These mountain beds do not agree with me," thought Rip, "and if this frolic, should lay me up with

a fit of the rheumatism, I shall have a blessed time with Dame Van Winkle." With some difficulty he got

down into the glen: he found the gully up which he and his companion had ascended the preceding evening;

but to his astonishment a mountain stream was now foaming down it, leaping from rock to rock, and filling

the glen with babbling murmurs. He, however, made shift to scramble up its sides, working his toilsome way

through thickets of birch, sassafras, and witchhazel; and sometimes tripped up or entangled by the wild

grape vines that twisted their coils and tendrils from tree to tree, and spread a kind of network in his path.

At length he reached to where the ravine had opened through the cliffs to the amphitheatre; but no traces of

such opening remained. The rocks presented a high impenetrable wall, over which the torrent came tumbling

in a sheet of feathery foam, and fell into a broad deep basin, black from the shadows of the surrounding

forest. Here, then, poor Rip was brought to a stand. He again called and whistled after his dog; he was only

answered by the cawing of a flock of idle crows, sporting high in the air about a dry tree that overhung a

sunny precipice; and who, secure in their elevation, seemed to look down and scoff at the poor man's

perplexities. What was to be done? The morning was passing away, and Rip felt famished for want of his

breakfast. He grieved to give up his dog and gun; he dreaded to meet his wife; but it would not do to starve

among the mountains. He shook his head, shouldered the rusty firelock, and, with a heart full of trouble and

As he approached the village, he met a number of people, but none whom he new, which somewhat surprised

him, for he had thought himself acquainted with every one in the country round. Their dress, too, was of a

different fashion from that to which he was accustomed. They all stared at him with equal marks of surprise,

and whenever they cast eyes upon him, invariably stroked their chins. The constant recurrence of this gesture,

induced Rip, involuntarily, to do, the same, when, to his astonishment, he found his beard had grown a foot

He had now entered the skirts of the village. A troop of strange children ran at his heels, hooting after him,

and pointing at his gray beard. The dogs, too, not one of which he recognized for an old acquaintance, barked

at him as he passed. The very village was altered: it was larger and more populous. There were rows of

houses which he had never seen before, and those which had been his familiar haunts had disappeared.

Strange names were over the doorsstrange faces at the windowseverything was strange. His mind now

misgave him; he began to doubt whether both he and the world around him were not bewitched. Surely this

was his native village, which he had left but a day before. There stood the Kaatskill mountainsthere ran the

silver Hudson at a distancethere was every hill and dale precisely as it had always beenRip was sorely

It was with some difficulty that he found the way to his own house, which he approached with silent awe,

expecting every moment to hear the shrill voice of Dame Van Winkle. He found the house gone to

decaythe roof had fallen in, the windows shattered, and the doors off the hinges. A halfstarved dog, that

looked like Wolf, was skulking about it. Rip called him by name, but the cur snarled, showed his teeth, and

passed on. This was an unkind cut indeed."My very dog," sighed poor Rip," has forgotten me!"

He entered the house, which, to tell the truth, Dame Van Winkle had always kept in neat order. It was empty,

forlorn, and apparently abandoned. This desolateness overcame all his connubial fearshe called loudly for

his wife and childrenthe lonely chambers rang for a moment with his voice, and then all again was silence.

He now hurried forth, and hastened to his old resort, the village innbut it too was gone. A large rickety

wooden building stood in its place, with great gaping windows, some of them broken, and mended with old

hats and petticoats, and over the door was painted, "The Union Hotel, by Jonathan Doolittle." Instead of the

great tree that used to shelter the quiet little Dutch inn of yore, there now was reared a tall naked pole, with

something on the top that looked like a red nightcap, and from it was fluttering a flag, on which was a

singular assemblage of stars and stripesall this was strange and incomprehensible. He recognized on the

sign, however, the ruby face of King George, under which he had smoked so many a peaceful pipe, but even

this was singularly metamorphosed. The red coat was changed for one of blue and buff, a sword was held in

the hand instead of a sceptre, the head was decorated with a cocked hat, and underneath was painted in large

There was, as usual, a crowd of folk about the door, but none that Rip recollected. The very character of the

people seemed changed. There was a busy, bustling, disputatious tone about it, instead of the accustomed

phlegm and drowsy tranquillity. He looked in vain for the sage Nicholas Vedder, with his broad face, double

chin, and fair long pipe, uttering clouds of tobaccosmoke, instead of idle speeches; or Van Bummel, the

schoolmaster, doling forth the contents of an ancient newspaper. In place of these, a lean, biliouslooking

fellow, with his pockets full of handbills, was haranguing, vehemently about rights of

citizenselectionsmembers of CongresslibertyBunker's hillheroes of seventysixand other

The appearance of Rip, with his long, grizzled beard, his rusty fowlingpiece, his uncouth dress, and the

army of women and children at his heels, soon attracted the attention of the tavern politicians. They crowded

round him, eying him from head to foot, with great curiosity. The orator bustled up to him, and, drawing him

partly aside, inquired, "on which side he voted?" Rip stared in vacant stupidity. Another short but busy little

fellow pulled him by the arm, and rising on tiptoe, inquired in his ear, "whether he was Federal or Democrat."

Rip was equally at a loss to comprehend the question; when a knowing, selfimportant old gentleman, in a

sharp cocked hat, made his way through the crowd, putting them to the right and left with his elbows as he

passed, and planting himself before Van Winkle, with one arm akimbo, the other resting on his cane, his keen

eyes and sharp hat penetrating, as it were, into his very soul, demanded in an austere tone, "What brought him

to the election with a gun on his shoulder, and a mob at his heels; and whether he meant to breed a riot in the

"Alas! gentlemen," cried Rip, somewhat dismayed, "I am a poor, quiet man, a native of the place, and a loyal

Here a general shout burst from the bystanders"a tory! a tory! a spy! a refugee! hustle him! away with him!"

It was with great difficulty that the selfimportant man in the cocked hat restored order; and having assumed

a tenfold austerity of brow, demanded again of the unknown culprit, what he came there for, and whom he

was seeking. The poor man humbly assured him that he meant no harm, but merely came there in search of

There was a silence for a little while, when an old man replied, in a thin, piping voice, "Nicholas Vedder?

why, be is dead and gone these eighteen years! There was a wooden tombstone in the churchyard that used to

"Oh, he went off to the army in the beginning of the war; some say he was killed at the storming of

StonyPointothers say he was drowned in a squall at the foot of Antony's Nose. I don't know he never

"He went off to the wars, too; was a great militia general, and is now in Congress."

Rip's heart died away, at hearing of these sad changes in his home and friends, and finding himself thus alone

in the world. Every answer puzzled him too, by treating of such enormous lapses of time, and of matters

which he could not understand: warCongressStonyPoint;he had no courage to ask after any more

"Oh, Rip Van Winkle!" exclaimed two or three. "Oh, to be sure! that's Rip Van Winkle yonder, leaning

Rip looked, and beheld a precise counterpart of himself as he went up the mountain; apparently as lazy, and

certainly as ragged. The poor fellow was now completely confounded. He doubted his own identity, and

whether he was himself or another man. In the midst of his bewilderment, the man in the cocked hat

"God knows!" exclaimed he at his wit's end; "I'm not myselfI'm somebody elsethat's me

yondernothat's somebody else, got into my shoesI was myself last night, but I fell asleep on the

mountain, and they've changed my gun, and everything's changed, and I'm changed, and I can't tell what's my

The bystanders began now to look at each other, nod, wink significantly, and tap their fingers against their

foreheads. There was a whisper, also, about securing the gun, and keeping the old fellow from doing

mischief; at the very suggestion of which, the selfimportant man with the cocked hat retired with some

precipitation. At this critical moment a fresh, comely woman pressed through the throng to get a peep at the

graybearded man. She had a chubby child in her arms, which, frightened at his looks, began to cry. "Hush,

Rip," cried she, "hush, you little fool; the old man won't hurt you." The name of the child, the air of the

mother, the tone of her voice, all awakened a train of recollections in his mind.

"Ah, poor man, Rip Van Winkle was his name, but it's twenty years since he went away from home with his

gun, and never has been heard of since,his dog came home without him; but whether he shot himself, or

was carried away by the Indians, nobody can tell. I was then but a little girl."

Oh, she too had died but a short time since; she broke a bloodvessel in a fit of passion at a NewEngland

There was a drop of comfort, at least, in this intelligence. The honest man could contain himself no longer.

He caught his daughter and her child in his arms. "I am your father!" cried he"Young Rip Van Winkle

All stood amazed, until an old woman, tottering out from among the crowd, put her hand to her brow, and

peering under it in his face for a moment exclaimed, "sure enough! it is Rip Van Winkleit is himself.

Welcome home again, old neighbor. Why, where have you been these twenty long years?"

Rip's story was soon told, for the whole twenty years had been to him but as one night. The neighbors stared

when they heard it; some were seen to wink at each other, and put their tongues in their cheeks; and the

selfimportant man in the cocked hat, who, when the alarm was over, had returned to the field, screwed down

the corners of his mouth, and shook his headupon which there was a general shaking of the head

It was determined, however, to take the opinion of old Peter Vanderdonk, who was seen slowly advancing up

the road. He was a descendant of the historian of that name, who wrote one of the earliest accounts of the

province. Peter was the most ancient inhabitant of the village, and well versed in all the wonderful events and

traditions of the neighborhood. He recollected Rip at once, and corroborated his story in the most satisfactory

manner. He assured the company that it was a fact, handed down from his ancestor, the historian, that the

Kaatskill mountains had always been haunted by strange beings. That it was affirmed that the great Hendrick

Hudson, the first discoverer of the river and country, kept a kind of vigil there every twenty years, with his

crew of the Halfmoon; being permitted in this way to revisit the scenes of his enterprise, and keep a

guardian eye upon the river and the great city called by his name. That his father had once seen them in their

old Dutch dresses playing at ninepins in the hollow of the mountain; and that he himself had heard, one

To make a long story short, the company broke up, and returned to the more important concerns of the

election. Rip's daughter took him home to live with her; she had a snug, wellfurnished house, and a stout

cheery farmer for a husband, whom Rip recollected for one of the urchins that used to climb upon his back.

As to Rip's son and heir, who was the ditto of himself, seen leaning against the tree, he was employed to work

on the farm; but evinced an hereditary disposition to attend to any thing else but his business.

Rip now resumed his old walks and habits; he soon found many of his former cronies, though all rather the

worse for the wear and tear of time; and preferred making friends among the rising generation, with whom be

Having nothing to do at home, and being arrived at that happy age when a man can be idle with impunity, he

took his place once more on the bench, at the inn door, and was reverenced as one of the patriarchs of the

village, and a chronicle of the old times "before the war." It was some time before he could get into the

regular track of gossip, or could be made to comprehend the strange events that had taken place during his

torpor. How that there had been a revolutionary warthat the country had thrown off the yoke of old

Englandand that, instead of being a subject to his Majesty George the Third, he was now a free citizen of

the United States. Rip, in fact, was no politician; the changes of states and empires made but little impression

on him; but there was one species of despotism under which he had long groaned, and that waspetticoat

government. Happily, that was at an end; he had got his neck out of the yoke of matrimony, and could go in

and out whenever he pleased, without dreading the tyranny of Dame Van Winkle. Whenever her name was

mentioned, however, he shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, and cast up his eyes; which might pass either

He used to tell his story to every stranger that arrived at Mr. Doolittle's hotel. He was observed, at first, to

vary on some points every time he told it, which was, doubtless, owing to his having so recently awaked. It at

last settled down precisely to the tale I have related, and not a man, woman, or child in the neighborhood, but

knew it by heart. Some always pretended to doubt the reality of it, and insisted that Rip had been out of his

head, and that this was one point on which he always remained flighty. The old Dutch inhabitants, however,

almost universally gave it full credit. Even to this day, they never hear a thunderstorm of a summer

afternoon about the Kaatskill, but they say Hendrick Hudson and his crew are at their game of ninepins; and

it is a common wish of all henpecked husbands in the neighborhood, when life hangs heavy on their hands,

The foregoing tale, one would suspect, had been suggested to Mr. Knickerbocker by a little German

superstition about the Emperor Frederick der Rothbart and the Kypphauser mountain; the subjoined note,

however, which had appended to the tale, shows that it is an absolute fact, narrated with his usual fidelity.

"The story of Rip Van Winkle may seem incredible to many, but nevertheless I give it my full belief, for I

know the vicinity of our old Dutch settlements to have been very subject to marvellous events and

appearances. Indeed, I have heard many stranger stories than this, in the villages along the Hudson; all of

which were too well authenticated to admit of a doubt. I have even talked with Rip Van Winkle myself, who,

when last I saw him, was a very venerable old man, and so perfectly rational and consistent on every other

point, that I think no conscientious person could refuse to take this into the bargain; nay, I have seen a

certificate on the subject taken before a country justice, and signed with cross, in the justice's own

The Kaatsberg or Catskill mountains have always been a region full of fable. The Indians considered them

the abode of spirits, who influenced the weather, spreading sunshine or clouds over the landscape, and

sending good or bad hunting seasons. They were ruled by an old squaw spirit, said to be their mother. She

dwelt on the highest peak of the Catskills, and had charge of the doors of day and night to open and shut them

at the proper hour. She hung up the new moons in the skies, and cut up the old ones into stars. In times of

drought, if properly propitiated, she would spin light summer clouds out of cobwebs and morning dew, and

send them off from the crest of the mountain, flake after flake, like flakes of carded cotton, to float in the air;

until, dissolved by the heat of the sun, they would fall in gentle showers, causing the grass to spring, the fruits

to ripen, and the corn to grow an inch an hour. If displeased, however, she would brew up clouds black as

ink, sitting in the midst of them like a bottlebellied spider in the midst of its web; and when these clouds

In old times, say the Indian traditions, there was a kind of Manitou or Spirit, who kept about the wildest

recesses of the Catskill mountains, and took a mischievous pleasure in wreaking all kind of evils and

vexations upon the red men. Sometimes he would assume the form of a bear, a panther, or a deer, lead the

bewildered hunter a weary chase through tangled forests and among ragged rocks, and then spring off with a

loud ho! ho! leaving him aghast on the brink of a beetling precipice or raging torrent.

The favorite abode of this Manitou is still shown. It is a rock or cliff on the loneliest port of the mountains,

and, from the flowering vines which clamber about it, and the wild flowers which abound in its

neighborhood, is known by the name of the Garden Rock. Near the foot of it is a small lake, the haunt of the

solitary bittern, with watersnakes basking in the sun on the leaves of the pondlilies which lie on the

surface. This place was held in great awe by the Indians, insomuch that the boldest hunter would not pursue

his game within its precincts. Once upon a time, however, a hunter who had lost his way penetrated to the

Garden Rock, where he beheld a number of gourds placed in the crotches of trees. One of these he seized and

made off with it, but in the hurry of his retreat he let it fall among the rocks, when a great stream gushed

forth, which washed him away and swept him down precipices, where he was dished to pieces, and the

stream made its way to the Hudson, and continues to flow to the present day, being the identical stream

IT is with feelings of deep regret that I observe the literary animosity daily growing up between England and

America. Great curiosity has been awakened of late with respect to the United States, and the London press

has teemed with volumes of travels through the Republic; but they seem intended to diffuse error rather than

knowledge; and so successful have they been, that, notwithstanding the constant intercourse between the

nations, there is no people concerning whom the great mass of the British public have less pure information,

English travellers are the best and the worst in the world. Where no motives of pride or interest intervene,

none can equal them for profound and philosophical views of society, or faithful and graphical description of

external objects; but when either the interest or reputation of their own country comes in collision with that of

another, they go to the opposite extreme, and forget their usual probity and candor, in the indulgence of

Hence, their travels are more honest and accurate, the more remote the country described. I would place

implicit confidence in an Englishman's description of the regions beyond the cataracts of the Nile; of

unknown islands in the Yellow Sea; of the interior of India; or of any other tract which other travellers might

be apt to picture out with the illusions of their fancies. But I would cautiously receive his account of his

immediate neighbors, and of those nations with which he is in habits of most frequent intercourse. However I

It has also been the peculiar lot of our country to be visited by the worst kind of English travellers. While

men of philosophical spirit and cultivated minds have been sent from England to ransack the poles, to

penetrate the deserts, and to study the manners and customs of barbarous nations, with which she can have no

permanent intercourse of profit or pleasure; it has been left to the brokendown tradesman, the scheming

adventurer, the wandering mechanic, the Manchester and Birmingham agent, to be her oracles respecting

America. From such sources she is content to receive her information respecting a country in a singular state

of moral and physical development; a country in which one of the greatest political experiments in the history

of the world is now performing; and which presents the most profound and momentous studies to the

That such men should give prejudicial accounts of America, is not a matter of surprise. The themes it offers

for contemplation, are too vast and elevated for their capacities. The national character is yet in a state of

fermentation: it may have its frothiness and sediment, but its ingredients are sound and wholesome; it has

already given proofs of powerful and generous qualities; and the whole promises to settle down into

something substantially excellent. But the causes which are operating to strengthen and ennoble it, and its

daily indications of admirable properties, are all lost upon these purblind observers; who are only affected by

the little asperities incident to its present situation. They are capable of judging only of the surface of things;

of those matters which come in contact with their private interests and personal gratifications. They miss

some of the snug conveniences and petty comforts which belong to an old, highlyfinished, and

overpopulous state of society; where the ranks of useful labor are crowded, and many earn a painful and

servile subsistence, by studying the very caprices of appetite and selfindulgence. These minor comforts,

however, are allimportant in the estimation of narrow minds; which either do not perceive, or will not

acknowledge, that they are more than counterbalanced among us, by great and generally diffused blessings.

They may, perhaps, have been disappointed in some unreasonable expectation of sudden gain. They may

have pictured America to themselves an El Dorado, where gold and silver abounded, and the natives were

lacking in sagacity, and where they were to become strangely and suddenly rich, in some unforeseen but easy

manner. The same weakness of mind that indulges absurd expectations, produces petulance in

disappointment. Such persons become embittered against the country on finding that there, as everywhere

else, a man must sow before he can reap; must win wealth by industry and talent; and must contend with the

common difficulties of nature, and the shrewdness of an intelligent and enterprising people.

Perhaps, through mistaken or illdirected hospitality, or from the prompt disposition to cheer and

countenance the stranger, prevalent among my countrymen, they may have been treated with unwonted

respect in America; and, having been accustomed all their lives to consider themselves below the surface of

good society, and brought up in a servile feeling of inferiority, they become arrogant, on the common boon of

civility; they attribute to the lowliness of others their own elevation; and underrate a society where there are

no artificial distinctions, and where, by any chance, such individuals as themselves can rise to consequence.

One would suppose, however, that information coming from such sources, on a subject where the truth is so

desirable, would be received with caution by the censors of the press; that the motives of these men, their

veracity, their opportunities of inquiry and observation, and their capacities for judging correctly, would be

rigorously scrutinized, before their evidence was admitted, in such sweeping extent, against a kindred nation.

The very reverse, however, is the case, and it furnishes a striking instance of human inconsistency. Nothing

can surpass the vigilance with which English critics will examine the credibility of the traveller who

publishes an account of some distant and comparatively unimportant country. How warily will they compare

the measurements of a pyramid, or the description of a ruin; and how sternly will they censure any inaccuracy

in these contributions of merely curious knowledge, while they will receive, with eagerness and unhesitating

faith, the gross misrepresentations of coarse and obscure writers, concerning a country with which their own

is placed in the most important and delicate relations. Nay, they will even make these apocryphal volumes

textbooks, on which to enlarge, with a zeal and an ability worthy of a more generous cause.

I shall not, however, dwell on this irksome and hackneyed topic; nor should I have adverted to it, but for the

undue interest apparently taken in it by my countrymen, and certain injurious effects which I apprehend it

might produce upon the national feeling. We attach too much consequence to these attacks. They cannot do

us any essential injury. The tissue of misrepresentations attempted to be woven round us, are like cobwebs

woven round the limbs of an infant giant. Our country continually outgrows them. One falsehood after

another falls off of itself. We have but to live on, and every day we live a whole volume of refutation.

All the writers of England united, if we could for a moment suppose their great minds stooping to so

unworthy a combination, could not conceal our rapidly growing importance and matchless prosperity. They

could not conceal that these are owing, not merely to physical and local, but also to moral causesto the

political liberty, the general diffusion of knowledge, the prevalence of sound, moral, and religious principles,

which give force and sustained energy to the character of a people, and which in fact, have been the

But why are we so exquisitely alive to the aspersions of England? Why do we suffer ourselves to be so

affected by the contumely she has endeavored to cast upon us? It is not in the opinion of England alone that

honor lives, and reputation has its being. The world at large is the arbiter of a nation's fame: with its thousand

eyes it witnesses a nation's deeds, and from their collective testimony is national glory or national disgrace

For ourselves, therefore, it is comparatively of but little importance whether England does us justice or not; it

is, perhaps, of far more importance to herself. She is instilling anger and resentment into the bosom of a

youthful nation, to grow with its growth, and strengthen with its strength. If in America, as some of her

writers are laboring to convince her, she is hereafter to find an invidious rival, and a gigantic foe, she may

thank those very writers for having provoked rivalship, and irritated hostility. Every one knows the

allpervading influence of literature at the present day, and how much the opinions and passions of mankind

are under its control. The mere contests of the sword are temporary; their wounds are but in the flesh, and it is

the pride of the generous to forgive and forget them; but the slanders of the pen pierce to the heart; they

rankle longest in the noblest spirits; they dwell ever present in the mind, and render it morbidly sensitive to

the most trifling collision. It is but seldom that any one overt act produces hostilities between two nations;

there exists, most commonly, a previous jealousy and illwill, a predisposition to take offence. Trace these to

their cause, and how often will they be found to originate in the mischievous effusions of mercenary writers,

who, secure in their closets, and for ignominious bread, concoct and circulate the venom that is to inflame the

I am not laying too much stress upon this point; for it applies most emphatically to our particular case. Over

no nation does the press hold a more absolute control than over the people of America; for the universal

education of the poorest classes makes every individual a reader. There is nothing published in England on

the subject of our country, that does not circulate through every part of it. There is not a calumny dropt from

an English pen, nor an unworthy sarcasm uttered by an English statesman, that does not go to blight

goodwill, and add to the mass of latent resentment. Possessing, then, as England does, the fountainhead

whence the literature of the language flows, how completely is it in her power, and how truly is it her duty, to

make it the medium of amiable and magnanimous feelinga stream where the two nations might meet

together and drink in peace and kindness. Should she, however, persist in turning it to waters of bitterness,

the time may come when she may repent her folly. The present friendship of America may be of but little

moment to her; but the future destinies of that country do not admit of a doubt; over those of England, there

lower some shadows of uncertainty. Should, then, a day of gloom arriveshould those reverses overtake her,

from which the proudest empires have not been exemptshe may look back with regret at her infatuation, in

repulsing from her side a nation she might have grappled to her bosom, and thus destroying her only chance

There is a general impression in England, that the people of the United States are inimical to the parent

country. It is one of the errors which have been diligently propagated by designing writers. There is,

doubtless, considerable political hostility, and a general soreness at the illiberality of the English press; but,

collectively speaking, the prepossessions of the people are strongly in favor of England. Indeed, at one time

they amounted, in many parts of the Union, to an absurd degree of bigotry. The bare name of Englishman

was a passport to the confidence and hospitality of every family, and too often gave a transient currency to

the worthless and the ungrateful. Throughout the country, there was something of enthusiasm connected with

the idea of England. We looked to it with a hallowed feeling of tenderness and veneration, as the land of our

forefathersthe august repository of the monuments and antiquities of our racethe birthplace and

mausoleum of the sages and heroes of our paternal history. After our own country, there was none in whose

glory we more delightednone whose good opinion we were more anxious to possessnone toward which

our hearts yearned with such throbbings of warm consanguinity. Even during the late war, whenever there

was the least opportunity for kind feelings to spring forth, it was the delight of the generous spirits of our

country to show that, in the midst of hostilities, they still kept alive the sparks of future friendship.

Is all this to be at an end? Is this golden band of kindred sympathies, so rare between nations, to be broken

forever?Perhaps it is for the bestit may dispel an allusion which might have kept us in mental vassalage;

which might have interfered occasionally with our true interests, and prevented the growth of proper national

pride. But it is hard to give up the kindred tie! and there are feelings dearer than interestcloser to the heart

than pridethat will still make us cast back a look of regret as we wander farther and farther from the

paternal roof, and lament the waywardness of the parent that would repel the affections of the child.

Shortsighted and injudicious, however, as the conduct or England may be in this system of aspersion,

recrimination on our part would be equally illjudged. I speak not of a prompt and spirited vindication of our

country, or the keenest castigation of her slanderersbut I allude to a disposition to retaliate in kind, to retort

sarcasm and inspire prejudice, which seems to be spreading widely among our writers. Let us guard

particularly against such a temper; for it would double the evil, instead of redressing the wrong. Nothing is so

easy and inviting as the retort of abuse and sarcasm; but it is a paltry and an unprofitable contest. It is the

alternative of a morbid mind, fretted into petulance, rather than warmed into indignation. If England is

willing to permit the mean jealousies of trade, or the rancorous animosities of politics, to deprave the

integrity of her press, and poison the fountain of public opinion, let us beware of her example. She may deem

it her interest to diffuse error, and engender antipathy, for the purpose of checking emigration: we have no

purpose of the kind to serve. Neither have we any spirit of national jealousy to gratify; for as yet, in all our

rivalships with England, we are the rising and the gaining party. There can be no end to answer, therefore, but

the gratification of resentmenta mere spirit of retaliationand even that is impotent. Our retorts are never

republished in England; they fall short, therefore, of their aim; but they foster a querulous and peevish temper

among our writers; they sour the sweet flow of our early literature, and sow thorns and brambles among its

blossoms. What is still worse, they circulate through our own country, and, as far as they have effect, excite

virulent national prejudices. This last is the evil most especially to be deprecated. Governed, as we are,

entirely by public opinion, the utmost care should be taken to preserve the purity of the public mind.

Knowledge is power, and truth is knowledge; whoever, therefore, knowingly propagates a prejudice, wilfully

The members of a republic, above all other men, should be candid and dispassionate. They are, individually,

portions of the sovereign mind and sovereign will, and should be enabled to come to all questions of national

concern with calm and unbiassed judgments. From the peculiar nature of our relations with England, we must

have more frequent questions of a difficult and delicate character with her, than with any other

nation,questions that affect the most acute and excitable feelings: and as, in the adjustment of these, our

national measures must ultimately be determined by popular sentiment, we cannot be too anxiously attentive

Opening, too, as we do, an asylum for strangers every portion of the earth, we should receive all with

impartiality. It should be our pride to exhibit an example of one nation, at least, destitute of national

antipathies, and exercising, not merely the overt acts of hospitality, but those more rare and noble courtesies

What have we to do with national prejudices? They are the inveterate diseases of old countries, contracted in

rude and ignorant ages, when nations knew but little of each other, and looked beyond their own boundaries

with distrust and hostility. We, on the contrary, have sprung into national existence in an enlightened and

philosophic age, when the different parts of the habitable world, and the various branches of the human

family, have been indefatigably studied and made known to each other; and we forego the advantages of our

birth, if we do not shake off the national prejudices, as we would the local superstitions, of the old world.

But above all let us not be influenced by any angry feelings, so far as to shut our eyes to the perception of

what is really excellent and amiable in the English character. We are a young people, necessarily an imitative

one, and must take our examples and models, in a great degree, from the existing nations of Europe. There is

no country more worthy of our study than England. The spirit of her constitution is most analogous to ours.

The manners of her peopletheir intellectual activitytheir freedom of opiniontheir habits of thinking

on those subjects which concern the dearest interests and most sacred charities of private life, are all

congenial to the American character; and, in fact, are all intrinsically excellent: for it is in the moral feeling of

the people that the deep foundations of British prosperity are laid; and however the superstructure may be

timeworn, or overrun by abuses, there must be something solid in the basis, admirable in the materials, and

stable in the structure of an edifice that so long has towered unshaken amidst the tempests of the world.

Let it be the pride of our writers, therefore, discarding all feelings of irritation, and disdaining to retaliate the

illiberality of British authors, to speak of the English nation without prejudice, and with determined candor.

While they rebuke the indiscriminating bigotry with which some of our countrymen admire and imitate every

thing English, merely because it is English, let them frankly point out what is really worthy of approbation.

We may thus place England before us as a perpetual volume of reference, wherein are recorded sound

deductions from ages of experience; and while we avoid the errors and absurdities which may have crept into

the page, we may draw thence golden maxims of practical wisdom, wherewith to strengthen and to embellish

THE stranger who would form a correct opinion of the English character, must not confine his observations

to the metropolis. He must go forth into the country; he must sojourn in villages and hamlets; he must visit

castles, villas, farmhouses, cottages; he must wander through parks and gardens; along hedges and green

lanes; he must loiter about country churches; attend wakes and fairs, and other rural festivals; and cope with

In some countries, the large cities absorb the wealth and fashion of the nation; they are the only fixed abodes

of elegant and intelligent society, and the country is inhabited almost entirely by boorish peasantry. In

England, on the contrary, the metropolis is a mere gatheringplace, or general rendezvous, of the polite

classes, where they devote a small portion of the year to a hurry of gayety and dissipation, and, having

indulged this kind of carnival, return again to the apparently more congenial habits of rural life. The various

orders of society are therefore diffused over the whole surface of the kingdom, and the more retired

The English, in fact, are strongly gifted with the rural feeling. They possess a quick sensibility to the beauties

of nature, and a keen relish for the pleasures and employments of the country. This passion seems inherent in

them. Even the inhabitants of cities, born and brought up among brick walls and bustling streets, enter with

facility into rural habits, and evince a tact for rural occupation. The merchant has his snug retreat in the

vicinity of the metropolis, where he often displays as much pride and zeal in the cultivation of his

flowergarden, and the maturing of his fruits, as he does in the conduct of his business, and the success of a

commercial enterprise. Even those less fortunate individuals, who are doomed to pass their lives in the midst

of din and traffic, contrive to have something that shall remind them of the green aspect of nature. In the most

dark and dingy quarters of the city, the drawingroom window resembles frequently a bank of flowers; every

spot capable of vegetation has its grassplot and flowerbed; and every square its mimic park, laid out with

Those who see the Englishman only in town, are apt to form an unfavorable opinion of his social character.

He is either absorbed in business, or distracted by the thousand engagements that dissipate time, thought, and

feeling, in this huge metropolis. He has, therefore, too commonly, a look of hurry and abstraction. Wherever

he happens to be, he is on the point of going somewhere else; at the moment he is talking on one subject, his

mind is wandering to another; and while paying a friendly visit, he is calculating how he shall economize

time so as to pay the other visits allotted to the morning. An immense metropolis, like London, is calculated

to make men selfish and uninteresting. In their casual and transient meetings, they can but deal briefly in

commonplaces. They present but the cold superfices of characterits rich and genial qualities have no time

It is in the country that the Englishman gives scope to his natural feelings. He breaks loose gladly from the

cold formalities and negative civilities of town; throws off his habits of shy reserve, and becomes joyous and

freehearted. He manages to collect round him all the conveniences and elegancies of polite life, and to

banish its restraints. His countryseat abounds with every requisite, either for studious retirement, tasteful

gratification, or rural exercise. Books, paintings, music, horses, dogs, and sporting implements of all kinds,

are at hand. He puts no constraint, either upon his guests or himself, but, in the true spirit of hospitality,

provides the means of enjoyment, and leaves every one to partake according to his inclination.

The taste of the English in the cultivation of land, and in what is called landscape gardening, is unrivalled.

They have studied Nature intently, and discovered an exquisite sense of her beautiful forms and harmonious

combinations. Those charms which, in other countries, she lavishes in wild solitudes, are here assembled

round the haunts of domestic life. They seem to have caught her coy and furtive graces, and spread them, like

Nothing can be more imposing than the magnificence of English park scenery. Vast lawns that extend like

sheets of vivid green, with here and there clumps of gigantic trees, heaping up rich piles of foliage. The

solemn pomp of groves and woodland glades, with the deer trooping in silent herds across them; the hare,

bounding away to the covert; or the pheasant, suddenly bursting upon the wing. The brook, taught to wind in

natural meanderings, or expand into a glassy lakethe sequestered pool, reflecting the quivering trees, with

the yellow leaf sleeping on its bosom, and the trout roaming fearlessly about its limpid waters; while some

rustic temple, or sylvan statue, grown green and dank with age, gives an air of classic sanctity to the

These are but a few of the features of park scenery; but what most delights me, is the creative talent with

which the English decorate the unostentatious abodes of middle life. The rudest habitation, the most

unpromising and scanty portion of land, in the hands of an Englishman of taste, becomes a little paradise.

With a nicely discriminating eye, he seizes at once upon its capabilities, and pictures in his mind the future

landscape. The sterile spot grows into loveliness under his hand; and yet the operations of art which produce

the effect are scarcely to be perceived. The cherishing and training of some trees; the cautious pruning of

others; the nice distribution of flowers and plants of tender and graceful foliage; the introduction of a green

slope of velvet turf; the partial opening to a peep of blue distance, or silver gleam of water;all these are

managed with a delicate tact, a pervading yet quiet assiduity, like the magic touchings with which a painter

The residence of people of fortune and refinement in the country, has diffused a degree of taste and elegance

in rural economy that descends to the lowest class. The very laborer, with his thatched cottage and narrow

slip of ground, attends to their embellishment. The trim hedge, the grassplot before the door, the little

flowerbed bordered with snug box, the woodbine trained up against the wall, and hanging its blossoms

about the lattice; the pot of flowers in the window; the holly, providently planted about the house, to cheat

winter of its dreariness, and to throw in a semblance of green summer to cheer the fireside; all these bespeak

the influence of taste, flowing down from high sources, and pervading the lowest levels of the public mind. If

ever Love, as poets sing, delights to visit a cottage, it must be the cottage of an English peasant.

The fondness for rural life among the higher classes of the English has had a great and salutary effect upon

the national character. I do not know a finer race of men than the English gentlemen. Instead of the softness

and effeminacy which characterize the men of rank in most countries, they exhibit a union of elegance and

strength, a robustness of frame and freshness of complexion, which I am inclined to attribute to their living so

much in the open air, and pursuing so eagerly the invigorating recreations of the country. The hardy exercises

produce also a healthful tone of mind and spirits, and a manliness and simplicity of manners, which even the

follies and dissipations of the town cannot easily pervert, and can never entirely destroy. In the country, too,

the different orders of society seem to approach more freely, to be more disposed to blend and operate

favorably upon each other. The distinctions between them do not appear to be so marked and impassable as in

the cities. The manner in which property has been distributed into small estates and farms has established a

regular gradation from the noblemen, through the classes of gentry, small landed proprietors, and substantial

farmers, down to the laboring peasantry; and while it has thus banded the extremes of society together, has

infused into each intermediate rank a spirit of independence. This, it must be confessed, is not so universally

the case at present as it was formerly; the larger estates having, in late years of distress, absorbed the smaller,

and, in some parts of the country, almost annihilated the sturdy race of small farmers. These, however, I

In rural occupation, there is nothing mean and debasing. It leads a, man forth among scenes of natural

grandeur and beauty; it leaves him to the workings of his own mind, operated upon by the purest and most

elevating of external influences. Such a man may be simple and rough, but he cannot be vulgar. The man of

refinement, therefore, finds nothing revolting in an intercourse with the lower orders in rural life, as he does

when he casually mingles with the lower orders of cities. He lays aside his distance and reserve, and is glad to

waive the distinctions of rank, and to enter into the honest, heartfelt enjoyments of common life. Indeed, the

very amusements of the country bring, men more and more together; and the sound hound and horn blend all

feelings into harmony. I believe this is one great reason why the nobility and gentry are more popular among

the inferior orders in England than they are in any other country; and why the latter have endured so many

excessive pressures and extremities, without repining more generally at the unequal distribution of fortune

To this mingling of cultivated and rustic society may also be attributed the rural feeling that runs through

British literature; the frequent use of illustrations from rural life; those incomparable descriptions of Nature,

that abound in the British poetsthat have continued down from "The Flower and the Leaf," of Chaucer, and

have brought into our closets all the freshness and fragrance of the dewy landscape. The pastoral writers of

other countries appear as if they had paid Nature an occasional visit, and become acquainted with her general

charms; but the British poets have lived and revelled with herthey have wooed her in her most secret

hauntsthey have watched her minutest caprices. A spray could not tremble in the breezea leaf could not

rustle to the grounda diamond drop could not patter in the streama fragrance could not exhale from the

humble violet, nor a daisy unfold its crimson tints to the morning, but it has been noticed by these

impassioned and delicate observers, and wrought up into some beautiful morality.

The effect of this devotion of elegant minds to rural occupations has been wonderful on the face of the

country. A great part of the island is rather level, and would be monotonous, were it not for the charms of

culture; but it is studded and gemmed, as it were, with castles and palaces, and embroidered with parks and

gardens. It does not abound in grand and sublime prospects, but rather in little home scenes of rural repose

and sheltered quiet. Every antique farmhouse and mossgrown cottage is a picture; and as the roads are

continually winding, and the view is shut in by groves and hedges, the eye is delighted by a continual

The great charm, however, of English scenery, is the moral feeling that seems to pervade it. It is associated in

the mind with ideas of order, of quiet, of sober wellestablished principles, of hoary usage and reverend

custom. Every thing seems to be the growth of ages of regular and peaceful existence. The old church of

remote architecture, with its low, massive portal; its Gothic tower; its windows rich with tracery and painted

glass, in scrupulous preservation; its stately monuments of warriors and worthies of the olden time, ancestors

of the present lords of the soil; its tombstones, recording successive generations of sturdy yeomanry, whose

progeny still plough the same fields, and kneel at the same altar;the parsonage, a quaint irregular pile,

partly antiquated, but repaired and altered in the tastes of various ages and occupants;the stile and

footpath leading from the churchyard, across pleasant fields, and along shady hedgerows, according to an

immemorial right of way;the neighboring village, with its venerable cottages, its public green sheltered by

trees, under which the forefathers of the present race have sported;the antique family mansion, standing

apart in some little rural domain, but looking down with a protecting air on the surrounding scene; all these

common features of English landscape evince a calm and settled security, a hereditary transmission of

homebred virtues and local attachments, that speak deeply and touchingly for the moral character of the

It is a pleasing sight, of a Sunday morning, when the bell is sending its sober melody across the quiet fields,

to behold the peasantry in their best finery, with ruddy faces, and modest cheerfulness, thronging tranquilly

along the green lanes to church; but it is still more pleasing to see them in the evenings, gathering about their

cottage doors, and appearing to exult in the humble comforts and embellishments which their own hands have

It is this sweet homefeeling, this settled repose of affection in the domestic scene, that is, after all, the parent

of the steadiest virtues and purest enjoyments; and I cannot close these desultory remarks better, than by

quoting the words of a modern English poet, who has depicted it with remarkable felicity:

Through each gradation, from the castled hall, The city dome, the villa crowned with shade, But chief from

modest mansions numberless, In town or hamlet, shelt'ring middle life, Down to the cottaged vale, and

strawroof'd shed; This western isle has long been famed for scenes Where bliss domestic finds a

dwellingplace; Domestic bliss, that, like a harmless dove, (Honor and sweet endearment keeping guard,)

Can centre in a little quiet nest All that desire would fly for through the earth; That can, the world eluding, be

itself A world enjoyed; that wants no witnesses But its own sharers, and approving Heaven; That, like a

* From a poem on the death of the Princess Charlotte, by the Reverend Rann Kennedy, A.M.

IT is a common practice with those who have outlived the susceptibility of early feeling, or have been

brought up in the gay heartlessness of dissipated life, to laugh at all love stories, and to treat the tales of

romantic passion as mere fictions of novelists and poets. My observations on human nature have induced me

to think otherwise. They have convinced me that, however the surface of the character may be chilled and

frozen by the cares of the world, or cultivated into mere smiles by the arts of society, still there are dormant

fires lurking in the depths of the coldest bosom, which, when once enkindled, become impetuous, and are

sometimes desolating in their effects. Indeed, I am a true believer in the blind deity, and go to the full extent

of his doctrines. Shall I confess it?I believe in broken hearts, and the possibility of dying of disappointed

love! I do not, however, consider it a malady often fatal to my own sex; but I firmly believe that it withers

Man is the creature of interest and ambition. His nature leads him forth into the struggle and bustle of the

world. Love is but the embellishment of his early life, or a song piped in the intervals of the acts. He seeks for

fame, for fortune for space in the world's thought, and dominion over his fellowmen. But a woman's whole

life is a history of the affections. The heart is her world; it is there her ambition strives for empireit is there

her avarice seeks for hidden treasures. She sends forth her sympathies on adventure; she embarks her whole

soul in the traffic of affection; and if shipwrecked, her case is hopelessfor it is a bankruptcy of the heart.

To a man, the disappointment of love may occasion some bitter pangs; it wounds some feelings of

tendernessit blasts some prospects of felicity; but he is an active beinghe may dissipate his thoughts in

the whirl of varied occupation, or may plunge into the tide of pleasure; or, if the scene of disappointment be

too full of painful associations, he can shift his abode at will, and taking, as it were, the wings of the morning,

But woman's is comparatively a fixed, a secluded, and meditative life. She is more the companion of her own

thoughts and feelings; and if they are turned to ministers of sorrow, where shall she look for consolation? Her

lot is to be wooed and won; and if unhappy in her love, her heart is like some fortress that has been captured,

How many bright eyes grow dimhow many soft cheeks grow palehow many lovely forms fade away

into the tomb, and none can tell the cause that blighted their loveliness! As the dove will clasp its wings to its

side, and cover and conceal the arrow that is preying on its vitalsso is it the nature of woman, to hide from

the world the pangs of wounded affection. The love of a delicate female is always shy and silent. Even when

fortunate, she scarcely breathes it to herself; but when otherwise, she buries it in the recesses of her bosom,

and there lets it cower and brood among the ruins of her peace. With her, the desire of her heart has

failedthe great charm of existence is at an end. She neglects all the cheerful exercises which gladden the

spirits, quicken the pulses, and send the tide of life in healthful currents through the veins. Her rest is

brokenthe sweet refreshment of sleep is poisoned by melancholy dreams"dry sorrow drinks her blood,"

until her enfeebled frame sinks under the slightest external injury. Look for her, after a little while, and you

find friendship weeping over her untimely grave, and wondering that one, who but lately glowed with all the

radiance of health and beauty, should so speedily be brought down to "darkness and the worm." You will be

told of some wintry chill, some casual indisposition, that laid her low;but no one knows of the mental

malady which previously sapped her strength, and made her so easy a prey to the spoiler.

She is like some tender tree, the pride and beauty of the grove; graceful in its form, bright in its foliage, but

with the worm preying at its heart. We find it suddenly withering, when it should be most fresh and luxuriant.

We see it drooping its branches to the earth, and shedding leaf by leaf, until, wasted and perished away, it

falls even in the stillness of the forest; and as we muse over the beautiful ruin, we strive in vain to recollect

I have seen many instances of women running to waste and selfneglect, and disappearing gradually from the

earth, almost as if they had been exhaled to heaven; and have repeatedly fancied that I could trace their deaths

through the various declensions of consumption, cold, debility, languor, melancholy, until I reached the first

symptom of disappointed love. But an instance of the kind was lately told to me; the circumstances are well

known in the country where they happened, and I shall but give them in the manner in which they were

Every one must recollect the tragical story of young E, the Irish patriot; it was too touching to be soon

forgotten. During the troubles in Ireland, he was tried, condemned, and executed, on a charge of treason. His

fate made a deep impression on public sympathy. He was so youngso intelligentso generousso

braveso every thing that we are apt to like in a young man. His conduct under trial, too, was so lofty and

intrepid. The noble indignation with which he repelled the charge of treason against his countrythe

eloquent vindication of his nameand his pathetic appeal to posterity, in the hopeless hour of condemnation,

all these entered deeply into every generous bosom, and even his enemies lamented the stern policy that

But there was one heart whose anguish it would be impossible to describe. In happier days and fairer

fortunes, he had won the affections of a beautiful and interesting girl, the daughter of a late celebrated Irish

barrister. She loved him with the disinterested fervor of a woman's first and early love. When every worldly

maxim arrayed itself against him; when blasted in fortune, and disgrace and danger darkened around his

name, she loved him the more ardently for his very sufferings. If, then, his fate could awaken the sympathy

even of his foes, what must have been the agony of her, whose whole soul was occupied by his image? Let

those tell who have had the portals of the tomb suddenly closed between them and the being they most loved

on earthwho have sat at its threshold, as one shut out in a cold and lonely world, whence all that was most

But then the horrors of such a grave!so frightful, so dishonored! There was nothing for memory to dwell

on that could soothe the pang of separationnone of those tender, though melancholy circumstances which

endear the parting scenenothing to melt sorrow into those blessed tears, sent like the dews of heaven, to

To render her widowed situation more desolate, she had incurred her father's displeasure by her unfortunate

attachment, and was an exile from the parental roof. But could the sympathy and kind offices of friends have

reached a spirit so shocked and driven in by horror, she would have experienced no want of consolation, for

the Irish are a people of quick and generous sensibilities. The most delicate and cherishing attentions were

paid her by families of wealth and distinction. She was led into society, and they tried by all kinds of

occupation and amusement to dissipate her grief, and wean her from the tragical story of her loves. But it was

all in vain. There are some strokes of calamity that scathe and scorch the soulwhich penetrate to the vital

seat of happinessand blast it, never again to put forth bud or blossom. She never objected to frequent the

haunts of pleasure, but was as much alone there as in the depths of solitude; walking about in a sad revery,

apparently unconscious of the world around her. She carried with her an inward woe that mocked at all the

blandishments of friendship, and "heeded not the song of the charmer, charm he never so wisely."

The person who told me her story had seen her at a masquerade. There can be no exhibition of fargone

wretchedness more striking and painful than to meet it in such a scene. To find it wandering like a spectre,

lonely and joyless, where all around is gayto see it dressed out in the trappings of mirth, and looking so

wan and woebegone, as if it had tried in vain to cheat the poor heart into momentary forgetfulness of

sorrow. After strolling through the splendid rooms and giddy crowd with an air of utter abstraction, she sat

herself down on the steps of an orchestra, and, looking about for some time with a vacant air, that showed her

insensibility to the garish scene, she began, with the capriciousness of a sickly heart, to warble a little

plaintive air. She had an exquisite, voice; but on this occasion it was so simple, so touching, it breathed forth

such a soul of wretchednessthat she drew a crowd, mute and silent, around her and melted every one into

The story of one so true and tender could not but excite great interest in a country remarkable for enthusiasm.

It completely won the heart of a brave officer, who paid his addresses to her, and thought that one so true to

the dead, could not but prove affectionate to the living. She declined his attentions, for her thoughts were

irrevocably engrossed by the memory of her former lover. He, however, persisted in his suit. He solicited not

her tenderness, but her esteem. He was assisted by her conviction of his worth, and her sense of her own

destitute and dependent situation, for she was existing on the kindness of friends. In a word, he at length

succeeded in gaining her hand, though with the solemn assurance, that her heart was unalterably another's.

He took her with him to Sicily, hoping that a change of scene might wear out the remembrance of early woes.

She was an amiable and exemplary wife, and made an effort to be a happy one; but nothing could cure the

silent and devouring melancholy that had entered into her very soul. She wasted away in a slow, but hopeless

It was on her that Moore, the distinguished Irish poet, composed the following lines:

She is far from the land where her young hero sleeps, And lovers around her are sighing: But coldly she turns

She sings the wild song of her dear native plains, Every note which he loved awaking Ah! little they think,

He had lived for his lovefor his country he died, They were all that to life had entwined him Nor soon

shall the tears of his country be dried, Nor long will his love stay behind him!

Oh! make her a grave where the sunbeams rest, When they promise a glorious morrow; They'll shine o'er her

I HAVE often wondered at the extreme fecundity of the press, and how it comes to pass that so many heads,

on which Nature seems to have inflicted the curse of barrenness, should teem with voluminous productions.

As a man travels on, however, in the journey of life, his objects of wonder daily diminish, and he is

continually finding out some very simple cause for some great matter of marvel. Thus have I chanced, in my

peregrinations about this great metropolis, to blunder upon a scene which unfolded to me some of the

I was one summer's day loitering through the great saloons of the British Museum, with that listlessness with

which one is apt to saunter about a museum in warm weather; sometimes lolling over the glass cases of

minerals, sometimes studying the hieroglyphics on an Egyptian mummy, and some times trying, with nearly

equal success, to comprehend the allegorical paintings on the lofty ceilings. Whilst I was gazing about in this

idle way, my attention was attracted to a distant door, at the end of a suite of apartments. It was closed, but

every now and then it would open, and some strangefavored being, generally clothed in black, would steal

forth, and glide through the rooms, without noticing any of the surrounding objects. There was an air of

mystery about this that piqued my languid curiosity, and I determined to attempt the passage of that strait,

and to explore the unknown regions beyond. The door yielded to my hand, with all that facility with which

the portals of enchanted castles yield to the adventurous knighterrant. I found myself in a spacious chamber,

surrounded with great cases of venerable books. Above the cases, and just under the cornice, were arranged a

great number of blacklooking portraits of ancient authors. About the room were placed long tables, with

stands for reading and writing, at which sat many pale, studious personages, poring intently over dusty

volumes, rummaging among mouldy manuscripts, and taking copious notes of their contents. A hushed

stillness reigned through this mysterious apartment, excepting that you might hear the racing of pens over

sheets of paper, and occasionally the deep sigh of one of these sages, as he shifted his position to turn over

the page of an old folio; doubtless arising from that hollowness and flatulency incident to learned research.

Now and then one of these personages would write something on a small slip of paper, and ring a bell,

whereupon a familiar would appear, take the paper in profound silence, glide out of the room, and return

shortly loaded with ponderous tomes, upon which the other would fall, tooth and nail, with famished

voracity. I had no longer a doubt that I had happened upon a body of magi, deeply engaged in the study of

occult sciences. The scene reminded me of an old Arabian tale, of a philosopher shut up in an enchanted

library, in the bosom of a mountain, which opened only once a year; where he made the spirits of the place

bring him books of all kinds of dark knowledge, so that at the end of the year, when the magic portal once

more swung open on its hinges, he issued forth so versed in forbidden lore, as to be able to soar above the

My curiosity being now fully aroused, I whispered to one of the familiars, as he was about to leave the room,

and begged an interpretation of the strange scene before me. A few words were sufficient for the purpose. I

found that these mysterious personages, whom I had mistaken for magi, were principally authors, and were in

the very act of manufacturing books. I was, in fact, in the readingroom of the great British Library, an

immense collection of volumes of all ages and languages, many of which are now forgotten, and most of

which are seldom read: one of these sequestered pools of obsolete literature to which modern authors repair,

and draw buckets full of classic lore, or "pure English, undefiled," wherewith to swell their own scanty rills

Being now in possession of the secret, I sat down in a corner, and watched the process of this book

manufactory. I noticed one lean, biliouslooking wight, who sought none but the most wormeaten volumes,

printed in black letter. He was evidently constructing some work of profound erudition, that would be

purchased by every man who wished to be thought learned, placed upon a conspicuous shelf of his library, or

laid open upon his tablebut never read. I observed him, now and then, draw a large fragment of biscuit out

of his pocket, and gnaw; whether it was his dinner, or whether he was endeavoring to keep off that exhaustion

of the stomach, produced by much pondering over dry works, I leave to harder students than myself to

There was one dapper little gentleman in brightcolored clothes, with a chirping gossiping expression of

countenance, who had all the appearance of an author on good terms with his bookseller. After considering

him attentively, I recognized in him a diligent getterup of miscellaneous works, which bustled off well with

the trade. I was curious to see how he manufactured his wares. He made more stir and show of business than

any of the others; dipping into various books, fluttering over the leaves of manuscripts, taking a morsel out of

one, a morsel out of another, "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little." The

contents of his book seemed to be as heterogeneous as those of the witches' cauldron in Macbeth. It was here

a finger and there a thumb, toe of frog and blind worm's sting, with his own gossip poured in like "baboon's

After all, thought I, may not this pilfering disposition be implanted in authors for wise purposes? may it not

be the way in which Providence has taken care that the seeds of knowledge and wisdom shall be preserved

from age to age, in spite of the inevitable decay of the works in which they were first produced? We see that

Nature has wisely, though whimsically provided for the conveyance of seeds from clime to clime, in the

maws of certain birds; so that animals, which, in themselves, are little better than carrion, and apparently the

lawless plunderers of the orchard and the cornfield, are, in fact, Nature's carriers to disperse and perpetuate

her blessings. In like manner, the beauties and fine thoughts of ancient and obsolete authors are caught up by

these flights of predatory writers, and cast forth, again to flourish and bear fruit in a remote and distant tract

of time. Many of their works, also, undergo a kind of metempsychosis, and spring up under new forms. What

was formerly a ponderous history, revives in the shape of a romancean old legend changes into a modern

playand a sober philosophical treatise furnishes the body for a whole series of bouncing and sparkling

essays. Thus it is in the clearing of our American woodlands; where we burn down a forest of stately pines, a

progeny of dwarf oaks start up in their place; and we never see the prostrate trunk of a tree mouldering into

Let us not then, lament over the decay and oblivion into which ancient writers descend; they do but submit to

the great law of Nature, which declares that all sublunary shapes of matter shall be limited in their duration,

but which decrees, also, that their element shall never perish. Generation after generation, both in animal and

vegetable life, passes away, but the vital principle is transmitted to posterity, and the species continue to

flourish. Thus, also, do authors beget authors, and having produced a numerous progeny, in a good old age

they sleep with their fathers, that is to say, with the authors who preceded themand from whom they had

Whilst I was indulging in these rambling fancies I had leaned my head against a pile of reverend folios.

Whether it was owing to the soporific emanations for these works; or to the profound quiet of the room; or to

the lassitude arising from much wandering; or to an unlucky habit of napping at improper times and places,

with which I am grievously afflicted, so it was, that I fell into a doze. Still, however, my imagination

continued busy, and indeed the same scene continued before my mind's eye, only a little changed in some of

the details. I dreamt that the chamber was still decorated with the portraits of ancient authors, but that the

number was increased. The long tables had disappeared, and, in place of the sage magi, I beheld a ragged,

threadbare throng, such as may be seen plying about the great repository of castoff clothes, Monmouth

Street. Whenever they seized upon a book, by one of those incongruities common to dreams, methought it

turned into a garment of foreign or antique fashion, with which they proceeded to equip themselves. I

noticed, however, that no one pretended to clothe himself from any particular suit, but took a sleeve from

one, a cape from another, a skirt from a third, thus decking himself out piecemeal, while some of his original

There was a portly, rosy, wellfed parson, whom I observed ogling several mouldy polemical writers through

an eyeglass. He soon contrived to slip on the voluminous mantle of one of the old fathers, and having

purloined the gray beard of another, endeavored to look exceedingly wise; but the smirking commonplace of

his countenance set at naught all the trappings of wisdom. One sicklylooking gentleman was busied

embroidering a very flimsy garment with gold thread drawn out of several old courtdresses of the reign of

Queen Elizabeth. Another had trimmed himself magnificently from an illuminated manuscript, had stuck a

nosegay in his bosom, culled from "The Paradise of Dainty Devices," and having put Sir Philip Sidney's hat

on one side of his head, strutted off with an exquisite air of vulgar elegance. A third, who was but of puny

dimensions, had bolstered himself out bravely with the spoils from several obscure tracts of philosophy, so

that he had a very imposing front, but he was lamentably tattered in rear, and I perceived that he had patched

There were some welldressed gentlemen, it is true, who only helped themselves to a gem or so, which

sparkled among their own ornaments, without eclipsing them. Some, too, seemed to contemplate the

costumes of the old writers, merely to imbibe their principles of taste, and to catch their air and spirit; but I

grieve to say, that too many were apt to array themselves, from top to toe, in the patchwork manner I have

mentioned. I shall not omit to speak of one genius, in drab breeches and gaiters, and an Arcadian hat, who

had a violent propensity to the pastoral, but whose rural wanderings had been confined to the classic haunts

of Primrose Hill, and the solitudes of the Regent's Park. He had decked himself in wreaths and ribbons from

all the old pastoral poets, and, hanging his head on one side, went about with a fantastical, lackadaisical air,

"babbling about green field." But the personage that most struck my attention was a pragmatical old

gentleman in clerical robes, with a remarkably large and square but bald head. He entered the room wheezing

and puffing, elbowed his way through the throng with a look of sturdy selfconfidence, and, having laid

hands upon a thick Greek quarto, clapped it upon his head, and swept majestically away in a formidable

In the height of this literary masquerade, a cry suddenly resounded from every side, of "Thieves! thieves!" I

looked, and lo! the portraits about the walls became animated! The old authors thrust out, first a head, then a

shoulder, from the canvas, looked down curiously for an instant upon the motley throng, and then descended,

with fury in their eyes, to claim their rifled property. The scene of scampering and hubbub that ensued baffles

all description. The unhappy culprits endeavored in vain to escape with their plunder. On one side might be

seen half a dozen old monks, stripping a modern professor; on another, there was sad devastation carried into

the ranks of modern dramatic writers. Beaumont and Fletcher, side by side, raged round the field like Castor

and Pollux, and sturdy Ben Jonson enacted more wonders than when a volunteer with the army in Flanders.

As to the dapper little compiler of farragos mentioned some time since, he had arrayed himself in as many

patches and colors as harlequin, and there was as fierce a contention of claimants about him, as about the

dead body of Patroclus. I was grieved to see many men, to whom I had been accustomed to look up with awe

and reverence, fain to steal off with scarce a rag to cover their nakedness. Just then my eye was caught by the

pragmatical old gentleman in the Greek grizzled wig, who was scrambling away in sore affright with half a

score of authors in full cry after him. They were close upon his haunches; in a twinkling off went his wig; at

every turn some strip of raiment was peeled away, until in a few moments, from his domineering pomp, he

shrunk into a little, pursy, "chopp'd bald shot," and made his exit with only a few tags and rags fluttering at

There was something so ludicrous in the catastrophe of this learned Theban that I burst into an immoderate fit

of laughter, which broke the whole illusion. The tumult and the scuffle were at an end. The chamber resumed

its usual appearance. The old authors shrunk back into their pictureframes, and hung in shadowy solemnity

along the walls. In short, I found myself wide awake in my corner, with the whole assemblage of hookworms

gazing at me with astonishment. Nothing of the dream had been real but my burst of laughter, a sound never

before heard in that grave sanctuary, and so abhorrent to the ears of wisdom, as to electrify the fraternity.

The librarian now stepped up to me, and demanded whether I had a card of admission. At first I did not

comprehend him, but I soon found that the library was a kind of literary "preserve," subject to gamelaws,

and that no one must presume to hunt there without special license and permission. In a word, I stood

convicted of being an arrant poacher, and was glad to make a precipitate retreat, lest I should have a whole

ON a soft sunny morning in the genial month of May I made an excursion to Windsor Castle. It is a place full

of storied and poetical associations. The very external aspect of the proud old pile is enough to inspire high

thought. It rears its irregular walls and massive towers, like a mural crown around the brow of a lofty ridge,

waves its royal banner in the clouds, and looks down with a lordly air upon the surrounding world. On this

morning, the weather was of that voluptuous vernal kind which calls forth all the latent romance of a man's

temperament, filling his mind with music, and disposing him to quote poetry and dream of beauty. In

wandering through the magnificent saloons and long echoing galleries of the castle I passed with indifference

by whole rows of portraits of warriors and statesmen, but lingered in the chamber where hang the likenesses

of the beauties which graced the gay court of Charles the Second; and as I gazed upon them, depicted with

amorous, halfdishevelled tresses, and the sleepy eye of love, I blessed the pencil of Sir Peter Lely, which

bad thus enabled me to bask in the reflected rays of beauty. In traversing also the "large green courts," with

sunshine beaming on the gray walls and glancing along the velvet turf, my mind was engrossed with the

image of the tender, the gallant, but hapless Surrey, and his account of his loiterings about them in his

"With eyes cast up unto the maiden's tower, With easie sighs, such as men draw in love."

In this mood of mere poetical susceptibility, I visited the ancient keep of the castle, where James the First of

Scotland, the pride and theme of Scottish poets and historians, was for many years of his youth detained a

prisoner of state. It is a large gray tower, that has stood the brunt of ages, and is still in good preservation. It

stands on a mound which elevates it above the other parts of the castle, and a great flight of steps leads to the

interior. In the armory, a Gothic hall furnished with weapons of various kinds and ages, I was shown a coat of

armor hanging against the wall, which had once belonged to James. Hence I was conducted up a staircase to a

suite of apartments, of faded magnificence, hung with storied tapestry, which formed his prison, and the

scene of that passionate and fanciful amour, which has woven into the web of his story the magical hues of

The whole history of this amiable but unfortunate prince is highly romantic. At the tender age of eleven, he

was sent from home by his father, Robert III., and destined for the French court, to be reared under the eye of

the French monarch, secure from the treachery and danger that surrounded the royal house of Scotland. It was

his mishap, in the course of his voyage, to fall into the hands of the English, and he was detained prisoner by

The intelligence of his capture, coming in the train of many sorrows and disasters, proved fatal to his

unhappy father. "The news," we are told, "was brought to him while at supper, and did so overwhelm him

with grief that he was almost ready to give up the ghost into the hands of the servants that attended him. But

being carried to his bedchamber, he abstained from all food, and in three days died of hunger and grief at

James was detained in captivity above eighteen years; but, though deprived of personal liberty, he was treated

with the respect due to his rank. Care was taken to instruct him in all the branches of useful knowledge

cultivated at that period, and to give him those mental and personal accomplishments deemed proper for a

prince. Perhaps in this respect his imprisonment was an advantage, as it enabled him to apply himself the

more exclusively to his improvement, and quietly to imbibe that rich fund of knowledge and to cherish those

elegant tastes which have given such a lustre to his memory. The picture drawn of him in early life by the

Scottish historians is highly captivating, and seems rather the description of a hero of romance than of a

character in real history. He was well learnt, we are told, "to fight with the sword, to joust, to tourney, to

wrestle, to sing and dance; he was an expert mediciner, right crafty in playing both of lute and harp, and

sundry other instruments of music, and was expert in grammar, oratory, and poetry."*

With this combination of manly and delicate accomplishments, fitting him to shine both in active and elegant

life, and calculated to give him an intense relish for joyous existence, it must have been a severe trial, in an

age of bustle and chivalry, to pass the springtime of his years in monotonous captivity. It was the good

fortune of James, however, to be gifted with a powerful poetic fancy, and to be visited in his prison by the

choicest inspirations of the muse. Some minds corrode, and grow inactive, under the loss of personal liberty;

others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the poet to become tender and imaginative in the

loneliness of confinement. He banquets upon the honey of his own thoughts, and, like the captive bird, pours

Indeed, it is the divine attribute of the imagination, that it is irrepressible, unconfinablethat when the real

world is shut out, it can create a world for itself, and, with a necromantic power, can conjure up glorious

shapes and forms and brilliant visions, to make solitude populous, and irradiate the gloom of the dungeon.

Such was the world of pomp and pageant that lived round Tasso in his dismal cell at Ferrara, when he

conceived the splendid scenes of his Jerusalem; and we may consider The King's Quair,* composed by James

during his captivity at Windsor, as another of those beautiful breakings forth of the soul from the restraint and

The subject of the poem is his love for the lady Jane Beaufort, daughter of the Earl of Somerset, and a

princess of the bloodroyal of England, of whom he became enamoured in the course of his captivity. What

gives it a peculiar value, is, that it may be considered a transcript of the royal bard's true feelings, and the

story of his real loves and fortunes. It is not often that sovereigns write poetry or that poets deal in fact. It is

gratifying to the pride of a common man, to find a monarch thus suing, as it were, for admission into his

closet, and seeking to win his favor by administering to his pleasures. It is a proof of the honest equality of

intellectual competition, which strips off all the trappings of factitious dignity, brings the candidate down to a

level with his fellowmen, and obliges him to depend on his own native powers for distinction. It is curious,

too, to get at the history of a monarch's heart, and to find the simple affections of human nature throbbing

under the ermine. But James had learnt to be a poet before he was a king; he was schooled in adversity, and

reared in the company of his own thoughts. Monarchs have seldom time to parley with their hearts or to

meditate their minds into poetry; and had James been brought up amidst the adulation and gayety of a court,

I have been particularly interested by those parts of the poem which breathe his immediate thoughts

concerning his situation, or which are connected with the apartment in the Tower. They have thus a personal

and local charm, and are given with such circumstantial truth as to make the reader present with the captive in

Such is the account which he gives of his weariness of spirit, and of the incident which first suggested the

idea of writing the poem. It was the still midwatch of a clear moonlight night; the stars, he says, were

twinkling as fire in the high vault of heaven, and "Cynthia rinsing her golden locks in Aquarius." He lay in

bed wakeful and restless, and took a book to beguile the tedious hours. The book he chose was Boetius'

Consolations of Philosophy, a work popular among the writers of that day, and which had been translated by

his great prototype, Chaucer. From the high eulogium in which he indulges, it is evident this was one of his

favorite volumes while in prison; and indeed it is an admirable textbook for meditation under adversity. It is

the legacy of a noble and enduring spirit, purified by sorrow and suffering, bequeathing to its successors in

calamity the maxims of sweet morality, and the trains of eloquent but simple reasoning, by which it was

enabled to bear up against the various ills of life. It is a talisman, which the unfortunate may treasure up in his

After closing the volume he turns its contents over in his mind, and gradually falls into a fit of musing on the

fickleness of fortune, the vicissitudes of his own life, and the evils that had overtaken him even in his tender

youth. Suddenly he hears the bell ringing to matins, but its sound, chiming in with his melancholy fancies,

seems to him like a voice exhorting him to write his story. In the spirit of poetic errantry he determines to

comply with this intimation; he therefore takes pen in hand, makes with it a sign of the cross to implore a

benediction, and sallies forth into the fairyland of poetry. There is something extremely fanciful in all this,

and it is interesting as furnishing a striking and beautiful instance of the simple manner in which whole trains

of poetical thought are sometimes awakened and literary enterprises suggested to the mind.

In the course of his poem, he more than once bewails the peculiar hardness of his fate, thus doomed to lonely

and inactive life, and shut up from the freedom and pleasure of the world in which the meanest animal

indulges unrestrained. There is a sweetness, however, in his very complaints; they are the lamentations of an

amiable and social spirit at being denied the indulgence of its kind and generous propensities; there is nothing

in them harsh nor exaggerated; they flow with a natural and touching pathos, and are perhaps rendered more

touching by their simple brevity. They contrast finely with those elaborate and iterated repinings which we

sometimes meet with in poetry, the effusions of morbid minds sickening under miseries of their own creating,

and venting their bitterness upon an unoffending world. James speaks of his privations with acute sensibility,

but having mentioned them passes on, as if his manlv mind disdained to brood over unavoidable calamities.

When such a spirit breaks forth into complaint, however brief, we are aware how great must be the suffering

that extorts the murmur. We sympathize with James, a romantic, active, and accomplished prince, cut off in

the lustihood of youth from all the enterprise, the noble uses, and vigorous delights of life, as we do with

Milton, alive to all the beauties of nature and glories of art, when he breathes forth brief but deeptoned

Had not James evinced a deficiency of poetic artifice, we might almost have suspected that these lowerings of

gloomy reflection were meant as preparative to the brightest scene of his story, and to contrast with that

refulgence of light and loveliness, that exhilarating accompaniment of bird and song, and foliage and flower,

and all the revel of, the year, with which he ushers in the lady of his heart. It is this scene, in particular, which

throws all the magic of romance about the old castle keep. He had risen, he says, at daybreak, according to

custom, to escape from the dreary meditations of a sleepless pillow. "Bewailing in his chamber thus alone,"

despairing of all joy and remedy, "for, tired of thought, and woebegone," he had wandered to the window to

indulge the captive's miserable solace, of gazing wistfully upon the world from which he is excluded. The

window looked forth upon a small garden which lay at the foot of the tower. It was a quiet, sheltered spot,

adorned with arbors and green alleys, and protected from the passing gaze by trees and hawthorn hedges.

It was the month of May, when every thing was in bloom, and he interprets the song of the nightingale into

As he gazes on the scene, and listens to the notes of the birds, he gradually relapses into one of those tender

and undefinable reveries, which fill the youthful bosom in this delicious season. He wonders what this love

may be of which he has so often read, and which thus seems breathed forth in the quickening breath of May,

and melting all nature into ecstasy and song. If it really be so great a felicity, and if it be a boon thus generally

dispensed to the most insignificant beings, why is he alone cut off from its enjoyments?

In the midst of his musing, as he casts his eye downward, he beholds "the fairest and the freshest young

floure" that ever he had seen. It is the lovely Lady Jane, walking in the garden to enjoy the beauty of that

"fresh May morrowe." Breaking thus suddenly upon his sight in a moment of loneliness and excited

susceptibility, she at once captivates the fancy of the romantic prince, and becomes the object of his

There is, in this charming scene, an evident resemblance to the early part of Chaucer's Knight's Tale, where

Palamon and Arcite fall in love with Emilia, whom they see walking in the garden of their prison. Perhaps the

similarity of the actual fact to the incident which he had read in Chaucer may have induced James to dwell on

it in his poem. His description of the Lady Jane is given in the picturesque and minute manner of his master,

and, being doubtless taken from the life, is a perfect portrait of a beauty of that day. He dwells with the

fondness of a lover on every article of her apparel, from the net of pearl, splendent with emeralds and

sapphires, that confined her golden hair, even to the "goodly chaine of small orfeverye"* about her neck,

whereby there hung a ruby in shape of a heart, that seemed, he says, like a spark of fire burning upon her

white bosom. Her dress of white tissue was looped up to enable her to walk with more freedom. She was

accompanied by two female attendants, and about her sported a little hound decorated with bells, probably

the small Italian hound of exquisite symmetry which was a parlor favorite and pet among the fashionable

dames of ancient times. James closes his description by a burst of general eulogium:

The departure of the Lady Jane from the garden puts an end to this transient riot of the heart. With her departs

the amorous illusion that had shed a temporary charm over the scene of his captivity, and he relapses into

loneliness, now rendered tenfold more intolerable by this passing beam of unattainable beauty. Through the

long and weary day he repines at his unhappy lot, and when evening approaches, and Phoebus, as he

beautifully expresses it, had "bade farewell to every leaf and flower," he still lingers at the window, and,

laying his head upon the cold stone, gives vent to a mingled flow of love and sorrow, until, gradually lulled

by the mute melancholy of the twilight hour, he lapses, "halfsleeping, half swoon," into a vision, which

occupies the remainder of the poem, and in which is allegorically shadowed out the history of his passion.

When he wakes from his trance, he rises from his stony pillow, and, pacing his apartment, full of dreary

reflections, questions his spirit, whither it has been wandering; whether, indeed, all that has passed before his

dreaming fancy has been conjured up by preceding circumstances, or whether it is a vision intended to

comfort and assure him in his despondency. If the latter, he prays that some token may be sent to confirm the

promise of happier days, given him in his slumbers. Suddenly, a turtledove of the purest whiteness comes

flying in at the window, and alights upon his hand, bearing in her bill a branch of red gilliflower, on the

He receives the branch with mingled hope and dread; reads it with rapture; and this he says was the first

token of his succeeding happiness. Whether this is a mere poetic fiction, or whether the Lady Jane did

actually send him a token of her favor in this romantic way, remains to be determined according to the fate or

fancy of the reader. He concludes his poem by intimating that the promise conveyed in the vision and by the

flower, is fulfilled by his being restored to liberty, and made happy in the possession of the sovereign of his

Such is the poetical account given by James of his love adventures in Windsor Castle. How much of it is

absolute fact, and how much the embellishment of fancy, it is fruitless to conjecture; let us not, however,

reject every romantic incident as incompatible with real life, but let us sometimes take a poet at his word. I

have noticed merely those parts of the poem immediately connected with the tower, and have passed over a

large part which was in the allegorical vein, so much cultivated at that day. The language, of course, is quaint

and antiquated, so that the beauty of many of its golden phrases will scarcely be perceived at the present day,

but it is impossible not to be charmed with the genuine sentiment, the delightful artlessness and urbanity,

which prevail throughout it. The descriptions of Nature too, with which it is embellished, are given with a

truth, a discrimination, and a freshness, worthy of the most cultivated periods of the art.

As an amatory poem, it is edifying, in these days of coarser thinking, to notice the nature, refinement, and

exquisite delicacy which pervade it; banishing every gross thought, or immodest expression, and presenting

female loveliness, clothed in all its chivalrous attributes of almost supernatural purity and grace.

James flourished nearly about the time of Chaucer and Gower, and was evidently an admirer and studier of

their writings. Indeed, in one of his stanzas he acknowledges them as his masters; and in some parts of his

poem we find traces of similarity to their productions, more especially to those of Chaucer. There are always,

however, general features of resemblance in the works of contemporary authors, which are not so much

borrowed from each other as from the times. Writers, like bees, toll their sweets in the wide world; they

incorporate with their own conceptions, the anecdotes and thoughts current in society; and thus each

generation has some features in common, characteristic of the age in which it lives.

James belongs to one of the most brilliant eras of our literary history, and establishes the claims of his

country to a participation in its primitive honors. Whilst a small cluster of English writers are constantly cited

as the fathers of our verse, the name of their great Scottish compeer is apt to be passed over in silence; but he

is evidently worthy of being enrolled in that little constellation of remote but neverfailing luminaries who

shine in the highest firmament of literature, and who, like morning stars, sang together at the bright dawning

Such of my readers as may not be familiar with Scottish history (though the manner in which it has of late

been woven with captivating fiction has made it a universal study) may be curious to learn something of the

subsequent history of James and the fortunes of his love. His passion for the Lady Jane, as it was the solace of

his captivity, so it facilitated his release, it being imagined by the Court that a connection with the

bloodroyal of England would attach him to its own interests. He was ultimately restored to his liberty and

crown, having previously espoused the Lady Jane, who accompanied him to Scotland, and made him a most

He found his kingdom in great confusion, the feudal chieftains having taken advantage of the troubles and

irregularities of a long interregnum, to strengthen themselves n their possessions, and place themselves above

the power of the laws. James sought to found the basis of his power in the affections of his people. He

attached the lower orders to him by the reformation of abuses, the temperate and equable administration of

justice, the encouragement of the arts of peace, and the promotion of every thing that could diffuse comfort,

competency, and innocent enjoyment through the humblest ranks of society. He mingled occasionally among

the common people in disguise; visited their firesides; entered into their cares, their pursuits, and their

amusements; informed himself of the mechanical arts, and how they could best be patronized and improved;

and was thus an allpervading spirit, watching with a benevolent eye over the meanest of his subjects.

Having in this generous manner made himself strong in the hearts of the common people, he turned himself

to curb the power of the factious nobility; to strip them of those dangerous immunities which they had

usurped; to punish such as had been guilty of flagrant offences; and to bring the whole into proper obedience

to the Crown. For some time they bore this with outward submission, but with secret impatience and

brooding resentment. A conspiracy was at length formed against his life, at the head of which was his own

uncle, Robert Stewart, Earl of Athol, who, being too old himself for the perpetration of the deed of blood,

instigated his grandson, Sir Robert Stewart, together with Sir Robert Graham, and others of less note, to

commit the deed. They broke into his bedchamber at the Dominican convent near Perth, where he was

residing, and barbarously murdered him by oftrepeated wounds. His faithful queen, rushing to throw her

tender body between him and the sword, was twice wounded in the ineffectual attempt to shield him from the

assassin; and it was not until she had been forcibly torn from his person, that the murder was accomplished.

It was the recollection of this romantic tale of former times, and of the golden little poem, which had its

birthplace in this tower, that made me visit the old pile with more than common interest. The suit of armor

hanging up in the hall, richly gilt and embellished, as if to figure in the tourney, brought the image of the

gallant and romantic prince vividly before my imagination. I paced the deserted chambers where he had

composed his poem; I leaned upon the window, and endeavored to persuade myself it was the very one where

he had been visited by his vision; I looked out upon the spot where he had first seen the Lady Jane. It was the

same genial and joyous month; the birds were again vying with each other in strains of liquid melody; every

thing was bursting into vegetation, and budding forth the tender promise of the year. Time, which delights to

obliterate the sterner memorials of human pride, seems to have passed lightly over this little scene of poetry

and love, and to have withheld his desolating hand. Several centuries have gone by, yet the garden still

flourishes at the foot of the tower. It occupies what was once the moat of the keep; and, though some parts

have been separated by dividing walls, yet others have still their arbors and shaded walks, as in the days of

James, and the whole is sheltered, blooming, and retired. There is a charm about the spot that has been

printed by the footsteps of departed beauty, and consecrated by the inspirations of the poet, which is

heightened, rather than impaired, by the lapse of ages. It is, indeed, the gift of poetry, to hallow every place in

which it moves; to breathe around nature an odor more exquisite than the perfume of the rose, and to shed

Others may dwell on the illustrious deeds of James as a warrior and a legislator; but I have delighted to view

him merely as the companion of his fellowmen, the benefactor of the human heart, stooping from his high

estate to sow the sweet flowers of poetry and song in the paths of common life. He was the first to cultivate

the vigorous and hardy plant of Scottish genius, which has since become so prolific of the most wholesome

and highly flavored fruit. He carried with him into the sterner regions of the north, all the fertilizing arts of

southern refinement. He did every thing in his power to win his countrymen to the gay, the elegant, and

gentle arts, which soften and refine the character of a people, and wreathe a grace round the loftiness of a

proud and warlike spirit. He wrote many poems, which, unfortunately for the fulness of his fame, are now

lost to the world; one, which is still preserved, called "Christ's Kirk of the Green," shows how diligently he

had made himself acquainted with the rustic sports and pastimes, which constitute such a source of kind and

social feeling among the Scottish peasantry; and with what simple and happy humor he could enter into their

enjoyments. He contributed greatly to improve the national music; and traces of his tender sentiment and

elegant taste are said to exist in those witching airs, still piped among the wild mountains and lonely glens of

Scotland. He has thus connected his image with whatever is most gracious and endearing in the national

character; he has embalmed his memory in song, and floated his name to afterages in the rich streams of

Scottish melody. The recollection of these things was kindling at my heart, as I paced the silent scene of his

imprisonment. I have visited Vaucluse with as much enthusiasm as a pilgrim would visit the shrine at

Loretto; but I have never felt more poetical devotion than when contemplating the old tower and the little

garden at Windsor, and musing over the romantic loves of the Lady Jane, and the Royal Poet of Scotland.

THERE are few places more favorable to the study of character than an English country church. I was once

passing a few weeks at the seat of a friend who resided in, the vicinity of one the appearance of which

particularly struck my fancy. It was one of those rich morsels of quaint antiquity, which gives such a peculiar

charm to English landscape. It stood in the midst of a country filled with ancient families, and contained

within its cold and silent aisles the congregated dust of many noble generations. The interior walls were

encrusted with monuments of every age and style. The light streamed through windows dimmed with

armorial bearings, richly emblazoned in stained glass. In various parts of the church were tombs of knights,

and highborn dames, of gorgeous workmanship, with their effigies in colored marble. On every side, the eye

was struck with some instance of aspiring mortality, some haughty memorial which human pride had erected

The congregation was composed of the neighboring people of rank, who sat in pews sumptuously lined and

cushioned, furnished with richlygilded prayerbooks, and decorated with their arms upon the pew doors; of

the villagers and peasantry, who filled the back seats and a small gallery beside the organ; and of the poor of

The service was performed by a snuffling, wellfed vicar, who had a snug dwelling near the church. He was

a privileged guest at all the tables of the neighborhood, and had been the keenest foxhunter in the country,

until age and good living had disabled him from doing anything more than ride to see the hounds throw off,

Under the ministry of such a pastor, I found it impossible to get into the train of thought suitable to the time

and place; so, having, like many other feeble Christians, compromised with my conscience, by laying the sin

of my own delinquency at another person's threshold, I occupied myself by making observations on my

I was as yet a stranger in England, and curious to notice the manners of its fashionable classes. I found, as

usual, that there was the least pretension where there was the most acknowledged title to respect. I was

particularly struck, for instance, with the family of a nobleman of high rank, consisting of several sons and

daughters. Nothing could be more simple and unassuming than their appearance. They generally came to

church in the plainest equipage, and often on foot. The young ladies would stop and converse in the kindest

manner with the peasantry, caress the children, and listen to the stories of the humble cottagers. Their

countenances were open and beautifully fair, with an expression of high refinement, but at the same time a

frank cheerfulness and engaging affability. Their brothers were tall, and elegantly formed. They were dressed

fashionably, but simplywith strict neatness and propriety, but without any mannerism or foppishness. Their

whole demeanor was easy and natural, with that lofty grace and noble frankness which bespeak freeborn

souls that have never been checked in their growth by feelings of inferiority. There is a healthful hardiness

about real dignity, that never dreads contact and communion with others, however humble. It is only spurious

pride that is morbid and sensitive, and shrinks from every touch. I was pleased to see the manner in which

they would converse with the peasantry about those rural concerns and fieldsports in which the gentlemen

of the country so much delight. In these conversations there was neither haughtiness on the one part, nor

servility on the other, and you were only reminded of the difference of rank by the habitual respect of the

In contrast to these was the family of a wealthy citizen, who had amassed a vast fortune, and, having

purchased the estate and mansion of a ruined nobleman in the neighborhood, was endeavoring to assume all

the style and dignity of an hereditary lord of the soil. The family always came to church en prince. They were

rolled majestically along in a carriage emblazoned with arms. The crest glittered in silver radiance from every

part of the harness where a crest could possibly be placed. A fat coachman, in a threecornered hat richly

laced and a flaxen wig, curling close round his rosy face, was seated on the box, with a sleek Danish dog

beside him. Two footmen in gorgeous liveries, with huge bouquets, and goldheaded canes, lolled behind.

The carriage rose and sunk on its long springs with a peculiar stateliness of motion. The very horses champed

their bits, arched their necks, and glanced their eyes more proudly than common horses; either because they

had caught a little of the family feeling, or were reined up more tightly than ordinary.

I could not but admire the style with which this splendid pageant was brought up to the gate of the

churchyard. There was a vast effect produced at the turning of an angle of the walla great smacking of the

whip, straining and scrambling of the horses, glistening of harness, and flashing of wheels through gravel.

This was the moment of triumph and vainglory to the coachman. The horses were urged and checked, until

they were fretted into a foam. They threw out their feet in a. prancing trot, dashing about pebbles at every

step. The crowd of villagers sauntering quietly to church opened precipitately to the right and left, gaping in

vacant admiration. On reaching the gate, the horses were pulled up with a suddenness that produced an

There was an extraordinary hurry of the footmen to alight, pull down the steps, and prepare everything for the

descent on earth of this august family. The old citizen first emerged his round red face from out the door,

looking about him with the pompous air of a man accustomed to rule on 'Change, and shake the Stock Market

with a nod. His consort, a fine, fleshy, comfortable dame, followed him. There seemed, I must confess, but

little pride in her composition. She was the picture of broad, honest, vulgar enjoyment. The world went well

with her; and she liked the world. She had fine clothes, a fine house, a fine carriage, fine

childreneverything was fine about her: it was nothing but driving about and visiting and feasting. Life was

Two daughters succeeded to this goodly couple. They certainly were handsome, but had a supercilious air

that chilled admiration and disposed the spectator to be critical. They were ultrafashionable in dress, and,

though no one could deny the richness of their decorations, yet their appropriateness might be questioned

amidst the simplicity of a country church. They descended loftily from the carriage, and moved up the line of

peasantry with a step that seemed dainty of the soil it trod on. They cast an excursive glance around, that

passed coldly over the burly faces of the peasantry, until they met the eyes of the nobleman's family, when

their countenances immediately brightened into smiles, and they made the most profound and elegant

courtesies, which were returned in a manner that showed they were but slight acquaintances.

I must not forget the two sons of this inspiring citizen, who came to church in a dashing curricle with

outriders. They were arrayed in the extremity of the mode, with all that pedantry of dress which marks the

man of questionable pretensions to style. They kept entirely by themselves, eying every one askance that

came near them, as if measuring his claims to respectability; yet they were without conversation, except the

exchange of an occasional cant phrase. They even moved artificially, for their bodies, in compliance with the

caprice of the day, had been disciplined into the absence of all ease and freedom. Art had done everything to

accomplish them as men of fashion, but Nature had denied them the nameless grace. They were vulgarly

shaped, like men formed for the common purposes of life, and had that air of supercilious assumption which

I have been rather minute in drawing the pictures of these two families, because I considered them specimens

of what is often to be met with in this countrythe unpretending great, and the arrogant little. I have no

respect for titled rank, unless it be accompanied with true nobility of soul; but I have remarked, in all

countries where artificial distinctions exist, that the very highest classes are always the most courteous and

unassuming. Those who are well assured of their own standing are least apt to trespass on that of others;

whereas, nothing is so offensive as the aspirings of vulgarity, which thinks to elevate itself by humiliating its

As I have brought these families into contrast, I must notice their behavior in church. That of the nobleman's

family was quiet, serious, and attentive. Not that they appeared to have any fervor of devotion, but rather a

respect for sacred things, and sacred places, inseparable from goodbreeding. The others, on the contrary,

were in a perpetual flutter and whisper; they betrayed a continual consciousness of finery, and the sorry

The old gentleman was the only one really attentive to the service. He took the whole burden of family

devotion upon himself; standing bolt upright, and uttering the responses with a loud voice that might be heard

all over the church. It was evident that he was one of these thorough Churchandking men, who connect the

idea of devotion and loyalty; who consider the Deity, somehow or other, of the government party, and

religion "a very excellent sort of thing, that ought to be countenanced and kept up."

When he joined so loudly in the service, it seemed more by way of example to the lower orders, to show them

that, though so great and wealthy, he was not above being religious; as I have seen a turtlefed alderman

swallow publicly a basin of charity soup, smacking his lips at every mouthful and pronouncing it "excellent

When the service was at an end, I was curious to witness the several exits of my groups. The young noblemen

and their sisters, as the day was fine, preferred strolling home across the fields, chatting with the country

people as they went. The others departed as they came, in grand parade. Again were the equipages wheeled

up to the gate. There was again the smacking of whips, the clattering of hoofs, and the glittering of harness.

The horses started off almost at a bound; the villagers again hurried to right and left; the wheels threw up a

THOSE who are in the habit of remarking such matters must have noticed the passive quiet of an English

landscape on Sunday. The clacking of the mill, the regularly recurring stroke of the flail, the din of the

blacksmith's hammer, the whistling of the ploughman, the rattling of the cart, and all other sounds of rural

labor are suspended. The very farmdogs bark less frequently, being less disturbed by passing travellers. At

such times I have almost fancied the wind sunk into quiet, and that the sunny landscape, with its fresh green

Sweet day, so pure, so calm, so brigh' The bridal of the earth and sky. Well was it ordained that the day of

devotion should be a day of rest. The holy repose which reigns over the face of nature has its moral influence;

every restless passion is charmed down, and we feel the natural religion of the soul gently springing up within

us. For my part, there are feelings that visit me, in a country church, amid the beautiful serenity of nature,

which I experience nowhere else; and if not a more religious, I think I am a better man on Sunday than on any

During my recent residence in the country, I used frequently to attend at the old village church. Its shadowy

aisles, its mouldering monuments, its dark oaken panelling, all reverend with the gloom of departed years,

seemed to fit it for the haunt of solemn meditation; but, being in a wealthy, aristocratic neighborhood, the

glitter of fashion penetrated even into the sanctuary; and I felt myself continually thrown back upon the

world, by the frigidity and pomp of the poor worms around me. The only being in the whole congregation

who appeared thoroughly to feel the humble and prostrate piety of a true Christian was a poor decrepit old

woman, bending under the weight of years and infirmities. She bore the traces of something better than abject

poverty. The lingerings of decent pride were visible in her appearance. Her dress, though humble in the

extreme, was scrupulously clean. Some trivial respect, too, had been awarded her, for she did not take her

seat among the village poor, but sat alone on the steps of the altar. She seemed to have survived all love, all

friendship, all society, and to have nothing left her but the hopes of heaven. When I saw her feebly rising and

bending her aged form in prayer; habitually conning her prayerbook, which her palsied hand and failing

eyes could not permit her to read, but which she evidently knew by heart, I felt persuaded that the faltering

voice of that poor woman arose to heaven far before the responses of the clerk, the swell of the organ, or the

I am fond of loitering about country churches, and this was so delightfully situated, that it frequently attracted

me. It stood on a knoll, round which a small stream made a beautiful bend and then wound its way through a

long reach of soft meadow scenery. The church was surrounded by yew trees, which seemed almost coeval

with itself. Its tall Gothic spire shot up lightly from among them, with rooks and crows generally wheeling

about it. I was seated there one still sunny morning watching two laborers who were digging a grave. They

had chosen one of the most remote and neglected corners of the churchyard, where, from the number of

nameless graves around, it would appear that the indigent and friendless were huddled into the earth. I was

told that the newmade grave was for the only son of a poor widow. While I was meditating on the

distinctions of worldly rank, which extend thus down into the very dust, the toll of the bell announced the

approach of the funeral. They were the obsequies of poverty, with which pride had nothing to do. A coffin of

the plainest materials, without pall or other covering, was borne by some of the villagers. The sexton walked

before with an air of cold indifference. There were no mock mourners in the trappings of affected woe, but

there was one real mourner who feebly tottered after the corpse. It was the aged mother of the deceased, the

poor old woman whom I had seen seated on the steps of the altar. She was supported by a humble friend, who

was endeavoring to comfort her. A few of the neighboring poor had joined the train, and some children of the

village were running hand in hand, now shouting with unthinking mirth, and now pausing to gaze, with

As the funeral train approached the grave, the parson issued from the churchporch, arrayed in the surplice,

with prayerbook in hand, and attended by the clerk. The service, however, was a mere act of charity. The

deceased had been destitute, and the survivor was penniless. It was shuffled through, therefore, in form, but

coldly and unfeeling. The wellfed priest moved but a few steps from the church door; his voice could

scarcely be heard at the grave; and never did I hear the funeral service, that sublime and touching ceremony,

I approached the grave. The coffin was placed on the ground. On it were inscribed the name and age of the

deceased"George Somers, aged 26 years." The poor mother had been assisted to kneel down at the head of

it. Her withered hands were clasped, as if in prayer; but I could perceive, by a feeble rocking of the body, and

a convulsive motion of the lips, that she was gazing on the last relics of her son with the yearnings of a

Preparations were made to deposit the coffin in the earth. There was that bustling stir, which breaks so

harshly on the feelings of grief and affection; directions given in the cold tones of business; the striking of

spades into sand and gravel; which, at the grave of those we love, is, of all sounds, the most withering. The

bustle around seemed to waken the mother from a wretched revery. She raised her glazed eyes, and looked

about with a faint wildness. As the men approached with cords to lower the coffin into the grave, she wrung

her hands, and broke into an agony of grief. The poor woman who attended her took her by the arm

endeavoring to raise her from the earth, and to whisper something like consolation: "Nay, nownay,

nowdon't take it so sorely to heart." She could only shake her head, and wring her hands, as one not to be

As they lowered the body into the earth, the creaking of the cords seemed to agonize her; but when, on some

accidental obstruction, there was a jostling of the coffin, all the tenderness of the mother burst forth, as if any

I could see no moremy heart swelled into my throatmy eyes filled with tears; I felt as if I were acting a

barbarous part in standing by and gazing idly on this scene of maternal anguish. I wandered to another part of

When I saw the mother slowly and painfully quitting the grave, leaving behind her the remains of all that was

dear to her on earth, and returning to silence and destitution, my heart ached for her. What, thought I, are the

distresses of the rich? They have friends to soothepleasures to beguilea world to divert and dissipate

their griefs. What are the sorrows of the young? Their growing minds soon close above the woundtheir

elastic spirits soon rise beneath the pressuretheir green and ductile affections soon twine round new

objects. But the sorrows of the poor, who have no outward appliances to soothethe sorrows of the aged,

with whom life at best is but a wintry day, and who can look for no aftergrowth of joythe sorrows of a

widow, aged, solitary, destitute, mourning over an only son, the last solace of her years,these are indeed

It was some time before I left the churchyard. On my way homeward, I met with the woman who had acted as

comforter: she was just returning from accompanying the mother to her lonely habitation, and I drew from

The parents of the deceased had resided in the village from childhood. They had inhabited one of the neatest

cottages, and by various rural occupations, and the assistance of a small garden, had supported themselves

creditably and comfortably, and led a happy and a blameless life. They had one son, who had grown up to be

the staff and pride of their age. "Oh, sir!" said the good woman, "he was such a comely lad, so

sweettempered, so kind to every one around him, so dutiful to his parents! It did one's heart good to see him

of a Sunday, drest out in his best, so tall, so straight, so cheery, supporting his old mother to church; for she

was always fonder of leaning on George's arm than on her good man's; and, poor soul, she might well be

Unfortunately, the son was tempted, during a year of scarcity and agricultural hardship, to enter into the

service of one of the small craft that plied on a neighboring river. He had not been long in this employ, when

he was entrapped by a pressgang, and carried off to sea. His parents received tidings of his seizure, but

beyond that they could learn nothing. It was the loss of their main prop. The father, who was already infirm,

grew heartless and melancholy and sunk into his grave. The widow, left lonely in her age and feebleness,

could no longer support herself, and came upon the parish. Still there was a kind feeling towards her

throughout the village, and a certain respect as being one of the oldest inhabitants. As no one applied for the

cottage in which she had passed so many happy days, she was permitted to remain in it, where she lived

solitary and almost helpless. The few wants of nature were chiefly supplied from the scanty productions of

her little garden, which the neighbors would now and then cultivate for her. It was but a few days before the

time at which these circumstances were told me, that she was gathering some vegetables for her repast, when

she heard the cottagedoor which faced the garden, suddenly opened. A stranger came out, and seemed to be

looking eagerly and wildly around. He was dressed in seamen's clothes, was emaciated and ghastly pale, and

bore the air of one broken by sickness and hardships. He saw her and hastened towards her, but his steps were

faint and faltering; he sank on his knees before her and sobbed like a child. The poor woman gazed upon him

with a vacant and wandering eye. "Oh, my dear, dear mother! don't you know your son? your poor boy,

George?" It was, indeed, the wreck of her once noble lad; who shattered by wounds, by sickness and foreign

imprisonment, had, at length, dragged his wasted limbs homeward, to repose among the scenes of his

I will not attempt to detail the particulars of such a meeting, where sorrow and joy were so completely

blended: still, he was alive! he was come home! he might yet live to comfort and cherish her old age! Nature,

however, was exhausted in him; and if any thing had been wanting to finish the work of fate, the desolation

of his native cottage would have been sufficient. He stretched himself on the pallet on which his widowed

The villagers, when they heard that George Somers had returned, crowded to see him, offering every comfort

and assistance that their humble means afforded. He was too weak, however, to talkhe could only look his

thanks. His mother was his constant attendant; and he seemed unwilling to be helped by any other hand.

There is something in sickness that breaks down the pride of manhood, that softens the heart, and brings it

back to the feelings of infancy. Who that has languished, even in advanced life, in sickness and despondency,

who that has pined on a weary bed in the neglect and loneliness of a foreign land, but has thought on the

mother "that looked on his childhood," that smoothed his pillow, and administered to his helplessness? Oh,

there is an enduring tenderness in the love of a mother to a son, that transcends all other affections of the

heart. It is neither to be chilled by selfishness, nor daunted by danger, nor weakened by worthlessness, nor

stifled by ingratitude. She will sacrifice every comfort to his convenience; she will surrender every pleasure

to his enjoyment; she will glory in his fame and exult in his prosperity; and, if misfortune overtake him, he

will be the dearer to her from misfortune; and if disgrace settle upon his name, she will still love and cherish

him in spite of his disgrace; and if all the world beside cast him off, she will be all the world to him.

Poor George Somers had known what it was to be in sickness, and none to soothelonely and in prison, and

none to visit him. He could not endure his mother from his sight; if she moved away, his eye would follow

her. She would sit for hours by his bed watching him as he slept. Sometimes he would start from a feverish

dream, and look anxiously up until he saw her bending over him; when he would take her hand, lay it on his

My first impulse on hearing this humble tale of affliction was to visit the cottage of the mourner, and

administer pecuniary assistance, and, if possible, comfort. I found, however, on inquiry, that the good

feelings of the villagers had prompted them to do everything that the case admitted; and as the poor know

The next Sunday I was at the village church, when, to my surprise, I saw the poor old woman tottering down

She had made an effort to put on something like mourning for her son; and nothing could be more touching

than this struggle between pious affection and utter povertya black ribbon or so, a faded black

handkerchief, and one or two more such humble attempts to express by outward signs that grief which passes

show. When I looked round upon the storied monuments, the stately hatchments, the cold marble pomp with

which grandeur mourned magnificently over departed pride, and turned to this poor widow, bowed down by

age and sorrow at the altar of her God, and offering up the prayers and praises of a pious though a broken

I related her story to some of the wealthy members of the congregation, and they were moved by it. They

exerted themselves to render her situation more comfortable, and to lighten her afflictions. It was, however,

but smoothing a few steps to the grave. In the course of a Sunday or two after, she was missed from her usual

seat at church, and before I left the neighborhood I heard, with a feeling of satisfaction, that she had quietly

breathed her last, and had gone to rejoin those she loved, in that world where sorrow is never known and

IN a preceding paper I have spoken of an English Sunday in the country and its tranquillizing effect upon the

landscape; but where is its sacred influence more strikingly apparent than in the very heart of that great

Babel, London? On this sacred day the gigantic monster is charmed into repose. The intolerable din and

struggle of the week are at an end. The shops are shut. The fires of forges and manufactories are

extinguished, and the sun, no longer obscured by murky clouds of smoke, pours down a sober yellow

radiance into the quiet streets. The few pedestrians we meet, instead of hurrying forward with anxious

countenances, move leisurely along; their brows are smoothed from the wrinkles of business and care; they

have put on their Sunday looks and Sunday manners with their Sunday clothes, and are cleansed in mind as

And now the melodious clangor of bells from church towers summons their several flocks to the fold. Forth

issues from his mansion the family of the decent tradesman, the small children in the advance; then the

citizen and his comely spouse, followed by the grownup daughters, with small moroccobound

prayerbooks laid in the folds of their pockethandkerchiefs. The housemaid looks after them from the

window, admiring the finery of the family, and receiving, perhaps, a nod and smile from her young

Now rumbles along the carriage of some magnate of the city, peradventure an alderman or a sheriff, and now

the patter of many feet announces it procession of charity scholars in uniforms of antique cut, and each with a

The ringing of bells is at an end; the rumbling of the carriage has ceased; the pattering of feet is heard no

more; the flocks are folded in ancient churches, cramped up in bylanes and corners of the crowded city,

where the vigilant beadle keeps watch, like the shepherd's dog, round the threshold of the sanctuary. For a

time everything is hushed, but soon is heard the deep, pervading sound of the organ, rolling and vibrating

through the empty lanes and courts, and the sweet chanting of the choir making them resound with melody

and praise. Never have I been more sensible of the sanctifying effect of church music than when I have heard

it thus poured forth, like a river of joy, through the inmost recesses of this great metropolis, elevating it, as it

were, from all the sordid pollutions of the week, and bearing the poor worldworn soul on a tide of

The morning service is at an end. The streets are again alive with the congregations returning to their homes,

but soon again relapse into silence. Now comes on the Sunday dinner, which, to the city tradesman, is a meal

of some importance. There is more leisure for social enjoyment at the board. Members of the family can now

gather together, who are separated by the laborious occupations of the week. A schoolboy may be permitted

on that day to come to the paternal home; an old friend of the family takes his accustomed Sunday seat at the

board, tells over his wellknown stories, and rejoices young and old with his wellknown jokes.

On Sunday afternoon the city pours forth its lesions to breathe the fresh air and enjoy the sunshine of the

parks and rural environs. Satirists may say what they please about the rural enjoyments of a London citizen

on Sunday, but to me there is something delightful in beholding the poor prisoner of the crowded and dusty

city enabled thus to come forth once a week and throw himself upon the green bosom of nature. He is like a

child restored to the mother's breast; and they who first spread out these noble parks and magnificent

pleasuregrounds which surround this huge metropolis have done at least as much for its health and morality

as if they had expended the amount of cost in hospitals, prisons, and penitentiaries.

IT is a pious custom in some Catholic countries to honor the memory of saints by votive lights burnt before

their pictures. The popularity of a saint, therefore, may be known by the number of these offerings. One,

perhaps, is left to moulder in the darkness of his little chapel; another may have a solitary lamp to throw its

blinking rays athwart his effigy; while the whole blaze of adoration is lavished at the shrine of some beatified

father of renown. The wealthy devotee brings his huge luminary of wax, the eager zealot, his sevenbranched

candlestick; and even the mendicant pilgrim is by no means satisfied that sufficient light is thrown upon the

deceased unless he hangs up his little lamp of smoking oil. The consequence is, that in the eagerness to

enlighten, they are often apt to obscure; and I have occasionally seen an unlucky saint almost smoked out of

In like manner has it fared with the immortal Shakespeare. Every writer considers it his bounden duty to light

up some portion of his character or works, and to rescue some merit from oblivion. The commentator,

opulent in words, produces vast tomes of dissertations; the common herd of editors send up mists of obscurity

from their notes at the bottom of each page; and every casual scribbler brings his farthing rushlight of eulogy

As I honor all established usages of my brethren of the quill, I thought it but proper to contribute my mite of

homage to the memory of the illustrious bard. I was for some time, however, sorely puzzled in what way I

should discharge this duty. I found myself anticipated in every attempt at a new reading; every doubtful line

had been explained a dozen different ways, and perplexed beyond the reach of elucidation; and as to fine

passages, they had all been amply praised by previous admirers; nay, so completely had the bard, of late,

been overlarded with panegyric by a great German critic that it was difficult now to find even a fault that had

In this perplexity I was one morning turning over his pages when I casually opened upon the comic scenes of

Henry IV., and was, in a moment, completely lost in the madcap revelry of the Boar's Head Tavern. So

vividly and naturally are these scenes of humor depicted, and with such force and consistency are the

characters sustained, that they become mingled up in the mind with the facts and personages of real life. To

few readers does it occur that these are all ideal creations of a poet's brain, and that, in sober truth, no such

For my part, I love to give myself up to the illusions of poetry. A hero of fiction that never existed is just as

valuable to me as a hero of history that existed a thousand years since and, if I may be excused such an

insensibility to the common ties of human nature, I would not give up fat Jack for half the great men of

ancient chronicle. What have the heroes of yore done for me or men like me? They have conquered countries

of which I do not enjoy an acre, or they have gained laurels of which I do not inherit a leaf, or they have

furnished examples of hairbrained prowess, which I have neither the opportunity nor the inclination to

follow. But, old Jack Falstaff! kind Jack Falstaff! sweet Jack Falstaff! has enlarged the boundaries of human

enjoyment; he has added vast regions of wit and goodhumor, in which the poorest man may revel, and has

bequeathed a neverfailing inheritance of jolly laughter, to make mankind merrier and better to the latest

A thought suddenly struck me. "I will make a pilgrimage to Eastcheap," said I, closing the book, "and see if

the old Boar's Head Tavern still exists. Who knows but I may light upon some legendary traces of Dame

Quickly and her guests? At any rate, there will be a kindred pleasure in treading the halls once vocal with

their mirth to that the toper enjoys in smelling to the empty cask, once filled with generous wine."

The resolution was no sooner formed than put in execution. I forbear to treat of the various adventures and

wonders I encountered in my travels; of the haunted regions of Cock Lane; of the faded glories of Little

Britain and the parts adjacent; what perils I ran in Cateaton Street and Old Jewry; of the renowned Guildhall

and its two stunted giants, the pride and wonder of the city and the terror of all unlucky urchins; and how I

visited London Stone, and struck my staff upon it in imitation of that archrebel Jack Cade.

Let it suffice to say, that I at length arrived in merry Eastcheap, that ancient region of wit and wassail, where

the very names of the streets relished of good cheer, as Pudding Lane bears testimony even at the present day.

For Eastcheap, says old Stow, "was always famous for its convivial doings. The cookes cried hot ribbes of

beef roasted, pies well baked, and other victuals: there was clattering of pewter pots, harpe, pipe, and

sawtrie." Alas! how sadly is the scene changed since the roaring days of Falstaff and old Stow! The madcap

roisterer has given place to the plodding tradesman; the clattering of pots and the sound of "harpe and

sawtrie," to the din of carts and the accurst dinging of the dustman's bell; and no song is heard, save, haply,

the strain of some syren from Billingsgate, chanting the eulogy of deceased mackerel.

I sought, in vain, for the ancient abode of Dame Quickly. The only relict of it is a boar's head, carved in relief

in stone, which formerly served as the sign, but at present is built into the parting line of two houses which

For the history of this little abode of good fellowship I was referred to a tallowchandler's widow opposite,

who had been born and brought up on the spot, and was looked up to as the indisputable chronicler of the

neighborhood. I found her seated in a little back parlor, the window of which looked out upon a yard about

eight feet square laid out as a flowergarden, while a glass door opposite afforded a distant view of the street,

through a vista of soap and tallow candlesthe two views, which comprised, in all probability, her prospects

in life and the little world in which she had lived and moved and had her being for the better part of a century.

To be versed in the history of Eastcheap, great and little, from London Stone even unto the Monument, was

doubtless, in her opinion, to be acquainted with the history of the universe. Yet, with all this, she possessed

the simplicity of true wisdom, and that liberal communicative disposition which I have generally remarked in

Her information, however, did not extend far back into antiquity. She could throw no light upon the history of

the Boar's Head from the time that Dame Quickly espoused the valiant Pistol until the great fire of London

when it was unfortunately burnt down. It was soon rebuilt, and continued to flourish under the old name and

sign, until a dying landlord, struck with remorse for double scores, bad measures, and other iniquities which

are incident to the sinful race of publicans, endeavored to make his peace with Heaven by bequeathing the

tavern to St. Michael's Church, Crooked Lane, toward the supporting of a chaplain. For some time the vestry

meetings were regularly held there, but it was observed that the old Boar never held up his head under church

government. He gradually declined, and finally gave his last gasp about thirty years since. The tavern was

then turned into shops; but she informed me that a picture of it was still preserved in St. Michael's Church,

which stood just in the rear. To get a sight of this picture was now my determination; so, having informed

myself of the abode of the sexton, I took my leave of the venerable chronicler of Eastcheap, my visit having

doubtless raised greatly her opinion of her legendary lore and furnished an important incident in the history of

It cost me some difficulty and much curious inquiry to ferret out the humble hangeron to the church. I had

to explore Crooked Lane and divers little alleys and elbows and dark passages with which this old city is

perforated like an ancient cheese, or a wormeaten chest of drawers. At length I traced him to a corner of a

small court surrounded by lofty houses, where the inhabitants enjoy about as much of the face of heaven as a

The sexton was a meek, acquiescing little man, of a bowing, lowly habit, yet he had a pleasant twinkling in

his eye, and if encouraged, would now and then hazard a small pleasantry, such as a man of his low estate

might venture to make in the company of high churchwardens and other mighty men of the earth. I found him

in company with the deputy organist, seated apart, like Milton's angels, discoursing, no doubt, on high

doctrinal points, and settling the affairs of the church over a friendly pot of ale; for the lower classes of

English seldom deliberate on any weighty matter without the assistance of a cool tankard to clear their

understandings. I arrived at the moment when they had finished their ale and their argument, and were about

to repair to the church to put it in order; so, having made known my wishes, I received their gracious

The church of St. Michael's, Crooked Lane, standing a short distance from Billingsgate, is enriched with the

tombs of many fishmongers of renown; and as every profession has its galaxy of glory and its constellation of

great men, I presume the monument of a mighty fishmonger of the olden time is regarded with as much

reverence by succeeding generations of the craft, as poets feel on contemplating the tomb of Virgil or soldiers

I cannot but turn aside, while thus speaking of illustrious men, to observe that St. Michael's, Crooked Lane,

contains also the ashes of that doughty champion, William Walworth, Knight, who so manfully clove down

the sturdy wight, Wat Tyler, in Smithfielda hero worthy of honorable blazon, as almost the only Lord

Mayor on record famous for deeds of arms, the sovereigns of Cockney being generally renowned as the most

pacific of all potentates.* * The following was the ancient inscription on the monument of this worthy,

Hereunder lyth a man of Fame, William Walworth callyd by name: Fishmonger he was in lyfftime here, And

twise Lord Maior, as in books appere; Who, with courage stout and manly myght, Slew Jack Straw in Kyng

Richard's sight. For which act done, and trew entent, The Kyng made him knyght incontinent And gave him

armes, as here you see, To declare his fact and chivaldrie. He left this lyff the yere of our God Thirteen

An error in the foregoing inscription has been corrected by the venerable Stow. "Whereas," saith he, "it hath

been far spread abroad by vulgar opinion, that the rebel smitten down so manfully by Sir William Walworth,

the then worthy Lord Maior, was named Jack Straw, and not Wat Tyler, I thought good to reconcile this

rashconceived doubt by such testimony as I find in ancient and good records. The principal leaders, or

captains, of the commons, were Wat Tyler, as the first man; the second was John, or Jack, Straw, etc.,

Adjoining the church, in a small cemetery, immediately under the back window of what was once the Boar's

Head, stands the tombstone of Robert Preston, whilom drawer at the tavern. It is now nearly a century since

this trusty drawer of good liquor closed his bustling career and was thus quietly deposited within call of his

customers. As I was clearing away the weeds from his epitaph the little sexton drew me on one side with a

mysterious air, and informed me in a low voice that once upon a time, on a dark wintry night, when the wind

was unruly, howling, and whistling, banging about doors and windows, and twirling weathercocks, so that the

living were frightened out of their beds, and even the dead could not sleep quietly in their graves, the ghost of

honest Preston, which happened to be airing itself in the churchyard, was attracted by the wellknown call of

"Waiter!" from the Boar's Head, and made its sudden appearance in the midst of a roaring club, just as the

parish clerk was singing a stave from the "mirre garland of Captain Death;" to the discomfiture of sundry

trainband captains and the conversion of an infidel attorney, who became a zealous Christian on the spot,

and was never known to twist the truth afterwards, except in the way of business.

I beg it may be remembered, that I do not pledge myself for the authenticity of this anecdote, though it is well

known that the churchyards and bycorners of this old metropolis are very much infested with perturbed

spirits; and every one must have heard of the Cock Lane ghost, and the apparition that guards the regalia in

Be all this as it may, this Robert Preston seems to have been a worthy successor to the nimbletongued

Francis, who attended upon the revels of Prince Hal; to have been equally prompt with his "Anon, anon, sir;"

and to have transcended his predecessor in honesty; for Falstaff, the veracity of whose taste no man will

venture to impeach, flatly accuses Francis of putting lime in his sack, whereas honest Preston's epitaph lands

him for the sobriety of his conduct, the soundness of his wine, and the fairness of his measure.* The worthy

dignitaries of the church, however, did not appear much captivated by the sober virtues of the tapster; the

deputy organist, who had a moist look out of the eye, made some shrewd remark on the abstemiousness of a

man brought up among full hogsheads, and the little sexton corroborated his opinion by a significant wink

* As this inscription is rife with excellent morality, I transcribe it for the admonition of delinquent tapsters. It

is no doubt, the production of some choice spirit who once frequented the Boar's Head.

Bacchus, to give the toping world surprise, Produced one sober son, and here he lies. Though rear'd among

full hogsheads, he defy'd The charms of wine, and every one beside. O reader, if to justice thou 'rt inclined,

Keep honest Preston daily in thy mind. He drew good wine, took care to fill his pots, Had sundry virtues that

excused his faults. You that on Bacchus have the like dependence, Pray copy Bob in measure and attendance.

Thus far my researches, though they threw much light on the history of tapsters, fishmongers, and Lord

Mayors, yet disappointed me in the great object of my quest, the picture of the Boar's Head Tavern. No such

painting was to be found in the church of St. Michael's. "Marry and amen," said I, "here endeth my research!"

So I was giving the matter up, with the air of a baffled antiquary, when my friend the sexton, perceiving me

to be curious in everything relative to the old tavern, offered to show me the choice vessels of the vestry,

which had been handed down from remote times when the parish meetings were held at the Boar's Head.

These were deposited in the parish clubroom, which had been transferred, on the decline of the ancient

A few steps brought us to the house, which stands No. 12 Miles Lane, bearing the title of The Mason's Arms,

and is kept by Master Edward Honeyball, the "bullyrock" of the establishment. It is one of those little

taverns which abound in the heart of the city and form the centre of gossip and intelligence of the

neighborhood. We entered the barroom, which was narrow and darkling, for in these close lanes but few rays

of reflected light are enabled to struggle down to the inhabitants, whose broad day is at best but a tolerable

twilight. The room was partitioned into boxes, each containing a table spread with a clean white cloth, ready

for dinner. This showed that the guests were of the good old stamp, and divided their day equally, for it was

but just one o'clock. At the lower end of the room was a clear coal fire, before which a breast of lamb was

roasting. A row of bright brass candlesticks and pewter mugs glistened along the mantelpiece, and an old

fashioned clock ticked in one corner. There was something primitive in this medley of kitchen, parlor, and

hall that carried me back to earlier times, and pleased me. The place, indeed, was humble, but everything had

that look of order and neatness which bespeaks the superintendence of a notable English housewife. A group

of amphibiouslooking beings, who might be either fishermen or sailors, were regaling themselves in one of

the boxes. As I was a visitor of rather higher pretensions, I was ushered into a little misshapen back room,

having at least nine corners. It was lighted by a skylight, furnished with antiquated leathern chairs, and

ornamented with the portrait of a fat pig. It was evidently appropriated to particular customers, and I found a

shabby gentleman in a red nose and oilcloth hat seated in one corner meditating on a half empty pot of

The old sexton had taken the landlady aside, and with an air of profound importance imparted to her my

errand. Dame Honeyball was a likely, plump, bustling little woman, and no bad substitute for that paragon of

hostesses, Dame Quickly. She seemed delighted with an opportunity to oblige, and, hurrying upstairs to the

archives of her house, where the precious vessels of the parish club were deposited, she returned, smiling and

The first she presented me was a japanned iron tobaccobox of gigantic size, out of which, I was told, the

vestry had smoked at their stated meetings since time immemorial, and which was never suffered to be

profaned by vulgar hands, or used on common occasions, I received it with becoming reverence, but what

was my delight at beholding on its cover the identical painting of which I was in quest! There was displayed

the outside of the Boar's Head Tavern, and before the door was to be seen the whole convivial group at table,

in full revel, pictured with that wonderful fidelity and force with which the portraits of renowned generals

and commodores are illustrated on tobaccoboxes, for the benefit of posterity. Lest, however, there should be

any mistake, the cunning limner had warily inscribed the names of Prince Hal and Falstaff on the bottoms of

On the inside of the cover was an inscription, nearly obliterated, recording that this box was the gift of Sir

Richard Gore, for the use of the vestry meetings at the Boar's Head Tavern, and that it was "repaired and

beautified by his successor, Mr. John Packard, 1767." Such is a faithful description of this august and

venerable relic, and I question whether the learned Scriblerius contemplated his Roman shield, or the Knights

While I was meditating on it with enraptured gaze, Dame Honeyball, who was highly gratified by the interest

it excited, put in my hands a drinkingcup or goblet which also belonged to the vestry, and was descended

from the old Boar's Head. It bore the inscription of having been the gift of Francis Wythers, Knight, and was

held, she told me, in exceeding great value, being considered very "antyke." This last opinion was

strengthened by the shabby gentleman with the red nose and oilcloth hat, and whom I strongly suspected of

being a lineal descendant from the variant Bardolph. He suddenly aroused from his meditation on the pot of

porter, and casting a knowing look at the goblet, exclaimed, "Ay, ay! the head don't ache now that made that

The great importance attached to this memento of ancient revelry by modern churchwardens, at first puzzled

me; but there is nothing sharpens the apprehension so much as antiquarian research; for I immediately

perceived that this could be no other than the identical "parcelgilt goblet," on which Falstaff made his loving

but faithless vow to Dame Quickly, and which would, of course, be treasured up with care among the regalia

* "Thou didst swear to me upon a parcelgilt goblet, sitting in my Dolphin chamber, at the round table, by a

seacoal fire, on Wednesday, in Whitsunweek, when the prince broke thy head for likening his father to a

singing man at Windsor; thou didst swear to me then, as I was washing thy wound, to marry me, and make

Mine hostess, indeed, gave me a long history how the goblet had been handed down from generation to

generation. She also entertained me with many particulars concerning the worthy vestrymen who have seated

themselves thus quietly on the stools of the ancient roisterers of Eastcheap, and, like so many commentators,

utter clouds of smoke in honor of Shakespeare. These I forbear to relate, lest my readers should not be as

curious in these matters as myself. Suffice it to say, the neighbors, one and all, about Eastcheap, believe that

Falstaff and his merry crew actually lived and revelled there. Nay, there are several legendary anecdotes

concerning him still extant among the oldest frequenters of the Mason's Arms, which they give as transmitted

down from their forefathers; and Mr. M'Kash, an Irish hairdresser, whose shop stands on the site of the old

Boar's Head, has several dry jokes of Fat Jack's, not laid down in the books, with which he makes his

I now turned to my friend the sexton to make some further inquiries, but I found him sunk in pensive

meditation. His head had declined a little on one side; a deep sigh heaved from the very bottom of his

stomach, and, though I could not see a tear trembling in his eye, yet a moisture was evidently stealing from a

corner of his mouth. I followed the direction of his eye through the door which stood open, and found it fixed

wistfully on the savory breast of lamb, roasting in dripping richness before the fire.

I now called to mind that in the eagerness of my recondite investigation, I was keeping the poor man from his

dinner. My bowels yearned with sympathy, and putting in his hand a small token of my gratitude and

goodness, I departed with a hearty benediction on him, Dame Honeyball, and the parish club of Crooked

Lanenot forgetting my shabby, but sententious friend, in the oilcloth hat and copper nose.

Thus have I given a "tedious brief" account of this interesting research, for which, if it prove too short and

unsatisfactory, I can only plead my inexperience in this branch of literature, so deservedly popular at the

present day. I am aware that a more skilful illustrator of the immortal bard would have swelled the materials I

have touched upon to a good merchantable bulk, comprising the biographies of William Walworth, Jack

Straw, and Robert Preston; some notice of the eminent fishmongers of St. Michael's; the history of Eastcheap,

great and little; private anecdotes of Dame Honeyball and her pretty daughter, whom I have not even

mentioned; to say nothing of a damsel tending the breast of lamb (and whom, by the way, I remarked to be a

comely lass with a neat foot and ankle);the whole enlivened by the riots of Wat Tyler, and illuminated by

All this I leave, as a rich mine, to be worked by future commentators, nor do I despair of seeing the

tobaccobox, and the "parcelgilt goblet " which I have thus brought to light the subject of future engravings,

and almost as fruitful of voluminous dissertations and disputes as the shield of Achilles or the farfamed

THERE are certain halfdreaming moods of mind in which we naturally steal away from noise and glare, and

seek some quiet haunt where we may indulge our reveries and build our air castles undisturbed. In such a

mood I was loitering about the old gray cloisters of Westminster Abbey, enjoying that luxury of wandering

thought which one is apt to dignify with the name of reflection, when suddenly an irruption of madcap boys

from Westminster school, playing at football, broke in upon the monastic stillness of the place, making the

vaulted passages and mouldering tombs echo with their merriment. I sought to take refuge from their noise by

penetrating still deeper into the solitudes of the pile, and applied to one of the vergers for admission to the

library. He conducted me through a portal rich with the crumbling sculpture of former ages, which opened

upon a gloomy passage leading to the chapterhouse and the chamber in which Doomsday Book is deposited.

Just within the passage is a small door on the left. To this the verger applied a key; it was double locked, and

opened with some difficulty, as if seldom used. We now ascended a dark narrow staircase, and, passing

I found myself in a lofty antique hall, the roof supported by massive joists of old English oak. It was soberly

lighted by a row of Gothic windows at a considerable height from the floor, and which apparently opened

upon the roofs of the cloisters. An ancient picture of some reverend dignitary of the Church in his robes hung

over the fireplace. Around the hall and in a small gallery were the books, arranged in carved oaken cases.

They consisted principally of old polemical writers, and were much more worn by time than use. In the centre

of the library was a solitary table with two or three books on it, an inkstand without ink, and a few pens

parched by long disuse. The place seemed fitted for quiet study and profound meditation. It was buried deep

among the massive walls of the abbey and shut up from the tumult of the world. I could only hear now and

then the shouts of the schoolboys faintly swelling from the cloisters, and the sound of a bell tolling for

prayers echoing soberly along the roofs of the abbey. By degrees the shouts of merriment grew fainter and

fainter, and at length died away; the bell ceased to toll, and a profound silence reigned through the dusky hall.

I had taken down a little thick quarto, curiously bound in parchment, with brass clasps, and seated myself at

the table in a venerable elbowchair. Instead of reading, however, I was beguiled by the solemn monastic air

and lifeless quiet of the place, into a train of musing. As I looked around upon the old volumes in their

mouldering covers, thus ranged on the shelves and apparently never disturbed in their repose, I could not but

consider the library a kind of literary catacomb, where authors, like mummies, are piously entombed and left

How much, thought I, has each of these volumes, now thrust aside with such indifference, cost some aching

head! how many weary days! how many sleepless nights! How have their authors buried themselves in the

solitude of cells and cloisters, shut themselves up from the face of man, and the still more blessed face of

Nature; and devoted themselves to painful research and intense reflection! And all for what? To occupy an

inch of dusty shelfto have the titles of their works read now and then in a future age by some drowsy

churchman or casual straggler like myself, and in another age to be lost even to remembrance. Such is the

amount of this boasted immortality. A mere temporary rumor, a local sound; like the tone of that bell which

has tolled among these towers, filling the ear for a moment, lingering transiently in echo, and then passing

While I sat halfmurmuring, halfmeditating, these unprofitable speculations with my head resting on my

hand, I was thrumming with the other hand upon the quarto, until I accidentally loosened the clasps; when, to

my utter astonishment, the little book gave two or three yawns, like one awaking from a deep sleep, then a

husky hem, and at length began to talk. At first its voice was very hoarse and broken, being much troubled by

a cobweb which some studious spider had woven across it, and having probably contracted a cold from long

exposure to the chills and damps of the abbey. In a short time, however, it became more distinct, and I soon

found it an exceedingly fluent, conversable little tome. Its language, to be sure, was rather quaint and

obsolete, and its pronunciation what, in the present day, would be deemed barbarous; but I shall endeavor, as

It began with railings about the neglect of the world, about merit being suffered to languish in obscurity, and

other such commonplace topics of literary repining, and complained bitterly that it had not been opened for

more than two centuriesthat the dean only looked now and then into the library, sometimes took down a

volume or two, trifled with them for a few moments, and then returned them to their shelves. "What a plague

do they mean?" said the little quarto, which I began to perceive was somewhat choleric"what a plague do

they mean by keeping several thousand volumes of us shut up here, and watched by a set of old vergers, like

so many beauties in a harem, merely to be looked at now and then by the dean? Books were written to give

pleasure and to be enjoyed; and I would have a rule passed that the dean should pay each of us a visit at least

once a year; or, if he is not equal to the task, let them once in a while turn loose the whole school of

"Softly, my worthy friend," replied I; "you are not aware how much better you are off than most books of

your generation. By being stored away in this ancient library you are like the treasured remains of those saints

and monarchs which lie enshrined in the adjoining chapels, while the remains of their contemporary mortals,

"Sir," said the little tome, ruffling his leaves and looking big, "I was written for all the world, not for the

bookworms of an abbey. I was intended to circulate from hand to hand, like other great contemporary works;

but here have I been clasped up for more than two centuries, and might have silently fallen a prey to these

worms that are playing the very vengeance with my intestines if you had not by chance given me an

"My good friend," rejoined I, "had you been left to the circulation of which you speak, you would long ere

this have been no more. To judge from your physiognomy, you are now well stricken in years: very few of

your contemporaries can be at present in existence, and those few owe their longevity to being immured like

yourself in old libraries; which, suffer me to add, instead of likening to harems, you might more properly and

gratefully have compared to those infirmaries attached to religious establishments for the benefit of the old

and decrepit, and where, by quiet fostering and no employment, they often endure to an amazingly

goodfornothing old age. You talk of your contemporaries as if in circulation. Where do we meet with their

works?. What do we hear of Robert Grosteste of Lincoln? No one could have toiled harder than he for

immortality. He is said to have written nearly two hundred volumes. He built, as it were, a pyramid of books

to perpetuate his name: but, alas! the pyramid has long since fallen, and only a few fragments are scattered in

various libraries, where they are scarcely disturbed even by the antiquarian. What do we hear of Giraldus

Cambrensis, the historian, antiquary, philosopher, theologian, and poet? He declined two bishoprics that he

might shut himself up and write for posterity; but posterity never inquires after his labors. What of Henry of

Huntingdon, who, besides a learned history of England, wrote a treatise on the contempt of the world, which

the world has revenged by forgetting him? What is quoted of Joseph of Exeter, styled the miracle of his age

in classical composition? Of his three great heroic poems, one is lost forever, excepting a mere fragment; the

others are known only to a few of the curious in literature; and as to his love verses and epigrams, they have

entirely disappeared. What is in current use of John Wallis the Franciscan, who acquired the name of the tree

of life? Of William of Malmsburyof Simeon of Durhamof Benedict of Peterboroughof John Hanvill

"Prithee, friend," cried the quarto in a testy tone, "how old do you think me? You are talking of authors that

lived long before my time, and wrote either in Latin or French, so that they in a manner expatriated

themselves, and deserved to be forgotten;* but I, sir, was ushered into the world from the press of the

renowned Wynkyn de Worde. I was written in my own native tongue, at a time when the language had

(I should observe that these remarks were couched in such intolerably antiquated terms, that I have had

"I cry you mercy," said I, "for mistaking your age; but it matters little. almost all the writers of your time have

likewise passed into forgetfulness, and De Worde's publications are mere literary rarities among

bookcollectors. The purity and stability of language, too, on which you found your claims to perpetuity,

have been the fallacious dependence of authors of every age, even back to the times of the worthy Robert of

Gloucester, who wrote his history in rhymes of mongrel Saxon.+ Even now many talk of Spenser's 'well of

pure English undefiled,' as if the language ever sprang from a well or fountainhead, and was not rather a

mere confluence of various tongues perpetually subject to changes and intermixtures. It is this which has

made English literature so extremely mutable, and the reputation built upon it so fleeting. Unless thought can

be committed to something more permanent and unchangeable than such a medium, even thought must share

the fate of everything else, and fall into decay. This should serve as a check upon the vanity and exultation of

the most popular writer. He finds the language in which he has embarked his fame gradually altering and

subject to the dilapidations of time and the caprice of fashion. He looks back and beholds the early authors of

his country, once the favorites of their day, supplanted by modern writers. A few short ages have covered

them with obscurity, and their merits can only be relished by the quaint taste of the bookworm. And such, he

anticipates, will be the fate of his own work, which, however it may be admired in its day and held up as a

model of purity, will in the course of years grow antiquated and obsolete, until it shall become almost as

unintelligible in its native land as an Egyptian obelisk or one of those Runic inscriptions said to exist in the

deserts of Tartary. "I declare," added I, with some emotion, "when I contemplate a modern library, filled with

new works in all the bravery of rich gilding and binding, I feel disposed to sit down and weep, like the good

Xerxes, when he surveyed his army, pranked out in all the splendor of military array, and reflected that in one

* "In Latin and French hath many soueraine wittes had great delyte to endite, and have many noble thinges

fulfilde, but certes there ben some that speaken their poisye in French, of which speche the Frenchmen have

as good a fantasye as w ave in hearying of Frenchmen's Englishe."CHAUCER'S Testament of Love. +

Holinshed, in his Chronicle, observes, "Afterwards, also, by diligent vell f Geffry Chaucer and John Gowre,

in the time of Richard the Second, and after them of John Scogan and John Lydgate, monke of Berrie, our

said toong was brought to an excellent passe, notwithstanding that it never came unto the type of perfection

until the time of Queen Elizabeth, wherein John Jewell, Bishop of Sarum, John Fox, and sundrie learned and

excellent writers, have fully accomplished the ornature of the same to their great praise and mortal

"Ah," said the little quarto, with a heavy sigh, "I see how it is: these in modern scribblers have superseded all

the good old authors. I suppose nothing is read nowadays but Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia, Sackville's stately

plays and Mirror for Magistrates, or the finespun euphuisms of the 'unparalleled John Lyly.'"

"There you are again mistaken," said I; "the writers whom you suppose in vogue, because they happened to

be so when you were last in circulation, have long since had their day. Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia, the

immortality of which was so fondly predicted by his admirers,* and which, in truth, was full of noble

thoughts, delicate images, and graceful turns of language, is now scarcely ever mentioned. Sackville has

strutted into obscurity; and even Lyly, though his writings were once the delight of a court, and apparently

perpetuated by a proverb, is now scarcely known even by name. A whole crowd of authors who wrote and

wrangled at the time, have likewise gone down with all their writings and their controversies. Wave after

wave of succeeding literature has rolled over them, until they are buried so deep, that it is only now and then

that some industrious diver after fragments of antiquity brings up a specimen for the gratification of the

* "Live ever sweete booke; the simple image of his gentle witt, and the golden pillar of his noble courage;

and ever notify unto the world that thy writer was the secretary of eloquence, the breath of the muses, the

honey bee of the daintyest flowers of witt and arte, the pith of morale and intellectual virtues, the arme of

Bellona in the field, the tongue of Suada in the chamber, the spirits of Practise in esse, and the paragon of

"For my part," I continued, "I consider this mutability of language a wise precaution of Providence for the

benefit of the world at large, and of authors in particular. To reason from analogy, we daily behold the varied

and beautiful tribes of vegetables springing up, flourishing, adorning the fields for a short time, and then

fading into dust, to make way for their successors. Were not this the case, the fecundity of nature would be a

grievance instead of a blessing. The earth would groan with rank and excessive vegetation, and its surface

become a tangled wilderness. In like manner, the works of genius and learning decline and make way for

subsequent productions. Language gradually varies, and with it fade away the writings of authors who have

flourished their allotted time; otherwise the creative powers of genius would overstock the world, and the

mind would be completely bewildered in the endless mazes of literature. Formerly there were some restraints

on this excessive multiplication. Works had to be transcribed by hand, which was a slow and laborious

operation; they were written either on parchment, which was expensive, so that one work was often erased to

make way for another; or on papyrus, which was fragile and extremely perishable. Authorship was a limited

and unprofitable craft, pursued chiefly by monks in the leisure and solitude of their cloisters. The

accumulation of manuscripts was slow and costly, and confined almost entirely to monasteries. To these

circumstances it may, in some measure, be owing that we have not been inundated by the intellect of

antiquitythat the fountains of thought have not been broken up, and modern genius drowned in the deluge.

But the inventions of paper and the press have put an end to all these restraints. They have made every one a

writer, and enabled every mind to pour itself into print, and diffuse itself over the whole intellectual world.

The consequences are alarming. The stream of literature has swollen into a torrentaugmented into a

riverexpanded into a sea. A few centuries since five or six hundred manuscripts constituted a great library;

but what would you say to libraries, such as actually exist, containing three or four hundred thousand

volumes; legions of authors at the same time busy; and the press going on with fearfully increasing activity,

to double and quadruple the number? Unless some unforeseen mortality should break out among the progeny

of the Muse, now that she has become so prolific, I tremble for posterity. I fear the mere fluctuation of

language will not be sufficient. Criticism may do much; it increases with the increase of literature, and

resembles one of those salutary checks on population spoken of by economists. All possible encouragement,

therefore, should be given to the growth of critics, good or bad. But I fear all will be in vain; let criticism do

what it may, writers will write, printers will print, and the world will inevitably be overstocked with good

books. It will soon be the employment of a lifetime merely to learn their names. Many a man of passable

information at the present day reads scarcely anything but reviews, and before long a man of erudition will be

"My very good sir," said the little quarto, yawning most drearily in my face, "excuse my interrupting you, but

I perceive you are rather given to prose. I would ask the fate of an author who was making some noise just as

I left the world. His reputation, however, was considered quite temporary. The learned shook their heads at

him, for he was a poor, halfeducated varlet, that knew little of Latin, and nothing of Greek, and had been

obliged to run the country for deerstealing. I think his name was Shakespeare. I presume he soon sunk into

oblivion." "On the contrary," said I, "it is owing to that very man that the literature of his period has

experienced a duration beyond the ordinary term of English literature. There rise authors now and then who

seem proof against the mutability of language because they have rooted themselves in the unchanging

principles of human nature. They are like gigantic trees that we sometimes see on the banks of a stream,

which by their vast and deep roots, penetrating through the mere surface and laying hold on the very

foundations of the earth, preserve the soil around them from being swept away by the everflowing current,

and hold up many a neighboring plant, and perhaps worthless weed, to perpetuity. Such is the case with

Shakespeare, whom we behold defying the encroachments of time, retaining in modern use the language and

literature of his day, and giving duration to many an indifferent author, merely from having flourished in his

vicinity. But even he, I grieve to say, is gradually assuming the tint of age, and his whole form is overrun by a

profusion of commentators, who, like clambering vines and creepers, almost bury the noble plant that

Here the little quarto began to heave his sides and chuckle, until at length he broke out into a plethoric fit of

laughter that had wellnigh choked him by reason of his excessive corpulency. "Mighty well!" cried he, as

soon as he could recover breath, "mighty well! and so you would persuade me that the literature of an age is

to be perpetuated by a vagabond deerstealer! by a man without learning! by a poet! forsootha poet!" And

I confess that I felt somewhat nettled at this rudeness, which, however, I pardoned on account of his having

flourished in a less polished age. I determined, nevertheless, not to give up my point.

"Yes," resumed I positively, "a poet; for of all writers he has the best chance for immortality. Others may

write from the head, but he writes from the heart, and the heart will always understand him. He is the faithful

portrayer of Nature, whose features are always the same and always interesting. Prose writers are voluminous

and unwieldy; their pages crowded with commonplaces, and their thoughts expanded into tediousness. But

with the true poet every thing is terse, touching, or brilliant. He gives the choicest thoughts in the choicest

language. He illustrates them by everything that he sees most striking in nature and art. He enriches them by

pictures of human life, such as it is passing before him. His writings, therefore, contain the spirit, the aroma,

if I may use the phrase, of the age in which he lives. They are caskets which inclose within a small compass

the wealth of the languageits family jewels, which are thus transmitted in a portable form to posterity. The

setting may occasionally be antiquated, and require now and then to be renewed, as in the case of Chaucer;

but the brilliancy and intrinsic value of the gems continue unaltered. Cast a look back over the long reach of

literary history. What vast valleys of dulness, filled with monkish legends and academical controversies!

What bogs of theological speculations! What dreary wastes of metaphysics! Here and there only do we

behold the heavenillumined bards, elevated like beacons on their widelyseparated heights, to transmit the

I was just about to launch forth into eulogiums upon the poets of the day when the sudden opening of the

door caused me to turn my head. It was the verger, who came to inform me that it was time to close the

library. I sought to have a parting word with the quarto, but the worthy little tome was silent; the clasps were

closed: and it looked perfectly unconscious of all that had passed. I have been to the library two or three times

since, and have endeavored to draw it into further conversation, but in vain; and whether all this rambling

colloquy actually took place, or whether it was another of those old daydreams to which I am subject, I have

* Thorow earth and waters deepe, The pen by skill doth passe: And featly nyps the worldes abuse, And shoes

us in a glasse, The vertu and the vice Of every wight alyve; The honey comb that bee doth make Is not so

sweet in hyve, As are the golden leves That drops from poet's head! Which doth surmount our common talke

AMONG the beautiful and simplehearted customs of rural life which still linger in some parts of England

are those of strewing flowers before the funerals and planting them at the graves of departed friends. These, it

is said, are the remains of some of the rites of the primitive Church; but they are of still higher antiquity,

having been observed among the Greeks and Romans, and frequently mentioned by their writers, and were no

doubt the spontaneous tributes of unlettered affection, originating long before art had tasked itself to

modulate sorrow into song or story it on the monument. They are now only to be met with in the most distant

and retired places of the kingdom, where fashion and innovation have not been able to throng in and trample

In Glamorganshire, we are told, the bed whereon the corpse lies is covered with flowers, a custom alluded to

Larded all with sweet flowers; Which bewept to the grave did go, With true love showers.

There is also a most delicate and beautiful rite observed in some of the remote villages of the south at the

funeral of a female who has died young and unmarried. A chaplet of white flowers is borne before the corpse

by a young girl nearest in age, size, and resemblance, and is afterwards hung up in the church over the

accustomed seat of the deceased. These chaplets are sometimes made of white paper, in imitation of flowers,

and inside of them is generally a pair of white gloves. They are intended as emblems of the purity of the

In some parts of the country, also, the dead are carried to the grave with the singing of psalms and hymnsa

kind of triumph, "to show," says Bourne, "that they have finished their course with joy, and are become

conquerors." This, I am informed, is observed in some of the northern counties, particularly in

Northumberland, and it has a pleasing, though melancholy effect to hear of a still evening in some lonely

country scene the mournful melody of a funeral dirge swelling from a distance, and to see the train slowly

Thus, thus, and thus, we compass round Thy harmless and unhaunted ground, And as we sing thy dirge, we

will, The daffodill And other flowers lay upon The altar of our love, thy stone. HERRICK.

There is also a solemn respect paid by the traveller to the passing funeral in these sequestered places; for such

spectacles, occurring among the quiet abodes of Nature, sink deep into the soul. As the mourning train

approaches he pauses, uncovered, to let it go by; he then follows silently in the rear; sometimes quite to the

grave, at other times for a few hundred yards, and, having paid this tribute of respect to the deceased, turns

The rich vein of melancholy which runs through the English character, and gives it some of its most touching

and ennobling graces, is finely evidenced in these pathetic customs, and in the solicitude shown by the

common people for an honored and a peaceful grave. The humblest peasant, whatever may be his lowly lot

while living, is anxious that some little respect may be paid to his remains. Sir Thomas Overbury, describing

the "faire and happy milkmaid," observes, "thus lives she, and all her care is, that she may die in the

springtime, to have store of flowers stucke upon her windingsheet." The poets, too, who always breathe

the feeling of a nation, continually advert to this fond solicitude about the grave. In The Maid's Tragedy, by

Beaumont and Fletcher, there is a beautiful instance of the kind describing the capricious melancholy of a

When she sees a bank Stuck full of flowers, she, with a sigh, will tell Her servants, what a pretty place it were

To bury lovers in; and made her maids Bluck 'em, and strew her over like a corse.

The custom of decorating graves was once universally prevalent: osiers were carefully bent over them to keep

the turf uninjured, and about them were planted evergreens and flowers. "We adorn their graves," says

Evelyn, in his Sylva, "with flowers and redolent plants, just emblems of the life of man, which has been

compared in Holy Scriptures to those fading beauties whose roots, being buried in dishonor, rise, again in

glory." This usage has now become extremely rare in England; but it may still be met with in the churchyards

of retired villages, among the Welsh mountains; and I recollect an instance of it at the small town of Ruthven,

which lies at the head of the beautiful vale of Clewyd. I have been told also by a friend, who was present at

the funeral of a young girl in Glamorganshire, that the female attendants had their aprons full of flowers,

He noticed several graves which had been decorated in the same manner. As the flowers had been merely

stuck in the ground, and not planted, they had soon withered, and might be seen in various states of decay;

some drooping, others quite perished. They were afterwards to be supplanted by holly, rosemary, and other

evergreens, which on some graves had grown to great luxuriance, and overshadowed the tombstones.

There was formerly a melancholy fancifulness in the arrangement of these rustic offerings, that had

something in it truly poetical. The rose was sometimes blended with the lily, to form a general emblem of

frail mortality. "This sweet flower," said Evelyn, "borne on a branch set with thorns and accompanied with

the lily, are natural hieroglyphics of our fugitive, umbratile, anxious, and transitory life, which, making so

fair a show for a time, is not yet without its thorns and crosses." The nature and color of the flowers, and of

the ribbons with which they were tied, had often a particular reference to the qualities or story of the

deceased, or were expressive of the feelings of the mourner. In an old poem, entitled "Corydon's Doleful

A garland shall be framed By art and nature's skill, Of sundrycolored flowers, In token of goodwill.

And sundrycolored ribbons On it I will bestow; But chiefly blacke and yellowe With her to grave shall go.

I'll deck her tomb with flowers The rarest ever seen; And with my tears as showers I'll keep them fresh and

The white rose, we are told, was planted at the grave of a virgin; her chaplet was tied with white ribbons, in

token of her spotless innocence, though sometimes black ribbons were intermingled, to bespeak the grief of

the survivors. The red rose was occasionally used, in remembrance of such as had been remarkable for

benevolence; but roses in general were appropriated to the graves of lovers. Evelyn tells us that the custom

was not altogether extinct in his time, near his dwelling in the county of Surrey, "where the maidens yearly

planted and decked the graves of their defunct sweethearts with rosebushes." And Camden likewise

remarks, in his Britannia: "Here is also a certain custom, observed time out of mind, of planting rosetrees

upon the graves, especially by the young men and maids who have lost their loves; so that this churchyard is

When the deceased had been unhappy in their loves, emblems of a more gloomy character were used, such as

the yew and cypress, and if flowers were strewn, they were of the most melancholy colors. Thus, in poems by

Yet strew Upon my dismall grave Such offerings as you have, Forsaken cypresse and yewe; For kinder

In The Maid's Tragedy, a pathetic little air, is introduced, illustrative of this mode of decorating the funerals

Lay a garland on my hearse Of the dismall yew, Maidens, willow branches wear, Say I died true.

My love was false, but I was firm, From my hour of birth; Upon my buried body lie Lightly, gentle earth.

The natural effect of sorrow over the dead is to refine and elevate the mind; and we have a proof of it in the

purity of sentiment and the unaffected elegance of thought which pervaded the whole of these funeral

observances. Thus it was an especial precaution that none but sweetscented evergreens and flowers should

be employed. The intention seems to have been to soften the horrors of the tomb, to beguile the mind from

brooding over the disgraces of perishing mortality, and to associate the memory of the deceased with the

most delicate and beautiful objects in nature. There is a dismal process going on in the grave, ere dust can

return to its kindred dust, which the imagination shrinks from contemplating; and we seek still to think of the

form we have loved, with those refined associations which it awakened when blooming before us in youth

Herrick, also, in his "Dirge of Jephtha," pours forth a fragrant flow of poetical thought and image, which in a

Sleep in thy peace, thy bed of spice, And make this place all Paradise: May sweets grow here! and smoke

Let balme and cassia send their scent From out thy maiden monument. * * * * * May all shie maids at

wonted hours Come forth to strew thy tombe with flowers! May virgins, when they come to mourn Male

I might crowd my pages with extracts from the older British poets, who wrote when these rites were more

prevalent, and delighted frequently to allude to them; but I have already quoted more than is necessary. I

cannot, however, refrain from giving a passage from Shakespeare, even though it should appear trite, which

illustrates the emblematical meaning often conveyed in these floral tributes, and at the same time possesses

that magic of language and appositeness of imagery for which he stands preeminent.

With fairest flowers, Whilst summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele, I'll sweeten thy sad grave; thou shalt not

lack The flower that's like thy face, pale primrose; nor The azured harebell like thy veins; no, nor The leaf of

There is certainly something more affecting in these prompt and spontaneous offerings of Nature than in the

most costly monuments of art; the hand strews the flower while the heart is warm, and the tear falls on the

grave as affection is binding the osier round the sod; but pathos expires under the slow labor of the chisel, and

It is greatly to be regretted that a custom so truly elegant and touching has disappeared from general use, and

exists only in the most remote and insignificant villages. But it seems as if poetical custom always shuns the

walks of cultivated society. In proportion as people grow polite they cease to be poetical. They talk of poetry,

but they have learnt to check its free impulses, to distrust its sallying emotions, and to supply its most

affecting and picturesque usages by studied form and pompous ceremonial. Few pageants can be more stately

and frigid than an English funeral in town. It is made up of show and gloomy parade: mourning carriages,

mourning horses, mourning plumes, and hireling mourners, who make a mockery of grief. "There is a grave

digged," says Jeremy Taylor, "and a solemn mourning, and a great talk in the neighborhood, and when the

daies are finished, they shall be, and they shall be remembered no more." The associate in the gay and

crowded city is soon forgotten; the hurrying succession of new intimates and new pleasures effaces him from

our minds, and the very scenes and circles in which he moved are incessantly fluctuating. But funerals in the

country are solemnly impressive. The stroke of death makes a wider space in the village circle, and is an

awful event in the tranquil uniformity of rural life. The passing bell tolls its knell in every ear; it steals with

The fixed and unchanging features of the country also perpetuate the memory of the friend with whom we

once enjoyed them, who was the companion of our most retired walks, and gave animation to every lonely

scene. His idea is associated with every charm of Nature; we hear his voice in the echo which he once

delighted to awaken; his spirit haunts the grove which he once frequented; we think of him in the wild upland

solitude or amidst the pensive beauty of the valley. In the freshness of joyous morning we remember his

beaming smiles and bounding gayety; and when sober evening returns with its gathering shadows and

subduing quiet, we call to mind many a twilight hour of gentle talk and sweetsouled melancholy.

Each lonely place shall him restore, For him the tear be duly shed; Beloved till life can charm no more, And

Another cause that perpetuates the memory of the deceased in the country is that the grave is more

immediately in sight of the survivors. They pass it on their way to prayer; it meets their eyes when their

hearts are softened by the exercises of devotion; they linger about it on the Sabbath, when the mind is

disengaged from worldly cares and most disposed to turn aside from present pleasures and present loves and

to sit down among the solemn mementos of the past. In North Wales the peasantry kneel and pray over the

graves of their deceased friends for several Sundays after the interment; and where the tender rite of strewing

and planting flowers is still practised, it is always renewed on Easter, Whitsuntide, and other festivals, when

the season brings the companion of former festivity more vividly to mind. It is also invariably performed by

the nearest relatives and friends; no menials nor hirelings are employed, and if a neighbor yields assistance, it

I have dwelt upon this beautiful rural custom, because as it is one of the last, so is it one of the holiest, offices

of love. The grave is the ordeal of true affection. It is there that the divine passion of the soul manifests its

superiority to the instinctive impulse of mere animal attachment. The latter must be continually refreshed and

kept alive by the presence of its object, but the love that is seated in the soul can live on long remembrance.

The mere inclinations of sense languish and decline with the charms which excited them, and turn with

shuddering disgust from the dismal precincts of the tomb; but it is thence that truly spiritual affection rises,

purified from every sensual desire, and returns, like a holy flame, to illumine and sanctify the heart of the

The sorrow for the dead is the only sorrow from which we refuse to be divorced. Every other wound we seek

to heal, every other affliction to forget; but this wound we consider it a duty to keep open, this affliction we

cherish and brood over in solitude. Where is the mother who would willingly forget the infant that perished

like a blossom from her arms though every recollection is a pang? Where is the child that would willingly

forget the most tender of parents, though to remember be but to lament? Who, even in the hour of agony,

would forget the friend over whom he mourns? Who, even when the tomb is closing upon the remains of her

he most loved, when he feels his heart, as it were, crushed in the closing of its portal, would accept of

consolation that must be bought by forgetfulness? No, the love which survives the tomb is one of the noblest

attributes of the soul. If it has its woes, it has likewise its delights; and when the overwhelming burst of grief

is calmed into the gentle tear of recollection, when the sudden anguish and the convulsive agony over the

present ruins of all that we most loved is softened away into pensive meditation on all that it was in the days

of its loveliness, who would root out such a sorrow from the heart? Though it may sometimes throw a passing

cloud over the bright hour of gayety, or spread a deeper sadness over the hour of gloom, yet who would

exchange it even for the song of pleasure or the burst of revelry? No, there is a voice from the tomb sweeter

than song. There is a remembrance of the dead to which we turn even from the charms of the living. Oh, the

grave! the grave! It buries every error, covers every defect, extinguishes every resentment! From its peaceful

bosom spring none but fond regrets and tender recollections. Who can look down upon the grave even of an

enemy, and not feel a compunctious throb that he should ever have warred with the poor handful of earth that

But the grave of those we lovedwhat a place for meditation! There it is that we call up in long review the

whole history of virtue and gentleness, and the thousand endearments lavished upon us almost unheeded in

the daily intercourse of intimacy; there it is that we dwell upon the tenderness, the solemn, awful tenderness,

of the parting scene. The bed of death, with all its stifled griefsits noiseless attendanceits mute, watchful

assiduities. The last testimonies of expiring love! The feeble, fluttering, thrillingoh, how

thrilling!pressure of the hand! The faint, faltering accents, struggling in death to give one more assurance

of affection! The last fond look of the glazing eye, turning upon us even from the threshold of existence!

Ay, go to the grave of buried love and meditate! There settle the account with thy conscience for every past

benefit unrequitedevery past endearment unregarded, of that departed being who can nevernevernever

If thou art a child, and hast ever added a sorrow to the soul or a furrow to the silvered brow of an affectionate

parent; if thou art a husband, and hast ever caused the fond bosom that ventured its whole happiness in thy

arms to doubt one moment of thy kindness or thy truth; if thou art a friend, and hast ever wronged, in thought

or word or deed, the spirit that generously confided in thee; if thou art a lover, and hast ever given one

unmerited pang to that true heart which now lies cold and still beneath thy feet,then be sure that every

unkind look, every ungracious word, every ungentle action will come thronging back upon thy memory and

knocking dolefully at thy soul: then be sure that thou wilt lie down sorrowing and repentant on the grave, and

utter the unheard groan and pour the unavailing tear, more deep, more bitter because unheard and unavailing.

Then weave thy chaplet of flowers and strew the beauties of Nature about the grave; console thy broken

spirit, if thou canst, with these tender yet futile tributes of regret; but take warning by the bitterness of this thy

contrite affliction over the dead, and henceforth be more faithful and affectionate in the discharge of thy

In writing the preceding article it was not intended to give a full detail of the funeral customs of the English

peasantry, but merely to furnish a few hints and quotations illustrative of particular rites, to be appended, by

way of note, to another paper, which has been withheld. The article swelled insensibly into its present form,

and this is mentioned as an apology for so brief and casual a notice of these usages after they have been

I must observe, also, that I am well aware that this custom of adorning graves with flowers prevails in other

countries besides England. Indeed, in some it is much more general, and is observed even by the rich and

fashionable; but it is then apt to lose its simplicity and to degenerate into affectation. Bright, in his travels in

Lower Hungary, tells of monuments of marble and recesses formed for retirement, with seats placed among

bowers of greenhouse plants, and that the graves generally are covered with the gayest flowers of the season.

He gives a casual picture of filial piety which I cannot but transcribe; for I trust it is as useful as it is

delightful to illustrate the amiable virtues of the sex. "When I was at Berlin," says he, "I followed the

celebrated Iffland to the grave. Mingled with some pomp you might trace much real feeling. In the midst of

the ceremony my attention was attracted by a young woman who stood on a mound of earth newly covered

with turf, which she anxiously protected from the feet of the passing crowd. It was the tomb of her parent;

and the figure of this affectionate daughter presented a monument more striking than the most costly work of

I will barely add an instance of sepulchral decoration that I once met with among the mountains of

Switzerland. It was at the village of Gersau, which stands on the borders of the Lake of Lucerne, at the foot of

Mount Rigi. It was once the capital of a miniature republic shut up between the Alps and the lake, and

accessible on the land side only by footpaths. The whole force of the republic did not exceed six hundred

fighting men, and a few miles of circumference, scooped out as it were from the bosom of the mountains,

comprised its territory. The village of Gersau seemed separated from the rest of the world, and retained the

golden simplicity of a purer age. It had a small church, with a buryingground adjoining. At the heads of the

graves were placed crosses of wood or iron. On some were affixed miniatures, rudely executed, but evidently

attempts at likenesses of the deceased. On the crosses were hung chaplets of flowers, some withering others

fresh, as if occasionally renewed. I paused with interest at this scene: I felt that I was at the source of poetical

description, for these were the beautiful but unaffected offerings of the heart which poets are fain to record.

In a gayer and more populous place I should have suspected them to have been suggested by factitious

sentiment derived from books; but the good people of Gersau knew little of books; there was not a novel nor

a lovepoem in the village, and I question whether any peasant of the place dreamt, while he was twining a

fresh chaplet for the grave of his mistress, that he was fulfilling one of the most fanciful rites of poetical

DURING a journey that I once made through the Netherlands, I had arrived one evening at the Pomme d'Or,

the principal inn of a small Flemish village. It was after the hour of the table d'hote, so that I was obliged to

make a solitary supper from the relics of its ampler board. The weather was chilly; I was seated alone in one

end of a great gloomy diningroom, and, my repast being over, I had the prospect before me of a long dull

evening, without any visible means of enlivening it. I summoned mine host and requested something to read;

he brought me the whole literary stock of his household, a Dutch family Bible, an almanac in the same

language, and a number of old Paris newspapers. As I sat dozing over one of the latter, reading old news and

stale criticisms, my ear was now and then struck with bursts of laughter which seemed to proceed from the

kitchen. Every one that has travelled on the Continent must know how favorite a resort the kitchen of a

country inn is to the middle and inferior order of travellers, particularly in that equivocal kind of weather

when a fire becomes agreeable toward evening. I threw aside the newspaper and explored my way to the

kitchen, to take a peep at the group that appeared to be so merry. It was composed partly of travellers who

had arrived some hours before in a diligence, and partly of the usual attendants and hangerson of inns. They

were seated round a great burnished stove, that might have been mistaken for an altar at which they were

worshipping. It was covered with various kitchen vessels of resplendent brightness, among which steamed

and hissed a huge copper teakettle. A large lamp threw a strong mass of light upon the group, bringing out

many odd features in strong relief. Its yellow rays partially illumined the spacious kitchen, dying duskily

away into remote corners, except where they settled in mellow radiance on the broad side of a flitch of bacon

or were reflected back from wellscoured utensils that gleamed from the midst of obscurity. A strapping

Flemish lass, with long golden pendants in her ears and a necklace with a golden heart suspended to it, was

Many of the company were furnished with pipes, and most of them with some kind of evening potation. I

found their mirth was occasioned by anecdotes which a little swarthy Frenchman, with a dry weazen face and

large whiskers, was giving of his loveadventures; at the end of each of which there was one of those bursts

of honest unceremonious laughter in which a man indulges in that temple of true liberty, an inn.

As I had no better mode of getting through a tedious blustering evening, I took my seat near the stove, and

listened to a variety of travellers' tales, some very extravagant and most ver dull. All of them, however, have

faded from my treacherous memory except one, which I will endeavor to relate. I fear, however, it derived its

chief zest from the manner in which it was told, and the peculiar air and appearance of the narrator. He was a

corpulent old Swiss, who had the look of a veteran traveller. He was dressed in a tarnished green

travellingjacket, with a broad belt round his waist, and a pair of overalls with buttons from the hips to the

ankles. He was of a full rubicund countenance, with a double chin, aquiline nose, and a pleasant twinkling

eye. His hair was light, and curled from under an old green velvet travellingcap stuck on one side of his

head. He was interrupted more than once by the arrival of guests or the remarks of his auditors, and paused

now and then to replenish his pipe; at which times he had generally a roguish leer and a sly joke for the

I wish my readers could imagine the old fellow lolling in a huge armchair, one arm akimbo, the other

holding a curiously twisted tobaccopipe formed of genuine ecume de mer, decorated with silver chain and

silken tassel, his head cocked on one side, and a whimsical cut of the eye occasionally as he related the

ON the summit of one of the heights of the Odenwald, a wild and romantic tract of Upper Germany that lies

not far from the confluence of the Main and the Rhine, there stood many, many years since the castle of the

Baron Von Landshort. It is now quite fallen to decay, and almost buried among beech trees and dark firs;

above which, however, its old watchtower may still be seen struggling, like the former possessor I have

The baron was a dry branch of the great family of Katzenellenbogen,+ and inherited the relics of the property

and all the pride, of his ancestors. Though the warlike disposition of his predecessors had much impaired the

family possessions, yet the baron still endeavored to keep up some show of former state. The times were

peaceable, and the German nobles in general had abandoned their inconvenient old castles, perched like

eagles' nests among the mountains, and had built more convenient residences in the valleys; still, the baron

remained proudly drawn up in his little fortress, cherishing with hereditary inveteracy all the old family

feuds, so that he was on ill terms with some of his nearest neighbors, on account of disputes that had

* The erudite reader, well versed in goodfornothing lore, will perceive that the above Tale must have been

suggested to the old Swiss by a little French anecdote, a circumstance said to have taken place in Paris.

+ I.e., CAT'S ELBOWthe name of a family of those parts, and very powerful in former times. The

appellation, we are told, was given in compliment to a peerless dame of the family, celebrated for a fine arm.

The baron had but one child, a daughter, but Nature, when she grants but one child, always compensates by

making it a prodigy; and so it was with the daughter of the baron. All the nurses, gossips, and country cousins

assured her father that she had not her equal for beauty in all Germany; and who should know better than

they? She had, moreover, been brought up with great care under the superintendence of two maiden aunts,

who had spent some years of their early life at one of the little German courts, and were skilled in all

branches of knowledge necessary to the education of a fine lady. Under their instructions she became a

miracle of accomplishments. By the time she was eighteen she could embroider to admiration, and had

worked whole histories of the saints in tapestry with such strength of expression in their countenances that

they looked like so many souls in purgatory. She could read without great difficulty, and had spelled her way

through several Church legends and almost all the chivalric wonders of the Heldenbuch. She had even made

considerable proficiency in writing; could sign her own name without missing a letter, and so legibly that her

aunts could read it without spectacles. She excelled in making little elegant goodfornothing, ladylike

knicknacks of all kinds, was versed in the most abstruse dancing of the day, played a number of airs on the

harp and guitar, and knew all the tender ballads of the Minnelieders by heart. Her aunts, too, having been

great flirts and coquettes in their younger days, were admirably calculated to be vigilant guardians and strict

censors of the conduct of their niece; for there is no duenna so rigidly prudent and inexorably decorous as a

superannuated coquette. She was rarely suffered out of their sight; never went beyond the domains of the

castle unless well attended, or rather well watched; had continual lectures read to her about strict decorum

and implicit obedience; and, as to the menpah!she was taught to hold them at such a distance and in

such absolute distrust that, unless properly authorized, she would not have cast a glance upon the handsomest

The good effects of this system were wonderfully apparent. The young lady was a pattern of docility and

correctness. While others were wasting their sweetness in the glare of the world, and liable to be plucked and

thrown aside by every hand, she was coyly blooming into fresh and lovely womanhood under the protection

of those immaculate spinsters, like a rosebud blushing forth among guardian thorns. Her aunts looked upon

her with pride and exultation, and vaunted that, though all the other young ladies in the world might go

astray, yet thank Heaven, nothing of the kind could happen to the heiress of Katzenellenbogen.

But, however scantily the Baron Von Landshort might be provided with children, his household was by no

means a small one; for Providence had enriched him with abundance of poor relations. They, one and all,

possessed the affectionate disposition common to humble relativeswere wonderfully attached to the baron,

and took every possible occasion to come in swarms and enliven the castle. All family festivals were

commemorated by these good people at the baron's expense; and when they were filled with good cheer they

would declare that there was nothing on earth so delightful as these family meetings, these jubilees of the

The baron, though a small man, had a large soul, and it swelled with satisfaction at the consciousness of

being the greatest man in the little world about him. He loved to tell long stories about the stark old warriors

whose portraits looked grimly down from the walls around, and he found no listeners equal to those who fed

at his expense. He was much given to the marvellous and a firm believer in all those supernatural tales with

which every mountain and valley in Germany abounds. The faith of his guests exceeded even his own: they

listened to every tale of wonder with open eyes and mouth, and never failed to be astonished, even though

repeated for the hundredth time. Thus lived the Baron Von Landshort, the oracle of his table, the absolute

monarch of his little territory, and happy, above all things, in the persuasion that he was the wisest man of the

At the time of which my story treats there was a great family gathering at the castle on an affair of the utmost

importance: it was to receive the destined bridegroom of the baron's daughter. A negotiation had been carried

on between the father and an old nobleman of Bavaria to unite the dignity of their houses by the marriage of

their children. The preliminaries had been conducted with proper punctilio. The young people were betrothed

without seeing each other, and the time was appointed for the marriage ceremony. The young Count Von

Altenburg had been recalled from the army for the purpose, and was actually on his way to the baron's to

receive his bride. Missives had even been received from him from Wurtzburg, where he was accidentally

The castle was in a tumult of preparation to give him a suitable welcome. The fair bride had been decked out

with uncommon care. The two aunts had superintended her toilet, and quarrelled the whole morning about

every article of her dress. The young lady had taken advantage of their contest to follow the bent of her own

taste; and fortunately it was a good one. She looked as lovely as youthful bridegroom could desire, and the

The suffusions that mantled her face and neck, the gentle heaving of the bosom, the eye now and then lost in

reverie, all betrayed the soft tumult that was going on in her little heart. The aunts were continually hovering

around her, for maiden aunts are apt to take great interest in affairs of this nature. They were giving her a

world of staid counsel how to deport herself, what to say, and in what manner to receive the expected lover.

The baron was no less busied in preparations. He had, in truth, nothing exactly to do; but he was naturally a

fuming, bustling little man, and could not remain passive when all the world was in a hurry. He worried from

top to bottom of the castle with an air of infinite anxiety; he continually called the servants from their work to

exhort them to be diligent; and buzzed about every hall and chamber, as idly restless and importunate as a

In the mean time the fatted calf had been killed; the forests had rung with the clamor of the huntsmen; the

kitchen was crowded with good cheer; the cellars had yielded up whole oceans of Rheinwein and

Ferrewein; and even the great Heidelberg tun had been laid under contribution. Everything was ready to

receive the distinguished guest with Saus und Braus in the true spirit of German hospitality; but the guest

delayed to make his appearance. Hour rolled after hour. The sun, that had poured his downward rays upon the

rich forest of the Odenwald, now just gleamed along the summits of the mountains. The baron mounted the

highest tower and strained his eyes in hopes of catching a distant sight of the count and his attendants. Once

he thought he beheld them; the sound of horns came floating from the valley, prolonged by the

mountainechoes. A number of horsemen were seen far below slowly advancing along the road; but when

they had nearly reached the foot of the mountain they suddenly struck off in a different direction. The last ray

of sunshine departed, the bats began to flit by in the twilight, the road grew dimmer and dimmer to the view,

and nothing appeared stirring in it but now and then a peasant lagging homeward from his labor.

While the old castle of Landshort was in this state of perplexity a very interesting scene was transacting in a

The young Count Von Altenburg was tranquilly pursuing his route in that sober jogtrot way in which a man

travels toward matrimony when his friends have taken all the trouble and uncertainty of courtship off his

hands and a bride is waiting for him as certainly as a dinner at the end of his journey. He had encountered at

Wurtzburg a youthful companioninarms with whom he had seen some service on the frontiersHerman

Von Starkenfaust, one of the stoutest hands and worthiest hearts of German chivalrywho was now

returning from the army. His father's castle was not far distant from the old fortress of Landshort, although an

In the warmhearted moment of recognition the young friends related all their past adventures and fortunes,

and the count gave the whole history of his intended nuptials with a young lady whom he had never seen, but

As the route of the friends lay in the same direction, they agreed to perform the rest of their journey together,

and that they might do it the more leisurely, set off from Wurtzburg at an early hour, the count having given

They beguiled their wayfaring with recollections of their military scenes and adventures; but the count was

apt to be a little tedious now and then about the reputed charms of his bride and the felicity that awaited him.

In this way they had entered among the mountains of the Odenwald, and were traversing one of its most

lonely and thickly wooded passes. It is well known that the forests of Germany have always been as much

infested by robbers as its castles by spectres; and at this time the former were particularly numerous, from the

hordes of disbanded soldiers wandering about the country. It will not appear extraordinary, therefore, that the

cavaliers were attacked by a gang of these stragglers, in the midst of the forest. They defended themselves

with bravery, but were nearly overpowered when the count's retinue arrived to their assistance. At sight of

them the robbers fled, but not until the count had received a mortal wound. He was slowly and carefully

conveyed back to the city of Wurtzburg, and a friar summoned from a neighboring convent who was famous

for his skill in administering to both soul and body; but half of his skill was superfluous; the moments of the

With his dying breath he entreated his friend to repair instantly to the castle of Landshort and explain the fatal

cause of his not keeping his appointment with his bride. Though not the most ardent of lovers, he was one of

the most punctilious of men, and appeared earnestly solicitous that his mission should be speedily and

courteously executed. "Unless this is done," said he, "I shall not sleep quietly in my grave." He repeated these

last words with peculiar solemnity. A request at a moment so impressive admitted no hesitation. Starkenfaust

endeavored to soothe him to calmness, promised faithfully to execute his wish, and gave him his hand in

solemn pledge. The dying man pressed it in acknowledgment, but soon lapsed into deliriumraved about his

bride, his engagements, his plighted wordordered his horse, that he might ride to the castle of Landshort,

Starkenfaust bestowed a sigh and a soldier's tear on the untimely fate of his comrade and then pondered on

the awkward mission he had undertaken. His heart was heavy and his head perplexed; for he was to present

himself an unbidden guest among hostile people, and to damp their festivity with tidings fatal to their hopes.

Still, there were certain whisperings of curiosity in his bosom to see this farfamed beauty of

Katzenellenbogen, so cautiously shut up from the world; for he was a passionate admirer of the sex, and there

was a dash of eccentricity and enterprise in his character that made him fond of all singular adventure.

Previous to his departure he made all due arrangements with the holy fraternity of the convent for the funeral

solemnities of his friend, who was to be buried in the cathedral of Wurtzburg near some of his illustrious

It is now high time that we should return to the ancient family of Katzenellenbogen, who were impatient for

their guest, and still more for their dinner, and to the worthy little baron, whom we left airing himself on the

Night closed in, but still no guest arrived. The baron descended from the tower in despair. The banquet,

which had been delayed from hour to hour, could no longer be postponed. The meats were already overdone,

the cook in an agony, and the whole household had the look of a garrison, that had been reduced by famine.

The baron was obliged reluctantly to give orders for the feast without the presence of the guest. All were

seated at table, and just on the point of commencing, when the sound of a horn from without the gate gave

notice of the approach of a stranger. Another long blast filled the old courts of the castle with its echoes, and

was answered by the warder from the walls. The baron hastened to receive his future soninlaw.

The drawbridge had been let down, and the stranger was before the gate. He was a tall gallant cavalier,

mounted on a black steed. His countenance was pale, but he had a beaming, romantic eye and an air of stately

melancholy. The baron was a little mortified that he should have come in this simple, solitary style. His

dignity for a moment was ruffled, and he felt disposed to consider it a want of proper respect for the

important occasion and the important family with which he was to be connected. He pacified himself,

however, with the conclusion that it must have been youthful impatience which had induced him thus to spur

Here the baron interrupted him with a world of compliments and greetings, for, to tell the truth, he prided

himself upon his courtesy and eloquence. The stranger attempted once or twice to stem the torrent of words,

but in vain, so he bowed his head and suffered it to flow on. By the time the baron had come to a pause they

had reached the inner court of the castle, and the stranger was again about to speak, when he was once more

interrupted by the appearance of the female part of the family, leading forth the shrinking and blushing bride.

He gazed on her for a moment as one entranced; it seemed as if his whole soul beamed forth in the gaze and

rested upon that lovely form. One of the maiden aunts whispered something in her ear; she made an effort to

speak; her moist blue eye was timidly raised, gave a shy glance of inquiry on the stranger, and was cast again

to the ground. The words died away, but there was a sweet smile playing about her lips, and a soft dimpling

of the cheek that showed her glance had not been unsatisfactory. It was impossible for a girl of the fond age

of eighteen, highly predisposed for love and matrimony, not to be pleased with so gallant a cavalier.

The late hour at which the guest had arrived left no time for parley. The baron was peremptory, and deferred

all particular conversation until the morning, and led the way to the untasted banquet.

It was served up in the great hall of the castle. Around the walls hung the hardfavored portraits of the heroes

of the house of Katzenellenbogen, and the trophies which they had gained in the field, and in the chase.

Hacked corselets, splintered joustingspears, and tattered banners were mingled with the spoils of sylvan

warfare: the jaws of the wolf and the tusks of the boar grinned horribly among crossbows and battleaxes,

and a huge pair of antlers branched immediately over the head of the youthful bridegroom.

The cavalier took but little notice of the company or the entertainment. He scarcely tasted the banquet, but

seemed absorbed in admiration of his bride. He conversed in a low tone that could not be overheard, for the

language of love is never loud; but where is the female ear so dull that it cannot catch the softest whisper of

the lover? There was a mingled tenderness and gravity in his manner that appeared to have a powerful effect

upon the young lady. Her color came and went as she listened with deep attention. Now and then she made

some blushing reply, and when his eye was turned away she would steal a sidelong glance at his romantic

countenance, and heave a gentle sigh of tender happiness. It was evident that the young couple were

completely enamored. The aunts, who were deeply versed in the mysteries of the heart, declared that they had

The feast went on merrily, or at least noisily, for the guests were all blessed with those keen appetites that

attend upon light purses and mountain air. The baron told his best and longest stories, and never had he told

them so well or with such great effect. If there was anything marvellous, his auditors were lost in

astonishment; and if anything facetious, they were sure to laugh exactly in the right place. The baron, it is

true, like most great men, was too dignified to utter any joke but a dull one; it was always enforced, however,

by a bumper of excellent Hockheimer, and even a dull joke at one's own table, served up with jolly old wine,

is irresistible. Many good things were said by poorer and keener wits that would not bear repeating, except on

similar occasions; many sly speeches whispered in ladies' ears that almost convulsed them with suppressed

laughter; and a song or two roared out by a poor but merry and broadfaced cousin of the baron that

Amidst all this revelry the stranger guest maintained a most singular and unseasonable gravity. His

countenance assumed a deeper cast of dejection as the evening advanced, and, strange as it may appear, even

the baron's jokes seemed only to render him the more melancholy. At times he was lost in thought, and at

times there was a perturbed and restless wandering of the eye that bespoke a mind but ill at ease. His

conversations with the bride became more and more earnest and mysterious. Lowering clouds began to steal

over the fair serenity of her brow, and tremors to run through her tender frame.

All this could not escape the notice of the company. Their gayety was chilled by the unaccountable gloom of

the bridegroom; their spirits were infected; whispers and glances were interchanged, accompanied by shrugs

and dubious shakes of the head. The song and the laugh grew less and less frequent: there were dreary pauses

in the conversation, which were at length succeeded by wild tales and supernatural legends. One dismal story

produced another still more dismal, and the baron nearly frightened some of the ladies into hysterics with the

history of the goblin horseman that carried away the fair Leonoraa dreadful story which has since been put

The bridegroom listened to this tale with profound attention. He kept his eyes steadily fixed on the baron,

and, as the story drew to a close, began gradually to rise from his seat, growing taller and taller, until in the

baron's entranced eye he seemed almost to tower into a giant. The moment the tale was finished he heaved a

deep sigh and took a solemn farewell of the company. They were all amazement. The baron was perfectly

"What! going to leave the castle at midnight? Why, everything was prepared for his reception; a chamber was

The stranger shook his head mournfully and mysteriously: "I must lay my head in a different chamber

There was something in this reply and the tone in which it was uttered that made the baron's heart misgive

The stranger shook his head silently, but positively, at every offer, and, waving his farewell to the company,

stalked slowly out of the hall. The maiden aunts were absolutely petrified; the bride hung her head and a tear

The baron followed the stranger to the great court of the castle, where the black charger stood pawing the

earth and snorting with impatience. When they had reached the portal, whose deep archway was dimly

lighted by a cresset, the stranger paused, and addressed the baron in a hollow tone of voice, which the vaulted

"Now that we are a lone," said he, "I will impart to you the reason of my going. I have a solemn, an

"It admits of no substituteI must attend it in person; I must away to Wurtzburg cathedral"

"Ay," said the baron, plucking up spirit, "but not until tomorrowtomorrow you shall take your bride

"No! no!" replied the stranger, with tenfold solemnity, "my engagement is with no bridethe worms! the

worms expect me! I am a dead manI have been slain by robbersmy body lies at Wurtzburgat

midnight I am to be buriedthe grave is waiting for meI must keep my appointment!"

He sprang on his black charger, dashed over the drawbridge, and the clattering of his horse's hoofs was lost in

The baron returned to the hall in the utmost consternation, and related what had passed. Two ladies fainted

outright, others sickened at the idea of having banqueted with a spectre. It was the opinion of some that this

might be the wild huntsman, famous in German legend. Some talked of mountainsprites, of wooddemons,

and of other supernatural beings with which the good people of Germany have been so grievously harassed

since time immemorial. One of the poor relations ventured to suggest that it might be some sportive evasion

of the young cavalier, and that the very gloominess of the caprice seemed to accord with so melancholy a

personage. This, however, drew on him, the indignation of the whole company, and especially of the baron,

who looked upon him as little better than an infidel; so that he was fain to abjure his heresy as speedily as

But, whatever may have been the doubts entertained, they were completely put to an end by the arrival next

day of regular missives confirming the intelligence of the young count's murder and his interment in

The dismay at the castle may well be imagined. The baron shut himself up in his chamber. The guests, who

had come to rejoice with him, could not think of abandoning him in his distress. They wandered about the

courts or collected in groups in the hall, shaking their heads and shrugging their shoulders at the troubles of

so good a man, and sat longer than ever at table, and ate and drank more stoutly than ever, by way of keeping

up their spirits. But the situation of the widowed bride was the most pitiable. To have lost a husband before

she had even embraced himand such a husband! If the very spectre could be so gracious and noble, what

On the night of the second day of her widowhood she had retired to her chamber, accompanied by one of her

aunts, who insisted on sleeping with her. The aunt, who was one of the best tellers of ghoststories in all

Germany, had just been recounting one of her longest, and had fallen asleep in the very midst of it. The

chamber was remote and overlooked a small garden. The niece lay pensively gazing at the beams of the rising

moon as they trembled on the leaves of an aspen tree before the lattice. The castle clock had just tolled

midnight when a soft strain of music stole up from the garden. She rose hastily from her bed and stepped

lightly to the window. A tall figure stood among the shadows of the trees. As it raised its head a beam of

moonlight fell upon the countenance. Heaven and earth! she beheld the Spectre Bridegroom! A loud shriek at

that moment burst upon her ear, and her aunt, who had been awakened by the music and had followed her

silently to the window, fell into her arms. When she looked again the spectre had disappeared. Of the two

females, the aunt now required the most soothing, for she was perfectly beside herself with terror. As to the

young lady, there was something even in the spectre of her lover that seemed endearing. There was still the

semblance of manly beauty, and, though the shadow of a man is but little calculated to satisfy the affections

of a lovesick girl, yet where the substance is not to be had even that is consoling. The aunt declared she

would never sleep in that chamber again; the niece, for once, was refractory, and declared as strongly that she

would sleep in no other in the castle: the consequence was, that she had to sleep in it alone; but she drew a

promise from her aunt not to relate the story of the spectre, lest she should be denied the only melancholy

pleasure left her on earththat of inhabiting the chamber over which the guardian shade of her lover kept its

How long the good old lady would have observed this promise is uncertain, for she dearly loved to talk of the

marvellous, and there is a triumph in being the first to tell a frightful story; it is, howover, still quoted in the

neighborhood as a memorable instance of female secrecy that she kept it to herself for a whole week, when

she was suddenly absolved from all further restraint by intelligence brought to the breakfasttable one

morning that the young lady was not to be found. Her room was emptythe bed had not been slept inthe

The astonishment and concern with which the intelligence was received can only be imagined by those who

have witnessed the agitation which the mishaps of a great man cause among his friends. Even the poor

relations paused for a moment from the indefatigable labors of the trencher, when the aunt, who had at first

been struck speechless, wrung her hands and shrieked out, "The goblin" the goblin! she's carried away by the

In a few words she related the fearful scene of the garden, and concluded that the spectre must have carried

off his bride. Two of the domestics corroborated the opinion, for they had heard the clattering of a horse's

hoofs down the mountain about midnight, and had no doubt that it was the spectre on his black charger

bearing her away to the tomb. All present were struck with the direful probability for events of the kind are

What a lamentable situation was that of the poor baron! What a heartrending dilemma for a fond father and a

member of the great family of Katzenellenbogen! His only daughter had either been rapt away to the grave,

or he was to have some wooddemon for a soninlaw, and perchance a troop of goblin grandchildren. As

usual, he was completely bewildered, and all the castle in an uproar. The men were ordered to take horse and

scour every road and path and glen of the Odenwald. The baron himself had just drawn on his jackboots,

girded on his sword, and was about to mount his steed to sally forth on the doubtful quest, when he was

brought to a pause by a new apparition. A lady was seen approaching the castle mounted on a palfrey,

attended by a cavalier on horseback. She galloped up to the gate, sprang from her horse, and, falling at the

baron's feet, embraced his knees. It was his lost daughter, and her companionthe Spectre Bridegroom! The

baron was astounded. He looked at his daughter, then at the spectre, and almost doubted the evidence of his

senses. The latter, too, was wonderfully improved in his appearance since his visit to the world of spirits. His

dress was splendid, and set off a noble figure of manly symmetry. He was no longer pale and melancholy.

His fine countenance was flushed with the glow of youth, and joy rioted in his large dark eye.

The mystery was soon cleared up. The cavalier (for, in truth, as you must have known all the while, he was

no goblin) announced himself as Sir Herman Von Starkenfaust. He related his adventure with the young

count. He told how he had hastened to the castle to deliver the unwelcome tidings, but that the eloquence of

the baron had interrupted him in every attempt to tell his tale. How the sight of the bride had completely

captivated him and that to pass a few hours near her he had tacitly suffered the mistake to continue. How he

had been sorely perplexed in what way to make a decent retreat, until the baron's goblin stories had suggested

his eccentric exit. How, fearing the feudal hostility of the family, he had repeated his visits by stealthhad

haunted the garden beneath the young lady's windowhad wooedhad wonhad borne away in

Under any other circumstances the baron would have been inflexible, for be was tenacious of paternal

authority and devoutly obstinate in all family feuds; but be loved his daughter; he had lamented her as lost; he

rejoiced to find her still alive; and, though her husband was of a hostile house, yet, thank Heaven! he was not

a goblin. There was something, it must he acknowledged, that did not exactly accord with his notions of strict

veracity in the joke the knight had passed upon him of his being a dead man; but several old friends present,

who had served in the wars, assured him that every stratagem was excusable in love, and that the cavalier was

Matters, therefore, were happily arranged. The baron pardoned the young couple on the spot. The revels at

the castle were resumed. The poor relations overwhelmed this new member of the family with

lovingkindness; he was so gallant, so generousand so rich. The aunts, it is true, were somewhat

scandalized that their system of strict seclusion and passive obedience should be so badly exemplified, but

attributed it all to their negligence in not having the windows grated. One of them was particularly mortified

at having her marvellous story marred, and that the only spectre she had ever seen should turn out a

counterfeit; but the niece seemed perfectly happy at having found him substantial flesh and blood. And so the

ON one of those sober and rather melancholy days in the latter part of autumn when the shadows of morning

and evening almost mingle together, and throw a gloom over the decline of the year, I passed several hours in

rambling about Westminster Abbey. There was something congenial to the season in the mournful

magnificence of the old pile, and as I passed its threshold it seemed like stepping back into the regions of

I entered from the inner court of Westminster School, through a long, low, vaulted passage that had an almost

subterranean look, being dimly lighted in one part by circular perforations in the massive walls. Through this

dark avenue I had a distant view of the cloisters, with the figure of an old verger in his black gown moving

along their shadowy vaults, and seeming like a spectre from one of the neighboring tombs. The approach to

the abbey through these gloomy monastic remains prepares the mind for its solemn contemplation. The

cloisters still retain something of the quiet and seclusion of former days. The gray walls are discolored by

damps and crumbling with age; a coat of hoary moss has gathered over the inscriptions of the mural

monuments, and obscured the death's heads and other funeral emblems. The sharp touches of the chisel are

gone from the rich tracery of the arches; the roses which adorned the keystones have lost their leafy beauty;

everything bears marks of the gradual dilapidations of time, which yet has something touching and pleasing

The sun was pouring down a yellow autumnal ray into the square of the cloisters, beaming upon a scanty plot

of grass in the centre, and lighting up an angle of the vaulted passage with a kind of dusky splendor. From

between the arcades the eye glanced up to a bit of blue sky or a passing cloud, and beheld the sungilt

As I paced the cloisters, sometimes contemplating this mingled picture of glory and decay, and sometimes

endeavoring to decipher the inscriptions on the tombstones which formed the pavement beneath my feet, my

eye was attracted to three figures rudely carved in relief, but nearly worn away by the footsteps of many

generations. They were the effigies of three of the early abbots; the epitaphs were entirely effaced; the names

alone remained, having no doubt been renewed in later times (Vitalis. Abbas. 1082, and Gislebertus

Crispinus. Abbas. 1114, and Laurentius. Abbas. 1176). I remained some little while, musing over these casual

relics of antiquity thus left like wrecks upon this distant shore of time, telling no tale but that such beings had

been and had perished, teaching no moral but the futility of that pride which hopes still to exact homage in its

ashes and to live in an inscription. A little longer, and even these faint records will be obliterated and the

monument will cease to be a memorial. Whilst I was yet looking down upon the gravestones I was roused by

the sound of the abbey clock, reverberating from buttress to buttress and echoing among the cloisters. It is

almost startling to hear this warning of departed time sounding among the tombs and telling the lapse of the

hour, which, like a billow, has rolled us onward towards the grave. I pursued my walk to an arched door

opening to the interior of the abbey. On entering here the magnitude of the building breaks fully upon the

mind, contrasted with the vaults of the cloisters. The eyes gaze with wonder at clustered columns of gigantic

dimensions, with arches springing from them to such an amazing height, and man wandering about their

bases, shrunk into insignificance in comparison with his own handiwork. The spaciousness and gloom of this

vast edifice produce a profound and mysterious awe. We step cautiously and softly about, as if fearful of

disturbing the hallowed silence of the tomb, while every footfall whispers along the walls and chatters among

It seems as if the awful nature of the place presses down upon the soul and hushes the beholder into noiseless

reverence. We feel that we are surrounded by the congregated bones of the great men of past times, who have

And yet it almost provokes a smile at the vanity of human ambition to see how they are crowded together and

jostled in the dust; what parsimony is observed in doling out a scanty nook, a gloomy corner, a little portion

of earth, to those whom, when alive, kingdoms could not satisfy, and how many shapes and forms and

artifices are devised to catch the casual notice of the passenger, and save from forgetfulness for a few short

years a name which once aspired to occupy ages of the world's thought and admiration.

I passed some time in Poet's Corner, which occupies an end of one of the transepts or cross aisles of the

abbey. The monuments are generally simple, for the lives of literary men afford no striking themes for the

sculptor. Shakespeare and Addison have statues erected to their memories, but the greater part have busts,

medallions, and sometimes mere inscriptions. Notwithstanding the simplicity of these memorials, I have

always observed that the visitors to the abbey remained longest about them. A kinder and fonder feeling takes

place of that cold curiosity or vague admiration with which they gaze on the splendid monuments of the great

and the heroic. They linger about these as about the tombs of friends and companions, for indeed there is

something of companionship between the author and the reader. Other men are known to posterity only

through the medium of history, which is continually growing faint and obscure; but the intercourse between

the author and his fellowmen is ever new, active, and immediate. He has lived for them more than for

himself; he has sacrificed surrounding enjoyments, and shut himself up from the delights of social life, that

he might the more intimately commune with distant minds and distant ages. Well may the world cherish his

renown, for it has been purchased not by deeds of violence and blood, but by the diligent dispensation of

pleasure. Well may posterity be grateful to his memory, for he has left it an inheritance not of empty names

and sounding actions, but whole treasures of wisdom, bright gems of thought, and golden veins of language.

From Poet's Corner I continued my stroll towards that part of the abbey which contains the sepulchres of the

kings. I wandered among what once were chapels, but which are now occupied by the tombs and monuments

of the great. At every turn I met with some illustrious name or the cognizance of some powerful house

renowned in history. As the eye darts into these dusky chambers of death it catches glimpses of quaint

effigiessome kneeling in niches, as if in devotion; others stretched upon the tombs, with hands piously

pressed together; warriors in armor, as if reposing after battle; prelates, with crosiers and mitres; and nobles

in robes and coronets, lying as it were in state. In glancing over this scene, so strangely populous, yet where

every form is so still and silent, it seems almost as if we were treading a mansion of that fabled city where

I paused to contemplate a tomb on which lay the effigy of a knight in complete armor. A large buckler was on

one arm; the hands were pressed together in supplication upon the breast; the face was almost covered by the

morion; the legs were crossed, in token of the warrior's having been engaged in the holy war. It was the tomb

of a crusader, of one of those military enthusiasts who so strangely mingled religion and romance, and whose

exploits form the connecting link between fact and fiction, between the history and the fairytale. There is

something extremely picturesque in the tombs of these adventurers, decorated as they are with rude armorial

bearings and Gothic sculpture. They comport with the antiquated chapels in which they are generally found;

and in considering them the imagination is apt to kindle with the legendary associations, the romantic fiction,

the chivalrous pomp and pageantry which poetry has spread over the wars for the sepulchre of Christ. They

are the relics of times utterly gone by, of beings passed from recollection, of customs and manners with

which ours have no affinity. They are like objects from some strange and distant land of which we have no

certain knowledge, and about which all our conceptions are vague and visionary. There is something

extremely solemn and awful in those effigies on Gothic tombs, extended as if in the sleep of death or in the

supplication of the dying hour. They have an effect infinitely more impressive on my feelings than the

fanciful attitudes, the over wrought conceits, the allegorical groups which abound on modern monuments. I

have been struck, also, with the superiority of many of the old sepulchral inscriptions. There was a noble way

in former times of saying things simply, and yet saying them proudly; and I do not know an epitaph that

breathes a loftier consciousness of family worth and honorable lineage than one which affirms of a noble

In the opposite transept to Poet's Corner stands a monument which is among the most renowned

achievements of modern art, but which to me appears horrible rather than sublime. It is the tomb of Mrs.

Nightingale, by Roubillac. The bottom of the monument is represented as throwing open its marble doors,

and a sheeted skeleton is starting forth. The shroud is falling from his fleshless frame as he launches his dart

at his victim. She is sinking into her affrighted husband's arms, who strives with vain and frantic effort to

avert the blow. The whole is executed with terrible truth and spirit; we almost fancy we hear the gibbering

yell of triumph bursting from the distended jaws of the spectre. But why should we thus seek to clothe death

with unnecessary terrors, and to spread horrors round the tomb of those we love? The grave should be

surrounded by everything that might inspire tenderness and veneration for the dead, or that might win the

living to virtue. It is the place not of disgust and dismay, but of sorrow and meditation.

While wandering about these gloomy vaults and silent aisles, studying the records of the dead, the sound of

busy existence from without occasionally reaches the earthe rumbling of the passing equipage, the murmur

of the multitude, or perhaps the light laugh of pleasure. The contrast is striking with the deathlike repose

around; and it has a strange effect upon the feelings thus to hear the surges of active life hurrying along and

I continued in this way to move from tomb to tomb and from chapel to chapel. The day was gradually

wearing away; the distant tread of loiterers about the abbey grew less and less frequent; the sweettongued

bell was summoning to evening prayers; and I saw at a distance the choristers in their white surplices

crossing the aisle and entering the choir. I stood before the entrance to Henry the Seventh's chapel. A flight of

steps leads up to it through a deep and gloomy but magnificent arch. Great gates of brass, richly and

delicately wrought, turn heavily upon their hinges, as if proudly reluctant to admit the feet of common

On entering the eye is astonished by the pomp of architecture and the elaborate beauty of sculptured detail.

The very walls are wrought into universal ornament encrusted with tracery, and scooped into niches crowded

with the statues of saints and martyrs. Stone seems, by the cunning labor of the chisel, to have been robbed of

its weight and density, suspended aloft as if by magic, and the fretted roof achieved with the wonderful

Along the sides of the chapel are the lofty stalls of the Knights of the Bath, richly carved of oak, though with

the grotesque decorations of Gothic architecture. On the pinnacles of the stalls are affixed the helmets and

crests of the knights, with their scarfs and swords, and above them are suspended their banners, emblazoned

with armorial bearings, and contrasting the splendor of gold and purple and crimson with the cold gray

fretwork of the roof. In the midst of this grand mausoleum stands the sepulchre of its founderhis effigy,

with that of his queen, extended on a sumptuous tomband the whole surrounded by a superblywrought

There is a sad dreariness in this magnificence, this strange mixture of tombs and trophies, these emblems of

living and aspiring ambition, close beside mementos which show the dust and oblivion in which all must

sooner or later terminate. Nothing impresses the mind with a deeper feeling of loneliness than to tread the

silent and deserted scene of former throng and pageant. On looking round on the vacant stalls of the knights

and their esquires, and on the rows of dusty but gorgeous banners that were once borne before them, my

imagination conjured up the scene when this hall was bright with the valor and beauty of the land, glittering

with the splendor of jewelled rank and military array, alive with the tread of many feet and the hum of an

admiring multitude. All had passed away; the silence of death had settled again upon the place, interrupted

only by the casual chirping of birds, which had found their way into the chapel and built their nests among its

When I read the names inscribed on the banners, they were those of men scattered far and wide about the

worldsome tossing upon distant seas: some under arms in distant lands; some mingling in the busy

intrigues of courts and cabinets,all seeking to deserve one more distinction in this mansion of shadowy

Two small aisles on each side of this chapel present a touching instance of the equality of the grave, which

brings down the oppressor to a level with the oppressed and mingles the dust of the bitterest enemies

together. In one is the sepulchre of the haughty Elizabeth; in the other is that of her victim, the lovely and

unfortunate Mary. Not an hour in the day but some ejaculation of pity is uttered over the fate of the latter,

mingled with indignation at her oppressor. The walls of Elizabeth's sepulchre continually echo with the sighs

A peculiar melancholy reigns over the aisle where Mary lies buried. The light struggles dimly through

windows darkened by dust. The greater part of the place is in deep shadow, and the walls are stained and

tinted by time and weather. A marble figure of Mary is stretched upon the tomb, round which is an iron

railing, much corroded, bearing her national emblemthe thistle. I was weary with wandering, and sat down

to rest myself by the monument, revolving in my mind the chequered and disastrous story of poor Mary.

The sound of casual footsteps had ceased from the abbey. I could only hear, now and then, the distant voice

of the priest repeating the evening service and the faint responses of the choir; these paused for a time, and all

was hushed. The stillness, the desertion, and obscurity that were gradally prevailing around gave a deeper and

Suddenly the notes of the deeplaboring organ burst upon the ear, falling with doubled and redoubled

intensity, and rolling, as it were, huge billows of sound. How well do their volume and grandeur accord with

this mighty building! With what pomp do they swell through its vast vaults, and breathe their awful harmony

through these caves of death, and make the silent sepulchre vocal! And now they rise in triumphant

acclamation, heaving higher and higher their accordant notes and piling sound on sound. And now they

pause, and the soft voices of the choir break out into sweet gushes of melody; they soar aloft and warble

along the roof, and seem to play about these lofty vaults like the pure airs of heaven. Again the pealing organ

heaves its thrilling thunders, compressing air into music, and rolling it forth upon the soul. What longdrawn

cadences! What solemn sweeping concords! It grows more and more dense and powerful; it fills the vast pile

and seems to jar the very wallsthe ear is stunnedthe senses are overwhelmed. And now it is winding up

in full jubileeit is rising from the earth to heaven; the very soul seems rapt away and floated upwards on

I sat for some time lost in that kind of reverie which a strain of music is apt sometimes to inspire: the

shadows of evening were gradually thickening round me; the monuments began to cast deeper and deeper

I rose and prepared to leave the abbey. As I descended the flight of steps which lead into the body of the

building, my eye was caught by the shrine of Edward the Confessor, and I ascended the small staircase that

conducts to it, to take from thence a general survey of this wilderness of tombs. The shrine is elevated upon a

kind of platform, and close around it are the sepulchres of various kings and queens. From this eminence the

eye looks down between pillars and funeral trophies to the chapels and chambers below, crowded with tombs,

where warriors, prelates, courtiers, and statesmen lie mouldering in their "beds of darkness." Close by me

stood the great chair of coronation, rudely carved of oak in the barbarous taste of a remote and Gothic age.

The scene seemed almost as if contrived with theatrical artifice to produce an effect upon the beholder. Here

was a type of the beginning and the end of human pomp and power; here it was literally but a step from the

throne to the sepulchre. Would not one think that these incongruous mementos had been gathered together as

a lesson to living greatness?to show it, even in the moment of its proudest exaltation, the neglect and

dishonor to which it must soon arrivehow soon that crown which encircles its brow must pass away, and it

must lie down in the dust and disgraces of the tomb, and be trampled upon by the feet of the meanest of the

multitude. For, strange to tell, even the grave is here no longer a sanctuary. There is a shocking levity in some

natures which leads them to sport with awful and hallowed things, and there are base minds which delight to

revenge on the illustrious dead the abject homage and grovelling servility which they pay to the living. The

coffin of Edward the Confessor has been broken open, and his remains despoiled of their funereal ornaments;

the sceptre has been stolen from the hand of the imperious Elizabeth; and the effigy of Henry the Fifth lies

headless. Not a royal monument but bears some proof how false and fugitive is the homage of mankind.

Some are plundered, some mutilated, some covered with ribaldry and insult,all more or less outraged and

The last beams of day were now faintly streaming through the painted windows in the high vaults above me;

the lower parts of the abbey were already wrapped in the obscurity of twilight. The chapels and aisles grew

darker and darker. The effigies of the kings faded into shadows; the marble figures of the monuments

assumed strange shapes in the uncertain light; the evening breeze crept through the aisles like the cold breath

of the grave; and even the distant footfall of a verger, traversing the Poet's Corner, had something strange and

dreary in its sound. I slowly retraced my morning's walk, and as I passed out at the portal of the cloisters, the

door, closing with a jarring noise behind me, filled the whole building with echoes.

I endeavored to form some arrangement in my mind of the objects I had been contemplating, but found they

were already falling into indistinctness and confusion. Names, inscriptions, trophies, had all become

confounded in my recollection, though I had scarcely taken my foot from off the threshold. What, thought I,

is this vast assemblage of sepulchres but a treasury of humiliationa huge pile of reiterated homilies on the

emptiness of renown and the certainty of oblivion? It is, indeed, the empire of death; his great shadowy

palace where he sits in state mocking at the relics of human glory and spreading dust and forgetfulness on the

monuments of princes. How idle a boast, after all, is the immortality of a name! Time is ever silently turning

over his pages; we are too much engrossed by the story of the present to think of the characters and anecdotes

that gave interest to the past; and each age is a volume thrown aside to be speedily forgotten. The idol of

today pushes the hero of yesterday out of our recollection, and will in turn be supplanted by his successor of

tomorrow. "Our fathers," says Sir Thomas Browne, "find their graves in our short memories, and sadly tell us

how we may be buried in our survivors." History fades into fable; fact becomes clouded with doubt and

controversy; the inscription moulders from the tablet; the statue falls from the pedestal. Columns, arches,

pyramids, what are they but heaps of sand, and their epitaphs but characters written in the dust? What is the

security of a tomb or the perpetuity of an embalmment? The remains of Alexander the Great have been

scattered to the wind, and his empty sarcophagus is now the mere curiosity of a museum. "The Egyptian

mummies, which Cambyses or time hath spared, avarice now consumeth; Mizraim cures wounds, and

What then is to ensure this pile which now towers above me from sharing the fate of mightier mausoleums?

The time must come when its gilded vaults which now spring so loftily, shall lie in rubbish beneath the feet;

when instead of the sound of melody and praise the wind shall whistle through the broken arches and the owl

hoot from the shattered tower; when the garish sunbeam shall break into these gloomy mansions of death, and

the ivy twine round the fallen column; and the foxglove hang its blossoms about the nameless urn, as if in

mockery of the dead. Thus man passes away; his name passes from record and recollection; his history is as a

CHRISTMAS. But is old, old, good old Christmas gone? Nothing but the hair of his good, gray old head and

NOTHING in England exercises a more delightful spell over my imagination than the lingerings of the

holiday customs and rural games of former times. They recall the pictures my fancy used to draw in the May

morning of life, when as yet I only knew the world through books, and believed it to be all that poets had

painted it; and they bring with them the flavor of those honest days of yore, in which, perhaps with equal

fallacy, I am apt to think the world was more homebred, social, and joyous than at present. I regret to say that

they are daily growing more and more faint, being gradually worn away by time, but still more obliterated by

modern fashion. They resemble those picturesque morsels of Gothic architecture which we see crumbling in

various parts of the country, partly dilapidated by the waste of ages and partly lost in the additions and

alterations of latter days. Poetry, however, clings with cherishing fondness about the rural game and holiday

revel from which it has derived so many of its themes, as the ivy winds its rich foliage about the Gothic arch

and mouldering tower, gratefully repaying their support by clasping together their tottering remains, and, as it

Of all the old festivals, however, that of Christmas awakens the strongest and most heartfelt associations.

There is a tone of solemn and sacred feeling that blends with our conviviality and lifts the spirit to a state of

hallowed and elevated enjoyment. The services of the Church about this season are extremely tender and

inspiring. They dwell on the beautiful story of the origin of our faith and the pastoral scenes that accompanied

its announcement. They gradually increase in fervor and pathos during the season of Advent, until they break

forth in full jubilee on the morning that brought peace and goodwill to men. I do not know a grander effect

of music on the moral feelings than to hear the full choir and the pealing organ performing a Christmas

anthem in a cathedral, and filling every part of the vast pile with triumphant harmony.

It is a beautiful arrangement, also, derived from days of yore, that this festival, which commemorates the

announcement of the religion of peace and love, has been made the season for gathering together of family

connections, and drawing closer again those bands of kindred hearts which the cares and pleasures and

sorrows of the world are continually operating to cast loose; of calling back the children of a family who have

launched forth in life and wandered widely asunder, once more to assemble about the paternal hearth, that

rallyingplace of the affections, there to grow young and loving again among the endearing mementos of

There is something in the very season of the year that gives a charm to the festivity of Christmas. At other

times we derive a great portion of our pleasures from the mere beauties of Nature. Our feelings sally forth

and dissipate themselves over the sunny landscape, and we "live abroad and everywhere." The song of the

bird, the murmur of the stream, the breathing fragrance of spring, the soft voluptuousness of summer, the

golden pomp of autumn, earth with its mantle of refreshing green, and heaven with it deep delicious blue and

its cloudy magnificence,all fill us with mute but exquisite delight, and we revel in the luxury of mere

sensation. But in the depth of winter, when Nature lies despoiled of every charm and wrapped in her shroud

of sheeted snow, we turn for our gratifications to moral sources. The dreariness and desolation of the

landscape, the short gloomy days and darksome nights, while they circumscribe our wanderings, shut in our

feelings also from rambling abroad, and make us more keenly disposed for the pleasure of the social circle.

Our thoughts are more concentrated; our friendly sympathies more aroused. We feel more sensibly the charm

of each other's society, and are brought more closely together by dependence on each other for enjoyment.

Heart calleth unto heart, and we draw our pleasures from the deep wells of lovingkindness which lie in the

quiet recesses of our bosoms, and which, when resorted to, furnish forth the pure element of domestic felicity.

The pitchy gloom without makes the heart dilate on entering the room filled with the glow and warmth of the

evening fire. The ruddy blaze diffuses an artificial summer and sunshine through the room, and lights up each

countenance in a kindlier welcome. Where does the honest face of hospitality expand into a broader and more

cordial smile, where is the shy glance of love more sweetly eloquent, than by the winter fireside? and as the

hollow blast of wintry wind rushes through the hall, claps the distant door, whistles about the casement, and

rumbles down the chimney, what can be more grateful than that feeling of sober and sheltered security with

which we look round upon the comfortable chamber and the scene of domestic hilarity?

The English, from the great prevalence of rural habit throughout every class of society, have always been

found of those festivals and holidays, which agreeably interrupt the stillness of country life, and they were, in

former days, particularly observant of the religious and social rites of Christmas. It is inspiring to read even

the dry details which some antiquaries have given of the quaint humors, the burlesque pageants, the complete

abandonment to mirth and goodfellowship with which this festival was celebrated. It seemed to throw open

every door and unlock every heart. It brought the peasant and the peer together, and blended all ranks in one

warm, generous flow of joy and kindness. The old halls of castles and manorhouses resounded with the harp

and the Christmas carol, and their ample boards groaned under the weight of hospitality. Even the poorest

cottage welcomed the festive season with green decorations of bay and hollythe cheerful fire glanced its

rays through the lattice, inviting the passengers to raise the latch and join the gossip knot huddled round the

hearth beguiling the long evening with legendary jokes and ofttold Christmas tales.

One of the least pleasing effects of modern refinement is the havoc it has made among the hearty old holiday

customs. It has completely taken off the sharp touchings and spirited reliefs of these embellishments of life,

and has worn down society into a more smooth and polished, but certainly a less characteristic, surface. Many

of the games and ceremonials of Christmas have entirely disappeared, and, like the sherris sack of old

Falstaff, are become matters of speculation and dispute among commentators. They flourished in times full of

spirit and lustihood, when men enjoyed life roughly, but heartily and vigorouslytimes wild and

picturesque, which have furnished poetry with its richest materials and the drama with its most attractive

variety of characters and manners. The world has become more worldly. There is more of dissipation, and

less of enjoyment. Pleasure has expanded into a broader, but a shallower stream, and has forsaken many of

those deep and quiet channels where it flowed sweetly through the calm bosom of domestic life. Society has

acquired a more enlightened and elegant tone, but it has lost many of its strong local peculiarities, its

homebred feelings, its honest fireside delights. The traditionary customs of goldenhearted antiquity, its

feudal hospitalities, and lordly wassailings, have passed away with the baronial castles and stately

manorhouses in which they were celebrated. They comported with the shadowy hall, the great oaken

gallery, and the tapestried parlor, but are unfitted to the light showy saloons and gay drawingrooms of the

Shorn, however, as it is, of its ancient and festive honors, Christmas is still a period of delightful excitement

in England. It is gratifying to see that homefeeling completely aroused which holds so powerful a place in

every English bosom. The preparations making on every side for the social board that is again to unite friends

and kindred; the presents of good cheer passing and repassing, those tokens of regard and quickeners of kind

feelings; the evergreens distributed about houses and churches, emblems of peace and gladness,all these

have the most pleasing effect in producing fond associations and kindling benevolent sympathies. Even the

sound of the Waits, rude as may be their minstrelsy, breaks upon the midwatches of a winter night with the

effect of perfect harmony. As I have been awakened by them in that still and solemn hour "when deep sleep

falleth upon man," I have listened with a hushed delight, and, connecting them with the sacred and joyous

occasion, have almost fancied them into another celestial choir announcing peace and goodwill to mankind.

How delightfully the imagination, when wrought upon by these moral influences, turns everything to melody

and beauty! The very crowing of the cock, heard sometimes in the profound repose of the country, "telling

the nightwatches to his feathery dames," was thought by the common people to announce the approach of

Amidst the general call to happiness, the bustle of the spirits, and stir of the affections which prevail at this

period what bosom can remain insensible? It is, indeed, the season of regenerated feelingthe season for

kindling not merely the fire of hospitality in the hall, but the genial flame of charity in the heart.

The scene of early love again rises green to memory beyond the sterile waste of years; and the idea of home,

fraught with the fragrance of homedwelling joys, reanimates the drooping spirit, as the Arabian breeze will

sometimes waft the freshness of the distant fields to the weary pilgrim of the desert.

Stranger and sojourner as I am in the land, though for me no social hearth may blaze, no hospitable roof

throw open its doors, nor the warm grasp of friendship welcome me at the threshold, yet I feel the influence

of the season beaming into my soul from the happy looks of those around me. Surely happiness is reflective,

like the light of heaven, and every countenance, bright with smiles and glowing with innocent enjoyment, is a

mirror transmitting to others the rays of a supreme and evershining benevolence. He who can turn churlishly

away from contemplating the felicity of his fellowbeings, and can sit down darkling and repining in his

loneliness when all around is joyful, may have his moments of strong excitement and selfish gratification, but

he wants the genial and social sympathies which constitute the charm of a merry Christmas.

IN the preceding paper I have made some general observations on the Christmas festivities of England, and

am tempted to illustrate them by some anecdotes of a Christmas passed in the country; in perusing which I

would most courteously invite my reader to lay aside the austerity of wisdom, and to put on that genuine

In the course of a December tour in Yorkshire, I rode for a long distance in one of the public coaches on the

day preceding Christmas. The coach was crowded, both inside and out, with passengers who, by their talk,

seemed principally bound to the mansions of relations or friends to eat the Christmas dinner. It was loaded

also with hampers of game and baskets and boxes of delicacies, and hares hung dangling their long ears about

the coachman's box, presents from distant friends for the impending feast. I had three fine rosycheeked

school boys for my fellowpassengers inside, full of the buxom health and manly spirit which I have

observed in the children of this country. They were returning home for the holidays in high glee, and

promising themselves a world of enjoyment. It was delightful to hear the gigantic plans of the little rogues,

and the impracticable feats they were to perform during their six weeks' emancipation from the abhorred

thraldom of book, birch, and pedagogue. They were full of anticipations of the meeting with the family and

household, down to the very cat and dog, and of the joy they were to give their little sisters by the presents

with which their pockets were crammed; but the meeting to which they seemed to look forward with the

greatest impatience was with Bantam, which I found to be a pony, and, according to their talk, possessed of

more virtues than any steed since the days of Bucephalus. How he could trot! how he could run! and then

such leaps as he would take!there was not a hedge in the whole country that he could not clear.

They were under the particular guardianship of the coachman, to whom, whenever an opportunity presented,

they addressed a host of questions, and pronounced him one of the best fellows in the world. Indeed, I could

not but notice the more than ordinary air of bustle and importance of the coachman, who wore his hat a little

on one side and had a large bunch of Christmas greens stuck in the buttonhole of his coat. He is always a

personage full of mighty care and business, but he is particularly so during this season, having so many

commissions to execute in consequence of the great interchange of presents. And here, perhaps, it may not be

unacceptable to my untravelled readers to have a sketch that may serve as a general representation of this

very numerous and important class of functionaries, who have a dress, a manner, a language, an air peculiar

to themselves and prevalent throughout the fraternity; so that wherever an English stagecoachman may be

He has commonly a broad, full face, curiously mottled with red, as if the blood had been forced by hard

feeding into every vessel of the skin; he is swelled into jolly dimensions by frequent potations of malt liquors,

and his bulk is still further increased by a multiplicity of coats, in which he is buried like a cauliflower, the

upper one reaching to his heels. He wears a broadbrimmed, lowcrowned hat; a huge roll of colored

handkerchief about his neck, knowingly knotted and tucked in at the bosom; and has in summertime a large

bouquet of flowers in his buttonhole, the present, most probably, of some enamored country lass. His

waistcoat is commonly of some bright color, striped, and his smallclothes extend far below the knees, to

All this costume is maintained with much precision; he has a pride in having his clothes of excellent

materials, and, notwithstanding the seeming grossness of his appearance, there is still discernible that

neatness and propriety of person which is almost inherent in an Englishman. He enjoys great consequence

and consideration along the road; has frequent conferences with the village housewives, who look upon him

as a man of great trust and dependence; and he seems to have a good understanding with every brighteyed

country lass. The moment he arrives where the horses are to be changed, he throws down the reins with

something of an air and abandons the cattle to the care of the ostler, his duty being merely to drive from one

stage to another. When off the box his hands are thrust into the pockets of his great coat, and he rolls about

the innyard with an air of the most absolute lordliness. Here he is generally surrounded by an admiring

throng of ostlers, stableboys, shoeblacks, and those nameless hangerson that infest inns and taverns, and run

errands and do all kind of odd jobs for the privilege of battening on the drippings of the kitchen and the

leakage of the taproom. These all look up to him as to an oracle, treasure up his cant phrases, echo his

opinions about horses and other topics of jockey lore, and, above all, endeavor to imitate his air and carriage.

Every ragamuffin that has a coat to his back thrusts his hands in the pockets, rolls in his gait, talks slang, and

Perhaps it might be owing to the pleasing serenity that reigned in my own mind that I fancied I saw

cheerfulness in every countenance throughout the journey. A stagecoach, however, carries animation always

with it, and puts the world in motion as it whirls along. The horn, sounded at the entrance of the village,

produces a general bustle. Some hasten forth to meet friends; some with bundles and bandboxes to secure

places, and in the hurry of the moment can hardly take leave of the group that accompanies them. In the

meantime the coachman has a world of small commissions to execute. Sometimes he delivers a hare or

pheasant; sometimes jerks a small parcel or newspaper to the door of a public house; and sometimes, with

knowing leer and words of sly import, hands to some halfblushing, halflaughing housemaid an

oddshaped billetdoux from some rustic admirer. As the coach rattles through the village every one runs to

the window, and you have glances on every side of fresh country faces and blooming giggling girls. At the

corners are assembled juntos of village idlers and wise men, who take their stations there for the important

purpose of seeing company pass; but the sagest knot is generally at the blacksmith's, to whom the passing of

the coach is an event fruitful of much speculation. The smith, with the horse's heel in his lap, pauses as the

vehicle whirls by; the cyclops round the anvil suspend their ringing hammers and suffer the iron to grow

cool; and the sooty spectre in brown paper cap laboring at the bellows leans on the handle for a moment, and

permits the asthmatic engine to heave a longdrawn sigh, while he glares through the murky smoke and

Perhaps the impending holiday might have given a more than usual animation to the country, for it seemed to

me as if everybody was in good looks and good spirits. Game, poultry, and other luxuries of the table were in

brisk circulation in the villages; the grocers', butchers', and fruiterers' shops were thronged with customers.

The housewives were stirring briskly about, putting their dwellings in order, and the glossy branches of holly

with their brightred berries began to appear at the windows. The scene brought to mind an old writer's

account of Christmas preparation: "Now capons and hens, besides turkeys, geese, and ducks, with beef and

mutton, must all die, for in twelve days a multitude of people will not be fed with a little. Now plums and

spice, sugar and honey, square it among pies and broth. Now or never must music be in tune, for the youth

must dance and sing to get them a heat, while the aged sit by the fire. The country maid leaves half her

market, and must be sent again if she forgets a pack of cards on Christmas Eve. Great is the contention of

holly and ivy whether master or dame wears the breeches. Dice and cards benefit the butler; and if the cook

I was roused from this fit of luxurious meditation by a shout from my little travelling companions. They had

been looking out of the coachwindows for the last few miles, recognizing every tree and cottage as they

approached home, and now there was a general burst of joy. "There's John! and there's old Carlo! and there's

At the end of a lane there was an old soberlooking servant in livery waiting for them; he was accompanied

by a superannuated pointer and by the redoubtable Bantam, a little old rat of a pony with a shaggy mane and

long rusty tail, who stood dozing quietly by the roadside, little dreaming of the bustling times that awaited

I was pleased to see the fondness with which the little fellows leaped about the steady old footman and

hugged the pointer, who wriggled his whole body for joy. But Bantam was the great object of interest; all

wanted to mount at once, and it was with some difficulty that John arranged that they should ride by turns

Off they set at last, one on the pony, with the dog bounding and barking before him, and the others holding

John's hands, both talking at once and overpowering him with questions about home and with school

anecdotes. I looked after them with a feeling in which I do not know whether pleasure or melancholy

predominated; for I was reminded of those days when, like them, I had known neither care nor sorrow and a

holiday was the summit of earthly felicity. We stopped a few moments afterwards to water the horses, and on

resuming our route a turn of the road brought us in sight of a neat countryseat. I could just distinguish the

forms of a lady and two young girls in the portico, and I saw my little comrades, with Bantam, Carlo, and old

John, trooping along the carriageroad. I leaned out of the coachwindow, in hopes of witnessing the happy

In the evening we reached a village where I had determined to pass the night. As we drove into the great

gateway of the inn, I saw on one side the light of a rousing kitchenfire beaming through a window. I

entered, and admired, for the hundredth time, that picture of convenience, neatness, and broad honest

enjoyment, the kitchen of an English inn. It was of spacious dimensions, hung round with copper and tin

vessels highly polished, and decorated here and there with a Christmas green. Hams, tongues, and flitches of

bacon were suspended from the ceiling; a smokejack made its ceaseless clanking beside the fireplace, and a

clock ticked in one corner. A wellscoured deal table extended along one side of the kitchen, with a cold

round of beef and other hearty viands upon it, over which two foaming tankards of ale seemed mounting

guard. Travellers of inferior order were preparing to attack this stout repast, while others sat smoking and

gossiping over their ale on two highbacked oaken settles beside the fire. Trim housemaids were hurrying

backwards and forwards under the directions of a fresh bustling landlady, but still seizing an occasional

moment to exchange a flippant word and have a rallying laugh with the group round the fire. The scene

I had not been long at the inn when a postchaise drove up to the door. A young gentleman stept out, and by

the light of the lamps I caught a glimpse of a countenance which I thought I knew. I moved forward to get a

nearer view, when his eye caught mine. I was not mistaken; it was Frank Bracebridge, a sprightly,

goodhumored young fellow with whom I had once travelled on the Continent. Our meeting was extremely

cordial, for the countenance of an old fellowtraveller always brings up the recollection of a thousand

pleasant scenes, odd adventures, and excellent jokes. To discuss all these in a transient interview at an inn

was impossible; and, finding that I was not pressed for time and was merely making a tour of observation, he

insisted that I should give him a day or two at his father's countryseat, to which he was going to pass the

holidays and which lay at a few miles' distance. "It is better than eating a solitary Christmas dinner at an inn,"

said he, "and I can assure you of a hearty welcome in something of the oldfashioned style." His reasoning

was cogent, and I must confess the preparation I had seen for universal festivity and social enjoyment had

made me feel a little impatient of my loneliness. I closed, therefore, at once with his invitation; the chaise

drove up to the door, and in a few moments I was on my way to the family mansion of the Bracebridges.

IT was a brilliant moonlight night, but extremely cold; our chaise whirled rapidly over the frozen ground; the

postboy smacked his whip incessantly, and a part of the time his horses were on a gallop. "He knows where

he is going," said my companion, laughing, "and is eager to arrive in time for some of the merriment and

good cheer of the servants' hall. My father, you must know, is a bigoted devotee of the old school, and prides

himself upon keeping up something of old English hospitality. He is a tolerable specimen of what you will

rarely meet with nowadays in its purity, the old English country gentleman; for our men of fortune spend so

much of their time in town, and fashion is carried so much into the country, that the strong rich peculiarities

of ancient rural life are almost polished away. My father, however, from early years, took honest Peacham*

for his textbook, instead of Chesterfield; he determined in his own mind that there was no condition more

truly honorable and enviable than that of a country gentleman on his paternal lands, and therefore passes the

whole of his time on his estate. He is a strenuous advocate for the revival of the old rural games and holiday

observances, and is deeply read in the writers, ancient and modern, who have treated on the subject. Indeed,

his favorite range of reading is among the authors who flourished at least two centuries since, who, he insists,

wrote and thought more like true Englishmen than any of their successors. He even regrets sometimes that he

had not been born a few centuries earlier, when England was itself and had its peculiar manners and customs.

As he lives at some distance from the main road, in rather a lonely part of the country, without any rival

gentry near him, he has that most enviable of all blessings to an Englishmanan opportunity of indulging

the bent of his own humor without molestation. Being representative of the oldest family in the

neighborhood, and a great part of the peasantry being his tenants, he is much looked up to, and in general is

known simply by the appellation of 'The Squire'a title which has been accorded to the head of the family

since time immemorial. I think it best to give you these hints about my worthy old father, to prepare you for

We had passed for some time along the wall of a park, and at length the chaise stopped at the gate. It was in a

heavy, magnificent old style, of iron bars fancifully wrought at top into flourishes and flowers. The huge

square columns that supported the gate were surmounted by the family crest. Close adjoining was the porter's

The postboy rang a large porter's bell, which resounded though the still frosty air, and was answered by the

distant barking of dogs, with which the mansionhouse seemed garrisoned. An old woman immediately

appeared at the gate. As the moonlight fell strongly upon her, I had a full view of a little primitive dame,

dressed very much in the antique taste, with a neat kerchief and stomacher, and her silver hair peeping from

under a cap of snowy whiteness. She came curtseying forth, with many expressions of simple joy at seeing

her young master. Her husband, it seemed, was up at the house keeping Christmas Eve in the servants' hall;

they could not do without him, as he was the best hand at a song and story in the household.

My friend proposed that we should alight and walk through the park to the hall, which was at no great

distance, while the chaise should follow on. Our road wound through a noble avenue of trees, among the

naked branches of which the moon glittered as she rolled through the deep vault of a cloudless sky. The lawn

beyond was sheeted with a slight covering of snow, which here and there sparkled as the moonbeams caught

a frosty crystal, and at a distance might be seen a thin transparent vapor stealing up from the low grounds and

My companion looked around him with transport. "How often," said he, "have I scampered up this avenue on

returning home on school vacations! How often have I played under these trees when a boy! I feel a degree of

filial reverence for them, as we look up to those who have cherished us in childhood. My father was always

scrupulous in exacting our holidays and having us around him on family festivals. He used to direct and

superintend our games with the strictness that some parents do the studies of their children. He was very

particular that we should play the old English games according to their original form, and consulted old

books for precedent and authority for every 'merrie disport;' yet I assure you there never was pedantry so

delightful. It was the policy of the good old gentleman to make his children feel that home was the happiest

place in the world; and I value this delicious homefeeling as one of the choicest gifts a parent could

We were interrupted by the clamor of a troop of dogs of all sorts and sizes, "mongrel, puppy, whelp, and

hound, and curs of lower degree," that disturbed by the ring of the porter's bell and the rattling of the chaise,

"'The little dogs and all, Tray, Blanch, and Sweetheart, see, they bark at me!'"

cried Bracebridge, laughing. At the sound of his voice the bark was changed into a yelp of delight, and in a

moment he was surrounded and almost overpowered by the caresses of the faithful animals.

We had now come in full view of the old family mansion, partly thrown in deep shadow and partly lit up by

the cold moonshine. It was an irregular building of some magnitude, and seemed to be of the architecture of

different periods. One wing was evidently very ancient, with heavy stoneshafted bow windows jutting out

and overrun with ivy, from among the foliage of which the small diamondshaped panes of glass glittered

with the moonbeams. The rest of the house was in the French taste of Charles the Second's time, having been

repaired and altered, as my friend told me, by one of his ancestors who returned with that monarch at the

Restoration. The grounds about the house were laid out in the old formal manner of artificial flowerbeds,

clipped shrubberies, raised terraces, and heavy stone balustrades, ornamented with urns, a leaden statue or

two, and a jet of water. The old gentleman, I was told, was extremely careful to preserve this obsolete finery

in all its original state. He admired this fashion in gardening; it had an air of magnificence, was courtly and

noble, and befitting good old family style. The boasted imitation of Nature in modern gardening had sprung

up with modern republican notions, but did not suit a monarchical government; it smacked of the leveling

system. I could not help smiling at this introduction of politics into gardening, though I expressed some

apprehension that I should find the old gentleman rather intolerant in his creed. Frank assured me, however,

that it was almost the only instance in which he had ever heard his father meddle with politics; and he

believed that he had got this notion from a member of Parliament who once passed a few weeks with him.

The squire was glad of any argument to defend his clipped yew trees and formal terraces, which had been

As we approached the house we heard the sound of music, and now and then a burst of laughter from one end

of the building. This, Bracebridge said, must proceed from the servants' hall, where a great deal of revelry

was permitted, and even encouraged, by the squire throughout the twelve days of Christmas, provided

everything was done conformably to ancient usage. Here were kept up the old games of hoodman blind, shoe

the wild mare, hot cockles, steal the white loaf, bob apple, and snap dragon; the Yuleclog and Christmas

candle were regularly burnt, and the mistletoe with its white berries hung up, to the imminent peril of all the

So intent were the servants upon their sports that we had to ring repeatedly before we could make ourselves

heard. On our arrival being announced the squire came out to receive us, accompanied by his two other

sonsone a young officer in the army, home on a leave of absence; the other an Oxonian, just from the

university. The squire was a fine healthylooking old gentleman, with silver hair curling lightly round an

open florid countenance, in which the physiognomist, with the advantage, like myself, of a previous hint or

The family meeting was warm and affectionate; as the evening was far advanced, the squire would not permit

us to change our travelling dresses, but ushered us at once to the company, which was assembled in a large

oldfashioned hall. It was composed of different branches of a numerous family connection, where there

were the usual proportion of old uncles and aunts, comfortable married dames, superannuated spinsters,

blooming country cousins, halffledged striplings, and brighteyed boardingschool hoydens. They were

variously occupiedsome at a round game of cards; others conversing around the fireplace; at one end of the

hall was a group of the young folks, some nearly grown up, others of a more tender and budding age, fully

engrossed by a merry game; and a profusion of wooden horses, penny trumpets, and tattered dolls about the

floor showed traces of a troop of little fairy beings who, having frolicked through a happy day, had been

While the mutual greetings were going on between young Bracebridge and his relatives I had time to scan the

apartment. I have called it a hall, for so it had certainly been in old times, and the squire had evidently

endeavored to restore it to something of its primitive state. Over the heavy projecting fireplace was suspended

a picture of a warrior in armor, standing by a white horse, and on the opposite wall hung a helmet, buckler,

and lance. At one end an enormous pair of antlers were inserted in the wall, the branches serving as hooks on

which to suspend hats, whips, and spurs, and in the corners of the apartment were fowlingpieces,

fishingrods, and other sporting implements. The furniture was of the cumbrous workmanship of former

days, though some articles of modern convenience had been added and the oaken floor had been carpeted, so

The grate had been removed from the wide overwhelming fireplace to make way for a fire of wood, in the

midst of which was an enormous log glowing and blazing, and sending forth a vast volume of light and heat:

this, I understood, was the Yuleclog, which the squire was particular in having brought in and illumined on

* The Yuleclog is a great log of wood, sometimes the root of a tree, brought into the house with great

ceremony on Christmas Eve, laid in the fireplace, and lighted with the brand of last year's clog. While it

lasted there was great drinking, singing, and telling of tales. Sometimes it was accompanied by Christmas

candles; but in the cottages the only light was from the ruddy blaze of the great wood fire. The Yuleclog

The Yuleclog is still burnt in many farmhouses and kitchens in England, particularly in the north, and

there are several superstitions connected with it among the peasantry. If a squinting person come to the house

while it is burning, or a person barefooted, it is considered an ill omen. The brand remaining from the

It was really delightful to see the old squire seated in his hereditary elbowchair by the hospitable fireside of

his ancestors, and looking around him like the sun of a system, beaming warmth and gladness to every heart.

Even the very dog that lay stretched at his feet, as he lazily shifted his position and yawned would look

fondly up in his master's face, wag his tail against the floor, and stretch himself again to sleep, confident of

kindness and protection. There is an emanation from the heart in genuine hospitality which cannot be

described, but is immediately felt and puts the stranger at once at his ease. I had not been seated many

minutes by the comfortable hearth of the worthy old cavalier before I found myself as much at home as if I

Supper was announced shortly after our arrival. It was served up in a spacious oaken chamber, the panels of

which shone with wax, and around which were several family portraits decorated with holly and ivy. Besides

the accustomed lights, two great wax tapers, called Christmas candles, wreathed with greens, were placed on

a highly polished beaufet among the family plate. The table was abundantly spread with substantial fare; but

the squire made his supper of frumenty, a dish made of wheat cakes boiled in milk with rich spices, being a

standing dish in old times for Christmas Eve. I was happy to find my old friend, minced pie, in the retinue of

the feast and, finding him to be perfectly orthodox, and that I need not be ashamed of my predilection, I

greeted him with all the warmth wherewith we usually greet an old and very genteel acquaintance.

The mirth of the company was greatly promoted by the humors of an eccentric personage whom Mr.

Bracebridge always addressed with the quaint appellation of Master Simon. He was a tight brisk little man,

with the air of an arrant old bachelor. His nose was shaped like the bill of a parrot; his face slightly pitted

with the smallpox, with a dry perpetual bloom on it, like a frostbitten leaf in autumn. He had an eye of great

quickness and vivacity, with a drollery and lurking waggery of expression that was irresistible. He was

evidently the wit of the family, dealing very much in sly jokes and innuendoes with the ladies, and making

infinite merriment by harping upon old themes, which, unfortunately, my ignorance of the family chronicles

did not permit me to enjoy. It seemed to be his great delight during supper to keep a young girl next to him in

a continual agony of stifled laughter, in spite of her awe of the reproving looks of her mother, who sat

opposite. Indeed, he was the idol of the younger part of the company, who laughed at everything he said or

did and at every turn of his countenance. I could not wonder at it; for he must have been a miracle of

accomplishments in their eyes. He could imitate Punch and Judy; make an old woman of his hand, with the

assistance of a burnt cork and pockethandkerchief; and cut an orange into such a ludicrous caricature that

I was let briefly into his history by Frank Bracebridge. He was an old bachelor, of a small independent

income, which by careful management was sufficient for all his wants. He revolved through the family

system like a vagrant comet in its orbit, sometimes visiting one branch, and sometimes another quite remote,

as is often the case with gentlemen of extensive connections and small fortunes in England. He had a

chirping, buoyant disposition, always enjoying the present moment; and his frequent change of scene and

company prevented his acquiring those rusty, unaccommodating habits with which old bachelors are so

uncharitably charged. He was a complete family chronicle, being versed in the genealogy, history, and

intermarriages of the whole house of Bracebridge, which made him a great favorite with the old folks; he was

a beau of all the elder ladies and superannuated spinsters, among whom he was habitually considered rather a

young fellow; and he was master of the revels among the children, so that there was not a more popular being

in the sphere in which he moved than Mr. Simon Bracebridge. Of late years he had resided almost entirely

with the squire, to whom he had become a factotum, and whom he particularly delighted by jumping with his

humor in respect to old times and by having a scrap of an old song to suit every occasion. We had presently a

specimen of his lastmentioned talent, for no sooner was supper removed and spiced wines and other

beverages peculiar to the season introduced, than Master Simon was called on for a good old Christmas song.

He bethought himself for a moment, and then, with a sparkle of the eye and a voice that was by no means

bad, excepting that it ran occasionally into a falsetto like the notes of a split reed, he quavered forth a quaint

The supper had disposed every one to gayety, and an old harper was summoned from the servants' hall, where

he had been strumming all the evening, and to all appearance comforting himself with some of the squire's

homebrewed. He was a kind of hangeron, I was told, of the establishment, and, though ostensibly a

resident of the village, was oftener to be found in the squire's kitchen than his own home, the old gentleman

The dance, like most dances after supper, was a merry one: some of the older folks joined in it, and the squire

himself figured down several couple with a partner with whom he affirmed he had danced at every Christmas

for nearly half a century. Master Simon, who seemed to be a kind of connecting link between the old times

and the new, and to be withal a little antiquated in the taste of his accomplishments, evidently piqued himself

on his dancing, and was endeavoring to gain credit by the heel and toe, rigadoon, and other graces of the

ancient school; but he had unluckily assorted himself with a little romping girl from boardingschool, who by

her wild vivacity kept him continually on the stretch and defeated all his sober attempts at elegance: such are

The young Oxonian, on the contrary, had led out one of his maiden aunts, on whom the rogue played a

thousand little knaveries with impunity: he was full of practical jokes, and his delight was to tease his aunts

and cousins, yet, like all madcap youngsters, he was a universal favorite among the women. The most

interesting couple in the dance was the young officer and a ward of the squire's, a beautiful blushing girl of

From several shy glances which I had noticed in the course of the evening I suspected there was a little

kindness growing up between them; and indeed the young soldier was just the hero to captivate a romantic

girl. He was tall, slender, and handsome, and, like most young British officers of late years, had picked up

various small accomplishments on the Continent: he could talk French and Italian, draw landscapes, sing very

tolerably, dance divinely, but, above all, he had been wounded at Waterloo. What girl of seventeen, well read

The moment the dance was over he caught up a guitar, and, lolling against the old marble fireplace in an

attitude which I am half inclined to suspect was studied, began the little French air of the Troubadour. The

squire, however, exclaimed against having anything on Christmas Eve but good old English; upon which the

young minstrel, casting up his eye for a moment as if in an effort of memory, struck into another strain, and

The song might or might not have been intended in compliment to the fair Julia, for so I found his partner

was called; she, however, was certainly unconscious of any such application, for she never looked at the

singer, but kept her eyes cast upon the floor. Her face was suffused, it is true, with a beautiful blush, and there

was a gentle heaving of the bosom, but all that was doubtless caused by the exercise of the dance; indeed, so

great was her indifference that she amused herself with plucking to pieces a choice bouquet of hothouse

flowers, and by the time the song was concluded the nosegay lay in ruins on the floor.

The party now broke up for the night with the kindhearted old custom of shaking hands. As I passed through

the hall on my way to my chamber, the dying embers of the Yuleclog still sent forth a dusky glow, and had

it not been the season when "no spirit dares stir abroad," I should have been half tempted to steal from my

room at midnight and peep whether the fairies might not be at their revels about the hearth.

My chamber was in the old part of the mansion, the ponderous furniture of which might have been fabricated

in the days of the giants. The room was panelled, with cornices of heavy carved work, in which flowers and

grotesque faces were strangely intermingled, and a row of blacklooking portraits stared mournfully at me

from the walls. The bed was of rich though faded damask, with a lofty tester, and stood in a niche opposite a

bow window. I had scarcely got into bed when a strain of music seemed to break forth in the air just below

the window. I listened, and found it proceeded from a band which I concluded to be the Waits from some

neighboring village. They went round the house, playing under the windows. I drew aside the curtains to hear

them more distinctly. The moonbeams fell through the upper part of the casement; partially lighting up the

antiquated apartment. The sounds, as they receded, became more soft and aerial, and seemed to accord with

the quiet and moonlight. I listened and listenedthey became more and more tender and remote, and, as they

WHEN I woke the next morning it seemed as if all the events of the preceding evening had been a dream, and

nothing but the identity of the ancient chamber convinced me of their reality. While I lay musing on my

pillow I heard the sound of little feet pattering outside of the door, and a whispering consultation. Presently a

choir of small voices chanted forth an old Christmas carol, the burden of which was

I rose softly, slipt on my clothes, opened the door suddenly, and beheld one of the most beautiful little fairy

groups that a painter could imagine. It consisted of a boy and two girls, the eldest not more than six, and

lovely as seraphs. They were going the rounds of the house and singing at every chamber door, but my

sudden appearance frightened them into mute bashfulness. They remained for a moment playing on their lips

with their fingers, and now and then stealing a shy glance from under their eyebrows, until, as if by one

impulse, they scampered away, and as they turned an angle of the gallery I heard them laughing in triumph at

Everything conspired to produce kind and happy feelings in this stronghold of oldfashioned hospitality. The

window of my chamber looked out upon what in summer would have been a beautiful landscape. There was a

sloping lawn, a fine stream winding at the foot of it, and a tract of park beyond, with noble clumps of trees

and herds of deer. At a distance was a neat hamlet, with the smoke from the cottage chimneys hanging over

it, and a church with its dark spire in strong relief against the clear cold sky. The house was surrounded with

evergreens, according to the English custom, which would have given almost an appearance of summer; but

the morning was extremely frosty; the light vapor of the preceding evening had been precipitated by the cold,

and covered all the trees and every blade of grass with its fine crystalizations. The rays of a bright morning

sun had a dazzling effect among the glittering foliage. A robin, perched upon the top of a mountainash that

hung its clusters of red berries just before my window, was basking himself in the sunshine and piping a few

querulous notes, and a peacock was displaying all the glories of his train and strutting with the pride and

I had scarcely dressed myself when a servant appeared to invite me to family prayers. He showed me the way

to a small chapel in the old wing of the house, where I found the principal part of the family already

assembled in a kind of gallery furnished with cushions, hassocks, and large prayerbooks; the servants were

seated on benches below. The old gentleman read prayers from a desk in front of the gallery, and Master

Simon acted as clerk and made the responses; and I must do him the justice to say that he acquitted himself

The service was followed by a Christmas carol, which Mr. Bracebridge himself had constructed from a poem

of his favorite author, Herrick, and it had been adapted to an old church melody by Master Simon. As there

were several good voices among the household, the effect was extremely pleasing, but I was particularly

gratified by the exaltation of heart and sudden sally of grateful feeling with which the worthy squire delivered

one stanza, his eye glistening and his voice rambling out of all the bounds of time and tune:

I afterwards understood that early morning service was read on every Sunday and saint's day throughout the

year, either by Mr. Bracebridge or by some member of the family. It was once almost universally the case at

the seats of the nobility and gentry of England, and it is much to be regretted that the custom is falling into

neglect; for the dullest observer must be sensible of the order and serenity prevalent in those households

where the occasional exercise of a beautiful form of worship in the morning gives, as it were, the keynote to

Our breakfast consisted of what the squire denominated true old English fare. He indulged in some bitter

lamentations over modern breakfasts of tea and toast, which he censured as among the causes of modern

effeminacy and weak nerves and the decline of old English heartiness; and, though he admitted them to his

table to suit the palates of his guests, yet there was a brave display of cold meats, wine, and ale on the

After breakfast I walked about the grounds with Frank Bracebridge and Master Simon, or Mr. Simon, as he

was called by everybody but the squire. We were escorted by a number of gentlemanlike dogs, that seemed

loungers about the establishment, from the frisking spaniel to the steady old staghound, the last of which

was of a race that had been in the family time out of mind; they were all obedient to a dogwhistle which

hung to Master Simon's buttonhole, and in the midst of their gambols would glance an eye occasionally upon

The old mansion had a still more venerable look in the yellow sunshine than by pale moonlight; and I could

not but feel the force of the squire's idea that the formal terraces, heavily moulded balustrades, and clipped

yew trees carried with them an air of proud aristocracy. There appeared to be an unusual number of peacocks

about the place, and I was making some remarks upon what I termed a flock of them that were basking under

a sunny wall, when I was gently corrected in my phraseology by Master Simon, who told me that according

to the most ancient and approved treatise on hunting I must say a muster of peacocks. "In the same way,"

added he, with a slight air of pedantry, "we say a flight of doves or swallows, a bevy of quails, a herd of deer,

of wrens, or cranes, a skulk of foxes, or a building of rooks." He went on to inform me that, according to Sir

Anthony Fitzherbert, we ought to ascribe to this bird "both understanding and glory; for, being praised, he

will presently set up his tail, chiefly against the sun, to the intent you may the better behold the beauty

thereof. But at the fall of the leaf, when his tail falleth, he will mourn and hide himself in corners till his tail

I could not help smiling at this display of small erudition on so whimsical a subject; but I found that the

peacocks were birds of some consequence at the hall, for Frank Bracebridge informed me that they were

great favorites with his father, who was extremely careful to keep up the breed; partly because they belonged

to chivalry, and were in great request at the stately banquets of the olden time, and partly because they had a

pomp and magnificence about them highly becoming an old family mansion. Nothing, he was accustomed to

say, had an air of greater state and dignity than a peacock perched upon an antique stone balustrade.

Master Simon had now to hurry off, having an appointment at the parish church with the village choristers,

who were to perform some music of his selection. There was something extremely agreeable in the cheerful

flow of animal spirits of the little man; and I confess I had been somewhat surprised at his apt quotations

from authors who certainly were not in the range of everyday reading. I mentioned this last circumstance to

Frank Bracebridge, who told me with a smile that Master Simon's whole stock of erudition was confined to

some half a dozen old authors, which the squire had put into his hands, and which he read over and over

whenever he had a studious fit, as he sometimes had on a rainy day or a long winter evening. Sir Anthony

Fitzherbert's Book of Husbandry, Markham's Country Contentments, the Tretyse of Hunting, by Sir Thomas

Cockayne, Knight, Isaac Walton's Angler, and two or three more such ancient worthies of the pen were his

standard authorities; and, like all men who know but a few books, he looked up to them with a kind of

idolatry and quoted them on all occasions. As to his songs, they were chiefly picked out of old books in the

squire's library, and adapted to tunes that were popular among the choice spirits of the last century. His

practical application of scraps of literature, however, had caused him to be looked upon as a prodigy of

bookknowledge by all the grooms, huntsmen, and small sportsmen of the neighborhood.

While we were talking we heard the distant toll of the village bell, and I was told that the squire was a little

particular in having his household at church on a Christmas morning, considering it a day of pouring out of

"At Christmas be merry, and thankful withal, And feast thy poor neighbors, the great with the small."

"If you are disposed to go to church," said Frank Bracebridge, "I can promise you a specimen of my cousin

Simon's musical achievements. As the church is destitute of an organ, he has formed a band from the village

amateurs, and established a musical club for their improvement; he has also sorted a choir, as he sorted my

father's pack of hounds, according to the directions of Jervaise Markham in his Country Contentments: for

the bass he has sought out all the 'deep, solemn mouths,' and for the tenor the 'loudringing mouths,' among

the country bumpkins, and for 'sweetmouths,' he has culled�with curious taste��among the prettiest

lasses in the neighborhood; though these last, he affirms, are the most difficult to keep in tune, your pretty

female singer being exceedingly wayward and capricious, and very liable to accident."

As the morning, though frosty, was remarkably fine and clear, the most of the family walked to the church,

which was a very old building of gray stone, and stood near a village about half a mile from the park gate.

Adjoining it was a low snug parsonage which seemed coeval with the church. The front of it was perfectly

matted with a yew tree that had been trained against its walls, through the dense foliage of which apertures

had been formed to admit light into the small antique lattices. As we passed this sheltered nest the parson

I had expected to see a sleek wellconditioned pastor, such as is often found in a snug living in the vicinity of

a rich patron's table, but I was disappointed. The parson was a little, meagre, blacklooking man, with a

grizzled wig that was too wide and stood off from each ear; so that his head seemed to have shrunk away

within it, like a dried filbert in its shell. He wore a rusty coat, with great skirts and pockets that would have

held the church Bible and prayerbook: and his small legs seemed still smaller from being planted in large

I was informed by Frank Bracebridge that the parson had been a chum of his father's at Oxford, and had

received this living shortly after the latter had come to his estate. He was a complete blackletter hunter, and

would scarcely read a work printed in the Roman character. The editions of Caxton and Wynkyn de Worde

were his delight, and he was indefatigable in his researches after such old English writers as have fallen into

oblivion from their worthlessness. In deference, perhaps, to the notions of Mr. Bracebridge he had made

diligent investigations into the festive rites and holiday customs of former times, and had been as zealous in

the inquiry as if he had been a boon coinpanion; but it was merely with that plodding spirit with which men

of adust temperament follow up any track of study, merely because it is denominated learning; indifferent to

its intrinsic nature, whether it be the illustration of the wisdom or of the ribaldry and obscenity of antiquity.

He had pored over these old volumes so intensely that they seemed to have been reflected into his

countenance; which, if the face be indeed an index of the mind, might be compared to a titlepage of

On reaching the churchporch we found the parson rebuking the grayheaded sexton for having used

mistletoe among the greens with which the church was decorated. It was, he observed, an unholy plant,

profaned by having been used by the Druids in their mystic ceremonies; and, though it might be innocently

employed in the festive ornamenting of halls and kitchens, yet it had been deemed by the Fathers of the

Church as unhallowed and totally unfit for sacred purposes. So tenacious was he on this point that the poor

sexton was obliged to strip down a great part of the humble trophies of his taste before the parson would

The interior of the church was venerable, but simple; on the walls were several mural monuments of the

Bracebridges, and just beside the altar was a tomb of ancient workmanship, on which lay the effigy of a

warrior in armor with his legs crossed, a sign of his having been a crusader. I was told it was one of the

family who had signalized himself in the Holy Land, and the same whose picture hung over the fireplace in

During service Master Simon stood up in the pew and repeated the responses very audibly, evincing that kind

of ceremonious devotion punctually observed by a gentleman of the old school and a man of old family

connections. I observed too that he turned over the leaves of a folio prayerbook with something of a

flourish; possibly to show off an enormous sealring which enriched one of his fingers and which had the

look of a family relic. But he was evidently most solicitous about the musical part of the service, keeping his

eye fixed intently on the choir, and beating time with much gesticulation and emphasis. The orchestra was in

a small gallery, and presented a most whimsical grouping of heads piled one above the other, among which I

particularly noticed that of the village tailor, a pale fellow with a retreating forehead and chin, who played on

the clarinet, and seemed to have blown his face to a point; and there was another, a short pursy man, stooping

and laboring at a bassviol, so as to show nothing but the top of a round bald head, like the egg of an ostrich.

There were two or three pretty faces among the female singers, to which the keen air of a frosty morning had

given a bright rosy tint; but the gentlemen choristers had evidently been chosen, like old Cremona fiddles,

more for tone than looks; and as several had to sing from the same book, there were clusterings of odd

physiognomies not unlike those groups of cherubs we sometimes see on country tombstones.

The usual services of the choir were managed tolerably well, the vocal parts generally lagging a little behind

the instrumental, and some loitering fiddler now and then making up for lost time by travelling over a

passage with prodigious celerity and clearing more bars than the keenest foxhunter to be in at the death. But

the great trial was an anthem that had been prepared and arranged by Master Simon, and on which he had

founded great expectation. Unluckily, there was a blunder at the very outset: the musicians became flurried;

Master Simon was in a fever; everything went on lamely and irregularly until they came to a chorus

beginning, "Now let us sing with one accord," which seemed to be a signal for parting company: all became

discord and confusion: each shifted for himself, and got to the end as wellor, rather, as soonas he could,

excepting one old chorister in a pair of horn spectacles bestriding and pinching a long sonorous nose, who

happened to stand a little apart, and, being wrapped up in his own melody, kept on a quavering course,

wriggling his head, ogling his book, and winding all up by a nasal solo of at least three bars' duration.

The parson gave us a most erudite sermon on the rites and ceremonies of Christmas, and the propriety of

observing it not merely as a day of thanksgiving but of rejoicing, supporting the correctness of his opinions

by the earliest usages of the Church, and enforcing them by the authorities of Theophilus of Caesarea, St.

Cyprian, St. Chrysostom, St. Augustine, and a cloud more of saints and fathers, from whom he made copious

quotations. I was a little at a loss to perceive the necessity of such a mighty array of forces to maintain a point

which no one present seemed inclined to dispute; but I soon found that the good man had a legion of ideal

adversaries to contend with, having in the course of his researches on the subject of Christmas got completely

embroiled in the sectarian controversies of the Revolution, when the Puritans made such a fierce assault upon

the ceremonies of the Church, and poor old Christmas was driven out of the land by proclamation of

Parliament.* The worthy parson lived but with times past, and knew but little of the present. Shut up among

wormeaten tomes in the retirement of his antiquated little study, the pages of old times were to him as the

gazettes of the day, while the era of the Revolution was mere modern history. He forgot that nearly two

centuries had elapsed since the fiery persecution of poor mincepie throughout the land; when plum porridge

was denounced as "mere popery," and roast beef as antichristian, and that Christmas had been brought in

again triumphantly with the merry court of King Charles at the Restoration. He kindled into warmth with the

ardor of his contest and the host of imaginary foes with whom he had to combat; he had a stubborn conflict

with old Prynne and two or three other forgotten champions of the Roundheads on the subject of Christmas

festivity; and concluded by urging his hearers, in the most solemn and affecting manner, to stand to the

traditional customs of their fathers and feast and make merry on this joyful anniversary of the Church.

I have seldom known a sermon attended apparently with more immediate effects, for on leaving the church

the congregation seemed one and all possessed with the gayety of spirit so earnestly enjoined by their pastor.

The elder folks gathered in knots in the churchyard, greeting and shaking hands, and the children ran about

crying Ule! Ule! and repeating some uncouth rhymes,* which the parson, who had joined us, informed me

had been banded down from days of yore. The villagers doffed their hats to the squire as he passed, giving

him the good wishes of the season with every appearance of heartfelt sincerity, and were invited by him to

the hall to take something to keep out the cold of the weather; and I heard blessings uttered by several of the

poor, which convinced me that, in the midst of his enjoyments, the worthy old cavalier had not forgotten the

On our way homeward his heart seemed overflowed with generous and happy feelings. As we passed over a

rising ground which commanded something of a prospect, the sounds of rustic merriment now and then

reached our ears: the squire paused for a few moments and looked around with an air of inexpressible

benignity. The beauty of the day was of itself sufficient to inspire philanthropy. Notwithstanding the

frostiness of the morning the sun in his cloudless journey had acquired sufficient power to melt away the thin

covering of snow from every southern declivity, and to bring out the living green which adorns an English

landscape even in midwinter. Large tracts of smiling verdure contrasted with the dazzling whiteness of the

shaded slopes and hollows. Every sheltered bank on which the broad rays rested yielded its silver rill of cold

and limpid water, glittering through the dripping grass, and sent up slight exhalations to contribute to the thin

haze that hung just above the surface of the earth. There was something truly cheering in this triumph of

warmth and verdure over the frosty thraldom of winter; it was, as the squire observed, an emblem of

Christmas hospitality breaking through the chills of ceremony and selfishness and thawing every heart into a

flow. He pointed with pleasure to the indications of good cheer reeking from the chimneys of the comfortable

farmhouses and low thatched cottages. "I love," said he, "to see this day well kept by rich and poor; it is a

great thing to have one day in the year, at least, when you are sure of being welcome wherever you go, and of

having, as it were, the world all thrown open to you; and I am almost disposed to join with Poor Robin in his

The squire went on to lament the deplorable decay of the games and amusements which were once prevalent

at this season among the lower orders and countenanced by the higher, when the old halls of castles and

manorhouses were thrown open at daylight; when the tables were covered with brawn and beef and

humming ale; when the harp and the carol resounded all day long; and when rich and poor were alike

welcome to enter and make merry.* "Our old games and local customs," said he, "had a great effect in

making the peasant fond of his home, and the promotion of them by the gentry made him fond of his lord.

They made the times merrier and kinder and better, and I can truly say, with one of our old poets,

"'I like them well: the curious preciseness And allpretended gravity of those That seek to banish hence these

"The nation," continued he, "is altered; we have almost lost our simple truehearted peasantry. They have

broken asunder from the higher classes, and seem to think their interests are separate. They have become too

knowing, and begin to read newspapers, listen to alehouse politicians, and talk of reform. I think one mode

to keep them in goodhumor in these hard times would be for the nobility and gentry to pass more time on

their estates, mingle more among the countrypeople, and set the merry old English games going again."

* "An English gentleman, at the opening of the great dayi.e. on Christmas Day in the morninghad all his

tenants and neighbors enter his hall by daybreak. The strong beer was broached, and the blackjacks went

plentifully about, with toast, sugar and nutmeg, and good Cheshire cheese. The Hackin (the great sausage)

must be boiled by daybreak, or else two young men must take the maiden (i.e. the cook) by the arms and run

her round the marketplace till she is shamed of her laziness."Round about our SeaCoal Fire.

Such was the good squire's project for mitigating public discontent: and, indeed, he had once attempted to put

his doctrine in practice, and a few years before had kept open house during the holidays in the old style. The

countrypeople, however, did not understand how to play their parts in the scene of hospitality; many

uncouth circumstances occurred; the manor was overrun by all the vagrants of the country, and more beggars

drawn into the neighborhood in one week than the parish officers could get rid of in a year. Since then he had

contented himself with inviting the decent part of the neighboring peasantry to call at the hall on Christmas

Day, and with distributing beef, and bread, and ale among the poor, that they might make merry in their own

We had not been long home when the sound of music was heard from a distance. A band of country lads,

without coats, their shirtsleeves fancifully tied with ribbons, their hats decorated with greens, and clubs in

their hands, was seen advancing up the avenue, followed by a large number of villagers and peasantry. They

stopped before the hall door, where the music struck up a peculiar air, and the lads performed a curious and

intricate dance, advancing, retreating, and striking their clubs together, keeping exact time to the music; while

one, whimsically crowned with a fox's skin, the tail of which flaunted down his back, kept capering round the

skirts of the dance and rattling a Christmas box with many antic gesticulations.

The squire eyed this fanciful exhibition with great interest and delight, and gave me a full account of its

origin, which he traced to the times when the Romans held possession of the island, plainly proving that this

was a lineal descendant of the sword dance of the ancients. "It was now," he said, "nearly extinct, but he had

accidentally met with traces of it in the neighborhood, and had encouraged its revival; though, to tell the

truth, it was too apt to be followed up by the rough cudgel play and broken heads in the evening." After the

dance was concluded the whole party was entertained with brawn and beef and stout homebrewed. The

squire himself mingled among the rustics, and was received with awkward demonstrations of deference and

regard. It is true I perceived two or three of the younger peasants, as they were raising their tankards to their

mouths, when the squire's back was turned making something of a grimace, and giving each other the wink;

but the moment they caught my eye they pulled grave faces and were exceedingly demure. With Master

Simon, however, they all seemed more at their ease. His varied occupations and amusements had made him

well known throughout the neighborhood. He was a visitor at every farmhouse and cottage, gossiped with the

farmers and their wives, romped with their daughters, and, like that type of a vagrant bachelor, the

The bashfulness of the guests soon gave way before good cheer and affability. There is something genuine

and affectionate in the gayety of the lower orders when it is excited by the bounty and familiarity of those

above them; the warm glow of gratitude enters into their mirth, and a kind word or a small pleasantry frankly

uttered by a patron gladdens the heart of the dependant more than oil and wine. When the squire had retired

the merriment increased, and there was much joking and laughter, particularly between Master Simon and a

hale, ruddyfaced, whiteheaded farmer who appeared to be the wit of the village; for I observed all his

companions to wait with open months for his retorts, and burst into a gratuitous laugh before they could well

The whole house indeed seemed abandoned to merriment: as I passed to my room to dress for dinner, I heard

the sound of music in a small court, and, looking through a window that commanded it, I perceived a band of

wandering musicians with pandean pipes and tambourine; a pretty coquettish housemaid was dancing a jig

with a smart country lad, while several of the other servants were looking on. In the midst of her sport the girl

caught a glimpse of my face at the window, and, coloring up, ran off with an air of roguish affected

I HAD finished my toilet, and was loitering with Frank Bracebridge in the library, when we heard a distant

thwacking sound, which he informed me was a signal for the serving up of the dinner. The squire kept up old

customs in kitchen as well as hall, and the rollingpin, struck upon the dresser by the cook, summoned the

The dinner was served up in the great hall, where the squire always held his Christmas banquet. A blazing

crackling fire of logs had been heaped on to warm the spacious apartment, and the flame went sparkling and

wreathing up the widemouthed chimney. The great picture of the crusader and his white horse had been

profusely decorated with greens for the occasion, and holly and ivy had likewise been wreathed round the

helmet and weapons on the opposite wall, which I understood were the arms of the same warrior. I must own,

by the by, I had strong doubts about the authenticity of the painting and armor as having belonged to the

crusader, they certainly having the stamp of more recent days; but I was told that the painting had been so

considered time out of mind; and that as to the armor, it had been found in a lumberroom and elevated to its

present situation by the squire, who at once determined it to be the armor of the family hero; and as he was

absolute authority on all such subjects in his own household, the matter had passed into current acceptation.

A sideboard was set out just under this chivalric trophy, on which was a display of plate that might have vied

(at least in variety) with Belshazzar's parade of the vessels of the temple: "flagons, cans, cups, beakers,

goblets, basins, and ewers," the gorgeous utensils of good companionship that had gradually accumulated

through many generations of jovial housekeepers. Before these stood the two Yule candles, beaming like two

stars of the first magnitude; other lights were distributed in branches, and the whole array glittered like a

We were ushered into this banqueting scene with the sound of minstrelsy, the old harper being seated on a

stool beside the fireplace and twanging, his instrument with a vast deal more power than melody. Never did

Christmas board display a more goodly and gracious assemblage of countenances; those who were not

handsome were at least happy, and happiness is a rare improver of your hardfavored visage. I always

consider an old English family as well worth studying as a collection of Holbein's portraits or Albert Durer's

prints. There is much antiquarian lore to be acquired, much knowledge of the physiognomies of former times.

Perhaps it may be from having continually before their eyes those rows of old family portraits, with which the

mansions of this country are stocked; certain it is that the quaint features of antiquity are often most faithfully

perpetuated in these ancient lines, and I have traced an old family nose through a whole picturegallery,

legitimately handed down from generation to generation almost from the time of the Conquest. Something of

the kind was to be observed in the worthy company around me. Many of their faces had evidently originated

in a Gothic age, and been merely copied by succeeding generations; and there was one little girl in particular,

of staid demeanor, with a high Roman nose and an antique vinegar aspect, who was a great favorite of the

squire's, being, as he said, a Bracebridge all over, and the very counterpart of one of his ancestors who

The parson said grace, which was not a short familiar one, such as is commonly addressed to the Deity in

these unceremonious days, but a long, courtly, wellworded one of the ancient school. There was now a

pause, as if something was expected, when suddenly the butler entered the hall with some degree of bustle: he

was attended by a servant on each side with a large waxlight, and bore a silver dish on which was an

enormous pig's head decorated with rosemary, with a lemon in its mouth, which was placed with great

formality at the head of the table. The moment this pageant made its appearance the harper struck up a

flourish; at the conclusion of which the young Oxonian, on receiving a hint from the squire, gave, with an air

of the most comic gravity, an old carol, the first verse of which was as follows

Though prepared to witness many of these little eccentricities, from being apprised of the peculiar hobby of

mine host, yet I confess the parade with which so odd a dish was introduced somewhat perplexed me, until I

gathered from the conversation of the squire and the parson that it was meant to represent the bringing in of

the boar's head, a dish formerly served up with much ceremony and the sound of minstrelsy and song at great

tables on Christmas Day. "I like the old custom," said the squire, "not merely because it is stately and

pleasing in itself, but because it was observed at the college at Oxford at which I was educated. When I hear

the old song chanted it brings to mind the time when I was young and gamesome, and the noble old college

hall, and my fellowstudents loitering about in their black gowns; many of whom, poor lads! are now in their

The parson, however, whose mind was not haunted by such associations, and who was always more taken up

with the text than the sentiment, objected to the Oxonian's version of the carol, which he affirmed was

different from that sung at college. He went on, with the dry perseverance of a commentator, to give the

college reading, accompanied by sundry annotations, addressing himself at first to the company at large; but,

finding their attention gradually diverted to other talk and other objects, he lowered his tone as his number of

auditors diminished, until he concluded his remarks in an under voice to a fatheaded old gentleman next him

* The old ceremony of serving up the boar's head on Christmas Day is still observed in the hall of Queen's

College, Oxford. I was favored by the parson with a copy of the carol as now sung, and as it may be

acceptable to such of my readers as are curious in these grave and learned matters, I give it entire:

The table was literally loaded with good cheer, and presented an epitome of country abundance in this season

of overflowing larders. A distinguished post was allotted to "ancient sirloin," as mine host termed it, being, as

he added, "the standard of old English hospitality, and a joint of goodly presence, and full of expectation."

There were several dishes quaintly decorated, and which had evidently something traditional in their

embellishments, but about which, as I did not like to appear overcurious, I asked no questions.

I could not, however, but notice a pie magnificently decorated with peacock's feathers, in imitation of the tail

of that bird, which overshadowed a considerable tract of the table. This, the squire confessed with some little

hesitation, was a pheasant pie, though a peacock pie was certainly the most authentical; but there had been

such a mortality among the peacocks this season that he could not prevail upon himself to have one killed.*

* The peacock was anciently in great demand for stately entertainments. Sometimes it was made into a pie, at

one end of which the head appeared above the crust in all its plumage, with the beak richly gilt; at the other

end the tail was displayed. Such pies were served up at the solemn banquets of chivalry, when knightserrant

pledged themselves to undertake any perilous enterprise, whence came the ancient oath, used by Justice

The peacock was also an important dish for the Christmas feast; and Massinger, in his "City Madam," gives

some idea of the extravagance with which this, as well as other dishes, was prepared for the gorgeous revels

It would be tedious, perhaps, to my wiser readers, who may not have that foolish fondness for odd and

obsolete things to which I am a little given, were I to mention the other makeshifts or this worthy old

humorist, by which he was endeavoring to follow up, though at humble distance, the quaint customs of

antiquity. I was pleased, however, to see the respect shown to his whims by his children and relatives; who,

indeed, entered readily into the full spirit of them, and seemed all well versed in their parts, having doubtless

been present at many a rehearsal. I was amused, too, at the air of profound gravity with which the butler and

other servants executed the duties assigned them, however eccentric. They had an oldfashioned look,

having, for the most part, been brought up in the household and grown into keeping with the antiquated

mansion and the humors of its lord, and most probably looked upon all his whimsical regulations as the

When the cloth was removed the butler brought in a huge silver vessel of rare and curious workmanship,

which he placed before the squire. Its appearance was hailed with acclamation, being the Wassail Bowl, so

renowned in Christmas festivity. The contents had been prepared by the squire himself; for it was a beverage

in the skilful mixture of which he particularly prided himself, alleging that it was too abstruse and complex

for the comprehension of an ordinary servant. It was a potation, indeed, that might well make the heart of a

toper leap within him, being composed of the richest and raciest wines, highly spiced and sweetened, with

* The Wassail Bowl was sometimes composed of ale instead of wine, with nutmeg, sugar, toast, ginger, and

roasted crabs; in this way the nutbrown beverage is still prepared in some old families and round the hearths

of substantial farmers at Christmas. It is also called Lamb's Wool, and is celebrated by Herrick in his

The old gentleman's whole countenance beamed with a serene look of indwelling delight as he stirred this

mighty bowl. Having raised it to his lips, with a hearty wish of a merry Christmas to all present, he sent it

brimming round the board, for every one to follow his example, according to the primitive style, pronouncing

+ "The custom of drinking out of the same cup gave place to each having his cup. When the steward came to

the doore with the Wassel, he was to cry three times, Wassel, Wassel, Wassel, and then the chappell

There was much laughing and rallying as the honest emblem of Christmas joviality circulated and was kissed

rather coyly by the ladies. When it reached Master Simon, he raised it in both hands, and with the air of a

Much of the conversation during dinner turned upon family topics, to which I was a stranger. There was,

however, a great deal of rallying of Master Simon about some gay widow with whom he was accused of

having a flirtation. This attack was commenced by the ladies, but it was continued throughout the dinner by

the fatheaded old gentleman next the parson with the persevering assiduity of a slow hound, being one of

those longwinded jokers who, though rather dull at starting game, are unrivalled for their talents in hunting

it down. At every pause in the general conversation he renewed his bantering in pretty much the same terms,

winking hard at me with both eyes whenever he gave Master Simon what he considered a home thrust. The

latter, indeed, seemed fond of being teased on the subject, as old bachelors are apt to be, and he took occasion

to inform me, in an undertone, that the lady in question was a prodigiously fine woman and drove her own

The dinnertime passed away in this flow of innocent hilarity, and, though the old hall may have resounded

in its time with many a scene of broader rout and revel, yet I doubt whether it ever witnessed more honest and

genuine enjoyment. How easy it is for one benevolent being to diffuse pleasure around him! and how truly is

a kind heart a fountain of gladness, making everything in its vicinity to freshen into smiles! The joyous

disposition of the worthy squire was perfectly contagious; he was happy himself, and disposed to make all the

world happy, and the little eccentricities of his humor did but season, in a manner, the sweetness of his

When the ladies had retired, the conversation, as usual, became still more animated; many good things were

broached which had been thought of during dinner, but which would not exactly do for a lady's ear; and,

though I cannot positively affirm that there was much wit uttered, yet I have certainly heard many contests of

rare wit produce much less laughter. Wit, after all, is a mighty tart, pungent ingredient, and much too acid for

some stomachs; but honest goodhumor is the oil and wine of a merry meeting, and there is no jovial

companionship equal to that where the jokes are rather small and the laughter abundant.

The squire told several long stories of early college pranks and adventures, in some of which the parson had

been a sharer, though in looking at the latter it required some effort of imagination to figure such a little dark

anatomy of a man into the perpetrator of a madcap gambol. Indeed, the two college chums presented pictures

of what men may be made by their different lots in life. The squire had left the university to live lustily on his

paternal domains in the vigorous enjoyment of prosperity and sunshine, and had flourished on to a hearty and

florid old age; whilst the poor parson, on the contrary, had dried and withered away among dusty tomes in the

silence and shadows of his study. Still, there seemed to be a spark of almost extinguished fire feebly

glimmering in the bottom of his soul; and as the squire hinted at a sly story of the parson and a pretty

milkmaid whom they once met on the banks of the Isis, the old gentleman made an "alphabet of faces,"

which, as far as I could decipher his physiognomy, I verily believe was indicative of laughter; indeed, I have

rarely met with an old gentleman that took absolute offence at the imputed gallantries of his youth.

I found the tide of wine and wassail fast gaining on the dry land of sober judgment. The company grew

merrier and louder as their jokes grew duller. Master Simon was in as chirping a humor as a grasshopper

filled with dew; his old songs grew of a warmer complexion, and he began to talk maudlin about the widow.

He even gave a long song about the wooing of a widow which he informed me he had gathered from an

excellent blackletter work entitled Cupid's Solicitor for Love, containing store of good advice for bachelors,

This song inspired the fatheaded old gentleman, who made several attempts to tell a rather broad story out

of Joe Miller that was pat to the purpose; but he always stuck in the middle, everybody recollecting the latter

part excepting himself. The parson, too, began to show the effects of good cheer, having gradually settled

down into a doze and his wig sitting most suspiciously on one side. Just at this juncture we were summoned

to the drawing room, and I suspect, at the private instigation of mine host, whose joviality seemed always

After the dinnertable was removed the hall was given up to the younger members of the family, who,

prompted to all kind of noisy mirth by the Oxonian and Master Simon, made its old walls ring with their

merriment as they played at romping games. I delight in witnessing the gambols of children, and particularly

at this happy holiday season, and could not help stealing out of the drawingroom on hearing one of their

peals of laughter. I found them at the game of blindman'sbuff. Master Simon, who was the leader of their

revels, and seemed on all occasions to fulfill the office of that ancient potentate, the Lord of Misrule,* was

blinded in the midst of the hall. The little beings were as busy about him as the mock fairies about Falstaff,

pinching him, plucking at the skirts of his coat, and tickling him with straws. One fine blueeyed girl of

about thirteen, with her flaxen hair all in beautiful confusion, her frolic face in a glow, her frock half torn off

her shoulders, a complete picture of a romp, was the chief tormentor; and, from the slyness with which

Master Simon avoided the smaller game and hemmed this wild little nymph in corners, and obliged her to

jump shrieking over chairs, I suspected the rogue of being not a whit more blinded than was convenient.

* At Christmasse there was in the Kinges house, wheresoever hee was lodged, a lorde of misrule or mayster

of merie disportes, and the like had ye in the house of every nobleman of honor, or good worshipper were he

When I returned to the drawingroom I found the company seated round the fire listening to the parson, who

was deeply ensconced in a highbacked oaken chair, the work of some cunning artificer of yore, which had

been brought from the library for his particular accommodation. From this venerable piece of furniture, with

which his shadowy figure and dark weazen face so admirably accorded, he was dealing out strange accounts

of the popular superstitions and legends of the surrounding country, with which he had become acquainted in

the course of his antiquarian researches. I am half inclined to think that the old gentleman was himself

somewhat tinctured with superstition, as men are very apt to be who live a recluse and studious life in a

sequestered part of the country and pore over blackletter tracts, so often filled with the marvelous and

supernatural. He gave us several anecdotes of the fancies of the neighboring peasantry concerning the effigy

of the crusader which lay on the tomb by the church altar. As it was the only monument of the kind in that

part of the country, it had always been regarded with feelings of superstition by the good wives of the village.

It was said to get up from the tomb and walk the rounds of the churchyard in stormy nights, particularly when

it thundered; and one old woman, whose cottage bordered on the churchyard, had seen it through the

windows of the church, when the moon shone, slowly pacing up and down the aisles. It was the belief that

some wrong had been left unredressed by the deceased, or some treasure hidden, which kept the spirit in a

state of trouble and restlessness. Some talked of gold and jewels buried in the tomb, over which the spectre

kept watch; and there was a story current of a sexton in old times who endeavored to break his way to the

coffin at night, but just as he reached it received a violent blow from the marble hand of the effigy, which

stretched him senseless on the pavement. These tales were often laughed at by some of the sturdier among the

rustics, yet when night came on there were many of the stoutest unbelievers that were shy of venturing alone

From these and other anecdotes that followed the crusader appeared to be the favorite hero of ghoststories

throughout the vicinity. His picture, which hung up in the hall, was thought by the servants to have something

supernatural about it; for they remarked that in whatever part of the hall you went the eyes of the warrior

were still fixed on you. The old porter's wife, too, at the lodge, who had been born and brought up in the

family, and was a great gossip among the maidservants, affirmed that in her young days she had often heard

say that on Midsummer Eve, when it was well known all kinds of ghosts, goblins, and fairies become visible

and walk abroad, the crusader used to mount his horse, come down from his picture, ride about the house,

down the avenue, and so to the church to visit the tomb; on which occasion the churchdoor most civilly

swung open of itself; not that he needed it, for he rode through closed gates, and even stone walls, and had

been seen by one of the dairymaids to pass between two bars of the great park gate, making himself as thin as

All these superstitions I found had been very much countenanced by the squire, who, though not superstitious

himself, was very fond of seeing others so. He listened to every goblin tale of the neighboring gossips with

infinite gravity, and held the porter's wife in high favor on account of her talent for the marvellous. He was

himself a great reader of old legends and romances, and often lamented that he could not believe in them; for

Whilst we were all attention to the parson's stories, our ears were suddenly assailed by a burst of

heterogeneous sounds from the hall, in which were mingled something like the clang of rude minstrelsy with

the uproar of many small voices and girlish laughter. The door suddenly flew open, and a train came trooping

into the room that might almost have been mistaken for the breaking up of the court of Faery. That

indefatigable spirit, Master Simon, in the faithful discharge of his duties as lord of misrule, had conceived the

idea of a Christmas mummery or masking; and having called in to his assistance the Oxonian and the young

officer, who were equally ripe for anything that should occasion romping and merriment, they had carried it

into instant effect. The old housekeeper had been consulted; the antique clothespresses and wardrobes

rummaged and made to yield up the relics of finery that had not seen the light for several generations; the

younger part of the company had been privately convened from the parlor and hall, and the whole had been

* Maskings or mummeries were favorite sports at Christmas in old times, and the wardrobes at halls and

manorhouses were often laid under contribution to furnish dresses and fantastic disguisings. I strongly

suspect Master Simon to have taken the idea of his from Ben Jonson's "Masque of Christmas."

Master Simon led the van, as "Ancient Christmas," quaintly apparelled in a ruff, a short cloak, which had

very much the aspect of one of the old housekeeper's petticoats, and a hat that might have served for a village

steeple, and must indubitably have figured in the days of the Covenanters. From under this his nose curved

boldly forth, flushed with a frostbitten bloom that seemed the very trophy of a December blast. He was

accompanied by the blueeyed romp, dished up, as "Dame Mince Pie," in the venerable magnificence of a

faded brocade, long stomacher, peaked hat, and highheeled shoes. The young officer appeared as Robin

Hood, in a sporting dress of Kendal green and a foraging cap with a gold tassel.

The costume, to be sure, did not bear testimony to deep research, and there was an evident eye to the

picturesque, natural to a young gallant in the presence of his mistress. The fair Julia hung on his arm in a

pretty rustic dress as "Maid Marian." The rest of the train had been metamorphosed in various ways; the girls

trussed up in the finery of the ancient belles of the Bracebridge line, and the striplings bewhiskered with burnt

cork, and gravely clad in broad skirts, hanging sleeves, and fullbottomed wigs, to represent the character of

Roast Beef, Plum Pudding, and other worthies celebrated in ancient maskings. The whole was under the

control of the Oxonian in the appropriate character of Misrule; and I observed that he exercised rather a

The irruption of this motley crew with beat of drum, according to ancient custom, was the consummation of

uproar and merriment. Master Simon covered himself with glory by the stateliness with which, as Ancient

Christmas, he walked a minuet with the peerless though giggling Dame Mince Pie. It was followed by a

dance of all the characters, which from its medley of costumes seemed as though the old family portraits had

skipped down from their frames to join in the sport. Different centuries were figuring at cross hands and right

and left; the Dark Ages were cutting pirouettes and rigadoons; and the days of Queen Bess jigging merrily

The worthy squire contemplated these fantastic sports and this resurrection of his old wardrobe with the

simple relish of childish delight. He stood chuckling and rubbing his hands, and scarcely hearing a word the

parson said, notwithstanding that the latter was discoursing most authentically on the ancient and stately

dance of the Pavon, or peacock, from which he conceived the minuet to be derived.* For my part, I was in a

continual excitement from the varied scenes of whim and innocent gayety passing before me. It was inspiring

to see wildeyed frolic and warmhearted hospitality breaking out from among the chills and glooms of

winter, and old age throwing off his apathy and catching once more the freshness of youthful enjoyment. I

felt also an interest in the scene from the consideration that these fleeting customs were posting fast into

oblivion, and that this was perhaps the only family in England in which the whole of them was still

punctiliously observed. There was a quaintness, too, mingled with all this revelry that gave it a peculiar zest:

it was suited to the time and place; and as the old manorhouse almost reeled with mirth and wassail, it

* Sir John Hawkins, speaking of the dance called the Pavon, from pavo, a peacock, says, "It is a grave and

majestic dance; the method of dancing it anciently was by gentlemen dressed with caps and swords, by those

of the long robe in their gowns, by the peers in their mantles, and by the ladies in gowns with long trains, the

+ At the time of the first publication of this paper the picture of an oldfashioned Christmas in the country

was pronounced by some as out of date. The author had afterwards an opportunity of witnessing almost all

the customs above described, existing in unexpected vigor in the skirts of Derbvshire and Yorkshire, where

he passed the Christmas holidays. The reader will find some notice of them in the author's account of his

�But enough of Christmas and its gambols; it is time for me to pause in this garrulity. Methinks I hear the

questions asked by my graver readers, "To what purpose is all this? how is the world to be made wiser by this

talk?" Alas! is there not wisdom enough extant for the instruction of the world? And if not, are there not

thousands of abler pens laboring for its improvement? It is so much pleasanter to please than to instructto

What, after all, is the mite of wisdom that I could throw into the mass of knowledge! or how am I sure that

my sagest deductions may be safe guides for the opinions of others? But in writing to amuse, if I fail the only

evil is in my own disappointment. If, however, I can by any lucky chance, in these days of evil, rub out one

wrinkle from the brow of care or beguile the heavy heart of one moment of sorrow; if I can now and then

penetrate through the gathering film of misanthropy, prompt a benevolent view of human nature, and make

my reader more in goodhumor with his fellowbeings and himselfsurely, surely, I shall not then have

�I AM somewhat of an antiquityhunter, and am fond of exploring London in quest of the relics of old times.

These are principally to be found in the depths of the city, swallowed up and almost lost in a wilderness of

brick and mortar, but deriving poetical and romantic interest from the commonplace, prosaic world around

them. I was struck with an instance of the kind in the course of a recent summer ramble into the city; for the

city is only to be explored to advantage in summertime, when free from the smoke and fog and rain and

mud of winter. I had been buffeting for some time against the current of population setting through Fleet

Street. The warm weather had unstrung my nerves and made me sensitive to every jar and jostle and

discordant sound. The flesh was weary, the spirit faint, and I was getting out of humor with the bustling busy

throng through which I had to struggle, when in a fit of desperation I tore my way through the crowd,

plunged into a bylane, and, after passing through several obscure nooks and angles, emerged into a quaint

and quiet court with a grassplot in the centre overhung by elms, and kept perpetually fresh and green by a

fountain with its sparkling jet of water. A student with book in hand was seated on a stone bench, partly

reading, partly meditating on the movements of two or three trim nurserymaids with their infant charges.

I was like an Arab who had suddenly come upon an oasis amid the panting sterility of the desert. By degrees

the quiet and coolness of the place soothed my nerves and refreshed my spirit. I pursued my walk, and came,

hard by, to a very ancient chapel with a lowbrowed Saxon portal of massive and rich architecture. The

interior was circular and lofty and lighted from above. Around were monumental tombs of ancient date on

which were extended the marble effigies of warriors in armor. Some had the hands devoutly crossed upon the

breast; others grasped the pommel of the sword, menacing hostility even in the tomb, while the crossed legs

of several indicated soldiers of the Faith who had been on crusades to the Holy Land.

I was, in fact, in the chapel of the Knights Templars, strangely situated in the very centre of sordid traffic; and

I do not know a more impressive lesson for the many of the world than thus suddenly to turn aside from the

highway of busy moneyseeking life, and sit down among these shadowy sepulchres, where all is twilight,

In a subsequent tour of observation I encountered another of these relics of a "foregone world" locked up in

the heart of the city. I had been wandering for some time through dull monotonous streets, destitute of

anything to strike the eye or excite the imagination, when I beheld before me a Gothic gateway of mouldering

antiquity. It opened into a spacious quadrangle forming the courtyard of a stately Gothic pile, the portal of

It was apparently a public edifice, and, as I was antiquityhunting, I ventured in, though with dubious steps.

Meeting no one either to oppose or rebuke my intrusion, I continued on until I found myself in a great hall

with a lofty arched roof and oaken gallery, all of Gothic architecture. At one end of the hall was an enormous

fireplace, with wooden settles on each side; at the other end was a raised platform, or dais, the seat of state,

above which was the portrait of a man in antique garb with a long robe, a ruff, and a venerable gray beard.

The whole establishment had an air of monastic quiet and seclusion, and what gave it a mysterious charm

Encouraged by this loneliness, I seated myself in a recess of a large bow window, which admitted a broad

flood of yellow sunshine, checkered here and there by tints from panes of colored glass, while an open

casement let in the soft summer air. Here, leaning my bead on my hand and my arm on an old oaken table, I

indulged in a sort of reverie about what might have been the ancient uses of this edifice. It had evidently been

of monastic origin; perhaps one of those collegiate establishments built of yore for the promotion of learning,

where the patient monk, in the ample solitude of the cloister, added page to page and volume to volume,

emulating in the productions of his brain the magnitude of the pile he inhabited.

As I was seated in this musing mood a small panelled door in an arch at the upper end of the hall was opened,

and a number of grayheaded old men, clad in long black cloaks, came forth one by one, proceeding in that

manner through the hall, without uttering a word, each turning a pale face on me as he passed, and

I was singularly struck with their appearance; their black cloaks and antiquated air comported with the style

of this most venerable and mysterious pile. It was as if the ghosts of the departed years, about which I had

been musing, were passing in review before me. Pleasing myself with such fancies, I set out, in the spirit of

romance, to explore what I pictured to myself a realm of shadows existing in the very centre of substantial

My ramble led me through a labyrinth of interior courts and corridors and dilapidated cloisters, for the main

edifice had many additions and dependencies, built at various times and in various styles. In one open space a

number of boys, who evidently belonged to the establishment, were at their sports, but everywhere I observed

those mysterious old gray men in black mantles, sometimes sauntering alone, sometimes conversing in

groups; they appeared to be the pervading genii of the place. I now called to mind what I had read of certain

colleges in old times, where judicial astrology, geomancy, necromancy, and other forbidden and magical

sciences were taught. Was this an establishment of the kind, and were these blackcloaked old men really

These surmises were passing through my mind as my eye glanced into a chamber hung round with all kinds

of strange and uncouth objectsimplements of savage warfare, strange idols and stuffed alligators; bottled

serpents and monsters decorated the mantelpiece; while on the high tester of an oldfashioned bedstead

I approached to regard more narrowly this mystic chamber, which seemed a fitting laboratory for a

necromancer, when I was startled at beholding a human countenance staring at me from a dusky corner. It

was that of a small, shrivelled old man with thin cheeks, bright eyes, and gray, wiry, projecting eyebrows. I at

first doubted whether it were not a mummy curiously preserved, but it moved, and I saw that it was alive. It

was another of these blackcloaked old men, and, as I regarded his quaint physiognomy, his obsolete garb,

and the hideous and sinister objects by which he was surrounded, I began to persuade myself that I had come

Seeing me pausing before the door, he rose and invited me to enter. I obeyed with singular hardihood, for

how did I know whether a wave of his wand might not metamorphose me into some strange monster or

conjure me into one of the bottles on his mantelpiece? He proved, however, to be anything but a conjurer, and

his simple garrulity soon dispelled all the magic and mystery with which I had enveloped this antiquated pile

It appeared that I had made my way into the centre of an ancient asylum for superannuated tradesmen and

decayed householders, with which was connected a school for a limited number of boys. It was founded

upwards of two centuries since on an old monastic establishment, and retained somewhat of the conventual

air and character. The shadowy line of old men in black mantles who had passed before me in the hall, and

whom I had elevated into magi, turned out to be the pensioners returning from morning, service in the chapel.

John Hallum, the little collector of curiosities whom I had made the arch magician, had been for six years a

resident of the place, and had decorated this final nestlingplace of his old age with relics and rarities picked

up in the course of his life. According to his own account, he had been somewhat of a traveller, having been

once in France, and very near making a visit to Holland. He regretted not having visited the latter country, "as

then he might have said he had been there." He was evidently a traveller of the simple kind.

He was aristocratical too in his notions, keeping aloof, as I found, from the ordinary run of pensioners. His

chief associates were a blind man who spoke Latin and Greek, of both which languages Hallum was

profoundly ignorant, and a brokendown gentleman who had run through a fortune of forty thousand pounds

left him by his father, and ten thousand pounds, the marriage portion of his wife. Little Hallum seemed to

consider it an indubitable sign of gentle blood as well as of lofty spirit to be able to squander such enormous

P.S.The picturesque remnant of old times into which I have thus beguiled the reader is what is called the

Charter House, originally the Chartreuse. It was founded in 1611, on the remains of an ancient convent, by

Sir Thomas Sutton, being one of those noble charities set on foot by individual munificence, and kept up with

the quaintness and sanctity of ancient times amidst the modern changes and innovations of London. Here

eighty brokendown men, who have seen better days, are provided in their old age with food, clothing, fuel,

and a yearly allowance for private expenses. They dine together, as did the monks of old, in the hall which

had been the refectory of the original convent. Attached to the establishment is a school for fortyfour boys.

Stow, whose work I have consulted on the subject, speaking of the obligations of the grayheaded

pensioners, says, "They are not to intermeddle with any business touching the affairs of the hospital, but to

attend only to the service of God, and take thankfully what is provided for them, without muttering,

murmuring, or grudging. None to wear weapon, long hair, colored boots, spurs, or colored shoes, feathers in

their hats, or any ruffianlike or unseemly apparel, but such as becomes hospitalmen to wear." "And in

truth," adds Stow, "happy are they that are so taken from the cares and sorrows of the world, and fixed in so

good a place as these old men are; having nothing to care for but the good of their souls, to serve God, and to

For the amusement of such as have been interested by the preceding sketch, taken down from my own

observation, and who may wish to know a little more about the mysteries of London, I subjoin a modicum of

local history put into my hands by an oddlooking old gentleman, in a small brown wig and a snuffcolored

coat, with whom I became acquainted shortly after my visit to the Charter House. I confess I was a little

dubious at first whether it was not one of those apocryphal tales often passed off upon inquiring travellers

like myself, and which have brought our general character for veracity into such unmerited reproach. On

making proper inquiries, however, I have received the most satisfactory assurances of the author's probity,

and indeed have been told that he is actually engaged in a full and particular account of the very interesting

region in which he resides, of which the following may be considered merely as a foretaste.

What I write is most true . . . . . I have a whole booke of cases lying by me, which if I should sette foorth,

some grave auntients (within the hearing of Bow Bell) would be out of charity with me. NASH.

IN the centre of the great City of London lies a small neighborhood, consisting of a cluster of narrow streets

and courts, of very venerable and debilitated houses, which goes by the name of LITTLE BRITAIN. Christ

Church School and St. Bartholomew's Hospital bound it on the west; Smithfield and Long Lane on the north;

Aldersgate Street, like an arm of the sea, divides it from the eastern part of the city; whilst the yawning gulf

of BullandMouth Street separates it from Butcher Lane and the regions of Newgate. Over this little

territory, thus bounded and designated, the great dome of St. Paul's, swelling above the intervening houses of

Paternoster Row, Amen Corner, and AveMaria Lane, looks down with an air of motherly protection.

This quarter derives its appellation from having been, in ancient times, the residence of the Dukes of Brittany.

As London increased, however, rank and fashion rolled off to the west, and trade, creeping on at their heels,

took possession of their deserted abodes. For some time Little Britain became the great mart of learning, and

was peopled by the busy and prolific race of booksellers: these also gradually deserted it, and, emigrating

beyond the great strait of Newgate Street, settled down in Paternoster Row and St. Paul's Churchyard, where

But, though thus fallen into decline, Little Britain still bears traces of its former splendor. There are several

houses ready to tumble down, the fronts of which are magnificently enriched with old oaken carvings of

hideous faces, unknown birds, beasts, and fishes, and fruits and flowers which it would perplex a naturalist to

classify. There are also, in Aldersgate Street, certain remains of what were once spacious and lordly family

mansions, but which have in latter days been subdivided into several tenements. Here may often be found the

family of a petty tradesman, with its trumpery furniture, burrowing among the relics of antiquated finery in

great rambling timestained apartments with fretted ceilings, gilded cornices, and enormous marble

fireplaces. The lanes and courts also contain many smaller houses, not on so grand a scale, but, like your

small ancient gentry, sturdily maintaining their claims to equal antiquity. These have their gable ends to the

street, great bow windows with diamond panes set in lead, grotesque carvings, and low arched doorways.*

* It is evident that the author of this interesting communication has included, in his general title of Little

Britain, man of those little lanes and courts that belong immediately to Cloth Fair.

In this most venerable and sheltered little nest have I passed several quiet years of existence, comfortably

lodged in the second floor of one of the smallest but oldest edifices. My sittingroom is an old wainscoted

chamber, with small panels and set off with a miscellaneous array of furniture. I have a particular respect for

three or four highbacked, clawfooted chairs, covered with tarnished brocade, which bear the marks of

having seen better days, and have doubtless figured in some of the old palaces of Little Britain. They seem to

me to keep together and to look down with sovereign contempt upon their leathernbottomed neighbors, as I

have seen decayed gentry carry a high head among the plebeian society with which they were reduced to

associate. The whole front of my sittingroom is taken up with a bow window, on the panes of which are

recorded the names of previous occupants for many generations, mingled with scraps of very indifferent

gentlemanlike poetry, written in characters which I can scarcely decipher, and which extol the charms of

many a beauty of Little Britain who has long, long since bloomed, faded, and passed away. As I am an idle

personage, with no apparent occupation, and pay my bill regularly every week, I am looked upon as the only

independent gentleman of the neighborhood, and, being curious to learn the internal state of a community so

apparently shut up within itself, I have managed to work my way into all the concerns and secrets of the

Little Britain may truly be called the heart's core of the city, the stronghold of true John Bullism. It is a

fragment of London as it was in its better days, with its antiquated folks and fashions. Here flourish in great

preservation many of the holiday games and customs of yore. The inhabitants most religiously eat pancakes

on Shrove Tuesday, hot crossbuns on Good Friday, and roast goose at Michaelmas; they send loveletters

on Valentine's Day, burn the Pope on the Fifth of November, and kiss all the girls under the mistletoe at

Christmas. Roast beef and plumpudding are also held in superstitious veneration, and port and sherry

maintain their grounds as the only true English wines, all others being considered vile outlandish beverages.

Little Britain has its long catalogue of city wonders, which its inhabitants consider the wonders of the world,

such as the great bell of St. Paul's, which sours all the beer when it tolls; the figures that strike the hours at St.

Dunstan's clock; the Monument; the lions in the Tower; and the wooden giants in Guildhall. They still believe

in dreams and fortunetelling, and an old woman that lives in BullandMouth Street makes a tolerable

subsistence by detecting stolen goods and promising the girls good husbands. They are apt to be rendered

uncomfortable by comets and eclipses, and if a dog howls dolefully at night it is looked upon as a sure sign of

death in the place. There are even many ghoststories current, particularly concerning the old

mansionhouses, in several of which it is said strange sights are sometimes seen. Lords and ladies, the former

in fullbottomed wigs, hanging sleeves, and swords, the latter in lappets, stays, hoops, and brocade, have

been seen walking up and down the great waste chambers on moonlight nights, and are supposed to be the

Little Britain has likewise its sages and great men. One of the most important of the former is a tall, dry old

gentleman of the name of Skryme, who keeps a small apothecary's shop. He has a cadaverous countenance,

full of cavities and projections, with a brown circle round each eye, like a pair of horn spectacles. He is much

thought of by the old women, who consider him as a kind of conjurer because he has two or three stuffed

alligators hanging up in his shop and several snakes in bottles. He is a great reader of almanacs and

newspapers, and is much given to pore over alarming accounts of plots, conspiracies, fires, earthquakes, and

volcanic eruptions; which last phenomena he considers as signs of the times. He has always some dismal tale

of the kind to deal out to his customers with their doses, and thus at the same time puts both soul and body

into an uproar. He is a great believer in omens and predictions; and has the prophecies of Robert Nixon and

Mother Shipton by heart. No man can make so much out of an eclipse, or even an unusually dark day; and he

shook the tail of the last comet over the heads of his customers and disciples until they were nearly frightened

out of their wits. He has lately got hold of a popular legend or prophecy, on which he has been unusually

eloquent. There has been a saying current among the ancient sibyls, who treasure up these things, that when

the grasshopper on the top of the Exchange shook hands with the dragon on the top of Bow Church steeple,

fearful events would take place. This strange conjunction, it seems, has as strangely come to pass. The same

architect has been engaged lately on the repairs of the cupola of the Exchange and the steeple of Bow Church;

and, fearful to relate, the dragon and the grasshopper actually lie, cheek by jole, in the yard of his workshop.

"Others," as Mr. Skryme is accustomed to say, "may go stargazing, and look for conjunctions in the

heavens, but here is a conjunction on the earth, near at home and under our own eyes, which surpasses all the

signs and calculations of astrologers." Since these portentous weathercocks have thus laid their heads

together, wonderful events had already occurred. The good old king, notwithstanding that he had lived

eightytwo years, had all at once given up the ghost; another king had mounted the throne; a royal duke had

died suddenly; another, in France, had been murdered; there had been radical meetings in all parts of the

kingdom; the bloody scenes at Manchester; the great plot in Cato Street; and, above all, the queen had

returned to England! All these sinister events are recounted by Mr. Skyrme with a mysterious look and a

dismal shake of the head; and being taken with his drugs, and associated in the minds of his auditors with

stuffedseamonsters, bottled serpents, and his own visage, which is a titlepage of tribulation, they have

spread great gloom through the minds of the people of Little Britain. They shake their heads whenever they

go by Bow Church, and observe that they never expected any good to come of taking down that steeple,

which in old times told nothing but glad tidings, as the history of Whittington and his Cat bears witness.

The rival oracle of Little Britain is a substantial cheesemonger, who lives in a fragment of one of the old

family mansions, and is as magnificently lodged as a roundbellied mite in the midst of one of his own

Cheshires. Indeed, he is a man of no little standing and importance, and his renown extends through Huggin

lane and Lad lane, and even unto Aldermanbury. His opinion is very much taken in affairs of state, having

read the Sunday papers for the last half century, together with the Gentleman's Magazine, Rapin's History of

England, and the Naval Chronicle. His head is stored with invaluable maxims which have borne the test of

time and use for centuries. It is his firm opinion that "it is a moral impossible," so long as England is true to

herself, that anything can shake her: and he has much to say on the subject of the national debt, which,

somehow or other, he proves to be a great national bulwark and blessing. He passed the greater part of his life

in the purlieus of Little Britain until of late years, when, having become rich and grown into the dignity of a

Sunday cane, he begins to take his pleasure and see the world. He has therefore made several excursions to

Hampstead, Highgate, and other neighboring towns, where he has passed whole afternoons in looking back

upon the metropolis through a telescope and endeavoring to descry the steeple of St. Bartholomew's. Not a

stagecoachman of BullandMouth Street but touches his hat as he passes, and he is considered quite a

patron at the coachoffice of the Goose and Gridiron, St. Paul's Churchyard. His family have been very

urgent for him to make an expedition to Margate, but he has great doubts of those new gimcracks, the

steamboats, and indeed thinks himself too advanced in life to undertake seavoyages.

Little Britain has occasionally its factions and divisions, and party spirit ran very high at one time, in

consequence of two rival "Burial Societies" being set up in the place. One held its meeting at the Swan and

HorseShoe, and was patronized by the cheesemonger; the other at the Cock and Crown, under the auspices

of the apothecary: it is needless to say that the latter was the most flourishing. I have passed an evening or

two at each, and have acquired much valuable information as to the best mode of being buried, the

comparative merits of churchyards, together with divers hints on the subject of patent iron coffins. I have

heard the question discussed in all its bearings as to the legality of prohibiting the latter on account of their

durability. The feuds occasioned by these societies have happily died of late; but they were for a long time

prevailing themes of controversy, the people of Little Britain being extremely solicitous of funeral honors and

Besides these two funeral societies there is a third of quite a different cast, which tends to throw the sunshine

of goodhumor over the whole neighborhood. It meets once a week at a little oldfashioned house kept by a

jolly publican of the name of Wagstaff, and bearing for insignia a resplendent halfmoon, with a most

seductive bunch of grapes. The whole edifice is covered with inscriptions to catch the eye of the thirsty

wayfarer; such as "Truman, Hanbury, and Co's Entire," "Wine, Rum, and Brandy Vaults," "Old Tom, Rum,

and Compounds," etc. This indeed has been a temple of Bacchus and Momus from time immemorial. It has

always been in the family of the Wagstaffs, so that its history is tolerably preserved by the present landlord. It

was much frequented by the gallants and cavalieros of the reign of Elizabeth, and was looked into now and

then by the wits of Charles the Second's day. But what Wagstaff principally prides himself upon is that Henry

the Eighth, in one of his nocturnal rambles, broke the head of one of his ancestors with his famous

walkingstaff. This, however, is considered as rather a dubious and vainglorious boast of the landlord.

The club which now holds its weekly sessions here goes by the name of "the Roaring Lads of Little Britain."

They abound in old catches, glees, and choice stories that are traditional in the place and not to be met with in

any other part of the metropolis. There is a madcap undertaker who is inimitable at a merry song, but the life

of the club, and indeed the prime wit of Little Britain, is bully Wagstaff himself. His ancestors were all wags

before him, and he has inherited with the inn a large stock of songs and jokes, which go with it from

generation to generation as heirlooms. He is a dapper little fellow, with bandy legs and pot belly, a red face

with a moist merry eye, and a little shock of gray hair behind. At the opening of every club night he is called

in to sing his "Confession of Faith," which is the famous old drinking trowl from "Gammer Gurton's Needle."

He sings it, to be sure, with many variations, as he received it from his father's lips; for it has been a standing

favorite at the HalfMoon and Bunch of Grapes ever since it was written; nay, he affirms that his

predecessors have often had the honor of singing it before the nobility and gentry at Christmas mummeries,

* As mine host of the HalfMoon's Confession of Faith may not be familiar to the majority of readers, and as

it is a specimen of the current songs of Little Britain, I subjoin it in its original orthography. I would observe

that the whole club always join in the chorus with a fearful thumping on the table and clattering of pewter

I cannot eate but lytle meate, My stomacke is not good, But sure I thinke that I can drinke With him that

weares a hood. Though I go bare, take ye no care, I nothing am a colde, I stuff my skyn so full within, Of joly

good ale and olde. Chorus. Backe and syde go bare, go bare, Both foote and hand go colde, But, belly, God

I have no rost, but a nut brawne toste And a crab laid in the fyre; A little breade shall do me steade, Much

breade I not desyre. No frost nor snow, nor winde, I trowe, Can hurte mee, if I wolde, I am so wrapt and

throwly lapt Of joly good ale and olde. Chorus. Backe and syde go bare, go bare, etc.

And Tyb my wife, that, as her lyfe, Loveth well good ale to seeke, Full oft drynkes shee, tyll ye may see, The

teares run downe her cheeke. Then doth shee trowle to me the bowle, Even as a maultworme sholde, And

sayth, sweete harte, I took my parte Of this jolly good ale and olde. Chorus. Backe and syde go bare, go bare,

Now let them drynke, tyll they nod and winke, Even as goode fellowes sholde doe, They shall not mysse to

have the blisse, Good ale doth bring men to; And all poore soules that have scowred bowles, Or have them

lustily trolde, God save the lyves of them and their wives, Whether they be yonge or olde. Chorus. Backe and

It would do one's heart good to hear, on a club night, the shouts of merriment, the snatches of song, and now

and then the choral bursts of half a dozen discordant voices, which issue from this jovial mansion. At such

times the street is lined with listeners, who enjoy a delight equal to that of gazing into a confectioner's

There are two annual events which produce great stir and sensation in Little Britain: these are St.

Bartholomew's Fair and the Lord Mayor's Day. During the time of the Fair, which is held in the adjoining

regions of Smithfield, there is nothing going on but gossiping and gadding about. The late quiet streets of

Little Britain are overrun with an irruption of strange figures and faces; every tavern is a scene of rout and

revel. The fiddle and the song are heard from the taproom morning, noon, and night; and at each window may

be seen some group of boon companions, with halfshut eyes, hats on one side, pipe in mouth and tankard in

hand, fondling and prosing, and singing maudlin songs over their liquor. Even the sober decorum of private

families, which I must say is rigidly kept up at other times among my neighbors, is no proof against this

saturnalia. There is no such thing as keeping maidservants within doors. Their brains are absolutely set

madding with Punch and the PuppetShow, the Flying Horses, Signior Polito, the FireEater, the celebrated

Mr. Paap, and the Irish Giant. The children too lavish all their holiday money in toys and gilt gingerbread,

and fill the house with the Lilliputian din of drums, trumpets, and penny whistles.

But the Lord Mayor's Day is the great anniversary. The Lord Mayor is looked up to by the inhabitants of

Little Britain as the greatest potentate upon earth, his gilt coach with six horses as the summit of human

splendor, and his procession, with all the sheriffs and aldermen in his train, as the grandest of earthly

pageants. How they exult in the idea that the king himself dare not enter the city without first knocking at the

gate of Temple Bar and asking permission of the Lord Mayor; for if he did, heaven and earth! there is no

knowing what might be the consequence. The man in armor who rides before the Lord Mayor, and is the city

champion, has orders to cut down everybody that offends against the dignity of the city; and then there is the

little man with a velvet porringer on his head, who sits at the window of the state coach and holds the city

sword, as long as a pikestaff. Odd's blood! if he once draws that sword, Majesty itself is not safe.

Under the protection of this mighty potentate, therefore, the good people of Little Britain sleep in peace.

Temple Bar is an effectual barrier against all interior foes; and as to foreign invasion, the Lord Mayor has but

to throw himself into the Tower, call in the trainbands, and put the standing army of Beefeaters under

Thus wrapped up in its own concerns, its own habits, and its own opinions, Little Britain has long flourished

as a sound heart to this great fungous metropolis. I have pleased myself with considering it as a chosen spot,

where the principles of sturdy John Bullism were garnered up, like seed corn, to renew the national character

when it had run to waste and degeneracy. I have rejoiced also in the general spirit of harmony that prevailed

throughout it; for though there might now and then be a few clashes of opinion between the adherents of the

cheesemonger and the apothecary, and an occasional feud between the burial societies, yet these were but

transient clouds and soon passed away. The neighbors met with goodwill, parted with a shake of the hand,

I could give rare descriptions of snug junketing parties at which I have been present, where we played at

AllFours, PopeJoan, Tomcometickleme, and other choice old games, and where we sometimes had a

good old English country dance to the tune of Sir Roger de Coverley. Once a year also the neighbors would

gather together and go on a gypsy party to Epping Forest. It would have done any man's heart good to see the

merriment that took place here as we banqueted on the grass under the trees. How we made the woods ring

with bursts of laughter at the songs of little Wagstaff and the merry undertaker! After dinner, too, the young

folks would play at blindman'sbuff and hideandseek, and it was amusing to see them tangled among the

briers, and to hear a fine romping girl now and then squeak from among the bushes. The elder folks would

gather round the cheesemonger and the apothecary to hear them talk politics, for they generally brought out a

newspaper in their pockets to pass away time in the country. They would now and then, to be sure, get a little

warm in argument; but their disputes were always adjusted by reference to a worthy old umbrellamaker in a

double chin, who, never exactly comprehending the subject, managed somehow or other to decide in favor of

All empires, however, says some philosopher or historian, are doomed to changes and revolutions. Luxury

and innovation creep in, factions arise, and families now and then spring up whose ambition and intrigues

throw the whole system into confusion. Thus in letter days has the tranquillity of Little Britain been

grievously disturbed and its golden simplicity of manners threatened with total subversion by the aspiring

The family of the Lambs had long been among the most thriving and popular in the neighborhood: the Miss

Lambs were the belles of Little Britain, and everybody was pleased when Old Lamb had made money enough

to shut up shop and put his name on a brass plate on his door. In an evil hour, however, one of the Miss

Lambs had the honor of being a lady in attendance on the Lady Mayoress at her grand annual ball, on which

occasion she wore three towering ostrich feathers on her head. The family never got over it; they were

immediately smitten with a passion for high life; set up a onehorse carriage, put a bit of gold lace round the

errandboy's hat, and have been the talk and detestation of the whole neighborhood ever since. They could no

longer be induced to play at PopeJoan or blindman'sbuff; they could endure no dances but quadrilles,

which nobody had ever heard of in Little Britain; and they took to reading novels, talking bad French, and

playing upon the piano. Their brother, too, who had been articled to an attorney, set up for a dandy and a

critic, characters hitherto unknown in these parts, and he confounded the worthy folks exceedingly by talking

What was still worse, the Lambs gave a grand ball, to which they neglected to invite any of their old

neighbors; but they had a great deal of genteel company from Theobald's Road, Red Lion Square, and other

parts towards the west. There were several beaux of their brother's acquaintance from Gray's Inn Lane and

Hatton Garden, and not less than three aldermen's ladies with their daughters. This was not to be forgotten or

forgiven. All Little Britain was in an uproar with the smacking of whips, the lashing of in miserable horses,

and the rattling and jingling of hackneycoaches. The gossips of the neighborhood might be seen popping

their nightcaps out at every window, watching the crazy vehicles rumble by; and there was a knot of

virulent old cronies that kept a lookout from a house just opposite the retired butcher's and scanned and

This dance was a cause of almost open war, and the whole neighborhood declared they would have nothing

more to say to the Lambs. It is true that Mrs. Lamb, when she had no engagements with her quality

acquaintance, would give little humdrum teajunketings to some of her old cronies, "quite," as she would

say, "in a friendly way;" and it is equally true that her invitations were always accepted, in spite of all

previous vows to the contrary. Nay, the good ladies would sit and be delighted with the music of the Miss

Lambs, who would condescend to strum an Irish melody for them on the piano; and they would listen with

wonderful interest to Mrs. Lamb's anecdotes of Alderman Plunket's family, of Portsoken Ward, and the Miss

Timberlakes, the rich heiresses of Crutched Friars but then they relieved their consciences and averted the

reproaches of their confederates by canvassing at the next gossiping convocation everything that had passed,

The only one of the family that could not be made fashionable was the retired butcher himself. Honest Lamb,

in spite of the meekness of his name, was a rough, hearty old fellow, with the voice of a lion, a head of black

hair like a shoebrush, and a broad face mottled like his own beef. It was in vain that the daughters always

spoke of him as "the old gentleman,' addressed him as "papa" in tones of infinite softness, and endeavored to

coax him into a dressinggown and slippers and other gentlemanly habits. Do what they might, there was no

keeping down the butcher. His sturdy nature would break through all their glozings. He had a hearty vulgar

goodhumor that was irrepressible. His very jokes made his sensitive daughters shudder, and he persisted in

wearing his blue cotton coat of a morning, dining at two o'clock, and having a "bit of sausage with his tea."

He was doomed, however, to share the unpopularity of his family. He found his old comrades gradually

growing cold and civil to him, no longer laughing at his jokes, and now and then throwing out a fling at

"some people" and a hint about "quality binding." This both nettled and perplexed the honest butcher; and his

wife and daughters, with the consummate policy of the shrewder sex, taking advantage of the circumstance,

at length prevailed upon him to give up his afternoon's pipe and tankard at Wagstaff's, to sit after dinner by

himself and take his pint of porta liquor he detestedand to nod in his chair in solitary and dismal

gentility. The Miss Lambs might now be seen flaunting along the streets in French bonnets with unknown

beaux, and talking and laughing so loud that it distressed the nerves of every good lady within hearing. They

even went so far as to attempt patronage, and actually induced a French dancing master to set up in the

neighborhood; but the worthy folks of Little Britain took fire at it, and did so persecute the poor Gaul that he

was fain to pack up fiddle and dancingpumps and decamp with such precipitation that he absolutely forgot

I had flattered myself, at first, with the idea that all this fiery indignation on the part of the community was

merely the overflowing of their zeal for good old English manners and their horror of innovation, and I

applauded the silent contempt they were so vociferous in expressing for upstart pride, French fashions and the

Miss Lambs. But I grieve to say that I soon perceived the infection had taken hold, and that my neighbors,

after condemning, were beginning to follow their example. I overheard my landlady importuning her husband

to let their daughters have one quarter at French and music, and that they might take a few lessons in

quadrille. I even saw, in the course of a few Sundays, no less than five French bonnets, precisely like those of

I still had my hopes that all this folly would gradually die away, that the Lambs might move out of the

neighborhood, might die, or might run away with attorneys' apprentices, and that quiet and simplicity might

be again restored to the community. But unluckily a rival power arose. An opulent oilman died, and left a

widow with a large jointure and a family of buxom daughters. The young ladies had long been repining in

secret at the parsimony of a prudent father, which kept down all their elegant aspirings. Their ambition, being

now no longer restrained, broke out into a blaze, and they openly took the field against the family of the

butcher. It is true that the Lambs, having had the first start, had naturally an advantage of them in the

fashionable career. They could speak a little bad French, play the piano, dance quadrilles, and had formed

high acquaintances; but the Trotters were not to be distanced. When the Lambs appeared with two feathers in

their hats, the Miss Trotters mounted four and of twice as fine colors. If the Lambs gave a dance, the Trotters

were sure not to be behindhand; and, though they might not boast of as good company, yet they had double

The whole community has at length divided itself into fashionable factions under the banners of these two

families. The old games of PopeJoan and Tomcometickleme are entirely discarded; there is no such

thing as getting up an honest country dance; and on my attempting to kiss a young lady under the mistletoe

last Christmas, I was indignantly repulsed, the Miss Lambs having pronounced it "shocking vulgar." Bitter

rivalry has also broken out as to the most fashionable part of Little Britain, the Lambs standing up for the

dignity of CrossKeys Square, and the Trotters for the vicinity of St. Bartholomew's.

Thus is this little territory torn by factions and internal dissensions, like the great empire whose name it bears;

and what will be the result would puzzle the apothecary himself, with all his talent at prognostics, to

determine, though I apprehend that it will terminate in the total downfall of genuine John Bullism.

The immediate effects are extremely unpleasant to me. Being a single man, and, as I observed before, rather

an idle goodfornothing personage, I have been considered the only gentleman by profession in the place. I

stand therefore in high favor with both parties, and have to hear all their cabinet counsels and mutual

backbitings. As I am too civil not to agree with the ladies on all occasions, I have committed myself most

horribly with both parties by abusing their opponents. I might manage to reconcile this to my conscience,

which is a truly accommodating one, but I cannot to my apprehension: if the Lambs and Trotters ever come

I have determined, therefore, to beat a retreat in time, and am actually looking out for some other nest in this

great city where old English manners are still kept up, where French is neither eaten, drunk, danced, nor

spoken, and where there are no fashionable families of retired tradesmen. This found, I will, like a veteran rat,

hasten away before I have an old house about my ears, bid a long, though a sorrowful adieu to my present

abode, and leave the rival factions of the Lambs and the Trotters to divide the distracted empire of LITTLE

Thou softflowing Avon, by thy silver stream Of things more than mortal sweet Shakespeare would dream

The fairies by moonlight dance round his green bed, For hallow'd the turf is which pillow'd his head.

TO a homeless man, who has no spot on this wide world which he can truly call his own, there is a

momentary feeling of something like independence and territorial consequence when, after a weary day's

travel, he kicks off his boots, thrusts his feet into slippers, and stretches himself before an innfire. Let the

world without go as it may, let kingdoms rise or fall, so long as he has the wherewithal to pay his bill he is,

for the time being, the very monarch of all he surveys. The armchair is his throne, the poker his sceptre, and

the little parlor, some twelve feet square, his undisputed empire. It is a morsel of certainly snatched from the

midst of the uncertainties of life; it is a sunny moment gleaming out kindly on a cloudy day: and he who has

advanced some way on the pilgrimage of existence knows the importance of husbanding even morsels and

moments of enjoyment. "Shall I not take mine ease in mine inn?" thought I, as I gave the fire a stir, lolled

back in my elbowchair, and cast a complacent look about the little parlor of the Red Horse at

The words of sweet Shakespeare were just passing through my mind as the clock struck midnight from the

tower of the church in which he lies buried. There was a gentle tap at the door, and a pretty chambermaid,

putting in her smiling face, inquired, with a hesitating air, whether I had rung. I understood it as a modest hint

that it was time to retire. My dream of absolute dominion was at an end; so abdicating my throne, like a

prudent potentate, to avoid being deposed, and putting the Stratford GuideBook under my arm as a pillow

companion, I went to bed, and dreamt all night of Shakespeare, the jubilee, and David Garrick.

The next morning was one of those quickening mornings which we sometimes have in early spring, for it was

about the middle of March. The chills of a long winter had suddenly given way; the north wind had spent its

last gasp; and a mild air came stealing from the west, breathing the breath of life into Nature, and wooing

I had come to Stratford on a poetical pilgrimage. My first visit was to the house where Shakespeare was born,

and where, according to tradition, he was brought up to his father's craft of woolcombing. It is a small

meanlooking edifice of wood and plaster, a true nestlingplace of genius, which seems to delight in

hatching its offspring in bycorners. The walls of its squalid chambers are covered with names and

inscriptions in every language by pilgrims of all nations, ranks, and conditions, from the prince to the

peasant, and present a simple but striking instance of the spontaneous and universal homage of mankind to

The house is shown by a garrulous old lady in a frosty red face, lighted up by a cold blue, anxious eye, and

garnished with artificial locks of flaxen hair curling from under an exceedingly dirty cap. She was peculiarly

assiduous in exhibiting the relics with which this, like all other celebrated shrines, abounds. There was the

shattered stock of the very matchlock with which Shakespeare shot the deer on his poaching exploits. There,

too, was his tobaccobox, which proves that he was a rival smoker of Sir Walter Raleigh: the sword also with

which he played Hamlet; and the identical lantern with which Friar Laurence discovered Romeo and Juliet at

the tomb. There was an ample supply also of Shakespeare's mulberry tree, which seems to have as

extraordinary powers of selfmultiplication as the wood of the true cross, of which there is enough extant to

build a ship of the line. The most favorite object of curiosity, however, is Shakespeare's chair. It stands in a

chimneynook of a small gloomy chamber just behind what was his father's shop. Here he may many a time

have sat when a boy, watching the slowly revolving spit with all the longing of an urchin, or of an evening

listening to the cronies and gossips of Stratford dealing forth churchyard tales and legendary anecdotes of the

troublesome times of England. In this chair it is the custom of every one that visits the house to sit: whether

this be done with the hope of imbibing any of the inspiration of the bard I am at a loss to say; I merely

mention the fact, and mine hostess privately assured me that, though built of solid oak, such was the fervent

zeal of devotees the chair had to be new bottomed at least once in three years. It is worthy of notice also, in

the history of this extraordinary chair, that it partakes something of the volatile nature of the Santa Casa of

Loretto, or the flying chair of the Arabian enchanter; for, though sold some few years since to a northern

princess, yet, strange to tell, it has found its way back again to the old chimneycorner.

I am always of easy faith in such matters, and am ever willing to be deceived where the deceit is pleasant and

costs nothing. I am therefore a ready believer in relics, legends, and local anecdotes of goblins and great men,

and would advise all travellers who travel for their gratification to be the same. What is it to us whether these

stories be true or false, so long as we can persuade ourselves into the belief of them and enjoy all the charm

of the reality? There is nothing like resolute goodhumored credulity in these matters, and on this occasion I

went even so far as willingly to believe the claims of mine hostess to a lineal descent from the poet, when,

unluckily for my faith, she put into my hands a play of her own composition, which set all belief in her own

From the birthplace of Shakespeare a few paces brought me to his grave. He lies buried in the chancel of the

parish church, a large and venerable pile, mouldering with age, but richly ornamented. It stands on the banks

of the Avon on an embowered point, and separated by adjoining gardens from the suburbs of the town. Its

situation is quiet and retired; the river runs murmuring at the foot of the churchyard, and the elms which grow

upon its banks droop their branches into its clear bosom. An avenue of limes, the boughs of which are

curiously interlaced, so as to form in summer an arched way of foliage, leads up from the gate of the yard to

the churchporch. The graves are overgrown with grass; the gray tombstones, some of them nearly sunk into

the earth, are half covered with moss, which has likewise tinted the reverend old building. Small birds have

built their nests among the cornices and fissures of the walls, and keep up a continual flutter and chirping;

In the course of my rambles I met with the grayheaded sexton, Edmonds, and accompanied him home to get

the key of the church. He had lived in Stratford, man and boy, for eighty years, and seemed still to consider

himself a vigorous man, with the trivial exception that he had nearly lost the use of his legs for a few years

past. His dwelling was a cottage looking out upon the Avon and its bordering meadows, and was a picture of

that neatness, order, and comfort which pervade the humblest dwellings in this country. A low whitewashed

room, with a stone floor carefully scrubbed, served for parlor, kitchen, and hall. Rows of pewter and earthen

dishes glittered along the dresser. On an old oaken table, well rubbed and polished, lay the family Bible and

prayerbook, and the drawer contained the family library, composed of about half a score of wellthumbed

volumes. An ancient clock, that important article of cottage furniture, ticked on the opposite side of the room,

with a bright warmingpan hanging on one side of it, and the old man's hornhandled Sunday cane on the

other. The fireplace, as usual, was wide and deep enough to admit a gossip knot within its jambs. In one

corner sat the old man's granddaughter sewing, a pretty blueeyed girl, and in the opposite corner was a

superannuated crony whom he addressed by the name of John Ange, and who, I found, had been his

companion from childhood. They had played together in infancy; they had worked together in manhood; they

were now tottering about and gossiping away the evening of life; and in a short time they will probably be

buried together in the neighboring churchyard. It is not often that we see two streams of existence running

thus evenly and tranquilly side by side; it is only in such quiet "bosom scenes" of life that they are to be met

I had hoped to gather some traditionary anecdotes of the bard from these ancient chroniclers, but they had

nothing new to impart. The long interval during which Shakespeare's writings lay in comparative neglect has

spread its shadow over his history, and it is his good or evil lot that scarcely anything remains to his

The sexton and his companion had been employed as carpenters on the preparations for the celebrated

Stratford Jubilee, and they remembered Garrick, the prime mover of the fete, who superintended the

arrangements, and who, according to the sexton, was "a short punch man, very lively and bustling." John

Ange had assisted also in cutting down Shakespeare's mulberry tree, of which he had a morsel in his pocket

I was grieved to hear these two worthy wights speak very dubiously of the eloquent dame who shows the

Shakespeare house. John Ange shook his head when I mentioned her valuable and inexhaustible collection of

relics, particularly her remains of the mulberry tree; and the old sexton even expressed a doubt as to

Shakespeare having been born in her house. I soon discovered that he looked upon her mansion with an evil

eye, as a rival to the poet's tomb, the latter having comparatively but few visitors. Thus it is that historians

differ at the very outset, and mere pebbles make the stream of truth diverge into different channels even at the

We approached the church through the avenue of limes, and entered by a Gothic porch, highly ornamented,

with carved doors of massive oak. The interior is spacious, and the architecture and embellishments superior

to those of most country churches. There are several ancient monuments of nobility and gentry, over some of

which hang funeral escutcheons and banners dropping piecemeal from the walls. The tomb of Shakespeare is

in the chancel. The place is solemn and sepulchral. Tall elms wave before the pointed windows, and the

Avon, which runs at a short distance from the walls, keeps up a low perpetual murmur. A flat stone marks the

spot where the bard is buried. There are four lines inscribed on it, said to have been written by himself, and

which have in them something extremely awful. If they are indeed his own, they show that solicitude about

the quiet of the grave which seems natural to fine sensibilities and thoughtful minds:

Good friend, for Jesus' sake, forbeare To dig the dust inclosed here. Blessed be he that spares these stones,

Just over the grave, in a niche of the wall, is a bust of Shakespeare, put up shortly after his death and

considered as a resemblance. The aspect is pleasant and serene, with a finelyarched forehead; and I thought

I could read in it clear indications of that cheerful, social disposition by which he was as much characterized

among his contemporaries as by the vastness of his genius. The inscription mentions his age at the time of his

decease, fiftythree yearsan untimely death for the world, for what fruit might not have been expected

from the golden autumn of such a mind, sheltered as it was from the stormy vicissitudes of life, and

The inscription on the tombstone has not been without its effect. It has prevented the removal of his remains

from the bosom of his native place to Westminster Abbey, which was at one time contemplated. A few years

since also, as some laborers were digging to make an adjoining vault, the earth caved in, so as to leave a

vacant space almost like an arch, through which one might have reached into his grave. No one, however,

presumed to meddle with his remains so awfully guarded by a malediction; and lest any of the idle or the

curious or any collector of relics should be tempted to commit depredations, the old sexton kept watch over

the place for two days, until the vault was finished and the aperture closed again. He told me that he had

made bold to look in at the hole, but could see neither coffin nor bonesnothing but dust. It was something,

Next to this grave are those of his wife, his favorite daughter, Mrs. Hall, and others of his family. On a tomb

close by, also, is a fulllength effigy of his old friend John Combe, of usurious memory, on whom he is said

to have written a ludicrous epitaph. There are other monuments around, but the mind refuses to dwell on

anything that is not connected with Shakespeare. His idea pervades the place; the whole pile seems but as his

mausoleum. The feelings, no longer checked and thwarted by doubt, here indulge in perfect confidence: other

traces of him may be false or dubious, but here is palpable evidence and absolute certainty. As I trod the

sounding pavement there was something intense and thrilling in the idea that in very truth the remains of

Shakespeare were mouldering beneath my feet. It was a long time before I could prevail upon myself to leave

the place; and as I passed through the churchyard I plucked a branch from one of the yew trees, the only relic

I had now visited the usual objects of a pilgrim's devotion, but I had a desire to see the old family seat of the

Lucys at Charlecot, and to ramble through the park where Shakespeare, in company with some of the

roisterers of Stratford, committed his youthful offence of deerstealing. In this harebrained exploit we are

told that he was taken prisoner and carried to the keeper's lodge, where he remained all night in doleful

captivity. When brought into the presence of Sir Thomas Lucy his treatment must have been galling and

humiliating; for it so wrought upon his spirit as to produce a rough pasquinade which was affixed to the park

This flagitious attack upon the dignity of the knight so incensed him that he applied to a lawyer at Warwick

to put the severity of the laws in force against the rhyming deerstalker. Shakespeare did not wait to brave

the united puissance of a knight of the shire and a country attorney. He forthwith abandoned the pleasant

banks of the Avon and his paternal trade; wandered away to London; became a hangeron to the theatres;

then an actor; and finally wrote for the stage; and thus, through the persecution of Sir Thomas Lucy, Stratford

lost an indifferent woolcomber and the world gained an immortal poet. He retained, however, for a long

time, a sense of the harsh treatment of the lord of Charlecot, and revenged himself in his writings, but in the

sportive way of a goodnatured mind. Sir Thomas is said to be the original of Justice Shallow, and the satire

is slyly fixed upon him by the justice's armorial bearings, which, like those of the knight, had white luces* in

Various attempts have been made by his biographers to soften and explain away this, early transgression of

the poet; but I look upon it as one of those thoughtless exploits natural to his situation and turn of mind.

Shakespeare, when young, had doubtless all the wildness and irregularity of an ardent, undisciplined, and

undirected genius. The poetic temperament has naturally something in it of the vagabond. When left to itself

it runs loosely and wildly, and delights in everything eccentric and licentious. It is often a turn up of a die, in

the gambling freaks of fate, whether a natural genius shall turn out a great rogue or a great poet; and had not

Shakespeare's mind fortunately taken a literary bias, he might have as daringly transcended all civil as he has

I have little doubt that, in early life, when running like an unbroken colt about the neighborbood of Stratford,

he was to be found in the company of all kinds of odd anomalous characters, that he associated with all the

madcaps of the place, and was one of those unlucky urchins at mention of whom old men shake their heads

and predict that they will one day come to the gallows. To him the poaching in Sir Thomas Lucy's park was

doubtless like a foray to a Scottish knight, and struck his eager, and as yet untamed, imagination as

* A proof of Shakespeare's random habits and associates in his youthful days may be found in a traditionary

anecdote, picked up at Stratford by the elder Ireland, and mentioned in his "Picturesque Views on the Avon."

About seven miles from Stratford lies the thirsty little markettown of Bedford, famous for its ale. Two

societies of the village yeomanry used to meet, under the appellation of the Bedford topers, and to challenge

the lovers of good ale of the neighboring villages to a contest of drinking. Among others, the people of

Stratford were called out to prove the strength of their heads; and in the number of the champions was

Shakespeare, who, in spite of the proverb that "they who drink beer will think beer," was as true to his ale as

Falstaff to his sack. The chivalry of Stratford was staggered at the first onset, and sounded a retreat while they

had yet the legs to carry them off the field. They had scarcely marched a mile when, their legs failing them,

they were forced to lie down under a crab tree, where they passed the night. It was still standing, and goes by

the name of Shakespeare's tree. In the morning his companions awaked the bard, and proposed returning to

Piping Pebworth, Dancing Marston, Haunted Hilbro', Hungry Grafton, Dudging Exhall, Papist Wicksford,

"The villages here alluded to," says Ireland, "still bear the epithets thus given them: the people of Pebworth

are still famed for their skill on the pipe and tabor; Hilborough is now called Haunted Hilborough; and

The old mansion of Charlecot and its surrounding park still remain in the possession of the Lucy family, and

are peculiarly interesting front being connected with this whimsical but eventful circumstance in the scanty

history of the bard. As the house stood at little more than three miles' distance from Stratford, I resolved to

pay it a pedestrian visit, that I might stroll leisurely through some of those scenes from which Shakespeare

The country was yet naked and leafless, but English scenery is always verdant, and the sudden change in the

temperature of the weather was surprising in its quickening effects upon the landscape. It was inspiring and

animating to witness this first awakening of spring; to feel its warm breath stealing over the senses; to see the

moist mellow earth beginning to put forth the green sprout and the tender blade, and the trees and shrubs, in

their reviving tints and bursting buds, giving the promise of returning foliage and flower. The cold

snowdrop, that little borderer on the skirts of winter, was to be seen with its chaste white blossoms in the

small gardens before the cottages. The bleating of the newdropt lambs was faintly heard from the fields. The

sparrow twittered about the thatched eaves and budding hedges; the robin threw a livelier note into his late

querulous wintry strain; and the lark, springing up from the reeking bosom of the meadow, towered away into

the bright fleecy cloud, pouring forth torrents of melody. As I watched the little songster mounting up higher

and higher, until his body was a mere speck on the white bosom of the cloud, while the ear was still filled

with his music, it called to mind Shakespeare's exquisite little song in Cymbeline:

Indeed, the whole country about here is poetic ground: everything is associated with the idea of Shakespeare.

Every old cottage that I saw I fancied into some resort of his boyhood, where he had acquired his intimate

knowledge of rustic life and manners, and heard those legendary tales and wild superstitions which he has

woven like witchcraft into his dramas. For in his time, we are told, it was a popular amusement in winter

evenings "to sit round the fire, and tell merry tales of errant knights, queens, lovers, lords, ladies, giants,

* Scot, in his "Discoverie of Witchcraft," enumerates a of these fireside fancies: "And they have so fraid us

with host bullbeggars, spirits, witches, urchins, elves, hags, fairies, satyrs, pans, faunes, syrens, kit with the

can sticke, tritons, centaurs, dwarfes, giantes, imps, calcars, conjurors, nymphes, changelings, incubus,

Robingoodfellow, the spoorne, the mare, the man in the oke, the hellwaine, the fier drake, the puckle, Tom

Thombe, hobgoblins, Tom Tumbler, boneless, and such other bugs, that we were afraid of our own

My route for a part of the way lay in sight of the Avon, which made a variety of the most fancy doublings and

windings through a wide and fertile valleysometimes glittering from among willows which fringed its

borders; sometimes disappearing among groves or beneath green banks; and sometimes rambling out into full

view and making an azure sweep round a slope of meadowland. This beautiful bosom of country is called

the Vale of the Red Horse. A distant line of undulating blue hills seems to be its boundary, whilst all the soft

intervening landscape lies in a manner enchained in the silver links of the Avon.

After pursuing the road for about three miles, I turned off into a footpath, which led along the borders of

fields and under hedgerows to a private gate of the park; there was a stile, however, for the benefit of the

pedestrian, there being a public right of way through the grounds. I delight in these hospitable estates, in

which every one has a kind of propertyat least as far as the footpath is concerned. It in some measure

reconciles a poor man to his lot, and, what is more, to the better lot of his neighbor, thus to have parks and

pleasuregrounds thrown open for his recreation. He breathes the pure air as freely and lolls as luxuriously

under the shade as the lord of the soil; and if he has not the privilege of calling all that he sees his own, he has

I now found myself among noble avenues of oaks and elms, whose vast size bespoke the growth of centuries.

The wind sounded solemnly among their branches, and the rooks cawed from their hereditary nests in the

treetops. The eye ranged through a long lessening vista, with nothing to interrupt the view but a distant

There is something about these stately old avenues that has the effect of Gothic architecture, not merely from

the pretended similarity of form, but from their bearing the evidence of long duration, and of having had their

origin in a period of time with which we associate ideas of romantic grandeur. They betoken also the

longsettled dignity and proudlyconcentrated independence of an ancient family; and I have heard a worthy

but aristocratic old friend observe, when speaking of the sumptuous palaces of modern gentry, that "money

could do much with stone and mortar, but thank Heaven! there was no such thing as suddenly building up an

It was from wandering in early life among this rich scenery, and about the romantic solitudes of the adjoining

park of Fullbroke, which then formed a part of the Lucy estate, that some of Shakepeare's commentators have

supposed he derived his noble forest meditations of Jaques and the enchanting woodland pictures in "As You

Like It." It is in lonely wanderings through such scenes that the mind drinks deep but quiet draughts of

inspiration, and becomes intensely sensible of the beauty and majesty of Nature. The imagination kindles into

reverie and rapture, vague but exquisite images and ideas keep breaking upon it, and we revel in a mute and

almost incommunicable luxury of thought. It was in some such mood, and perhaps under one of those very

trees before me, which threw their broad shades over the grassy banks and quivering waters of the Avon, that

the poet's fancy may have sallied forth into that little song which breathes the very soul of a rural voluptuary

I had now come in sight of the house. It is a large building of brick with stone quoins, and is in the Gothic

style of Queen Elizabeth's day, having been built in the first year of her reign. The exterior remains very

nearly in its original state, and may be considered a fair specimen of the residence of a wealthy country

gentleman of those days. A great gateway opens from the park into a kind of courtyard in front of the house,

ornamented with a grassplot, shrubs, and flowerbeds. The gateway is in imitation of the ancient barbacan,

being a kind of outpost and flanked by towers, though evidently for mere ornament, instead of defence. The

front of the house is completely in the old style with stoneshafted casements, a great bowwindow of heavy

stonework, and a portal with armorial bearings over it carved in stone. At each corner of the building is an

The Avon, which winds through the park, makes a bend just at the foot of a gentlysloping bank which

sweeps down from the rear of the house. Large herds of deer were feeding or reposing upon its borders, and

swans were sailing majestically upon its bosom. As I contemplated the venerable old mansion I called to

mind Falstaff's encomium on Justice Shallow's abode, and the affected indifference and real vanity of the

"Falstaff. You have a goodly dwelling and a rich. "Shallow. Barren, barren, barren; beggars all, beggars all,

Whatever may have been the joviality of the old mansion in the days of Shakespeare, it had now an air of

stillness and solitude. The great iron gateway that opened into the courtyard was locked, there was no show

of servants bustling about the place; the deer gazed quietly at me as I passed, being no longer harried by the

mosstroopers of Stratford. The only sign of domestic life that I met with was a white cat stealing with wary

look and stealthy pace towards the stables, as if on some nefarious expedition. I must not omit to mention the

carcass of a scoundrel crow which I saw suspended against the barnwall, as it shows that the Lucys still

inherit that lordly abhorrence of poachers and maintain that rigorous exercise of territorial power which was

After prowling about for some time, I at length found my way to a lateral portal, which was the everyday

entrance to the mansion. I was courteously received by a worthy old housekeeper, who, with the civility and

communicativeness of her order, showed me the interior of the house. The greater part has undergone

alterations and been adapted to modern tastes and modes of living: there is a fine old oaken staircase, and the

great hall, that noble feature in an ancient manorhouse, still retains much of the appearance it must have had

in the days of Shakespeare. The ceiling is arched and lofty, and at one end is a gallery in which stands an

organ. The weapons and trophies of the chase, which formerly adorned the hall of a country gentleman, have

made way for family portraits. There is a wide, hospitable fireplace, calculated for an ample oldfashioned

wood fire, formerly the rallyingplace of winter festivity. On the opposite side of the hall is the huge Gothic

bowwindow, with stone shafts, which looks out upon the courtyard. Here are emblazoned in stained glass

the armorial bearings of the Lucy family for many generations, some being dated in 1558. I was delighted to

observe in the quarterings the three white luces by which the character of Sir Thomas was first identified with

that of Justice Shallow. They are mentioned in the first scene of the "Merry Wives of Windsor," where the

justice, is in a rage with Falstaff for having "beaten his men, killed his deer, and broken into his lodge." The

poet had no doubt the offences of himself and his comrades in mind at the time, and we may suppose the

family pride and vindictive threats of the puissant Shallow to be a caricature of the pompous indignation of

"Shallow. Sir Hugh, persuade me not: I will make a Star Chamber matter of it; if he were twenty John

Slender. Ay, and ratolorum too, and a gentleman born, master parson; who writes himself Armigero in any

Slender. All his successors gone before him have done't, and all his ancestors that come after him may; they

Evans. It is not meet the council hear of a riot; there is no fear of Got in a riot; the council, hear you, shall

desire to hear the fear of Got, and not to hear a riot; take your vizaments in that.

Near the window thus emblazoned hung a portrait, by Sir Peter Lely, of one of the Lucy family, a great

beauty of the time of Charles the Second: the old housekeeper shook her head as she pointed to the picture,

and informed me that this lady had been sadly addicted to cards, and had gambled away a great portion of the

family estate, among which was that part of the park where Shakespeare and his comrades had killed the

deer. The lands thus lost had not been entirely regained by the family even at the present day. It is but justice

The picture which most attracted my attention was a great painting over the fireplace, containing likenesses

of Sir Thomas Lucy and his family who inhabited the hall in the latter part of Shakespeare's lifetime. I at first

thought that it was the vindictive knight himself, but the housekeeper assured me that it was his son; the only

likeness extant of the former being an effigy upon his tomb in the church of the neighboring hamlet of

* * This effigy is in white marble, and represents the knight in complete armor. Near him lies the effigy of his

wife, and on her tomb is the following inscription; which, if really composed by her husband, places him

Here lyeth the Lady Joyce Lucy wife of Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecot in ye county of Warwick, Knight,

Daughter and heir of Thomas Acton of Sutton in ye county of Worcester Esquire who departed out of this

wretched world to her heavenly kingdom ye 10 day of February in ye yeare of our Lord God 1595 and of her

age 60 and three. All the time of her lyfe a true and faythful servant of her good God, never detected of any

cryme or vice. In religion most sounde, in love to her husband most faythful and true. In friendship most

constant; to what in trust was committed unto her most secret. In wisdom excelling. In governing of her

house, bringing up of youth in ye fear of God that did converse with her moste rare and singular. A great

maintayner of hospitality. Greatly esteemed of her betters; misliked of none unless of the envyous. When all

is spoken that can be saide a woman so garnished with virtue as not to be bettered and hardly to be equalled

by any. As shee lived most virtuotisly so shee died most Godly. Set downe by him yt best did knowe what

The picture gives a lively idea of the costume and manners of the time. Sir Thomas is dressed in ruff and

doublet, white shoes with roses in them, and has a peaked yellow, or, as Master Slender would say, "a

canecolored beard." His lady is seated on the opposite side of the picture in wide ruff and long stomacher,

and the children have a most venerable stiffness and formality of dress. Hounds and spaniels are mingled in

the family group; a hawk is seated on his perch in the foreground, and one of the children holds a bow, all

intimating the knight's skill in hunting, hawking, and archery, so indispensable to an accomplished gentleman

* Bishop Earle, speaking of the country gentleman of his time, observes, "His housekeeping is seen much in

the different families of dogs and servingmen attendant on their kennels; and the deepness of their throats is

the depth of his discourse. A hawk he esteems the true burden of nobility, and is exceedingly ambitious to

seem delighted with the sport, and have his fist gloved with his jesses." And Gilpin, in his description of a

Mr. Hastings, remarks, "He kept all sorts of hounds that run buck, fox, hare, otter, and badger; and had hawks

of all kinds both long and short winged. His great hall was commonly strewed with marrowbones, and full

of hawk perches, hounds, spaniels, and terriers. On a broad hearth, paved with brick, lay some of the choicest

I regretted to find that the ancient furniture of the hall had disappeared; for I had hoped to meet with the

stately elbowchair of carved oak in which the country squire of former days was wont to sway the sceptre of

empire over his rural domains, and in which it might be presumed the redoubled Sir Thomas sat enthroned in

awful state when the recreant Shakespeare was brought before him. As I like to deck out pictures for my own

entertainment, I pleased myself with the idea that this very hall had been the scene of the unlucky bard's

examination on the morning after his captivity in the lodge. I fancied to myself the rural potentate surrounded

by his bodyguard of butler, pages, and bluecoated servingmen with their badges, while the luckless

culprit was brought in, forlorn and chopfallen, in the custody of gamekeepers, huntsmen,, and whippersin,

and followed by a rabble rout of country clowns. I fancied bright faces of curious housemaids peeping from

the halfopened doors, while from the gallery the fair daughters of the knight leaned gracefully forward,

eyeing the youthful prisoner with that pity "that dwells in womanhood." Who would have thought that this

poor varlet, thus trembling before the brief authority of a country squire, and the sport of rustic boors, was

soon to become the delight of princes, the theme of all tongues and ages, the dictator to the human mind and

I was now invited by the butler to walk into the garden, and I felt inclined to visit the orchard and harbor

where the justice treated Sir John Falstaff and Cousin Silence "to a last year's pippin of his own grafting, with

a dish of caraways;" but I bad already spent so much of the day in my ramblings that I was obliged to give up

any further investigations. When about to take my leave I was gratified by the civil entreaties of the

housekeeper and butler that I would take some refreshmentan instance of good old hospitality which, I

grieve to say, we castlehunters seldom meet with in modern days. I make no doubt it is a virtue which the

present representative of the Lucys inherits from his ancestors; for Shakespeare, even in his caricature, makes

Justice Shallow importunate in this respect, as witness his pressing instances to Falstaff:

"By cock and pye, Sir, you shall not away tonight. . . . . I will not excuse you; you shall not be excused;

excuses shall not be admitted; there is no excuse shall serve; you shall not be excused. . . . Some pigeons,

Davy, a couple of shortlegged hens; a joint of mutton; and any pretty little tiny kickshaws, tell 'William

I now bade a reluctant farewell to the old hall. My mind had become so completely possessed by the

imaginary scenes and characters connected with it that I seemed to be actually living among them. Everything

brought them as it were before my eyes, and as the door of the diningroom opened I almost expected to hear

On returning to my inn I could not but reflect on the singular gift of the poet, to be able thus to spread the

magic of his mind over the very face of Nature, to give to things and places a charm and character not their

own, and to turn this "workingday world" into a perfect fairyland. He is indeed the true enchanter, whose

spell operates, not upon the senses, but upon the imagination and the heart. Under the wizard influence of

Shakespeare I had been walking all day in a complete delusion. I had surveyed the landscape through the

prism of poetry, which tinged every object with the hues of the rainbow. I had been surrounded with fancied

beings, with mere airy nothings conjured up by poetic power, yet which, to me, had all the charm of reality. I

had heard Jaques soliloquize beneath his oak; had beheld the fair Rosalind and her companion adventuring

through the woodlands; and, above all, had been once more present in spirit with fat Jack Falstaff and his

contemporaries, from the august Justice Shallow down to the gentle Master Slender and the sweet Anne Page.

Ten thousand honors and blessings on the bard who has thus gilded the dull realities of life with innocent

illusions, who has spread exquisite and unbought pleasures in my chequered path, and beguiled my spirit in

As I crossed the bridge over the Avon on my return, I paused to contemplate the distant church in which the

poet lies buried, and could not but exult in the malediction which has kept his ashes undisturbed in its quiet

and hallowed vaults. What honor could his name have derived from being mingled in dusty companionship

with the epitaphs and escutcheons and venal eulogiums of a titled multitude? What would a crowded corner

in Westminster Abbey have been, compared with this reverend pile, which seems to stand in beautiful

loneliness as his sole mausoleum! The solitude about the grave may be but the offspring of an overwrought

sensibility; but human nature is made up of foibles and prejudices, and its best and tenderest affections are

mingled with these factitious feelings. He who has sought renown about the world, and has reaped a full

harvest of worldly favor, will find, after all, that there is no love, no admiration, no applause, so sweet to the

soul as that which springs up in his native place. It is there that he seeks to be gathered in peace and honor

among his kindred and his early friends. And when the weary heart and failing head begin to warn him that

the evening of life is drawing on, he turns as fondly as does the infant to the mother's arms to sink to sleep in

How would it have cheered the spirit of the youthful bard when, wandering forth in disgrace upon a doubtful

world, he cast back a heavy look upon his paternal home, could he have foreseen that before many years he

should return to it covered with renown; that his name should become the boast and glory of his native place;

that his ashes should be religiously guarded as its most precious treasure; and that its lessening spire, on

which his eyes were fixed in tearful contemplation, should one day become the beacon towering amidst the

"I appeal to any white man if ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not to eat; if ever he

THERE is something in the character and habits of the North American savage, taken in connection with the

scenery over which he is accustomed to range, its vast lakes, boundless forests, majestic rivers, and trackless

plains, that is, to my mind, wonderfully striking and sublime. He is formed for the wilderness, as the Arab is

for the desert. His nature is stern, simple, and enduring, fitted to grapple with difficulties and to support

privations. There seems but little soil in his heart for the support of the kindly virtues; and yet, if we would

but take the trouble to penetrate through that proud stoicism and habitual taciturnity which lock up his

character from casual observation, we should find him linked to his fellowman of civilized life by more of

It has been the lot of the unfortunate aborigines of America in the early periods of colonization to be doubly

wronged by the white men. They have been dispossessed of their hereditary possessions by mercenary and

frequently wanton warfare, and their characters have been traduced by bigoted and interested writers. The

colonists often treated them like beasts of the forest, and the author has endeavored to justify him in his

outrages. The former found it easier to exterminate than to civilize; the latter to vilify than to discriminate.

The appellations of savage and pagan were deemed sufficient to sanction the hostilities of both; and thus the

poor wanderers of the forest were persecuted and defamed, not because they were guilty, but because they

The rights of the savage have seldom been properly appreciated or respected by the white man. In peace he

has too often been the dupe of artful traffic; in war he has been regarded as a ferocious animal whose life or

death was a question of mere precaution and convenience. Man is cruelly wasteful of life when his own

safety is endangered and he is sheltered by impunity, and little mercy is to be expected from him when he

feels the sting of the reptile and is conscious of the power to destroy. The same prejudices, which were

indulged thus early, exist in common circulation at the present day. Certain learned societies have, it is true,

with laudable diligence, endeavored to investigate and record the real characters and manners of the Indian

tribes; the American government, too, has wisely and humanely exerted itself to inculcate a friendly and

forbearing spirit towards them and to protect them from fraud and injustice.* The current opinion of the

Indian character, however, is too apt to be formed from the miserable hordes which infest the frontiers and

hang on the skirts of the settlements. These are too commonly composed of degenerate beings, corrupted and

enfeebled by the vices of society, without being benefited by its civilization. That proud independence which

formed the main pillar of savage virtue has been shaken down, and the whole moral fabric lies in ruins. Their

spirits are humiliated and debased by a sense of inferiority, and their native courage cowed and daunted by

the superior knowledge and power of their enlightened neighbors. Society has advanced upon them like one

of those withering airs that will sometimes breed desolation over a whole region of fertility. It has enervated

their strength, multiplied their diseases, and superinduced upon their original barbarity the low vices of

artificial life. It has given them a thousand superfluous wants, whilst it has diminished their means of mere

existence. It has driven before it the animals of the chase, who fly from the sound of the axe and the smoke of

the settlement and seek refuge in the depths of remoter forests and yet untrodden wilds. Thus do we too often

find the Indians on our frontiers to be the mere wrecks and remnants of once powerful tribes, who have

lingered in the vicinity of the settlements and sunk into precarious and vagabond existence. Poverty, repining

and hopeless poverty, a canker of the mind unknown in savage life, corrodes their spirits and blights every

free and noble quality of their natures. They become drunken, indolent, feeble, thievish, and pusillanimous.

They loiter like vagrants about the settlements, among spacious dwellings replete with elaborate comforts,

which only render them sensible of the comparative wretchedness of their own condition. Luxury spreads its

ample board before their eyes, but they are excluded from the banquet. Plenty revels over the fields, but they

are starving in the midst of its abundance; the whole wilderness has blossomed into a garden, but they feel as

* The American Government has been indefatigable in its exertions to ameliorate the situation of the Indians,

and to introduce among them the arts of civilization and civil and religious knowledge. To protect them from

the frauds of the white traders no purchase of land from them by individuals is permitted, nor is any person

allowed to receive lands from them as a present without the express sanction of government. These

How different was their state while yet the undisputed lords of the soil! Their wants were few and the means

of gratification within their reach. They saw every one round them sharing the same lot, enduring the same

hardships, feeding on the same aliments, arrayed in the same rude garments. No roof then rose but was open

to the homeless stranger; no smoke curled among the trees but he was welcome to sit down by its fire and

join the hunter in his repast. "For," says an old historian of New England, "their life is so void of care, and

they are so loving also, that they make use of those things they enjoy as common goods, and are therein so

compassionate that rather than one should starve through want, they would starve all; thus they pass their

time merrily, not regarding our pomp, but are better content with their own, which some men esteem so

meanly of." Such were the Indians whilst in the pride and energy of their primitive natures: they resembled

those wild plants which thrive best in the shades of the forest, but shrink from the hand of cultivation and

In discussing the savage character writers have been too prone to indulge in vulgar prejudice and passionate

exaggeration, instead of the candid temper of true philosophy. They have not sufficiently considered the

peculiar circumstances in which the Indians have been placed, and the peculiar principles under which they

have been educated. No being acts more rigidly from rule than the Indian. His whole conduct is regulated

according to some general maxims early implanted in his mind. The moral laws that govern him are, to be

sure, but few; but then he conforms to them all; the white man abounds in laws of religion, morals, and

A frequent ground of accusation against the Indians is their disregard of treaties, and the treachery and

wantonness with which, in time of apparent peace, they will suddenly fly to hostilities. The intercourse of the

white men with the Indians, however, is too apt to be cold, distrustful, oppressive, and insulting. They seldom

treat them with that confidence and frankness which are indispensable to real friendship, nor is sufficient

caution observed not to offend against those feelings of pride or superstition which often prompt the Indian to

hostility quicker than mere considerations of interest. The solitary savage feels silently, but acutely. His

sensibilities are not diffused over so wide a surface as those of the white man, but they run in steadier and

deeper channels. His pride, his affections, his superstitions, are all directed towards fewer objects, but the

wounds inflicted on them are proportionably severe, and furnish motives of hostility which we cannot

sufficiently appreciate. Where a community is also limited in number, and forms one great patriarchal family,

as in an Indian tribe, the injury of an individual is the injury of the whole, and the sentiment of vengeance is

almost instantaneously diffused. One councilfire is sufficient for the discussion and arrangement of a plan of

hostilities. Here all the fightingmen and sages assemble. Eloquence and superstition combine to inflame the

minds of the warriors. The orator awakens their martial ardor, and they are wrought up to a kind of religious

An instance of one of those sudden exasperations, arising from a motive peculiar to the Indian character, is

extant in an old record of the early settlement of Massachusetts. The planters of Plymouth had defaced the

monuments of the dead at Passonagessit, and had plundered the grave of the Sachem's mother of some skins

with which it had been decorated. The Indians are remarkable for the reverence which they entertain for the

sepulchres of their kindred. Tribes that have passed generations exiled from the abodes of their ancestors,

when by chance they have been travelling in the vicinity, have been known to turn aside from the highway,

and, guided by wonderfully accurate tradition, have crossed the country for miles to some tumulus, buried

perhaps in woods, where the bones of their tribe were anciently deposited, and there have passed hours in

silent meditation. Influenced by this sublime and holy feeling, the Sachem whose mother's tomb had been

violated gathered his men together, and addressed them in the following beautifully simple and pathetic

haranguea curious specimen of Indian eloquence and an affecting instance of filial piety in a savage:

"When last the glorious light of all the sky was underneath this globe and birds grew silent, I began to settle,

as my custom is, to take repose. Before mine eyes were fast closed methought I saw a vision, at which my

spirit was much troubled; and trembling at that doleful sight, a spirit cried aloud, 'Behold, my son, whom I

have cherished, see the breasts that gave thee suck, the hands that lapped thee warm and fed thee oft. Canst

thou forget to take revenge of those wild people who have defaced my monument in a despiteful manner,

disdaining our antiquities and honorable customs? See, now, the Sachem's grave lies like the common people,

defaced by an ignoble race. Thy mother doth complain and implores thy aid against this thievish people who

have newly intruded on our land. If this be suffered, I shall not rest quiet in my everlasting habitation.' This

said, the spirit vanished, and I, all in a sweat, not able scarce to speak, began to get some strength and

recollect my spirits that were fled, and determined to demand your counsel and assistance."

I have adduced this anecdote at some length, as it tends to show how these sudden acts of hostility, which

have been attributed to caprice and perfidy, may often arise from deep and generous motives, which our

Another ground of violent outcry against the Indians is their barbarity to the vanquished. This had its origin

partly in policy and partly in superstition. The tribes, though sometimes called nations, were never so

formidable in their numbers but that the loss of several warriors was sensibly felt; this was particularly the

case when they had been frequently engaged in warfare; and many an instance occurs in Indian history where

a tribe that had long been formidable to its neighbors has been broken up and driven away by the capture and

massacre of its principal fightingmen. There was a strong temptation, therefore, to the victor to be merciless,

not so much to gratify any cruel revenge, as to provide for future security. The Indians had also the

superstitious belief, frequent among barbarous nations and prevalent also among the ancients, that the manes

of their friends who had fallen in battle were soothed by the blood of the captives. The prisoners, however,

who are not thus sacrificed are adopted into their families in the place of the slain, and are treated with the

confidence and affection of relatives and friends; nay, so hospitable and tender is their entertainment that

when the alternative is offered them they will often prefer to remain with their adopted brethren rather than

The cruelty of the Indians towards their prisoners has been heightened since the colonization of the whites.

What was formerly a compliance with policy and superstition has been exasperated into a gratification of

vengeance. They cannot but be sensible that the white men are the usurpers of their ancient dominion, the

cause of their degradation, and the gradual destroyers of their race. They go forth to battle smarting with

injuries and indignities which they have individually suffered, and they are driven to madness and despair by

the widespreading desolation and the overwhelming ruin of European warfare. The whites have too

frequently set them an example of violence by burning their villages and laying waste their slender means of

subsistence, and yet they wonder that savages do not show moderation and magnanimity towards those who

We stigmatize the Indians, also, as cowardly and treacherous, because they use stratagem in warfare in

preference to open force; but in this they are fully justified by their rude code of honor. They are early taught

that stratagem is praiseworthy; the bravest warrior thinks it no disgrace to lurk in silence, and take every

advantage of his foe: he triumphs in the superior craft and sagacity by which he has been enabled to surprise

and destroy an enemy. Indeed, man is naturally more prone to subtilty than open valor, owing to his physical

weakness in comparison with other animals. They are endowed with natural weapons of defence, with horns,

with tusks, with hoofs, and talons; but man has to depend on his superior sagacity. In all his encounters with

these, his proper enemies, he resorts to stratagem; and when he perversely turns his hostility against his

The natural principle of war is to do the most harm to our enemy with the least harm to ourselves; and this of

course is to be effected by stratagem. That chivalrous courage which induces us to despise the suggestions of

prudence and to rush in the face of certain danger is the offspring of society and produced by education. It is

honorable, because it is in fact the triumph of lofty sentiment over an instinctive repugnance to pain, and over

those yearnings after personal ease and security which society has condemned as ignoble. It is kept alive by

pride and the fear of shame; and thus the dread of real evil is overcome by the superior dread of an evil which

exists but in the imagination. It has been cherished and stimulated also by various means. It has been the

theme of spiritstirring song and chivalrous story. The poet and minstrel have delighted to shed round it the

splendors of fiction, and even the historian has forgotten the sober gravity of narration and broken forth into

enthusiasm and rhapsody in its praise. Triumphs and gorgeous pageants have been its reward: monuments, on

which art has exhausted its skill and opulence its treasures, have been erected to perpetuate a nation's

gratitude and admiration. Thus artificially excited, courage has risen to an extraordinary and factitious degree

of heroism, and, arrayed in all the glorious "pomp and circumstance of war," this turbulent quality has even

been able to eclipse many of those quiet but invaluable virtues which silently ennoble the human character

But if courage intrinsically consists in the defiance of danger and pain, the life of the Indian is a continual

exhibition of it. He lives in a state of perpetual hostility and risk. Peril and adventure are congenial to his

nature, or rather seem necessary to arouse his faculties and to give an interest to his existence. Surrounded by

hostile tribes, whose mode of warfare is by ambush and surprisal, he is always prepared for fight and lives

with his weapons in his hands. As the ship careers in fearful singleness through the solitudes of ocean, as the

bird mingles among clouds and storms, and wings its way, a mere speck, across the pathless fields of air, so

the Indian holds his course, silent, solitary, but undaunted, through the boundless bosom of the wilderness.

His expeditions may vie in distance and danger with the pilgrimage of the devotee or the crusade of the

knighterrant. He traverses vast forests exposed to the hazards of lonely sickness, of lurking enemies, and

pining famine. Stormy lakes, those great inland seas, are no obstacles to his wanderings: in his light canoe of

bark he sports like a feather on their waves, and darts with the swiftness of an arrow down the roaring rapids

of the rivers. His very subsistence is snatched from the midst of toil and peril. He gains his food by the

hardships and dangers of the chase: he wraps himself in the spoils of the bear, the panther, and the buffalo,

No hero of ancient or modern days can surpass the Indian in his lofty contempt of death and the fortitude with

which he sustains his cruelest affliction. Indeed, we here behold him rising superior to the white man in

consequence of his peculiar education. The latter rushes to glorious death at the cannon's mouth; the former

calmly contemplates its approach, and triumphantly endures it amidst the varied torments of surrounding foes

and the protracted agonies of fire. He even takes a pride in taunting his persecutors and provoking their

ingenuity of torture; and as the devouring flames prey on his very vitals and the flesh shrinks from the

sinews, he raises his last song of triumph, breathing the defiance of an unconquered heart and invoking the

Notwithstanding the obloquy with which the early historians have overshadowed the characters of the

unfortunate natives, some bright gleams occasionally break through which throw a degree of melancholy

lustre on their memories. Facts are occasionally to be met with in the rude annals of the eastern provinces

which, though recorded with the coloring of prejudice and bigotry, yet speak for themselves, and will be

In one of the homely narratives of the Indian wars in New England there is a touching account of the

desolation carried into the tribe of the Pequod Indians. Humanity shrinks from the coldblooded detail of

indiscriminate butchery. In one place we read of the surprisal of an Indian fort in the night, when the

wigwams were wrapped in flames and the miserable inhabitants shot down and slain in attempting to escape,

"all being despatched and ended in the course of an hour." After a series of similar transactions "our soldiers,"

as the historian piously observes, "being resolved by God's assistance to make a final destruction of them,"

the unhappy savages being hunted from their homes and fortresses and pursued with fire and sword, a scanty

but gallant band, the sad remnant of the Pequod warriors, with their wives and children took refuge in a

Burning with indignation and rendered sullen by despair, with hearts bursting with grief at the destruction of

their tribe, and spirits galled and sore at the fancied ignominy of their defeat, they refused to ask their lives at

As the night drew on they were surrounded in their dismal retreat, so as to render escape impracticable. Thus

situated, their enemy "plied them with shot all the time, by which means many were killed and buried in the

mire." In the darkness and fog that preceded the dawn of day some few broke through the besiegers and

escaped into the woods; "the rest were left to the conquerors, of which many were killed in the swamp, like

sullen dogs who would rather, in their selfwilledness and madness, sit still and be shot through or cut to

pieces" than implore for mercy. When the day broke upon this handful of forlorn but dauntless spirits, the

soldiers, we are told, entering the swamp, "saw several heaps of them sitting close together, upon whom they

discharged their pieces, laden with ten or twelve pistol bullets at a time, putting the muzzles of the pieces

under the boughs, within a few yards of them; so as, besides those that were found dead, many more were

Can any one read this plain unvarnished tale without admiring the stern resolution, the unbending pride, the

loftiness of spirit that seemed to nerve the hearts of these selftaught heroes and to raise them above the

instinctive feelings of human nature? When the Gauls laid waste the city of Rome, they found the senators

clothed in their robes and seated with stern tranquillity in their curule chairs; in this manner they suffered

death without resistance or even supplication. Such conduct was in them applauded as noble and

magnanimous; in the hapless Indian it was reviled as obstinate and sullen. How truly are we the dupes of

show and circumstance! How different is virtue clothed in purple and enthroned in state, from virtue naked

But I forbear to dwell on these gloomy pictures. The eastern tribes have long since disappeared; the forests

that sheltered them have been laid low, and scarce any traces remain of them in the thicklysettled States of

New England, excepting here and there the Indian name of a village or a stream. And such must, sooner or

later, be the fate of those other tribes which skirt the frontiers, and have occasionally been inveigled from

their forests to mingle in the wars of white men. In a little while, and they will go the way that their brethren

have gone before. The few hordes which still linger about the shores of Huron and Superior and the tributary

streams of the Mississippi will share the fate of those tribes that once spread over Massachusetts and

Connecticut and lorded it along the proud banks of the Hudson, of that gigantic race said to have existed on

the borders of the Susquehanna, and of those various nations that flourished about the Potomac and the

Rappahannock and that peopled the forests of the vast valley of Shenandoah. They will vanish like a vapor

from the face of the earth; their very history will be lost in forgetfulness; and "the places that now know them

will know them no more forever." Or if, perchance, some dubious memorial of them should survive, it may

be in the romantic dreams of the poet, to people in imagination his glades and groves, like the fauns and

satyrs and sylvan deities of antiquity. But should he venture upon the dark story of their wrongs and

wretchedness, should he tell how they were invaded, corrupted, despoiled, driven from their native abodes

and the sepulchres of their fathers, hunted like wild beasts about the earth, and sent down with violence and

butchery to the grave, posterity will either turn with horror and incredulity from the tale or blush with

indignation at the inhumanity of their forefathers. "We are driven back," said an old warrior, "until we can

retreat no fartherour hatchets are broken, our bows are snapped, our fires are nearly extinguished; a little

longer and the white man will cease to persecute us, for we shall cease to exist!"

IT is to be regretted that those early writers who treated of the discovery and settlement of America have not

given us more particular and candid accounts of the remarkable characters that flourished in savage life. The

scanty anecdotes which have reached us are full of peculiarity and interest; they furnish us with nearer

glimpses of human nature, and show what man is in a comparatively primitive state and what he owes to

civilization. There is something of the charm of discovery in lighting upon these wild and unexplored tracts

of human naturein witnessing, as it were, the native growth of moral sentiment, and perceiving those

generous and romantic qualities which have been artificially cultivated by society vegetating in spontaneous

In civilized life, where the happiness, and indeed almost the existence, of man depends so much upon the

opinion of his fellowmen, he is constantly acting a studied part. The bold and peculiar traits of native

character are refined away or softened down by the levelling influence of what is termed goodbreeding, and

he practises so many petty deceptions and affects so many generous sentiments for the purposes of popularity

that it is difficult to distinguish his real from his artificial character. The Indian, on the contrary, free from the

restraints and refinements of polished life, and in a great degree a solitary and independent being, obeys the

impulses of his inclination or the dictates of his judgment; and thus the attributes of his nature, being freely

indulged, grow singly great and striking. Society is like a lawn, where every roughness is smoothed, every

bramble eradicated, and where the eye is delighted by the smiling verdure of a velvet surface; he, however,

who would study Nature in its wildness and variety must plunge into the forest, must explore the glen, must

These reflections arose on casually looking through a volume of early colonial history wherein are recorded,

with great bitterness, the outrages of the Indians and their wars with the settlers New England. It is painful to

perceive, even from these partial narratives, how the footsteps of civilization may be traced in the blood of

the aborigines; how easily the colonists were moved to hostility by the lust of conquest; how merciless and

exterminating was their warfare. The imagination shrinks at the idea of how many intellectual beings were

hunted from the earth, how many brave and noble hearts, of Nature's sterling coinage, were broken down and

Such was the fate of PHILIP OF POKANOKET, an Indian warrior whose name was once a terror throughout

Massachusetts and Connecticut. He was the most distinguished of a number of contemporary sachems who

reigned over the Pequods, the Narragansetts, the Wampanoags, and the other eastern tribes at the time of the

first settlement of New Englanda band of native untaught heroes who made the most generous struggle of

which human nature is capable, fighting to the last gasp in the cause of their country, without a hope of

victory or a thought of renown. Worthy of an age of poetry and fit subjects for local story and romantic

fiction, they have left scarcely any authentic traces on the page of history, but stalk like gigantic shadows in

* While correcting the proofsheets of this article the author is informed that a celebrated English poet has

When the Pilgrims, as the Plymouth settlers are called by their descendants, first took refuge on the shores of

the New World from the religious persecutions of the Old, their situation was to the last degree gloomy and

disheartening. Few in number, and that number rapidly perishing away through sickness and hardships,

surrounded by a howling wilderness and savage tribes, exposed to the rigors of an almost arctic winter and

the vicissitudes of an evershifting climate, their minds were filled with doleful forebodings, and nothing

preserved them from sinking into despondency but the strong excitement of religious enthusiasm. In this

forlorn situation they were visited by Massasoit, chief sagamore of the Wampanoags, a powerful chief who

reigned over a great extent of country. Instead of taking advantage of the scanty number of the strangers and

expelling them from his territories, into which they had intruded, he seemed at once to conceive for them a

generous friendship, and extended towards them the rites of primitive hospitality. He came early in the spring

to their settlement of New Plymouth, attended by a mere handful of followers, entered into a solemn league

of peace and amity, sold them a portion of the soil, and promised to secure for them the goodwill of his

savage allies. Whatever may be said of Indian perfidy, it is certain that the integrity and good faith of

Massasoit have never been impeached. He continued a firm and magnanimous friend of the white men,

suffering them to extend their possessions and to strengthen themselves in the land, and betraying no jealousy

of their increasing power and prosperity. Shortly before his death he came once more to New Plymouth with

his son Alexander, for the purpose of renewing the covenant of peace and of securing it to his posterity.

At this conference he endeavored to protect the religion of his forefathers from the encroaching zeal of the

missionaries, and stipulated that no further attempt should be made to draw off his people from their ancient

faith; but, finding the English obstinately opposed to any such condition, he mildly relinquished the demand.

Almost the last act of his life was to bring his two sons, Alexander and Philip (as they bad been named by the

English), to the residence of a principal settler, recommending mutual kindness and confidence, and

entreating that the same love and amity which had existed between the white men and himself might be

continued afterwards with his children. The good old sachem died in peace, and was happily gathered to his

fathers before sorrow came upon his tribe; his children remained behind to experience the ingratitude of

His eldest son, Alexander, succeeded him. He was of a quick and impetuous temper, and proudly tenacious of

his hereditary rights and dignity. The intrusive policy and dictatorial conduct of the strangers excited his

indignation, and he beheld with uneasiness their exterminating wars with the neighboring tribes. He was

doomed soon to incur their hostility, being accused of plotting with the Narragansetts to rise against the

English and drive them from the land. It is impossible to say whether this accusation was warranted by facts

or was grounded on mere suspicions. It is evident, however, by the violent and overbearing measures of the

settlers that they had by this time begun to feel conscious of the rapid increase of their power, and to grow

harsh and inconsiderate in their treatment of the natives. They despatched an armed force to seize upon

Alexander and to bring him before their courts. He was traced to his woodland haunts, and surprised at a

huntinghouse where he was reposing with a band of his followers, unarmed, after the toils of the chase. The

suddenness of his arrest and the outrage offered to his sovereign dignity so preyed upon the irascible feelings

of this proud savage as to throw him into a raging fever. He was permitted to return home on condition of

sending his son as a pledge for his reappearance; but the blow he had received was fatal, and before he

The successor of Alexander was Metamocet, or King Philip, as he was called by the settlers on account of his

lofty spirit and ambitious temper. These, together with his wellknown energy and enterprise, had rendered

him an object of great jealousy and apprehension, and he was accused of having always cherished a secret

and implacable hostility towards the whites. Such may very probably and very naturally have been the case.

He considered them as originally but mere intruders into the country, who had presumed upon indulgence and

were extending an influence baneful to savage life. He saw the whole race of his countrymen melting before

them from the face of the earth, their territories slipping from their hands, and their tribes becoming feeble,

scattered, and dependent. It may be said that the soil was originally purchased by the settlers; but who does

not know the nature of Indian purchases in the early periods of colonization? The Europeans always made

thrifty bargains through their superior adroitness in traffic, and they gained vast accessions of territory by

easilyprovoked hostilities. An uncultivated savage is never a nice inquirer into the refinements of law by

which an injury may be gradually and legally inflicted. Leading facts are all by which he judges; and it was

enough for Philip to know that before the intrusion of the Europeans his countrymen were lords of the soil,

But whatever may have been his feelings of general hostility and his particular indignation at the treatment of

his brother, he suppressed them for the present, renewed the contract with the settlers, and resided peaceably

for many years at Pokanoket, or as, it was called by the English, Mount Hope,* the ancient seat of dominion

of his tribe. Suspicions, however, which were at first but vague and indefinite, began to acquire form and

substance, and he was at length charged with attempting to instigate the various eastern tribes to rise at once,

and by a simultaneous effort to throw off the yoke of their oppressors. It is difficult at this distant period to

assign the proper credit due to these early accusations against the Indians. There was a proneness to suspicion

and an aptness to acts of violence on the part of the whites that gave weight and importance to every idle tale.

Informers abounded where talebearing met with countenance and reward, and the sword was readily

The only positive evidence on record against Philip is the accusation of one Sausaman, a renegado Indian,

whose natural cunning had been quickened by a partial education which be had received among the settlers.

He changed his faith and his allegiance two or three times with a facility that evinced the looseness of his

principles. He had acted for some time as Philip's confidential secretary and counsellor, and had enjoyed his

bounty and protection. Finding, however, that the clouds of adversity were gathering round his patron, he

abandoned his service and went over to the whites, and in order to gain their favor charged his former

benefactor with plotting against their safety. A rigorous investigation took place. Philip and several of his

subjects submitted to be examined, but nothing was proved against them. The settlers, however, had now

gone too far to retract; they had previously determined that Philip was a dangerous neighbor; they had

publicly evinced their distrust, and had done enough to insure his hostility; according, therefore, to the usual

mode of reasoning in these cases, his destruction had become necessary to their security. Sausaman, the

treacherous informer, was shortly afterwards found dead in a pond, having fallen a victim to the vengeance of

his tribe. Three Indians, one of whom was a friend and counsellor of Philip, were apprehended and tried, and

on the testimony of one very questionable witness were condemned and executed as murderers.

This treatment of his subjects and ignominious punishment of his friend outraged the pride and exasperated

the passions of Philip. The bolt which had fallen thus at his very feet awakened him to the gathering storm,

and he determined to trust himself no longer in the power of the white men. The fate of his insulted and

brokenhearted brother still rankled in his mind; and he had a further warning in the tragical story of

Miantonimo, a great Sachem of the Narragansetts, who, after manfully facing his accusers before a tribunal of

the colonists, exculpating himself from a charge of conspiracy and receiving assurances of amity, had been

perfidiously despatched at their instigation. Philip therefore gathered his fightingmen about him, persuaded

all strangers that he could to join his cause, sent the women and children to the Narragansetts for safety, and

When the two parties were thus in a state of distrust and irritation, the least spark was sufficient to set them in

a flame. The Indians, having weapons in their hands, grew mischievous and committed various petty

depredations. In one of their maraudings a warrior was fired on and killed by a settler. This was the signal for

open hostilities; the Indians pressed to revenge the death of their comrade, and the alarm of war resounded

In the early chronicles of these dark and melancholy times we meet with many indications of the diseased

state of the public mind. The gloom of religious abstraction and the wildness of their situation among

trackless forests and savage tribes had disposed the colonists to superstitious fancies, and had filled their

imaginations with the frightful chimeras of witchcraft and spectrology. They were much given also to a belief

in omens. The troubles with Philip and his Indians were preceded, we are told, by a variety of those awful

warnings which forerun great and public calamities. The perfect form of an Indian bow appeared in the air at

New Plymouth, which was looked upon by the inhabitants as a "prodigious apparition." At Hadley,

Northampton, and other towns in their neighborhood "was heard the report of a great piece of ordnance, with

a shaking of the earth and a considerable echo."* Others were alarmed on a still sunshiny morning by the

discharge of guns and muskets; bullets seemed to whistle past them, and the noise of drums resounded in the

air, seeming to pass away to the westward; others fancied that they heard the galloping of horses over their

heads; and certain monstrous births which took place about the time filled the superstitious in some towns

with doleful forebodings. Many of these portentous sights and sounds may be ascribed to natural

phenomenato the northern lights which occur vividly in those latitudes, the meteors which explode in the

air, the casual rushing of a blast through the top branches of the forest, the crash of fallen trees or disrupted

rocks, and to those other uncouth sounds and echoes which will sometimes strike the ear so strangely amidst

the profound stillness of woodland solitudes. These may have startled some melancholy imaginations, may

have been exaggerated by the love for the marvellous, and listened to with that avidity with which we devour

whatever is fearful and mysterious. The universal currency of these superstitious fancies and the grave record

made of them by one of the learned men of the day are strongly characteristic of the times.

The nature of the contest that ensued was such as too often distinguishes the warfare between civilized men

and savages. On the part of the whites it was conducted with superior skill and success, but with a

wastefulness of the blood and a disregard of the natural rights of their antagonists: on the part of the Indians it

was waged with the desperation of men fearless of death, and who had nothing to expect from peace but

The events of the war are transmitted to us by a worthy clergyman of the time, who dwells with horror and

indignation on every hostile act of the Indians, however justifiable, whilst he mentions with applause the

most sanguinary atrocities of the whites. Philip is reviled as a murderer and a traitor, without considering that

he was a trueborn prince gallantly fighting at the head of his subjects to avenge the wrongs of his family, to

retrieve the tottering power of his line, and to deliver his native land from the oppression of usurping

The project of a wide and simultaneous revolt, if such had really been formed, was worthy of a capacious

mind, and had it not been prematurely discovered might have been overwhelming in its consequences. The

war that actually broke out was but a war of detail, a mere succession of casual exploits and unconnected

enterprises. Still, it sets forth the military genius and daring prowess of Philip, and wherever, in the

prejudiced and passionate narrations that have been given of it, we can arrive at simple facts, we find him

displaying a vigorous mind, a fertility of expedients, a contempt of suffering and hardship, and an

Driven from his paternal domains at Mount Hope, he threw himself into the depths of those vast and trackless

forests that skirted the settlements and were almost impervious to anything but a wild beast or an Indian. Here

he gathered together his forces, like the storm accumulating its stores of mischief in the bosom of the

thundercloud, and would suddenly emerge at a time and place least expected, carrying havoc and dismay into

the villages. There were now and then indications of these impending ravages that filled the minds of the

colonists with awe and apprehension. The report of a distant gun would perhaps be heard from the solitary

woodland, where there was known to be no white man; the cattle which had been wandering in the woods

would sometimes return home wounded; or an Indian or two would be seen lurking about the skirts of the

forests and suddenly disappearing, as the lightning will sometimes be seen playing silently about the edge of

Though sometimes pursued and even surrounded by the settlers, yet Philip as often escaped almost

miraculously from their toils, and, plunging into the wilderness, would be lost to all search or inquiry until he

again emerged at some far distant quarter, laying the country desolate. Among his strongholds were the great

swamps or morasses which extend in some parts of New England, composed of loose bogs of deep black

mud, perplexed with thickets, brambles, rank weeds, the shattered and mouldering trunks of fallen trees,

overshadowed by lugubrious hemlocks. The uncertain footing and the tangled mazes of these shaggy wilds

rendered them almost impracticable to the white man, though the Indian could thread their labyrinths with the

agility of a deer. Into one of these, the great swamp of Pocasset Neck, was Philip once driven with a band of

his followers. The English did not dare to pursue him, fearing to venture into these dark and frightful

recesses, where they might perish in fens and miry pits or be shot down by lurking foes. They therefore

invested the entrance to the Neck, and began to build a fort with the thought of starving out the foe; but Philip

and his warriors wafted themselves on a raft over an arm of the sea in the dead of night, leaving the women

and children behind, and escaped away to the westward, kindling the flames of war among the tribes of

Massachusetts and the Nipmuck country and threatening the colony of Connecticut.

In this way Philip became a theme of universal apprehension. The mystery in which he was enveloped

exaggerated his real terrors. He was an evil that walked in darkness, whose coming none could foresee and

against which none knew when to be on the alert. The whole country abounded with rumors and alarms.

Philip seemed almost possessed of ubiquity, for in whatever part of the widelyextended frontier an irruption

from the forest took place, Philip was said to be its leader. Many superstitious notions also were circulated

concerning him. He was said to deal in necromancy, and to be attended by an old Indian witch or prophetess,

whom he consulted and who assisted him by her charms and incantations. This, indeed, was frequently the

case with Indian chiefs, either through their own credulity or to act upon that of their followers; and the

influence of the prophet and the dreamer over Indian superstition has been fully evidenced in recent instances

At the time that Philip effected his escape from Pocasset his fortunes were in a desperate condition. His

forces had been thinned by repeated fights and he had lost almost the whole of his resources. In this time of

adversity he found a faithful friend in Canonchet. chief Sachem of all the Narragansetts. He was the son and

heir of Miantonimo, the great sachem who, as already mentioned, after an honorable acquittal of the charge

of conspiracy, had been privately put to death at the perfidious instigations of the settlers. "He was the heir,"

says the old chronicler, "of all his father's pride and insolence, as well as of his malice towards the English;"

he certainly was the heir of his insults and injuries and the legitimate avenger of his murder. Though he had

forborne to take an active part in this hopeless war, yet he received Philip and his broken forces with open

arms and gave them the most generous countenance and support. This at once drew upon him the hostility of

the English, and it was determined to strike a signal blow that should involve both the Sachems in one

common ruin. A great force was therefore gathered together from Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Connecticut,

and was sent into the Narragansett country in the depth of winter, when the swamps, being frozen and

leafless, could be traversed with comparative facility and would no longer afford dark and impenetrable

Apprehensive of attack, Canonchet had conveyed the greater part of his stores, together with the old, the

infirm, the women and children of his tribe, to a strong fortress, where he and Philip had likewise drawn up

the flower of their forces. This fortress, deemed by the Indians impregnable, was situated upon a rising

mound or kind of island of five or six acres in the midst of a swamp; it was constructed with a degree of

judgment and skill vastly superior to what is usually displayed in Indian fortification, and indicative of the

Guided by a renegado Indian, the English penetrated, through December snows, to this stronghold and came

upon the garrison by surprise. The fight was fierce and tumultuous. The assailants were repulsed in their first

attack, and several of their bravest officers were shot down in the act of storming the fortress, sword in hand.

The assault was renewed with greater success. A lodgment was effected. The Indians were driven from one

post to another. They disputed their ground inch by inch, fighting with the fury of despair. Most of their

veterans were cut to pieces, and after a long and bloody battle, Philip and Canonchet, with a handful of

surviving warriors, retreated from the fort and took refuge in the thickets of the surrounding forest.

The victors set fire to the wigwams and the fort; the whole was soon in a blaze; many of the old men, the

women, and the children perished in the flames. This last outrage overcame even the stoicism of the savage.

The neighboring woods resounded with the yells of rage and despair uttered by the fugitive warriors, as they

beheld the destruction of their dwellings and heard the agonizing cries of their wives and offspring. "The

burning of the wigwams," says a contemporary writer, "the shrieks and cries of the women and children, and

the yelling of the warriors, exhibited a most horrible and affecting scene, so that it greatly moved some of the

soldiers." The same writer cautiously adds, "They were in much doubt then, and afterwards seriously

inquired, whether burning their enemies alive could be consistent with humanity, and the benevolent

The fate of the brave and generous Canonchet is worthy of particular mention: the last scene of his life is one

Broken down in his power and resources by this signal defeat, yet faithful to his ally and to the hapless cause

which he had espoused, he rejected all overtures of peace offered on condition of betraying Philip and his

followers, and declared that "he would fight it out to the last man, rather than become a servant to the

English." His home being destroyed, his country harassed and laid waste by the incursions of the conquerors,

he was obliged to wander away to the banks of the Connecticut, where he formed a rallyingpoint to the

whole body of western Indians and laid waste several of the English settlements.

Early in the spring he departed on a hazardous expedition, with only thirty chosen men, to penetrate to

Seaconck, in the vicinity of Mount Hope, and to procure seed corn to plant for the sustenance of his troops.

This little hand of adventurers had passed safely through the Pequod country, and were in the centre of the

Narragansett, resting at some wigwams near Pautucket River, when an alarm was given of an approaching

enemy. Having but seven men by him at the time, Canonchet despatched two of them to the top of a

Panicstruck by the appearance of a troop of English and Indians rapidly advancing, they fled in breathless

terror past their chieftain, without stopping to inform him of the danger. Canonchet sent another scout, who

did the same. He then sent two more, one of whom, hurrying back in confusion and affright, told him that the

whole British army was at hand. Canonchet saw there was no choice but immediate flight. He attempted to

escape round the hill, but was perceived and hotly pursued by the hostile Indians and a few of the fleetest of

the English. Finding the swiftest pursuer close upon his heels, he threw off, first his blanket, then his

silverlaced coat and belt of peag, by which his enemies knew him to be Canonchet and redoubled the

At length, in dashing through the river, his foot slipped upon a stone, and he fell so deep as to wet his gun.

This accident so struck him with despair that, as he afterwards confessed, "his heart and his bowels turned

within him, and he became like a rotten stick, void of strength." To such a degree was he unnerved that, being

seized by a Pequod Indian within a short distance of the river, he made no resistance, though a man of great

vigor of body and boldness of heart. But on being made prisoner the whole pride of his spirit arose within

him, and from that moment we find, in the anecdotes given by his enemies, nothing but repeated flashes of

elevated and princelike heroism. Being questioned by one of the English who first came up with him, and

who had not attained his twenty second year, the proudhearted warrior, looking with lofty contempt upon

his youthful countenance, replied, "You are a childyou cannot understand matters of war; let your brother

Though repeated offers were made to him of his life on condition of submitting with his nation to the English,

yet he rejected them with disdain, and refused to send any proposals of the kind to the great body of his

subjects, saying that he knew none of them would comply. Being reproached with his breach of faith towards

the whites, his boast that he would not deliver up a Wampanoag nor the paring of a Wampanoag's nail, and

his threat that he would burn the English alive in their houses, he disdained to justify himself, haughtily

answering that others were as forward for the war as himself, and "he desired to hear no more thereof."

So noble and unshaken a spirit, so true a fidelity to his cause and his friend, might have touched the feelings

of the generous and the brave; but Canonchet was an Indian, a being towards whom war had no courtesy,

humanity no law, religion no compassion: he was condemned to die. The last words of his that are recorded

are worthy the greatness of his soul. When sentence of death was passed upon him, be observed "that he liked

it well, for he should die before his heart was soft or he had spoken anything unworthy of himself." His

enemies gave him the death of a soldier, for he was shot at Stoning ham by three young Sachems of his own

The defeat at the Narraganset fortress and the death of Canonchet were fatal blows to the fortunes of King

Philip. He made an ineffectual attempt to raise a head of war by stirring up the Mohawks to take arms; but,

though possessed of the native talents of a statesman, his arts were counteracted by the superior arts of his

enlightened enemies, and the terror of their warlike skill began to subdue the resolution of the neighboring

tribes. The unfortunate chieftain saw himself daily stripped of power, and his ranks rapidly thinning around

him. Some were suborned by the whites; others fell victims to hunger and fatigue and to the frequent attacks

by which they were harassed. His stores were all captured; his chosen friends were swept away from before

his eyes; his uncle was shot down by his side; his sister was carried into captivity; and in one of his narrow

escapes he was compelled to leave his beloved wife and only son to the mercy of the enemy. "His ruin," says

the historian, "being thus gradually carried on, his misery was not prevented, but augmented thereby; being

himself made acquainted with the sense and experimental feeling of the captivity of his children, loss of

friends, slaughter of his subjects, bereavement of all family relations, and being stripped of all outward

To fill up the measure of his misfortunes, his own followers began to plot against his life, that by sacrificing

him they might purchase dishonorable safety. Through treachery a number of his faithful adherents, the

subjects of Wetamoe, an Indian princess of Pocasset, a near kinswoman and confederate of Philip, were

betrayed into the hands of the enemy. Wetamoe was among them at the time, and attempted to make her

escape by crossing a neighboring river: either exhausted by swimming or starved with cold and hunger, she

was found dead and naked near the waterside. But persecution ceased not at the grave. Even death, the

refuge of the wretched, where the wicked commonly cease from troubling, was no protection to this outcast

female, whose great crime was affectionate fidelity to her kinsman and her friend. Her corpse was the object

of unmanly and dastardly vengeance: the head was severed from the body and set upon a pole, and was thus

exposed at Taunton to the view of her captive subjects. They immediately recognized the features of their

unfortunate queen, and were so affected at this barbarous spectacle that we are told they broke forth into the

However Philip had borne up against the complicated miseries and misfortunes that surrounded him, the

treachery of his followers seemed to wring his heart and reduce him to despondency. It is said that "he never

rejoiced afterwards, nor had success in any of his designs." The spring of hope was brokenthe ardor of

enterprise was extinguished; he looked around, and all was danger and darkness; there was no eye to pity nor

any arm that could bring deliverance. With a scanty band of followers, who still remained true to his

desperate fortunes, the unhappy Philip wandered back to the vicinity of Mount Hope, the ancient dwelling of

his fathers. Here he lurked about like a spectre among the scenes of former power and prosperity, now bereft

of home, of family, and of friend. There needs no better picture of his destitute and piteous situation than that

furnished by the homely pen of the chronicler, who is unwarily enlisting the feelings of the reader in favor of

the hapless warrior whom he reviles. "Philip," he says, "like a savage wild beast, having been hunted by the

English forces through the woods above a hundred miles backward and forward, at last was driven to his own

den upon Mount Hope, where he retired, with a few of his best friends, into a swamp, which proved but a

prison to keep him fast till the messengers of death came by divine permission to execute vengeance upon

Even in this last refuge of desperation and despair a sullen grandeur gathers round his memory. We picture

him to ourselves seated among his careworn followers, brooding in silence over his blasted fortunes, and

acquiring a savage sublimity from the wildness and dreariness of his lurkingplace. Defeated, but not

dismayedcrushed to the earth, but not humiliatedhe seemed to grow more haughty beneath disaster, and

to experience a fierce satisfaction in draining the last dregs of bitterness. Little minds are tamed and subdued

by misfortune, but great minds rise above it. The very idea of submission awakened the fury of Philip, and he

smote to death one of his followers who proposed an expedient of peace. The brother of the victim made his

escape, and in revenge betrayed the retreat of his chieftain, A body of white men and Indians were

immediately despatched to the swamp where Philip lay crouched, glaring with fury and despair. Before he

was aware of their approach they had begun to surround him. In a little while he saw five of his trustiest

followers laid dead at his feet; all resistance was vain; he rushed forth from his covert, and made a headlong

attempt to escape, but was shot through the heart by a renegado Indian of his own nation.

Such is the scanty story of the brave but unfortunate King Philip, persecuted while living, slandered and

dishonored when dead. If, however, we consider even the prejudiced anecdotes furnished us by his enemies,

we may perceive in them traces of amiable and loftly character sufficient to awaken sympathy for his fate and

respect for his memory. We find that amidst all the harassing cares and ferocious passions of constant warfare

he was alive to the softer feelings of connubial love and paternal tenderness and to the generous sentiment of

friendship. The captivity of his "beloved wife and only son" are mentioned with exultation as causing him

poignant misery: the death of any near friend is triumphantly recorded as a new blow on his sensibilities; but

the treachery and desertion of many of his followers, in whose affections he had confided, is said to have

desolated his heart and to have bereaved him of all further comfort. He was a patriot attached to his native

soila prince true to his subjects and indignant of their wrongsa soldier daring in battle, firm in adversity,

patient of fatigue, of hunger, of every variety of bodily suffering, and ready to perish in the cause he had

espoused. Proud of heart and with an untamable love of natural liberty, he preferred to enjoy it among the

beasts of the forests or in the dismal and famished recesses of swamps and morasses, rather than bow his

haughty spirit to submission and live dependent and despised in the ease and luxury of the settlements. With

heroic qualities and bold achievements that would have graced a civilized warrior, and have rendered him the

theme of the poet and the historian, he lived a wanderer and a fugitive in his native land, and went down, like

a lonely bark foundering amid darkness and tempest, without a pitying eye to weep his fall or a friendly hand

In the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson, at that broad

expansion of the river denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators the Tappan Zee, and where they always

prudently shortened sail and implored the protection of St. Nicholas when they crossed, there lies a small

market town or rural port, which by some is called Greensburgh, but which is more generally and properly

known by the name of Tarry Town. This name was given, we are told, in former days, by the good

housewives of the adjacent country, from the inveterate propensity of their husbands to linger about the

village tavern on market days. Be that as it may, I do not vouch for the fact, but merely advert to it, for the

sake of being precise and authentic. Not far from this village, perhaps about two miles, there is a little valley

or rather lap of land among high hills, which is one of the quietest places in the whole world. A small brook

glides through it, with just murmur enough to lull one to repose; and the occasional whistle of a quail or

tapping of a woodpecker is almost the only sound that ever breaks in upon the uniform tranquillity.

I recollect that, when a stripling, my first exploit in squirrelshooting was in a grove of tall walnuttrees that

shades one side of the valley. I had wandered into it at noontime, when all nature is peculiarly quiet, and was

startled by the roar of my own gun, as it broke the Sabbath stillness around and was prolonged and

reverberated by the angry echoes. If ever I should wish for a retreat whither I might steal from the world and

its distractions, and dream quietly away the remnant of a troubled life, I know of none more promising than

From the listless repose of the place, and the peculiar character of its inhabitants, who are descendants from

the original Dutch settlers, this sequestered glen has long been known by the name of SLEEPY HOLLOW,

and its rustic lads are called the Sleepy Hollow Boys throughout all the neighboring country. A drowsy,

dreamy influence seems to hang over the land, and to pervade the very atmosphere. Some say that the place

was bewitched by a High German doctor, during the early days of the settlement; others, that an old Indian

chief, the prophet or wizard of his tribe, held his powwows there before the country was discovered by

Master Hendrick Hudson. Certain it is, the place still continues under the sway of some witching power, that

holds a spell over the minds of the good people, causing them to walk in a continual reverie. They are given

to all kinds of marvelous beliefs; are subject to trances and visions, and frequently see strange sights, and

hear music and voices in the air. The whole neighborhood abounds with local tales, haunted spots, and

twilight superstitions; stars shoot and meteors glare oftener across the valley than in any other part of the

country, and the nightmare, with her whole ninefold, seems to make it the favorite scene of her gambols.

The dominant spirit, however, that haunts this enchanted region, and seems to be commanderinchief of all

the powers of the air, is the apparition of a figure on horseback, without a head. It is said by some to be the

ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a cannonball, in some nameless battle

during the Revolutionary War, and who is ever and anon seen by the country folk hurrying along in the

gloom of night, as if on the wings of the wind. His haunts are not confined to the valley, but extend at times

to the adjacent roads, and especially to the vicinity of a church at no great distance. Indeed, certain of the

most authentic historians of those parts, who have been careful in collecting and collating the floating facts

concerning this spectre, allege that the body of the trooper having been buried in the churchyard, the ghost

rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head, and that the rushing speed with which he

sometimes passes along the Hollow, like a midnight blast, is owing to his being belated, and in a hurry to get

Such is the general purport of this legendary superstition, which has furnished materials for many a wild story

in that region of shadows; and the spectre is known at all the country firesides, by the name of the Headless

It is remarkable that the visionary propensity I have mentioned is not confined to the native inhabitants of the

valley, but is unconsciously imbibed by every one who resides there for a time. However wide awake they

may have been before they entered that sleepy region, they are sure, in a little time, to inhale the witching

influence of the air, and begin to grow imaginative, to dream dreams, and see apparitions.

I mention this peaceful spot with all possible laud for it is in such little retired Dutch valleys, found here and

there embosomed in the great State of New York, that population, manners, and customs remain fixed, while

the great torrent of migration and improvement, which is making such incessant changes in other parts of this

restless country, sweeps by them unobserved. They are like those little nooks of still water, which border a

rapid stream, where we may see the straw and bubble riding quietly at anchor, or slowly revolving in their

mimic harbor, undisturbed by the rush of the passing current. Though many years have elapsed since I trod

the drowsy shades of Sleepy Hollow, yet I question whether I should not still find the same trees and the

In this byplace of nature there abode, in a remote period of American history, that is to say, some thirty

years since, a worthy wight of the name of Ichabod Crane, who sojourned, or, as he expressed it, "tarried," in

Sleepy Hollow, for the purpose of instructing the children of the vicinity. He was a native of Connecticut, a

State which supplies the Union with pioneers for the mind as well as for the forest, and sends forth yearly its

legions of frontier woodmen and country schoolmasters. The cognomen of Crane was not inapplicable to his

person. He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a

mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung

together. His head was small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose,

so that it looked like a weathercock perched upon his spindle neck to tell which way the wind blew. To see

him striding along the profile of a hill on a windy day, with his clothes bagging and fluttering about him, one

might have mistaken him for the genius of famine descending upon the earth, or some scarecrow eloped from

His schoolhouse was a low building of one large room, rudely constructed of logs; the windows partly glazed,

and partly patched with leaves of old copybooks. It was most ingeniously secured at vacant hours, by a

*withe twisted in the handle of the door, and stakes set against the window shutters; so that though a thief

might get in with perfect ease, he would find some embarrassment in getting out, an idea most probably

borrowed by the architect, Yost Van Houten, from the mystery of an eelpot. The schoolhouse stood in a

rather lonely but pleasant situation, just at the foot of a woody hill, with a brook running close by, and a

formidable birchtree growing at one end of it. From hence the low murmur of his pupils' voices, conning

over their lessons, might be heard in a drowsy summer's day, like the hum of a beehive; interrupted now and

then by the authoritative voice of the master, in the tone of menace or command, or, peradventure, by the

appalling sound of the birch, as he urged some tardy loiterer along the flowery path of knowledge. Truth to

say, he was a conscientious man, and ever bore in mind the golden maxim, "Spare the rod and spoil the

I would not have it imagined, however, that he was one of those cruel potentates of the school who joy in the

smart of their subjects; on the contrary, he administered justice with discrimination rather than severity;

taking the burden off the backs of the weak, and laying it on those of the strong. Your mere puny stripling,

that winced at the least flourish of the rod, was passed by with indulgence; but the claims of justice were

satisfied by inflicting a double portion on some little tough wrong headed, broadskirted Dutch urchin, who

sulked and swelled and grew dogged and sullen beneath the birch. All this he called "doing his duty by their

parents;" and he never inflicted a chastisement without following it by the assurance, so consolatory to the

smarting urchin, that "he would remember it and thank him for it the longest day he had to live."

When school hours were over, he was even the companion and playmate of the larger boys; and on holiday

afternoons would convoy some of the smaller ones home, who happened to have pretty sisters, or good

housewives for mothers, noted for the comforts of the cupboard. Indeed, it behooved him to keep on good

terms with his pupils. The revenue arising from his school was small, and would have been scarcely sufficient

to furnish him with daily bread, for he was a huge feeder, and, though lank, had the dilating powers of an

anaconda; but to help out his maintenance, he was, according to country custom in those parts, boarded and

lodged at the houses of the farmers whose children he instructed. With these he lived successively a week at a

time, thus going the rounds of the neighborhood, with all his worldly effects tied up in a cotton handkerchief.

That all this might not be too onerous on the purses of his rustic patrons, who are apt to considered the costs

of schooling a grievous burden, and schoolmasters as mere drones he had various ways of rendering himself

both useful and agreeable. He assisted the farmers occasionally in the lighter labors of their farms, helped to

make hay, mended the fences, took the horses to water, drove the cows from pasture, and cut wood for the

winter fire. He laid aside, too, all the dominant dignity and absolute sway with which he lorded it in his little

empire, the school, and became wonderfully gentle and ingratiating. He found favor in the eyes of the

mothers by petting the children, particularly the youngest; and like the lion bold, which whilom so

magnanimously the lamb did hold, he would sit with a child on one knee, and rock a cradle with his foot for

In addition to his other vocations, he was the singing master of the neighborhood, and picked up many

bright shillings by instructing the young folks in psalmody. It was a matter of no little vanity to him on

Sundays, to take his station in front of the church gallery, with a band of chosen singers; where, in his own

mind, he completely carried away the palm from the parson. Certain it is, his voice resounded far above all

the rest of the congregation; and there are peculiar quavers still to be heard in that church, and which may

even be heard half a mile off, quite to the opposite side of the millpond, on a still Sunday morning, which

are said to be legitimately descended from the nose of Ichabod Crane. Thus, by divers little makeshifts, in

that ingenious way which is commonly denominated "by hook and by crook," the worthy pedagogue got on

tolerably enough, and was thought, by all who understood nothing of the labor of headwork, to have a

The schoolmaster is generally a man of some importance in the female circle of a rural neighborhood; being

considered a kind of idle, gentlemanlike personage, of vastly superior taste and accomplishments to the rough

country swains, and, indeed, inferior in learning only to the parson. His appearance, therefore, is apt to

occasion some little stir at the teatable of a farmhouse, and the addition of a supernumerary dish of cakes or

sweetmeats, or, peradventure, the parade of a silver teapot. Our man of letters, therefore, was peculiarly

happy in the smiles of all the country damsels. How he would figure among them in the churchyard, between

services on Sundays; gathering grapes for them from the wild vines that overran the surrounding trees;

reciting for their amusement all the epitaphs on the tombstones; or sauntering, with a whole bevy of them,

along the banks of the adjacent millpond; while the more bashful country bumpkins hung sheepishly back,

From his halfitinerant life, also, he was a kind of traveling gazette, carrying the whole budget of local gossip

from house to house, so that his appearance was always greeted with satisfaction. He was, moreover,

esteemed by the women as a man of great erudition, for he had read several books quite through, and was a

perfect master of Cotton Mather's "History of New England Witchcraft," in which, by the way, he most

He was, in fact, an odd mixture of small shrewdness and simple credulity. His appetite for the marvelous, and

his powers of digesting it, were equally extraordinary; and both had been increased by his residence in this

spellbound region. No tale was too gross or monstrous for his capacious swallow. It was often his delight,

after his school was dismissed in the afternoon, to stretch himself on the rich bed of clover bordering the little

brook that whimpered by his schoolhouse, and there con over old Mather's direful tales, until the gathering

dusk of evening made the printed page a mere mist before his eyes. Then, as he wended his way by swamp

and stream and awful woodland, to the farmhouse where he happened to be quartered, every sound of nature,

at that witching hour, fluttered his excited imagination, the moan of the whippoorwill from the hillside,

the boding cry of the tree toad, that harbinger of storm, the dreary hooting of the screech owl, to the sudden

rustling in the thicket of birds frightened from their roost. The fireflies, too, which sparkled most vividly in

the darkest places, now and then startled him, as one of uncommon brightness would stream across his path;

and if, by chance, a huge blockhead of a beetle came winging his blundering flight against him, the poor

varlet was ready to give up the ghost, with the idea that he was struck with a witch's token. His only resource

on such occasions, either to drown thought or drive away evil spirits, was to sing psalm tunes and the good

people of Sleepy Hollow, as they sat by their doors of an evening, were often filled with awe at hearing his

nasal melody, "in linked sweetness long drawn out," floating from the distant hill, or along the dusky road.

Another of his sources of fearful pleasure was to pass long winter evenings with the old Dutch wives, as they

sat spinning by the fire, with a row of apples roasting and spluttering along the hearth, and listen to their

marvellous tales of ghosts and goblins, and haunted fields, and haunted brooks, and haunted bridges, and

haunted houses, and particularly of the headless horseman, or Galloping Hessian of the Hollow, as they

sometimes called him. He would delight them equally by his anecdotes of witchcraft, and of the direful

omens and portentous sights and sounds in the air, which prevailed in the earlier times of Connecticut; and

would frighten them woefully with speculations upon comets and shooting stars; and with the alarming fact

that the world did absolutely turn round, and that they were half the time topsyturvy!

But if there was a pleasure in all this, while snugly cuddling in the chimney corner of a chamber that was all

of a ruddy glow from the crackling wood fire, and where, of course, no spectre dared to show its face, it was

dearly purchased by the terrors of his subsequent walk homewards. What fearful shapes and shadows beset

his path, amidst the dim and ghastly glare of a snowy night! With what wistful look did he eye every

trembling ray of light streaming across the waste fields from some distant window! How often was he

appalled by some shrub covered with snow, which, like a sheeted spectre, beset his very path! How often did

he shrink with curdling awe at the sound of his own steps on the frosty crust beneath his feet; and dread to

look over his shoulder, lest he should behold some uncouth being tramping close behind him! and how often

was he thrown into complete dismay by some rushing blast, howling among the trees, in the idea that it was

All these, however, were mere terrors of the night, phantoms of the mind that walk in darkness; and though

he had seen many spectres in his time, and been more than once beset by Satan in divers shapes, in his lonely

perambulations, yet daylight put an end to all these evils; and he would have passed a pleasant life of it, in

despite of the Devil and all his works, if his path had not been crossed by a being that causes more perplexity

to mortal man than ghosts, goblins, and the whole race of witches put together, and that wasa woman.

Among the musical disciples who assembled, one evening in each week, to receive his instructions in

psalmody, was Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter and only child of a substantial Dutch farmer. She was a

booming lass of fresh eighteen; plump as a partridge; ripe and melting and rosycheeked as one of her

father's peaches, and universally famed, not merely for her beauty, but her vast expectations. She was withal

a little of a coquette, as might be perceived even in her dress, which was a mixture of ancient and modern

fashions, as most suited to set of her charms. She wore the ornaments of pure yellow gold, which her

greatgreatgrandmother had brought over from Saar dam; the tempting stomacher of the olden time, and

withal a provokingly short petticoat, to display the prettiest foot and ankle in the country round.

Ichahod Crane had a soft and foolish heart towards the sex; and it is not to be wondered at, that so tempting a

morsel soon found favor in his eyes, more especially after he had visited her in her paternal mansion. Old

Baltus Van Tassel was a perfect picture of a thriving, contented, liberalhearted farmer. He seldom, it is true,

sent either his eyes or his thoughts beyond the boundaries of his own farm; but within those everything was

snug, happy and wellconditioned. He was satisfied with his wealth, but not proud of it; and piqued himself

upon the hearty abundance, rather than the style in which he lived. His stronghold was situated on the banks

of the Hudson, in one of those green, sheltered, fertile nooks in which the Dutch farmers are so fond of

nestling. A great elm tree spread its broad branches over it, at the foot of which bubbled up a spring of the

softest and sweetest water, in a little well formed of a barrel; and then stole sparkling away through the grass,

to a neighboring brook, that babbled along among alders and dwarf willows. Hard by the farmhouse was a

vast barn, that might have served for a church; every window and crevice of which seemed bursting forth

with the treasures of the farm; the flail was busily resounding within it from morning to night; swallows and

martins skimmed twittering about the eaves; an rows of pigeons, some with one eye turned up, as if watching

the weather, some with their heads under their wings or buried in their bosoms, and others swelling, and

cooing, and bowing about their dames, were enjoying the sunshine on the roof. Sleek unwieldy porkers were

grunting in the repose and abundance of their pens, from whence sallied forth, now and then, troops of

sucking pigs, as if to snuff the air. A stately squadron of snowy geese were riding in an adjoining pond,

convoying whole fleets of ducks; regiments of turkeys were gobbling through the farmyard, and Guinea

fowls fretting about it, like illtempered housewives, with their peevish, discontented cry. Before the barn

door strutted the gallant cock, that pattern of a husband, a warrior and a fine gentleman, clapping his

burnished wings and crowing in the pride and gladness of his heart, sometimes tearing up the earth with

his feet, and then generously calling his everhungry family of wives and children to enjoy the rich morsel

The pedagogue's mouth watered as he looked upon this sumptuous promise of luxurious winter fare. In his

devouring mind's eye, he pictured to himself every roastingpig running about with a pudding in his belly,

and an apple in his mouth; the pigeons were snugly put to bed in a comfortable pie, and tucked in with a

coverlet of crust; the geese were swimming in their own gravy; and the ducks pairing cosily in dishes, like

snug married couples, with a decent competency of onion sauce. In the porkers he saw carved out the future

sleek side of bacon, and juicy relishing ham; not a turkey but he beheld daintily trussed up, with its gizzard

under its wing, and, peradventure, a necklace of savory sausages; and even bright chanticleer himself lay

sprawling on his back, in a side dish, with uplifted claws, as if craving that quarter which his chivalrous spirit

As the enraptured Ichabod fancied all this, and as he rolled his great green eyes over the fat meadow lands,

the rich fields of wheat, of rye, of buckwheat, and Indian corn, and the orchards burdened with ruddy fruit,

which surrounded the warm tenement of Van Tassel, his heart yearned after the damsel who was to inherit

these domains, and his imagination expanded with the idea, how they might be readily turned into cash, and

the money invested in immense tracts of wild land, and shingle palaces in the wilderness. Nay, his busy fancy

already realized his hopes, and presented to him the blooming Katrina, with a whole family of children,

mounted on the top of a wagon loaded with household trumpery, with pots and kettles dangling beneath; and

he beheld himself bestriding a pacing mare, with a colt at her heels, setting out for Kentucky, Tennessee,

When he entered the house, the conquest of his heart was complete. It was one of those spacious farmhouses,

with high ridged but lowly sloping roofs, built in the style handed down from the first Dutch settlers; the

low projecting eaves forming a piazza along the front, capable of being closed up in bad weather. Under this

were hung flails, harness, various utensils of husbandry, and nets for fishing in the neighboring river.

Benches were built along the sides for summer use; and a great spinningwheel at one end, and a churn at the

other, showed the various uses to which this important porch might be devoted. From this piazza the

wondering Ichabod entered the hall, which formed the centre of the mansion, and the place of usual

residence. Here rows of resplendent pewter, ranged on a long dresser, dazzled his eyes. In one corner stood a

huge bag of wool, ready to be spun; in another, a quantity of linseywoolsey just from the loom; ears of

Indian corn, and strings of dried apples and peaches, hung in gay festoons along the walls, mingled with the

gaud of red peppers; and a door left ajar gave him a peep into the best parlor, where the clawfooted chairs

and dark mahogany tables shone like mirrors; andirons, with their accompanying shovel and tongs, glistened

from their covert of asparagus tops; mock oranges and conch shells decorated the mantelpiece; strings of

variouscolored birds eggs were suspended above it; a great ostrich egg was hung from the centre of the

room, and a corner cupboard, knowingly left open, displayed immense treasures of old silver and

From the moment Ichabod laid his eyes upon these regions of delight, the peace of his mind was at an end,

and his only study was how to gain the affections of the peerless daughter of Van Tassel. In this enterprise,

however, he had more real difficulties than generally fell to the lot of a knighterrant of yore, who seldom

had anything but giants, enchanters, fiery dragons, and such like easily conquered adversaries, to contend

with and had to make his way merely through gates of iron and brass, and walls of adamant to the castle keep,

where the lady of his heart was confined; all which he achieved as easily as a man would carve his way to the

centre of a Christmas pie; and then the lady gave him her hand as a matter of course. Ichabod, on the

contrary, had to win his way to the heart of a country coquette, beset with a labyrinth of whims and caprices,

which were forever presenting new difficulties and impediments; and he had to encounter a host of fearful

adversaries of real flesh and blood, the numerous rustic admirers, who beset every portal to her heart, keeping

a watchful and angry eye upon each other, but ready to fly out in the common cause against any new

Among these, the most formidable was a burly, roaring, roystering blade, of the name of Abraham, or,

according to the Dutch abbreviation, Brom Van Brunt, the hero of the country round which rang with his

feats of strength and hardihood. He was broadshouldered and doublejointed, with short curly black hair,

and a bluff but not unpleasant countenance, having a mingled air of fun and arrogance From his Herculean

frame and great powers of limb he had received the nickname of BROM BONES, by which he was

universally known. He was famed for great knowledge and skill in horsemanship, being as dexterous on

horseback as a Tartar. He was foremost at all races and cock fights; and, with the ascendancy which bodily

strength always acquires in rustic life, was the umpire in all disputes, setting his hat on one side, and giving

his decisions with an air and tone that admitted of no gainsay or appeal. He was always ready for either a

fight or a frolic; but had more mischief than illwill in his composition; and with all his overbearing

roughness, there was a strong dash of waggish good humor at bottom. He had three or four boon companions,

who regarded him as their model, and at the head of whom he scoured the country, attending every scene of

feud or merriment for miles round. In cold weather he was distinguished by a fur cap, surmounted with a

flaunting fox's tail; and when the folks at a country gathering descried this wellknown crest at a distance,

whisking about among a squad of hard riders, they always stood by for a squall. Sometimes his crew would

be heard dashing along past the farmhouses at midnight, with whoop and halloo, like a troop of Don

Cossacks; and the old dames, startled out of their sleep, would listen for a moment till the hurryscurry had

clattered by, and then exclaim, "Ay, there goes Brom Bones and his gang!" The neighbors looked upon him

with a mixture of awe, admiration, and goodwill; and, when any madcap prank or rustic brawl occurred in

the vicinity, always shook their heads, and warranted Brom Bones was at the bottom of it.

This rantipole hero had for some time singled out the blooming Katrina for the object of his uncouth

gallantries, and though his amorous toyings were something like the gentle caresses and endearments ofa

bear, yet it was whispered that she did not altogether discourage his hopes. Certain it is, his advances were

signals for rival candidates to retire, who felt no inclination to cross a lion in his amours; insomuch, that

when his horse was seen tied to Van Tassel's paling, on a Sunday night, a sure sign that his master was

courting, or, as it is termed, " sparking," within, all other suitors passed by in despair, and carried the war into

Such was the formidable rival with whom Ichabod Crane had to contend, and, considering, all things, a

stouter man than he would have shrunk from the competition, and a wiser man would have despaired. He had,

however, a happy mixture of pliability and perseverance in his nature; he was in form and spirit like a

supplejack�yielding, but tough; though he bent, he never broke; and though he bowed beneath the slightest

pressure, yet, the moment it was awayjerk!he was as erect, and carried his head as high as ever.

To have taken the field openly against his rival would have been madness; for he was not a man to be

thwarted in his amours, any more than that stormy lover, Achilles. Ichabod, therefore, made his advances in a

quiet and gently insinuating manner. Under cover of his character of singingmaster, he made frequent visits

at the farmhouse; not that he had anything to apprehend from the meddlesome interference of parents, which

is so often a stumblingblock in the path of lovers. Balt Van Tassel was an easy indulgent soul; he loved his

daughter better even than his pipe, and, like a reasonable man and an excellent father, let her have her way in

everything. His notable little wife, too, had enough to do to attend to her housekeeping and manage her

poultry; for, as she sagely observed, ducks and geese are foolish things, and must be looked after, but girls

can take care of themselves. Thus, while the busy dame bustled about the house, or plied her spinningwheel

at one end of the piazza, honest Balt would sit smoking his evening pipe at the other, watching the

achievements of a little wooden warrior, who, armed with a sword in each hand, was most valiantly fighting

the wind on the pinnacle of the barn. In the mean time, Ichabod would carry on his suit with the daughter by

the side of the spring under the great elm, or sauntering along in the twilight, that hour so favorable to the

I profess not to know how women's hearts are wooed and won. To me they have always been matters of

riddle and admiration. Some seem to have but one vulnerable point, or door of access; while others have a

thousand avenues, and may be captured in a thousand different ways. It is a great triumph of skill to gain the

former, but a still greater proof of generalship to maintain possession of the latter, for man must battle for his

fortress at every door and window. He who wins a thousand common hearts is therefore entitled to some

renown; but he who keeps undisputed sway over the heart of a coquette is indeed a hero. Certain it is, this

was not the case with the redoubtable Brom Bones; and from the moment Ichabod Crane made his advances,

the interests of the former evidently declined: his horse was no longer seen tied to the palings on Sunday

nights, and a deadly feud gradually arose between him and the preceptor of Sleepy Hollow.

Brom, who had a degree of rough chivalry in his nature, would fain have carried matters to open warfare and

have settled their pretensions to the lady, according to the mode of those most concise and simple reasoners,

the knightserrant of yore, by single combat; but lchabod was too conscious of the superior might of his

adversary to enter the lists against him; he had overheard a boast of Bones, that he would "double the

schoolmaster up, and lay him on a shelf of his own schoolhouse;" and he was too wary to give him an

opportunity. There was something extremely provoking, in this obstinately pacific system; it left Brom no

alternative but to draw upon the funds of rustic waggery in his disposition, and to play off boorish practical

jokes upon his rival. Ichabod became the object of whimsical persecution to Bones and his gang of rough

riders. They harried his hitherto peaceful domains, smoked out his singing school by stopping up the

chimney, broke into the schoolhouse at night, in spite of its formidable fastenings of withe and window

stakes, and turned everything topsyturvy, so that the poor schoolmaster began to think all the witches in the

country held their meetings there. But what was still more annoying, Brom took all Opportunities of turning

him into ridicule in presence of his mistress, and had a scoundrel dog whom he taught to whine in the most

ludicrous manner, and introduced as a rival of Ichabod's, to instruct her in psalmody.

In this way matters went on for some time, without producing any material effect on the relative situations of

the contending powers. On a fine autumnal afternoon, Ichabod, in pensive mood, sat enthroned on the lofty

stool from whence he usually watched all the concerns of his little literary realm. In his hand he swayed a

ferule, that sceptre of despotic power; the birch of justice reposed on three nails behind the throne, a constant

terror to evil doers, while on the desk before him might be seen sundry contraband articles and prohibited

weapons, detected upon the persons of idle urchins, such as halfmunched apples, popguns, whirligigs,

flycages, and whole legions of rampant little paper gamecocks. Apparently there had been some appalling

act of justice recently inflicted, for his scholars were all busily intent upon their books, or slyly whispering

behind them with one eye kept upon the master; and a kind of buzzing stillness reigned throughout the

schoolroom. It was suddenly interrupted by the appearance of a negro in towcloth jacket and trowsers. a

roundcrowned fragment of a hat, like the cap of Mercury, and mounted on the back of a ragged, wild,

halfbroken colt, which he managed with a rope by way of halter. He came clattering up to the schooldoor

with an invitation to Ichabod to attend a merry making or "quiltingfrolic," to be held that evening at

Mynheer Van Tassel's; and having, delivered his message with that air of importance and effort at fine

language which a negro is apt to display on petty embassies of the kind, he dashed over the brook, and was

seen scampering, away up the Hollow, full of the importance and hurry of his mission.

All was now bustle and hubbub in the late quiet schoolroom. The scholars were hurried through their lessons

without stopping at trifles; those who were nimble skipped over half with impunity, and those who were tardy

had a smart application now and then in the rear, to quicken their speed or help them over a tall word. Books

were flung aside without being put away on the shelves, inkstands were overturned, benches thrown down,

and the whole school was turned loose an hour before the usual time, bursting forth like a legion of young

The gallant Ichabod now spent at least an extra half hour at his toilet, brushing and furbishing up his best, and

indeed only suit of rusty black, and arranging his locks by a bit of broken lookingglass that hung up in the

schoolhouse. That he might make his appearance before his mistress in the true style of a cavalier, he

borrowed a horse from the farmer with whom he was domiciliated, a choleric old Dutchman of the name of

Hans Van Ripper, and, thus gallantly mounted, issued forth like a knight errant in quest of adventures. But it

is meet I should, in the true spirit of romantic story, give some account of the looks and equipments of my

hero and his steed. The animal he bestrode was a brokendown plowhorse, that had outlived almost

everything but its viciousness. He was gaunt and shagged, with a ewe neck, and a head like a hammer; his

rusty mane and tail were tangled and knotted with burs; one eye had lost its pupil, and was glaring and

spectral, but the other had the gleam of a genuine devil in it. Still he must have had fire and mettle in his day,

if we may judge from the name he bore of Gunpowder. He had, in fact, been a favorite steed of his master's,

the choleric Van Ripper, who was a furious rider, and had infused, very probably, some of his own spirit into

the animal; for, old and brokendown as he looked, there was more of the lurking devil in him than in any

Ichabod was a suitable figure for such a steed . He rode with short stirrups, which brought his knees nearly up

to the pommel of the saddle; his sharp elbows stuck out like grasshoppers'; he carried his whip

perpendicularly in his hand, like a sceptre, and as his horse jogged on, the motion of his arms was not unlike

the flapping of a pair of wings. A small wool hat rested on the top of his nose, for so his scanty strip of

forehead might be called, and the skirts of his black coat fluttered out almost to the horses tail. Such was the

appearance of Ichabod and his steed as they shambled out of the gate of Hans Van Ripper, and it was

It was, as I have said, a fine autumnal day; the sky was clear and serene, and nature wore that rich and golden

livery which we always associate with the idea of abundance. The forests had put on their sober brown and

yellow, while some trees of the tenderer kind had been nipped by the frosts into brilliant dyes of orange,

purple, and scarlet. Streaming files of wild ducks began to make their appearance high in the air; the bark of

the squirrel might be heard from the groves of beech and hickory nuts, and the pensive whistle of the quail

The small birds were taking their farewell banquets. In the fullness of their revelry, they fluttered, chirping

and frolicking from bush to bush, and tree to tree, capricious from the very profusion and variety around

them. There was the honest cockrobin, the favorite game of stripling sportsmen, with its loud querulous note;

and the twittering blackbirds flying in sable clouds, and the golden winged woodpecker with his crimson

crest, his broad black gorget, and splendid plumage; and the cedarbird, with its red tipt wings and

yellowtipt tail and its little monteiro cap of feathers; and the blue jay, that noisy coxcomb, in his gay light

blue coat and white underclothes, screaming and chattering, nodding and bobbing and bowing, and

As Ichabod jogged slowly on his way, his eye, ever open to every symptom of culinary abundance, ranged

with delight over the treasures of jolly autumn. On all sides he beheld vast store of apples: some hanging in

oppressive opulence on the trees; some gathered into baskets and barrels for the market; others heaped up in

rich piles for the ciderpress. Farther on he beheld great fields of Indian corn, with its golden ears peeping

from their leafy coverts, and holding out the promise of cakes and hasty pudding; and the yellow pumpkins

lying beneath them, turning up their fair round bellies to the sun, and giving ample prospects of the most

luxurious of pies; and anon he passed the fragrant buckwheat fields breathing the odor of the beehive, and as

he beheld them, soft anticipations stole over his mind of dainty slapjacks, well buttered, and garnished with

Thus feeding his mind with many sweet thoughts and "sugared suppositions," he journeyed along the sides of

a range of hills which look out upon some of the goodliest scenes of the mighty Hudson. The sun gradually

wheeled his broad disk down in the west. The wide bosom of the Tappan Zee lay motionless and glassy,

excepting that here and there a gentle undulation waved and prolonged the blue shallow of the distant

mountain. A few amber clouds floated in the sky, without a breath of air to move them. The horizon was of a

fine golden tint, changing gradually into a pure apple green, and from that into the deep blue of the mid

heaven. A slanting ray lingered on the woody crests of the precipices that overhung some parts of the river,

giving greater depth to the dark gray and purple of their rocky sides. A sloop was loitering in the distance,

dropping slowly down with the tide, her sail hanging uselessly against the mast; and as the reflection of the

sky gleamed along the still water, it seemed as if the vessel was suspended in the air.

It was toward evening that Ichabod arrived at the castle of the Heer Van Tassel, which he found thronged

with the pride and flower of the adjacent country Old farmers, a spare leathern faced race, in homespun

coats and breeches, blue stockings, huge shoes, and magnificent pewter buckles. Their brisk, withered little

dames, in close crimped caps, long waisted shortgowns, homespun petticoats, with scissors and

pincushions, and gay calico pockets hanging on the outside. Buxom lasses, almost as antiquated as their

mothers, excepting where a straw hat, a fine ribbon, or perhaps a white frock, gave symptoms of city

innovation. The sons, in short squareskirted coats, with rows of stupendous brass buttons, and their hair

generally queued in the fashion of the times, especially if they could procure an eelskin for the purpose, it

being esteemed throughout the country as a potent nourisher and strengthener of the hair.

Brom Bones, however, was the hero of the scene, having come to the gathering on his favorite steed

Daredevil, a creature, like himself, full of mettle and mischief, and which no one but himself could manage.

He was, in fact, noted for preferring vicious animals, given to all kinds of tricks which kept the rider in

constant risk of his neck, for he held a tractable, wellbroken horse as unworthy of a lad of spirit.

Fain would I pause to dwell upon the world of charms that burst upon the enraptured gaze of my hero, as he

entered the state parlor of Van Tassel's mansion. Not those of the bevy of buxom lasses, with their luxurious

display of red and white; but the ample charms of a genuine Dutch country teatable, in the sumptuous time

of autumn. Such heaped up platters of cakes of various and almost indescribable kinds, known only to

experienced Dutch housewives! There was the doughty doughnut, the tender olykoek, and the crisp and

crumbling cruller; sweet cakes and short cakes, ginger cakes and honey cakes, and the whole family of cakes.

And then there were apple pies, and peach pies, and pumpkin pies; besides slices of ham and smoked beef;

and moreover delectable dishes of preserved plums, and peaches, and pears, and quinces; not to mention

broiled shad and roasted chickens; together with bowls of milk and cream, all mingled higgledy pigglely,

pretty much as I have enumerated them, with the motherly teapot sending up its clouds of vapor from the

midst Heaven bless the mark! I want breath and time to discuss this banquet as it deserves, and am too

eager to get on with my story. Happily, Ichabod Crane was not in so great a hurry as his historian, but did

He was a kind and thankful creature, whose heart dilated in proportion as his skin was filled with good cheer,

and whose spirits rose with eating, as some men's do with drink. He could not help, too, rolling his large eyes

round him as he ate, and chuckling with the possibility that he might one day be lord of all this scene of

almost unimaginable luxury and splendor. Then, he thought, how soon he 'd turn his back upon the old

schoolhouse; snap his fingers in the face of Hans Van Ripper, and every other niggardly patron, and kick any

Old Baltus Van Tassel moved about among his guests with a face dilated with content and goodhumor, round

and jolly as the harvest moon. His hospitable attentions were brief, but expressive, being confined to a shake

of the hand, a slap on the shoulder, a loud laugh, and a pressing invitation to "fall to, and help themselves."

And now the sound of the music from the common room, or hall, summoned to the dance. The musician was

an old grayheaded negro, who had been the itinerant orchestra of the neighborhood for more than half a

century. His instrument was as old and battered as himself. The greater part of the time he scraped on two or

three strings, accompanying every movement of the bow with a motion of the head; bowing almost to the

Ichabod prided himself upon his dancing as much as upon his vocal powers. Not a limb, not a fibre about him

was idle; and to have seen his loosely hung frame in full motion, and clattering about the room, you would

have thought St. Vitus himself, that blessed patron of the dance, was figuring before you in person. He was

the admiration of all the negroes; who, having gathered, of all ages and sizes, from the farm and the

neighborhood, stood forming a pyramid of shining black faces at every door and window; gazing with delight

at the scene; rolling their white eyeballs, and showing grinning rows of ivory from ear to ear. How could the

flogger of urchins be otherwise than animated and joyous? the lady of his heart was his partner in the dance,

and smiling graciously in reply to all his amorous oglings; while Brom Bones, sorely smitten with love and

When the dance was at an end, Ichabod was attracted to a knot of the sager folks, who, with Old V an Tassel,

sat smoking at one end of the piazza, gossiping over former times, and drawing out long stories about the

war. This neighborhood, at the time of which I am speaking, was one of those highly favored places which

abound with chronicle and great men. The British and American line had run near it during the war; it had,

therefore], been the scene of marauding and infested with refugees, cowboys, and all kinds of border

chivalry. Just sufficient time had elapsed to enable each storyteller to dress up his tale with a little becoming

fiction, and, in the indistinctness of his recollection, to make himself the hero of every exploit.

There was the story of Doffue Martling, a large bluebearded Dutchman, who had nearly taken a British

frigate with an old iron ninepounder from a mud breastwork, only that his gun burst at the sixth discharge.

And there was an old gentleman who shall be nameless, being too rich a mynheer to be lightly mentioned,

who, in the battle of White Plains, being an excellent master of defence, parried a musketball with a

smallsword, insomuch that he absolutely felt it whiz round the blade, and glance off at the hilt; in proof of

which he was ready at any time to show the sword, with the hilt a little bent. There were several more that

had been equally great in the field, not one of whom but was persuaded that he had a considerable hand in

But all these were nothing to the tales of ghosts and apparitions that succeeded. The neighborhood is rich in

legendary treasures of the kind. Local tales and superstitions thrive best in these sheltered, long settled

retreats; but are trampled under foot by the shifting throng that forms the population of most of our country

places. Besides, there is no encouragement for ghosts in most of our villages, for they have scarcely had time

to finish their first nap and turn themselves in their graves, before their surviving friends have travelled away

from the neighborhood; so that when they turn out at night to walk their rounds, they have no acquaintance

left to call upon. This is perhaps the reason why we so seldom hear of ghosts except in our longestablished

The immediate cause, however, of the prevalence of supernatural stories in these parts, was doubtless owing

to the vicinity of Sleepy Hollow. There was a contagion in the very air that blew from that haunted region; it

breathed forth an atmosphere of dreams and fancies infecting all the land. Several of the Sleepy Hollow

people were present at Van Tassel's, and, as usual, were doling out their wild and wonderful legends. Many

dismal tales were told about funeral trains, and mourning cries and wailings heard and seen about the great

tree where the unfortunate Major Andre was taken, and which stood in the neighborhood. Some mention was

made also of the woman in white, that haunted the dark glen at Raven Rock, and was often heard to shriek on

winter nights before a storm, having perished there in the snow. The chief part of the stories, however, turned

upon the favorite spectre of Sleepy Hollow, the Headless Horseman, who had been heard several times of

late, patrolling the country; and, it was said, tethered his horse nightly among the graves in the churchyard.

The sequestered situation of this church seems always to have made it a favorite haunt of troubled spirits. It

stands on a knoll, surrounded by locust, trees and lofty elms, from among which its decent, whitewashed

walls shine modestly forth, like Christian purity beaming through the shades of retirement. A gentle slope

descends from it to a silver sheet of water, bordered by high trees, between which, peeps may be caught at the

blue hills of the Hudson. To look upon its grassgrown yard, where the sunbeams seem to sleep so quietly,

one would think that there at least the dead might rest in peace. On one side of the church extends a wide

woody dell, along which raves a large brook among broken rocks and trunks of fallen trees. Over a deep

black part of the stream, not far from the church, was formerly thrown a wooden bridge; the road that led to

it, and the bridge itself, were thickly shaded by overhanging trees, which cast a gloom about it, even in the

daytime; but occasioned a fearful darkness at night. Such was one of the favorite haunts of the Headless

Horseman, and the place where he was most frequently encountered. The tale was told of old Brouwer, a

most heretical disbeliever in ghosts, how he met the Horseman returning from his foray into Sleepy Hollow,

and was obliged to get up behind him; how they galloped over bush and brake, over hill and swamp, until

they reached the bridge; when the Horseman suddenly turned into a skeleton, threw old Brouwer into the

This story was immediately matched by a thrice marvellous adventure of Brom Bones, who made light of the

Galloping Hessian as an arrant jockey. He affirmed that on returning one night from the neighboring village

of Sing Sing, he had been overtaken by this midnight trooper; that he had offered to race with him for a bowl

of punch, and should have won it too, for Daredevil beat the goblin horse all hollow, but just as they came to

All these tales, told in that drowsy undertone with which men talk in the dark, the countenances of the

listeners only now and then receiving a casual gleam from the glare of a pipe, sank deep in the mind of

Ichabod. He repaid them in kind with large extracts from his invaluable author, Cotton Mather, and added

many marvellous events that had taken place in his native State of Connecticut, and fearful sights which he

The revel now gradually broke up. The old farmers gathered together their families in their wagons, and were

heard for some time rattling along the hollow roads, and over the distant hills. Some of the damsels mounted

on pillions behind their favorite swains, and their lighthearted laughter, mingling with the clatter of hoofs,

echoed along the silent woodlands, sounding fainter and fainter, until they gradually died away, and the

late scene of noise and frolic was all silent and deserted. Ichabod only lingered behind, according to the

custom of country lovers, to have a teteatete with the heiress; fully convinced that he was now on the high

road to success. What passed at this interview I will not pretend to say, for in fact I do not know. Something,

however, I fear me, must have gone wrong, for he certainly sallied forth, after no very great interval, with an

air quite desolate and chapfallen. Oh, these women! these women! Could that girl have been playing off any

of her coquettish tricks? Was her encouragement of the poor pedagogue all a mere sham to secure her

conquest of his rival? Heaven only knows, not I! Let it suffice to say, Ichabod stole forth with the air of one

who had been sacking a henroost, rather than a fair lady's heart. Without looking to the right or left to notice

the scene of rural wealth, on which he had so often gloated, he went straight to the stable, and with several

hearty cuffs and kicks roused his steed most uncourteously from the comfortable quarters in which he was

soundly sleeping, dreaming of mountains of corn and oats, and whole valleys of timothy and clover.

It was the very witching time of night that Ichabod, heavy hearted and crestfallen, pursued his travels

homewards, along the sides of the lofty hills which rise above Tarry Town, and which he had traversed so

cheerily in the afternoon. The hour was as dismal as himself. Far below him the Tappan Zee spread its dusky

and indistinct waste of waters, with here and there the tall mast of a sloop, riding quietly at anchor under the

land. In the dead hush of midnight, he could even hear the barking of the watchdog from the opposite shore

of the Hudson; but it was so vague and faint as only to give an idea of his distance from this faithful

companion of man. Now and then, too, the longdrawn crowing of a cock, accidentally awakened, would

sound far, far off, from some farmhouse away among the hillsbut it was like a dreaming sound in his ear.

No signs of life occurred near him, but occasionally the melancholy chirp of a cricket, or perhaps the guttural

twang of a bullfrog from a neighboring marsh, as if sleeping uncomfortably and turning suddenly in his bed.

All the stories of ghosts and goblins that he had heard in the afternoon now came crowding upon his

recollection. The night grew darker and darker; the stars seemed to sink deeper in the sky, and driving clouds

occasionally hid them from his sight. He had never felt so lonely and dismal. He was, moreover, approaching

the very place where many of the scenes of the ghost stories had been laid. In the centre of the road stood an

enormous tuliptree, which towered like a giant above all the other trees of the neighborhood, and formed a

kind of landmark. Its limbs were gnarled and fantastic, large enough to form trunks for ordinary trees,

twisting down almost to the earth, and rising again into the air. It was connected with the tragical story of the

unfortunate Andre, who had been taken prisoner hard by; and was universally known by the name of Major

Andre's tree. The common people regarded it with a mixture of respect and superstition, partly out of

sympathy for the fate of its ill starred namesake, and partly from the tales of strange sights, and doleful

As Ichabod approached this fearful tree, he began to whistle; he thought his whistle was answered; it was but

a blast sweeping sharply through the dry branches. As he approached a little nearer, he thought he saw

something white, hanging in the midst of the tree: he paused, and ceased whistling but, on looking more

narrowly, perceived that it was a place where the tree had been scathed by lightning, and the white wood laid

bare. Suddenly he heard a groanhis teeth chattered, and his knees smote against the saddle: it was but the

rubbing of one huge bough upon another, as they were swayed about by the breeze. He passed the tree in

About two hundred yards from the tree, a small brook crossed the road, and ran into a marshy and

thicklywooded glen, known by the name of Wiley's Swamp. A few rough logs, laid side by side, served for

a bridge over this stream. On that side of the road where the brook entered the wood, a group of oaks and

chestnuts, matted thick with wild grapevines, threw a cavernous gloom over it. To pass this bridge was the

severest trial. It was at this identical spot that the unfortunate Andre was captured, and under the covert of

those chestnuts and vines were the sturdy yeomen concealed who surprised him. This has ever since been

considered a haunted stream, and fearful are the feelings of the schoolboy who has to pass it alone after

As he approached the stream, his heart began to thump he summoned up, however, all his resolution, gave his

horse half a score of kicks in the ribs, and attempted to dash briskly across the bridge; but instead of starting

forward, the perverse old animal made a lateral movement, and ran broadside against the fence. Ichabod,

whose fears increased with the delay, jerked the reins on the other side, and kicked lustily with the contrary

foot: it was all in vain; his steed started, it is true, but it was only to plunge to the opposite side of the road

into a thicket of brambles and alderbushes. The schoolmaster now bestowed both whip and heel upon the

starveling ribs of old Gunpowder, who dashed forward, snuffling and snorting, but came to a stand just by the

bridge, with a suddenness that had nearly sent his rider sprawling over his head. Just at this moment a plashy

tramp by the side of the bridge caught the sensitive ear of Ichabod. In the dark shadow of the grove, on the

margin of the brook, he beheld something huge, misshapen and towering. It stirred not, but seemed gathered

The hair of the affrighted pedagogue rose upon his head with terror. What was to be done? To turn and fly

was now too late; and besides, what chance was there of escaping ghost or goblin, if such it was, which could

ride upon the wings of the wind? Summoning up, therefore, a show of courage, he demanded in stammering

accents, " Who are you?" He received no reply. He repeated his demand in a still more agitated voice. Still

there was no answer. Once more he cudgelled the sides of the inflexible Gunpowder, and, shutting his eyes,

broke forth with involuntary fervor into a psalm tune. Just then the shadowy object of alarm put itself in

motion, and with a scramble and a bound stood at once in the middle of the road. Though the night was dark

and dismal, yet the form of the unknown might now in some degree be ascertained. He appeared to be a

horseman of large dimensions, and mounted on a black horse of powerful frame. He made no offer of

molestation or sociability, but kept aloof on one side of the road, jogging along on the blind side of old

Ichabod, who had no relish for this strange midnight companion, and bethought himself of the adventure of

Brom Bones with the Galloping Hessian, now quickened his steed in hopes of leaving him behind. The

stranger, however, quickened his horse to an equal pace. Ichabod pulled up, and fell into a walk, thinking to

lag behind, the other did the same. His heart began to sink within him; he endeavored to resume his psalm

tune, but his parched tongue clove to the roof of his mouth, and he could not utter a stave. There was

something in the moody and dogged silence of this pertinacious companion that was mysterious and

appalling. It was soon fearfully accounted for. On mounting a rising ground, which brought the figure of his

fellowtraveller in relief against the sky, gigantic in height, and muffled in a cloak, Ichabod was

horrorstruck on perceiving that he was headless! but his horror was still more increased on observing that

the head, which should have rested on his shoulders, was carried before him on the pommel of his saddle! His

terror rose to desperation; he rained a shower of kicks and blows upon Gunpowder, hoping by a sudden

movement to give his companion the slip; but the spectre started full jump with him. Away, then, they dashed

through thick and thin; stones flying and sparks flashing at every bound. Ichabod's flimsy garments fluttered

in the air, as he stretched his long lank body away over his horse's head, in the eagerness of his flight.

They had now reached the road which turns off to Sleepy Hollow; but Gunpowder, who seemed possessed

with a demon, instead of keeping up it, made an opposite turn, and plunged headlong down hill to the left.

This road leads through a sandy hollow shaded by trees for about a quarter of a mile, where it crosses the

bridge famous in goblin story; and just beyond swells the green knoll on which stands the whitewashed

As yet the panic of the steed had given his unskilful rider an apparent advantage in the chase, but just as he

had got half way through the hollow, the girths of the saddle gave way, and he felt it slipping from under him.

He seized it by the pommel, and endeavored to hold it firm, but in vain; and had just time to save himself by

clasping old Gunpowder round the neck, when the saddle fell to the earth, and he heard it trampled under foot

by his pursuer. For a moment the terror of Hans Van Ripper's wrath passed across his mind, for it was his

Sunday saddle; but this was no time for petty fears; the goblin was hard on his haunches; and (unskilful rider

that he was!) he had much ado to maintain his seat; sometimes slipping on one side, sometimes on another,

and sometimes jolted on the high ridge of his horse's backbone, with a violence that he verily feared would

An opening, in the trees now cheered him with the hopes that the church bridge was at hand. The wavering

reflection of a silver star in the bosom of the brook told him that he was not mistaken. He saw the walls of the

church dimly glaring under the trees beyond. He recollected the place where Brom Bones' ghostly competitor

had disappeard. "If I can but reach that bridge," thought Ichabod, " I am safe." Just then he heard the black

steed panting and blowing close behind him; he even fancied that he felt his hot breath. Another convulsive

kick in the ribs, and old Gunpowder sprang upon the bridge; he thundered over the resounding planks; he

gained the opposite side; and now Ichabod cast a look behind to see if his pursuer should vanish, according to

rule, in a flash of fire and brimstone. Just then he saw the goblin rising in his stirrups, and in the very act of

hurling his head at him. Ichabod endeavored to dodge the horrible missile, but too late. It encountered his

cranium with a tremendous crash, he was tumbled headlong into the dust, and Gunpowder, the black steed,

The next morning the old horse was found without his saddle, and with the bridle under his feet, soberly

cropping the grass at his master's gate. Ichabod did not make his appearance at breakfast; dinnerhour came,

but no Ichabod. The boys assembled at the schoolhouse, and strolled idly about the banks of the brook; but no

schoolmaster. Hans Van Ripper now began to feel some uneasiness about the fate of poor Ichabod, and his

saddle. An inquiry was set on foot, and after diligent investigation they came upon his traces. In one part of

the road leading to the church was found the saddle trampled in the dirt; the tracks of horses' hoofs deeply

dented in the road, and evidently at furious speed, were traced to the bridge, beyond which, on the bank of a

broad part o� the brook, where the water ran deep and black, was found the hat of the unfortunate Ichabod,

The brook was searched, but the body of the schoolmaster was not to be discovered. Hans Van Ripper as

executor of his estate, examined the bundle which contained all his worldly effects. They consisted of two

shirts and a half; two stocks for the neck; a pair or two of worsted stockings; an old pair of corduroy small

clothes; a rusty razor; a book of psalm tunes full of dog'sears; and a broken pitchpipe. As to the books and

furniture of the schoolhouse, they belonged to the community, excepting Cotton Mather's History of

Witchcraft, a New England Almanac, and book of dreams and fortunetelling; in which last was a sheet of

foolscap much scribbled and blotted in several fruitless attempts to make a copy of verses in honor of the

heiress of Van Tassel. These magic books and the poetic scrawl were forthwith consigned to the flames by

Hans Van Ripper; who, from that time forward, determined to send his children no more to school; observing

that he never knew any good come of this same reading and writing. Whatever money the schoolmaster

possessed, and he had received his quarter's pay but a day or two before, he must have had about his person at

The mysterious event caused much speculation at the church on the following Sunday. Knots of gazers and

gossips were collected in the churchyard, at the bridge, and at the spot where the hat and pumpkin had been

found. The stories of Brouwer, of Bones, and a whole budget of others were called to mind; and when they

had diligently considered them all, and compared them with the symptoms of the present case, they shook

their heads, and came to the conclusion chat Ichabod had been carried off by the Galloping Hessian. As he

was a bachelor, and in nobody's debt, nobody troubled his head any more about him; the school was removed

to a different quarter of the Hollow, and another pedagogue reigned in his stead.

It is true, an old farmer, who had been down to New York on a visit several years after, and from whom this

account of the ghostly adventure was received, brought home the intelligence that Ichabod Crane was still

alive; that he had left the neighborhood partly through fear of the goblin and Hans Van Ripper, and partly in

mortification at having been suddenly dismissed by the heiress; that he had changed his quarters to a distant

part of the country; had kept school and studied law at the same time; had been admitted to the bar; turned

politician; electioneered; written for the newspapers; and finally had been made a justice of the ten pound

court. Brom Bones, too, who, shortly after his rival's disappearance conducted the blooming Katrina in

triumph to the altar, was observed to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod was related,

and always burst into a hearty laugh at the mention of the pumpkin; which led some to suspect that he knew

The old country wives, however, who are the best judges of these matters, maintain to this day that Ichabod

was spirited away by supernatural means; and it is a favorite story often told about the neighborhood round

the winter evening fire. The bridge became more than ever an object of superstitious awe; and that may be the

reason why the road has been altered of late years, so as to approach the church by the border of the

millpond. The schoolhouse being deserted soon fell to decay, and was reported to be haunted by the ghost of

the unfortunate pedagogue and the ploughboy, loitering homeward of a still summer evening, has often

fancied his voice at a distance, chanting a melancholy psalm tune among the tranquil solitudes of Sleepy