the memories of fifty years: containing brief biographical notices of distinguished americans, and anecdotes of remarkable men; interspersed with scenes and incidents occurring during a long life of observation chiefly spent in the southwest by w. h. sparks philadelphia: claxton, remsen & haffelfinger. macon ga.: j. w. burke & co. stereotyped by j. fagan & son. printed by moore bros. to my brother and nephew, the honorable ovid garten sparks, and colonel thomas hardeman, of macon, georgia. this volume is dedicated by their aged and affectionate relative, trusting they will esteem it, when he shall have passed to eternity, as some evidence of the affection borne them by the author. preface. in the same week, and within three days of the same date, i received from three judges of the supreme court, of three states, the request that i would record my remembrances of the men and things i had known for fifty years. the gentlemen making this request were joseph henry lumpkin, of georgia; william l. sharkey, of mississippi, and james g. taliaferro, of louisiana. from judge sharkey the request was verbal; from the other two it came in long and, to me, cherished letters. all three have been my intimate friends--lumpkin from boyhood; the others for nearly fifty years. judge lumpkin has finished his work in time, and gone to his reward. judges sharkey and taliaferro yet live, both now over seventy years of age. the former has retired from the busy cares of office, honored, trusted, and beloved; the latter still occupies a seat upon the bench of the supreme court of louisiana. these men have all sustained unreproached reputations, and retained through their long lives the full confidence of the people of their respective states. i did not feel at liberty to resist their appeal: i had resided in all three of the states; had known long and intimately their people; had been extensively acquainted with very many of the most prominent men of the nation--and in the following pages is my compliance. i have trusted only to my memory, and to a journal kept for many years, when a younger man than i am to-day--hastening to the completion of my seventieth year. doubtless, i have made many mistakes of minor importance; but few, i trust, as to matters of fact. of one thing i am sure: nothing has been wilfully written which can wound the feelings of any. many things herein contained may not be of general interest; but none which will not find interested readers; for while some of the individuals mentioned may not be known to common fame, the incidents in connection with them deserve to be remembered by thousands who knew them. these memories are put down without system, or order, as they have presented themselves, and have been related in a manner which i have attempted to make entertaining and instructive, without being prolix or tedious. they will be chiefly interesting to the people of the south; though much may, and, i hope, will be read by those of the north. some of my happiest days have been passed in the north: at cambridge some of my sons have been educated, and some of my dearest friends have been northern men. despite the strife which has gone far toward making us in heart a divided people, i have a grateful memory of many whose homes and graves were and are in new england. would that this strife had never been! but it has come, and i cannot forego a parent's natural feelings when mourning the loss of sons slain in the conflict, or the bitterness arising therefrom toward those who slew them. yet, as i forgive, i hope to be forgiven. there are but few now left who began the journey of life with me. those of this number who still sojourn in our native land will find much in these pages familiar to their remembrance, and some things, the reading of which may revive incidents and persons long forgotten. in the west, in louisiana, mississippi, alabama, and texas, there are many--the descendants of those who participated in events transpiring fifty years ago--who have listened at the parental hearth to their recital. to these i send this volume greeting; and if they find something herein to amuse and call up remembrances of the past, i shall feel gratified. to the many friends i have in the southwest, and especially in louisiana and mississippi, where i have sojourned well-nigh fifty years, and many of whom have so often urged upon me the writing of these memories, i commit the book, and ask of them, and of all into whose hands it may fall, a lenient criticism, a kindly recollection, and a generous thought of our past intercourse. it is an inexorable fate that separates us, and i feel it is forever. this sad thought is alleviated, however, by the consciousness that the few remaining sands of life are falling at the home of my birth; and that when the end comes, as very soon it must, i shall be placed to sleep amid my kindred in the land of my nativity. the author. contents. chapter i. revolutionary traditions. middle georgia--colonel david love--his widow--governor dunmore-- colonel tarleton--bill cunningham--colonel fannin--my grandmother's bible--solomon's maxim applied--robertus love--the indian warrior-- dragon canoe--a buxom lass--general gates--marion--mason l. weems --washington--"billy crafford" chapter ii. pioneer life. settlement of middle georgia--prowling indians--scouts and their dogs--classes of settlers--prominence of virginians--causes of distinction--clearing--log-rolling--frolics--teachers cummings and duffy--the schoolmaster's nose--flogging--emigration to alabama chapter iii. the georgia company. yazoo purchase--governor matthews--james jackson--burning of the yazoo act--development of free government--constitutional convention--slavery: its introduction and effects chapter iv. political disputations. baldwin--a yankee's political stability--the yazoo question--party feuds and fights--deaf and dumb ministers--clay--jackson--buchanan-- calhoun--cotton and free trade--the clay and randolph duel chapter v. georgia's noble sons. a minister of a day--purity of administration--then and now--widow timberlake--van buren's letter--armbrister and arbuthnot--old hickory settles a difficulty--a cause of the late war--honored dead chapter vi. popular characteristics. a frugal people--laws and religion--father pierce--thomas w. cobb-- requisites of a political candidate--a farmer-lawyer--southern humorists chapter vii. wits and fire-eaters. judge dooly--lawyers and blacksmiths--john forsyth--how juries were drawn--gum-tree _vs._ wooden-leg--preacher-politicians--colonel gumming--george mcduffie chapter viii. fifty years ago. governor matthews--indians--topography of middle georgia--a new country and its settlers--beaux and belles--early training--jesuit teachers--a mother's influence--the jews--homely sports--the cotton gin--camp-meetings chapter ix. pedagogues and demagogues. education--colleges--school-days--william and mary--a substitute-- boarding around--rough diamonds--caste--george m. troup--a scotch indian--alexander mcgilvery--the mcintosh family--button gwinnett --general taylor--matthew talbot--jesse mercer--an exciting election chapter x. indian treaties and difficulties. the creeks--john quincy adams--hopothlayohola--indian oratory--sulphur springs--treaties made and broken--an independent governor--colonels john s. mcintosh, david emanuel twiggs, and duncan clinch--general gaines--christianizing the indians--cotton mather--expedient and principle--the puritanical snake chapter xi. political changes. aspirants for congress--a new organization--two parties--a protective tariff--united states bank--the american system--internal improvements --a galaxy of stars--a spartan mother's advice--negro-dealer-- quarter-races--cock-pitting--military blunders on both sides--abner green's daughter--andrew jackson--gwinn--poindexter--ad interim-- generals by nature as civil rulers chapter xii. gossip. unrequited love--popping the question--practical joking--satan let loose--rhea, but not rhea--teachings of nature--h.s. smith chapter xiii. influence of childhood. first impressions--fortune--mirabeau b. lamar--dr. alonzo church--julius cæsar--l.q.c. lamar--texan independence--colquitt--lumpkin--what a great man can do in one day--charles j. jenkins chapter xiv. a revolutionary veteran. tapping reeve--james gould--colonel benjamin talmadge--the execution of major andré--character of washington--a breach of discipline-- burr and hamilton--margaret moncrief--cowles meade chapter xv. change of government. governor wolcott--toleration--mr. monroe--private life of washington --thomas jefferson--the object and science of government--court etiquette--nature the teacher and guide in all things chapter xvi. party principles. origin of parties--federal and republican peculiarities--jefferson's principles and religion--democracy--virginia and massachusetts parties--war with france--sedition law--lyman beecher--the almighty dollar--"hail columbia" and "yankee doodle" chapter xvii. congress in its brightest days. missouri compromise--john randolph's juba--mr. macon--holmes and crawford--mr. clay's influence--james barbour--philip p. barbour-- mr. pinkney--mr. beecher, of ohio--"cuckoo, cuckoo!"--national roads --william lowndes--william roscoe--duke of argyle--louis mclean-- whig and democratic parties chapter xviii. french and spanish territory. settlers on the tombigbee and mississippi rivers--la salle--natchez --family apportionment--the hill country--hospitality--benefit of african slavery--capacity of the negro--his future chapter xix. the natchez traditions. natchez--mizezibbee; or, the parent of many waters--indian mounds-- the child of the sun--treatment of the females--poetic marriages-- unchaste maids and pure wives--walking archives--the profane fire-- alahoplechia--oyelape--the chief with a beard chapter xx. exploration of the mississippi valley. chicago--crying indians--chickasaws--de soto--feast of the great sun--cane-knives--love-stricken indian maiden--rape of the natchez --man's will--subjugation of the waters--the black man's mission--its decade chapter xxi. two strange beings. romance of western life--met by chance--parting on the levee--meeting at the sick-bed--convalescent--love-making--"home, sweet home"-- theological discussion--uncle tony--wild, yet gentle--an odd family--the adventurer speculates chapter xxii. the romance continued. father confessor--open confession--the unread will--old tony's narrative--squirrel shooting--the farewell unsaid--brothers-in-law-- farewell indeed chapter xxiii. when successful, right; when not, wrong. territorial mississippi--wilkinson--adams--jefferson--warren--claiborne--union of the factions--colonel wood--chew--david hunt--joseph dunbar--society of western mississippi--pop visits of a week to tea--the horse "tom" and his rider--our grandfathers' days--an emigrant's outfit--my share--george poindexter--a sudden opening of a court of justice--the caldwell and gwinn duel--jackson's opposition to the governor of mississippi chapter xxiv. the silver-tongued orator. john a. quitman--robert j. walker--robert h. adams--from a cooper-shop to the united states senate--bank monopoly--natchez fencibles--scott in mexico--thomas hall--sargent s. prentiss--vicksburg--single-speech hamilton--god-inspired oratory--drunk by absorption--killing a tailor--defence of wilkinson chapter xxv. a financial crash. a wonderful memory--a nation without debt--crushing the national bank--rise of state banks--inflated currency--grand flare-up--take care of yourself--commencing anew--failing to reach an obtuse heart--king alcohol does his work--prentiss and foote--love me, love my dog--a noble spirit overcome--charity covereth a multitude of sins chapter xxvi. acadian french settlers. sugar _vs._ cotton--acadia--a specimen of mississippi french life-- bayou la fourche--the great flood--theological arbitration--a rustic ball--old-fashioned weddings--creoles and quadroons--the planter--negro servants--gauls and anglo-normans--antagonism of races chapter xxvii. abolition of licensed gambling. baton rouge--florida parishes--dissatisfaction--where there's a will, there's a way--storming a fort on horseback--annexation at the point of the poker--raphignac and larry moore--fighting the "tiger"--carrying a practical joke too far--a silver tea-set chapter xxviii. three great judges. a speech in two languages--long sessions--matthews, martin, and porter --a singular will--a scion of ' --five hundred dollars for a little fun with the dogs--cancelling a note chapter xxix. americanizing louisiana. powers of louisiana courts--governor william c.c. claiborne--cruel o'reilly--lefrenier and noyan executed--a dutch justice--edward livingston--a caricature of general jackson--stephen mazereau--a speech in three languages--john r. grymes--settling a ca. sa.--batture property--a hundred thousand dollar fee chapter xxx. division of new orleans into municipalities. american hotel--introduction of steamboats--faubourg st. mary--canal street--st. charles hotel--samuel j. peters--james h. caldwell--fathers of the municipality--bernard marigny--an ass--a.b. roman chapter xxxi. blowing up the lioness. doctor clapp--views and opinions--universal destiny--alexander barrow --e.d. white--cross-breed, irish renegade, and acadian--a heroic woman--the ginseng trade--i-i-i'll d-d-die f-f-first chapter xxxii. gradual extinction of the red man. line creek fifty years ago--hopothlayohola--mcintosh--undying hatred--a big pow-wow--massacre of the mcintoshes--nehemathla--onchees--the last of the race--a brave warrior--a white man's friendship--the death-song--tuskega; or, jim's boy chapter xxxiii. fun, fact, and fancy. eugenius nesbitt--washington poe--yelverton p. king--preparing to receive the court--walton tavern, in lexington--billy springer, of sparta--freeman walker--an augusta lawyer--a georgia major--major walker's bed--uncle ned--discharging a hog on his own recognizance --morning admonition and evening counsel--a mother's request-- invocation--conclusion the memories of fifty years. chapter i. revolutionary traditions. middle georgia--colonel david love--his widow--governor dunmore-- colonel tarleton--bill cunningham--colonel fannin--my grandmother's bible--solomon's maxim applied--robertus love--the indian warrior-- dragon canoe--a buxom lass--general gates--marion--mason l. weems-- washington--"billy crafford." my earliest memories are connected with the first settlement of middle georgia, where i was born. my grandparents on the mother's side, were natives of north carolina; and, i believe, of anson county. my grandfather, colonel david love, was an active partisan officer in the service of the continental congress. he died before i was born; but my grandmother lived until i was seventeen years of age. as her oldest grandchild, i spent much of my time, in early boyhood, at her home near the head of shoulderbone creek in the county of green. she was a little, fussy, irish woman, a presbyterian in religion, and a very strict observer of all the duties imposed upon her sect, especially in keeping holy the sabbath day. all her children were grown up, married, and, in the language of the time, "gone away." she was in truth a lone woman, busying herself in household and farming affairs. with a few negroes, and a miserably poor piece of land, she struggled in her widowhood with fortune, and contrived, with north carolina frugality and industry, not only to make a decent living, but to lay up something for a rainy day, as she phrases it. in her visits to her fields and garden, i ran by her side and listened to stories of tory atrocities and whig suffering in north carolina during the revolution. the infamous governor dunmore, the cruel colonel tarleton, and the murderous and thieving bill cunningham and colonel fannin, both tories, and the latter natives to the soil, were presented graphically to me in their most hateful forms. in truth, before i had attained my seventh year, i was familiar with the history of the partisan warfare waged between whig and tory in north and south carolina, from to , from this good but garrulous old lady. i am not so certain she was good: she had a temper of her own, and a will and a way of her own; and was good-natured only when permitted this way without opposition, or cross. perhaps i retain a more vivid memory of these peculiar traits than of any others characterizing her. she permitted no contradiction, and exacted implicit obedience, and this was well understood by everything about her. she was strict and exacting, and had learned from solomon that to "spare the rod was to spoil the child." she read the bible only; and it was the only book in the house. this bible is still in existence; it was brought by my grandfather from europe, and is now covered with the skin of a fish which he harpooned on his return voyage, appropriating the skin to this purpose in . she had use for no other book, not even for an almanac, for at any moment she could tell the day of the month, the phase of the moon and the day general washington captured cornwallis; as also the day on which washington died. her reverence for the memory of my grandfather was idolatry. his cane hung with his hat just where he had habitually placed them during his latter days. his saddle and great sea-chest were preserved with equal care, and remained undisturbed from to , precisely as he left them. i ventured to remove the cane upon one occasion; and, with a little negro or two, was merrily riding it around in the great lumber-room of the house, where scarcely any one ever went, when she came in and caught me. the pear-tree sprouts were immediately put into requisition, and the whole party most mercilessly thrashed. from that day forward the old buckhorn-headed cane was an awful reminder of my sufferings. she was careful not to injure the clothing of her victims, and made her appeals to the unshielded cuticle, and with a heavy hand for a small woman. it was an ill-fashioned but powerfully-built house, and remains a monument to this day of sound timber and faithful work, braving time and the storm for eighty-two years. it was the first framed house built in the county, and i am sure, upon the poorest spot of land within fifty miles of where it stands. here was born my uncle, robertus love, who was the first white child born in the state west of the ogeechee river. colonel love, my grandfather, was eccentric in many of his opinions, and was a puritan in religious faith. oliver cromwell was his model of a statesman, and praise-god barebones his type of a christian. while he was a boy his father married a second time, and, as is very frequently the case, there was no harmony between the step-mother and step-son. their jarrings soon ripened into open war. to avoid expulsion from the paternal roof he "bundled and went." nor did he rest until, in the heart of the cherokee nation of indians, he found a home with dragon canoe, then the principal warrior of the nation, who resided in a valley amid the mountains, and which is now habersham county. with this chief, who at the time was young, he remained some four years, pursuing the chase for pleasure and profit. thus accumulating a large quantity of peltries, he carried them on pack-horses to charleston, and thence went with them to europe. after disposing of his furs, which proved profitable, he wandered on foot about europe for some eighteen months, and then, returning to london, he embarked for america. during all this time he had not heard from his family. arriving at charleston he made his way back to the neighborhood of his birth. he was ferried across the pedee river by a buxom lass, who captured his heart. finding his father dead, he gathered up the little patrimony left him in his father's will, should he ever return to claim it: he then returned to the neighborhood of his sweetheart of the ferry; and, being a fine-looking man of six feet three inches, with great blue eyes, round and liquid; and, othello-like, telling well the story of his adventures, he very soon beguiled the maiden's heart, and they were made one. about this time came off the battles of concord and lexington, inaugurating the revolution. it was not, however, until after the declaration of independence, that he threw aside the plough and shouldered the musket for american independence. that portion of north carolina in which he resided had been mainly peopled by emigrants from scotland. the war progressing into the south, found nearly all of these faithful in their allegiance to britain. the population of english descent, in the main, espoused the cause of the colonies. with his neighbors love was a favorite; he was very fleet in a foot-race, had remarkable strength; but, above all, was sagacious and strong of will. such qualities, always appreciated by a rude people, at that particular juncture brought their possessor prominently forward, and he was chosen captain of a company composed almost to a man of his personal friends and acquaintances. uniting himself with the regiment of colonel lynch, just then organized, and which was ordered to join the north carolina line, they marched at once to join general gates, then commanding in the south. under the command of this unfortunate general he remained until after the battle of camden. here gates experienced a most disastrous defeat, and the whole country was surrendered to the british forces. south carolina and north carolina, especially their southern portions, were entirely overrun by the enemy, who armed the tories and turned them loose to ravage the country. gates's army was disorganized, and most of those who composed it from the carolinas returned to their homes. between these and the scotch tories, as the loyalists were termed, there was a continual partisan strife, each party resorting to the most cruel murders, burning and destroying the homes and the property of each other. partisan bands were organized by each, and under desperate leaders did desperate deeds. it was then and there that marion and fanning became conspicuous, and were respectively the terror of whigs and tories. there were numerous others of like character, though less efficient and less conspicuous. the exploits of such bands are deemed beneath the dignity of history, and now only live in the memories of those who received them traditionally from the actors, their associates or descendants. those acts constitute mainly the tragic horrors of war, and evidence the merciless inhumanity of enraged men, unrestrained by civil or moral law. injuries he deems wanton prompt the passions of his nature to revenge, and he hastens to retaliate upon his enemy, with increased horrors, their savage brutalities. as the leader of a small band of neighbors who had united for protection and revenge, colonel love became conspicuous for his courage and cruelty. it was impossible for these, his associates, as for their tory neighbors and enemies, to remain at their homes, or even to visit them, except at night, and then most stealthily. the country abounds with swamps more or less dense and irreclaimable, which must always remain a hiding-place for the unfortunate or desperate. in these the little bands by day were concealed, issuing forth at night to seek for food or spoils. their families were often made the victims of revenge; and instances were numerous where feeble women and little children were slain in cold blood by neighbors long and familiarly known to each other, in retaliation of like atrocities perpetrated by their husbands, sons, or brothers. it was a favorite pastime with my grandmother, when the morning's work was done, to uncover her flax-wheel, seat herself, and call me to sit by her, and, after my childish manner, read to her from the "life of general francis marion," by mason l. weems, the graphic account of the general's exploits, by the venerable parson. there was not a story in the book that she did not know, almost as a party concerned, and she would ply her work of flax-spinning while she gave me close and intense attention. at times, when the historian was at fault in his facts--and, to say the truth, that was more frequently the case than comports with veracious history--she would cease the impelling motion of her foot upon the pedal of her little wheel, drop her thread, and, gently arresting the fly of her spool, she would lift her iron-framed spectacles, and with great gravity say: "read that again. ah! it is not as it happened, your grandfather was in that fight, and i will tell you how it was." this was so frequently the case, that now, when more than sixty years have flown, i am at a loss to know, if the knowledge of most of these facts which tenaciously clings to my memory, was originally derived from weems's book, or my grandmother's narrations. in these forays and conflicts, whenever my grandfather was a party, her information was derived from him and his associates, and of course was deemed by her authentic; and whenever these differed from the historian's narrative, his, of consequence, was untrue. finally, weems, upon one of his book-selling excursions, which simply meant disposing of his own writings, came through her neighborhood, and with the gravity of age, left verbally his own biography with mrs. mcjoy, a neighbor; this made him, as he phrased it, general washington's preacher. he was never after assailed as a lying author: but whenever his narrative was opposed to her memory, she had the excuse for him, that his informant had deceived him. to have seen general washington, even without having held the holy office of his preacher, sanctified in her estimation any and every one. she had seen him, and it was the especial glory of her life. yes, she had seen him, and remembered minutely his eyes, his hair, his mouth and his hands--and even his black horse, with a star in his face, and his one white foot and long, sweeping tail. so often did i listen to the story, that in after boyhood i came to believe i had seen him also, though his death occurred twenty days before i was born. my dear, good mother has often told me that but for an attack of ague, which kept the venerable lady from our home for a month or more, i should have been honored with bearing the old hero's name through life. so intent was she in this particular, that she never liked my being named after billy crafford (for so she pronounced his name) for whom the partiality of my father caused him to name me. few remain to remember the horrors of this partisan warfare. the very traditions are being obliterated by those of the recent civil war, so rife with scenes and deeds sufficiently horrible for the appetite of the curious in crime and cruelty. chapter ii. pioneer life. settlement of middle georgia--prowling indians--scouts and their dogs--classes of settlers--prominence of virginians--causes of distinction--clearing--log-rolling--frolics--teachers cummings and duffy--the schoolmaster's nose--flogging--emigration to alabama. the early settlement of middle georgia was principally by emigrants from virginia and north carolina. these were a rough, poor, but honest people, with little or no fortunes, and who were quite as limited in education as in fortune. their necessities made them industrious and frugal. lands were procured at the expense of surveying; the soil was virgin and productive; rude cabins, built of poles, constituted not only their dwellings but every necessary outbuilding. those who first ventured beyond the ogeechee generally selected some spot where a good spring of water was found, not overlooked by an elevation so close as to afford an opportunity to the indians, then very troublesome, to fire into the little stockade forts erected around these springs for their security against the secret attacks of the prowling and merciless creeks and cherokees. usually several families united in building and living in these forts. as soon as this protection was completed, the work of clearing away the surrounding forest was commenced, that the land should afford a field for cultivation. while thus employed, sentinels were stationed at such points in the neighborhood as afforded the best opportunity for descrying the approach of indians, and the watch was most careful. when those employed in hunting (for every community had its hunters) discovered, or thought they had discovered signs of the presence of the savages, scouts were immediately sent out to discover if they were lurking anywhere in the neighborhood. this was the most arduous and perilous duty of the pioneers, and not unfrequently the scout, or spy as he was usually termed, went to return no more. when seed-time came, corn, a small patch of cotton and another of flax were planted, and cultivation continued under the same surveillance. the dog, always the companion of man, was carefully trained to search for the prowling indians; and by daylight every morning the clearing, as the open lands were universally termed; was passed around by a cautious scout, always preceded by his dogs, who seemed as conscious of their duty and as faithful in its discharge as was their master. if he reported no indians, the work of cultivation commenced, and the sentinels repaired to their posts. these were usually changed whenever the slightest sign of indians anywhere in the country could be found, lest their posts might have been found and marked, and ambushed at night. yet, despite this prudent caution, many a sentinel perished at his post. the unerring arrow gave no alarm, and the sentinel slain, opened an approach for the savages; and not unfrequently parties at labor were thus surprised and shot in full view of those in the fort. occasionally an emigrant brought with him a slave or two: these were rich, and invariably were the leading men in the communities. those from virginia were more frequently possessed of this species of property than those from the carolinas, and, coming from an older country, had generally enjoyed better opportunities and were more cultivated. a common necessity harmonized all, and the state of society was a pure democracy. these communities were usually from twenty to fifty miles apart, and about them a nucleus was formed, inviting those who sought the new country for a home to locate in the immediate vicinity. security and the enjoyment of social intercourse were more frequently the incentives for these selections than the fertility of the soil or other advantages. one peculiarity was observable, which their descendants, in their emigration to the west, continue to this day to practise: they usually came due west from their former homes, and were sure to select, as nearly as possible, a new one in the same parallel, and with surroundings as nearly like those they had left as possible. with the north carolinian, good spring-water, and pine-knots for his fire, were the _sine qua non_. these secured, he went to work with the assiduity and perseverance of a beaver to build his house and open his fields. the virginians, less particular, but more ambitious, sought the best lands for grain and tobacco; consequently they were more diffused, and their improvements, from their superior wealth, were more imposing. wealth in all communities is comparative, and he who has only a few thousand dollars, where no one else has so much, is the rich man, and ever assumes the rich man's prerogatives and bearing. all experience has proved that as a man estimates himself, so in time will the community esteem him; and he who assumes to lead or dictate will soon be permitted to do so, and will become the first in prominence and influence in his neighborhood, county, or state. greatness commences humbly and progresses by assumption. the humble ruler of a neighborhood, like a pebble thrown into a pond, will continue to increase the circle of his influence until it reaches the limits of his county. the fathers speak of him, the children hear of him, his name is a household word; if he but assumes enough, in time he becomes the great man of the county; and if with impudence he unites a modicum of talent, well larded with a cunning deceit, it will not be long before he is governor or member of congress. it is not surprising, then, that in nearly every one of these communities the great man was a virginian. it has been assumed by the virginians that they have descended from a superior race, and this may be true as regards many families whose ancestors were of norman descent; but it is not true of the mass of her population; and for one descendant from the nobility and gentry of the mother country, there are thousands of pure anglo-saxon blood. it was certainly true, from the character and abilities of her public men, in her colonial condition and in the earlier days of the republic, she had a right to assume a superiority; but this, i fancy, was more the result of her peculiar institutions than of any superiority of race or greater purity of blood. i am far, however, from underrating the influence of blood. that there are species of the same race superior in mental as well as in physical formation is certainly true. the peculiar organization of the brain, its fineness of texture in some, distinguish them as mentally superior to others, as the greater development of bone and muscle marks the superiority of physical power. very frequently this difference is seen in brothers, and sometimes in families of the same parents--the males in some usurping all the mental acumen, and in others the females. why this is so, i cannot stop to speculate. virginia, in her many divisions of territory, was granted to the younger sons of the nobility and gentry of england. they came with the peculiar habits of their class, and located upon these grants, bringing with them as colonists their dependants in england, and retaining here all the peculiarities of caste. the former were the governing class at home, and asserted the privilege here; the latter were content that it should be so. in the formation of the first constitution for virginia, the great feature of a landed aristocracy was fully recognized in the organic law. the suffragist was the landed proprietor, and in every county where his possessions were this right attached. they recognized landed property as the basis of government, and demanded the right for it of choosing the lawmakers and the executors of the law. all power, and very nearly all of the wealth of the state, was in the hands of the landlords, and these selected from their own class or caste the men who were to conduct the government. to this class, too, were confined most of the education and learning in the new state; and in choosing for the legislature or for congress, state pride and the love of power prompted the selection of their brightest and best men. oratory was esteemed the first attribute of superior minds, and was assiduously cultivated. there were few newspapers, and the press had not attained the controlling power over the public mind as now. political information was disseminated chiefly by public speaking, and every one aspiring to lead in the land was expected to be a fine speaker. this method, and the manner of voting, forced an open avowal of political opinion. each candidate, upon the day of election, took his seat upon the bench of the judge in the county court-house, and the suffragist appeared at the bar, demanding to exercise his privilege in the choice of his representative. this was done by declaring the names of those he voted for. these peculiar institutions cultivated open and manly bearing, pride, and independence. there was little opportunity for the arts of the demagogue; and the elevation of sentiment in the suffragist made him despise the man, however superior his talents, who would attempt them. the voter's pride was to sustain the power of his state in the national councils, to have a great man for his governor; they were the representatives of his class, and he felt his own importance in the greatness of his representative. it is not to be wondered at, under these circumstances, that virginia held for many years the control of the government, furnishing presidents of transcendent abilities to the nation, and filling her councils with men whose talents and eloquence and proud and independent bearing won for them, not only the respect of the nation's representatives, but the power to control the nation's destinies, and to be looked upon as belonging to a superior race. there were wanting, however, two great elements in the nation's institutions, to sustain in its pride and efficiency this peculiar advantage, to wit, the entailment of estates, and the right of primogeniture. those landed estates soon began to be subdivided, and in proportion as they dwindled into insignificance, so began to perish the prestige of their proprietors. the institution of african slavery served for a long time to aid in continuing the aristocratic features of virginia society, though it conferred no legal privileges. as these, and the lands, found their way into many hands, the democratic element began to aspire and to be felt. the struggle was long and severe, but finally, in or , the democratic element triumphed, and a new constitution was formed, extending universal suffrage to white men. this degraded the constituent and representative alike, and all of virginia's power was soon lost in the councils of the nation. but the pride of her people did not perish with her aristocracy; this continued, and permeated her entire people. they preserved it at home, and carried it wherever they went. those whose consideration at home was at zero, became of the first families abroad, until virginia pride became a by-word of scorn in the western and more southern states. yet despite all this, there is greatness in the virginians: there is superiority in her people,--a loftiness of soul, a generosity of hospitality, a dignified patience under suffering, which command the respect and admiration of every appreciative mind. very soon after the revolution, the tide of emigration began to flow toward tennessee, kentucky, and georgia. those from virginia who sought new homes went principally to kentucky, as much because it was a part of the old dominion, as on account of climate and soil. those from north carolina and south carolina preferred tennessee, and what was then known as upper georgia, but now as middle georgia; yet there was a sprinkling here and there throughout georgia from virginia. many of these became leading men in the state, and their descendants still boast of their origin, and in plenary pride point to such men as william h. crawford and peter early as shining evidences of the superiority of virginia's blood. most of these emigrants, however, were poor; but where all were poor, this was no degradation. the concomitants of poverty in densely populated communities--where great wealth confers social distinction and frowns from its association the poor, making poverty humility, however elevated its virtues--were unknown in these new countries. the nobler virtues, combined with energy and intellect, alone conferred distinction; and i doubt if the world, ever furnished a more honest, virtuous, energetic, or democratic association of men and women than was, at the period of which i write, to be found constituting the population of these new states. from whatever cause arising, there certainly was, in the days of my early memory, more scrupulous truth, open frankness, and pure, blunt honesty pervading the whole land than seem to characterize its present population. it was said by nathaniel macon, of north carolina, that bad roads and fist-fights made the best militia on earth; and these may have been, in some degree, the means of moulding into fearless honesty the character of these people. they encountered all the hardships of opening and subduing the country, creating highways, bridges, churches, and towns with their public buildings. these they met cheerfully, and working with a will, triumphed. after months of labor, a few acres were cleared and the trees cut into convenient lengths for handling, and then the neighbors were invited to assist in what was called a log-rolling. this aid was cheerfully given, and an offer to pay for it would have been an insult. it was returned in kind, however, when a neighbor's necessities required. these log-rollings were generally accompanied with a quilting, which brought together the youth of the neighborhood; and the winding up of the day's work was a frolic, as the dance and other amusements of the time were termed. upon occasions like this, feats of strength and activity universally constituted a part of the programme. the youth who could pull down his man at the end of the hand-stick, throw him in a wrestle, or outstrip him in a footrace, was honored as the best man in the settlement, and was always greeted with a cheer from the older men, a slap on the shoulder by the old ladies, and the shy but approving smiles of the girls,--had his choice of partners in the dance, and in triumph rode home on horseback with his belle, the horse's consciousness of bearing away the championship manifesting itself in an erect head and stately step. the apparel of male and female was of home-spun, woven by the mothers and sisters, and was fashioned, i was about to say, by the same fair hands; but these were almost universally embrowned with exposure and hardened by toil. education was exceedingly limited: the settlements were sparse, and school-houses were at long intervals, and in these the mere rudiments of an english education were taught--spelling, reading, and writing, with the four elementary rules of arithmetic; and it was a great advance to grapple with the grammar of the language. as population and prosperity increased, their almost illiterate teachers gave place to a better class; and many of my georgia readers will remember as among these the old irish preachers, cummings, and that remarkable brute, daniel duffee. he was an irishman of the pat freney stripe, and i fancy there are many, with gray heads and wrinkled fronts, who can look upon the cicatrices resulting from his merciless blows, and remember that milesian malignity of face, with its toad-like nose, with the same vividness with which it presents itself to me to-day. yes, i remember it, and have cause. when scarcely ten years of age, in his little log school-house, the aforesaid resemblance forced itself upon me with such _vim_ that involuntarily i laughed. for this outbreak against the tyrant's rules i was called to his frowning presence. "what are you laughing at, you whelp?" was the rude inquiry. tremblingly i replied: "you will whip me if i tell you." "and you little devil, i will whip you if you don't," was his rejoinder, as he reached for his well-trimmed hickory, one of many conspicuously displayed upon his table. with truthful sincerity i answered: "father duffy, i was laughing to think how much your nose is like a frog." it was just after play-time, and i was compelled to stand by him and at intervals of ten minutes receive a dozen lashes, laid on with brawny irish strength, until discharged with the school at night. to-day i bear the marks of that whipping upon my shoulders and in my heart. but duffy was not alone in the strictness and severity of his rules and his punishments. children were taught to believe that there could be no discipline in a school of boys and girls without the savage brutality of the lash, and the teacher who met his pupils with a caressing smile was considered unworthy his vocation. learning must be thrashed into the tender mind; nothing was such a stimulus to the young memory as the lash and the vulgar, abusive reproof of the gentle and meritorious teacher. there was great eccentricity of character in all the conduct and language of duffy. he had his own method of prayer, and his own peculiar style of preaching, frequently calling out the names of persons in his audience whom it was his privilege to consider the chiefest of sinners, and to implore mercy for them in language offensive almost to decency. sometimes, in the presence of persons inimical to each other, he would ask the lord to convert the sinners and make the fools friends, first telling the lord who they were by name, to the no small amusement of his most christian audience; many of whom would in deep devotion respond with a sonorous "amen." from such a population sprang the present inhabitants of georgia; and by such men were they taught, in their budding boyhood, the rudiments of an english education;--such, i mean, of the inhabitants who still live and remember duffy, cummings, and mclean. they are few, but the children of the departed remember traditionally these and their like, in the schoolmasters of georgia from to . at the close of the war of - , a new impetus was given to everything throughout the south, and especially to education. the ambition for wealth seized upon her people, the high price of cotton favored its accumulation, and with it came new and more extravagant wants, new and more luxurious habits. the plain homespun jean coat gave way to the broad-cloth one; and the neat, turkey-red striped sunday frock of the belle yielded to the gaudy red calico one, and there was a sniff of aristocratic contempt in the upturned nose towards those who, from choice or necessity, continued in the old habits. material wealth augmented rapidly, and with it came all of its assumptions. the rich lands of alabama were open to settlement. the formidable indian had been humbled, and many of the wealthiest cultivators of the soil were commencing to emigrate to a newer and more fertile country, where smiling fortune beckoned them. the first to lead off in this exodus was the bibb family, long distinguished for wealth and influence in the state. the watkinses, the sheroos, and dearings followed: some to north, some to south alabama. w.w. bibb was appointed, by mr. madison, territorial governor of alabama, and was followed to the new el dorado by his brothers, thomas, john dandridge, and benajah, all men of substance and character. for a time this rage for a new country seemed to threaten georgia and south carolina with the loss of their best population. this probably would have been the result of the new acquisition, but, in its midst, the territory between the ocmulgee and chattahoochee was ceded by the indians, and afforded a new field for settlement, which effectually arrested this emigration at its flood. the new territory added to the dominion of georgia was acquired mainly through the energy and pertinacity of george m. troup, at the time governor of georgia. i have much to record of my memories concerning this new acquisition, but must reserve them for a new chapter. chapter iii. the georgia company. yazoo purchase--governor mathews--james jackson--burning of the yazoo act--development of free government--constitutional convention--slavery: its introduction and effects. the grant by the british government of the territory of georgia to general oglethorpe and company, comprised what now constitutes the entire states of georgia, alabama, and mississippi, except that portion of alabama and mississippi lying below the thirty-first degree of north latitude, which portions of those states were originally part of west florida. the french settlements extended up the mississippi, embracing both sides of that river above the mouth of red river, which discharges into the former in the thirty-first degree of north latitude. the river from the mouth of the bayou manshac, which left the river fourteen miles below baton rouge, on the east side, up to the thirty-first degree of north latitude, was the boundary line between west florida and louisiana. above this point the french claimed jurisdiction on both sides; but georgia disputed this jurisdiction over the east bank, and claimed to own from the thirty-first to the thirty-sixth degree of latitude. there were many settlements made by americans upon this territory at a very early day,--one at natchez, one at fort adams, and several on the tombigbee, the st. stephens, at mcintosh's bluff, and on bassett's creek. these settlements formed the nucleus of an american population in the states of mississippi and alabama. the lands bordering upon these rivers and their tributaries were known to be exceedingly fertile, and proffered inducements to settlers unequalled in all the south. speculation was very soon directed to these regions. a company was formed of citizens of georgia and virginia for the purchase of an immense tract of territory, including most of what is now mississippi and alabama. this company was known as the georgia company, and the territory as the yazoo purchase. it was a joint-stock company, and managed by trustees or directors. the object was speculation. it was intended to purchase from georgia this domain, then to survey it and subdivide it into tracts to suit purchasers. parties were delegated to make this purchase: this could only be done by the legislature and by special act passed for that purpose. the proposition was made, and met with formidable opposition. the scheme was a gigantic one and promised great results, and the parties concerned were bold and unscrupulous. they very soon ascertained that means other than honorable to either party must be resorted to to secure success. the members to be operated upon were selected, and the company's agents began the work. enough was made, by donations of stock and the direct payment of money by those interested in the scheme, to effect the passage of the act and secure the contract of purchase and sale. the opposition denied the power of the legislature to sell; asserting that the territory was sacred to the people of the state, and that those, in selecting their representatives, had never contemplated delegating any such powers as would enable them to dispose by sale of any part of the public domain; that it was the province of the legislature, under the constitution, to pass laws for the general good alone, and not to barter or sell any portion of the territory of the state to be separated from the domain and authority of the state. they insisted that the matter should be referred to the people, who at the next election of members to the legislature should declare their will and intention as to this sale. on the other side they were met with the argument, that the legislature was sovereign and the supreme power of the state, and might rightfully do anything, not forbidden in the constitution, pertaining to sovereignty, which they in their wisdom might deem essential to the general welfare; that the territory included in the grant to oglethorpe and company was entirely too extended, and that by a sale a new state or states would be formed, which would increase the political power of the south--especially in the united states senate, where she greatly needed representation to counterbalance the influence of the small states of the north in that body. these arguments were specious, but it was well understood they were only meant to justify a vote for the measure which corruption had secured. the act was passed by a bare majority of both branches of the legislature, and the sale consummated. before the passage of this measure, the will of the people had been sufficiently expressed in the indignant outburst of public feeling, as to leave no doubt upon the minds of the corrupt representatives that they had not only forfeited the public confidence, but had actually imperilled their personal safety. upon the return to their homes, after the adjournment, they were not only met with universal scorn, but with inappeasable rage. some of the most guilty were slain; some had their houses burned over their heads, and others fled the state; one was pursued and killed in virginia, and all not only entailed upon themselves infamy, but also upon their innocent posterity; and to-day, to be known as the descendant of a yazoo man is a badge of disgrace. the deed, however, was done: how to undo it became an agitating question. the legislature next ensuing was elected pledged to repeal the odious act; and upon its convening, all made haste to manifest an ardent zeal in this work. at the time of the passage of this act, the legislature sat in augusta, and the governor who by the act was empowered to make the sale was george mathews. mathews was an irishman by birth, and was very illiterate, but a man of strong passions and indomitable will. during the war of the revolution he had, as a partisan officer, gained some distinction, and in the upper counties exercised considerable influence. many anecdotes are related of his intrepidity and daring, and quite as many of his extraordinary orthography. at the battle of eutaw springs, in south carolina, he was severely wounded, at the moment when the continental forces were retiring to a better position. a british soldier, noticing some vestiges of a uniform upon him, lifted his musket to stab him with the bayonet; his commander caught the weapon, and angrily demanded, "would you murder a wounded officer? forward, sir!" mathews, turning upon his back, asked, "to whom do i owe my life?" "if you consider it an obligation, sir, to me," answered the lieutenant. mathews saw the uniform was british, and furiously replied, "well, sir, i want you to know that i scorn a life saved by a d----d briton." the writer had the anecdote from a distinguished citizen of georgia, who was himself lying near by, severely wounded, and who in one of his sons has given to georgia a governor. general wade hampton, george walker, william longstreet, zachariah cox, and matthew mcallister were the parties most active in procuring the passage of the yazoo act. that bribery was extensively practised, there is no doubt, and the suspicion that it even extended to the executive gained credence as a fact, and was the cause of preventing his name ever being given to a county in the state: and it is a significant fact of this suspicion, and also of the great unpopularity of the act, that to this day every effort to that end has failed. no act of governor mathews ever justified any such suspicion. as governor of the state, and believing the sovereign power of the state was in the legislature, and consequently the power to dispose of the public domain, he only approved the act as the state's executive, and fulfilled the duties assigned to him by the law. but suspicion fastened upon him, and its effects remain to this day. the pertinacious discussions between the parties purchasing and those opposed to the state's selling and her authority to sell, created immense excitement, and pervaded the entire state. the decision of the supreme court of the united states was invoked in the case of fletcher _versus_ peck, which settled the question of the power of the state to sell the public domain, and the validity of the sale made by the state to the georgia company. in the meantime the legislature of georgia had repealed the law authorizing the governor to sell. this decision of the supreme court brought about an amicable adjustment of the difficulties between the company and the state, with the government of the united states as a third party. the excitement was not so much on account of the sale, though this was bitter, as of the corruption which procured it. the test of public confidence and social respect was opposition to the yazoo fraud. every candidate at the ensuing election for members of the legislature was compelled to declare his position on the subject of repealing this act, and, almost to a man, every one who believed in the power of the state to sell, and that rights had vested in the purchasers and their assigns, was defeated. james jackson, a young, ardent, and talented man, who had in very early life, by his abilities and high character, so won the public confidence that he had been elected governor of the state, when he was ineligible because of his youth, was at this time a member of congress. he made a tour through the state, preaching a crusade against the corrupt legislature, and denouncing those who had produced and profited by this corruption, inflaming the public mind almost to frenzy. he resided in savannah, and was at the head of the republican or jeffersonian party, which was just then being organized in opposition to the administration of john adams, the successor of washington. his parents had emigrated from england, and fixed their home in savannah, where young jackson was born, and where, from the noble qualities of his nature, he had become immensely popular. talent and virtuous merit at that period was the passport to public confidence. had it continued to be, we should never have known the present deplorable condition of the country, with the government sinking into ruin ere it has reached the ten o'clock of national life. his shibboleth was, that the disgrace of the state must be wiped out by the repeal of the yazoo act; and _repeal_ rang from every mouth, from savannah to the mountains. jackson resigned his seat in congress, and was elected a member of the legislature. immediately upon the assembling of this body, a bill was introduced repealing the odious act, and ordering the records containing it to be burned. this was carried out to the letter. jackson, heading the legislature and the indignant public, proceeded in procession to the public square in louisville, jefferson county, where the law and the fagots were piled; when, addressing the assembled multitude, he denounced the men who had voted for the law as bribed villains--those who had bribed them, and the governor who had signed it; and declared that fire from heaven only could sanctify the indignation of god and man in consuming the condemned record of accursed crime. then, with a promethean or convex glass condensing the sun's rays, he kindled the flame which consumed the records containing the hated yazoo act. jackson was a man of ordinary height, slender, very erect in his carriage, with red hair and intensely blue eyes. his manners were courteous, affable, and remarkable for a natural dignity which added greatly to his influence with the people. he was the model from which was grown that chivalry and nobility of soul and high bearing so characteristic of the people of southern georgia. in truth, the essence of his character seemed subtilly to pervade the entire circle in which he moved, inspiring a purity of character, a loftiness of honor, which rebuked with its presence alone everything that was low, little, or dishonest. subsequently he was elected governor of the state, bringing all the qualities of his nature into the administration of the office; he gave it a dignity and respectability never subsequently degraded, until an unworthy son of south carolina, the pus and corruption of unscrupulous party, was foisted into the position. strength of will, a ripe judgment, and purity of intention, were the great characteristics distinguishing him in public life, and these have endeared his name to the people of georgia, where now remain many of his descendants, some of whom have filled high positions in the state and united states, and not one has ever soiled the honor or tarnished the name with an act unworthy a gentleman. the revolutionary struggle called out all the nobler qualities nature has bestowed on man, in those who conceived the desire and executed the determination to be free. the heroic was most prominent: woman seemed to forget her feebleness and timidity, and boldly to dare, and with increased fortitude to bear every danger, every misfortune, with a heroism scarcely compatible with the delicacy of her nature. to this, or some other inexplicable cause, nature seemed to resort in preparation for coming events. in every state there came up men, born during the war or immediately thereafter, of giant minds--men seemingly destined to form and give direction to a new government suited to the genius of the people and to the physical peculiarities of the country where it was to control the destinies of hundreds of millions of human beings yet unborn, and where the soil was virgin and unturned, which nature had prepared for their coming. this required a new order of men. these millions were to be free in the fullest sense of the word; they were only to be controlled by laws; and the making of these laws was to be their own work, and nature was responding to the exigencies of man. the early probation of independent government taught the necessity of national concentration as to the great features of government, at the same time demonstrating the importance of keeping the minor powers of government confined to the authority of the states. in the assembling of a convention for this purpose, which grew out of the free action of the people of each state, uninfluenced by law or precedent, we see congregated a body of men combining more talent, more wisdom, and more individuality of character than perhaps was ever aggregated in any other public body ever assembled. from this convention of sages emanated the constitution of the united states; and most of those constituting this body reassembled in the first congress, which sat as the supreme power in the united states. it was these men and their coadjutors who inaugurated and gave direction to the new government. under its operations, the human mind and human soul seemed to expand and to compass a grasp it had scarcely known before. there were universal content and universal harmony. the laws were everywhere respected, and everywhere enforced. the freedom of thought, and the liberty of action unrestrained, stimulated an ambition in every man to discharge his duties faithfully to the government, and honestly in all social relations. there was universal security to person and property, because every law-breaker was deemed a public enemy, and not only received the law's condemnation, but the public scorn. under such a government the rapid accumulation of wealth and population was a natural consequence. the history of the world furnishes no example comparable with the progress of the united states to national greatness. the civilized world appeared to feel the influence of her example and to start anew in the rivalry of greatness. her soil's surplus products created the means of a widely extended commerce, and americans can proudly refer to the eighty years of her existence as a period showing greater progress in wealth, refinement, the arts and sciences, and human liberty, than was ever experienced in any two centuries of time within the historical period of man's existence. my theme expands, and i am departing from the purposes of this work; yet i cannot forbear the expression of opinion as to the causes of this result. i know i shall incur the deepest censure from the professors of a mawkish philanthropy, and a hypocritical religion which is cursing with its cant the very sources of this unparalleled progress, this unexampled prosperity. slavery was introduced into the colonies by english merchants about two centuries since: this was to supply a necessity--labor--for the purpose of developing the resources of this immense and fertile country. the african was designed by the creator to subserve this purpose. his centre of creation was within the tropics, and his physical organization fitted him, and him alone, for field labor in the tropical and semi-tropical regions of the earth. he endures the sun's heat without pain or exhaustion in this labor, and yet he has not nor can he acquire the capacity to direct profitably this labor. it was then the design of the creator that this labor should be controlled and directed by a superior intelligence. in the absence of mental capacity, we find him possessed of equal physical powers with any other race, with an amiability of temper which submits without resistance to this control. we find him, too, without moral, social, or political aspirations, contented and happy in the condition of servility to this superior intelligence, and rising in the scale of humanity to a condition which under any other circumstances his race had never attained. i may be answered that this labor can be had from the black as a freeman as well as in the condition of a slave. to this i will simply say, experience has proved this to be an error. such is the indolence and unambitious character of the negro that he will not labor, unless compelled by the apprehension of immediate punishment, to anything approaching his capacity for labor. his wants are few, they are easily supplied, and when they are, there is no temptation which will induce him to work. he cares nothing for social position, and will steal to supply his necessities, and feel no abasement in the legal punishment which follows his conviction; nor is his social status among his race damaged thereby. as a slave to the white man, he becomes and has proved an eminently useful being to his kind--in every other condition, equally conspicuous as a useless one. the fertility of the soil and the productions of the tropical regions of the earth demonstrate to the thinking mind that these were to be cultivated and made to produce for the uses and prosperity of the human family. the great staples of human necessity and human luxury are produced here in the greatest abundance, and the great majority of these nowhere else. the white man, from his physical organization, cannot perform in these regions the labor necessary to their production. his centre of creation is in the temperate zones, and only there can he profitably labor in the earth's cultivation. but his mental endowments enable him to appropriate all which nature has supplied for the necessities of life and the progress of his race. he sees and comprehends in nature the designs of her creator: these designs he develops, and the consequence is a constant and enlightened progress of his race, and the subjection of the physical world to this end. he finds the soil, the climate, the production, and the labor united, and he applies his intelligence to develop the design of this combination; and the consequence has been the wonderful progress of the last two centuries. i hold it as a great truth that nature points to her uses and ends; that to observe these and follow them is to promote the greatest happiness to the human family; and that wherever these aims are diverted or misdirected, retrogression and human misery are the consequence. in all matters, experience is a better test than speculation; and to surrender a great practical utility to a mere theory is great folly. but it has been done, and we abide the consequences. in all nations, a spurious, pretentious religion has been the _avant-coureur_ of their destruction. in their inception and early progress this curse exercises but slight influence, and their growth is consequently healthy and vigorous. all nations have concealed this cancerous ulcer, sooner or later to develop for their destruction. these wear out with those they destroy, and a new or reformed religion is almost always accompanied with new and vigorous developments in a new and progressive government. the shackles which have paralyzed the mind, forbidding its development, are broken; the unnatural superstition ceases to circumscribe and influence its operations; and thus emancipated, it recovers its elasticity and springs forward toward the perfection of the creator. rescued from these baleful influences, the new organization is vigorous and rapid in its growth, yielding the beneficent blessings natural to the healthful and unabused energies of the mind. but with maturity and age the webs of superstition begin to fasten on the mind; priests become prominent, and as is their wont, the moment they shackle the mind, they reach out for power, and the chained disciple of their superstition willingly yields, under the vain delusion that he shares and participates in this power as a holy office for the propagation of his creed--and retrogression commences. the effects of african slavery in the united states, upon the condition of both races, was eminently beneficial to both. in no condition, and under no other circumstances, had the african made such advances toward civilization: indeed, i doubt if he has not attained in this particular to the highest point susceptible to his nature. he has increased more rapidly, and his aspirations have become more elevated, and his happiness more augmented. with his labor directed by the intelligence of the white race, the prosperity of the world has increased in a ratio superior to any antecedent period. the production of those staples which form the principal bases of commerce has increased in a quadruple ratio. cotton alone increased so rapidly as to render its price so far below every other article which can be fashioned into cloth, that the clothing and sheeting of the civilized world was principally fabricated from it. the rapidity of its increased production was only equalled by the increase of wealth and comfort throughout the world. it regulates the exchanges almost universally. it gave, in its growth, transportation, and manufacture, employment to millions, feeding and clothing half of europe--increasing beyond example commercial tonnage, and stimulating the invention of labor-saving machinery--giving a healthy impulse to labor and enterprise in every avocation, and intertwining itself with every interest, throughout the broad expanse of civilization over the earth. to cotton, more than to any other one thing, is due the railroad, steamboat, and steamship, the increase of commerce, the rapid accumulation of fortunes, and consequently the diffusion of intelligence, learning, and civilization. sugar, too, from the same cause, ceased to be a luxury, and became a necessity in the economy of living: coffee, too, became a stimulating beverage at every meal, instead of a luxury only to be indulged on rare occasions. how much the increased production of these three articles added to the commerce and wealth of the world during the last two centuries, and especially the last, is beyond computation. how much of human comfort and human happiness is now dependent upon their continued production, and in such abundance as to make them accessible to the means of all, may well employ the earnest attention of those who feel for the interest and happiness of their kind most. if these results have followed the institution of african slavery, can it be inhuman and sinful? is it not rather an evidence that the creator so designed? but this is not all this institution has effected. besides its pecuniary results, it has inspired in the superior race a nobility of feeling, resulting from a habit of command and a sense of independence, which is peculiar to privileged orders of men in civilized society. this feeling is manifested in high bearing and sensitive honor, a refinement of sentiment and chivalrous emprise unknown to communities without caste. this is to be seen in the absence of everything little or mean. a noble hospitality, a scorn of bargaining, and a lofty yet eminently deferential deportment toward females: in this mould it has cast southern society, and these traits made the southern gentleman remarkable, wherever his presence was found. these were the men who led in the formation of the government of the united states, and who gave tone and character to her legislative assembly, so long as they held control of the government. a peer among these was james jackson, and many of his confederates, of whom i shall have occasion to speak in the progress of this work. chapter iv. political disputations. baldwin--a yankee's political stability--the yazoo question--party feuds and fights--deaf and dumb ministers--clay--jackson--buchanan-- calhoun--cotton and free-trade--the clay and randolph duel. among the early immigrants into georgia were abraham baldwin and william h. crawford. baldwin was from connecticut, crawford from virginia. baldwin was a man of liberal education, and was destined for the ministry; indeed, he had taken orders, and was an officiating clergyman for some time in his native state. his family was english, and has given many distinguished men to the nation. after he arrived in georgia, where he came to engage in his vocation, he very soon ascertained his profession was not one which in a new country promised much profit or distinction; and possessing in an eminent degree that yankee "_cuteness_" which is quick to discover what is to the interest of its possessor, he abandoned the pulpit for the forum, and after a brief probation in a law office at nights and a school-house by day, he opened an office, and commenced the practice of law in augusta. he had been educated a federalist in politics, and had not concealed his sentiments in his new home. mr. jefferson and his political principles were extremely popular in georgia, and though there were some distinguished federalists in augusta who were leaders in her society, their number in the state was too insignificant to hold out any prospect of preferment to a young, talented, and ambitious aspirant for political distinction. baldwin was not slow to discover this, and, with the facile nature of his race, abandoned his political creed, as he had his professional pursuits. he saw crawford was rising into public notice, and he knew his ability, and with characteristic impudence he thrust himself forward, and very soon was made a member of congress. here he was true to his last love, and became a leading member of the republican party. by his conduct in this matter he made himself odious to his new england friends, who were unsparing of their abuse because of his treachery. for this he cared very little; but bore well in mind that "the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church," and that the hate of the federalists was the passport to republican favor. his zeal was that of the new convert, and it won for him the confidence of his party, and rapid preferment in the line of distinction. he was a man of decided abilities, and seemed destined to high distinction; but dying early, a member of the united states senate, his hopes and aspirations here terminated. the state has honored and perpetuated his name by giving it to the county wherein is situated her seat of government. crawford, like baldwin, taught, and studied law at the same time. he was usher in a school taught by his life-long friend, judge yates. when admitted to practise law, he located in the little village of lexington, in the county of oglethorpe, and very soon was not only the leading lawyer, but the leading man of all the up-country of georgia. eminence is always envied: this was conspicuously the fortune of crawford. the population of the state was increasing rapidly, and young aspirants for fame and fortune were crowding to where these were promised most speedily. the yazoo question had created deep animosities. general elijah clarke, and his son john, subsequently governor of the state, were charged with complicity in this great fraud. the father had distinguished himself in repelling the indians in their various forays upon the frontiers, and was a representative man. with strong will and distinguished courage, he, without much talent, was conspicuous among a people who were, like himself, rude, unlettered, but daring, and abounding in strong common-sense. there was a young man at the same time, a devoted friend of young clarke, and follower of his father: he was an emigrant from one of the middle states. violent in his character, and incautious in the use of language, he very soon became offensive to his opponents, and sought every opportunity to increase the bad feeling with which he was regarded. siding with the yazoo company, he soon made himself odious to their enemies. the parties of republicans and federalists were bitter toward each other, and feuds were leading to fights, and some of these of most deadly character. the conflicts with the indians had kept alive the warlike spirit which the partisan warfare of the revolution had cultivated at the south, and no virtue was so especially regarded by these people as that of personal courage. the consequence was that no man, whatever his deportment or qualifications, could long fill the public eye without distinguishing himself for the possession of personal bravery. the clarkes were the undisputed leaders of public opinion in the up-country, until crawford came, and, by his great abilities and remarkable frankness of manner, won away to his support, and to the support of his opinions, a large majority of the people. this was not to be borne; and young van allen was willingly thrust forward to test the courage of crawford. duelling was the honorable method of settling all difficulties between gentlemen, and crawford was to be forced into a duel. if he refused to fight, he was ruined. this, however, he did not do; and van allen was slain in the affair. this but whetted the rage of the clarkes, and john clarke was not long in finding an excuse to call to the field his hated foe. in this duel crawford was shot through the left wrist, which partially disabled that arm for life. but this did not heal the animosity; its rancor became contagious, and involved the people of the state almost to a man; nor did it end until both clarke and crawford were in the grave. the history and consequences of this feud, and the two factions which grew out of it, would be the history of georgia for more than forty years. each had an army of followers; and all the talent of the state was divided between and leading these factions. there were many young men of decided talent rising into distinction in the professions, who were of necessity absorbed by these factions, and whose whole subsequent career was tainted with the ignoble prejudices arising out of this association. among the most prominent and talented of these was john forsyth, peter early, george m. troup, the man _sans peur, sans reproche_, thomas w. cobb, stephen upson, duncan g. campbell, the brother-in-law of clarke, and personally and politically his friend, and who, from the purity of his character and elevated bearing, was respected, trusted, and beloved by all who knew him; freeman walker, john m. dooly, augustus clayton, stephen w. harris, and eli s. sherter, perhaps mentally equal to any son of georgia. with the exception of upson and troup, these were all natives of the state. upson was from connecticut, and was the son of a button-maker at watertown, in that state. he was a thorough yankee in all the qualities of perseverance, making and saving money. he was a pure man, stern and talented; and as a lawyer, was scarcely equalled in the state. he and cobb were students, and _protégés_ of crawford, and both signalized their whole lives by a devotion, amounting almost to fanaticism, to mr. crawford and his fortunes. george michael troup was born at mcintosh's bluff, on the tombigbee river, in the state of alabama. his father was an englishman, who, during the revolution, removed to the place since called mcintosh's bluff. mr. crawford soon became prominent as a politician, and adopting the party and principles of jefferson, was transferred in early life to the councils of the nation. in the united states senate he was the compeer of felix grundy, john c. calhoun, harrison gray otis, rufus king, daniel d. tompkins, william b. giles, henry clay, and many others of less distinction; and was the especial friend of those remarkable men, nathaniel macon and john randolph. at this period, there was an array of talent in congress never equalled before or since. the aggressions of english cruisers upon our commerce, and the impressing of our seamen into the english service, had aroused the whole nation, and especially the south; and the fiery talent of this section was called by the people, breathing war, into the national councils. crawford was in the senate from georgia, and was a war-man. john forsyth, john c. calhoun, david r. williams, george m. troup, john randolph, philip doddridge, james barbour, henry clay, and william lomax from south carolina, were all comparatively young men. lowndes, calhoun, clay, and troup were little more than thirty years of age, and yet they became prominent leaders of their party, exercising a controlling influence over the public mind, and shaping the policy of the government. crawford was the mentor of this ardent band of lofty spirits--stimulating and checking, as occasion might require, the energies and actions of his young compeers. so conspicuous was he for talent, wisdom, and statesmanship, that he was proposed by the republican party as a proper person to succeed mr. madison; and nothing prevented his receiving the nomination of that party but his refusal to oppose mr. monroe. his magnanimity was his misfortune. had he been nominated, he would have been elected without opposition. the golden opportunity returned no more. he had succeeded chancellor livingston as minister to france, and of these two, napoleon said "the united states had sent him two plenipotentiaries--the first was deaf, the latter dumb." livingston was quite deaf, and crawford could not speak french. at the court of versailles, he served faithfully and efficiently the interests of his country, and returned with increased popularity. he filled, under mr. monroe, the office of secretary of war for a short time, and then was transferred to the secretaryship of the treasury. in the cabinet of mr. monroe there were three aspirants for the presidency: adams, crawford, and calhoun. between crawford and calhoun a feud arose, which was mainly the cause of mr. calhoun's name being withdrawn as a candidate, and the substitution of that of general jackson. crawford was one of the three highest returned to the house, and from whom a choice was to be made. some twelve months anterior to the election he was stricken with paralysis; and both body and mind so much affected that his friends felt that it would be improper to elect him. nevertheless he continued a candidate until mr. adams was chosen. mr. clay had been voted for as a fourth candidate, but not receiving electoral votes enough, failed to be returned to the house. being at the time a member of the house of representatives, it was supposed he held the control of the western vote; and consequently the power to elect whom he pleased. mr. clay was a great admirer of mr. crawford, though their intimacy had been somewhat interrupted by a personal difficulty between mr. randolph and mr. clay. mr. randolph being an especial friend and constant visitor at mr. crawford's, it would have been unpleasant to both parties to meet at his house. only a few years anterior to mr. clay's death, and when he was visiting new orleans, the writer had frequent interviews with him, and learned that he preferred mr. crawford to either adams or jackson; and was only prevented voting for him by the prostration and hopeless condition of his health. the political friends of mr. clay from the west knew of this preference, and would have acted with him, only upon condition that mr. crawford should make him a member of his cabinet. this was communicated to mr. clay, who assigned his reasons for declining to vote for mr. crawford, and avowed his intention of giving his vote for mr. adams. upon this announcement, it was urged upon mr. clay that mr. adams was uncommitted upon the policy which he had inaugurated as the american system; that he stood pledged to the country for its success; and that, without some pledge from mr. adams upon this point, he would be hazarding too much to give him his support--for this would certainly make him president. mr. clay's reply was: "i shall, as a matter of necessity, give my vote for mr. adams: mr. crawford's health puts him out of the question, and we are compelled to choose between adams and jackson. my opinion with regard to general jackson is before the nation, it remains unaltered. i can never give a vote for any man for so responsible a position whose only claim is military fame. jackson's violent temper and unscrupulous character, independent of his want of experience in statesmanship, would prevent my voting for him. i shall exact no pledge from mr. adams, but shall vote for him, and hold myself at liberty to support or oppose his administration, as it shall meet my approval or disapproval." mr. adams was elected; and the friends of mr. clay insisted that he should accept the position of secretary of state in the new cabinet, which was tendered him by mr. adams. mr. clay thought it indelicate to do so. whether true or not, the nation awarded to him the making of mr. adams president. general jackson had received a larger vote in the electoral colleges than adams, and his friends urged this as a reason that he was more acceptable to the nation, and the voting for adams on the part of clay and his friends was a palpable disregard of the popular will; and that clay had violated all his antecedents, and had thus deserted the principles of the republican party. the friends of mr. crawford were silent until the organization of the new cabinet. there had been a breach of amicable relations between crawford and jackson for some years, and of consequence between their party friends; and it was supposed from this cause that mr. crawford would unite in the support of the administration; and when it was known that clay had accepted the premiership, this was deemed certain, from the friendship long existing between clay and himself. the terrible paralysis which had prostrated mr. crawford extended to his mind, and he had ceased to hold the influence with his friends as controller, and had become the instrument in their hands. general jackson received a hint that it would be well to have healed the breach between himself and crawford. this it was supposed came from forsyth, and it is further believed this was prompted by van buren. it may or may not have been so: mr. jackson's acuteness rarely required hints from any one to stimulate or prompt to action its suggestions. all washington city was astounded, one sunday morning, at seeing the carriage of jackson pull up at the residence of mr. crawford; for their quarrel was known to every one, and it was heralded through the newspapers that a reconciliation had taken place between these great men. the interview was a protracted one: what occurred can only be known by subsequent developments in the political world. van buren had supported crawford to the last extremity, and was greatly respected by him. his intense acuteness scented the prey afar off. mr. calhoun had been elected by the electoral colleges vice-president, and this position, it was thought, notwithstanding his devotion to jackson, would identify him with the administration. he was young, talented, extremely popular, ambitious, and aspiring, and it was the opinion of all that he would urge his claims to the succession. the indignation which burst from the southern and middle states, and from many of the western, at mr. clay's course, and the great unpopularity of the name of adams, was an assurance that without great changes in public opinion mr. adams' administration would be confined to one term. mr. crawford was out of the question for all time, and it was apparent the contest was to be between calhoun, clay, and jackson. they had all belonged to the jeffersonian school of politics--had grown upon the nation's confidence rapidly through their support of and conducting the war to its glorious termination. but this party was now completely disrupted; and from its elements new parties were to be formed. it only survived the dissolution of the federal party a short time, and, for the want of opposition from without, discord and dissolution had followed. the political world was completely chaotic--new interests had arisen. the war had forced new england to manufacturing; it had established the policy of home production, and home protection; the agricultural interest of the west was connected with the manufacturing interest of the north, and was to be her consumer; but the planting interest of the south was deemed antagonistic to them. her great staple, forming almost the sole basis of the foreign commerce of the country, demanded, if not free trade, an exceedingly liberal policy toward those abroad who were her purchasers. the war had given a new impetus to trade, new channels had been opened, the manufacture of cotton in england had become a source of wealth to the nation, and was rapidly increasing. america was her source of supply, and was the great consumer of her fabrics, and this fact was stimulating the growth of cotton into an activity which indicated its becoming the leading interest of the south, if not of the nation. the course of trade made it the great competitor of home manufactures: this would seem unnatural, but it was true--the one demanding protection, the other free trade. the source of supply of the raw material to both was the same, and america the great consumer for both. protection secured the home market to the home manufacturer, compelling the consumer to pay more, and sell for less, by excluding the foreign manufacturer from the market, or imposing such burdens, by way of duties, as to compel him to sell at higher prices than would be a just profit on his labor and skill under the operation of free trade, and which should exempt from his competition the home manufacturer in the american market. all these facts were within the purview of the sagacious politicians of the day; and were evidently the elements of new parties. mr. clay had already given shape to his future policy, and had identified the new administration with it. it was certain the south with great unanimity would be in opposition, and the sagacity of van buren discovered the necessity of uniting the friends of jackson and crawford. should he, after feeling the political pulse of his own people, conclude to unite with the opposition, such a union would destroy mr. clay in the south, but might greatly strengthen mr. calhoun; his destruction, however, must be left to the future. he was not long in determining. the reconciliation of crawford and-jackson made the union of their friends no very difficult matter. mr. randolph, mr. macon, mr. forsyth, and mr. cobb had expressed themselves greatly gratified at this restoration of amity; and at an informal meeting of their friends, randolph said, in allusion to this adjustment: "i have no longer a fear that the seat first graced by virginia's chosen sons will ever be disgraced by a renegade child of hers." soon after the inauguration of mr. adams, and the adjournment of congress, the nation was startled with the charge of corruption in the election of mr. adams. at first this was vague rumor. mr. clay was charged by the press throughout the country with bargaining with the friends of adams, to cast his vote, and carry his influence to his support, upon the condition of his (clay's) appointment to the premiership in the administration, should adams be elected. there was no responsible name for this charge; but at the ensuing session of congress, a member from pennsylvania, george creemer, uttered from his seat the charge in direct terms. this seemed to give assurance of the truth of this damaging accusation. there was no public denial from mr. clay. the press in his support had from the first treated the story as too ridiculous to be noticed other than by a flat denial; but the circumstances were sufficiently plausible to predicate such a slander, and the effect upon mr. clay was beginning to be felt seriously by his friends. in the mean time, rumors reached the popular ear that the proofs of its veracity were in the hands of general jackson, whose popularity was running through the country with the warmth and rapidity of a fire upon the prairies. there was now a responsible sponsor, and mr. clay at once addressed a note to creemer, demanding his authority for the charge. this was answered, and general jackson's was the name given, as his authority. mr. clay sent his friend, general leslie combs, with a note to jackson, with a copy of creemer's communication. combs was a weak, vain man, and so full of the importance of his mission that he made no secret of his object in visiting jackson at the hermitage; and it was soon running through the country in the party press, each retailing the story as he had heard it, or as his imagination and party bias desired it. it was soon current that mr. clay had challenged general jackson, and a duel was soon to occur between these distinguished men. general jackson, however, gave as his author, james buchanan, of pennsylvania. in turn, mr. buchanan was called upon by clay, but he denied ever having made any such communication to general jackson; at the same time, making certain statements under the seal of secrecy to mr. letcher, clay's friend. what these revelations were will never be known: death has set his seal on all who knew them; and no revelation disclosed them in time. long after this interview between letcher and buchanan, the former called on the latter, and asked to be relieved from this imputation, and for permission to give to the public these statements; but mr. buchanan peremptorily refused. mr. letcher insisted that they were important to the reputation of more than mr. clay: still buchanan refused; and to this day the question of veracity remains unsettled between jackson and buchanan. the public have, however, long since declared that general jackson was too brave a man to lie. toward the close of mr. clay's life, one carter beverly, of virginia, wrote mr. clay some account of the part he himself had taken in the concoction of this slander, craving his forgiveness. this letter was received by mr. clay while a visitor at the home of the writer, and read to him: it dissipated all doubts upon the mind of mr. clay, if any remained, of the fact of the whole story being the concoction of buchanan. creemer was a colleague of buchanan, and was a credulous pennsylvanian, of dutch descent; honest enough, but without brains, and only too willing to be the instrument of his colleague in any dirty work which would subserve his purposes. beverly was one of those silly but presumptuous personages who thrust themselves upon the society of men occupying high positions, and feel their importance only in that reflected by this association; and ever too fond of being made the medium of slanderous reports, reflecting upon those whose self-respect and superior dignity has frowned them from their presence. creemer died without divulging anything; probably under the influence of buchanan, and it is not improbable he was in ignorance of the origin of the slander. beverly knew of its utter falsity, and was as guilty as the originator, and his conscience smote him too sorely to permit him to go to the grave without atonement, and consequently he made a clean breast of it to mr. clay. mr. clay and mr. buchanan entered public life about the same time, when they were both young and full of zeal. they belonged to the same political party, and became warmly attached. they were, however, men of very different temperaments. the professions of mr. clay were always sincere, his love of truth was a most prominent feature in his nature, and his attachments were never dissimulations: to no other person of his early political friends was he more sincerely attached than to buchanan--he was his confidential friend; he was never on any subject reserved to him; and so deep was this feeling with him that he had called a son after his friend--the late james buchanan clay. when he learned that all his confidences had been misplaced, and that the man whom he so loved had sought to rob him of his good name, he was wounded to the heart. he struggled to believe buchanan was wronged by general jackson; but one fact after another was developed--he could not doubt--all pointing the same way; and finally came this letter of beverly's, when he was old, and when his heart was crushed by the loss of his son henry at buena vista, of which event he had only heard the day before: he doubted no more. i shall ever remember the expression of that noble countenance as, turning to me, he said: "read that!" rising from his seat, he went to the garden, where, under a large live-oak, i found him an hour after, deeply depressed. it was sorrow, not anger, that weighed upon him. in reply to a remark from me, he said: "how few men have i found true under all trials! who has a friend on whom he can rely, and who will not, to gratify his own ambition, sacrifice him? i was deeply attached to buchanan; i thought him my friend, and trusted him as such--through long years our intimacy continued. you see how unwisely this attachment was indulged; i have misplaced my confidence; i am willing to disbelieve this statement of beverly; he is known to you; i believe he is a miserable creature, but his testimony is but a link in the chain of evidences i have of buchanan's being the author of this infamous story. it was artfully concocted and maliciously circulated. he was too shrewd to commit himself, and employed this creature to go to jackson, who lent a willing ear to it; and he communicated it to creemer. yet it was settled upon him by jackson. beverly told jackson he was sent by buchanan, and now the world has the story denied by buchanan, and i have it confessed by beverly. all the mischief it could do, it has done; and this death-bed repentance and confession must command my forgiveness of poor old beverly. "i was not unaware of the hazards of accepting office under mr. adams, and yielded my judgment to gratify my friends. i was deeply solicitous of rendering the country independent: our population was increasing; i was sure large immigration would add to the natural increase; and i felt it was the true policy of the government to commence the manufacture of all articles necessary to its population, and especially the articles of prime necessity, iron and clothing. we had the minerals, the coal, and the cotton; and the sad experience of the recent war warned us to prepare against the same consequences should we unfortunately be again in a similar condition. i was satisfied that this policy would meet powerful opposition by those who supposed their interests affected by protection; and i knew, to build up the manufactures at home, they must be protected against foreign competition--at least for a time. once capital was abundant and largely invested in manufacturing, with an abundance of educated skill, this protection could be withdrawn; as home protection would not prevent home competition, and high prices would stimulate this competition to the point of producing more than was necessary for home consumption; which would force the manufacturer to find a market abroad for his surplus; this would bring him into competition with the european manufacturer, and he would be compelled to be content with the prices he could obtain under this competition; this would necessarily, by degrees, reduce prices at home, and finally obviate the necessity of protection. already this has come to pass. the good of the country i thought demanded this; and for this i exerted all my powers and all my influence; never for a moment doubting but that in time and from results the whole people would approve the policy. nor did i ever anticipate any political result to my own interest. i have never thought of self, in any great measure of policy i may have advocated. i have looked to final results in benefits to the country alone, with a hope that my name should not be a disgrace to my children, who should witness the working and the effect of measures connected with my public life. with an honest purpose, i feared no consequences; and desiring, above temporary popularity, the good of the country, i assumed all the hazards and consequences which my enemies could torture out of the act of accepting office under mr. adams. i have never regretted it, and have lived to see the slanderers of my fame rebuked by the whole country. "this terrible mexican war now raging, i fear, is to result in consequences disastrous to our government. that we shall drive mexico to the wall there cannot be a doubt. we will avail ourselves of the conqueror's right in demanding indemnity for the expenses of the war. she has nothing to pay with, but territory. we shall dispossess her of at least a third, perhaps the half of her domain; this will open the question of slavery again, and how it is to be settled god only knows. for myself, i see no peaceful solution of the question. the north and the south are equally fanatical upon the subject, and the difficulties of adjustment augmenting every day. you will agree with me that the institution violates the sentiment of the civilized world. it is unnatural, and must yield to the united hostility of the world. but what is to be done with the negro? you cannot make a citizen of him, and clothe him with political power. this would lead rapidly to a war of races; and of consequence to the extinction of the negro. he will not labor without compulsion; and very soon the country would be filled with brigands; the penitentiaries would not hold the convicts; and the public security would ultimately demand that they should be sent from the country. "to remove such a number, even to the west indies, would involve an expense beyond the resources of the government; to force them into mexico would make her a more dangerous and disagreeable neighbor than she is; besides, this would only be postponing the evil, for i apprehend we shall want to annex all of mexico before many years. as i remarked, i can see no peaceful solution of this great social evil; but fear it is fraught with fatal consequences to our government." john randolph, soon after the election of mr. adams, was sent to the united states senate by virginia. his enmity to mr. clay had received a new whetting through the events of the year or two just past; and the natural acerbity of his nature was soured into bitter malignity. he believed every word of the story of creemer, and harped upon it with the pertinacity of the venetian upon the daughter of shylock. he was scarcely ever upon the floor that some offensive allusion was not made to this subject. it was immaterial to him what the subject-matter was under discussion: he found a means to have a throw at the administration, and of consequence, at clay; and bargain and corruption slid from his tongue with the concentration of venom of the rattlesnake. the very thought of clay seemed to inspire his genius for vituperation; his eye would gleam, his meagre and attenuated form would writhe and contort as if under the enchantment of a demon; his long, bony fingers would be extended, as if pointing at an imaginary clay, air-drawn as the dagger of macbeth, as he would writhe the muscles of his beardless, sallow, and wrinkled face, pouring out the gall of his soul upon his hated enemy. it was in one of these hallucinations that he uttered the following morsel of bitterness, in allusion to the story of bargain and corruption: "this, until now, unheard-of combination of the black-leg with the puritan; this union of luck george with blifell," (an allusion from fielding's novel of "tom jones.") language could not have been made more offensive. but the fruitful imagination of randolph was not exhausted, and he proceeded with denunciation which spared not the venerable mother of mr. clay, then living--denouncing her for bringing into the world "this being, so brilliant, yet so corrupt, which, like a rotten mackerel by moonlight, shined and stunk." this drew from mr. clay a challenge, and a meeting was the consequence. there was no injury sustained by either party in this conflict, the full particulars of which may be found in benton's "thirty years in the senate;" and i have mr. clay's authority for saying that this account is strictly correct. in general jackson's letter to carter beverly, he states that buchanan came to him and stated that the friends of mr. adams had made overtures to mr. clay, to the effect that, if mr. clay would with his friends support mr. adams, and he should be elected, then he would appoint clay to the position of secretary of state; and that buchanan recommended jackson to intrigue against this intrigue. buchanan denied the statement _in toto_. beverly wrote a letter, in , admitting the falsehood of a former letter of his; and again, another to mr. clay, in or , asking clay's forgiveness for the part he had acted in the matter. chapter v. georgia's noble sons. a minister of a day--purity of administration--then and now--widow timberlake--van buren's letter--ambrister and arbuthnot--old hickory settles a difficulty--a cause of the late war--honored dead. immediately upon the inauguration of mr. adams, mr. crawford left washington, and returned home. his residence was near lexington, georgia, upon a small farm. it was an unostentatious home, but comfortable, and without pretensions superior to those of his more humble neighbors. mr. crawford had held many positions in the service of the country, and had honestly and ably discharged the duties of these for the public good. as a senator in congress, he won the confidence of the nation by the display of great abilities; and gave universal satisfaction of the pure patriotism of his heart, in all he said, or did. he was distinguished, as minister to france, for his open candor and simplicity of manners--so much so, as to cause napoleon to remark of him "that no government but a republic could create or foster so much truth and honest simplicity of character as he found in mr. crawford." for years, he had served the nation as financial minister, and at a time when the method of keeping, transferring, and disbursing the moneys of government afforded infinite opportunities for peculation--when vast amounts of money arising from the sale of the public domain in the west and the south was under his control, and when he had the selection of the depositories of this, and when these deposits were of great value to the local or state banks, so that they would have paid handsomely for them; yet this noble being came out of the furnace without the smell of fire upon his garments. there was but one man who ever imputed dishonesty to him, or selfish motives in any act. when the claims of mr. adams and mr. crawford for the presidency were being discussed, and party asperity sought to slay its victims, ninian edwards, a senator of congress from illinois, charged mr. crawford with impropriety of conduct in depositing, for selfish and dishonest purposes, the public moneys arising from the sale of lands in illinois, in banks notoriously insolvent. edwards had been appointed minister to mexico, had left the senate, and had gone to his home, preparatory to his leaving for mexico; and from his home made this attack upon mr. crawford. the son-in-law of edwards, a man named cook, was the representative in congress from illinois, and, if i remember correctly, was the only representative who at the time reiterated these charges from his seat. mr. crawford immediately demanded an investigation of his conduct. this was had, and the result was a triumphant acquittal from all blame; and so damaging was this investigation to edwards that the president recalled the commission of edwards as minister to mexico, and appointed joel r. poinsett, of south carolina, in his stead. edwards was at new orleans when the letter of recall from the president reached him, that far on his way to mexico: he returned in disgrace, and soon faded from public notice forever. at the time, it was asserted he was the brother-in-law of mr. adams, and knowing that some of the banks in which crawford had deposited the public treasure had failed, he imagined complicity of a dishonest character, on the part of crawford, with the officers of the banks, and expected to injure him and subserve the interest of adams. in what contrast does this transaction place the purity of the government, as then administered, with its conduct of to-day, and how peerless were those who were trusted then with public confidence and high places, in comparison with the public men who fill their places now! georgia has given to the nation two secretaries of the treasury--william h. crawford and howell cobb; they were citizens of adjoining counties. cobb was born within a few miles of crawford's grave. they were both administering the office at a time in the history of the nation when she was surrounded with perils. the one, when she was just coming out of a war with the most powerful nation on earth; the other, when she was just going into a war, civil and gigantic. both were afforded every opportunity for dishonest peculation, and both came out, despite the allurements of temptation, with clean hands and untainted reputation. they were reared and lived in the atmosphere of honesty; they sought the inspiration from the hills and vales, blue skies, and clear pure waters of middle georgia. the surroundings of nature were pure; the honest farmers and mechanics, her professional men and merchants, were and are pure. it was the home of upson, gilmer, thomas w. cobb, peter early, eli s. sherter, stephen willis harris, william causby dawson, joseph henry lumpkin; and now is the home of a.h. stephens, ben. hill, robert toombs, bishop pierce, and his great and glorious father, and in their integrity and lofty manhood they imitate the mighty dead who sleep around them. glorious old state! though long trodden with the tyrant's foot, there is a resurrectionary spirit moving thy people, which will lift thee again to the high pinnacle from which thou wast thrust, purified and reinvigorated for a career of brighter glory than thou hast yet known--when the men who plague you now shall be driven from your state, and the sons of your soil, in the vigor of their souls, undefiled and untrammelled, shall wield your destinies. like a roman of latter days, mr. crawford retired from the service of his country poorer than when he entered it. there was sweet seclusion in his retreat, and honest hearts in his humble neighbors to receive him with "come home, thou good and faithful servant; we receive thee, as we gave thee, in thy greatness and thy goodness, undefiled." he had only partially recovered from his, paralysis, though his general health was much improved; rest and retirement, and release from public duties and cares, served to reinvigorate him greatly. his estate was small, his family large, and his friends, to aid him, secured his election to the bench of the superior court, the duties of which he continued to discharge until his death. he survived to see general jackson elected president, to whom he gave a cordial support. mr. calhoun had been nominated and elected vice-president with general jackson, both with overwhelming majorities. crawford had carried all his strength to the support of the ticket, and the friends of crawford and calhoun were found acting in concert, notwithstanding the hostility yet unappeased between their chiefs. it was the union of necessity, not of sympathy or affection. at this juncture, there was perhaps as cordial a hatred between the people of south carolina and those of georgia, as ever existed between the greek and the turk. mr. calhoun, it seemed now to be settled, was to be the successor of general jackson. the new parties were organized, and that headed by general jackson assumed the name of democrat, and now held undisputed control of more than two-thirds of the states. mr. calhoun had broken away from the usage of former vice-presidents, which was to retire, and permit a president of the senate _pro tem._ to be chosen to preside over the deliberations of that body. he determined to fulfil the duties assigned by the constitution, and in person to preside. his transcendent abilities and great strength of character by this course was constantly kept before the nation. his manners and presence gave increased dignity and importance to the office, daily increasing his popularity with the senate and the nation. his position was an enviable one, and was such as seemed to promise the power to grasp, at the proper time, the goal of his ambition, the presidency of the republic. from the commencement of general jackson's administration there was a powerful opposition organized. it consisted of the very best talent in the senate and house. the cabinet was a weak one. mr. van buren was premier, or secretary of state, with john h. eaton, a very ordinary man, secretary of war; branch, secretary of the navy, and ingham, secretary of the treasury; with john m. berrien, attorney-general. eaton was from tennessee, and was an especial favorite of general jackson. he had been in the senate from tennessee, and had formed at washington the acquaintance of a celebrated widow of a purser in the navy, mrs. timberlake. this woman had by no means an enviable reputation, and had been supposed the mistress of eaton, prior to their marriage. she had found her way to the heart of jackson, who assumed to be her especial champion. the ladies of the cabinet ministers refused to recognize her or to interchange social civilities with her. this enraged the president, and it was made a _sine qua non_, receive mrs. eaton, or quit the cabinet. van buren was a widower, and did not come under the order. he saw the storm coming, and, to avoid consequences of any sort, after consultation with jackson, resigned. his letter of resignation is a literary as well as a political curiosity. general jackson, it is said, handed it to forsyth, with the remark "that he could not make head or tail of it; and, by the eternal, mr. forsyth, i do not believe van buren can himself." this was the forerunner of a general dismissal of the entire cabinet, save eaton, who resigned. this rupture startled the whole nation, but nothing jackson could do, seemed capable of affecting his growing popularity. a new cabinet was organized, and soon after mr. van buren was sent minister to england, and eaton minister to spain. the opposition were in a majority in the senate, led on by clay and webster. these were confronted by forsyth, benton, and wright: the wrestle was that of giants. the world, perhaps, never furnished a more adroit debater than john forsyth. he was the ajax telemon of his party, and was rapidly rivalling the first in the estimation of that party. he hated calhoun, and at times was at no pains to conceal it in debate. in the warmth of debate, upon one occasion, he alluded in severe terms, to the manner in which mr. crawford had been treated, during his incumbency as secretary of the treasury, by a certain party press in the interest of mr. calhoun. this touched the vice-president on the raw: thus stung, he turned and demanded if the senator alluded to him. forsyth's manner was truly grand, as it was intensely fierce: turning from the senate to the vice-president, he demanded with the imperiousness of an emperor: "by what right does the chair ask that question of me?" and paused as if for a reply, with his intensely gleaming eye steadily fixed upon that of calhoun. the power was with the speaker, and the chair was awed into silence. slowly turning to the senate, every member of which manifested deep feeling, he continued, as his person seemed to swell into gigantic proportions, and his eye to sweep the entire chamber, "let the galled jade wince, our withers are unwrung," and went on with the debate. the cause of the animosity of jackson, toward crawford was a report which had reached jackson, that crawford, as a member of mr. monroe's cabinet, had insisted in cabinet meeting upon the arrest of jackson for a violation of national law, in entering without orders, as the commanding general of the army of the united states, the territory of a friendly power, and seizing its principal city by military force. general jackson had entered florida, then a dependency of spain, with which power we were in amity, and seized pensacola. a band of desperate men had made a lodgment in florida, headed by two scotchmen, ambrister and arbuthnot. these men had acquired great influence with the indians, and were stimulating them to constant depredations upon the frontier people of georgia. when pursued, they sought safety in the territorial limits of florida. remonstrances with the government of spain had produced no effect. it could not, or would not expel them, or attempt any control of the indians; and it became necessary to put a stop to their aggressions. jackson commanded, and was the very man for such a work. he placed before the president the difficulties, but said he could and would break up this nest of freebooters, if he had authority from the president to enter the territory, and, if necessary, take possession of it. it would be an act of war to authorize this course, he knew; but he was prepared for the responsibility (he generally was.) "i do not ask for formal orders: simply say to me, 'do it.' tell johnny ray to say so to me, and it shall be done." johnny ray was a member of congress at that time from east tennessee, and devoted to jackson. this was done, and the work was accomplished. the two leaders were captured and summarily executed, claiming to be british subjects. mr. monroe in some things was a weak man; he was surrounded by a cabinet greatly superior to himself; he had not counselled with them, and he feared the responsibility he had assumed would not be sanctioned or approved by his constitutional advisers, and he timidly shrank from communicating these secret instructions to them. the matter was brought before the cabinet, by a remonstrance from the spanish government, in the person of her representative at washington. in the discussion which arose, a motion was submitted to arrest and court-martial jackson. calhoun was indignant that as secretary of war he had not been consulted. general jackson was sent for, and very soon the matter was quieted, and spain satisfied. it was in this discussion, or cabinet meeting, that mr. crawford was represented to general jackson as moving his arrest. mr. adams defended jackson most strenuously, and it is not improbable that the president may have informed him, _sub rosa_, of what had been communicated to jackson. the intimacy between mr. monroe and mr. adams was close, and it was thought he preferred him, and gave him more unreservedly his confidence than any of his ministers. i believe it was in the early part of the year , or , (i have, where i write, no means of reference, and will not pretend to great accuracy in dates,) when mr. crawford received a visit from mr. van buren, and his friend, mr. cambreling, at his home in oglethorpe. what transpired during that visit, i do not pretend to know; but soon after, mr. forsyth received a letter from mr. james hamilton, of new york, making certain inquiries with regard to this move in mr. monroe's cabinet. mr. forsyth appealed to mr. crawford, who responded, and in detail revealed the proceedings in council upon this matter, charging, without equivocation, mr. calhoun as being the secretary who had moved the arrest and trial of jackson. at the time of this development, general jackson was absent from washington, on a visit to his home in tennessee, and mr. calhoun was in south carolina. a correspondence ensued between the president and vice-president of the most acrimonious character. mr. calhoun denied _in toto_ the charge. mr. crawford appealed to the members of the cabinet, adams and crowninshield, who sustained the truth of mr. crawford's statements, and mr. calhoun clearly implicated himself, by accusing crawford of a breach of honor in disclosing cabinet secrets. it is not my purpose to enter into the minutiae of this affair, further than to show the part taken in it by mr. crawford. mr. van buren did not appear in this imbroglio; he doubtless had his agency, as his interest, in bringing this matter to general jackson's knowledge. mr. calhoun was identified with the popularity of jackson and his party, and was now, by common consent of that party, the prominent man for the presidential succession. mr. van buren had been the secretary of state of general jackson, had studied him well, and knew him well. he knew also the temper of the democratic party: through his agency the political morality of new york politicians had permeated the democracy from one end of the country to the other: the doctrine subsequently enunciated by mr. marcy, that "to the victors belonged the spoils," was in full operation throughout the nation as the democratic practice. this was the cement which closely held the politician to party fealty. jackson rewarded his friends, and punished his enemies; jackson was an omnipotent power; jackson was the democratic party. to secure his friendship was necessary to success; to incur his enmity, certain destruction. van buren was as artful as ambitious: he had indoctrinated jackson with his own policy, by inducing him to believe it was his own; and the frankness of jackson's nature prevented his believing anything was not what it professed to be. it was the ambition of van buren to be president, and his sagacity taught him the surest means to effect this end was to secure effectually and beyond peradventure the friendship and support of jackson. mr. calhoun was between him and the aim of his ambition: to thrust him from jackson's confidence was to effect all he desired. this was done; the breach was irreparable. van buren was sent, in the interim of the session of congress, minister plenipotentiary to the court of st. james. mr. clay had come back into the senate, and was heading and leading an opposition, then in the majority in the senate; and the nomination of van buren was rejected. jackson, assured that calhoun had deceived him, was bitter in his denunciations of him, and calhoun was sympathizing with this opposition. jackson denounced calhoun as his informant of crawford being the cabinet minister who had in cabinet council moved his arrest. calhoun gave the lie direct to the assertion; and that jackson was capable of lying, referred as evidence to his statements relative to the charge of bargain and intrigue against mr. clay. but enough had been done to crush out the popularity and the hopes of calhoun, beyond the limits of south carolina. there never has been so sudden and so terrible a fall from such a height of any man in this nation--not excepting that of aaron burr. john c. calhoun, in talent, learning, and statesmanship, was greatly superior to jackson, and unsurpassed by any man of the age. but the breath of jackson was the blight which withered his laurels, and crushed his prospects, and destroyed his usefulness forever, in a night. what consequences have grown out of this quarrel, i leave for the pen of the historian. yet i cannot forbear the speculation that the late and most disastrous war was one, and of consequence the ruin and desolation of the south, and the threatened destruction of the government at this time. the agitation which led to these terrible consequences, commenced with mr. calhoun immediately subsequent to these events. does any man suppose, if mr. calhoun had succeeded to the presidency, that he would have commenced or continued this agitation? for one, i do not. the measure of his ambition would have been full: his fame would have been a chapter in the history of his country--his talents employed in the administration of the government, the honor and boast of her people, and her preservation and prosperity the enduring monument of his fame and glory. but, wronged as he believed, disappointed as he knew, he put forth all his strength, and, samson-like, pulled down the pillars of her support; and, disunited, crushed, and miserable, she is a melancholy spectacle to the patriot, and in her desolation a monument of disappointed ambition. that mr. calhoun anticipated any such results, i do not believe. to suppose he desired them, and to the end of his life labored to produce them, would be to suppose him little less than a fiend. blinded by his prejudices and the hatred natural toward those who had accomplished his political ruin, he could not calmly and dispassionately weigh the influence of his acts upon the future of his country. mr. crawford was now rapidly declining, his nervous system was completely undermined, and he felt the approach of death calmly and without fear. still, he continued to give his attention to business, and was sufficiently strong to go abroad to calls of duty. in one of these journeys he stopped to spend the night in the house of a friend, and was found dead in his bed in the morning, after a quiet and social evening with his friend and family. william holt crawford was a native of virginia: his family were scotch, and came early to the united states, and have been remarkable for their talents and energy. since the revolution, there has scarcely been a time that some one of the family has not been prominently before the public as a representative man. mr. crawford was an eminent type of his race, sternly honest, of ardent temperament, full of dignity, generous, frank, and brave. plain and simple in his habits, disdaining everything like ostentation, or foolish display--strictly moral, firm in his friendship, and unrelenting in his hatred, his sagacity and sincerity forbade the forming of the one or the other without abundant cause. he was never known to desert a friend or shrink from a foe. in form and person he was very imposing; six feet two inches in height; his head was large, forehead high and broad; his eyes were blue and brilliant, and, when excited, very piercing. his complexion was fair, and, in early life, ruddy; he was, when young, exceedingly temperate in his habits, but as he advanced in years he indulged too freely in the luxuries of the table, and his physicians attributed mainly to this cause his attack of paralysis, which ultimately destroyed him. his mind had been very much excited during the presidential canvass; the attacks of his enemies were fierce and merciless, and very irritating to him; and this doubtless had much to do with it. he lies buried in the garden of his home, without a stone to mark the spot. it is a reproach to the people of georgia that her most eminent son should be neglected to sleep in an undistinguished grave. but this neglect does not extend alone to mr. crawford. i believe, of all her distinguished men, james a. meriwether is the only one whose grave has been honored with a monumental stone by the state. crawford, cobb, dooly, jackson, troup, forsyth, campbell, lumpkin, dawson, walker, colquitt, berrien, daugherty, and many others who have done the state some service and much honor, are distinguished in their graves only by the green sod which covers them. chapter vi. popular characteristics. a frugal people--laws and religion--father pierce--thomas w. cobb-- requisites of a political candidate--a farmer-lawyer--southern humorists. the plain republican habits which characterized the people of upper georgia, in her early settlement and growth, together with the fact of the very moderate means of her people, exercised a powerful influence in the formation of the character of her people. she had no large commercial city, and her commerce was confined to the simple disposal of the surplus products of her soil and the supply of the few wants of the people. it was a cardinal virtue to provide every thing possible of the absolute necessaries of life at home. the provision crop was of first necessity, and secured the first attention of the farmer; the market crop was ever secondary, and was only looked to, to supply those necessaries which could not be grown upon the plantation. these were salt, iron, and steel, first; and then, if there remained unexhausted some of the proceeds of the crop, a small (always a small) supply of sugar and coffee; and for rare occasions, a little tea. the population, with the exception of mechanics, and these were a very small proportion, and the few professional men and country merchants, was entirely agricultural. this rural pursuit confined at home and closely to business every one; and popular meetings were confined to religious gatherings on sunday in each neighborhood, and the meeting of a few who could spare the time at court, in the village county-seat, twice a year. there were no places of public resort for dissipation or amusement; a stern morality was demanded by public opinion of the older members of society. example and the switch enforced it with the children. perhaps in no country or community was the maxim of good old solomon more universally practised upon, "spare the rod and spoil the child," than in middle georgia, fifty years ago. filial obedience and deference to age was the first lesson. "honor thy father and mother, that thy days may be long in the land," was familiar to the ears of every child before they could lisp their a, b, c; and upon the first demonstration of a refractory disobedience, a severe punishment taught them that the law was absolute and inexorable. to lie, or touch what was not his own, was beyond the pale of pardon, or mercy, and a solitary aberration was a stain for life. the mothers, clad in homespun, were chaste in thought and action; unlettered and ignorant, but pure as ether. their literature confined to the bible, its maxims directed their conduct, and were the daily lesson of their children. the hard-shell baptist was the dominant religion; with here and there a presbyterian community, generally characterized by superior education and intelligence, with a preacher of so much learning as to be an oracle throughout the land. the methodists were just then beginning to grow into importance, and their circuit-riders, now fashionably known as itinerants, were passing and preaching, and establishing societies to mark their success, through all the rude settlements of the state. these were the pioneers of that truly democratic sect, as of the stern morality and upright bearing which had so powerful an influence over the then rising population. it is more than sixty years since i first listened to a methodist sermon. it was preached by a young, spare man, with sallow complexion, and black eyes and hair. i remember the gleam of his eye, and the deep, startling tones of his voice--his earnest and fervent manner; and only yesterday, in the baronne street (new orleans) methodist church, i listened to an old man, upward of eighty years of age, preaching the ordination sermon of four new bishops of the methodist church. it was he to whom i had first listened: the eye was still brilliant, the face still sallow, but wrinkled now, and the voice and manner still fervent and earnest; and the great mind, though not the same, still powerful. it was that venerable, good man, lovie pierce, the father of the great and eloquent bishop. what has he not seen? what changes, what trials, what triumphs! generations before his eyes have passed into eternity; the little handful of methodist communicants grown into a mighty and intelligent body; thousands of ministers are heralding her tenets all over the protestant world--mighty in learning, mighty in eloquence--yet none surpass the eloquence, the power, and the purity of lovie pierce. when i first heard him, bishop asbury, william russell, and he were nursing the seed sown by john wesley and george whitefield, a little while before, upon the soil of georgia. all but pierce have long been gathered to their fathers, and have rest from their labors. he still remains, bearing his cross in triumph, and still preaching the redeemer to the grandchildren of those who first welcomed him and united with him in the good work of his mission. how much his labors have done to form and give tone to the character of the people of the state of georgia, none may say; but under his eye and aid has arisen a system of female education, which has and is working wonders throughout the state. he has seen the ignorant and untaught mothers rear up virtuous, educated, and accomplished daughters; and, in turn, these rearing daughters and sons, an ornament and an honor to parents and country. above all, he has seen and sees a standard of intelligence, high-breeding, and piety pervading the entire state. the log-cabin gives way to the comfortable mansion, the broad fields usurping the forest's claim, and the beautiful church-building pointing its taper spire up to heaven, where stood the rude log-house, and where first he preached. he has lived on and watched this growing moral and physical beauty, whose germs he planted, and whose fruits he is now enjoying in the eighty-fourth year of his age, still zealous, still ardent and eloquent, and a power in the land. should these lines ever meet his eye, he will know that the child whose head he stroked as he sat upon his knee--the youth whom he warned and counselled, loves him yet, now that he is wrinkled, old, and gray. from parents such as i have described, and under the teaching of such men, grew up the remarkable men who have shed such lustre upon the state of georgia. the great distinguishing feature of these men was that of the masses of her people--stern honesty. many families have been and continue to be remarkable for their superior talents and high character; preserving in a high degree the prestige of names made famous by illustrious ancestry. the crawfords, the cobbs, and the lamars are perhaps the most remarkable. thomas w. cobb, so long distinguished in the councils of the nation, and as an able and honest jurist in georgia, was the son of john cobb, and grandson of thomas cobb, of the county of columbia, in the state of georgia. his grandfather emigrated from virginia at an early day, when georgia was comparatively a wilderness, and selecting this point, located with a large family, which through his remarkable energy he reared and respectably educated. this was an achievement, as the facilities for education were so few and difficult as to make it next to impossible to educate even tolerably the youth of that day. this remarkable man lived to see his grandson, thomas w. cobb, among the most distinguished men of the state. he died at the great age of one hundred and fifteen years, at the home of his selection, in columbia county, the patriarch pioneer of the country, surrounded by every comfort, and a family honoring his name and perpetuating his virtues; and after he had seen the rude forest give way to the cultivated field, and the almost as rude population to the cultivated and intellectual people distinguishing that county. thomas w. cobb, in his education, suffered the penalties imposed in this particular by a new country; his opportunities, however, were improved to their greatest possible extent, and he continued to improve in learning to the day of his death. in boyhood he ploughed by day, and studied his spelling-book and arithmetic by night--lighting his vision to the pursuit of knowledge by a pine-knot fire. this ambition of learning, with close application, soon distinguished him above the youth of the neighborhood, and lifted his aspirations to an equal distinction among the first men of the land. he made known his wishes to his father, and was laughed at; but he was his grandfather's namesake and pet, and he encouraged his ambition. the consequence was that young cobb was sent to the office of william h. crawford at lexington, to read law. he applied himself diligently, and won the respect and confidence of mr. crawford, which he retained to the day of his death. when admitted to the bar, he located with his fellow-student in lexington; thus taking the place of mr. crawford, who was now in political life. he rose rapidly in his profession, and while yet a young man was sent to congress as one of the representatives of the state. at this time the representation in congress was chosen by general ticket. the consequence was the selection of men of superior talent and character: none could aspire to the high position whose names had not become familiar for services to the state, or for the display of talent and character at the bar, or other conspicuous positions, their virtues and attainments distinguishing them above their fellow-men of the country. throughout the state, to such men there was great deference, and the instances were rare where it was not deserved. the discipline and trickery of party was unknown, nor was it possible that these could exist among a people who, universally, honestly desired and labored to be represented by their best men. to attain to the high position of senator or representative in congress was so distinguishing a mark of merit, that it operated powerfully upon the ambitious young men of the state, all of whom struggled to attain it by laboring to deserve it. the standard of talent established by crawford, jackson, and baldwin was so high, that to have public opinion institute a comparison between these and an aspirant was a sure passport to public favor; and this comparison was in no instance so likely to be made as between him and the pupils of his teaching. this fact in relation to jackson and crawford is remembered well by the writer. in the low country of georgia, the fiat of james jackson fixed the political fate of every young aspirant. in the up-country, crawford was as potent. in crawford's office the student was required to apply himself diligently, and give promise of abilities, or he could not remain. the writer remembers to have heard the question asked of mr. crawford, in his later days, why a family in his own county, distinguished for wealth, had uniformly opposed him politically. in the frankness of his nature he said: "aleck came, when a young man, to read law in my office, and though he was diligent enough, he was without the brain necessary to acquire a proper knowledge of the law. i liked his father, and in reply to an inquiry of his relative, as to aleck's capacity, i told him 'his son would doubtless succeed as a farmer, for he was industrious; but he had not sense enough to make a lawyer.' he thanked me; and aleck left the office, and, profiting by my advice, went to the plough, and has made a fortune, and a very respectable position for himself; but from that day forward, not a member of the family has ever been my friend. i think i did my duty, and have got along without their friendship." jackson had his _protégés_, and they were always marked for talent. in early life he discerned the germ of great abilities in two youths of savannah--george m. troup and thomas u.d. charlton. through his influence, these young men, almost as soon as eligible, were sent to the legislature of the state, and both immediately took high positions. talent was not the only requisite to win and retain the favor of jackson: the man must be honest, and that honesty of such a character as placed him above suspicion. under the operation of the confiscation act, many who had favored the mother country in the revolutionary struggle had fled with their property to florida. conspicuous among these was one campbell wiley, a man of fortune. this man applied to the legislature to be specially exempted from the penalties of this act, and to be permitted to return to the state. a heated debate ensued, when the bill was being considered, in which charlton was silent, and in which troup made a violent speech in opposition to its passage, ending with the sentence, "if ever i find it in my heart to forgive an old tory his sins, i trust my god will never forgive me mine." this speech gave him an immediate popularity over the entire state. charlton in secret favored the bill; but knowing its unpopularity with his constituents, he contrived to be called to the chair, and was forced to vote on a material motion which was favorable to the bill. the wealth of wiley, and charlton's equivocation, attached suspicion to his motives, and brought down upon him the wrath of jackson, blighting all his future aspirations. as a member of the bar he attained eminence, and all his future life was such as to leave no doubt of his purity, and the cruel wrong those suspicions, sustained by the frown of jackson, had done him. thomas w. cobb was eminently social in his nature, and frank to a fault; his opinions were never concealed of men or measures; and these were, though apparently hasty, the honest convictions of his judgment, notwithstanding their apparent impulsive and hasty character. like his tutor, mr. crawford, he cared little for ceremony or show; and in every thing he was the kernel without the shell: his character was marked before his company in five minutes' conversation, whether he had ever met or heard of them before; and in all things else he was equally without deceit. this openness to some seemed rude; and his enemies were of this class. he expressed as freely his opinion to the person as to the public; but this was always accompanied with a manner which disrobed it of offence. but human nature will not in every individual excuse the words because of the manner; and sometimes this peculiarity made him sharp enemies. it will be supposed such traits would have rendered him unpopular. at this day, when social intercourse is less familiar, they certainly would have done so; but they seemed a means of great popularity to cobb, especially with those who were most intimate with him, as all who met him were, after an hour's acquaintance. his public life was as his private, open and sincere; he never had a sinister motive, and this relieved him from duplicity of conduct. his talents were of a high order: in debate, he was argumentative and explicit; never pretending to any of the arts of the orator; but logically pursued his subject to a conclusion; never verbose, but always perspicuous. as a lawyer, he was well read; and the analytical character of his mind appeared to have been formed upon the model of judge blackstone. before the juries of the country he was all-powerful. these, in the main, were composed of men of very limited information--and especially of legal lore. but they were generally men of strong practical sense, with an honest purpose of doing justice between man and man. cobb with these was always sincere; never attempting a deception, never seeking to sway their judgments and secure a verdict by appealing to their passions or their prejudices, or by deceiving them as to what the law was. toward a witness or a party of whose honesty he entertained doubts, he was sarcastically severe; nor was he choice in the use of terms. as a statesman, he was wise and able--and in politics, as in everything else, honest and patriotic. in early life he was sent to the house of representatives, in the congress of the united states, and soon distinguished himself as a devoted republican in politics, and a warm supporter of the administration of mr. monroe. here he was reunited socially with mr. crawford and family, and so close was this intimacy that he was on all political measures supposed to speak the sentiments of mr. crawford. associated with forsyth, tatnal, gilmer, and cuthbert, all men of superior abilities, all belonging to the same political party, and all warm supporters, of mr. crawford, he led this galaxy of talent--a constellation in the political firmament unsurpassed by the representation of any other state. nor must i forget, in this connection, joel crawford and william terrell, men of sterling worth and a high order of talent. mr. cobb was a man of active business habits, and was very independent in his circumstances: methodical and correct, he never left for to-morrow the work of to-day. he was transferred from the house to the senate, and left it with a reputation for integrity and talent--the one as brilliant as the other unstained--which falls to the lot of few who are so long in public life as he was. unlike most politicians whose career has been through exciting political struggles, the blight of slander was never breathed upon his name, and it descended to his children, as he received it from his ancestry, without spot or blemish. toward the close of his life, he was elected by the legislature of the state to the bench of the superior court, then the highest judicial tribunal of the state. this was the last public station he filled. here he sustained his high character as a lawyer and honest man; carrying to the tomb the same characteristics of simplicity and sincerity, of affability and social familiarity, which had ever distinguished him in every position, public or private. he assumed none of that mock dignity or ascetic reserve in his intercourse with the bar and the people, so characteristic of little minds in elevated positions: conscious of rectitude in all things, he never feared this familiarity would give cause for the charge of improper bias in his decisions from the bench or his influence with the jury. mr. cobb died at the age of fifty, in the prime of his manhood and usefulness. in person, he was a model for a sculptor--six feet in height, straight, and admirably proportioned. his head and face were grecian; his forehead ample; his nose beautifully chiselled; gray eyes, with sparkling, playful expression, round, and very beautiful; his head round, large, and admirably set on; the expression of his features, variant as april weather, but always intellectual, they invited approach, and the fascination of his conversation chained to his presence all who approached him. in fine, he was a type in manner and character of the people among whom he was born and reared; and i scarcely know if this is the greater compliment to him or them. with few exceptions, this peculiar population of middle georgia has furnished all of her distinguished sons, and to the traits which make them remarkable is she to-day mainly indebted for her exalted prominence among her sister states of the south. the peculiar training of her sons, the practical education and social equality which pervades, and ever has, her society, acquaints every one with the wants of every other; at the same time it affords the facility for union in any public enterprise which promises the public good. all alike are infused with the same state pride, and the equality of fortunes prevents the obtrusion of arrogant wealth, demanding control, from purely selfish motives, in any public measure. this community of interests superinduces unity of feeling, and unity of action; and the same homogeneous education secures a healthy public opinion, which, at last, is the great controlling law of human action. thus the soil is one, the cultivation is one, the growth is one, and the fruit is the same. nowhere in the south have these been so prominent as in middle georgia, and no other portion of the south is so distinguished for progress, talent, and high moral cultivation. there is, perhaps, wanting that polish of manners, that ease and grace of movement, and that quiet delicacy of suppressed emotion, so peculiar to her citizens of the seaboard, which the world calls refinement; which seems taught to conceal the natural under the artistic, and which so frequently refines away the nobler and more generous emotions of the heart. i doubt, however, if the habit of open and unrestrained expression of the feelings of our nature is not a more enduring basis of strong character and vigorous thought and action, than the cold polish of refined society. whatever is most natural is most enduring. the person unrestrained by dress grows into noble and beautiful proportions; the muscles uncramped, develop not only into beauty, but strength and healthfulness. so with the mind untrammelled by forms and ceremonies; and so with the soul unfettered by the superstition of vague and ridiculous dogmas. the freedom of action and familiarity of language, where there are few social restraints to prevent universal intercourse, familiarizes every class of the community with the peculiarities of each, and forms an outlet for the wit and humor of the whole. this was the stimulant to mirth and hilarity, for which no people are so much distinguished as the georgians of the middle country. at the especial period of which i now write, her humorists were innumerable. dooly, clayton, prince, longstreet, bacon (the ned brace of longstreet's georgia scenes), and many others of lesser note, will long be remembered in the traditions of the people. these were all men of, eminence, and in their time filled the first offices of the state. the quiet, quaint humor of prince is to be seen in his militia muster, in the georgia scenes; and there too the inimitable burlesque of bacon, in ned brace. chapter vii. wits and fire-eaters. judge dooly--lawyers and blacksmiths--john forsyth--how juries were drawn--gum-tree _vs._ wooden-leg--preacher-politicians--colonel cumming--george mcduffie. john m. dooly was a native of lincoln county, georgia, where he continued to reside until his death, and where he now lies in an undistinguished grave. he was the son of a distinguished revolutionary soldier, whose name, in consideration of his services in that struggle, has been given to a county in the state. in early life he united himself to the federal party, and from honest convictions continued a federalist in principle through life. but for his political principles, his name in the nation to-day would have been a household word, familiar as the proudest upon her scroll of fame. in very early life he gave evidence of extraordinary powers of mind. with a limited education, he commenced the study of the law when quite young. but despite this serious defect, which was coupled with poverty and many other disadvantages incident to a new country impoverished by war, and wanting in almost everything to aid the enterprise of talent in a learned profession, soon after his admission to the bar he attracted the attention of the community, and especially the older members of the bar, as a man of extraordinary capacity, and already trained in the law. so tenacious was his memory of all that he read or heard, that he not only retained the law, but the author and page where it was to be found. his mind was eminently logical and delighted in analytical investigation. in truth, the law suited the idiosyncrasy of his mind, and it was most fortunate for his future life, that he adopted it as a lifetime pursuit. nature, it seems, gives to every mind a peculiar proclivity, as to every individual a peculiar mind: to pursue this proclivity is a pleasure; it makes work a delight, and this secures success. hence it is fortunate to learn this peculiarity, and to cultivate it from the beginning. when the mind is strong and vigorous, this peculiar proclivity is generally well-marked to the inquiring observer in very early life. it is related of benjamin west, the great painter, that at five years of age he was continually soiling the floor of his good and sensible mother with charcoal sketches of the faces of the different members of the family; and of napoleon, that in early childhood his favorite amusement was to build forts and array his playmates into column, and charge these, and assault and enter them. stevenson, the great engineer, spent all his idle time, when a boy, in attempts at constructing machinery and bridges. in these great minds this natural trait was so strongly marked, and so controlling in its influence, as to defy and overleap every obstacle, and develop its wonderful energy and capacity in the most stupendous manner. in such as these, this manifestation is early and palpable. yet the same peculiarity exists wherever there is mind sufficient to connect cause and effect; but it is proportionate with the strength of the mind, and in ordinary or feeble minds it is less conspicuous, and requires close observation to discern it in early life. the folly and ambition of parents and adverse circumstances too often disappoint the intentions of nature, and compel their offspring, or the victims of circumstance, to follow a pursuit for which they have a natural aversion, and absolutely no capacity: hence we see thousands struggling painfully through life in a hated avocation, and witness many a miserable lawyer whom nature designed to be a happy blacksmith. his toil of life is always up hill, without the possibility of ever attaining the summit. sometimes the rebellion of nature is successful, and the misdirected will shake off the erroneously imposed vocation, and dash away in the pursuit for which the mind is capacitated; and immediate success attests the good sense and propriety of the act. fortunately, john m. dooly, selected, under the guidance of natural inclination, the profession of law. his eminence was early in life, and the public eye was directed to him as one worthy any public trust. he was frequently chosen a member of the legislature from his native county, and was distinguished for extraordinary ability in the capacity of a legislator. his conspicuous position and commanding talents pointed him out as one to take a foremost rank with the first of the nation; and his friends urged his name as a fit representative in congress for the state. at this time the acrimony of party was intense; the republican, or jeffersonian party, was largely in the ascendant in the state, and would accept no compromise. it was willing to receive new converts and prefer them according to merit, but would accord no favor to an unrepentant enemy. at this time there were many young, talented men rising to distinction in the state, who were federalists. with some of them ambition was superior to principle; they recanted their principles, and, in the ranks of their former opponents, reaped a harvest of political distinction. prominent among these was john forsyth. he had delivered a fourth of july oration at augusta, distinguished for great ability and high federal doctrines. abraham baldwin, who, with the astuteness of the yankee--which he was--had renounced federalism, and was now a prominent leader of the republican party, spoke of this effort of forsyth as transcendently great, and always, when doing so, would add: "what a pity such abilities should be lost to the country through the influence of mistaken political principle!" whether this had any effect upon the views of forsyth or not, certain it is that very soon after he repudiated federalism, and published a formal renunciation of the party and its principles. from that time forward his march was onward, and now his name and fame are embalmed as national wealth. dooly was less facile: his convictions were honest and strong, and he clung to them. he won the confidence not only of his party, but of the people, for high integrity; but this was all. out of his county he was intrusted with no political position, and those who most prized his talents and integrity could never be persuaded to aid in giving these to the country. he was more than once beaten for the senate of the united states; and once by forsyth, who was not announced as a candidate, and who was at the time minister plenipotentiary of the nation at the spanish court. his great legal abilities were, however, complimented by the republican legislature, by placing him upon the bench of the highest judicial tribunal of the state, where his usefulness was transcendent, and where most of his life was spent. as a wit, dooly never had an equal in the state, and there might now be written a volume of his social and judicial wit. its compass was illimitable--from the most refined and delicately pungent to the coarsest and most vulgarly broad; but always pointed and telling. nature had given him a peculiarity of look and voice which gave edge to his wit and point to his humor. the judicial system of georgia at this time was peculiar. the state was subdivided into districts, or circuits, as they were denominated; and one judge appointed to preside over each. these were elected by the legislature, on joint ballot, for a term of three years; and until faction claimed the spoils of victory, the judge who had proven himself capable and honest was rarely removed, so long as he chose to remain. dooly was one of these. party never touched him, and both factions concurred in retaining him, because it was the universal wish of the people of his circuit. the law of the country was the common law of england and the statutes of the state. in the expounding of these, the judges frequently differed, and the consequence was that each circuit had, in many particulars, its own peculiar law, antagonistic to that which was received as law in the adjoining circuit. the uniformity of law, so essential to the quiet and harmony of a people, and so necessary in defining the title and securing the tenure of property, by this system was so greatly disturbed, that it led to the informal assembling of the judges at irregular periods, and upon their own responsibility, to reconcile these discrepancies. this in some degree obviated the necessity of a supreme court for the correction of errors; but was very unsatisfactory to the bar, who were almost universal in their desire for the establishment of a tribunal for this purpose. but there was another feature peculiar to the judicial system of the state, to which her people were greatly attached: that of special juries. they feared the creation of a supreme court would abolish this, and for many years resisted it. this system of special juries, in the organization of her judiciary, was intended to obviate the necessity of a court of chancery. the conception was a new one, and in georgia, with her peculiar population, its effects were admirable. it was an honest, common-sense adjudication of equity cases, and rendered cheap and speedy justice to litigants. it was unknown in the judiciary system of any other state, and i will be excused by the reader, who may not be a georgian, for a brief description of it here. by direction of the law of , the justices of the inferior court took the tax list, which contained the name of every white man of twenty-one years and upwards in the county, and, from this list, selected a certain number of names, and placed them in a box marked "the grand-jury box." the remaining names were placed in another box marked "the petit-jury box." those selected as grand jurors were chosen because of their superior intelligence, wealth, and purity of character. these selections were made at certain stated periods; and the jurors thus chosen from the mass never served on the petit jury, nor were they liable even as talesmen to serve on that jury. the same act made it the duty of the presiding judge of each circuit to draw, at the termination of each term of his court, and in open court, a certain number of names from each box, which were entered as drawn upon the minutes of the court, to serve as grand and petit jurors at the ensuing term of the court. the special juries, for the trial of cases in equity, and appeals from the verdicts of petit juries, were formed from the grand juries, and after the manner following: a list was furnished by the clerk of the court to the appellant and respondent. from this list each had the right to strike a name alternately--the appellant having the first stroke--until there remained twelve names only. these constituted a special jury, and the oath prescribed by law far these jurors was as follows; "you shall well and truly try the issue between the parties, and a true verdict give, according to law and equity, and the opinion you entertain of the testimony." under the pleadings, the entire history of the case went before this jury, and their verdict was final. it was this method of trial which prevented so long that great desideratum in all judicial systems--a court for the correction of errors and final adjudication of cases. dishonest litigants feared this special jury. their characters, as that of their witnesses, passed in review before this jury, whose oaths allowed a latitude, enabling them frequently to render a verdict, ostensibly at variance with the testimony, but almost always in aid of the ends of equitable justice. the system was eminently promotive of honesty and good morals, as well as the ends of justice; for men's rights before it were not unfrequently determined by the reputation they bore in the community in which they lived. this fact stimulated uprightness of conduct, and often deterred the wrong-doer. it has passed away; but i doubt if what has replaced it has benefited the interests or morals of the people of the state. like mr. crawford, judge dooly relied more upon the practical good sense of the people as jurors, for justice between man and man, than upon the technicalities of the law; and especially upon that of special juries. dooly had great contempt for petit juries, and evinced it upon one occasion by declaring in open court that he thought, if there was anything not known to the prescience of the almighty, it was what the verdict of a petit jury would be, when they left the box for the jury-room. dooly was an opponent of crawford through life--a friend and intimate of john clark, crawford's greatest enemy. but his character was devoid of that bitterness and persistent hatred characteristic of these two. crawford and judge tate were intimate friends, and between these and clark there was continual strife. tate and clark were brothers-in-law; but this only served to whet and give edge to their animosity. dooly, in some manner, became entangled with tate in this feud; and an amusing story is told of the final settlement of the difficulty between these men. tate, it seems, challenged dooly to mortal combat. mr. crawford was tate's friend. dooly, contrary to all expectation, accepted, and named general clark as his friend, and appointed a day of meeting. tate had lost a leg, and, as was usual in that day, had substituted a wooden, one. on the appointed day, tate, with his friend, repaired to the place of meeting, where dooly had preceded them, and was alone, sitting upon a stump. crawford approached him, and asked for his friend, general clark. "he is in the woods, sir." "and will soon be present, i presume?" asked crawford. "yes; as soon as he can find a gum." "may i inquire, colonel dooly, what use you have for a gum in the matter we have met to settle?" "i want it to put my leg in, sir. do you suppose i can afford to risk my leg of flesh and bone against tate's wooden one? if i hit his leg, why, he will have another to-morrow, and be pegging about as well as usual. if he hits mine, i may lose my life by it; but almost certainly my leg, and be compelled, like tate, to stump it the balance of my life. i cannot risk this; and must have a gum to put my leg in: then i am as much wood as he is, and on equal terms with him." "i understand you, colonel dooly; you do not intend to fight." "well, really, mr. crawford, i thought everybody knew that." "very well, sir," said crawford; "but remember, colonel, your name, in no enviable light, shall fill a column of a newspaper." "mr. crawford, i assure you," replied colonel dooly, "i would rather fill every newspaper in georgia than one coffin." it is scarcely necessary to say, that tate and crawford left the field discomfited, and here the matter ended. dooly never pretended to belligerency. when judge gresham threatened to chastise him, he coolly replied he could do it; but that it would be no credit to him, for anybody could do it. and when he introduced his friend to another as the inferior judge of the inferior court of the inferior county of lincoln, and was knocked down for the insult, he intreated the bystanders not to suffer him to be injured. when released from the grasp of his antagonist, he rubbed his head, and facetiously said: "this is the forty-second fight i have had, and if i ever got the best of one, i do not now recollect it." judge dooly was much beloved by the younger members of the bar, to whom he was ever kind and indulgent, associating with them upon his circuit, and joining in all their amusements. his wit spared no one, and yet no one was offended at it. his humor was the life of the company wherever he was, and he was never so burdened with official dignity as to restrain it on the bench. unbiassed by party considerations or personal prejudices, and only influenced by a sense of duty and wish to do right, it was impossible he could be otherwise than popular. this popularity, however, was personal, not political, and could never secure to him any political distinction. he was ambitious of a seat in the united states senate, a distinction to which he more than once aspired; but here the grinning ghost of federalism always met him, frightening from his support even the nearest of his social friends. mr. crawford's wishes controlled the state, through the instrumentality of those he had distinguished with his countenance. none doubted the patriotism or capacity of dooly for the position; but he was a federalist, and the friend of many of the prime movers of the yazoo fraud; and these were unpardonable sins with crawford and his friends. no one ever charged upon dooly the sin of a participation in this speculation, or the frauds through which it became a fixed fact, as a law of the state, by legislative act. but it was, for a very long time, fatal to the political aspirations of every one known to be personally friendly to any man in any way concerned in the matter. they were pariahs in the land, without friends or caste. of all the men prominent in his day, george m. troup was the most uncompromising in his hostility to those engaged in this speculation. it certainly was the work of a few persons only, and did not embrace one out of fifty of the georgia company. all, or nearly all of these, honestly embarked in the speculation, not doubting but that the state had the power to sell, and knowing her pecuniary condition required that she should have money. had they known that it required bribery to pass the measure, they would have scorned to become parties to such corruption; nevertheless they were inculpated, and had to share the infamy of the guilty few who thus accomplished the purchase, as they shared the profits arising therefrom. but it did not stop with the participants. their personal friends suffered, and no one individual so fatally as dooly. he asserted the power of the legislature to sell--he was sustained by the decision of the supreme court--he was not a stockholder--he afforded no aid with his personal influence; yet the public clamor made him a yazoo-man, and troup was foremost in his denunciation of him. on this account it was that, upon a memorable occasion, dooly declared that troup's mouth was formed by nature to pronounce the word yazoo. it had been proposed to dooly, at the time forsyth abandoned the federal party, to follow his example; but he refused to part with his first love, and clung to her, and shaded, without a murmur, her fortunes and her fate, which condemned him to a comparative obscurity for all the future. it was long years after, and when mr. forsyth was in the zenith of his popularity, that the friends of dooly proposed his name for the senate of the united states. his was the only name announced as a candidate to the legislature, but, on counting the ballots, it was found forsyth had been elected. dooly was present, and remarked to a friend that he was the only man he ever knew to be beaten who ran without opposition. he saw the aspiring companions of his youth favorites of the people, and thrust forward into public places, winning fame, and rising from one position to another of higher distinction. he witnessed the advance of men whom he had known as children in his manhood, preferred over him; and, in the consciousness of his own superiority to most or all of these, rather despised than regretted the prejudices of the public--influenced by men designing and selfish--which consigned him to obscurity because of an honest difference of opinion upon a point of policy which ninety out of every hundred knew nothing about. while the companions of his early youth were filling missions abroad, executive offices at home, and cabinet appointments, he was wearing out his life in a position where, whatever his abilities, there was little fame to be won. still he would make no compromise of principle. in faith he was sincere, and too honest to pretend a faith he had not, though honors and proud distinction waited to reward the deceit. as true to his friends as his principles, he would not desert either, and surrender his virtue to the seductions of office and honors. toward the close of his life, his friends got into office and power. his friend, john clarke, was elected governor, upon the demise of governor rabun; but his day had passed, and other and younger men thrust him aside. parties were growing more and more corrupt, and to subserve the uses of corruption, more tractable and pliant tools were required than could be made of dooly. the election of clarke was a triumph over the friends of crawford, who was then a member of mr. monroe's cabinet, and had long been absent from the state. it revived anew the flame of discord, which had smouldered under the ashes of time. the embers lived, and the division into parties of the people of the united states, consequent upon the disruption of the federal and republican parties, and the candidacy of mr. crawford for the presidency, caused a division of the old republican party in georgia. clarke immediately headed the opposition to crawford, and his election was hailed as an evidence of mr. crawford's unpopularity at home. this election startled the old friends of this distinguished son of georgia, and revived the old feeling. clarke was a man of strong will, without much mind, brave, and vindictive, and nursed the most intense hatred of crawford constantly in his heart. the long absence of crawford from the state, and the secluded retirement of clarke, had caused to cool in the public mind much of the former bitterness of the two factions in the state, but now it was rekindled. there were very many young men, who had been too young to take any part in these factions, but who were now the active and ambitious element in the state. many persons, too, had immigrated into the new-settled parts of the state, who were strangers to the feuds which had once divided her people, and which now began to do so anew. each party sought to win and secure this element. every newspaper in the state, every judge upon the bench, every member of congress was in the interest of crawford; and yet there was a majority of the people of the state attached to the clarke faction. he and his friends had long been proscribed, and they pleaded persecution. the natural sympathies of the heart were touched by these appeals, and it was feared the state would be lost to crawford in the coming presidential election. every effort was now to be made to defeat this faction against him, headed by clarke. the election of governor at this time was by the legislature; and it was not anticipated that there would be any difficulty in the re-election of rabun, and, consequently, there had been no agitation of the question before the people at the recent election of members of the legislature. scarcely a tithe of the people had even heard of the candidacy of clarke when his election was announced; and, at the time, so little interest was felt on the subject, that very few objected to his election. clarke was a man of violent passions, and had been, to some extent, irregular and dissipated in his habits. when excited by any means, he was fierce; but when with drink, he was boisterous, abusive, and destructive. many stories were related of terrible acts of his commission--riding into houses, smashing furniture, glass, and crockery--of persecutions of his family and weak persons he disliked. this had aroused in the pious and orderly members of society strong opposition to him, and at this time all his sins and irregularities were widely and loudly heralded to the public. the preachers, with few exceptions, denounced him, and those who did not were very soon with him denounced. very soon after his inauguration, the celebrated jesse mercer--the great gun of the baptist denomination in georgia--was invited to preach the funeral sermon of governor rabun. mercer was an especial friend of mr. crawford, and a more especial enemy of clarke. in many respects he was a remarkable man--a zealous and intolerant sectarian, and quite as uncompromising and bitter in his political feelings. his zeal knew no bounds in propagating his religious faith, and it was quite as ardent in persecuting his political opponents. it was doubtful which he most hated--the devil or john clarke. rabun had been his neighbor, his friend, and, above all, a member and elder in his church. it was quite fitting under the circumstances that he should be selected to officiate in the funeral services in honor of the late governor. from respect, clarke and the legislature were present. the moment mercer's eye, from the pulpit, descried clarke, he threw open his bible violently, and for many minutes was busy searching from page to page some desired text. at last he smiled. and such a smile! it was malignant as that of a catamount. turning down the leaf--as was the custom of his church--he rose and gave out to be sung, line by line, his hymn. this concluded, he made a short and hurried prayer--contrary to his custom--and, rising from his prayerful position, opened his bible, and fixing his eye upon clarke, he directed his audience to his text, and read: "when the wicked rule, the land mourns." the expression of his countenance, the twinkling of his eye, all pointed so clearly to clarke as to direct the attention of every one present to the governor. this was followed by a sermon half made up of the irregularities of clarke's life. this was the tocsin to the church, and it came down in force with the opposition to the governor elect. it was, too, the slogan of the crawford party to rally for a new conflict. mr. crawford's conduct as a representative of the state in congress, and the representative of her people in his foreign mission, had been eminently satisfactory; and his present elevated position as secretary of the treasury of the united states was exceedingly gratifying to their pride. when it was determined by his friends to present his name to the nation as a candidate for the presidency, it was supposed his support would be unanimous in georgia. time had given opportunity for the prejudices and hatreds of youth to wear out with the passions of youth. those, however, who knew john clarke, were not deceived when he successfully rallied a party in opposition. so little interest had been felt in the personal difficulty formerly existing between clarke and crawford, that even those who remembered it attached to it no importance, and they did not suppose clarke's election was to be the commencement of an organized opposition to crawford's election, and of the bitterness which was to follow. there was scarcely the show of opposition to the election of clarke. those who remembered the old feud, and how completely it had pressed down all the ambitious hopes and aspirations of clarke, were willing to forget the past, and, though warm friends of mr. crawford, to vote for clarke, and honor him with the first office in the state. some felt his treatment had been too harsh, and that for his father's yazoo antecedents he had been made to pay quite too severe a penalty, and were desirous to manifest their feelings in their votes. besides, his family connections were most respectable. griffin campbell and dr. bird were his brothers-in-law, and were men of high character and great influence. the friends of these gentlemen united in his support. and there was still another, whose influence, to the writer's knowledge, carried four young, talented members of the house to the support of her father--ann clarke, the only daughter of john clarke, who had no superior among her sex in talent, beauty, and accomplishments, in the state. during the incumbency of her father she did the honors of the executive mansion with a dignity, grace, and affability which won all hearts, and added greatly to the popularity of the governor. she married colonel john w. campbell, and all her after-life has justified the promise of her girlhood. left a widow with many children, she has reared and educated them to be an honor to their mother, and, as she was, an ornament to society. she is now an aged woman, and resides in texas, honored and beloved by all who know her. the election of clarke was illy received by the old and tried friends of crawford throughout the state. they knew him. his stern, inflexible character and indomitable will were sure to rally about him a party; and his personal bravery and devotion to his friends would greatly aid in keeping and inspiring these. his position now was one of strength, with the capacity to increase it, and the material was abundant; yet there were formidable difficulties in his way. all, or very nearly all of the leading families of the state--the lamars, cobbs, mcintoshes, waynes, telfairs, cummings, tatnals, dawsons, abercrombies, holts, blackshears, and many others--were republicans, and active in the support of crawford for the presidency. these apparently insurmountable difficulties were to be overcome in the organization of new parties. the complete breaking up of the republican party of the nation was favorable; and there was another element which the sagacity of campbell soon discovered and laid hold upon. there were many ambitious and disappointed men and families in the state beside clarke and his family. the overwhelming popularity of crawford as the head of the republican party in the state had enabled his friends to monopolize all the offices, and give direction to every political movement and fix the destiny of every political aspirant. under this _régime_ many had been summarily set aside, and were soured. the talents of troup, forsyth, cobb, berrien, tatnal, and some others, pointed them out as men to be honored, because they honored the state. they seemed to hold a possessory right to the distinguished positions, and to dictate who should be elected to the minor ones. young ambition submitted, but, was restless and impatient to break away from this dominion. party stringency had enforced it, but this was loosened, and all that was now wanting was a head to rally them into a new and formidable party. every old federalist in the state who had clung to his principles attached himself to clarke. there were many strong families, wielding a potent influence in their neighborhoods, attached to federal principles. the watkins, hills, walkers, glasscocks, and adamses all soon sided with the new party. a press in its support was greatly needed, and was soon established, and given in charge of cosein e. bartlett, than whom no man was better calculated for such a service as was demanded of him. there were not at this time a dozen newspapers in the state. with all of them had bartlett to do battle for the cause in which he had enlisted, and right valiantly did he do it. he was a fluent and most caustic writer, and was always ready, not only to write, but to fight for his party, and would with his blood sustain anything he might say or write. like most party editors, he only saw the interest of his party in what he would write, and would write anything he supposed would further the ends of his party. almost immediately after the election of clarke, the opposition presented the name of george m. troup, who had been voted for as an opposing candidate at the time of clarke's election. it was but a little while before the state trembled with the agitation which seemed to disturb every breast. none could be neutral. all were compelled to take sides or be crushed between the contending parties or factions; for this division of the people was only factious. there was no great principle upon which they divided; it was men only. clarke and his friends favored the pretensions of mr. calhoun to the presidency solely because he was the enemy of crawford, and they were subsequently transferred to the support of jackson as readily as cattle in the market. for two years was this agitation increasing in intensity, and so bitter had it made animosities arising out of it, that reason seemed to reel, and justice to forget her duty. men were chosen indiscriminately to office because of party proclivities. intelligence and moral worth were entirely disregarded--families divided--husbands and wives quarrelled--father and sons were estranged, and brothers were at deadly strife. there was no argument in the matter; for there was nothing upon which to predicate an argument. to introduce the subject was to promote a quarrel. churches were distracted and at discord, and the pulpit, for the first time in georgia, desecrated by political philippics. pierce then, as now, was the leading minister of the methodist church in the state, and abstained in the pulpit, but made no secret of his preferences upon the street. duffie travelled everywhere. he had by unkindness driven from him his wife with her infant child, and, in her helpless and desperate condition, she had taken refuge with the shaking quakers in the west, and remained with them until her death. his son came to him after maturity, and was established by him on a plantation with a number of slaves; but, having inherited all the brutal ferocity of his father, it was not long before he murdered one or two of them. incarcerated in the county jail, his father invoked party aid to release him, openly declaring it was due to him for party services in opposing that son of the devil--john clarke. whether his party or his money did the work i know not; but the miserable wretch escaped from jail, and was never brought to trial. peter gautier was another prominent preacher-politician, and exercised his talents in the service of clarke. he was by birth an american, but his parents were french. he was a bad man, but of eminent abilities, and exercised great influence in the western portion of the state. after pierce, he was the superior of all of his denomination as a pulpit orator; and in will and energy unequalled by any other. bold, unscrupulous, and passionate, he, regardless of his profession, mingled freely, at county musters and political barbecues, with the lowest and vilest of the community, using every art his genius suggested to inflame the mad passions of men already excited to frenzy. in after life the viciousness and unscrupulousness of his nature overmastered his hypocrisy and burst out in acts of dishonesty and profanity, which disgraced and drove him from the state. he sought security from public scorn in the wilds of florida; but all restraint had given way, and very soon the innate perfidy of his nature manifested itself in all his conduct, and he was obliged to retire from florida. at that time texas was the outlet for all such characters, and thither went gautier, where he died. every means which talent and ingenuity could devise was put into requisition by both parties to secure their ascendency. the men of abilities greatly preponderated in the troup faction; and the pens of cobb, gumming, wild, grantland, gilmer, and foster were active in promoting the election of troup, and thereby regaining the lost power of the old crawford or republican party. many young men of talent had espoused the clarke faction, and, under the guidance of dooly, campbell, and clarke, were doing yeomen's work for the cause. among these was charles j. mcdonald, whose fine character and family influence rendered him conspicuously popular. this popularity he retained to the end of his life. it elevated him to the gubernatorial chair, after serving in the united states congress and for years upon the bench of the superior court. his talents were not of the first order, but his honesty, sincerity, and goodness made him beloved. bartlett was struggling with all his energies to write up the administration and to defend the governor against the fierce and reiterated attacks of the opposition. about this period there appeared some articles in a paper in augusta, georgia, reflecting upon mr. crawford, in reply to several papers signed "c.," which were written by richard h. wild, then a member of congress from georgia. these articles were attributed to colonel william gumming, of augusta, and "c.," in reply, attacked him severely. he was not a man to be badgered by an anonymous writer in a newspaper. he demanded immediately of the editor the name of his correspondent, and that of george mcduffie, of south carolina, was given. a challenge ensued--a meeting followed, in which mcduffie was seriously wounded, and which ultimately caused his death. this affair increased the hatred between the georgians and carolinians, as it did not cease with a single meeting. gumming renewed his challenge in consequence of a statement made by mcduffie in a paper to the public, narrating offensively--as cumming felt--the particulars of the affair. a second meeting was the consequence, at which a difficulty arose between the seconds, and it was adjourned to another day and another place. at this third meeting, in an exchange of shots, mcduffie's arm was broken, and this terminated the difficulty; but it did not appease the animosity of the friends of the parties. these combatants were both men of remarkable abilities. colonel william cumming was a native of augusta, georgia. born to the inheritance of fortune, he received a liberal education and selected the law as a profession. he read with the celebrated judges reeve and gould, at litchfield, connecticut. at the period of his study this was the only law-school in the united states. many anecdotes of his peculiarities during his residence at the school were related by his preceptors to the young gentlemen from georgia who followed him in the office in after years. a moot court was a part of the system of instruction, in which questions of law, propounded by one of the professors, were argued by students appointed for the purpose. on one occasion, cumming was replying to the argument of a competitor, and was so caustic as to be offensive. this was resented by insulting words. turning to the gentleman, and without speaking, cumming knocked him down. immediately, and without the slightest appearance of excitement, addressing the presiding professor, he remarked: "having thus summarily disposed of the gentleman, i will proceed to treat his argument in like manner." upon his return to georgia, the war with england having broken out, he procured the commission of a captain and entered the army. he was transferred to the northern frontier--then the seat of active operations--and soon distinguished himself amid that immortal band, all of whom now sleep with their fathers--miller, brook, jessup, mccrea, appling, gaines, and twiggs. cumming, appling, and twiggs were georgians. at the battle of lundy's lane he was severely wounded and borne from the field. he was placed in an adjoining room to general preston, who was also suffering from a wound. cumming was a favorite of preston's, and both were full of prejudice toward the men of the north. late at night, preston was aroused by a boisterous laugh in cumming's apartment. such a laugh was so unusual with him that the general supposed he had become delirious from pain. he was unable to go to him, but called and inquired the cause of his mirth. "i can't sleep," was the reply, "and i was thinking over the incidents of the day, and just remembered that there had not in the conflict been an officer wounded whose home was north of mason and dixon's line. those fellows know well how to take care of their bacon." he was soon promoted to a colonelcy, and was fast rising to the next grade when the war terminated. in the reduction of the army he was retained--a compliment to his merits as a man and an officer. he was satisfied with this, and, in declining to remain in the army, wrote to the secretary of war: "there are many whose services have been greater, and whose merits are superior to mine, who have no other means of a livelihood. i am independent, and desire some other may be retained in my stead." he was unambitious of political distinction, though intensely solicitous to promote that of his friends. his high qualities of soul and mind endeared him to the people of the state, who desired and sought every occasion which they deemed worthy of him, to tender him the first positions within their gift; but upon every one of these he remained firm to his purpose, refusing always the proffered preferment. upon one occasion, when written to by a majority of the members of the legislature, entreating him to permit them to send him to the senate of the united states, he declined, adding: "i am a plain, military man. should my country, in that capacity, require my services, i shall be ready to render them; but in no other." he continued to reside in augusta in extreme seclusion. upon the breaking out of the war with mexico he was tendered, by mr. polk, the command of the army, but declined on account of his age and declining health, deeming himself physically incapable of encountering the fatigue the position would involve. the habits of colonel cumming were peculiar. his intercourse with his fellow men was confined to a very few tried friends. he never married, and was rarely known to hold any familiar intercourse with females. so secluded did he live, that for many years he was a stranger to almost every one in his native city. he was strictly truthful, punctual to his engagements in business matters, and honest in all things. in person, he was very commanding. in his walk the whole man was seen--erect, dignified, and impetuous. energy and command flashed from his great, gray eyes. his large head and square chin, with lips compressed, indicated the talent and firmness which were the great characteristics of his nature. impatient of folly, he cultivated no intercourse with silly persons, nor brooked for a moment the forward impertinence of little pretenders. to those whose qualities of mind and whose habits were congenial to his own, and whom he permitted familiarly to approach him, he was exceedingly affable, and with such he frequently jested, and hilariously enjoyed the piquant story in mirthful humor; but this was for the few. he was a proud man, and was at no pains to conceal his contempt for pert folly or intrusive ignorance, wherever and in whomsoever he met it. in early life he was the close intimate of richard henry wild, and was a great admirer of his genius, and especially his great and interesting conversational powers. unexceptionable in his morals, he was severe upon those whose lives were deformed by the petty vices which society condemns yet practises in so many instances and universally tolerates. it is greatly to be regretted that the talents and learning of such a man should not be given to mankind. every one capable of appreciating these great attributes in man, and who knew colonel cumming, will, with the writer, regret that he persistently refused every persuasion of his friends to allow them to place him in such a position before the country as would bring his great qualities prominently forward in the service, and for the benefit of his fellow-men. his proud nature scorned the petty arts of the politician; and he doubtless felt place could only be had or retained by the use of these arts; he was of too high principle to descend to them, and held in great contempt those whose confidence and favor could only be had by chicanery. he was not a people's man, and had in his nature very little in common with the masses; and, like coriolanus, scorned and shunned the great unwashed. he lived out his threescore years and ten, hiding the jewel god had given him, and appropriating it only to the use of his own happiness in the solitude he loved. george mcduffie was a very different man. born of humble parentage in one of the eastern counties of georgia, he enjoyed but few advantages. his early education was limited: a fortuitous circumstance brought him to the knowledge of mr. calhoun, who saw at once in the boy the promise of the man. proposing to educate him and fit him for a destiny which he believed an eminent one, he invited him to his home, and furnished him with the means of accomplishing this end. his ambition had often whispered to his young mind a proud future, and he commenced the acquisition of the education which was, as he felt, essential as a means of its attainment. in this he made rapid progress, and at the age of twenty-five graduated at the university of south carolina. it was not long after graduating before he was admitted to the bar, and commenced the practice of law in company with eldridge simpkins, at edgefield court house, who was, if i mistake not, at the time, a member of congress. the rise of mcduffie at the bar was rapid; he had not practised three years before his position was by the side of the first minds of the state, and his name in the mouth of every one--the coming man of the south. it was probably owing to the defence made by him of william taylor for the killing of dr. cheesboro, that he became famous as it were in a day. this case excited the people of the whole state of south carolina. the parties were, so far as position was concerned, the first in the state. william taylor was the brother of john taylor, who at the time of the killing was governor of the state. john taylor, his grandfather, was a distinguished officer in the army of the revolution: the family was wealthy, and extensively connected with the first families of the state. cheesboro was a young physician of great promise and extensive practice. jealousy was the cause of the killing, and was evidently groundless. the deed was done in the house of taylor, in the city of columbia, and was premeditated murder. mrs. taylor was a lovely woman and highly connected. in her manners she was affable and cordial; she was a great favorite in society, and her universal popularity attracted to her the host of friends who so much admired her. dr. cheesboro was one of these, and the green-eyed monster made him, in the convictions of taylor, the especial favorite of his wife. mcduffie was employed in his defence, and he made a most triumphant success against evidence, law, and justice. his speech to the jury was most effective. the trial had called to columbia many persons connected with the family; and all were interested to save from an ignominious death their relative. this, it was thought, could only be done by the sacrifice of the wife's reputation. this would not only ruin forever this estimable lady, but reflect a stain upon her extensive and respectable connections. she was appealed to, to save her husband's life with the sacrifice of her fame. in the consciousness of innocence, she refused with spartan firmness to slander her reputation by staining her conscience with a lie. her friends stood by her; and when hope had withered into despair, and the possibility gone forever of saving him by this means, the eloquence of mcduffie and the influence of family were invoked, and successfully. in the examination of the witnesses he showed great tact, and successfully kept from the jury facts which would have left them no excuse for a verdict of acquittal. but it was in his address that his great powers made themselves manifest. the opening was impassioned and powerful. scarcely had he spoken ten minutes before the bench, the bar, the jury, and the audience were in tears, and, during the entire speech, so entirely did he control the feelings of every one who heard him, that the sobs from every part of the courtroom were audible above the sounds of his voice. when he had concluded, the jury went weeping from the box to the room of their deliberations, and soon returned a verdict of acquittal. this effort established the fame of mcduffie as an orator and man of great mental powers. fortunately at that time it was the pride of south carolina to call to her service the best talent in all the public offices, state and national, and with one acclaim the people demanded his services in congress. mr. simpkins, the incumbent from the edgefield district, declined a re-election, that his legal partner, mr. mcduffie, might succeed him, and he was chosen by acclamation. he came in at a time when talent abounded in congress, and when the country was deeply agitated with the approaching election for president. almost immediately upon his entering congress an altercation occurred upon the floor of the house between him and mr. randolph, which resulted in the discomfiture of mr. randolph, causing him to leave the house in a rage, with the determination to challenge mcduffie. this, however, when he cooled, he declined to do. this rencontre of wit and bitter words gave rise to an amusing incident during its progress. jack baker, the wag and wit of virginia, was an auditor in the gallery of the house. randolph, as usual, was the assailant, and was very severe. mcduffie replied, and was equally caustic, and this to the astonishment of every one; for all supposed the young member was annihilated--as so many before had been by randolph--and would not reply. his antagonist was completely taken aback, and evidently felt, with sir andrew ague-cheek: "had i known he was so cunning of fence, i had seen him damned ere i had fought him." but he was in for it, and must reply. his rejoinder was angry, and wanting in his usual biting sarcasm. mcduffie rose to reply, and, pausing, seemed to hesitate, when baker from the gallery audibly exclaimed: "lay on, mcduff, and damned be he who first cries hold, enough!" the silence which pervaded the chamber was broken by a general laugh, greatly disconcerting randolph, but seeming to inspire mcduffie, who went on in a strain of vituperation witheringly pungent, in the midst of which mr. randolph left his seat and the house. here was a triumph few had enjoyed. not even bayard, in his famous attack upon randolph, when the latter first came into congress, had won so much. every one seemed delighted. the newspapers heralded it to the country, and mcduffie had a national reputation. everything seemed propitious for his fame, and every friend of mr. calhoun felt that he had a champion in his _protégé_, who, in good service, would return him fourfold for his noble generosity to the boy. the contest with cumming whetted more sharply the edge of the animosity between georgia and south carolina. the two were considered the champions of their respective states, as also the chosen knights of their respective friends--crawford and calhoun. the states and the friends of the parties in this quarrel very soon arrayed themselves in antagonism, which was made personal on many occasions, and between many parties. the young were especially prominent in their demonstrations of hostile feeling, not excepting the belles of the respective states. between them, i believe, it never went beyond words; but they were frequent in conflict, and sometimes very bitter and very witty ones escaped from lovely lips, attesting that the face of beauty was underlaid with passion's deformity. with the young gallants it went to blows, and, on a few occasions, to more deadly strife; and always marred the harmony of the association where there were young representatives of both states. on one occasion of social meeting at a public dinner-party in georgia, a young south carolinian gave as a sentiment: "george mcduffie--the pride of south carolina." this was immediately responded to by mirabeau b. lamar, the late president of texas, who was then young, and a great pet of his friends, with another: "colonel william cumming-- "the man who england's arms defied, a bar to base designers; who checked alike old britain's pride and noisy south carolina's." the wit of the impromptu was so fine and the company so appreciative, that, as if by common consent, all enjoyed it, and good feeling was not disturbed. mcduffie was not above the middle size. his features were large and striking, especially his eyes, forehead, and nose. the latter was prominent and aquiline. his eyes were very brilliant, blue, and deeply set under a massive brow--his mouth large, with finely chiselled lips, which, in meeting, always wore the appearance of being compressed. in manners he was retiring without being awkward. his temperament was nervous and ardent, and his feelings strong. his manner when speaking was nervous and impassioned, and at times fiercely vehement, and again persuasive and tenderly pathetic, and in every mood he was deeply eloquent. in the after period of life these antagonists were, through the instrumentality of a noble-hearted hibernian, reconciled, and sincerely so--both regretting the past, and willing to bury its memory in social intimacy. mcduffie married miss singleton, of south carolina, one of the loveliest and most accomplished ladies of the state. owing to the wound received in the duel with cumming, his nervous system suffered, and finally his brain. the ball remained imbedded in the spine, and pressed upon the spinal chord. an attempt to remove it, the surgeons determined, would be more hazardous to life than to permit it to remain. there was no remedy. from its effects his mind began to decay, and finally perished, leaving him, long before his death, a melancholy imbecile. in all the relations of life this great man was faithful to his duties--a devoted husband, a sincere friend, a kind neighbor, and a considerate and indulgent master to his slaves. he was one of those rare creations for which there is no accounting. none of his family evinced more than very ordinary minds; nor can there be traced in his ancestry one after whom his nature and abilities were marked. his morals were as pure and elevated as his intellect was grand and comprehensive, and his soul was as lofty and chivalrous as the chevalier bayard's. his fame is too broad to be claimed alone by south carolina. georgia is proud of giving him birth, and the nation cherishes his glory. chapter viii. fifty years ago. governor mathews--indians--topography of middle georgia--a new country and its settlers--beaux and belles--early training--jesuit teachers--a mother's influence--the jews--homely sports--the cotton gin-- camp-meetings. immediately subsequent to the revolution, all the country northwest of the ogeechee river, in the middle portion of the state of georgia, was divided into two counties, franklin and wilkes. it was a wilderness, and contiguous to both the creek and cherokee indian nations. no country in the world was more beautiful in its topography, and few more fertile in soil. governor mathews had purchased a home in this region; and being at this time the principal man in the up-country, attracted to his neighborhood the emigrants who began to come into the country. mathew's revolutionary services in the command of a regiment in the virginia line were eminent; and his character for intrepidity naturally made him a leader among such men as were likely to seek and make homes in a new country. surrounded not only with all the difficulties presented to him by the unsubdued wilderness, but the perils of savage warfare, he unflinchingly went forward in his enterprise, daring and conquering every obstacle nature and the savages interposed. he was an uneducated man; but of strong mind, ardent temperament, and most determined will. many anecdotes are related of his intrepidity, self-respect, and unbending will. he was a native of augusta county, virginia, and emigrated to georgia about the same time that elijah clarke came from north carolina and settled in that portion of the new territory now known as clarke county. these two remarkable men formed a nucleus for those of their respective states who came at subsequent periods to make a home in georgia. they were models to the youth of their respective neighborhoods, and gave tone to the character of the population for many years after they were in their graves. about the same time, the earlys came from virginia, and the abercrombies from north carolina, and located respectively in the new counties of greene and hancock. they were all men of strong character, and all exercised great influence with those who accompanied or came to them at a subsequent period. among the very first to locate in greene county was colonel david love, from north carolina, and soon after came the nesbits, jacksons, and hortons; all of whom settled upon the head-waters of the ogeechee and upon shoulderbone creek. the country was very attractive, the soil very generous, the water good, and the health remarkable. the general topography of middle georgia (as that portion of georgia is now termed) is unsurpassed by any other portion of the state for beauty--hill and dale, the one not rising many feet above the other, generally with beautiful slopes, and scarcely at any place with so much abruptness as to forbid cultivation. upon these lovely acclivities were built the cabins of the emigrants, at the base of which, and near the house, was always to be found a fountain of pure, sweet water, gushing and purling away over sand and pebbles, meandering through a valley which it fertilized, and which abounds in shrubs flowering in beauty, and sheltered by forests of oak, hickory, pine, and gum. those who first came were frequently compelled to unite in a settlement at some selected point, and, for defence against the inroads of the savages, were obliged to build stockade forts, with blockhouses. nature seems to have prepared, during the revolution, men for subduing the wilderness and its savage inhabitants. they cheerfully encountered all the difficulties and hazards thus presented, and constantly pursued their object to its consummation. they came from every section of the older communities, and all seemed animated with the same spirit. they were orderly, but rude; and though beyond the pale of the law, they were a law unto themselves; and these laws were strictly enforced by a public opinion which gave them being and efficiency. with remarkably simple habits and very limited opportunities, their wants were few; and these were supplied by their own industry and frugality upon the farm. their currency was silver coin, spanish milled, and extremely limited in quantity. the little trade carried on was principally by barter, and social intercourse was confined almost exclusively to the sabbath. the roads were rough and uneven, consisting almost entirely of a way sufficiently wide for an ox-cart to pass, cut through the forest, where the stumps and stones remained; and in soft or muddy places, the bodies of small trees or split rails were placed side by side, so as to form a sort of bridge or causeway, so rough as to test and not unfrequently to destroy the wheels of the rude vehicles of the country. these obtained and to this day receive the sobriquet of georgia railroads or corduroy turnpikes. very few of these immigrants were independent of labor; and most of them devoted six days of the week to the cultivation of a small farm and its improvement. children learned early to assist in this labor, and those who were sent to school, almost universally employed the saturday of each week in farm-work. man's social nature induces aggregation into communities, which stimulates an ambition to excel in every undertaking. from this emulation grows excellence and progress in every laudable enterprise. these small communities, as they grew from accessions coming into the country, began to build rude places for public worship, which were primitive log-cabins, and served as well the purposes of a school-house. here the adult population assembled on the sabbath, and the children during the week. this intercourse, together with the dependence of every one at times for neighborly assistance, was greatly promotive of harmony and mutual confidence. close and familiar acquaintance revealed to all the peculiar character of every one--the virtuous and the vicious, the energetic or the indolent, the noble and the ignoble--and all very soon came to be appreciated according to their merit. rude sports constituted the amusements of the young--wrestling, leaping, and hunting; and he who was most expert at these was the neighborhood's pride: he rode from church with the prettiest girl, and was sure to be welcomed by her parents when he came; and to be selected by such an one was to become the neighborhood's belle. at log-rollings, quiltings, and saturday-night frolics, he was the first and the most admired. the girls, too, were not without distinction--she who could spin the greatest number of cuts of cotton, or weave the greatest number of yards of cloth, was most distinguished, and most admired; but especially was she distinguished who could spin and weave the neatest fabric for her own wear, of white cloth with a turkey-red stripe--cut, and make it fit the labor-rounded person and limbs--or make, for father's or brother's wear, the finest or prettiest piece of jean--cook the nicest dinners for her beau, or dance the longest without fatigue. the sexes universally associated at the same school, (a system unfortunately grown out of use,) and grew up together with a perfect knowledge of the disposition, temperament, and general character of each other. and, as assuredly as the boy is father to the man, the girl is mother to the woman; and these peculiarities were attractive or repulsive as they differed in individuals, and were always an influence in the selection of husbands and wives. the prejudices of childhood endure through life, particularly those toward persons. they are universally predicated upon some trait of manner or character, and these, as in the boy perceived, are ever prominent in the man. so, too, with the girl, and they only grow with the woman. this is a paramount reason why parties about contracting marriage-alliances should be well aware of whom they are about to select. the consequence of this intercommunication of the sexes from childhood, in the primitive days of georgia's first settlement, was seen in the harmony of families. in the age which followed, a separation or divorce was as rare as an earthquake; and when occurring, agitated the whole community. for then a marriage was deemed a life-union, for good or for evil, and was not lightly or inconsiderately entered into. the separation of the sexes in early youth, and especially at school, destroys or prevents in an eminent degree the restraining influences upon the actions of each other, and that tender desire for the society of each other, which grows from childhood's associations. brought together at school in early life, when the mind and soul are receiving the impressions which endure through life, they naturally form intimacies, and almost always special partialities and preferences. each has his or her favorite, these partialities are usually reciprocal, and their consequence is a desire on the part of each to see the other excel. to accomplish this, children, as well as grown people, will make a greater effort than they will simply to succeed or to gratify a personal ambition to that effect. thus they sympathize with and stimulate each other. every georgia boy of fifty years ago, with gray-head and tottering step now, remembers his sweetheart, for whom he carried his hat full of peaches to school, and for whom he made the grape-vine swing, and how at noon he swung her there. 't is bonny may; and i to-day am wrinkled seventy-four, still i enjoy, as when a boy, much that has gone before. is it the leaves and trees, or sheaves of yellow, ripened grain, which wake to me, in memory, my boyhood's days again? these seem to say 't is bonny may, as when they sweetly grew, and gave their yield, in wood and field, to me, when life was new. but nought beside--ah, woe betide!-- which grew with me is here-- the home, the hall, the mill, the all which young life holds so dear. the school-house, spring, and little thing, with eyes so bright and blue, who'd steal away with me and play when school's dull hours were through, are memories now; and yet, oh! how it seems but yesterday since i was there, with that sweet dear, in the wild wood at play. the hill was steep where we would leap; the grape-vine swing hung high, and i would throw the swing up so that, startled, she would cry. but though she cried, she still relied (and seemed to have no fear) on me to hold the swing, and told me "not to frighten her." but i was wild, and she no child, and not afraid, i deemed; so tossed as high the swing as i could--when she fell and screamed. she was not harmed; but i, alarmed, ran quickly to assist, and lifted her, all pale with fear, within my arms, and kissed her pallid cheek, ere she could speak: but i had seen, you know, (ah! what of this? that sight and kiss was fifty years ago,) that little boot and pretty foot, so neatly formed and small-- the swelling calf, and stifled laugh-- how i remember all! that lovely one has long since gone, is dust, and only dust, now; yet i recall that swing and fall, as though it had been just now. take these lines, reader, if you please, as an evidence of how the memories growing out of the associations of boyhood's school-days endure through life. this association of the sexes operates as a restraint upon both, salutary to good conduct and good morals. such restraints are far more effective than the staid lessons of some old, wrinkled duenna of a school-mistress, whose failure to find a sweetheart in girlhood, or a husband in youthful womanhood, has soured her toward every man, and filled her with hatred for the happiness she witnesses in wedded life, and which is ever present all around her. her warnings are in violation of nature. she has forgotten she was ever young or inspired with the feelings and hopes of youth. men are monsters, and marriage a hell upon earth. girls will not believe this, and will get married. how much better, then, that they should cultivate, in association, the generous and natural feelings of the heart, and during the period allotted by nature for the growth of the feelings natural to the human bosom, as well as to the growth of the person and mind, than to be told what they should be by one disappointed of all the fruits of them, and hating the world because she is! it is the mother who should form the sentiments and direct the conduct of daughters, and in their teachings should never forget that nature is teaching also. let their lessons always teach the proper indulgences of nature, as well as the proper and prudent restraints to the natural feelings of the human heart, and so deport themselves toward their daughters from infancy as to win their confidence and affection. the daughters, when properly trained, will always come with their little complaints in childhood, and seek consolation, leaning upon the parent's knee, and, with solicitude, look up into the parental face for sympathy and advice. home-teaching and home-training makes the proper woman. when this is properly attended to, there needs no boarding-school or female-college finish, which too frequently uproots every virtuous principle implanted by the careful and affectionate teaching of pious, gentle, and intelligent mothers. but few mothers, who are themselves properly trained, forget nature in the training and education of their daughters; and a truly natural woman is a blessing to society and a crown of glory to her husband. i mean by a natural training a knowledge of herself, as well as a knowledge of the offices of life and the domestic duties of home. every woman in her girlhood should learn from her mother the mission and destinies of woman, as well as what is due to society, to their families, to themselves, and to god. the woman who enters life with a knowledge of what life is, and what is due to her and from her in all the relations of life, has a thousand chances for happiness through life unknown to the belle of the boarding-school, who, away from home influences, is artificially educated to be in all things prominent before the world, and entirely useless in the discharge of domestic duties. she may figure as the lady-president or vice-president of charitable associations, or the lady-president of some prominent or useless society; but never as a dutiful, devoted wife, or affectionate, instructive mother to her children. her household is managed by servants, and about her home nothing evinces the neat, provident, and attentive housewife. the whole system of education, as practised by the protestants of the united states, is wrong; religious prejudice prevents their learning from the catholics, and particularly from the jesuit catholics, who are far in advance of their protestant brethren. they learn from the child as they teach the child. in the first place, none are permitted to teach who are not by nature, as well as by education, qualified to teach; nature must give the gentleness, the kindness, and the patience, with the capacity to impart instruction. they learn, first, the child's nature, the peculiarities of temper, and fashion these to obedience and affection; they first teach the heart to love--not fear; they warn against the evils of life--teach the good, and the child's duties to its parents, to its brothers and sisters, to its teachers, to its playmates, and to its god. when the heart is mellowed and yields obedience in the faithful discharge of these duties, and the brain sufficiently matured to comprehend the necessity of them, then attention is directed to the mind; its capacities are learned and known, and it is treated as this knowledge teaches is proper: it is, as the farmer knows, the soil of his cultivation, and is prepared by careful tillage before the seed is sown. the vision of the child's mind is by degrees expanded; the horizon of its knowledge is enlarged, and still the heart's culture goes on in kindness and affection. the pupil has learned to love the teacher, and receives with alacrity his teaching; he goes to him, without fear, for information on every point of duty in morals, as on every difficult point of literary learning. he knows he will be received kindly, and dealt with gently. should he err, he is never rebuked in public, nor harshly in private; the teacher is aggrieved, and in private he kindly complains to the offender, whose love for his preceptor makes him to feel, and repent, and to err no more. all this is only known to the two; his school-fellows never know, and have no opportunity for triumph or raillery. thus taught from the cradle, principles become habits; and on these, at maturity, he is launched upon the world, with every safeguard for his future life. so with the girl. with the experience of forty-five years, the writer has never known a vicious, bad woman, wife, or mother trained in a jesuit convent, or reared by an educated catholic mother. the daughters of the pioneers of georgia's early settlements received a home education; at least, in the duties of domestic life. in the discharge of these duties, they gained robust constitutions and vigorous health; they increased the butcher's bill at the expense of the doctor's; and such women were the mothers of the men who have made a history for their country, for themselves and their mothers. i may be prolix and prosaic, but i love to remember the mothers of fifty years ago--she who gave birth to lucius q.c. and mirabeau b. lamar, to william c. dawson, bishop george pierce, alexander stuart, joseph lumpkin, and glorious bob toombs. i knew them all, and, with affectionate delight, remember their virtues, and recall the social hours we have enjoyed together, when they were matrons, and i the companion of their sons. and now, when all are gone, and time is crowding me to the grave, the nobleness of their characters, the simplicity of their bearing in the discharge of their household duties, and the ingenuousness of their manners in social intercourse, is a cherished, venerated memory. none of these women were ever in a boarding-school, never received a lesson in the art of entering a drawing-room or captivating a beau. they were sensible, modest, and moral women, and their virtues live after them in the exalted character of their illustrious sons. their literary education in early life was, of necessity, neglected, because of the want of opportunities; but in the virtues and duties of life, they were thoroughly educated; and none of these, or any of their like, was ever mrs. president or secretary of any pretentious or useless society or association. the little education or literature they acquired was in the old log school-house, where boys and girls commingled as pupils under the teaching of some honest pedagogue, who aspired to teach only reading, writing, and arithmetic, in a simple way. it must not be supposed, from the foregoing remarks, that i object to female education; on the contrary, i would have every woman an educated woman. but i would have this education an useful and proper education; one not wholly ornamental and of no practical use, but one obtained at home, and under the parental care and influence--such an one as made mrs. ripley, of concord, massachusetts, the wonder and admiration of every sensible man. she who studied la place's _mécanique céleste_ when she was making biscuit for her breakfast, and who solved a problem in the higher mathematics when darning her stockings; an education where the useful may be taught and learned to grace the ornamental--where the harp and piano shall share with the needle and the cooking-stove, and the pirouettes of the dancing-master shall be only a step from the laundry and the kitchen. the duties of wives and mothers are to home, husband, and children; and this includes all of woman's duty to the country, and in the intelligent and faithful discharge of which the great ends of life are subserved. good neighborhood, good government, and happy communities secure the implanting and cultivation of good principles, and the proper teaching of proper duties. the wise direction of literary education to sons and to daughters, all comes within the range of home, and home duties especially incumbent upon mothers. the domestic duties and domestic labors should be a prime consideration in the education of daughters. the association of the mother and child from birth, until every principle which is to guide and govern it through life is implanted, makes it the duty of the mother to know the right, and to teach it, too. example and precept should combine; and this necessity compels a constant watch, not only over the child's, but over the mother's language and conduct. all these duties imply a close devotion to home: for here is the germ which is to grow into good or into evil, as it is nursed and cultivated, or wickedly neglected. begin at the beginning, if you would accomplish well your work; and to do this, application and assiduity are indispensable; and these are duties only to be discharged at home. they admit of a relaxation of time sufficient for every social duty exacted by society, if that society is such as it should be; and if not, it should neither occupy time not attention. in this is comprised all woman's duties, and they are paramount; for upon their successful application depend the well-being of society and the proper and healthful administration of wise and salutary laws. the world is indebted to woman for all that is good and great. let every woman emulate cornelia, the roman mother, and, when a giddy, foolish neighbor runs to her to exhibit newly purchased jewels, be found, like the roman matron, at her tambour-work; and like her, too, when her boys from school shall run to embrace her, say to the thoughtless one, "these are my jewels!" and rome will not alone boast of her gracchi and their incomparable mother. the duties of home cultivate reflection and stimulate to virtue. for this reason, women are more pious than men; and for this reason, too, they are more eminent in purity. contact with the domestic circle does not contaminate or corrupt, as the baser contact with the world is sure to do. the home circle is select and chaste--the promiscuous intermingling with the world meretricious and contaminating. the mother not trained to the appreciation and discharge of the domestic duties, was never the mother of a great representative mind; because she is incapable of imparting those stern principles of exalted morality and fixity of purpose essential in forming the character of such men. the mother of cincinnatus was a farmer's wife; of leonidas, a shepherdess; and the mothers of washington, webster, clay, calhoun, william h, crawford, and andrew jackson were all the wives of farmers--rural and simple in their pursuits, distinguished for energy and purity; constant in their principles, and devoted to husband, home, and children. they never dreamed it was woman's vocation or duty to go out into the world and mingle in its strifes and contentions--but at home, to view them, reflect upon their consequences to society, and upon the future of their sons and daughters, and warn them what to emulate and what to shun. they, as did their husbands, felt the necessity of preserving that delicacy of thought and action which is woman's ornament, and which is more efficient in rebuking licentiousness and profligacy in the young and the old than all the teaching of the schools without such example. such were the mothers of the great and the good of our land, and such the mothers of those men now prominent and distinguished in the advocacy and support of the great principles of natural rights and humanity. it is a mooted question whether the purposes of human life demand a high, classical education among the masses; or whether the general happiness is promoted by such education. in the study of the human mind in connection with human wants, we are continually met with difficulties arising from the want of education; and quite as frequently with those resulting from education. so much so, that we hear from every wise man the declaration that as many minds are ruined by over-education as from the want of education. man's curse is to labor. this labor must of necessity be divided to subserve the wants of society--and common sense would teach that each should be educated as best to enable him to perform that labor which may fall to his lot in life. but who shall determine this lot? every day's experience teaches the observant and thinking man that no one individual is uselessly born. to deny this proposition would be to call in question the wisdom and goodness of the creator. every one possesses proclivities for some one avocation, and should be educated for its pursuit. this is manifested in very early life; in some much more palpably than in others. this is always the case when the aptitude is decisive. in such cases this idiosyncrasy will triumph over every adverse circumstance, educational or otherwise; but in the less palpable, it will not; and the design of nature may, and indeed constantly is, disappointed, and improper education and improper pursuits given. in these pursuits or callings, the person thus improperly placed there never succeeds as he would had his bent or mental inclination been observed, and his education directed to it, and he given to its pursuit. such persons labor through life painfully; they have no taste or inclination for the profession, business, or trade in which they are engaged; its pursuit is an irksome, thankless labor; while he who has fallen into nature's design, and is working where his inclinations lead, labors happily, because he labors naturally. these inclinations the parent or guardian should observe; and when manifested, should direct the education for the calling nature has designed. idiosyncrasies are transmissible or inherited. in old and populous communities, where every pursuit or profession is full, the father generally teaches his own to his son or sons. where this has extended through three or four generations, the proclivity is generally strongly marked, and in very early childhood made manifest. thus, in the third or fourth generation, where all have been blacksmiths, the child will be born with the muscles of the right arm more developed than those of the left, and the first plaything he demands is a hammer. so, where a family have been traders, will the offspring naturally discover an aptness for bargaining and commerce. this is illustrated in the instincts of the jews, a people of extraordinary brain and wonderful tenacity of purpose. five thousand years since, a small fragment of the semitic race, residing in mesopotamia between the waters of the euphrates and the tigris, consisting of two families, came into the land of canaan, in asia minor; from them have descended the people known as jews. the country over which they spread, and which is known as judea, is not more than four hundred miles long by two hundred and fifty in breadth, situated between two populous and powerful empires, the assyrian and egyptian, who, waging war too frequently, made the land of judea their battle-field, and its people the objects of persecution and oppression. the earnings of their labor were deemed legitimate prey by both, and taken wherever found: they were led into captivity by the assyrians and by the egyptians, enslaved, and denied the legal right to possess the soil--which, to the everlasting disgrace of christian europe, was a restriction upon this wonderful people until within the present century. a blind bigotry would have blotted them from the face of the earth, but for that energy, talent, and enterprise possessed by them in a superior degree to any people upon the globe. inspired by a sublime belief that they were the chosen people of god, no tyranny nor oppression could subdue their energies. they prayed and labored, went forward with untiring determination, upheld by their faith, and always, under the direst distress, found comfort from this belief and the fruits of incessant labor. the soil of their loved canaan was barren, and yielded grudgingly to the most persistent labor. this drove them to trade, and an extended intercourse with the world. without a national government of sufficient power to protect them when robbed by the people or the governments surrounding their own, they were compelled, for self-protection, to resort to every means of concealing the earnings of their enterprise and superior knowledge and skill from christian and pagan alike. they gave value to the diamond, that in a small stone, easy of concealment, immense wealth might be hidden. they invented the bill of exchange, by which they could at pleasure transfer from one country to another their wealth, and avoid the danger of spoliation from the hand of power and intolerance. without political or civil rights in any but their own country, they were compelled to the especial pursuit of commerce for centuries, and we now see that seven-tenths of all jews born, as naturally turn to trade and commerce as the infant to the breast. it has become an instinct. to these persecutions the world is probably indebted for the developments of commerce--the bringing into communication the nations of the earth for the exchange of commodities necessary to the use and comfort of each other, not of the growth or production of each, enlarging the knowledge of all thus communicating, and teaching that civilization which is the enlightenment and the blessing of man--ameliorating the savage natures of all, and teaching that all are of god, and equally the creatures of his love and protection; and leading also to that development of mind in the israelite which makes him conspicuous to-day above any other race in the great attributes of mind--directing the policy of european governments--first at the bar, first in science, first in commerce, first in wealth--preserving the great traits of nationality without a nation, and giving tone, talent, wealth, and power to all. a few men only are born to think. their minds expand with education, and their usefulness is commensurate with it. this few early evince a proclivity so strong for certain avocations as to enable those who have the direction of their future to educate them for this pursuit. this proclivity frequently is so overpowering as to prompt the possessor, when the early education has been neglected, to educate himself for this especial idiosyncrasy. this was the case with newton--with stevenson, the inventor of the locomotive-engine, who, at twenty years of age, was ignorant even of his letters. arkwright was a barber, and almost entirely illiterate when he invented the spinning-jenny. train, the inventor of the railroad, was, at the time of its invention, a coal-heaver, and entirely illiterate. these cases are rare, however. the great mass of mankind are born to manual labor, and only with capacities suited for it. to attempt to cultivate such minds for eminent purposes would be folly. even supposing they could be educated--which is scarcely supposable, for it would seem a contravention of heaven's fiat--they could no more apply this learning, which would simply be by rote, than they could go to the moon. such men are not unfrequently met with, and are designated, by common consent, learned fools. nature points out the education they should receive. in like manner with those of higher and nobler attributes, educate them for their pursuits in life. it requires not the same education to hold a plough, or drive an ox, that it does to direct the course of a ship through a trackless sea, or to calculate an eclipse; and what is essential to the one is useless to the other.--but i am wandering away from the purpose of this work. turning back upon the memories of fifty years ago, and calling up the lives and the histories of men, and women too, i have known, i was led into these reflections, and ere i was aware they had stolen from my pen. the rude condition of a country is always imparted to the character of its people, and out of this peculiarity spring the rough sports and love of coarse jokes and coarse humor. no people ever more fully verified this truth than the georgians, and to-day, even among her best educated, the love of fun is a prevailing trait. her traditions are full of the practical jokes and the practical jokers of fifty years ago. the names of dooly, clayton, prince, bacon, and longstreet will be remembered in the traditions of fun as long as the descendants of their compatriots continue to inhabit the land. the cock-fight, the quarter-race, and the gander-pulling are traditions now, and so is the fun they gave rise to; and i had almost said, so is the honesty of those who were participants in these rude sports. were they not more innocent outlets to the excessive energies of a mercurial and fun-loving people than the faro-table and shooting-gallery of to-day? every people must have their amusements and sports, and these, unrestrained, will partake of the character of the people and the state of society. sometimes the narrow prejudices of bigoted folly will inveigh against these, and insist upon their restraint by law; and these laws, in many of the states, remain upon the statute-book a rebuking evidence of the shameless folly of fanatical ignorance. of these, the most conspicuous are the blue-laws of connecticut, and the more absurd and criminal laws of massachusetts against amusements not only necessary, but healthful and innocent. even in the present advanced state of knowledge and civilization, do we occasionally hear ranted from the pulpit denunciations of dancing, as a sinful and god-offending amusement. such men should not be permitted to teach or preach--it is to attenuate folly and fanaticism, to circumscribe the happiness of youth, and belie the bible. the emigrants to kentucky, tennessee, and georgia were all persons of like character, combining a mixture of english, irish, and scotch blood. they were enterprising, daring, and remarkable for great good sense. rude from the want of education and association with a more polished people, they were nevertheless high-principled and full of that chivalrous spirit which prompts a natural courtesy, courts danger, and scorns the little and mean--open-handed in their generosity, and eminently candid and honest in all their intercourse and dealings with their fellow-men. these elements, collected from various sections, combined to form new communities in the wild and untamed regions. in their conflicts with the savages were shown a daring fearlessness and a high order of military talent in very many of the prominent leaders of the different settlements. they had no chronicler to note and record their exploits, and they exist now only in the traditions of the country. the names of shelby and kenton, of kentucky; of davidson and jackson, of tennessee; of clarke, mathews, and adams, of georgia; dale, of alabama, and claiborne, of mississippi, live in the memory of the people of their states, together with those of tipton, sevier, logan, and boone, and will be in the future history of these states, with their deeds recorded as those whose enterprise, energy, and fearlessness won from the wilderness and the savage their fertile and delightful lands, to be a home and a country for their posterity. the children of such spirits intermarrying, could but produce men of talent and enterprise, and women of beauty, intelligence, and virtue. in the veins of these ran only streams of blue blood--such as filled the veins of the leaders of the crusades--such as warmed the hearts of the o'neals and o'connors, of wallace and bruce, and animated the bosoms of the old feudal barons of england, who extorted the great charter of human liberty from king john. there was no mixture of the pale saxon to taint or dilute the noble current of the anglo-norman blood which flowed through and fired the hearts of these descendants of the nobility and gentry of britain. they were the cavaliers in chivalry and daring, and despised, as their descendants despised, the roundheads and their descendants, with their cold, dissembling natures, hypocritical in religion as faithless in friendship, without one generous emotion or ennobling sentiment. it is not remarkable that conflict should ensue between races so dissimilar in a struggle to control the government: true to the instincts of race, each contended for that which best suited their genius and wants; and not at all remarkable that all the generous gallantry in such a conflict should be found with the celt, and all the cruel rapacity and meanness with the saxon. their triumph, through the force of numbers, was incomplete, until their enemies were tortured by every cruelty of oppression, and the fabric of the government dashed to atoms. this triumph can only be temporary. the innate love of free institutions, universal in the heart of the celtic southerner, will _yet_ unite all the races to retrieve the lost. this done, victory is certain. the descendants of these pioneers have gone out to people the extended domain reaching around the gulf, and are growing into strength, without abatement of the spirit of their ancestors. very soon time and their energies will repair the disasters of the recent conflict; and reinvigorated, the shackles of the puritan shall restrain no longer, when a fierce democracy shall restore the constitution, and with it the liberty bequeathed by their ancestors. with this race, fanaticism in religion has never known a place. rational and natural, they have ever worshipped with the heart and the attributes of their faith. truth, sincerity, love, and mercy have ever marked their characters. too honest to be superstitious, and too sincere to be hypocrites, the concentrated love of freedom unites the race, and the hatred of tyranny will stimulate the blood which shall retrieve it from the dominion of the baser blood now triumphant and rioting in the ruin they have wrought. in the beginning of the settlements, and as soon as fears of the inroads from the savages had subsided, attention was given to the selection of separate and extended homes over the country, to the opening of farms, and their cultivation. the first consideration was food and raiment. all of this was to be the production of the farm and home industry: grain enough was to be grown to serve the wants of the family for bread, and to feed the stock; for this was to furnish the meat, milk, and butter. cotton enough to serve the wants of families, together with the wool from the flock, and some flax, were of prime consideration. all of this was prepared and manufactured into fabrics for clothing and bedding at home. the seed from the cotton was picked by hand; for, as yet, whitney had not given them the cotton-gin. this work was imposed most generally upon the children of families, white and black, as a task at night, and which had to be completed before going to bed; an ounce was the usual task, which was weighed and spread before the fire; for it was most easily separated from the seed when warm and dry. usually some petty rewards stimulated the work. in every family it was observed and commented upon, that these rewards excited the diligence of the white children, but were without a corresponding effect upon the black; and any one who has ever controlled the negro knows that his labor is only in proportion to the coercion used to enforce it. his capacity, physically, is equal to the white; but this cannot be bought, or he persuaded to exert it of himself, and is given only through punishment, or the fear of it. the removal of restraint is to him a license to laziness; and the hope of reward, or the cravings of nature, will only induce him to labor sufficiently to supply these for immediate and limited relief. stock of every kind except horses was left to find a support in the forest, and at that time, when their range was unlimited, they found it in abundance. increasing wants stimulated the cultivation of a market crop to supply them, and indigo and tobacco were first resorted to. tobacco was the principal staple, and the method of its transportation was extraordinary. as at the present day in kentucky, it was pressed into very large hogsheads. upon these were pinned large wooden felloes, forming the circle of a wheel around the hogshead at either end, and in the centre of each head a large pin was inserted. upon these pins were attached shafts or thills, as to a cart, and to these teams, and thus the hogshead was rolled along rough roads and through streams for sometimes ninety miles to augusta, for a market. when sold, the shafts were reserved, and upon these was then erected a sort of box, into which the few articles purchased were placed, and dragged home. these articles almost universally consisted of some iron and steel, and a little coffee and sugar, and sometimes a quarter of a pound of tea--universally termed store-tea, to distinguish it from that made from the root of the sassafras and the leaf of the cassia or tepaun-bush. cotton was, to some little extent, cultivated near the seaboard in georgia and south carolina, and cleaned of the seeds by a machine similar to that used at the present day for preparing the sea-island cotton for market. this was a tedious and troublesome method, and was incapable of doing the work to any very great extent. indigo, of a superior quality to the american, was being produced in british india and central america, and the competition was reducing the price to the cost of production. the same difficulty attended the growing of tobacco. virginia and maryland, with their abundance of labor, were competing, and cheapening the article to a price which made its production unprofitable. at this juncture, whitney invented the cotton-gin, and the growth of cotton as a marketable crop commenced upon a more extended scale. in a few years it became general--each farmer growing more or less, according to his means. some one man, most able to do so, erected a gin-house, first in a county, then in each neighborhood. these either purchased in the seed the cotton of their neighbors, or ginned it and packed it for a certain amount of toll taken from the cotton. this packing was done in round bales, and by a single man, with a heavy iron bar, and was a most laborious and tedious method; and the packages were in the most inconvenient form for handling and transportation. up to this time the slave-trade had been looked upon most unfavorably by the people of the south. among the first sermons i remember to have heard, was one depicting the horrors of this trade. i was by my grandmother's side at bethany, in greene county, and, though a child, i remember, as if of yesterday, the description of the manner of capturing the african in his native wilds--how the mother and father were murdered, and the boys and the girls borne away, and how england was abused for the cruel inhumanity of the act. although unused to the melting mood, the old lady wiped from her eyes a tear, whether in sorrow or sympathy for outraged humanity, or in compliment to the pathos and power of her favorite preacher, i was too young to know or have an opinion. i remember well, however, that she cried, for she pinched me most unmercifully for laughing at her, and at home spanked me for crying. dear old grandmother! but yesterday i was at your grave, where you have slept fifty-two years, and if i laughed above thy mould at the memory of the many bouts we had more than sixty years ago, and, from the blue bending above, thy spirit looked down in wrath upon the unnatural outrage, be appeased ere i come; for i should fear to meet thee, even in heaven, if out of humor! the roses bloomed above you--sweet emblems of thy purity and rest--and there, close by you, were the pear-trees, planted by your hands, around the roots of which you gathered the rods of my reformation; for i was a truant child. you meant it all for my good, no doubt; but to me it was passing through purgatory then, to merit a future good in time. ah! how well i remember it--all of it. _requiescat in pace_. i had almost irreverently said, "rest, cat, in peace." it was at this period that the competition for accumulating money may be said to have commenced in middle georgia. labor became in great demand, and the people began to look leniently upon the slave-trade. the marching of africans, directly imported, through the country for sale, is a memory of sixty-five years ago. the demand had greatly increased, and, with this, the price. the trade was to cease in , and the number brought over was daily augmenting, to hasten to make from the traffic as much money as possible before this time should arrive. the demand, however, was greater than could be supplied. from house to house they were carried for sale. they were always young men and women, or girls and boys, and their clothing was of the simplest kind. that of the men and boys consisted of drawers, only reaching midway the thigh, from the waist. the upper portions of the person and the lower extremities were entirely nude. the females wore a chemise reaching a few inches below the knee, leaving bare the limbs. this was adopted for the purpose of exposing the person, as much as decency would permit, for examination, so as to enable the purchaser to determine their individual capacity for labor. this examination was close and universal, beginning with an inspection of the teeth, which in these young savages were always perfect, save in those where they had been filed to a point in front. this was not uncommon with the males. it was then extended to the limbs, and ultimately to the entire person. they were devoid of shame, and yielded to this inspection without the slightest manifestation of offended modesty. at first they were indifferent to cooked food, and would chase and catch and eat the grasshoppers and lizards with the avidity of wild turkeys, and seemed, as those fowls, to relish these as their natural food. from such is descended the race which our christian white brothers of the north have, in their devotion to their duty to god and their hatred to us, made masters of our destiny. our faith in the justice and goodness of the same divine being bids us believe this unnatural and destructive domination will not be permitted to endure for any lengthy period. could the curtain which veiled out the future sixty years ago, have been lifted, and the vision of those then subduing the land been permitted to pierce and know the present of their posterity, they would then have achieved a separation from our puritanical oppressors, and built for themselves and their own race, even if in blood, a separate government, and have made it as nature intended it should be to this favored land--a wise and powerful one. sooner or later these intentions of divine wisdom are consummated. the fallible nature of man, through ignorance or the foolish indulgence of bad passions in the many, enable the few to delude and control the many, and to postpone for a time the inevitable; but as assuredly as time endures, nature's laws work out natural ends. generations may pass away, perhaps perish from violence, and others succeed with equally unnatural institutions, making miserable the race, until it, like the precedent, passes from the earth. yet these great laws work on, and in the end triumph in perfecting the divine will. to the wise and observant this design of the creator is ever apparent; to the foolish and wicked, never. john wesley had visited savannah, and travelled through the different settlements then in embryo, teaching the tenets and introducing the simple worship of the church of his founding, after a method established by himself, and which gave name and form to the sect, now, and almost from its incipiency known as methodist. this organization and the tenets of its faith were admirably suited to a rude people, and none perhaps could have been more efficient in forming and improving such morals. unpretending, simple in form, devoid of show or ceremony, it appealed directly to the purer emotions of our nature, and through the natural devotion of the heart lifted the mind to the contemplation and inspired the soul with the love of god. its doctrines, based upon the purest morality, easily comprehensible, and promising salvation to all who would believe, inspiring an enthusiasm for a pure life, were natural, and naturally soon became wide-spread, and as the writer believes, has done more in breaking away the shackles of ignorance and debasing superstition from the mind, than any other system of worship or doctrine of faith taught by man; and to this, in a great degree, is due the freedom of thought, independence of feeling and action, chivalrous bearing, and high honor of the southern people. inculcating as it does the simple teachings of the gospel of christ,--to live virtuously--do no wrong--love thy neighbor as thyself, and unto all do as you would be done by,--a teaching easy of comprehension, and which, when sternly enforced by a pure and elevated public sentiment, becomes the rule of conduct, and society is blessed with harmony and right. this moral power is omnipotent for good, concentrating communities into one without divisions or dissensions, to be wielded for good at once and at all times. nothing evil can result from such concentration of opinions being directed by the vicious and wicked, so long as the moral of this faith shall control the mind and heart. camp-meetings, an institution of this church, and which were first commenced in georgia, are a tradition there now. here and there through the country yet remains, in ruinous decay, the old stand or extemporized pulpit from which the impassioned preacher addressed the assembled multitude of anxious listeners; and around the square now overgrown with brush-wood and forest-trees, prostrate and rotten, the remains of the cabin tents may be seen, where once the hospitality of the owners and worshippers was dispensed with a heartiness and sincerity peculiar to the simple habits, and honest, kindly emotions of a rude and primitive people. how well do i remember the first of these meetings i ever witnessed! i was a small lad, and rode behind my father on horseback to the ground. it was sixty-five years ago. the concourse was large, consisting of the people of all the country around--men, women, and children, white and black. around a square enclosing some six acres of ground, the tents were arranged--arbors of green boughs cut from the adjoining forest formed a shelter from the sun's rays. in front of all of these, shading the entrance to the tent, under this friendly sheltering from the heat of the sun, assembled the owners and the guests of each, in social and unceremonious intercourse. this was strictly the habit of the young people; and here, in evening's twilight, has been plighted many a vow which has been redeemed by happy unions for life's journey, and to be consummated when the cold weather came. in the rear of the tents were temporary kitchens, presided over in most instances by some old, trusted aunty of ebon hue, whose pride it was to prepare the meals for her tent, and to hear her cooking praised by the preachers and the less distinguished guests of master and mistress. the sermons were preached in the morning, at noon, and at twilight, when all the multitude were summoned to the grand central stand in the square of the encampment by sounding a tin trumpet or ox-horn. my childish imagination was fired at the sight of this assemblage. my wonder was, whence come all these people? as converging from the radius around came the crowding multitude, without order and without confusion--the farmer and his brusque wife side by side, leading their flock and friends: he with an ample chair of home manufacture slung by his side for the wife's comfort as she devoutly listened to the pious brother's comforting sermon--the guests and the young of the family following in respectful silence, and at a respectful distance, all tending to the great arbor of bushes covering the place of worship. over all the space of the encampment the under-brush had been carefully removed; but the great forest-trees (for these encampments were always in a forest) were left to shade as well as they might the pulpit-stand and grounds. all around was dense forest, wild and beautiful as nature made it. how well the scene and the worship accorded! there was congruity in all--the woods, the tents, the people, and the worship. the impressions made that day upon my young mind were renewed at many a camp-meeting in after years; and so indelibly impressed as only to pass away with existence. the preacher rose upon his elevated platform, and, advancing to the front, where a simple plank extending from tree to tree, before him, formed a substitute for a table or desk, where rested the hymn-book and bible, commenced the service by reading a hymn, and then, line by line, repeating it, to be sung by all his congregation. whoever has listened, in such a place, amidst a great multitude, to the singing of that beautiful hymn commencing, "come, thou fount of every blessing," by a thousand voices, all in accord, and not felt the spirit of devotion burning in his heart, could scarcely be moved should an angel host rend the blue above him, and, floating through the ether, praise god in song. in that early day of methodism, very few of those licensed to preach were educated men. they read the bible, and expounded its great moral truths as they understood them. few of these even knew that it had been in part originally written in the hebrew tongue, and the other portion in that of the greeks; but he knew it contained the promise of salvation, and felt that it was his mission to preach and teach this way to his people, relying solely for his power to impress these wonderful truths upon the heart by the inspiration of the holy spirit. for this reason the sermons of the sect were never studied or written, and their excellence was their fervor and impassioned appeals to the heart and the wild imaginations of the enthusiastic and unlearned of the land. genius, undisciplined and untutored by education, is fetterless, and its spontaneous suggestions are naturally and powerfully effective, when burning from lips proclaiming the heart's enthusiasm. thus extemporizing orations almost daily, stimulated the mind to active thought, and very many of these illiterate young methodist preachers became in time splendid orators. it was the celebrated charles james fox who said to a young man just entering parliament, if he desired to become a great orator, and had the genius and feeling from nature, all he had to do was to speak often and learn to think on his feet. it is to this practice the lawyer and the preacher owe the oratory which distinguish these above every other class of men. and yet, how few of them ever attain to the eminence of finished orators. eloquence and oratory are by no means identical: one is the attribute of the heart, the other of the head; and eloquence, however unadorned, is always effective, because it is born of the feelings; and there is ever a sympathy between the hearts of men, and the words, however rude and original, which bubble up from the heart freighted with its feelings, rush with electrical force and velocity to the heart, and stir to the extent of its capacities. oratory, however finished, is from the brain, and is an art; it may convince the mind and captivate the imagination, but never touches the heart or stirs the soul. to awaken feelings in others, we must feel ourselves. eloquence is the volume of flame, oratory the shaft of polished ice; the one fires to madness, the other delights and instructs. religion is the pathos of the heart, and must be awakened from the heart's emotions. the imagination is the great attribute of the mind, gathering and creating thought and inspiring feeling. hence, the peculiar system of the methodists in their worship is the most efficient in proselyting, and especially with a rude, imaginative people. the camp-meeting was an admirable device for this purpose, and its abandonment by the sect is as foolish as would be that of a knight who would throw away his sword as he was rushing to battle. fashion is omnipotent in religion, as in other things, and with the more general diffusion of education, camp-meetings have come to be considered as vulgar and unfashionable. to be vulgar, is to be common; to be common, is to be natural. the masses, and especially in democratic communities, must always be vulgar or common--must always be, in the main, illiterate and rude; and it is for the conversion and salvation of these multitudes the preacher should struggle, and in his efforts his most efficient means should be used. the camp-meeting, at night, when all the fire-stands are ablaze, and the multitude are assembled and singing, is beyond description picturesque: when, too, some eloquent and enthusiastic preacher is stimulating to intense excitement the multitude around him with the fervor of his words, and the wild, passionate manifestations of his manner, to see the crowd swaying to and fro, to hear the groans and sobs of the half-frenzied multitude, and, not unfrequently, the maddened shriek of hysterical fear, all coming up from the half-illuminated spot, is thrillingly exciting. and when the sermon is finished, to hear all this heated mass break forth into song, the wild melody of which floats, in the stillness of night, upon the breeze to the listening ear a mile away, in cadences mournfully sweet, make the camp-meeting among the most exciting of human exhibitions. in such a school were trained those great masters of pulpit oratory, pierce, wynans, capers, and bascomb. whitfield was the great exemplar of these; but none, perhaps, so imitated his style and manner as john newland maffit and the wonderful summerfield. like all that is great and enduring, the methodist church had its beginning among the humble and lowly. rocked in the cradle of penury and ignorance, it was firmly fixed in the foundations of society, whence it rose from its own purity of doctrine and simplicity of worship to command the respect, love, and adoption of the highest in the land, and to wield an influence paramount in the destinies of the people and the government. its ministers are now the educated and eloquent of the church militant. its institutions of learning are the first and most numerous all over the south, and it has done for female education in the south more than every other sect of christians, excepting, perhaps, the roman catholic. in the cause of education its zeal is enlisted, and its organization is such as to bring a wonderful power to operate upon the community in every section of the south and west. that this will accomplish much, we have only to look to the antecedents of the church to determine. like the coral insect, they never cease to labor: each comes with his mite and deposits it; and, from the humblest beginning, this assiduity and contribution builds up great islands in the sea of ignorance--rich in soil, salubrious in climate, and, finally, triumphant in the conceptions of the chief architect--completing for good the work so humbly begun. chapter ix. pedagogues and demagogues. education--colleges--school-days--william and mary--a substitute-- boarding around--rough diamonds--caste--george m. troup--a scotch indian--alexander mcgilvery--the mcintosh family--button gwinnett-- general taylor--matthew talbot--jesse mercer--an exciting election. the subject of education engaged the attention of the people of georgia at a very early day subsequent to the revolution. public schools were not then thought of; probably because such a scheme would have been impracticable. the population was sparse, and widely separated in all the rural districts of the country; and to have supplied all with the means of education, would have necessitated an expense beyond the power of the state. a system was adopted, of establishing and endowing academies in the different counties, at the county-seat, where young men who intended to complete a collegiate education might be taught, and the establishment and endowment of a college, where this education might be finished, leaving the rudimental education of the children of the state to be provided for by their parents, as best they could. primary schools were gotten up in the different neighborhoods by the concentrated action of its members, and a teacher employed, and paid by each parent at so much per capita for his children. in these schools almost every georgian--yes, almost every southerner--commenced his education. it was at these schools were mingled the sexes in pursuit of their a, b, c, and the incidents occurring here became the cherished memories of after life. many a man of eminence has gone out from these schools with a better education with which to begin life and a conflict with the world, than is obtained now at some of the institutions called colleges. young men without means, who had acquired sufficient of the rudiments of an english education, but who desired to pursue their studies and complete an education to subserve the purposes of the pursuit in life selected by them, frequently were the teachers in the primary schools. from this class arose most of those men so distinguished in her earlier history. some were natives, and some were immigrants from other states, who sought a new field for their efforts, and where to make their future homes. such were william h. crawford, abram baldwin, and many others, whose names are now borne by the finest counties in the state--a monument to their virtues, talents, and public services, erected by a grateful people. these primitive schools made the children of every neighborhood familiar to each other, and encouraged a homogeneous feeling in the rising population of the state. this sameness of education and of sentiment created a public opinion more efficacious in directing and controlling public morals than any statutory law, or its most efficient administration. it promoted an _esprit du corps_ throughout the country, and formed the basis of that chivalrous emprise so peculiarly southern. the recollections of these school-days are full of little incidents confirmatory of these views. i will relate one out of a thousand i might enumerate. a very pretty little girl of eight years, full of life and spirit, had incurred, by some act of childish mischief, the penalty of the switch--the only and universal means of correction in the country schools. she was the favorite of a lad of twelve, who sat looking on, and listening to the questions propounded to his sweetheart, and learning the decision of the teacher, which was announced thus: "well, mary, i must punish you." all eyes were directed to william. deliberately he laid down his books, and, stepping quickly up to the teacher, said, respectfully: "don't strike her. whip me. i'll take it for her," as he arrested with his hand the uplifted switch. every eye in that little log school-house brightened with approbation, and, in a moment after, filled with tears, as the teacher laid down his rod and said: "william, you are a noble boy, and, for your sake, i will excuse mary." ten years after, mary was the wife--the dutiful, loving, happy wife of william; and william, twenty years after, was a member of the legislature, and then a representative in congress, (when it was an honor to a gentleman to be such,) and afterwards was for years a senator in the same body--one of georgia's noblest, proudest, and best men. can any one enumerate an instance where evil grew out of the early association of the sexes at school? in the neighborhoods least populous, and where there were but few children, the pedagogue usually divided the year into as many parts as he had pupils, and boarded around with each family the number of days allotted to each child. if he was a man of family, the united strength of the neighborhood assembled upon a certain day, and built for him a residence contiguous to the school-house, which was erected in like manner. these buildings were primitive indeed--consisting of poles cut from the forest, and, with no additional preparation, notched up into a square pen, and floored and covered with boards split from a forest-tree near at hand. it rarely required more than two days to complete the cabin--the second being appropriated to the chimney, and the chinking and daubing; that is, filling the interstices with billets of wood, and make these air-tight with clay thrown violently in, and smoothed over with the hand. such buildings constituted nine-tenths of the homes of the entire country sixty years ago; and in such substitutes for houses were born the men who have moved the senate with their eloquence, and added dignity and power to the bench of the supreme court of the nation, startled the world with their achievements upon the battle-field, and more than one of them has filled the presidential chair. men born and reared under such circumstances, receive impressions which they carry through life, and their characters always discover the peculiarities incident to such birth and rearing--rough and vigorous, bold and daring, and nobly independent, without polish or deceit, always sincere, and always honest. however much the intellect may be cultivated in youth--however much it may be distinguished for great thoughts and wonderful attainments, still the peculiarities born of the forest cling about it in all its roughness--a fit setting to the unpolished diamond of the soul. the rural pursuits of the country, and the necessities of the isolated condition of a pioneer population, which necessities are mainly supplied by ingenuity and perseverance on the part of each, creates an independence and self-reliance which enter largely into the formation of the general character. the institution of african slavery existing in the south, which came with the very first, pioneer, and which was continually on the increase, added to this independence the habit of command; and this, too, became a part of southern character. the absolute control of the slave, placed by habit and law in the will of the master, made it necessary to enact laws for the protection of the slave against the tyrannical cruelties found in some natures; but the public sentiment was in this, as in all other things, more potent than law. their servile dependence forbade resistance to any cruelty which might be imposed; but it excited the general sympathy, and inspired, almost universally, a lenient humanity toward them. they were mostly born members of the household, grew up with the children of each family, were companions and playmates, and naturally an attachment was formed, which is always stronger in the protecting than the protected party. it was a rare instance to find a master whose guardian protection did not extend with the same intensity and effect over his slave as over his child: this, not from any motive of pecuniary interest, but because he was estopped by law from self-defence; and, too, because of the attachment and the moral obligation on the master to protect his dependants. besides, the community exacted it as a paramount duty. it is human to be attached to whatever it protects and controls; out of this feeling grows the spirit of true chivalry and of lofty intent--that magnanimity, manliness, and ennobling pride which has so long characterized the gentlemen of the southern states. caste, in society, may degrade, but, at the same time, it elevates. where this caste was distinguished by master and slave, the distinction was most marked, because there was no intermediate gradation. it was the highest and the lowest. it was between the highest and purest of the races of the human family, and the lowest and most degraded; and this relation was free from the debasing influences of caste in the same race. an improper appreciation of this fact has gone far to create with those unacquainted with negro character the prejudices against the institution of african slavery, and which have culminated in its abolition in the southern states. the negro is incapacitated by nature from acquiring the high intelligence of the caucasian. his sensibilities are extremely dull, his perceptive faculties dim, and the entire organization of his brain forbids and rejects the cultivation necessary to the elimination of mind. with a feeble moral organization, and entirely devoid of the higher attributes of mind and soul so prominent in the instincts of the caucasian, his position was never, as a slave, oppressive to his mind or his sense of wrong. he felt, and to himself acknowledged his inferiority, and submitted with alacrity to the control of his superior. under this control, his moral and intellectual cultivation elevated him: not simply to a higher position socially, but to a higher standard in the scale of being, and this was manifested to himself at the same time it demonstrated to him the natural truth of his inferiority. this gratified him, promoted his happiness, and he was contented. the same effect of the relation of master and servant can never follow when the race is the same, or even when the race is but one or two degrees inferior to the dominant one. the influence of this relation upon the white race is marked in the peculiarities of character which distinguish the people of the south. the habit of command, where implicit obedience is to follow, ennobles. the comparison is inevitable between the commander and him who obeys, and, in his estimation, unconsciously elevates and degrades. this between the white man and negro, is only felt by the white. the negro never dreams that he is degraded by this servility, and consequently he does not feel its oppression. he is incapable of aspiring, and manifests his pride and satisfaction by imitating his master as much as is possible to his nature. the white man is conscious of the effect upon the negro, and has no fear that he is inflicting a misery to be nursed in secret and sorrow, and to fill the negro's heart with hate. this, however, is universally the effect of the domination of one man over another of the same race. the relation was for life, and the master was responsible for the moral and physical well-being of his slave. his entire dependence makes him an object of interest and care, and the very fact of this responsibility cultivates kindness and tenderness toward him. but this is not all; it carries with it a consciousness of superiority, and inspires a superior bearing. these influences are more potent in the formation of female than male character. the mistress is relieved absolutely from all menial duties, and is served by those who are servants for life, and compulsorily so. she is only under the obligations of humanity in her conduct toward them. they must do her bidding. she is not afraid to offend by giving an order, nor is she apprehensive of being deserted to discharge her household labor herself by offending them. it is their duty to please--it is their interest--and this is the paramount desire. the intercourse is gentle, respectful, and kind; still, there is no infringement of the barrier between the mistress and the servant. this habit is the source of frankness and sincerity, and this release from the severity of domestic labor the fruitful source of female delicacy and refinement, so transcendently the attributes of character in the ladies of the south. it gives ease and time for improvement; for social and intellectual intercourse; creates habits of refinement, and a delicacy seen and heard in all that is done or said in refined female society in the south. something, too, i suppose, is due to blood. there are many grades in the caucasian race. the anglo-norman or anglo-celtic is certainly at the head. they rule wherever left to the conflict of mind and energy of soul. sometimes they are conquered for a time, but never completely so. the great constituents of their natures continue to resist, and struggle up, and when the opportunity comes, they strike for control and supremacy-- "and freedom's battle, once begun, the cause bequeathed from sire to son, though baffled oft, is ever won." the southern woman's soul is chivalry. from the highest to the humblest, the same lofty purpose, pride, and energy animate them. they have contrasted the free and noble with the mean and servile. its magic has entered their natures and quickened their souls. in all there is a lofty scorn for the little and mean. the same withering contempt for the cringing and cowardly is met in every one of them. their impulses are generous, and their aspirations noble, with hearts as soft and tender as love, pity, and compassion can form. yet in them there is, too, the fire of chivalry, the scorn of contempt, and the daring of her who followed her immortal brother, the great palafox, at the defence of saragossa, her native city, and, standing upon the dead bodies of her countrymen, snatched the burning match from the hand of death, and fired the cannon at the advancing foe, and planted spain's standard, in defiance of the veterans of soult--a rallying point for her countrymen--and saved saragossa. they were born to command, and can never be slaves, or the mothers of slaves. the same influences powerfully operate in producing that bearing of chivalrous distinction, which is seen everywhere in the deportment of the southern gentlemen toward ladies. they are ever polite, respectful, and deferential. this, however, is only one of many elements in the peculiar character of southern people. their piety is christian in its character. the precepts of the bible are fashioned into example in the conduct of the older members of society, and especially in the female portion. this is, perhaps, the predominant element. the bible is the guide, not the fashion, in religious duty. its doctrines are taught in purity, and in their simplicity enter into the soul, as the great constituent of character. the chivalrous bearing of man toward woman inspires her with elevated and noble sentiments--a pride and dignity conservative of purity in all her relations--and, reflecting these back upon society, producing most salutary influences. it is woman's pride to lean on man--to share his love and respect--to be elevated by his virtues, and appreciated by the world because of his honors--to be a part of his fame. the mother, the wife, the sister, the relative should share with the husband, the son, the brother, the kinsman, in the world's honors, in the sufferings, sorrows, and miseries incidental to all. they are part and parcel of man, and partake of his nature and his position, as of his fortune. when man shall cease to view woman, and so deport himself toward her as a purer, more refined, and more elevated being than himself, that moment she will sink to his level, and then her prestige for good is gone forever. that delicacy, refinement, and chasteness, so restraining and so purifying to man in her association, is the soul of civilization--the salt of the earth. in its absence, no people are ever great; for, as it is the spirit of man's honor, so is it a nation's glory. it must be cherished, for it inspires man's honor by man's chivalry. thus she becomes a people's strength; for their crown of glory is her chastity and angelic purity. these virtues distinguished the pioneer women of middle georgia sixty years ago. as their husbands were honest and brave, they were chaste and pious; and from such a parentage sprang the men and women who have made a history for her pre-eminent among all her sister states. her sons have peopled the west, and are distinguished there for their high honor and splendid abilities; and yet at home she boasts toombs, colt, stephens, hill, johnson, campbell, and a host of others, who are proud specimens among the proudest of the land. they have measured their strength with the proudest minds of all the union, and won a fame unequalled, adorning her councils, its cabinet, its bench, and were the first everywhere. george michael troup, one of the most distinguished of georgia's sons, was the son of an english gentleman, who emigrated to georgia anterior to the revolution. he married miss mcintosh, of georgia, sister of general john mcintosh, of mcintosh county. he took no part in the revolution. england was his mother country; to her he was attached, and in conscience he could not lift his hand in wrath against her. this course did not meet the approval of the mcintoshes, and he retired from the state and country. first, he went to england, but not contented there, he came to the spanish town of pensacola. here he met the celebrated indian chief, alexander mcgilvery, who was hostile to the americans, and who invited him to take refuge in his country. mcgilvery was a remarkable man; his father was a scotchman, his mother a half-breed; her father was the celebrated french officer who was killed by his own men in at fort toulouse--his name was marchand,--and her mother a full-blooded creek woman. mcgilvery supposed him an english emissary, and invited him to go into the creek nation and reside with his people. from pensacola he went to mobile, and thence to a bluff on the tombigbee, where he remained during the war. this bluff he named mcintosh's bluff, and it bears the name yet. here george m. troup was born. at the close of the war he returned to georgia, and fixed his residence among the relatives of his wife. the mcintosh family were highland scotch, and partook of all the intrepidity of that wonderful people. they immigrated to georgia with general oglethorpe in company with a number of their countrymen, and for one hundred and thirty years have continued to reside in the county named for the first of their ancestors who settled and made a home in the colony of georgia. it is a family distinguished for chivalry as well in europe as in georgia. at the commencement of the revolution they at once sided with the colonists. lachlin and john mcintosh became distinguished as leaders in that protracted and doubtful conflict, meeting in battle their kinsman in high command in the british army. on one occasion, when john mcintosh had surrendered at the battle of brier creek, a british officer, lost to every sentiment and feeling of honor, attempted to assassinate him, and was only prevented from doing so by sir Æneas mcintosh, the commander of the english army, whose promptness arrested the blow by interposing his own sword to receive it. lachlin mcintosh was the commander of the first regiment raised in georgia to aid in the revolution. in , a difficulty arose between button gwinnett (who, upon the death of governor bullock, had succeeded him as governor,) and mcintosh. a duel was the consequence, in which gwinnett was killed. tradition says this difficulty grew out of the suspicions of mcintosh as to the fidelity of gwinnett to the american cause. he was an englishman by birth, and, upon the breaking out of the war, hesitated for some time as to the course he should pursue. this was a time when all who hesitated were suspected, and gwinnett shared the common fate. eventually he determined to espouse the revolutionary party, and was elected to the convention, and was one of the immortal band who signed the declaration of independence emanating from that convention. until his death he was faithful and active. mcintosh doubted him, and he was not a man to conceal his opinions. mcintosh was severely wounded in the conflict. this family was one of remarkable spirit; and this has descended to the posterity of the old cavaliers even unto this day. colonel mcintosh, who fell at molino del rey, in our recent war with mexico, was one of this family. he had all the spirit and chivalry of his ancestors. i remember to have heard generals taylor and twiggs speaking of him subsequently to his death, and felt proud, as a native of the state of georgia, of the distinguished praise bestowed on him by these gallant veterans. general taylor was not generally enthusiastic in his expressions of praise, but he was always sincere and truthful. on this occasion, however, he spoke warmly and feelingly of the honor, the gallantry, and intrepidity of his fellow-soldier--his high bearing, his pride, his proficiency as an officer in the field, and the efficiency of his regiment, its perfection of drill and discipline, and coolness in battle--and, with unusual warmth, exclaimed: "if i had had with me at buena vista, mcintosh and riley, with their veterans, i would have captured or totally destroyed the mexican army." captain mcintosh, of the navy, was another of this distinguished family. he had no superior in the navy. so was that ardent and accomplished officer, colonel mcintosh, who fell at oak hill, in the late war in missouri. in truth, there has not been a day in one hundred and thirty years, when there has not been a distinguished son of this family to bear and transmit its name and fame to posterity. through his mother, to george m. troup descended all the nobler traits of the mcintosh family. he was educated, preparatory to entering college, at flatbush, long island. his teacher's name i have forgotten, but he was a remarkable man, and devoted himself to the instruction of the youth intrusted to his care. he seems to have had a peculiar talent for inspiring a high order of ambition in his pupils, and of training them to a deportment and devotion to principle which would lead them to distinguished conduct through life. governor troup, in speaking to the writer of his early life and of his school-days on long island, said: "there were twenty-one of us at this school fitting for college, and, in after life, nineteen of us met in congress, the representatives of fourteen states." troup, after leaving this school, went to princeton, and graduated at nassau hall, in his nineteenth year. returning to savannah, he read law; but possessing ample fortune, he never practised his profession. his talents were of an order to attract attention. james jackson, and most of the leading men of the day, turned to him as a man of great promise. the republican party of savannah nominated him to represent the county of chatham, in the legislature of the state, before he was twenty-one years of age. being constitutionally ineligible, he, of course, declined; but as soon as he became eligible, he was returned, and, for some years, continued to represent the county. from the legislature he was transferred to congress, where he at once became distinguished, not only for talent, but a lofty honor and most polished bearing. while a member of congress, he married a virginia lady, who was the mother of his three children. soon after the birth of her third child, there was discovered aberration of mind in mrs. troup, which terminated in complete alienation. this was a fatal blow to the happiness of her husband. she was tenderly beloved by him; and his acute sensibility and high nervous temperament became so much affected as not only to fill him with grief, but to make all his remaining life one of melancholy and sorrow. he had been elected to the united states senate, but, in consequence of this terrible blow, and the constant care of his afflicted lady, to which he devoted himself, he lost his health, and resigned. he retired to his home, and to the sad duties of afflicted love. about this time the people of georgia became divided upon the political issues of the day. william h. crawford was nominated by his friends for the presidency. this aroused his enemies' hatred, who organized an opposition to him in his own state. this opposition was headed by john clarke, his old enemy, and was aided by every old federalist and personal enemy in the state. crawford's friends were too confident in the popularity which had borne him to so many triumphs, and were slow to organize. the election of governor devolved, at that time, upon the legislature, and clarke, upon the death of governor rabun, was announced as the candidate. the event of rabun's death occurred only a very short time before the meeting of the legislature. matthew talbot, the president of the senate, assumed, under the constitution, the duties of governor, but sent the message already prepared by rabun to the legislature, and immediately an election took place, whereupon clarke was elected. troup had been solicited to oppose him, but was loath to embark anew in political life. ultimately he yielded, and was defeated by thirteen votes. the friends of crawford were now alarmed, and the contest was immediately renewed. the canvass was one of the most rancorous and bitter ever known in the state, but of this i have spoken in a former chapter. at the ensuing election, troup was again a candidate. again the contest was renewed, and, if possible, with increased violence and vigor. clarke, in obedience to usage, had retired, and his party had put forward matthew talbot, of wilkes county, as the competitor of troup. this contest had now continued for four years, and troup was elected by two votes. the memory of this election will never fade from the minds of any who witnessed it. at the meeting of the legislature it was doubtful which party had the majority. two members chosen as favorable to the election of troup, were unable from sickness to reach the seat of government, and it was supposed this gave the majority to talbot. there was no political principle involved in the contest. both professedly belonged to the republican party. both seemed anxious to sustain the principles and the ascendency of that party. there were no spoils. the patronage of the executive was literally nothing; and yet there was an intensity of feeling involved for which there was no accounting, unless it was the anxiety of one party to sustain mr. crawford at home for the presidency, and on the other hand to gratify the hatred of clarke, and sustain mr. calhoun. during the period intervening between the meeting of the legislature and the day appointed for the election, every means was resorted to, practicable in that day. there was no money used directly. there was not a man in that legislature who would not have repelled with scorn a proposition to give his vote for a pecuniary consideration; but all were open to reason, state pride, and a sincere desire to do what they deemed best for the honor and interest of the state. the friends of either candidate would have deserved their favorite instantly upon the fact being known that they had even winked at so base a means of success. every one was tenaciously jealous of his fame, and equally so of that of the state. the machinery of party was incomplete, and individual independence universal. there were a few members, whose characters forbade violence of prejudice, and who were mild, considerate, and unimpassioned. these men were sought to be operated upon by convincing them that the great interests of the state would be advanced by electing their favorite. the public services of troup, and his stern, lofty, and eminently pure character, were urged by his friends as reasons why he should be chosen. the people of the state were becoming clamorous for the fulfilment of the contract between the state and general government for the removal of the indians from the territory of the state, and troup was urged upon the voters as being favorable in the extreme to this policy, and also as possessing the talents, will, and determination to effect this end. finally the day of election arrived. the representative men of the state were assembled. it was scarcely possible to find hotel accommodations for the multitude. the judges of the different judicial districts, the leading members of the bar, men of fortune and leisure, the prominent members of the different sects of the christian church, and especially the ministers of the gospel who were most prominent and influential, were all there. the celebrated jesse mercer was a moving spirit amidst the excited multitude, and daniel duffie, who, as a most intolerant methodist, and an especial hater of the baptist church and all baptists, was there also, willing to lay down all ecclesiastical prejudice, and go to heaven even with jesse mercer, because he was a troup man. the senate came into the representative chamber at noon, to effect, on joint ballot, the election of governor. the president of the senate took his seat with the speaker of the house, and in obedience to law assumed the presidency of the assembled body. the members were ordered to prepare their ballots to vote for the governor of the state. the secretary of the senate called the roll of the senate, each man, as his name was called, moving up to the clerk's desk, and depositing his ballot. the same routine was then gone through with on the part of the house, when the hat (for a hat was used) containing the ballots was handed to the president of the senate, thomas stocks, of greene county, who proceeded to count the ballots, and finding only the proper number, commenced to call the name from each ballot. pending this calling the silence was painfully intense. every place within the spacious hall, the gallery, the lobby, the committee-rooms, and the embrasures of the windows were all filled to crushing repletion. and yet not a word or sound, save the excited breathing of ardent men, disturbed the anxious silence of the hall. one by one the ballots were called. there were ballots, requiring to elect. when ballots were counted, each candidate had , and at this point the excitement was so painfully intense that the president suspended the count, and, though it was chilly november, took from his pocket his handkerchief, and wiped from his flushed face the streaming perspiration. while this was progressing, a wag in the gallery sang out, "the darkest time of night is just before day." this interruption was not noticed by the president, who called out "troup!" then "talbot!" and again there was a momentary suspension. then he called again, "troup--talbot!" " -- ," was whispered audibly through the entire hall. then the call was resumed. "troup!" "a tie," said more than a hundred voices. there remained but one ballot. the president turned the hat up-side down, and the ballot fell upon the table. looking down upon it, he called, at the top of his voice, "troup!" the scene that followed was indescribable. the two parties occupied separate sides of the chamber. those voting for troup rose simultaneously from their seats, and one wild shout seemed to lift the ceiling overhead. again, with increased vim, was it given. the lobby and the galleries joined in the wild shout. members and spectators rushed into each others' arms, kissed each other, wept, shouted, kicked over the desks, tumbled on the floor, and for ten minutes this maddening excitement suspended the proceedings of the day. it was useless for the presiding officer to command order, if, indeed, his feelings were sufficiently under control to do so. when exhaustion had produced comparative silence, duffie, with the full brogue of the county carlow upon his tongue, ejaculated: "o lord, we thank thee! the state is redeemed from the rule of the devil and john clarke." mercer waddled from the chamber, waving his hat above his great bald head, and shouting "glory, glory!" which he continued until out of sight. general blackshear, a most staid and grave old gentleman and a most sterling man, rose from his seat, where he, through all this excitement, had sat silent, folded his arms upon his breast, and, looking up, with tears streaming from his eyes, exclaimed: "now, lord, i am ready to die!" order was finally restored, and the state of the ballot stated, (troup, ; talbot, ,) when president stocks proclaimed george m. troup duly elected governor of the state of georgia for the next three years. this was the last election of a governor by the legislature. the party of clarke demanded that the election should be given to the people. this was done, and in , troup was re-elected over clarke by a majority of some seven hundred votes. it was during this last contest that the violence and virulence of party reached its acme, and pervaded every family, creating animosities which neither time nor reflection ever healed. chapter x. indian treaties and difficulties. the creeks--john quincy adams--hopothlayohola--indian oratory--sulphur spring--treaties made and broken--an independent governor--colonels john s. mcintosh, david emanuel twiggs, and duncan clinch--general gaines--christianizing the indians--cotton mather--expedient and principle--the puritanical snake. during the administration of troup, a contest arose as to the true western boundary of the state, and the right of the state to the territory occupied by a portion of the creek tribe of indians. in the difficulty arising out of the sale by the legislature of the lands belonging to the state bordering upon the mississippi river, a compromise was effected by congress with the company purchasing, and georgia had sold to the united states her claim to all the lands in the original grant to general oglethorpe and others by the english government, west of the chattahoochee river. a part of the consideration was that the united states should, at a convenient time, and for the benefit of georgia, extinguish the title of the indians, and remove them from the territory occupied by them, east of the chattahoochee river, to a certain point upon that stream; and from this point, east of a line to run from it, directly to a point called neckey jack, on the tennessee river. the war of with great britain found the creek or alabama portion of this tribe of indians allies of england. they were by that war conquered, and their territory wrested from them. those of the tribe under the influence of the celebrated chief william mcintosh remained friendly to the united states, and were active in assisting in the conquest of their hostile brethren. the conquered indians were removed from their territory and homes, into the territory east of line creek, which was made the western boundary of the creek nation's territory. many of them came into the territory claimed by georgia as her domain. this war was a war of the republican party of the united states, and the state of georgia being almost unanimously republican, her people felt it would be unpatriotic, at this juncture, to demand of the government the fulfilment of her obligations in removing the indians from her soil. the expenses of the war were onerous, and felt as a heavy burden by the people, and one which was incurred by republican policy. that party felt that it was its duty to liquidate this war debt as speedily as possible. to this end the sale of those conquered lands would greatly contribute; relieving, at the same time, the people to some extent, from the heavy taxation they had borne during the progress of the war. consequently, they had not pressed the fulfilment of this contract upon the government. but now the war debt had been liquidated--the united states treasury was overflowing with surplus treasure--indian tribes were being removed by the purchase of their lands in the northwest, and a tide of population pouring in upon these lands, and threatening a powerful political preponderance in opposition to southern policy and southern interests. under these circumstances, and the recommendation of governor troup, the legislature of the state, by joint resolution and memorial to congress, demanded the fulfilment of the contract on the part of the united states, and the immediate removal of the indians. john quincy adams was at that time president of the united states, and, as he had ever been, was keenly alive to northern interests and to federal views. though professing to be republican in political faith, he arrayed all his influence in opposition to the rights of the states. in this matter he gave the cold shoulder to georgia. he did not recommend a repudiation of the contract, but interposed every delay possible to its consummation. after some time, commissioners were appointed to negotiate a treaty with the indians for the purchase of their claim to the lands within the boundaries established by the sale to the united states--or so much thereof as was in possession of the creek tribe. to this there was very serious opposition, not only from that portion of the tribe which formerly allied themselves to great britain, but from missionaries found in the cherokee country, and from colonel john crowell, who was united states agent for the creek indians. these indians were controlled by their chief, hopothlayohola, a man of rare abilities and great daring. he was a powerful speaker, fluent as a fountain, and extremely vigorous in his expressions: his imagery was original and beautiful, apposite and illustrative; and his words and manner passionate to wildness. to all this he added the ferocity of his savage nature. crowell was an especial friend of governor clarke, and was influenced by his party feelings of hatred to troup--in his opposition to a treaty, openly declaring that georgia should never acquire the land while troup was governor. he was an unscrupulous man, of questionable morals, and vindictive as a snake. the persevering energy of troup, however, prevailed. a treaty was negotiated, and signed by crowell, as agent, and a number of the chiefs headed by mcintosh. no sooner was this done, than crowell, with a number of chiefs, hurried to washington to protest against the ratification and execution of the treaty, charging the united states commissioners with fraud in the negotiation, under the influence of troup, prompted by w. h. crawford and friends. the fraud charged was in giving presents to the chiefs, and a couple of reservations of land to mcintosh--one where he resided, and the other around and including the famous sulphur spring, known as the indian spring, in butts county. this habit of giving presents to the chiefs when negotiating treaties has always been the custom of the government. they expect it; it is a part of the consideration paid for the treaty of sale, for they are universally the vendors of territory and the negotiators of treaties for their tribes. this charge was simply a subterfuge, and one that was known would be influential with the mawkish philanthropists of the north, mr. adams, and the senators and representatives from new england. upon the assumption of fraud, based upon these charges alone, the treaty was set aside by the action of the president and cabinet alone; and by the same authority a new one made, with a change of boundary, involving a loss of a portion of territory belonging to georgia under the stipulations of the contract between the state and united states. the previous or first treaty had been submitted to the united states senate, and duly ratified, thereby becoming a law, under which georgia claimed vested rights. it was under these trying circumstances that the stern and determined character of troup displayed itself. holding firmly to the doctrine of state rights, he notified the president that he should disregard the latter treaty, and proceed to take possession of the territory under the stipulations of the former one. upon the receipt of this information, general gaines was ordered to georgia to take command of the troops stationed along the frontier of the state, and any additional troops which might be ordered to this point, with orders to protect the indians, and prohibit taking possession of the territory, as contemplated by governor troup. a correspondence ensued between general gaines and governor troup of a most angry character. it terminated with an order to general gaines to forbear all further communication with the government of georgia. this was notified to the president, (if my memory is correct, for i write from memory,) in these terms: "john quincy adams, president of the united states: "sir: i have ordered general gaines to forbear all further communication with this government. should he presume to infringe this order, i will send your major-general by brevet home to you in irons. george m. troup, governor of georgia." the surveyors previously appointed by the legislature were directed to be on the ground, in defiance of united states authority, on the first day of september succeeding, and at sunrise to commence the work of surveying the lands. a collision was anticipated as certain between the troops of the united states and the authorities of georgia. but there was a difficulty in the way not previously contemplated. colonels john s. mcintosh, david emanuel twiggs, and duncan clinch, each commanded regiments in the south. twiggs and mcintosh were native georgians. clinch was a north carolinian, but was a resident of florida. zachary taylor was the lieutenant-colonel of clinch's regiment. he was a virginian by birth, but resided in mississippi. all were southern men in feeling, as well as by birth, and all jeffersonian republicans, politically. mcintosh and twiggs were fanatical in their devotion to the state of their birth. the ancestors of both were among the first settlers, and both were identified with her history. the three wrote a joint letter to the president, tendering their commissions, if ordered to take arms against georgia. this letter was placed in the hands of one who was influential with mr. adams, to be delivered immediately after the order should be issued to general gaines to prevent by force of arms the survey ordered by governor troup. troup had classified the militia, and signified his intention to carry out, if necessary, the first-negotiated treaty, by force of arms, as the law of the land. it was, unquestionably, the prudence of this friend which prevented a collision. he communicated with mr. adams confidentially, and implored him not to issue the order. he assured him that a collision was inevitable if he did, and caused him to pause and consult his advisers, who declared their conviction that the first treaty was the law of the land, and that georgia held vested rights under it. in obedience to this advice, mr. adams made no further effort to prevent the action of georgia, and the lands were surveyed and disposed of by the state, under and according to the terms of the first treaty, and she retains a large strip of territory that would have been lost to her under the last treaty. my information of these facts was derived from twiggs, clinch, and henry clay. who the friend was to whom the letter was intrusted, i never knew. i mentioned to mr. clay the facts, and he stated that they were true, but no knowledge of them ever came to him until the expiration of mr. adams' administration. general taylor stated to me that long after these events had transpired, and after the resignation of colonel clinch, general twiggs had made the communication to him. as nearly as i can remember, twiggs made the statement to me in the language i have used here. on returning from the ratification meeting, at canton, of the nomination of mr. clay for the presidency, in , before we reached baltimore, i was in a carriage with general clinch and senator barrow, of louisiana, and stated these facts, and clinch verified them. general gaines was, of all men, the most unfit for a position like that in which he was placed. he was a good fighter, a chivalrous, brave man; but he was weak and vain, and without tact or discretion. his intentions were, at all times, pure, but want of judgment frequently placed him in unpleasant positions. the condition of the minds of the people of georgia, at this time, was such, that very little was necessary to excite them to acts of open strife, and had mr. adams been less considerate than he was, there is now no telling what would have been the consequence. he was extremely unpopular at the south, and this, added to the inflamed condition of public opinion there, would assuredly have brought on a collision. had it come, it might have resulted in a triumph of southern principles, which, at a later day, and under less auspicious circumstances, struggled for existence, only to be crushed perhaps forever. it was universally the wish of the people of georgia to have possession of the land properly belonging to her, and but for their factious divisions, the hazards of a conflict between the troops of the united states and those of georgia would have been more imminent. it was believed by both these factions, that whoever should, as governor of the state, succeed in obtaining these lands, would thereby be rendered eminently popular, and secure to his faction the ascendency in the state for all time. the faction supporting clarke believed he would certainly triumph in the coming contest before the people, and assumed to believe that then the matter of acquisition would be easy, as the administration of mr. adams supposed that faction could, by that means, be brought into the support of the party now being formed about it. clarke and many of his leading friends were coquetting with the administration. he was--as was his brother-in-law, duncan g. campbell--a strong friend of mr. calhoun, who was then the vice-president. national parties were inchoate, and many politicians were chary of choosing, and seemed to wait for the development of coming events, ere they gave shape and direction to their future courses. it was certain that mr. clay was identified with the american system, and that would, in a great degree, be the leading policy of the administration. mr. calhoun, when secretary of war, under mr. monroe, had made a strong report in favor of internal improvements by the general government, within the limits of the states, and, while a member of congress, had made an equally strong one in favor of a national bank. these were two of the prominent features of the american system, and it was generally believed that this policy would be too popular to combat. it had originated during the administration of monroe, and if it had the opposition of any member of his cabinet, it was unknown to the country. mr. crawford and mr. calhoun, as well as mr. adams, were members of that cabinet, and were all, in some degree, committed to this policy; for mr. crawford, as a senator from georgia, during the administration of mr. madison, had sustained the doctrine of the constitutionality and the policy of a national bank, in one of the very ablest speeches ever made upon the subject, saying everything which could or can be said in favor of such a government financial agent, and refuting every objection of its opponents. from this speech is derived every argument and every idea of both the reports of calhoun and mcduffie, which were heralded to the nation as greater even than that of mr. dallas, who, with robert morris, may be said to be the fathers of this institution. mr. clay had, in one of his ablest speeches, opposed the bank at a former time, and his change of opinion was now well known. it was very well understood that the coming men were clay, jackson, and calhoun. clarke and his friends were ardent supporters of calhoun, and it was thought they had won the favor of the administration. mr. clay was strongly opposed to the execution of the old treaty, and had, by this means, drawn upon himself the opposition of the crawford, or troup party. these facts show the condition of public opinion in the state, and conclusively establish the fact, that but for this division of the people, and the check held by this upon the action of the masses and their leaders, fearful consequences would assuredly have ensued. the reasons influencing the joint action of mr. adams and mr. clay in opposition to the execution of the old treaty were very different. mr. clay was honest and patriotic. he had no ulterior views to subserve. his policy was national. he desired the prosperity and advancement of his country to greatness and power among the nations of the earth. his fame was that of the nation; already it was identified with it. his ambition was a noble and a grand one. he wished his name identified with his acts, and these to constitute the fame and glory of the nation. he ever felt what subsequently he so nobly expressed, "that he would rather be right than be president." he had no petty selfishness--no pitiful revenges to exhaust with the hand of power--no contemptible motives for elevating or advancing the interests of one section of his country by oppressing another. "all his aims were his country's," and his whole country's. he desired that every act of that country should bear the broadest light, and challenge the closest and most searching scrutiny; that each should be a new and brighter gem in the diadem of her glory, and that her magnanimity should be most conspicuous in her transactions with the weakest. this he especially desired, and labored to effect, in all her transactions with the indians. he viewed these as the primitive proprietors of the soil, and possessors of the entire country. he knew they were fading away before a civilization they were by nature incapacitated to emulate, and this, he felt, was in obedience to the inexorable laws of divine providence; and, in the wonderfully capacious compassion of his nature, he desired, in the accomplishment of this fate, that no act of national injustice to them should stain the nation's escutcheon, and determined to signalize this desire in every act of his when giving form and shape to national policy. he had generously lent a listening ear to the protests of the chiefs, seconded by that of their agent, and sincerely believed the treaty had been effected by fraud, and was wrong and oppressive, and, therefore, he opposed its execution, and was the main instrument in forming a new one. the draft of this was from his own pen, and he was solicitous that it should supersede the old one, as an expression of the indians' desire. mr. adams was, equally with mr. clay, opposed to the treaty as ratified, though, as was his constitutional duty, he had sent the instrument for the action of the senate. in heart he was opposed to any treaty which would remove the aborigines from this territory at this time, and, in consequence of the action of georgia, it was anticipated that, at no very distant day, the entire indian population east of the mississippi river, in the south, would be removed, unless some policy of the government should be adopted which would prevent it; and those of the north, who felt desirous of crippling the territorial progress of the south, and, of consequence, her augmentation of population, supposed the most effectual means of accomplishing this would be to educate and christianize the indian. to do this, they insisted he must remain upon the territory he now occupied. this would bring him into immediate contact with the civilized white, where he could be most readily approached by missionaries and schoolmasters, and be instructed by the force of example. at the same time, he was to remain under the sole protection of the united states government, without any of the privileges of civil government to be exercised as a citizen of the united states or the state upon whose soil he was located. this was ennobled as the sentiment of christian benevolence, while its real intention was to withhold the land from the occupancy of the people of georgia, and in so much retard the growth and increase of the white population of the state. to carry out this scheme, missionary establishments sprang up among the indians in every part of the south, but especially within the limits of the state of georgia, filled with northern fanatics, who employed themselves most actively in prejudicing the minds of the savages against the people who were their neighbors, and preparing them to refuse to treat for the sale of any of their territory. it has ever been the practice of the puritan to propagate the vilest heresies, and for the vilest purposes, under the name of philanthropy and religion. it has burned its enemy at the stake, as, assembled around, they sang psalms, and sanctified the vilest cruelties with the name of god's vengeance. it was their great prototype, cotton mather, who blasphemously proclaimed, after the most inhuman massacre of several hundred indians, that they, the puritans of massachusetts, "had sent, as a savory scent to the nostrils of god, two hundred or more of the reeking souls of the godless heathen." this, ostensibly, was deemed a pious act, and a discharge of a pious duty, when, in truth, the only motive was to take his home and country, and appropriate it to their own people. it seems almost impossible to the race to come squarely up to truth and honesty, in word or act, in any transaction, as a man or as a people. sinister and subtle, expediency, and not principle, seems to be their universal rule of action. cold and passionless, incapable of generous emotions, he is necessarily vindictive and cruel. patient and persevering, bigoted and selfish, eschewing as a crime an honorable resentment, he creeps to his ends like a serpent, with all his cunning and all his venom. john quincy adams, in his nature, was much more like his mother than his father. his features were those of his mother, and the cold, persevering hatred of his nature was hers. from his boyhood he was in the habit of recording, for future use, the most confidential conversations of his friends, as also all that incautiously fell from an occasional interview with those less intimate. had this been done for future reference only to establish facts in his own mind, there could have been no objection to the act; but this was not the motive. these memoranda were to rise up in vengeance when necessary to gratify his spleen or vengeance. he was naturally suspicious. he gave no man his confidence, and won the friendship of no one. malignant and unforgiving, he watched his opportunity, and never failed to gratify his revengeful nature, whenever his victim was in his power. the furtive wariness of his small gray eye, his pinched nose, receding forehead, and thin, compressed lips, indicated the malignant nature of his soul. unfaithful to friends, and only constant in selfishness--unconscious of obligation, and ungrateful for favors--fanatical only in hatred--pretending to religious morality, yet pursuing unceasingly, with merciless revenge, those whom he supposed to be his enemies, he combined all the elements of puritan bigotry and puritan hate in devilish intensity. he deserted the federal party in their greatest need, and meanly betrayed them to mr. jefferson, whom, from his boyhood, he had hated and reviled in doggerel rhymes and the bitterest prose his genius could suggest. the conduct of mr. adams, after he had been president, as the representative of massachusetts in congress, is the best evidence of the motives which influenced his conduct in the matter of these two treaties. he never lost an opportunity to assail the interests and the institutions of the south. he hated her, and to him, more than to any other, is due the conduct of the northern people toward the south which precipitated the late war, and has destroyed the harmony once existing between the people. his father had been repudiated by the south for a more trusted son of her own. this was a treasured hatred; and when he shared his father's fate, this became the pervading essence of his nature. he returned to congress, after his defeat for the presidency, for no other purpose than to give shape and direction to a sentiment which he felt must ultimately result in her ruin, and to accomplish this he was more than willing to hazard that of the government. he felt, should this follow, his own people would be in a condition to dictate and control a government of their own creation, and which should embody their peculiar views, rather than the pure and unselfish principles enunciated in the declaration of independence, and preserved in the constitution of the united states. the sagacity of george m. troup was the first to discover this in his conduct as president, and to sound the alarm as governor of georgia. he came directly in contact with him, and determined he should be defeated in one of his means for injury to the south. troup knew and felt the right was with him, and maintained it with the honest boldness of a true man. he triumphed, and the doctrine of state rights was rescued from a fatally aimed blow, and reaffirmed, gave renewed popularity and strength to its supporters. the election of general jackson soon after followed, and, as the embodiment of the principle, rallied around him its supporters from every section. with these, and his immense popularity personally, he scotched, for a time, the puritan snake; but, true to its instincts, it struggled to bite, though its head was off. mr. adams saw in troup a strong and uncompromising foe; he knew, too, the right was with him, and that if pushed to extremities the result would be damaging to his fame, as having, in persevering for the wrong, destroyed the government, and at a time, too, when every benefit from such destruction would inure to the south. under the circumstances his course was taken: he dared not consult or trust mr. clay with the real motives which influenced him to yield, and made a virtue of patriotism and magnanimity which cloaked his pusillanimity, and shielded from public view his envenomed chagrin. it was doubtless this triumph which secured the second election of troup. personally he was unpopular with the masses. his rearing had been in polished society, and though he was in principle a democrat, in his feelings, bearing, and associations he was an aristocrat. he accorded equality to all under the law and in political privilege, but he chose to select his associates, and admitted none to the familiarity of intimacy but men of high breeding and unquestioned honor. in many things he was peculiar and somewhat eccentric. in dress, especially so--often appearing in midwinter in light, summer apparel; and again, in summer, with a winter cloak wrapped carefully about him. when he appeared first before the assembled legislature, and many of the first citizens of the state, to take the oath of office, it was a raw, cold day in november; his dress was a round jacket of coarse cotton, black cassimere vest, yellow nankeen pantaloons, silk hose, and dancing-pumps, with a large-rimmed white hat, well worn. in his address, which was short and most beautiful, he made his hat conspicuous by holding it in his right hand, and waving it with every gesture. in person, he was below the middle size, slender, though finely formed; his hair was red, and his eyes intensely blue and deeply set beneath a heavy brow; his nose was prominent and aquiline; his mouth, the great feature of his face, was grecian in mould, with flexible lips, which, while in repose, seemed to pout. his rabid opposition to those engaged in the yazoo frauds, and his hatred for those who defended it, made him extremely obnoxious to them, and prompted dooly to say: "nature had formed his mouth expressly to say, 'yazoo.'" its play, when speaking, was tremulous, with a nervous twitching, which gave an agitated intonation to his words very effective. the form of his head, and especially his forehead, indicated an imaginative mind, while the lines of his face marked deep thought. he was strictly honest in everything; was opposed to anything which wore the appearance of courting public favor, or seemed like a desire for office. his private life was exemplary, kind, and indulgent to his children and servants, and full of charity; severe upon nothing but the assumptions of folly, and the wickedness of purpose in the dishonest heart. in every relation of life he discharged its duties conscientiously, and was the enemy only of the vicious and wicked. he continued to reside upon his plantation in lawrence county with his slaves, carefully providing for their every want until his death. he had attained the patriarchal age of threescore years and ten, and sank to rest in the solitude of his forest-home, peacefully and piously, leaving no enemies, and all the people of his state to mourn him. chapter xi. political changes. aspirants for congress--a new organization--two parties--a protective tariff---united states bank--the american system--internal improvements --a galaxy of stars--a spartan mother's advice--negro-dealer--quarter races--cock-pitting--military blunders on both sides--abner green's daughter--andrew jackson--gwinn--poindexter--ad interim--generals as civil rulers. the remarkable excitement of the political contest between troup and clarke had the effect of stimulating the ambition of the young men of education throughout the state for political distinction. for some time anterior to this period, all seemed content to permit those who had been the active politicians in the republican struggle with the federal party to fill all the offices of distinction in the state without opposition. it would have been considered presumptuous in the extreme for any young man, whatever his abilities, to have offered himself as a candidate for congress in opposition to mr. forsyth, r.h. wild, thomas w. cobb, edward f. tatnal, and men of like age and political faith. the members of congress were elected by general ticket; and the selection of candidates was not by a convention of the people or party. the names of candidates were generally recommended by influential parties, and their consent to become candidates obtained through solicitations addressed to them, and then published to the people. the state was so unanimous in political sentiment, that for many years no opposition to the republican party was thought of. but now parties were organizing upon principles, or rather policies, entirely new; there was a fusion of the old elements of party, and federalists and republicans were side by side in this new organization. men who had been under the ban, for opinion's sake, were coming into public view and public favor, and disclosing great abilities. at the head of these was john mcpherson berrien, who, to the end of his life, was so distinguished in the councils of the nation. at the same time, in every part of the state, young men were rising up as men of promise for talent and usefulness. these men arrayed themselves with either of the two parties, as inclination or interest prompted. active and assiduous, they were soon prominent before the people, and a new era was commencing. with the election of john quincy adams, the state was in a blaze and politics a furor. opposition immediately commenced to the leading measures of the administration, and the legislature of was filled with young men of talent, who were enthusiastic and fierce in their sentiments and feelings. they had been divided as partisans of troup and clarke, and met as antagonists in the legislature; but really without any defined policy in opposition to that of the administration of the general government of the nation. a suspicion filled every one that this policy was disastrous to southern interests, and sectional in its character, although designated as national. few men of the south had given much attention to the effect a tariff for revenue had upon the commercial and manufacturing interests of the north. the war with england had created a debt, and this tariff had been imposed solely for the purpose of securing, not only a sufficient revenue for the current necessities of the government, but a surplus, which should in a short time liquidate the public debt. it was sufficient to afford protection to the manufacturing interests of the north, to increase this into a formidable revenue, and to enlist a national party in its support. it was now, when the public debt was liquidated, that another reason was necessary for continuing a policy which had grown up from the necessities of the nation--consequently it was assumed to be a national policy to promote national independence, and protection was claimed for national industry against european competition. this policy in the government would encourage extravagance, waste, and corruption--such a bane to republics--because it would create an immense surplus in the national treasury, unless some scheme for its expenditure could be devised which should seem to promote the national interest. to this end, the party of the administration claimed a constitutional power in congress to carry on a system of internal improvements; and heavy appropriations were made for this purpose, not only absorbing the surplus revenue, but creating a necessity for more--and this necessity was an excuse for increasing the tariff. the bank of the united states was the depository of the moneys of the nation and her disbursing agent. the constitutionality of this institution had been a mooted question from the day it was first proposed by robert morris. mr. madison, who was a republican, had at one time vetoed it; at another, approved it. mr. crawford, a most inveterate states-rights man and strict constructionist of the constitution, had uniformly supported it. mr. clay had both supported and opposed it. the question was finally adjudicated by the supreme court, and, so far as that decision could make it, was decided to be constitutional. this, however, did not satisfy the republican or states-rights party; a large majority of whom always insisted upon its unconstitutionality. at the time of its creation, a necessity existed for some such institution, to aid the government in its financial operations, and at the time of the renewal of its charter the government had just emerged from a war; every state was creating banks, and the country was flooded with an irredeemable and worthless currency, disturbing commerce, unsettling values, and embarrassing the government. a power was wanted somewhere to control these state banks, and to give a redeemable and uniform currency to the country. the state banks had proved destructive to the public interest; with no power to restrain their issues except that imposed by their charters and the honesty of their officers--a frail security for the public, as experience had attested. the example of washington was pleaded by the advocates of the bank. at the very outset it had been opposed for want of constitutionality. washington had doubted it, and submitted the question to two of his cabinet--mr. jefferson and mr. hamilton. they were divided in opinion--mr. jefferson opposing, and mr. hamilton sustaining the constitutionality of the measure. the opinion and argument of hamilton prevailed, and the act creating a bank received the executive approval. it answered admirably the object of its creation, and the republican party (then in embryo) acquiesced. indeed, at this time, there could scarcely be said to be a party separate from the government. mr. hamilton and mr. jefferson were the leaders of the parties which divided the people upon the adoption of the constitution, and these parties, though at this time inchoate, were concreting about these two wonderful men. upon the renewal of the charter of the united states bank, during the administration of mr. madison, the republican party again mooted its constitutionality; but its undisputed usefulness had won for it immense popularity, and there were many who, though acting with the republicans, were willing (as washington had approved it, and the supreme court had pronounced it constitutional) to view the question as settled, and vote to renew the charter. it was subsequent to the veto of mr. madison (when he had reconsidered his action, and recommended the re-chartering of the bank,) that debates ensued, in which the question was exhausted. in these debates, mr. crawford, mr. clay, felix grundy, william b. giles, and mr. calhoun led. they were continued through several sessions, up to , when they ultimated in the chartering of the last bank of the united states. this charter expired during the administration of general jackson, and by him the bank was finally crushed. three great measures constituted what was then termed the american system--the united states bank, a protective tariff, and internal improvements within the states by the general government. an opposition to this party was formed at the very outset of the adams administration. this opposition denied the constitutional power of congress to create or sustain either. the south, at the commencement of this opposition, was almost alone. the north was a unit in its support of the administration, because its policy was vital to her interests. the west, influenced by mr. clay, was greatly in the majority in its support. the southern opposition seemed almost hopeless; and to this cause may, in a great degree, be ascribed the bringing forth to public view the transcendent abilities of the young men aspiring for fame in georgia, and in the south generally. mcduffie, hamilton, holmes, and waddy thompson, of south carolina; colquitt, cobb, toombs, stephens, johnson, nesbit, and john p. king, of georgia; wise, bocock, hunter, summers, rives, and others of virginia; mangum, badger, and graham, of north carolina; bell, foster, peyton, nicholson, and james k. polk, of tennessee; king and lewis, of alabama; porter, johnston, white, and barrow, of louisiana; ashley, johnson, and sevier, of arkansas; chase, pugh, pendleton, and lytell, of ohio; and douglas, trumbull, and lincoln, of illinois, were all men of sterling talent, and were about equally divided in political sentiment. kentucky had tom and humphrey marshall, crittenden, menifer, letcher, breckinridge, and preston. general jackson was now the avowed candidate of the states-rights party, which soon after assumed the name of democratic, and his political principles and great personal popularity were not only dividing the west, but the middle states, and even those of new england. during the entire administration of adams, there was a majority in congress supporting his policy. it was then and there that the great battle for supremacy was fought. berrien and forsyth, from georgia, in the senate; mcduffie and preston, from south carolina; cass, from michigan, and van buren and silas wright, from new york--all giants in intellect. but there were webster and john davis, from massachusetts, george evans, from maine, and others of minor powers, but yet great men. between these great minds the conflict was stupendous. every means were put into requisition to sustain the administration and its policy, but all were unavailing--general jackson was elected by an overwhelming majority. mr. clay was immediately returned by kentucky to the senate, and organized an opposition upon the policy of the late administration, led on by himself and webster. the memory of those days, and the men who made them memorable, flits vividly before me; but i am not writing a history, and can attempt no order, but shall write on as these memories of men and events shall seem to me most interesting in their character to the general reader. general jackson was one of those rare creations of nature which appear at long intervals, to astonish and delight mankind. it seems to be settled in the public mind that he was born in south carolina; but there is no certainty of the fact. his early life was very obscure, and he himself was uncertain of his birth-place, though he believed it was south carolina. he remembered the removal of his family from south carolina, and many of the incidents of the war of the revolution transpiring there; but more especially those occurring in north carolina, to which the family removed. judge alexander porter, of louisiana, was an irishman, and from the neighborhood where were born and reared the parents of jackson. his own father was brutally executed at vinegar hill, by sentence of a drum-head court martial, in , and his family proscribed by the british government. with his uncle, the rowans, the jacksons, and some others, he emigrated to america, and settled at nashville, tennessee. the jacksons were of the same family, and distantly connected with general jackson. great intimacy existed between this family and general jackson for many years. judge porter, of whom i shall hereafter have something to say, visited europe a short time before his death, and made diligent search into the history of the jackson family, without ascertaining anything positively: he learned enough to satisfy his own mind that andrew jackson was born in ireland, and brought to the united states by his parents when only two years old. this was also the opinion of thomas crutcher, who came with general jackson to nashville, and it was also the opinion of dr. boyd mcnary and his elder brother, judge mcnary, who believed he was four years older than he supposed himself to be. the mcnarys came with him from north carolina. on the trip a difficulty occurred between boyd mcnary and jackson, which never was reconciled--both dying in extreme old age. boyd mcnary stopped at lexington and read medicine, forming there the acquaintance of mr. clay and felix grundy. the intimacy which sprang up between clay and mcnary was as ardent and imperishable as the hatred between himself and jackson, enduring until death. jackson was enterprising and eminently self-reliant; in all matters pertaining to himself, he was his own counsellor; he advised with no man; cool and quick in thought, he seemed to leap to conclusions, and never went back from them. an anecdote relative to his parting from his mother in his outset in life, illustrates this as prominent in the attributes of his nature at that time. the writer heard him narrate this after his return from washington, when his last term in the presidential office had expired. when about to emigrate to tennessee, the family were residing in the neighborhood of greensboro, north carolina. "i had," said he, "contemplated this step for some months, and had made my arrangements to do so, and at length had obtained my mother's consent to it. all my worldly goods were a few dollars in my purse, some clothes in my saddle-bags, a pretty good horse, saddle, and bridle. the country to which i was going was comparatively a wilderness, and the trip a long one, beset by many difficulties, especially from the indians. i felt, and so did my mother, that we were parting forever. i knew she would not recall her promise; there was too much spunk in her for that, and this caused me to linger a day or two longer than i had intended. "but the time came for the painful parting. my mother was a little, dumpy, red-headed irish woman. 'well, mother, i am ready to leave, and i must say farewell.' she took my hand, and pressing it, said, 'farewell,' and her emotion choked her. "kissing at meetings and partings in that day was not so common as now. i turned from her and walked rapidly to my horse. "as i was mounting him, she came out of the cabin wiping her eyes with her apron, and came to the getting-over place at the fence. 'andy,' said she, (she always called me andy,) 'you are going to a new country, and among a rough people; you will have to depend on yourself and cut your own way through the world. i have nothing to give you but a mother's advice. never tell a lie, nor take what is not your own, nor sue anybody for slander or assault and battery. _always settle them cases yourself!_' i promised, and i have tried to keep that promise. i rode off some two hundred yards, to a turn in the path, and looked back--she was still standing at the fence and wiping her eyes. i never saw her after that." those who knew him best will testify to his fidelity to this last promise made his mother. the strong common sense and unbending will of jackson soon made him conspicuous in his new home, and very soon he was in active practice as a lawyer. his prominence was such, that during the last year of the last term of general washington's administration, a vacancy occurring in the united states senate from tennessee, general jackson was appointed to fill it. he was occupying this seat when general washington retired from the presidency, and, with william b. giles, of virginia, voted against a resolution of thanks tendered by congress to washington, for his services to the country. for this vote he gave no reason at the time; and if he ever did, it has escaped my knowledge. the career of general jackson, as a public man, is so well known, that it is not my purpose to review it in this place; but many incidents of his private history have come to my knowledge from an association with those who were intimate with him, from his first arrival in tennessee. these, or so many of them as i deem of interest enough to the public, i propose to relate. jackson was a restless and enterprising man, embarking in many schemes for the accumulation of fortune, not usually resorted to by professional men, or men engaged in public matters. in business he was cautious. he was a remarkable judge of human character, and rarely gave his confidence to untried men. notwithstanding the impetuosity of his nature, upon occasion he could be as cool and as calculating as a yankee. the result was, that though he had many partners in the various pursuits he at different times resorted to, he rarely had any pecuniary difficulty with any of them. he was in the habit of trading with the low country, that is, with the inhabitants of mississippi and louisiana. many will remember the charge brought against him pending his candidacy for the presidency, of having been, in early life, a negro-trader, or dealer in slaves. this charge was strictly true, though abundantly disproved by the oaths of some, and even by the certificate of his principal partner. jackson had a small store, or trading establishment, at bruinsburgh, near the mouth of the bayou pierre, in claiborne county, mississippi. it was at this point he received the negroes, purchased by his partner at nashville, and sold them to the planters of the neighborhood. sometimes, when the price was better, or the sales were quicker, he carried them to louisiana. this, however, he soon declined; because, under the laws of louisiana, he was obliged to guarantee the health and character of the slave he sold. on one occasion he sold an unsound negro to a planter in the parish of west feliciana, and, upon his guarantee, was sued and held to bail to answer. in this case he was compelled to refund the purchase-money, with damages. he went back upon his partner, and compelled him to share the loss. this caused a breach between them, which was never healed. this is the only instance which ever came to my knowledge of strife with a partner. he was close to his interest, and spared no means to protect it. it was during the period of his commercial enterprise in mississippi that he formed the acquaintance of the green family. this family was among the very first americans who settled in the state. thomas m. green and abner green were young men at the time, though both were men of family. to both of them jackson, at different times, sold negroes, and the writer now has bills of sale for negroes sold to abner green, in the handwriting of jackson, bearing his signature, written, as it always was, in large and bold characters, extending quite half across the sheet. at this store, which stood immediately upon the bank of the mississippi, there was a race-track, for quarter-races, (a sport jackson was then very fond of,) and many an anecdote was rife, forty years ago, in the neighborhood, of the skill of the old hero in pitting a cock or turning a quarter-horse. this spot has become classic ground. it was here aaron burr was first arrested by cowles mead, then acting as governor of the territory of mississippi, and from whom he made his escape, and it was at this point that grant crossed his army when advancing against vicksburg. it is a beautiful plateau of land, of some two thousand acres, immediately below the mouth of the bayou pierre, and bordered by very high and abrupt cliffs, which belong to the same range of hills that approach the river's margin at vicksburg, grand gulf, rodney, natchez, and bayou sara. at this point they attain the height of three hundred feet, and are almost perpendicular. the summit is attained by a circuitous road cut through the cliffs, and this is the summit level of the surrounding country. this plateau of land, where once stood the little village of bruinsburgh, has long been a cotton plantation, and a most valuable one it was before the late war. a deep, and, to an army, impassable swamp borders it below, and the same is the case above the bayou pierre. to land an army at such a place, when its only means of marching upon the country was through this narrow cut, of about one hundred feet in width, with high, precipitous sides, forming a complete defile for half a mile, and where five thousand men could have made its defence good against fifty thousand, is certainly as little evidence of military genius as was the permission of them to pass through it without an effort to prevent it. to a military eye, the blunders of grant and pemberton are apparent in their every movement--and the history of the siege and capture of vicksburg, if ever correctly written, will demonstrate to the world that folly opposed to folly marked its inception, progress, and finality. the friends formed in this section of country by jackson were devoted to him through life, and when in after life he sent (for it is not true that he brought) his future wife to mississippi, it was to the house of thomas m. green, then residing near the mouth of cowles creek, and only a few miles from bruinsburgh. whatever the circumstances of the separation, or the cause for it, between mrs. jackson and her first husband, i am ignorant; i know that jackson vas much censured in the neighborhood of his home. at the time of her coming to green's, the civil authority was a disputed one; most of the people acknowledging the spanish. a suit was instituted for a divorce, and awarded by a spanish tribunal. there was probably little ceremony or strictness of legal proceeding in the matter, as all government and law was equivocal, and of but little force just at that time in the country. it was after this that jackson came and married her, in the house of thomas m. green. that there was anything disreputable attached to the lady's name is very improbable; for she was more than fifteen months in the house of green, who was a man of wealth, and remarkable for his pride and fastidiousness in selecting his friends or acquaintances. he was the first territorial representative of mississippi in congress--was at the head of society socially, and certainly would never have permitted a lady of equivocal character to the privileges of a guest in his house, or to the association of his daughters, then young. during the time she was awaiting this divorce, she was at times an inmate of the family of abner green, of second creek, where she was always gladly received, and he and his family were even more particular as to the character and position of those they admitted to their intimacy, if possible, than thomas b. green. this intimacy was increased by the marriage of two of the green brothers to nieces of mrs. jackson. in , when jackson was president, the writer, passing from louisiana to new york with his family, spent some days at washington. his lady was the youngest daughter of abner green; he was in company with a daughter of henry green and her husband; her mother was niece to mrs. jackson. we called to see the president, and when my lady was introduced to the general, he was informed she was the daughter of his old friend, abner green, of second creek. he did not speak, but held her hand for some moments, gazing intently into her face. his feelings overcame him, and clasping her to his bosom, he said, "i must kiss you, my child, for your sainted mother's sake;" then holding her from him, he looked again, "oh! how like your mother you are--she was the friend of my poor rachel, when she so much needed a friend--i loved her, and i love her memory;" and then, as if ashamed of his emotion, he continued: "you see, my child, though i am president through the kindness or folly of the people, i am but a weak, silly old man." we spent the evening with him, and when in his private sitting-room his pipe was lighted and brought to him, he said: "now, my child, let us talk about mississippi and the old people." i have never in all my life seen more tenderness of manner, or more deep emotion shown, than this stern old man continually evinced when speaking of his wife and her friends. the character of general jackson is yet greatly misunderstood. this has been caused by the fact that his words and actions, when in command, or when enraged, as a man, have been the main data upon which the estimate of his bearing and character has been predicated. he was irascible and quick in his temper, and when angered was violent in words and manner. it was at such moments that the stern inflexibility of his will was manifest; and his passion towered in proportion to provocation. but in private life and social intercourse he was bland, gentle, and conciliating. his manner was most polished and lofty in society, and in a lady's parlor, in urbanity and polish of manners, he never had a superior. this high polish was nature's spontaneous gift. he had never been taught it in courts, or from association with those who had. it was the emanation of his great soul, which stole out through his every word and movement in the presence of ladies, and which erupted as a volcano at insult or indignity from man. that evening at the white house is marked in my memory with a white stone. the playful simplicity of his conversation and manner, and the particularity of his inquiries about matters and things so insignificant, but which were links in the chain of his memories, i well remember. "is old papa jack and bellile living?" he asked, after a pause, of my wife, accompanied with a look of eager anxiety. these were two old africans, faithful servants of her father; and then there was an anecdote of each of them--their remarks or their conduct upon some hunting or fishing excursion, in which he had participated forty years before. i was an interested spectator in the presence of one of nature's wonderful creations--one who had made, and who was making, history for his country, and whose name was to descend to future times as one of her noblest sons and greatest historical characters. i watched every motion of his lips, every expression of his features, and every gleam of his great gray eyes, and i could but wonder at the child-like naturalness of everything about him. is not this an attribute of greatness--to be natural? yes; to be natural in all things belongs to truth, and a truthful exhibition of nature, without assumption or deceit, is greatness. here was one who could, with natural simplicity, amuse a child; and the same one could command and successfully wield a great army, and, with equal success, direct the destinies of a great nation; whose genius was tempered with simplicity and tenderness, and when towering most in its grandeur, was most truthful to nature. general jackson's early opportunities were extremely limited. his education was so very defective, that his orthography was almost ludicrous, and his general reading amounted to almost nothing. at no time was he a respectable county-court lawyer, so far as legal learning was concerned, and it is wonderful how the natural vigor of his mind supplied this defect. on the bench, his greatest aim was to get at the facts in every case, and to decide all points upon the broad principles of equity; and in all his charges to the jury, his principal aim was to direct their attention to the simple justice of the case, and a favorite phrase of his in these charges was: "do right between the parties, and you will serve the objects of the law." he was an enemy to all unnecessary forms in all matters. his manner was to go directly to the kernel, and he was very indifferent as to how the shell was cracked, or the husk removed. he never seemed to reason. upon the presentation of any subject to his mind, it seemed, with electrical velocity, to cut through to a conclusion as if by intuition. he was correct in his conclusions more frequently than any man of his age. his knowledge of human nature was more consummate than that of any of his compeers who were remarkable for greatness of mind. in this, as in all other matters, his opinion was formed with the first glance. his intimacy with every sort of character, in his extended intercourse with the world, seemed so to have educated his faculties and whetted his perception, that he only wanted to look at a man for five minutes to know his inmost nature. yet he was sometimes deceived, and, ascertaining this, nothing enraged him more. in his friendships he was almost fanatical. the humblest individual, who was his friend, and who had proven it, could command him in any manner, and to the full extent of his capacity to serve him. a remarkable instance of this trait was manifested in his conduct as president, toward a young friend, mr. gwinn, who was reared in the neighborhood of the hermitage, and whose father had long been a trusted friend of jackson. in , when the lands obtained from the choctaws in mississippi were being brought into market, the office of register in the land-office in that state was an important one. it was given to gwinn by jackson, who was then president. when the nomination was sent to the senate, opposition was made to its confirmation by george poindexter, a senator from mississippi. it had always been the practice of all preceding presidents, when suitable persons could be had, to nominate them from the state in which the united states office to be filled was located. poindexter insisted that this custom, from long usage, had become law; and to send a citizen from one state into another, there to fill a national office, was an indignity to her citizens, and a manifestation, to say the least of it, of distrust and suspicion as to the capacity or honesty of the people of the state. this opposition was successful, and gwinn was rejected. the nomination was renewed, and again rejected. jackson wrote to gwinn, who was already by executive appointment discharging the duties of the office, to continue to do so. i was present when the letter was received, and permitted to read it. "poindexter has deserted me," he said, "and his opposition to your nomination is to render, as far as he can, my administration unpopular with the people of mississippi; and a majority of the senate are more than willing to aid him in this. they are only destroying themselves, not me, and some of them will soon find this out. do you hold on to the office; i will make no more nominations; but commission you _ad interim_ as soon as congress adjourns, which will be in a few weeks at farthest. very soon my friends will be in a majority in the senate--until then, i will keep you in the office, for i am determined you shall have it, spite of poindexter." the result was as he had promised. this is but one of a thousand instances which might be enumerated to attest the same fact. such traits are always appreciated as they deserve to be; they address themselves to the commonest understanding, and are esteemed by all mankind. it is a mistake the world makes, that jackson's popularity was exclusively military. those great qualities of mind and soul which constituted him a great general, were not only displayed in his military career, but in all his life; and to them he was indebted for the friends of his whole life; they made him a man of mark before he was twenty-five years of age. his courage, intrepidity, frankness, honor, truth, and sincerity were all pre-eminent in his conduct, and carried captive the admiration of all men. his devotion to his wife, to his friends, to his duty, was always conspicuous; and these are admired and honored, even by him who never had in his heart a feeling in common with one of these. all these traits were so striking in jackson's character as to make them conspicuous. they were more marked in his than in that of any other man of his day, because the impulses of his temperament were more prompt and potent. they were natural to him, and always naturally displayed. there was neither assumption of feeling nor deceit in its manifestation; all he evinced, bubbled up from his heart, naturally and purely as spring-water, and went directly to the heart. these great and ennobling traits were not unfrequently marred by passion, and acts which threw a cloud over their brilliancy; but this, too, was natural: the same soul which was parent to this violence and extravagance of passion, was, too, the source of all his virtues, and all were equally in excess. the consequence of this violence were sometimes terrible. they were evanescent, and, like a thunder-storm, seemed only to clear the atmosphere for the display of beautiful weather. the triumphs of mind, unaided by education, sometimes are astonishing,--in the case of general jackson, perhaps, not more so than in many others. the great warwick of england, the putter-up and the puller-down of kings, did not know his letters; marshal soult, the greatest of napoleon's marshals, could not write a correct sentence in french; and stevenson, the greatest engineer the world ever saw--the inventor of the locomotive engine--did not know his letters at twenty-one years of age, and was always illiterate. it is a question whether such minds would have been greatly aided by education, or whether they might not have been greatly injured by it--nature seeming to have formed all minds with particular proclivities. these are more marked in the stronger intellects. they direct to the pursuit in life for which nature has designed the individual: should this idiosyncrasy receive the proper education from infancy, doubtless it would be aided to the more rapid and more certain accomplishment of the designs of nature. to discover this in the child, requires that it should be strongly developed, and a close and intelligent observation on the part of the parent or guardian who may have the direction of the child's education. but this, in the system of education almost universally pursued, is never thought of; and the avocation of the future man is chosen for him, without any regard to his aptitudes for it, and often in disregard of those manifested for another. consequently, nature is thwarted by ignorance, and the individual drags on unsuccessfully in a hated pursuit through life. left alone, these proclivities become a passion, and where strongly marked, and aided by strength of will, they work out in wonderful perfection the designs of nature. julius cæsar, hannibal, attila, yengis khan, prince eugène, marlborough, napoleon, and wellington were all generals by nature--and so were andrew jackson and "stonewall" jackson. the peculiarities of talent which make a great general make a great statesman; and all of those who, after distinguishing themselves as great generals, were called to the administration of the civil affairs of their respective governments, have equally distinguished themselves as civilians. the proposing of general jackson as a candidate for the presidency was received, by most of those who were deemed statesmen, as a burlesque; and many of those most active in his support only desired his election to further their own views, and not for the country's benefit. it was supposed he was so entirely unacquainted with state-craft, that he would be a pliant tool--an automaton, to dance to their wire-pulling. how little they understood him, and how well he understood them! at once he let them know he was president, and was determined to take the responsibility of administering the government in the true spirit of its institutions. the alarm, which pervaded all political circles so soon as this was understood, is remembered well. it was a bomb exploded under the mess-table, scattering the mess and breaking to fragments all their cunningly devised machinations for rule and preferment--an open declaration of war against all cliques and all dictation. his inaugural was startling, and his first message explicit. his policy was avowed, and though it gathered about him a storm, he nobly breasted it, and rode it out triumphantly. his administration closed in a blaze of glory. he retired the most popular and most powerful man the nation had ever seen. chapter xii. gossip. unrequited love--popping the question--practical joking--satan let loose--rhea, but not rhea--teachings of nature--h.s. smith. this must be a gossiping chapter, of many persons and many things, running through many years. i love to dwell upon the years of youth. they are the sweetest in life; and these memories constitute most of the happiness of declining life. incidents in our pilgrimage awaken the almost forgotten, and then how many, many memories flit through the mind, and what a melancholy pleasure fills the soul! we think, and think on, calling this and that memory up from the grave of forgetfulness, until all the past seems present, and we live over the bliss of boyhood with a mimic ecstasy of young life and its gladdening joys. like every young man, i suppose, i loved a fair girl with beautiful blue eyes, and lips so pouting and plump, so ruddy and liquid, that the words seemed sweetened as they melted away from them; but my love was unpropitious, and another was preferred to me. i have ever been curious to know why. vanity always in my own soul made me greatly the superior of the favored one, in all particulars. but she did not think so, and chose as she liked. i saw her but once a bride. i went away, and found, as others do, another and dearer love. sitting on my horse by her side, as she held in her beautiful palfrey, upon the summit of a cliff, which rises grandly above, and brows the drab waters of the great mississippi, she pointed to the river, which resembled a great, white serpent, winding among green fields and noble forests, for twenty miles below. her eyes were gray, and large, and lovely; her form was towering, and her mien commanding. she grew with the scene. she was born only a mile away, in the midst of a wild forest of walnut and magnolia, amid towering hills, and cherished them and this mighty river in childhood, until she partook of their grandeur and greatness. i thought she was like the love of my youth, and i loved her, and told her of it. the sun was waning--going down to rest, and, like a mighty monarch, was folding himself away to sleep in gorgeous robes of crimson and gold. in his shaded light, outstretching for fifty miles beyond the river, lay, in sombre silence, the mighty swamp, with its wonderful trees of cypress, clothed in moss of gray, long, and festooning from their summits to the earth below, and waving, like banners, in the passing wind. the towering magnolia, in all the pride of foliage and flower, shaded us. the river, in silent and dignified majesty, moved onward far below, and evening breezes bathed, with their delicious touch, our glowing cheeks. the scene was grand, and my feelings were intense. in the midst of all this beauty and grandeur, she was the cynosure of eye and heart. i loved her; and yet, my conscience rebuked me for forgetting my first love, and i asked myself if, in all this wild delirium of soul, there was not some little ingredient of revenge. no, it was for herself--all for herself; and, chokingly, i told her of it, when she drooped her head, and, in silence, gave me her hand. we went away in silence. there was too much of feeling to admit of speech. delicious memory! of all our ten children, four only remain. the willow's tears bedew her grave, and her sons fill the soldier's grave, and, wrapped in the gray, sleep well. yesterday i met her who first kindled in my bosom affection for woman--a widowed woman, withered and old. she smiled: the lingering trace of what it was, was all that was left. the little, plump hand was lean and bony, and wrinkles usurped the alabaster brow. fifty years had made its mark. but memory was, by time, untouched. we parted. i closed my eyes, and there she was, in her girlhood's robes and her girlhood's beauty. the lip, the cheek, the glorious eye, were all in memory garnered still; and i loved that memory, but not the woman now. another was in the niche she first cut in my heart, whose cheek and eye and pouting lip were young and lovely. still these memories awoke out of this meeting, and, for hours, i forgot that i was wrinkled, old, and gray. i wonder how many's history i am writing now? the history of the heart, at last, is all the endearing history of waning life. recur as we may to every success, to every sorrow, and they whisper a chapter of the heart. we struggle to make happy those we love. the gratifications of wealth, ambition, and feeling, all refer to the heart. there could be no pleasure from these memories if those we loved had not participated in them. we build a home for her we love, and those who sprout around us. we win wealth and a name for these, and but for them, all that is innate would be only alloy. they must reflect the bliss it brings, or it has no sweetness. can there be a soul so sordid as to riot in pleasure and triumphs all alone--to shun companionship, and hate participation in the joys that come of successful life? i am in the midst of the scenes of my childhood, with here and there one friend left, who shared with me the school-hours, saturday rambles, and sports of early boyhood. with these the memories come fresh and vigorous of the then occurring incidents--the fishings, the saturday-night raccoon hunts, the forays upon orchards and melon-patches, and the rides to and from the old, country church on the sabbath; the practical jokes of which i was so fond, and from which even my own father was not exempt. kind reader, indulge the garrulity of age, and allow me to recount one of these. there are a few who will remember it; for they have laughed at it for fifty years. i never knew my father to tell a fib but upon one occasion in my life. under the circumstances, i am sure the kindly nature will, at least, allow it to be a white one. i am near the old mill my father built, and, if i remember all connected with my boyhood there, i trust there will be few or none to sneer or blame. the flouring-mill, or mill for grinding grain, and the saw-mill were united under the same roof; and it was the business of father to give his attention, as overseer, not only to the mills, but to his planting interest. he employed a north carolina scotchman--that is, a man descended of scotch parents, but born in north carolina--to superintend his saw-mill, who had all the industry, saving propensities, and superstitions of his ancestry. he was a firm believer in spells, second-sights, and ghosts. taking advantage of these superstitions, my brother and myself made him the sufferer in many a practical joke. upon one occasion, we put into circulation, in the neighborhood, a story full of wonder. a remarkable spectre had been seen near the mill on dark nights, and especially on those misty nights of murky gloom, common in early spring to this latitude. its form was unique and exaggerated, with flaming eyes, and mouth of huge proportions, with long, pointed teeth, white and sharp. for weeks, this gorgon of my imagination constituted the theme of neighborhood gossip. several negroes had seen it, and fled its fierce pursuit, barely escaping its voracious mouth and attenuated claws, through the fleetness of fear. the old hardshell baptist preacher, of the vicinage, had proclaimed him from the pulpit as satan unchained, and commencing his thousand years of wandering up and down the earth. i had procured from a vine in the plum-orchard a gourd of huge dimensions, such as in that day were used by frugal housewives for the keeping of lard for family use. it would hold in its capacious cavity at least half a bushel. this was cut one-third of its circumference for a mouth, and this was garnished with teeth from the quills of a venerable gander, an especial pet of my mother. the eyes were in proportion, and were covered with patches of red flannel, purloined from my mother's scrap-basket. a circle, an inch in diameter, made of charcoal, formed an iris to a pupil, cut round and large, through the flannel. a candle was lighted, and introduced through a hole at the bottom of the gourd, and all mounted upon a pole some ten feet long. in the dark it was hideous, and, on one or two occasions, had served secretly to frighten some negroes, to give it reputation. it was designed for rhea, the carolinian. on saturday night it was his uniform practice to come up to the house, cleanly clad, to spend the evening. there was a canal which conveyed the water from the head above to the mill. this ran parallel with the stream, and was crossed, on the public road, by a bridge, one portion of which was shaded by a large crab-apple bush. though fifty years ago, it still remains to mark the spot. beyond the creek (which was bridged, for foot-passengers, with the trunk of a large tree,) was a newly cleared field, in which the negroes were employed burning brush on the saturday night chosen for my sport. here, under this crab-tree, i awaited the coming of rhea. it was misty, and densely dark. presently the footsteps of my victim were heard approaching; he was on the bridge. he came on cautiously, to be secure of a safe footing in the dark. suddenly i turned the grinning monster full in his face. a scream and a leap followed. down the muddy creek-bank rushed my victim, plunged through the tumbling waters waist-deep, and, as soon as the opposite shore was reached, a vociferous call was made for tom, the negro foreman. horror of horrors! it was my father's voice. in an instant my candle was out, and i was running. i passed unconcernedly through the house and took a seat in the back passage, and awaited events. it was not long before the sloppy noise of shoes full of water, heard in walking, came through the yard, and into the house. it was my dear old frightened father, all reeking from his plunge into the creek. "why, husband," asked mother, "how did you get so wet?" he slung the damp from his hat as he cleared his throat, and said: "i slipped off that cursed log, in crossing the creek." reflection had told him he had been foolishly frightened, and he was ashamed to acknowledge it. my conscience smote me, but i laughed, and trembled--for had he made discovery of the trick, it would have been my time to suffer. memory brings back the features, the kind and gentle look of that dear and indulgent parent, and the unbidden tear comes. the last time i ever saw him was at the terminus of the railroad, on the banks of lake pontchartrain; he placed his aged arms about my shoulders, and, pressing me to his bosom, bid me "farewell," as, trembling with emotion, he continued: "we are parting forever, my child." he had met misfortunes in his latter days, and was poor, but i had filled his purse with the means which smoothed his way the remnant of his life. the prediction was but too true; in less than one year after that parting, he slept in death. and now, when war and death have swept from me children, fortune, all, and i am old and needy, it is a consolation known only to my own bosom that i plucked the thorn from my parent's path. these are childish memories, and may be too puerile for record; but i am sure most of my readers will find in them something of their own childhood's memories. it is my memories of men and things, i am writing, and i would be faithful to them. boyhood's memories crowd the after-life with half the joys its destiny demands; associations which revive them come as pleasant showers to the parched herbage when autumn's sun withers its flush, and yellows the green of spring-time. oh! the zest of early sports--of boyhood's mischief; so free from selfishness, so untouched with meanness, so full of joyous excitement, so loved for itself. every man has been a boy; every woman has been a girl; and all alike have felt and enjoyed the sweets of young life; and when years and cares and tears have stolen away the green from the soul, and the blossoms of the grave whiten about the brow, and the unbidden sigh breaks away from the grief of the heart, and memory startles with what was when we were young, the contrast would be full of misery did not a lingering of the joys which filled our frolics and our follies come to dull the edge of sorrow. when the cravings of the mind, taught by time to be unrealizable, are driven from hope; when the purity of youthful feelings are soiled by contact with the world's baseness; when the world's passing interests harden the sensibilities, and we have almost forgotten that we were ever young, or had a youthful joy, some little story, some little incident will startle the memory, and touch and tone the heart to the music of its spring, and the desert waste which time has made green again with memories which grew from bliss budding in our youth; and, though they never come to fruitage, are cherished with a joy. oh! the heart, the heart--what are all its joys of youth, and all its griefs of age? is it that youth has no apprehensions, and we enjoy its anticipations and its present without alloy? or does its _all_ belong to love and joy when life and the world is new? are these too bright, too pure for time? and the griefs of later life the dead sea apples which grow from them. and is it so with all? is there one, whose years have brought increase of happiness, and who has lived on without a sorrow? in god's economy must all experience misery, to dull the love of life, and kindle hope for a blissful future, to steal from the heart its cherished _here_, to yield it all in its _hereafter_. ah! we know what a world this is, but what a world is to come we know not. is it not as reasonable to believe we lived before our birth into this, as to hope we shall live after death in another world? is this hope the instinct of the coming, or does it grow from the baser instinct of love for the miserable life we have? it is easy to ask, but who shall answer? is it the mind which remembers, and is the mind the soul? or is the soul independent of the mind, surviving the mind's extinction? and do the memories of time die with time? or, do these pursue beyond the grave? must the surviving spirit have its memories of time and grief? then, surely, death is poor relief. shall it forget the all of time, when time's with all her uses gone, and be a babe in that new clime? then death is but oblivion. youth's happiness is half of hope; all that of age is memory--and yet these memories more frequently sadden than gladden the heart. then what is life to age? garrulity, and to be in the way. our household gods grow weary of our worship, and the empty stool we have filled in gray and trembling age in the temple we have built, when we are gone is kicked away, and we are forgotten; our very children regret (though they sometimes assume a painful apprehension) we do not make haste to die--if we have that they crave, and inherit when we shall have passed to eternity. but if the gift of raiment and food is imposed by poverty on those who gave them birth, they complain, and not unfrequently turn from their door the aged, palsied parent, to die, or live on strangers' charity. sad picture, but very true, very true; poor human nature! and man, so capable in his nature of this ungodliness, boasts himself made after god's own image. vanity of vanities! nature's harmony, nature's loveliness, nature's expansive greatness and grandeur teaches of god, and godliness. the inanimate and unthinking are consistently harmonious and beautiful; man only mars the harmony, and makes a hell for man in time. then, is time his all? or, shall this accursed rabidness be purged away with death, and he become a tone in accord with inanimate things? or, shall this but purify as fire the yielding metal, the inner man, which hope or instinct whispers lives, and animates its tenement of time, to view, to know, and to enjoy creation through eternity? wild thoughts are kindling in my brain, wild feelings stir my heart. this is a beautiful sabbath morning, the blazing sun wades through the blue ether, and space seems redolent of purity and beauty. the breeze is as bland as the breath of a babe, coming through my casement with the light, and bathing my parched cheek; and the sere summer is warming away the gentle, genial spring. this is her last day; and to how many countless thousands is it the last day of life? oh! could i die as gently, as beautifully as dies this budding season of the year, and could i know my budding hopes, like these buds of spring, would, in their summer, grow to fruit as these are growing, how welcome eternity! but i, as well, have my law, and must wait its fulfilment. it is the sabbath wisely ordained to rest, and in its quiet and beauty obviating care and sorrow. would it were to the restless mind as to the weary limbs, and as to these, to this give ease and repose! i have been dreaming, and my boyhood days revive with busy memories. my gentle mother, ever tender and kind, seems busy before me; the old home, the old servants, as they were; the old school-house in the woods by the branch, and many a merry face laughing and beaming around; and my own old classmate, my solitary classmate, so loved, ah! so loved even unto this day. it was only yesterday i saw him, old and care-worn, yet in all the nobility of his soul, bearing with stern philosophy the miseries of misfortune inflicted by the red hand of merciless war, yielding with dignity and graceful resignation to the necessities imposed by unscrupulous power, conscious of no wrong, and sustained by that self-respect the result of constant and undeviating rectitude which has marked his long life. from childhood our hearts have been intertwined, and death only has the power to tear them apart. we sat together long hours, and talked of the past--alternately, as their memories floated up, asking each other, "where is this one? and this?" and to each inquiry the sad monosyllable, "dead!" was the reply, of all who were with us at school when we were boys. we alone are left! in my strife with the world, i can never forget the scenes of my childhood, and those who were there when i was a child. i remember them yet; their features, their persons, to memory so dear, are present forever, and cling round my heart-- on the plains of the west, in the forest's deep wild, on the blue, briny sea, in commerce's mart, 'mid the throngs of gay cities with palaces piled. the bottle of milk, and the basket of food, prepared by my mother, at dawning of day, for my dinner at school; and path through the wood: how well i remember that wood and that way, the brook which ran through it, the bridge o'er the brook, the dewberry-briers which grew by its side, my slate, and my satchel, and blue spelling-book, and little white pony father gave me to ride! the spring by the hill, where our bottles were placed to bathe in its waters, so clear and so cool, till dinner-time came! oh! then how we raced to get them, and dine in the shade by the pool! the spring, and the pool, and the shade are still there, but the dear old school-house has rotted and gone, and all who were happy about it are--where? go--go to the church-yard, and ask the grave-stone! a few there are left, old, tottering, and gray, apart and forgotten, as those who are dead; yet sometimes they meet on life's thorny way, and talk, and live over the days that have fled. oh! how i remember those faces so bright, which beamed in their boyhood with honesty's ray! and oft, when alone, in the stillness of night, we're all at the school-house again, and at play! of all those who were there with me, the best loved was h.s. smith, now of mobile; and he, with perhaps one or two more, are all that are now living. our ages are the same, within a week or two, i am sure; and we are of the same height and same weight; and our attachment was mutual: it has never been marred through threescore years and ten, and to-day we are, as brothers should be, without a secret hidden in the heart, the one from the other. as a friend, as a husband, as a father, as a man, i know none to rival h.s. smith. he never aspired to political distinction: content to pursue, through life, the honorable and responsible business of a merchant, he has distinguished himself for energy, capacity, probity, and success; and in his advanced years enjoys the confidence and esteem of all honest men. our years have been, since , spent apart--communication, however, has never ceased between us, and the early friendship, so remarked by all who knew us, continues, and will until one is alone in life. i know this narrative will not be interesting to those unacquainted with smith and myself. to such i say, close the book, nor read on, but turn to that which may interest more, because more known. i could not pen the memories of fifty years, and forbear those the sweetest now, because their fruit to me has ever been the sweetest; and the noble virtues of the private gentleman cannot be the less appreciated because they have only adorned a circle where they shone in common with those around him. these are the men who preserve the public morals, and purify the atmosphere polluted by the corruptions of men prominent before the world for distinguished abilities, and equally distinguished immoralities. from these radiate that open-hearted honesty which permeates society, and teaches by example, and which so often rebukes the laxity of those who, from position, should be an example and an ornament. the purling stream murmuring its lowly song beneath the shading forest and modest shrubs may attract less attention than the turbid, roaring river, but is always purer, sweeter, more health-giving and lovely. the romance of youth is the sugar of life, and its sweets to memory, as life recedes, augment as "distance lends enchantment to the view." we make no account of the evanescent troubles which come to us then but for a moment, and are immediately chased away with the thickening delights that gild young life and embalm it for the memories of age. the gravity of years delights to recount these; and few are indisposed to listen, for it is a sort of heart-history of every one, and in hearing or reading, memory awakes, and youth and its joys are back again, even to tottering, palsied age. then, gentle reader, do not sneer at me: these are all i have left; my household gods are torn away, my boys sleep in bloody graves, my home is desolate, i am alone, with only one to comfort me--she who shares the smiles and tears which lighten and soothe the weary days of ebbing life. chapter xiii. influence of childhood. first impressions--fortune--mirabeau b. lamar--dr. alonzo church--julius cÆsar--l.q.c. lamar--texan independence--colquitt--lumpkin--what a great man can do in one day--charles j. jenkins. the memories of childhood cling, perhaps, more tenaciously than those of any after period of life. the attachments and antipathies then formed are more enduring. our school-companions at our first school--the children of our immediate neighborhood, who first rolled with us upon the grass, and dabbled with us in the branch--we never forget. time, absence, protracted separation, all fail to obliterate the features, the dispositions, or anything about them, which so unconsciously fastens upon the mind, and grows into the tender soul of childhood. these memories retain and bring back with them the feelings, the likes and dislikes, which grew with them. these feelings are the basis of lifetime loves, and eternal antipathies. the boy is father to the man, as the girl is mother to the woman. who that has lived seventy years will not attest this from his own life's experience? the generous, truthful boy will be the noble, honorable man; the modest, timid, truthful girl will be the gentle, kind, and upright woman. nature plants the germ, and education but cultivates the tree. it never changes the fruit. the boy who, when dinner-time comes, happens to have a pie, when his fellows have none, and will open his basket before his companions, and divide with them, will carry the same trait to the grave. his hand will open to assist the needy, and he will seek no reward beyond the consciousness of having done right. and he who, with the same school-boy's treasure, will steal away, and devour it behind the school-house, and alone, will, through life, be equally mean in all his transactions. from motives of interest, he may assume a generosity of conduct, but the innate selfishness of his heart will, in the manner of his dispensing favors, betray itself. education, and the influences of polished society, may refine the manners, but they never soften the heart to generous emotions, where nature has refused to sow its seed. but where her hand has been liberal in this divine dispensation, no misfortune, no want of education or association, will prevent their germination and fructification. such hearts divide their joys and their sorrows, with the fortunate and afflicted, with the same emotional sincerity with which they lift their prayers to heaven. the school-room is an epitome of the world. there the same passions influence the conduct of the child, which will prompt it in riper years, and the natural buddings of the heart spring forth, and grow on to maturity with the mind and the person. college life is but another phase of this great truth, when these natural proclivities are more manifest, because more matured. it is not the greatest mind which marks the greatest soul, and it is not the most successful who are the noblest and best. the shrewd, the mean, and the selfish grow rich, and are prosperous, and are courted and preferred, because there are more who are mean and venal in the world than there are who are generous and good. but it is the generous and good who are the great benefactors of mankind; and yet, if there was no selfishness in human nature, there would be no means of doing good. wealth is the result of labor and economy. these are not incompatible with generosity and ennobling manliness. the proper discrimination in the application of duties and donations toward the promotion of useful institutions, and the same discrimination in the dispensation of private charities, characterize the wise and good of the world. these attributes of mind and heart are apparent in the child; and in every heart, whatever its character, there is a natural respect and love for these, and all who possess them. such grow with their growth in the world's estimation, and are prominent, however secluded in their way of life, or unpretending in their conduct, with all who know them, or with whom, in the march of life, they come in contact. it is to but few that fortune throws her gifts, and these are rarely the most deserving, or the goddess had not been represented with a bandage over her eyes. she is blind, and though her worshippers are many, she kisses but few, and cannot see if they be fair and beautiful or crooked and ugly. hence most of those who receive her favors conceal them in selfishness, and hoard them to be despised; while hundreds, slighted of her gifts, cultivate the virtues, which adorn and ennoble, and are useful and beloved. will you, who yet live, and were children when i was a child, turn back with me in memory to those days, and to those who were your school-fellows and playmates then? do you remember who were the brave and generous, kind and truthful among them? and do you recall their after lives? answer me; were not these the true men in that day? do you remember william c. dawson, joseph h. lumpkin, lucius q.c. lamar, and his brother mirabeau b. lamar, eugenius nesbit, walter t. colquitt, and eli s. shorter? how varied in temperament, in character, in talent; and yet how like in the great leading features of the soul! love for their country, love for their kind, love for the good was common to them all; unselfish beyond what was necessary to the wants of their families, generous in the outpourings of the soul, philanthropic, and full of charity. they hoarded no wealth, nor sought it as a means of power or promotion. intent upon the general good, and content with an approving conscience and the general approbation, their lives were correct, and their services useful; and they live in the memory of a grateful people as public benefactors. there are others who rise to memory, who were at school with these, who were men with these, but they shall be nameless, who struggled, and successfully, to fill their coffers to repletion, and for nothing else; who have been courted by the mercenary, and flattered by the fawning sycophant; who, with their hoardings, have passed away, and no grateful memory remains of their lives; their hoards are dissipated, and they are only remembered to be despised. and yet others, who swam in the creek and sported on the play-ground with all of these, whose vicious propensities were apparent then--whose after lives were as their boyhood promised, a curse to society in evil deeds and evil example--have gone, too, unwept, unhonored, and luckily unhung. mirabeau b. lamar was the son of john lamar, of putnam county, georgia, and received his education principally at milledgeville and at putnam. from his earliest boyhood, he was remarkable for his genius and great moral purity. his ardent, poetical temperament was accompanied with exquisite modesty, and a gentle playfulness of disposition; with an open, unaffected kindness of heart, which as a boy rendered him popular with his fellows at school, and beloved by his teachers. there was in him a natural chivalry of character, which characterized him above all of his early compeers, and made him a model in conduct. truthful and manly, retiring and diffident, until occasion called out the latent spirit of his nature; then the true greatness of his soul would burst forth in an impetuous eloquence, startlingly fierce and overwhelming. nor was this excitement always wasted in words--not a few, when yet a boy, have regretted the awakening of his wrath. it was upon occasions like this, that his eye assumed an expression which i have never seen in the eye of any other human being. his eyes were beautifully blue, large, and round, and were always changing and varying in their expression, as the mind would suggest thought after thought; and so remarkable were these variations, that, watching him in repose, one who knew him well could almost read the ideas gathering and passing through his mind. there was a pleasant vein of satire in his nature, sometimes expressed, but always in words and in a manner which plucked away its sting: an abstract wit of gentle flow, which wounds no friend, and hurts no foe. he was my school-fellow and companion in childhood, my friend and associate in early manhood; our intimacy was close and cordial, and in after life this friendship became intense--and i knew him perhaps better than any man ever knew him. all the peculiarities of the boy remained with the man, distinguishing him in all his associations. the refined purity of his nature made him naturally to despise and scorn all meanness and vice, and so intensely as to render an association with any man distinguished by these, however exalted his intellect, or extensive his attainments, impossible. falsehood, or the slightest dishonorable conduct in any man, put him at once beyond the pale of his favor or respect. in all my association with him, i never saw an indelicate act in his conduct, or heard an obscene word in his conversation. in youth, he was fond of the society of ladies--fond of this society not for a pastime, but because of his high appreciation of the virtues of those he selected for society. in his verse, "memoriam," he has embalmed the memory of those of our early female friends he most esteemed. he rather courted this association in the individual than in the collective assembly--for he was not fond of crowds, either in society, or the ordinary assemblages of men and women. the love of fame, more than any other passion, fired his ambition; but it was not the love of notoriety--the fame he courted was not that which should only render his name conspicuous among men, that he might receive the incense of hypocritical flattery, or be pointed at by the fickle multitude--for such, his contempt was supreme; but it was the desire of his heart, and the struggle of his life, to be embalmed in men's memories as the benefactor of his race, to be remembered for his deeds as the great and the good. this was the spontaneous prompting of his heart, and for this he labored with the zeal of a martyr. much of his early life was devoted exclusively to literature. his reading, though without order, was select and extensive. he was well versed in ancient history. the heroic characters of greece and rome were his especial admiration, and that of brutus above all others. of the nations of modern europe, and their history, he knew everything history could teach. his imagination was fired with the heroic in the character of those of modern times, as well as those of antiquity, and seemed the model from which was formed his own. the inflexible integrity, the devoted patriotism, the unselfish heroism of these were constantly his theme when a schoolboy, and the example for his imitation in manhood. when a school-boy, and at a public examination and exhibition, (then common at the academies throughout the state,) our teacher, that paragon of good men, dr. alonzo church, selected the tragedy of julius cæsar for representation by the larger boys, and, by common consent, the character of brutus was assigned to lamar. every one felt that the lofty patriotism and heroic virtues of the old roman would find a fit representative in lamar. i remember, in our rehearsals, how completely his identity would be lost in that of brutus. he seemed to enter into all the feelings and the motives which prompted the great soul of the roman to slay his friend for his country's good. time has left but one or two who participated in the play. the grave has closed over lamar, as over the others. those who remain will remember the bearing of their companion, on that occasion, as extraordinary--the struggle between inclination and duty--the pathos with which he delivered his speech to the people after the assassination, but especially his bearing and manner in the reply to cassius' proposition to swear the conspirators--the expansion of his person to all its proportions, as if his soul was about to burst from his body, as he uttered: "no, not an oath." and again, when the burning indignation burst from him at the supposition of the necessity of an oath to bind honorable men: "swear priests, and cowards, and men cautelous, old, feeble, carious, and such suffering souls that welcome wrongs, unto bad causes. swear such creatures as men doubt, but do not stain the even virtue of our enterprise, nor the unsuppressive mettle of our spirits, to think that our cause, or our performance, did need an oath; when every drop of blood that every roman bears, and nobly bears, is guilty of a several bastardy if he do break the smallest particle of any promise that hath passed from him." though a boy, the effect upon the audience was electrical. the nature of his boy representative was the same as that which animated rome's noblest son. from his soul he felt every word, and they burned from his lips, with a truth to his soul and sentiments, that went home to every heart in that assembly of plain farmers, and their wives and daughters. there were not ten, perhaps, who had ever witnessed a theatrical entertainment, but their hearts were mortal and honest, and they saw in the mimic youth the impersonation of the nobility of soul, and mighty truth, and the spontaneous burst of applause was but the sincerity of truth. the exclamation of one i shall never forget: "he is cut out for a great man." there was no stage-trick; he had never seen a theatre. there was no assumption of fictitious feeling; but nature bubbled up in his heart, and the words of shakspeare, put into the mouth of brutus, were but the echo of the deep, true feelings of his soul. through all his life this great nature adorned his conversation, and exemplified his conduct. the soul of brutus was born in lamar. all the truth and chivalry illustrative of the conduct of the one, was palpable in the other. let those who saw him, at san jacinto, at the head of his sixty horsemen, ride upon the ranks of santa anna's hosts, tell of his bearing in that memorable charge, when he rose in his stirrups, and, waving his sword over his head, exclaimed: "remember, men, the alamo! remember goliad, fannin, bowie, and travis! charge! and strike in vengeance for the murdered of our companions." resistless as the tempest, they followed his lead, and swept down upon the foe, charging through, and disordering their ranks, and, following in their flight for miles, made many a mexican bite the dust, or yield himself a prisoner to their intrepidity. to this charge was solely attributable the capture of santa anna, almonte, and the principal portion of the mexican army, and the establishment of texan independence. as a poet, he was above mediocrity, and his "sully riley," and many of his fugitive pieces, will long survive, to perpetuate the refined delicacy of his nature, when, perhaps, his deeds as a soldier and as president of texas shall have passed away. in stature he was below the medium height, but was stout and muscular. his face was oval, and his eyes blue, and exceedingly soft and tender in their expression, save when aroused by excitement, when they were blazing and luminous with the fire of his soul, which enkindled them. he was free from every vice, temperate in living, and remarkable for his indifference to money--with a lofty contempt for the friends and respectability which it alone conferred. if there ever lived four men insensible to fear, or superior to corruption, they were the four brothers lamar. they are all in eternity, and their descendants are few, but they wear unstained the mantle of their ancestry. l.q.c. lamar, the elder brother of the four, was educated at franklin college, and studied law in milledgeville. very soon after, he was admitted to the bar. he became distinguished for attention to business, and for talent, as well as legal attainments. like his brother, m.b. lamar, he was remarkable for his acute sense of honor and open frankness, a peerless independence, and warm and noble sympathies. he married, while young, the daughter of d. bird. the mother of his lady was one of the williamson sisters, so remarkable for their superiority, intellectually, and whose descendants have been, and are, so distinguished for talent. the character of l.q.c. lamar as a man, and as a lawyer, prompted the legislature of the state to elevate him to the bench of the superior court when very young; and at thirty-two years of age, he was known throughout the state as the great judge lamar. this family had contributed perhaps a greater number of men of distinguished character than any other family of the state. zachariah lamar, the uncle of judge lamar, was a man of high order of mind, distinguished for his love of truth, stern honesty, and great energy. he was the father of colonel john b. lamar, who fell in the service of the south, in the recent conflict. he was one of georgia's noblest sons, and his memory is cherished by all who knew him. henry g. lamar, a former member of congress, and judge of the superior court of the state, was a cousin of both john b. and m.b. lamar; and the eminent and eloquent lucius lamar, of mississippi, who was considered, when young, the best orator of the house of representatives of the united states congress, is the son of judge l.q.c. lamar. the name of lamar has long been a synonym for talent and chivalrous honor in georgia. they have been distinguished in every pursuit, and no stain has ever rested upon the name--in whatever avocation employed, conspicuous for capacity, honesty, and energy. they are of french extraction, and to their latest posterity they continue to exhibit those traits peculiar to the french--chivalry, intense sensibility, love of truth, refinement of manner, lofty bearing, and a devotion to honor which courts death rather than dishonor. the name of m.b. lamar is identified with the history of texas, as a leader among that band of remarkable men who achieved her independence of mexican rule--houston, sidney johnson, bowie, travis, crockett, and fannin. he was twice married; his first wife, miss jordan, died young, leaving him a daughter. this was a bitter blow, and it was long ere he recovered it. his second wife was the daughter of the distinguished methodist preacher john newland moffitt, and sister of captain moffitt, late of the service of the confederacy. he died at richmond, fort bend county, texas, beloved and regretted as few have been. perhaps among the most remarkable men of the state, contemporaneous with the lamars, was walter t. colquitt, joseph h. lumpkin, charles j. jenkins, william c. dawson, and charles j. mcdonald: all of these were natives of the state--colquitt, eugenius a. nesbit, and mcdonald, of hancock county; lumpkins, oglethorpe, dawson, green, and jenkins, of richmond; nesbit, of greene. at the period of time when these men were young, education was deemed essential, at least to professional men. they all enjoyed the benefits of a classical education. lumpkin and colquitt received theirs at princeton, new jersey, and i believe were classmates, at least they were college-mates. colquitt returned home before graduating; lumpkin received the second honor in his class. returning to georgia, lumpkin read law in the town of lexington, the court-house town of his native county; and commenced, as soon as admitted, its practice in the northern circuit of the state. at the time he came to the bar, it was ornamented with such men as thomas w. cobb, stephen upson, george r. gilmer, john a. herd, and duncan g. campbell. he rose rapidly to eminence in the midst of this galaxy of talent and learning. the great john m. dooly was upon the bench of this circuit, and was the intimate friend of wilson lumpkin, an elder brother of joseph h. lumpkin. wilson lumpkin and joseph h. lumpkin were politically opposed. the former was an especial friend of dooly; the latter, of william h. crawford. mr. crawford, soon after lumpkin's admission to the bar, returned to his home, near lexington, and gave his countenance and support to him, and at the same time his bitterest opposition to the political aspirations of his brother. the forensic abilities of young lumpkin were winning for him in the state a proud eminence. his exalted moral character, studious habits, and devotion to business attracted universal observation and general comment. he had been from his birth the favorite of all his acquaintances, for the high qualities of his head and heart--the model held up by mothers for the example of their sons. scarcely any boy in the county was ever reprimanded for a wild frolic or piece of amusing mischief, who was not asked, "why can't you be like joe lumpkin?" all this favoritism, however flattering, did not spoil him, as is too frequently the case with precocious youth. his ambition had fixed a lofty mark, and he availed himself of this universal popularity to reach it; at the same time, he left no effort neglected to deserve it, and maintain it, once acquired. the state was teeming with young men of talent, scarcely a county without at least one of great promise. lumpkin saw and knew the rivalry would be fierce, and success only to be obtained by superior abilities and eminent attainments. the legislature was the first step to fame, and political fame then the most desired and the most sought. party was rancorous in its spirit, producing intense excitement, pervading every bosom, male and female, to the extremes of the state--an excitement which so stamped itself upon the hearts of the entire people as to endure, and to mark their character and opinions even until to-day. lumpkin was very decided in his opinions, and open in their expression, yet there was none of that empoisoned bitterness in these expressions so characteristic of political aspirants in that day. such was alien to his kindly nature; and if it had not been, there were other causes to estop him from any such indulgence. his family was large. there were eight brothers; only one of these was younger than himself; these were about equally divided in political sentiment, and they, at least some of them, less amiable or less considerate than himself. he was the favorite of all, and was continually in communication with all of them, and was really the moderator of the family, and the healer of its feuds. at this time, too, the deep morality of his nature was growing into piety, and this sentiment was mellowing from his heart even the little of unkindness that had ever found a place there. at twenty-five years of age he was sent, by an almost unanimous vote, to the legislature from his county. he came with an exaggerated reputation for talent, especially for oratorical talent, and many of his friends feared he would not be able to sustain it in that body, where there were many of age and experience, with characters already long established for learning and eloquence, and also many young men from different parts of the state, who, like himself, had already won fame for high talent. among these was robert augustus bell, in sight of whose grave i write these lines. he passed away in early life, but georgia never produced a brighter or a nobler spirit. there were also charles dougherty, (who died young, but not without making his mark,) william law, hopkins holsey, and others, who have honored themselves and the state by eminent services on the bench and at the bar, and in the councils of their native and other states to which many of them emigrated. at the very opening of the session, lumpkin took position with the first on the floor of the house of representatives. his first speech was one of thrilling eloquence, and, before its conclusion, had emptied the senate chamber; many of its oldest and most talented members crowding about him, and listening with delight. the memory of that day revives with the freshness of yesterday. two or three only remain with me now, to recall the delight with which all hearts were filled who acted, politically, with lumpkins, as the beautiful and cogent sentences thrilled from his lips, with a trembling fervor, which came from an excitement born of the heart, and which went to the heart. bell, brailsford, dougherty, rumbert, and baxter, who, with myself, grouped near him, all are in the grave, save only i, and, standing a few weeks since by the fresh mould that covers joseph h. lumpkin, and yesterday by the grave of bell, my mind wandered back to the old state house, and to those who were with me there. separated for more than forty years from the home of my birth, being with, and becoming a part of another people--a noble, generous, and gallant people--and almost forgetting my mother tongue, these had faded away almost into forgetfulness; but, tottering with years, and full of sorrows, i am here amid the scenes made lovely and memorable by their presence, when we were all young and hopeful. they come back to me, and now, while i write, it seems their spirits float in the air of my chamber, and smile at me. why is my summons delayed so long? all that made life lovely is gone--youth, fortune, and household gods. my children are in bloody graves--she who bore them preceded them to eternity; yet i live on, and sigh, and remember, while imagination peoples with the past the scenes about me. the faces, the jest, and merry laugh come again; i see and hear them again. oblivion veils away the interval of forty-five years, and all is as it was. oh, could the illusion last till death shall make it truth! it is, i feel, but a foretaste of the reality soon to be, when hearts with hearts shall group again, and the reunion of sundered ties be eternal. lumpkin served a few sessions in the legislature, and retired from public life to devote his entire attention to his profession. he had married, almost as soon as he was admitted to the bar, one to whom he had been attached from boyhood, and the cares of a family were increasing and demanding his attention and efforts. no man ever more faithfully discharged these duties. the judiciary of georgia had consisted of two courts only--the superior, and inferior or county court--from the organization of the state. the country had long felt the want of a supreme court, for the correction of errors, and to render uniform the decisions upon the law throughout the state, which, under the prevailing system, had become very diverse, and which was becoming grievously oppressive. finally it was determined by the legislature to establish a supreme court. after the passage of the law, however, its organization was incomplete for the want of judges. party was distracting the councils of the state, and was carried into everything, and each party desired a controlling influence in this court, and their united co-operation in selecting judges could only be effected by the dominant party consenting to joseph h. lumpkin's accepting the chief-justiceship. he consented to do so, and the organization of the court was completed. this position, under repeated elections, he continued to hold until the day of his death, which occurred in the spring of . no man, perhaps, ever had the confidence of a people in the discharge of a high judicial duty more than had joseph h. lumpkin. his public duties were discharged with the most scrupulous conscientiousness, as were all of those pertaining to his private life and relations. he died in the neighborhood of his birth, and where he had continued to live through his whole life, passing through time with the companions of his childhood, and preserving their confidence and affection to the last. his death was sudden, and deeply mourned throughout the state, which had delighted so long to honor him. his name is identified with her history, as one of her brightest and best men. the talents of judge lumpkin were of a high order, and though he distinguished himself as a jurist, they were certainly more fitted for the forum than the bench. those who knew him best, and who were best fitted to judge, unite in the opinion that his eminence in political life would have been greater than that which distinguished him as a judge. he was a natural orator, and his oratory was of the highest order. his ideas flowed too fast for the pen, and he thought more vividly when on his feet, and in the midst of a multitude, than when in the privacy of his chamber. his language was naturally ornate and eloquent, and the stream of thought which flowed on in declamation, brightened and grew, in its progress, to a mighty volume. this, with the fervor of intense feeling which distinguished his efforts, made them powerfully effective. in toning down these feelings, and repressing the ornate and beautiful to the cold, concise legal opinion, his delivery lost not only its beauty, but much of its strength and power. he might have been less useful, but certainly he would have been more distinguished, had he pursued the bent of his genius. abilities like lumpkin's must succeed respectably, if directed to any pursuit; and even should they be prostituted to base and dishonorable purposes, they will distinguish the possessor above the herd. his temperament was nervous, his sensibility acute, and his sentiments exalted. fluent, with great command of language, he was peculiarly gifted for display in debate, and it was supposed, when he first came into the legislature, that he would soon rise to the first position in the national councils. but he determined for himself a different field; and, in view of his eminent services as an able and conscientious judge, who shall say he did not choose wisely? in an almost adjoining county to that of the residence of judge lumpkin, was coming forward, in the profession of law, another gifted son of georgia--walter t. colquitt. he was a compeer, at the bar, of chief-justice lumpkin. they were admitted to practice about the same time. he was a native of the county of hancock. his mother was the only sister of the eight brothers holt, every one of whom was distinguished for probity and worth. they all lived and died in the state, and every one of them was a representative man. they have all left descendants but one, and none yet have stained the name. as their ancestors, they are energetic, honest, and most worthy citizens. colquitt gave evidence, when very young, of his future career. as a boy, he was wild and full of mirth, but little inclined to study. he was fond of sport of every kind, and in everything to which his mind and inclinations turned, he would be first. compelled, by parental authority, to apply himself, he at once mastered his task, and was ready, then, for fun or frolic. remarkable for physical powers, he fondly embarked in all athletic sports, and in all excelled. bold and fearless, he was the leader in all adventures of mischief, and always met the consequences in the same spirit. it was remarked of him, when a boy, by one who knew him well, that in all he did he played "high, game," never "low, jack." in the wildness of his mischief there was always discoverable boldness and mind. at school and at college, though rarely winning an honor, he was always admitted by his fellows to possess superior abilities. these abilities were manifest more in the originality of his ideas, and their peculiar exemplification in his conduct, than in the sober, every-day manner of thought and action. his mind was versatile, and seemed capable of grasping and analyzing any subject. quick to perceive and prompt to execute, yielding obedience to no dogma, legal or political, he followed the convictions of his mind, without regard to precedent or example. his knowledge of human nature seemed intuitive, and his capacity of adaptation was without limit. at the period when he commenced the practice of law, the successful abilities in the profession were forensic. every case was tried by a jury, and the law made juries judges of law and fact. the power to control and direct these was the prime qualification of a lawyer, and nature had bestowed this, in an eminent degree, upon colquitt. there were few more eminent as advocates, or more successful as practitioners, though his legal attainments were never of a very high order. he was elevated to the bench, where he remained but a short time, feeling that this was no situation for the display of his peculiar powers, nor the proper or successful course for the gratification of his ambition. he had, at a previous time, united himself with the methodist church, and was licensed to preach. it was his habit to open his court, each morning, with prayer, and not unfrequently, during the week of his court, in each county of his circuit, to preach two or three sermons. he was a general of the militia, and would come down from the bench to review a regiment or brigade. it was this discharge of his multifarious duties which prompted an aged sister of his church, when the great men of the state were being discussed by the venerable ladies of a certain neighborhood, to claim the palm for colquitt. "ah! you may talk of your great men, but none on 'em is equal to brother colquitt; for he, in our county, tried a man for his life, and sentenced him to be hung, preached a sermon, mustered all the men in the county, married two people, and held a prayer-meeting, all in one day. now, wa'n't that great?" before a jury he was unequalled. his knowledge of men enabled him to determine the character of every juror, and his versatility to adapt his argument or address to their feelings and prejudices so effectually as to secure a verdict in mere compliment to the advocate. he left the bench to enter the political arena. it was here he found the field nature designed him for. before the people, he was omnipotent. at this period dawson, cooper, colquitt, cobb, stephens, and toombs were before the people--all men of talent, and all favorites in the state. this was especially true of dawson, cobb, and stephens, and no men better deserved the public favor. very soon after he went into congress, he, with cooper and black, abandoned the whig party. at the approaching election they canvassed the state, and justified their course before the people. there was no middle ground on which to stand. to abandon one party, was to go over, horse, foot, and dragoons, to the other, which was always ready to welcome new converts of talent and popularity. these three became, in the canvass, the champions of democracy, and fiercely waged the war in antagonism with their former allies. in this contest were made manifest the great abilities of colquitt, toombs, stephens, cobb, and herschel v. johnson. subsequently, colquitt was elected to the united states senate, where he was distinguished as a debater and leading man of the democratic party; but his talents and peculiar manner were better suited for the debates of the house of representatives, and the hustings. lumpkin was ardent and persuasive. colquitt was equally ardent, but more aggressive. where lumpkin solicited with a burning pathos, colquitt demanded with the bitterest sarcasm. lumpkin was slow and considerate; colquitt was rapid and overwhelming. the one was the sun's soft, genial warmth; the other, the north wind's withering blast. colquitt was remarkable for daring intrepidity; lumpkin for collected firmness. lumpkin persuaded; colquitt frightened. both were brave, but colquitt was fiercely so. lumpkin was mild, but determined. unaggressive himself, the dignity and gentleness of his character repelled it in others. the consequence was, that he passed through life without strife with his fellow-man, while colquitt was frequently in personal conflict with those as impetuous as himself. the open frankness and social nature of colquitt won him many friends, and of that description most useful to politicians--friends who were devoted, who felt for, and preferred him to any other man. his features were versatile, and variable as an april day, betraying every emotion of his mind--especially his eyes, which were soft or fierce, as the passion of the heart sprang to view in them, and spoke his soul's sensations. his oratory was playful, awakening wild mirth in his auditors, and again it was impetuous and sarcastic, overwhelming with invective and denunciation. charles j. jenkins, a compeer of lumpkin and colquitt, was essentially different from both in many of the features of his character. his mind was more logical, more analytical, and capable of deeper research. he had little ambition, and whenever he was before the people, it was when his friends thrust him there. the instinctive morality of his nature, like that of lumpkin, would never permit the compromise of conscience or dignity of character so often the case with men of ardent natures and intense ambition. eminently cool in debate, he never made any attempt at forensic display, but confined himself exclusively to the logic of his subject. he clearly saw his way, and carefully went along, spurning ornament or volubility, and only compelling into service words which clearly and succinctly conveyed his ideas, and these only elucidated the subject-matter he was discussing. strictly honest, and equally truthful, he never deviated, under any circumstances, from what he believed his duty. only for a short time was he in the legislature, and then he displayed in most exciting times the great virtues of his nature. upon one occasion, the party with which he acted determined, to defeat a certain measure, to leave the chamber in a body, and break the quorum. it was the only means in their power to prevent a measure which they deemed wrong in principle and injurious to the public interest. jenkins thought such extreme measures wrong, and entirely unjustifiable. though as much opposed to the views of the majority as any member of his party, he refused to participate in their action, and was the only member of the party who persistently remained in his seat. this conduct was censured by his party friends, and he immediately resigned his seat and returned to his constituency, who, knowing and appreciating the great worth of the man, returned him at once to his seat under a new election. in all the relations of life the same traits of character have distinguished him. while at the bar, his rank was the first; this, combined with his integrity and great firmness, made him so conspicuous before the people of the state, that he was placed on the bench of the supreme court--a position he distinguished by his great legal attainments, dignity, and purity. the political opinions of judge jenkins were in many of their features unpopular. he was always opposed to universal suffrage, and made no secret of his sentiments. he was opposed to an elective judiciary, and to mob-rule in every shape. he despised alike the arts and the humiliation of party politicians, and was never a man to accept for public trust any man whose only recommendation to public favor was his availability, because of his popularity with the masses. he was taken from the supreme bench to fill the gubernatorial chair of the state, and no man, not even jackson, early, or troup, ever more dignified this elevated position--none ever had the same trying difficulties to encounter. chosen by the people at a period when civil war had distracted the government and uprooted all the landmarks so long the guide for those who preceded him--when a manifest determination of the so-called congress, representing but two-thirds of the states, was apparent to usurp all power--when the state governments of ten states, though that of their people, were threatened with military usurpation, jenkins remained firm to his convictions of duty. the credit of the state had never suffered while under his guardianship; a large amount was in her treasury; this was an objective point for the usurpers. he met the military satrap, and was assured of his intentions. satisfied of his insincerity and dishonesty, knowing he held the power of the bayonet, and would be unscrupulous in its use, calm as a roman senator he defied the power of this unprincipled minion of a base, corrupt, and unconstitutional power, and deliberately removed the treasure of the state, and applied it to the liquidation of her obligations. hurled from the office bestowed by his fellow-citizens, so far as he could he protected their interests, at the hazard of the horrors of fort pulaski and the sweat-box--the favorite instruments of torture of this infamous defendant of an irresponsible congress, and now for personal safety, exiled from home and country, finds protection under a foreign flag. this one act alone will be sufficient to immortalize the name of charles j. jenkins, and to swell with pride the heart of every true georgian who aided to place such a man in such a position, at such a time. governor jenkins still lives, and if the prayers of a virtuous and oppressed people may avail on high, will be spared to reap in better days his reward in their gratitude. an exalted intellect, unaccompanied with exalted virtue, can never constitute greatness. in whatever position placed, or whatever inducements persuade, virtue and a conscientious conviction of right must regulate the mind and conduct of man to make him great. the tortuous course of politics, made so by unprincipled men, renders the truly upright man usually a poor politician. he who possesses the capacity to discern the true interests of a country, and who will virtuously labor to secure and promote those interests, defying opposition and fearlessly braving the calumnies of interested, corrupt men, organized into parties--which so often lose sight of the interests of their country, in promoting party ends, or from inflamed passions--is the great man. he whose pedestal is virtue, and whose action is honest, secures the respect of his own age, and becomes the luminary of succeeding ages. stern honesty often imposes unpleasant duties--strict obedience to its behests, not unfrequently involves apparent inconsistencies of conduct; but the conscientious man will disregard these in doing what his judgment determines right--the only real consistency which sustains a man in his own estimation, and leaves no bitter reflections for the future. to subserve the cause of right, is always a duty--not so the cause of party or selfish interest. all men respect the right, but many have not the virtue to resist wrong. ambition prompts for success the expedient: and hence the laxity of political morals. this is slipping the cable that the ship may swing from her anchorage and drift with the tide; any minnow may float with the current, but it requires a strong fish to stem and progress against the stream. a man, to brave obloquy and public scorn, requires strong moral courage; but when his judgment convinces him that he is right, and when he feels that his intentions are pure, conscientious, and sincere, this may ruffle him for a time, but never permanently disturbs his peace or injures his reputation. the truly great are only known by nobly resisting every temptation to wrong, and braving the world's condemnation in pursuing and sustaining the right. it is the soul to which greatness belongs, not the mind. this latter is too often, in its transcendent greatness, coupled with a mean and degraded soul, which stimulates the mind's power to the corruption of the masses, and the destruction of public morals, undermining the very basis of society and government. the combination of a great mind and a great soul constitutes the truly great, and the life of such a man creates a public sentiment which, like an intense essence, permeates all it touches, leaving its fragrance upon all. such a man was george m. troup, such a man is charles j. jenkins; and the incense of his character will be a fragrance purifying and delighting the land when he shall have passed away. the exalted abilities of his mind, the great purity of his heart, the noble elevation of his sentiments, and his exquisite conscientiousness, will be an honor and an example to be remembered and emulated by the coming generations of his native land. chapter xiv. a revolutionary veteran. tapping reeve--james gould--colonel benjamin talmadge--the execution of major andre--character of washington--a breach of discipline--burr and hamilton--margaret moncrief--cowles meade. fifty years ago, the only law-school in the united states was taught by tapping reeve and james gould, at litchfield, connecticut. the young men of the south, destined for the profession of law, usually commenced their studies in the office of some eminent practitioner at home, and, after a year or so spent in reading the elementary authors, they finished by attending the lectures at this school. a course of lectures occupied a year. then they were considered prepared to commence the practice. many of the young men of georgia, at that day, received their education at the north. most of those who selected law as a profession, finished at the school in litchfield. few remain in life at this day who graduated there. thomas flornoy and nicholas ware were among the first, who read law there, who were natives of georgia. william cumming succeeded them. then followed l.q.c. lamar, william c. dawson, thaddeus goode holt, and many others of less distinction, all of whom are gone save judge holt, who remains a monument and a memory of the class and character of the bar of georgia fifty years ago, when talent and unspotted integrity characterized its members universally, and when the private lives and public conduct of lawyers were a withering rebuke to the reiterated slanders upon the profession--when crawford, berrien, harris, cobb, longstreet, the brothers campbell, and a host of others, shed lustre upon it. was spent by the writer at the law-school at litchfield, in company with william crawford banks, hopkins holsey, samuel w. oliver, and james clark, from georgia. all are in the grave except clark, who, like the writer, lives in withered age. his career has been a successful and honorable one, and i trust a happy one. during this probation it was my fortune to form many acquaintances among the young and the old whom i met there, and from them to learn much, especially from the old. at that time there resided in the pleasant little village, governor oliver wolcott, benjamin talmadge, and my distinguished preceptors, tapping reeve and james gould. colonel benjamin talmadge was a distinguished officer in the american army of the revolution, and was a favorite aide of washington. it was he who was charged with the painful duty of superintending the execution of major andre, who suffered as a spy. he was a tall, venerable man, and though cumbered with years, when i knew him, was active and energetic in attending to his business. the first time i ever met him, he was standing in front of his yard-gate, shaping a gate-pin with a small hatchet, which he used as a knife, to reduce it to the desired size and form. one end he held in his left hand; the other he rested against the trunk of a sycamore-tree, which grew near by and shaded the sidewalk. i knew his character and his services. as i approached him, my feelings were sublimated with the presence of a man who had been the aide to and confidant of george washington. he was neatly attired in gray small-clothes. his white hair was carefully combed over the bald portion of his head, as, hatless, he pursued his work. his position was fronting me, and i caught his brilliant gray eyes as he looked up from his work to know who was passing. involuntarily i stopped, and, lifting my hat from my head, bowed respectfully to him, and passed him uncovered, as he returned my salutation with that ease and dignity characteristic of the gentleman of the old school. to-day that towering, manly form is present to my view, as it stood before me then. he inquired of judge gould, his immediate neighbor, who i was, and was pleased to mention my respectful demeanor toward him. my reply, when told of this, was: "i should have despised myself, could i have acted otherwise toward one so eminent, and who was the confidential friend of washington." this was reported to the venerable colonel, who showed his appreciation of my conduct by extending to me many kindnesses during my stay in the village. by his own hearth-stone i have listened with eager interest to the narration of andre's capture and execution. he was opposed, with alexander hamilton, to the hanging of andre, and always contended that it was not clearly established that he had come into the american lines as a spy. andre, when captured, wore his uniform under an overcoat, which concealed it, and the papers found on his person only proved that he sought to deliver them to arnold. the day before his execution he solemnly declared his only object was an interview with arnold, or, should he fail in this, to contrive to send him the papers which had been found upon him. when he knew the commander-in-chief had refused him clemency, through colonel talmadge he appealed to washington to let him be shot, and die a soldier's death--not to permit him to perish as a felon upon the gallows. colonel talmadge, when he stated this wish to him, assured him it would be granted. every effort was made, by his officers and aides, to induce the granting of the request, but in vain. "and never in my life," said colonel talmadge, "have i had imposed upon me so painful a duty as communicating this fact to the young and gallant officer. he saw my embarrassment and feelings, and, rising from his seat, said: 'colonel, i thank you for the generous interest you have taken in my case. it has proved of no avail; yet i am none the less grateful.' he paused a moment, when he continued: 'it is hard to die, and to die thus. my time is short, and i must employ it in writing to my family, and must request that you will see my letters forwarded to headquarters.' i promised; when he extended his hand, and, grasping mine, asked: 'is this our last parting, or shall i see you to-morrow?' i told him it had been made my duty to superintend his execution. 'we will part at the grave,' he said, and, covering his face with his hands, sank, sobbing, into his chair. "i went away sorrowing, and spent a sleepless night. when the hour had arrived, i waited on him in his prison, and found him cool and prepared for the sacrifice. we both felt too much for words, and there was little said. i remember he asked me to procure his watch, which had been taken from him, if possible, and send it to headquarters. he desired his family to have it." "did you ever get it?" i asked. the colonel bit his lip in shame for him who had it, and only answered: "never." "the grave was prepared near the gallows, and the open coffin was by it. as andre approached, he saw it, and a shudder ran through his frame. turning to me, he said: 'i am to be buried there. one more request, colonel. mark it; so that when this cruel conflict shall have ended, my friends may find it!' he then shook hands with me, and, with unfaltering steps, went to the scaffold." i heard this narrative many times, and with its ending the white kerchief about the old man's neck was loosed, and the moisture from his eyes told that the feelings as well as the memory of that day still survived. he would a moment after continue: "washington was a stern man--he was a hard man--slow to form opinions or resolutions; but once formed, there was no power under heaven to move him. he never formed either until his judgment was convinced of the right. there was less of impulse in his nature than in that of any man i ever knew. i served by his side for years, and i never saw the least manifestation of passion or surprise. he received the information of arnold's treachery with the same apparent indifference that he would an orderly's report; and with the same indifference of manner signed the death-warrant of andre. "this indifference was marked with a natural sternness, which forbid all familiarity to all men. even colonel hamilton, who was naturally facetious, never ventured, during his long service, the slightest intimacy. hamilton, whom he esteemed above all men, and to whom he gave his entire confidence, always observed in his private intercourse, as in his public, the strictest etiquette. this cool sternness was natural to him, and its influence was overwhelming. the humblest and the highest felt it alike; inspiring a respectful awe, commanding a dignified demeanor. he was best beloved at a distance, because the qualities of the man were only present, and these were purer and more lofty than those given to any other man. there is no character of ancient or modern times so consistent as that of washington. he was always cool, always slow, always sincere. there is no act of his life evincing the influence of prejudice. he decided all matters upon evidence, and the unbiased character of his mind enabled him impartially to weigh this evidence, and the great strength of his judgment to analyze and apply it. he seemed to understand men instinctively, and if he was ever deceived in any of those in close association with him, it was tom jefferson. burr had not been on his staff ten days before he understood him perfectly, and he very soon got rid of him. of all the officers of the continental army, general greene was his favorite; and he was right, for greene was a great military man--far superior to washington himself, and none knew it better than he. i remember to have heard him say that greene was the only man in the army who could retrieve the mistakes of gates and save the southern country. the result verified the statement. "washington's lenity never extended to the excusing of any palpable neglect of duty. the strict regularity of his own private character was carried into everything connected with his public duties. however much he esteemed any man, it was for his worth in his especial position, and not because of any peculiarity of bearing or properties of heart. that he appreciated the higher qualities of the heart, is certainly true--but for what they were worth always--and neither quality of head or heart created a prejudice which would lead him to excuse any neglect of duty or laxity of morals. he was not without heart, but it was slow to be moved, and never so moved as to warp or obscure his judgment, or influence the discharge of his duty. "mrs. washington was less amiable than her husband, and at times would sadly tax his patience--she never forgot that she was wealthy when she married him, and would sometimes allude to it in no very pleasant manner to her husband; who, notwithstanding, bore with her with remarkable patience. i do not remember ever to have seen general washington laugh; sometimes a faint smile would tinge his features; but very soon they returned to the sedateness and gravity of expression common to them; and though they rarely brightened with a smile, they were never deformed with a frown. there was in their expression a fixity indicative of his character, a purpose settled and unalterable. of all the men i have ever known, washington was the only one who never descended from the stilts of his dignity, or relaxed the austerity of his bearing. it has been said that he swore at general charles lee at the battle of brandywine--i could never have it authenticated. he asked excitedly of general lee, by what ill-timed mistake the disaster had occurred, which was forcing his retreat. lee was a passionate, bad man, and disliked to serve under washington's command. he had served with distinction in the british army in europe, and felt, in adopting the cause of the colonies, he should have been proffered the chief command. there had been an intrigue at philadelphia, headed by dr. rush, aided by others, to prejudice congress against the commander-in-chief, to have him displaced, that lee might succeed him. if washington was aware of this, it never escaped him to any of his military family; and certainly never influenced his conduct toward lee--for he had confidence in his military abilities, and always gave him the position where the most honor was to be won. lee's reply to washington was violent, profane, and insolent. he said to general lafayette that his reply was: 'no man can boast of possessing more of that damned rascally virtue than yourself.' he was arrested, court-martialed, and by its decision, suspended for one year from command. he never returned to the service, but retired to the interior of virginia, and lived in great seclusion until his death. "toward the young officers washington was more indulgent than to the older and more experienced. he would not see the smaller improprieties of conduct in these, unless brought officially to his notice. then they were uniformly punished. he frequently counselled and advised them, but was ever severe toward intemperance, with old and young. "upon one occasion, a certain maryland colonel came suddenly and quite unexpectedly upon the general, who was taking a walk. the colonel attempted to salute, but in doing so, disclosed his inebriety. 'you are intoxicated, sir,' said the general, with a humorous twinkle of the eye. the colonel replied: 'i am glad you informed me, general; i will go to my quarters before i make an ass of myself;' turned and walked away. without the slightest movement of feature the general continued his walk. nothing more was heard of it until the battle of monmouth, in which the colonel distinguished himself. the day after, in going the grand-rounds, he approached the colonel, and remarked: 'your gallantry of yesterday excuses your late breach of discipline;' and saluting him, passed on. "in a conversation over the mess-table, at west point, some severe remarks upon the conduct of washington, in hanging andre, escaped hamilton. he said, warmly, that it was cruelly unjust, and would assuredly sully the future fame of the general; that he felt aggrieved that the ardent solicitations of his staff, and most of the field-officers, in the unfortunate young man's behalf, had been so little regarded. these remarks reached the ears of the general. we were not aware of this, until some weeks subsequently he summoned his staff to his presence, and stated the fact. "'you will remember, gentlemen, that captain asgill, who was a prisoner, and sentenced, by lot, to die, in retaliation for the coldblooded murder of captain hale, by the orders of a british officer. you, and many of the officers of the army, interceded to save his life. his execution was, in consequence, respited. the heart-rending appeal of his mother and sisters, communicated to me in letters from those high-bred and accomplished women, determined me to lenity in his case, and he was pardoned. immediately upon the heels of this pardon comes an intrigue to seduce from his duty and allegiance a major-general, distinguished for services and capacity; and major andre is the instrument to carry out this intrigue--to communicate their plans to the traitor, and to consummate the arrangement. these plans were to seize, treacherously, the person of the general commanding the american forces, and carry him a prisoner to the enemy's headquarters. lenity to this man would have been a high crime against congress, the army, and the country, which could not have been justified. i regretted the necessity as much as any of you; but mine was the responsibility, not yours. its being a painful duty did not make it less a duty. not mine alone, but the safety of the army depended upon the discharge of this duty--a duty recognized by all nations in civilized warfare. i felt it such; i discharged it, and am satisfied with it. i hope i am superior to any apprehension of future censure for a faithful discharge of an imperative duty.' waving his hand, he bade us 'good evening.' "general washington, upon all important movements, sought the opinions of his staff, as well as those of the general officers of his command. this was not for want of reliance upon his own judgment, but from a desire to see the matter through every light in which it could be presented. these opinions were not unfrequently asked in writing. they were always carefully studied, and due weight given to them, especially when they differed from his own. his mind was eminently analytical, and always free from prejudice, and to these facts is to be attributed the almost universal correctness of his judgment upon all subjects which he had examined. with regard to men, i never knew him to ask another's opinion; nor was he ever the man to give utterance to his own, unless it became necessary as a duty. i knew, from the time i entered his military family, of his high appreciation of hamilton's abilities; and the frequent concurrence of opinion between them sometimes (and especially with those not entirely acquainted with him) induced a belief that hamilton formed his opinions, or, as arnold once expressed it, was his thinker. yet there were many occasions upon which they differed, and widely differed; and never did washington surrender his own opinion and adopt that of hamilton. i never thought the feelings of washington toward him were more than respect for his exalted abilities. i do not believe a kinder or more social attachment ever was felt by him, and i am positively sure these were the feelings of hamilton for washington. "his respect for the abilities of colonel burr was quite as exalted as for those of hamilton; but he had no confidence in his honesty or truth, and, consequently, very soon got rid of him. burr's liaison with margaret moncrief destroyed entirely the little regard left for him in the mind of washington. i asked colonel talmadge if burr and hamilton ever were friends. they were very close friends apparently; but it was palpable that each entertained a jealousy of the other, however much they strove to conceal it. they were both ambitious, and felt the way to preferment was through the favor of the commander-in-chief. burr was the more sensitive and the more impulsive of the two. they knew the abilities of each other, and they knew these were highly appreciated by the general; and at the moment when this jealousy was likely to interfere with this friendship, burr left the position of aide to the general. he knew he had forfeited the confidence of washington, and he figured in the army very little after this. the rivalry, however, did not cease here, nor did the secret enmity in their hearts die. the world is not aware of the true cause of the hatred between them, and it may never be. "you are aware," continued the colonel, "that your preceptor, judge reeve, is the brother-in-law of colonel burr. if i speak freely of him, it is because i know him, and because you seem curious to pry into these secret histories of national men. it is not to be repeated to offend judge reeve, or disturb our relations as friends; for we are such, and have been for fifty years. "colonel burr has ever been remarkable for abilities from his boyhood. reeve and the celebrated samuel lathrop mitchell were his classmates, and agree that he had no equal in college. they were educated at princeton. burr showed not only talent, but application, and a most burning ambition. he showed, too, that he was already unscrupulous in the use of means to accomplish his object. there are stories told of his college-life very discreditable to his fame. he was as remarkable in his features as in his mind. his capacious forehead, aquiline nose, and piercingly brilliant eyes, black as night, with a large, flexible mouth, grecian in form, made him extremely handsome as a youth. his manners were natural and elegant, and his conversational powers unequalled. they are so to-day. think of these gifts in a man uninfluenced by principle, and only obedient to the warmer passions. he ever shunned collective society, and seemed (for the time, at least) totally absorbed by one or two only. the eloquence of manner, as the persuasion of words, was in him transcendent. the whispered sophisms of his genius burned into the heart, and it was remarked of him, by one wise and discreet, that he could, in fewer words, win the sympathy and start to tears a female auditor, than any preacher in the land. from boyhood he seemed to have the key to every heart he desired to unlock. fatal gift! and terribly fatal did it prove to many a victim, and especially to that gifted but frail girl--margaret moncrief. "margaret moncrief was the daughter of an officer of the british army, and had been left with that old veteran, putnam, after this officer was a prisoner of war. hamilton formed an attachment for her, and burr, more from vanity than any other feeling, determined to win her away from him. she was, for her sex, as remarkable as burr for his; her education was very superior, her reading as extensive as most professional men, and entirely out of the line of ordinary female reading; she was familiar with the entire range of science--her person in form was perfect, in features exquisitely beautiful. she, too, possessed the art to steal away the affections of any one around whom she threw her spell. apparently unconscious of her natural gifts, she displayed them without reserve, and so artlessly, as to lure and beguile almost to frenzy such temperaments as those of burr and hamilton. never before had burr met his equal, and his vanity and ambition were equally stimulated to triumph in her conquest, and ere he was aware of it, what had been commenced in levity, had become a passion which held him in chains. the sequel was the ruin of both. here commenced the heart-hatred which terminated in the duel and the death of hamilton. "i know there was a romantic story, that gained credit with many, that the influence of miss moncrief had corrupted burr, and that she was acting as a spy, and from burr obtained all the information she desired of the movements of the american army. such was the credit attached to this story, that general putnam was questioned rather closely on the subject of the intercourse between them. it was his opinion that it was without foundation, and that it was simply a love affair. it was also stated, and this hamilton credited, that burr was preparing to leave the country with the lady, and there were some circumstances which seemed to warrant such suspicion. to this day, there are ladies who were at that time in communication with miss moncrief, who mention that every preparation had been made, that her wardrobe had been removed from her apartment, and that it was carried to those of colonel burr, and that they had been turned back in the harbor by a sentry-boat, when striving with a solitary oarsman to reach a british man-of-war, in the lower harbor of the bay of new york. there was never any proof of this, however, and i imagine it was only a gossiping story of madame rumor. "of the sincerity of the attachment on the part of the lady, her subsequent confessions are the only proof; and at the time of making these confessions, such was her position that little credit could be given them. but that colonel burr was ever seriously attached to her, those who knew him best scarcely believed. men of his character rarely, if ever, have serious and sincere attachment for any woman. to gratify his vanity he would court the affections of any woman whose beauty and accomplishments had attracted him. it was always for base purposes burr professed love. such men too frequently win upon the regards of women, and occupy high and enviable positions in female society; but their love is diffusive, and for the individual only for a time. in truth, they are incapable of a deep and sincere affection. the suspicion of woman's purity forbids an abiding love; it is a momentary passion, and not an elevated and enduring sentiment--not the embalming with the heart's riches a pure and innocent being who yields everything to love. "colonel burr was an indifferent husband toward one of the most accomplished and lovable women i ever knew, and who was devoted to him, and whose heart he broke. she was the widow of a british officer named provost, i believe, who died in the west indies; and a more deserving woman, or one more lovely, never went to the arms of a _roué_, to be kissed and killed. "burr hated washington, and united himself politically with his enemies. there was a close political intimacy between him and jefferson, but never anything like confidence. in their party they were rivals; and after the election which made jefferson president, there was no semblance of intimacy or friendship between them. "burr believed he was really elected president, and that jefferson had defrauded him in the count of the ballots. he was disappointed and dissatisfied with his position and with his party, and immediately commenced an intrigue to separate the western states from the union, and on the west of the mountains and along the waters of the mississippi to establish a separate government, where he hoped to fill the measure of his ambition, and destroy the power of the union--thus at the same time to crush both the federal and republican parties, for now he hated both alike. "hamilton had been his early rival; he had, as he believed, destroyed him with washington, and that he had been mainly instrumental in defeating him with jefferson for the presidency. there can be no doubt of the fact, that jefferson had been voted for by the colleges for president, and burr for vice-president; but they were not so designated on the ballots. they received an equal number of votes, and had to be elected, owing to a defect in the law at that time, by the house. the balloting continued several days. there were sixteen states, and each received eight. jefferson was especially obnoxious to the hatred of the federal party; burr, though belonging to the republican party, less so; and many of the leading men in congress of the federal party determined to take burr in preference. the strength of this party was mainly in the north, and burr was a northern man; and they felt more might be expected of him, from northern interest, than from jefferson. but the main cause of the effort was the animosity to jefferson. washington was viewed as the representative man of the federal party. jefferson, though he had been a cabinet minister in his administration, had made no secret of his opposition to the views of washington; and had aided a clerk in his department to establish a newspaper, especially to attack washington, and to oppose the administration, which he did, in the most bitter and offensive manner. "jefferson was an unscrupulous man--a man of wonderful intellect and vast attainments, but entirely unprincipled. this editor and clerk of jefferson's, sent daily to the president two copies of his paper, filled with the vilest abuse of him personally, and of his administration. much of this was, doubtless, written by jefferson himself. this supposition is the more to be relied on from the fact that washington remonstrated with jefferson upon the matter, and requested the removal of the offending clerk, which was refused by jefferson. his declining to remove jefferson himself, is conclusive of the considerate forbearance of this truly great man. these were reasons operating upon the minds and feelings of those men who had not only sustained washington through the revolution, but had stood to the support of his administration, and who concurred with him in political opinion and principle. "mr. adams had made this party unpopular by the course pursued by him in conducting the government. the alien law, and the sedition law, which obtained his signature, (though i know he was opposed personally to both,) and the prosecutions which arose, especially under the latter, were very offensive, and entirely at variance with the spirit of our people, and indeed of the age, and had so damaged the federal party, as to render it odious to a large majority of the people. "the more considerate of the party believed in the election of burr--the southern and northern democracy would become divided. jefferson was known to be specially the favorite of this party, south, and would naturally oppose, himself, and lead his party in opposition to the administration of burr, and the federal party, uniting in his support, with the republicans, north, would ultimately succeed in recovering the control of the government. during the ballotings this was fully discussed in the secret meetings of the federalists. the balloting continued from the th to the th of february, and only eight states could be carried for mr. jefferson, six for burr, and two were divided. it was supposed hamilton's influence would be given to burr, and he was sent for, but to the astonishment of his political friends, it was thrown in opposition to burr. this influenced those controlling the vote of the divided states. burr had entered heartily into the scheme of defeating jefferson. had hamilton co-operated with his party, there is now no telling what might have been the future political destiny of the country. burr was sworn in as vice-president, and there is no doubt but that the will of the people was substantially carried out. "the restlessness of burr was manifested; he seemed to retire from the active participation in politics which had previously been his habit--still, however, adhering to the republican party, and opposing strenuously every view or opinion advanced by hamilton. burr did not take his seat as presiding officer of the senate, and in february, after the election of jefferson, hillhouse was chosen to fill his place _pro tem._ after the inauguration of jefferson, abraham baldwin was elected to preside as president _pro tem._ of the senate. it had not then become the habit of the vice-president to preside over the senate; nor was it the custom for the vice-president to remain at the seat of government during the sessions of congress. burr, disgusted with the republican party, ceased to act with it, and went to new york. here he resumed the practice of law. he was never considered a deeply read lawyer, nor was he comparable with his rival, hamilton, in debate, or as an advocate at the bar. he was adroit and quick, and was rather a quibbler than a great lawyer. "you ask me if i thought, or think, he ever deserted the republican party in heart? i answer, no; for i do not think he ever had any well-defined political or moral principle, and was influenced always by what he deemed would subserve his own ambitious views; and you ask me, if i ever thought him a great man? men greatly differ, as you will find as you grow older, and become better acquainted with mankind, as to what constitutes a great man. i think colonel burr's talents were eminently military, and he might, in command, have shown himself a great general. his mind was sufficiently strong to make him respectable in any profession he might have chosen; but his proclivity, mentally, was for arms--he loved to direct and control. in very early life he showed much skill and tact as an officer in the canadian campaign; but he wanted those moral traits which give dignity and decision to character, and confidence to the public mind. his vacillation of opinion, as well as of conduct, was convincing proof that he acted without principle, and was influenced by his own selfish views. man, to be great, must act always from principle. principle, like truth, is a straight edge, will admit of no obliquity, is always the same, and under all circumstances: conduct squared by principle, and sustained by truth, inspires respect and confidence, and these attributes, though they may and do belong to very ordinary minds, are nevertheless great essentials to the most powerful in making greatness. great grasp of intellect, fixity of purpose, strong will, high aims, and incorruptible moral purity, make a great man. they are rare combinations, but they are sometimes found in one man--they certainly were not in colonel burr. a great general, a great statesman, a, great poet, a great astronomer, may be without morals; and he is consequently not a great man. my young friend, a great man is the rarest creation of almighty god. time has produced few. washington, perhaps, approaches the standard nearest, of modern men; but he was selfish to some extent. "after colonel burr's return to new york, he was nominated by the federal party for governor of the state; this was the first open announcement of his having deserted the republican party. hamilton threw all his influence against him, and he was defeated. this defeat sublimated his hatred for hamilton. he made an excuse of certain words hamilton had used in relation to him for challenging him. they met, and hamilton fell. the death of hamilton overthrew the little remaining popularity left to burr. the nation, the world, turned upon him, and he became desperate. "burr's term as vice-president terminated on the fourth of march, . the odium which attached to his name found universal utterance after the duel. it was not simply the killing of hamilton; this merely gave occasion for the outburst of public indignation. his private character had always been bad. as a member of the legislature, he had so conducted himself as to excite general suspicion of his integrity. his desertion of the party elevating him to the vice-presidency, and lending himself to the opposition party to defeat the clearly expressed views of his own party, all combined to make him extremely odious to the populace. "in the canvass for the presidency, he had been mainly instrumental in carrying the state of new york for the republican party. in this he had triumphed over hamilton; but in the more recent contest for governor of the state, he found that the republican party adhered to principle, and refused to be controlled by him, repudiating his every advance; and learned, also, that the federal party would not unite in accepting him. defeated on every side, in all his views, and mainly through the instrumentality of hamilton, he determined, after killing his rival, if possible, to destroy the government. "there was nothing unfair, or out of the ordinary method of conducting such affairs, in this duel. hamilton's eldest son, but a little while before, had been slain, in a duel, on the very spot where his father fell, and the event created little or no excitement; and when burr saw himself met with universal scorn, he knew it was the eruption of an accumulated hatred toward himself, and that all his ambition for future preferment and power was at an end. immediately he left for the west, and commenced an abortive effort to break up the union. "the allegheny mountains opposed, at that time, an obstacle to free communication with the east. the states west were politically weak, and, supposing their interests were neglected by congress, were restless and dissatisfied. this was especially true of western pennsylvania. there were very many young and ambitious men in all the western states and territories. tennessee, kentucky, and ohio were rapidly populating from the eastern and middle states. their commercial communication with the east was attended with so many difficulties as to force it almost entirely to new orleans. "geographically, it seemed that the valley of the mississippi was, by nature, formed for one nation. the soil and climate promised to enterprise and industry untold wealth. the territorial dimensions were fabulous. the restless and oppressed multitudes of overstocked europe had already commenced an emigration to the united states, which promised to increase to such an amount as would soon fill up, to a great extent, this expanded and promising region. the mississippi furnished an outlet to the ocean, and a navigation, uninterrupted throughout the year, for thousands of miles, and new orleans, a market for every surplus product. burr saw all this, and determined to effect its separation from the union, and there to establish a new empire, which should, ere long, control the destinies of the continent. it was the conception of genius and daring, but required an administrative ability which he had not, to consummate this conception. he miscalculated his material. the people of the west were vastly more intelligent than he had supposed them. they were not so simple as to receive his views, and blindly adopt and act upon them. they canvassed them, and concluded for themselves. at pittsburgh he found a number of adventurous young men (who had nothing to lose, and who were ripe for any enterprise which promised fame or fortune,) to unite with him. "he found henry clay in kentucky, and andrew jackson in tennessee, young, enterprising, and full of spirit and talent. he supposed them to be the men he sought, and approached both, cautiously revealing his views; but, to his astonishment, the grievances of the west had not so warped their patriotism as to dispose them to engage in any schemes which threatened the dismemberment of the union. clay listened and temporized, but never, for a moment, yielded assent. jackson, more ardent, and a military man by nature, was carried away with the idea for a time. he was well acquainted with the people of the west, and especially with the population on the lower mississippi, and was the man who recommended burr to make first a descent upon mexico, as i have been confidentially informed, and sincerely believe. i have also been informed that he dissuaded burr from any attempt to excite a war of the west with the east; but first to make mexico secure, which they and wilkinson believed would be an easy matter. it was when burr, having abandoned his first enterprise, descended the mississippi, that he was arrested. this arrest was made by the acting governor of mississippi, and at some point in that territory, where jackson had a store or trading establishment. he was, with three of his aides, on his way to meet wilkinson, for the purpose of arranging matters. he escaped, and finding things prepared for his interception, he made his way across the country; but was finally arrested, on the tombigbee, by an officer of the united states army. when on his trial at richmond, jackson went there, and was found on the street haranguing the people in burr's favor, and denouncing the prosecution and the president. subsequently, however, he denounced burr, and pretended that he had deceived him. humphrey marshall, pope, grundy, and whitesides united with clay in condemning the entire scheme. there was a crazy irishman, an adventurer, named blannerhasset, residing on the ohio, who at once entered into his views, embarked all his fortune in the enterprise, and, with burr, was ruined. he was tried for treason, and acquitted. soon after, he left the country, and remained away for many years, returning to find himself a stranger, and almost forgotten." some months subsequent to this conversation, colonel burr came up from new york to visit his brother-in-law, judge reeve, and an opportunity was thus afforded me to see and converse with him; but no allusion was made to the past of his own life, save an account of some suffering he underwent in the canadian campaign, with general montgomery. he had contracted, he said, a rheumatism in his ankle, during the winter he was in canada, and that he had occasional attacks now, never having entirely recovered. he was not disposed to talk, and still he seemed pleased at the attentions received from the young gentlemen who visited him occasionally during his short stay. i do not remember ever having seen him on the street, or in the company of any one, except some of the young men who were reading with judge reeve. some years after this, i met colonel burr in the city of new york, and spent an evening with him. at this time he alluded to his trip down the mississippi, and made inquiry after several persons whom he had known. there were then living three men who, as his aides, had accompanied him upon his expedition. i knew the fact, and expected he would allude to them, but he did not. he seemed to desire to know more of those who had been active in procuring his arrest. it was cowles mead (who was acting governor of the territory of mississippi at the time) who arrested burr at bruensburgh, a small hamlet on the banks of the mississippi, immediately below the mouth of the bayou pierre. "mead," he said, "was a great admirer of jefferson, because, i suppose, when he had been unseated by the contestant of his election, (a mr. spaulding,) jefferson, to appease his wounded feelings, had appointed him secretary to the mississippi territory. he was a vain man of very small mind, and full of the importance of his official station." i remarked that he was a brother-in-law of mine. "i was not aware of that, but i am sure you are too well acquainted with the truth of the statement to be offended at my stating it." i remarked: "colonel, i am thoroughly acquainted with general mead, and equally as well acquainted with all the circumstances connected with your acquaintance with him. the adventure of bruensburgh has been, through life, a favorite theme with the general, and i doubt if there is living a man who ever knew the general a month, who has not heard the story repeated a dozen times." he dryly remarked: "i should have supposed the episode to that affair would have restrained him from its narration;" and the conversation ceased. i shall have much more to say of these two in a future chapter. at this time colonel burr was old and slightly bent, very unlike what he was when i first met him; still his eyes and nose, brow and mouth, wore the same expression they did fifteen years before. about the mouth and eye there was a sinister expression, and he had a habit of looking furtively out of the corner of his eye at you, when you did not suppose he was giving any attention to you. chapter xv. change of government. governor wolcott--toleration--mr. monroe--private life of washington-- thomas jefferson--the object and science of government--court etiquette --nature the teacher and guide in all things. during the year i was frequently a visitor at the house of governor oliver wolcott, who then resided in litchfield, connecticut. governor wolcott was a remarkable man in many respects. he was originally a federalist in politics, and enjoyed the confidence of that party to an unlimited extent. his abilities were far above ordinary, and his family one of great respectability. he was a native of connecticut, and after alexander hamilton retired from the treasury bureau in the cabinet of washington, he succeeded to that position. he filled the office with credit to himself, and to the satisfaction of his chief. he had, after considerable time spent in public life, left connecticut, to reside in new york. subsequent to the war, and when the federal party had abandoned its organization under the administration of mr. monroe, there grew up in his native state a party called the toleration party. in reality it was a party proscriptive of the old federal leaders, and it grew out of some legislation in connection with religious matters, in which, as usual, the puritan element had attempted to oppress, by special taxation, for their own benefit, all others differing from them in religious creed. governor wolcott favored this new organization, and he was invited to return to the state and give his aid to its success. he did so, and in due time was made governor by this party. at the time of which i write, he was as bitterly and sincerely hated by the old federal party as ever jefferson was, or as andy johnson now is by the radical party, which is largely constituted of the _débris_ of that old and intolerant organization, and which is now eliminating every principle of the constitution to gratify that thirst for power, and to use it for persecution, that seems inherent in the nature of the puritan. by the hour i have listened to the abuse of him, from the mouths of men whose lives had been spent in his praise and support, simply because he had interposed his talents and influence to arrest the oppressor's hand. they said he had deserted his party, that he would live to share the fate of burr, and that he was as great a traitor. the bitterness and injustice of party is proverbial, and its want of reason is astonishing. men who are cool and considerate on all other subjects, are frequently the most violent and unreasonable as partisans. it seems akin to religious fanaticism, and proscribes with the same bigotry all who will not, or conscientiously cannot, act or think with them. it prescribes opinions, and they must be obeyed by all who belong to the organization, and without reservation or qualification. its exactions are as fierce and indisputable as the laws and regulations of the jesuits. these are changed with party necessities, and not unfrequently are diametrically antagonistic to the former creed; yet you must follow and sustain them, or else you are a traitor, and denounced and driven from the party, and often from intercourse socially with those who have been your neighbors and friends from boyhood. in this method party compels dishonesty in politics, and is eminently demoralizing, for it is impossible to familiarize the conscience with political dishonesty without tainting the moral man in ordinary matters pertaining to life. once break down the barrier which separates the right from the wrong, that success may come of it, and every principle of restraint to immoral or dishonest conduct is swept away. for this reason men of stern integrity never make good politicians. they are very often the reliable statesmen, never the reliable politicians. governor wolcott had through his life sustained an unimpeached reputation. he had filled to the full his political ambition. again and again he had been honored by his people who had grown up with him. he had been honored by the confidence of washington, and the nation. he was wealthy, was old, and only aspired to do, and to see done, justice to the whole people of his native state. in doing this he came in conflict with the unjust views and iniquitous conduct of an old, crushed party, and he was denounced as a traitor, and ostracized because he would be just. this was the disruption forever of the federal party in connecticut; for though it had ceased to exist as a national organization, it still was sufficiently intact to control most of the new england states. mr. monroe's administration had been so popular that in his second election he received every vote of every state in the union, save new hampshire: one man in her electoral college, who was appointed to vote for him, refused to do so, and gave as his reason that he was a slave-owner. new interests had supervened, old issues were dead--they had had their day--their mission was accomplished; old men were passing away, the nation was expanding into great proportions, and men of great talents were growing with and for the occasion; old party animosities were dimming out, and the era of good feelings seemed to pervade the national heart. even john adams and thomas jefferson were amicably corresponding and growing affectionate at eighty. it was but the lull which precedes the storm--the sultry quiet which augurs the earthquake. upon one occasion i ventured to ask governor wolcott to tell me something of washington. we were strolling in his garden, where he had invited me to look at some melons he was attempting to grow under glass. he stopped, and turning round, looked me full in the face, and asked me if i had not read the "life of washington." "not the private life," was the reply. "ah! a very laudable curiosity in one so young. i knew him well, and can only say his private was very much like his public life. i do not suppose there ever lived a man more natural in his deportment than washington. he did nothing for effect. he was more nearly the same man on the street that he was in his night-gown and slippers, than any man i ever knew; i can't say i was intimate with washington; no man can or ever could have said that. his dignity was austere and natural. it was grand, and awed and inspired a respect from every one alike. you breathed low in his presence--you felt uneasy in your seat, before him. there was an inspiring something about him, that made you feel it was a duty to, stand in his presence, uncovered, and respectfully silent. i have heard this sternness attributed to his habit of command; not so--it was natural, and he was unconscious of it. most men, however stern, will unbend to woman. there is in woman's presence a divinity which thaws the rigor of the heart and warms the soul, which manifests itself in the softening of the eye, in the glow upon the cheek, and the relaxation of manner. it was not so with washington. in his reception-rooms he was easily polite and courteously affable; but his dignity and the inflexibility of his features never relaxed. "i remember to have heard mrs. adams say 'she did not think he was ever more than polite to mrs. washington.' with all this he was very kind, and if he ever did let himself down it was to children, and these never seemed to feel his austerity, or to shrink away from it. it is said that it is the gift of childhood to see the heart in the eye and the face. it is certain they never approach an ill-natured or bad man, and never shrink from a kind and good one. in his intercourse with his cabinet, he was respectful to difference--consulted each without reserve or concealment, and always weighed well their opinions, and never failed to render to them his reasons for differing with them. he was very concise and exact in stating a case, and never failed to understand well every question before acting. he had system and order in everything. in his private affairs, in his household, as well as in his public conduct, he observed strict rules, and exacted their obedience from all about him. in nothing was he demonstrative or impulsive; but always considerate and cool. "i know nothing of his domestic matters. there were malicious persons who started many reports of discord between washington and his lady. these i believe were all false. mrs. washington was a high-bred woman, a lady in everything; and so far as my observation or acquaintance extended, was devoted and dutiful. of one thing i am very sure: she was a proud woman, and was proud of her husband. she certainly had not the dignity of her husband; no one, male or female, ever had. she was less reserved, more accessible, and not indifferent to the attentions and flatteries of her husband's friends. in fine, she was a woman. washington's deportment toward his wife was kind and respectful, but always dignified and courteous. toward his servants he was uniformly kind. "he was an enemy to slavery, and never hesitated to avow his sentiments. his black servants were very much attached to him. the peculiar nature of washington forbade those heart-friendships demanded by a narrower and more impulsive nature. he kept all the world too far from him ever to win that tenderness of affection which sweetens social life in the blending of hearts and sympathy of souls. but he commanded that esteem which results from respect and appreciation of the great and commanding attributes of his nature, which elevated him so far above the men of his age. he wanted the softness and yielding of the heart that so wins upon the affections of associates and those who are in close and constant intercommunication. are not these incompatible with the stern and towering traits essential to such a character as was washington's? like a shaft of polished granite towering amid shrubs and flowers, cold and hard, but grand and beautiful, he stood among the men and the women who surrounded him when president. "general washington was cautious and reserved in his expressions about men. he rarely praised or censured. at the time i was in the cabinet, he had abundant cause for dislike to mr. jefferson, who, in his mazéi letter, had represented him as laboring to break up the government, that upon its ruins a monarchy might arise for his own benefit. he spoke of this letter more severely than i had ever heard him speak of anything, and said no man better knew the charge false, than mr. jefferson. some correspondence, i believe, took place between them on the subject. i believe they never met after this. upon one occasion i heard him say that it was unfortunate that jefferson had been sent to france at the time that he was, when morals and government alike were little less than chaos, for he had been tainted in his ideas of both." "you knew mr. jefferson?" i asked. "come into the house, and i will show you something," said the venerable man, then tottering to the grave. i went, and he showed me some letters addressed to him by persons in virginia, presenting, in no very enviable light, the character of jefferson. when i had read them, he remarked: "you must not suppose i am anxious to prejudice your youthful mind against the great favorite of your people. it is not so. you seem solicitous to learn something of the men who have had so much agency in the establishment of the government and the formation of the opinions of the people, that i am willing you should see upon what my opinions have, in a great degree, been formed. mr. jefferson is still living, and still writing. his pen seems to have lost none of its vigor, nor his heart any of its venom. you will hear him greatly praised, and greatly abused. i knew him at one time, but never intimately, and may be said only to know him as a public man; what of his private character i know, comes from the statements of others, and general report. you have just seen some of these statements. i knew the writers of these letters well, and know their statements to be entitled to credit, and i believe them. they assure me that mr. jefferson is without moral principle. his public conduct must convince every one of his want of political principle. his whole life has been a bundle of contradictions. he has had neither chart nor compass by which to regulate his course, but has universally adopted the expedient. "that he has a great and most vigorous intellect is beyond all question; but most of its emanations have been the _ad captandum_ to seize the current, and sail with it. he saw the democratic proclivity of the people, he concentrated it by the use of his pen, and he has aided its expansion, until it threatens ruin to the government. he knows it, and he still perseveres. under the plea of inviting population, he advocated the extension of the franchise to aliens, and was really the parent from whose brain was born the naturalization laws, making citizens of every nationality, and giving them all the powers of the government, extending suffrage to every pauper in the land, increasing to the utmost the material for the demagogue, and thus depriving the intelligence of the country of the power to control it. the specious argument that if a man is compelled to serve in the militia and defend the country, he should be entitled to vote, was his. its sophistry is as palpable to jefferson as to every thinking mind. government is the most abstruse of the sciences, and should, for the security of all, be controlled by the intelligence of the country. during the world's existence, all the intelligence it has ever afforded, has not been competent to the formation of a government approximating perfection. "the object of government is the protection of life, liberty, and property. the tenure of property is established and sustained by law; it is the basis of government; it is the support of government; in proportion to its extent and security, it is the strength and power of government, and those who possess it should have the control of government. in a republic, there can be no better standard of intelligence than the possession of property, and to give the greatest security to the government, none should, in a republic, be intrusted with the ballot, but the native, and the property-holder, or the native property-holder. the complications of our system are scarcely understood by our own people, and to suppose that ignorant men (for such constitute the bulk of our emigrant population) shall become so intimate with it, and so much attached to it, as to constitute them, in a few years, persons to be intrusted with its control, is supposing human intelligence to be of much higher grasp than i have ever found it. most of these emigrants come here with preconceived prejudices toward the institutions of their native lands. this is natural. most of them speak a foreign language. this has to be overcome, before they can even commence to learn the nature and operation of our system, which is so radically dissimilar to any and all others. these men, as the ignorant of our own people, naturally lean on some one who shall direct them, and they will blindly do his bidding. this is an invitation to the demagogue; these are his materials, and he will aggregate and control them. such men are always poor, and envy makes them the enemies of the rich. this creates an antagonism, which we see existing in every country. "the poor are dependent for employment upon the rich; the rich are dependent upon the poor for labor. this mutual dependence, it would be supposed, would tend to create mutual regard; but experience teaches the reverse. the poor have nothing to sell but their labor, and there are none to buy but the rich. each, naturally, struggles to make the best bargain possible, and take advantage of every circumstance to effect this. very few are satisfied with fair equivalents, and one or the other always feels aggrieved. here is the difficulty. well, endow the laborer with the ballot, and he usurps the government; for to vote is to govern. what is to be the consequence? we now have, with all the means of expansion and facilities a new country of boundless extent gives to the poor for finding and making homes, many more without property than with it. this disproportion will go on to increase until it assimilates to every old country, with a few rich and many poor. these many will control; they will send of their own men to legislate; they will favor their friends; they will levy the taxes, which the property-holders of the country must pay; they will make the laws appropriating these taxes; all will be for the benefit of their constituency, and the property, the government, and the people are all at their mercy. jefferson sees this, and is taking advantage of it, and has indoctrinated the whole unthinking portion of our people with these destructive notions. it made him president. his example has proven contagious, and i see no end to its results short of the destruction of the government, and that speedily. mr. jefferson's fame will be co-existent with the government. when that shall perish, his great errors will be apparent. the impartial historian, inquiring into the cause of this destruction, with half an eye will see it, and then his true character will be sketched, and this great, unprincipled demagogue will go naked down to posterity. he has always been unprincipled, immoral, and dissolute. these, accompanying his great intellect, have made it a curse, rather than a blessing, to his kind. "the world has produced few great statesmen--washington and hamilton were the only ones of any pretensions this country has produced. it was a great misfortune that hamilton did not succeed washington. mr. adams, now lingering to his end at braintree, was a patriot, but greatly wanting in the attributes of greatness. he was suspicious, ill-tempered, and full of unmanly prejudices--was incapable of comprehending the great necessities of his country, as well as the means to direct and control these necessities. he had animosities to nurse, and enemies to punish--was more concerned about a proper respect for himself and the office he filled, than the interest and the destiny of his country. he quarrelled with washington, was jealous of him, who never had a thought but for his country. adams was all selfishness, little selfishness, and earned and got the contempt of the whole nation. jefferson was turning all this to his own advantage; and the errors and follies of adams were made the strength and wisdom of jefferson. he had but one rival before the nation, burr--he whom you saw yesterday, the crushed victim of the cunning and intrigue of his friend jefferson. "washington had died--despondent of the future of his country. the prestige of his name and presence was gone. he had committed a great error in bringing jefferson into his cabinet and before the nation with his approbation. he knew every cabinet secret, and took advantage of every one, and had placed himself prominently before the people, and with burr was elected. the defect in the law as existing at the time, enabled burr, when returned with an equal number of electoral votes, to contend with jefferson for the presidency. it was in the power of hamilton, at this time, to elect. the states were divided, six for burr, eight for jefferson, and two divided. there was one state voting for jefferson, which by the change of one vote would have been given to burr: the divided states were under his control. he was, during the ballotings, sent for, with a view to the election of burr; but he preferred jefferson--thought him less dangerous than burr, and procured his election. it was a terrible alternative, to have to choose between two such men. the consequences to burr and the country have been terrible--the destruction of both. "i suppose much i have said cuts across your prejudice, coming from the south. i have sought to speak sincerely to you, because you are young, impressible, and anxious for knowledge; and it is better to know an unwelcome truth, than to find out by-and-by you have all your life been believing an untruth. nothing is more sickening to the candid and sincere heart, than to learn its cherished opinions and dearest hopes have been nothing but fallacies; and when you are old as i am, you will have been more fortunate than i have been, if you do not find much that you have loved most, and most trusted, a deceit--a miserable lie. come and see me at your leisure: i shall always be glad to see you, and equally as glad to answer any of your questions, if these answers will give you information." governor oliver wolcott was short in stature and inclined to corpulency; his head was large and round, with an ample forehead; his eyes were gray and very pleasant in their expression; his mouth was voluptuous, and upon his lips there usually lurked a smile, humorous in its threatening, provoking a pleasing dimple upon his cheek. in society, in his extreme old age, for i only knew him then, he was less gay than the general expression of his features would have indicated. he was a man of strong will and most decided character. his individuality was marked and striking, and his tenacity of purpose made his character one of remarkable consistency. governor wolcott was one of the old-school federalists, a thorough believer in federal principles. he believed in the capacity of the people for self-government, if the franchise of suffrage was confined to the intelligence and freeholds of the country, but reprobated the idea of universal suffrage as destructive of all that was good in republican institutions. succeeding alexander hamilton as secretary of the treasury, he found all matters of finance connected with the government in so healthy a condition and arranged upon such a basis as only required that he should be careful to keep them there. during the four last years of the administration of washington, this prevented any display on his part of any striking financial ability. the administration of his office was entirely satisfactory to the country, though it seemed he was only there to superintend the workings of the genius of hamilton. once in my hearing he remarked, he had only to work up to the scribings of hamilton to make everything joint up and fit well. he held washington in higher esteem even than colonel talmadge; and differed from him in many particulars relative to his character. it was my good fortune to sit and listen, more than once, to discussions between these venerable men. it was always amicable and eminently instructive. wolcott was an admirer of mrs. washington, talmadge was not. talmadge was a military man, and saw a healthy discipline only in obedience to superiors, and exacted in his own family what he deemed was proper in that of every man. accustomed himself to a strict obedience to the commands of his superiors, and deeming washington almost incapable of error, he thought hardly even of mrs. washington when she manifested a disposition the slightest to independence of her husband. wolcott did not see her in the camp, but only as the wife of the president of the united states--mistress of the presidential mansion, and affably dispensing the duties of hostess there--receiving, entertaining, and socially intermingling in the society admitted to the presidential circle. at that period there was more of ceremony and display in the higher circles of official society than at this time. the people had seceded from a monarchical government, and established a democratic one; but the prestige of titular and aristocratic society still lingered with those high in office, of distinguished position, and wealth. many of those most prominent about the government had spent much time in europe, and had imported european manners and customs, and desired to see the court etiquette of the mother country prevail at the court of the new government. time and the institutions of democracy had not effected that change in the practices of the people, which the revolution and the determination to control and direct their own government had in their sentiments. mr. jefferson affected to despise this formal ceremony, and the distinctions in society encouraged by monarchical institutions, and sustained by authority of law--though coming from a state and from the midst of a people whose leading and wealthiest families had descended directly from the nobility and gentry of england, and who affected an aristocracy of social life extremely exclusive in its character, while professing a democracy in political organization of the broadest and most comprehensive type. his sagacity taught him that the institutions of a democratic government would soon produce that social equality which was their spirit, in the ordinary intercourse of the people--that he who enjoyed all and every privilege, politically and legally, given under its constitution and laws, possessed a power which ultimately would force his social equality with the most pretentious in the land. in truth, the government was in his hands, and he would mould it to his views, and society to his status. the institutions of government everywhere form the social organization of society. men are ambitious of distinction in every government, and aspire to control in directing the destinies of their country--are justly proud of the respect and confidence of their fellow-men, and will court it in the manner most likely to secure it. now and then, there are to be found some who are insensible to any fame save that given by wealth--who will wrap themselves up in a pecuniary importance, with an ostentatious display of their wealth, and an exclusiveness of social intercourse, and are contented with this, and the general contempt. such men, and such social coteries, are few in this country. fortunately, wealth which is only used as a means of ostentatious display is worthless to communities, and its possessor is contemptible. "wealth is power" is an adage, and is true where it is used to promote the general good. without it no people can be prosperous or intelligent, and the prosperity and intelligence of every people is greatest where there is most wealth, and where it is most generally diffused. this is best effected by democratic institutions, where every preferment is open to all, and where the division of estates follows every death. no large and overshadowing estates, creating a moneyed aristocracy, can accumulate, to control the legislation and the people's destinies under such institutions. no privileged class can be sustained under their operation; for such a class must always be sustained by wealth hereditary and entailed, protected from the obligations of debt, and prohibited from division or alienation. mr. jefferson had studied the effects of governments upon their people most thoroughly, and understood their operation upon the social relations of society, and the character and minds of the people. he was wont to say there was no hereditary transmission of mind; that this was democratic, and a cæsar, a solon, or a demosthenes was as likely to come from a cottage and penury as from a palace and wealth; that virtue more frequently wore a smock-frock than a laced coat, and that the institutions of every government should be so modelled as to afford opportunity to these to become what nature designed they should be--models of worth and usefulness to the country. every one owes to society obligations, and the means should be afforded to all to make available these obligations for the public good. nature never designed that man should hedge about with law a favored few, until these should establish a natural claim to such protection, by producing all the intellect and virtue of the commonwealth. this was common property, and wherever found, in all the gradations and ranges of society, should, under the operations of law, be afforded the same opportunities as the most favored by fortune. "in all things nature should be teacher and guide." these doctrines are beautiful in theory, and are well calculated to fasten upon the minds of the many. they have been, time and again, incorporated into the constitution of governments, and have uniformly produced the same disastrous results. they are equally as fallacious as the declaration "that all men are born free and equal," which, with those above, has won the public approbation in spite of experience. the equality of intellect is as certainly untrue as the equality of stature; the one is not more apparent than the other. transcendent intellect is as rare as an eclipse of the sun. it manifests itself in the control of all others--in forming the opinions and shaping the destinies of all others. this is a birthright--is never acquired, admits of great cultivation, receives impressions, generates ideas, and makes wonderful efforts. cultivation and education gives it these, but never its vigor and power. in whatever grade or caste of society this is born, it soon works its way to the top, disrupts every band which ties it down, and naturally rises above the lower strata, as the rarefied atmosphere rises above the denser. this higher order of intellect will naturally control, and as naturally protect its power. from such, a better government may always be expected; and without this control, none can be wholesome or permanent. chapter xvi. party principles. origin of parties--federal and republican peculiarities--jefferson's principles and religion--democracy--virginia and massachusetts parties --war with france--sedition law--lyman beecher--the almighty dollar-- "hail columbia" and "yankee doodle." the federal and republican parties of the nation had their rise and formation out of the two principles of government--the one descending, as by inheritance, from the mother-country, and the other growing out of the formation of the governments established in the early organization of the colonies. a republican form of government was natural to the people. it had become so from habit. they had, in each colony, enjoyed a representative form; had made their own laws, and, with the exception of their governors and judicial officers, had chosen, by ballot, all their legislative and ministerial officers. most of the principles and practices of a democratic form of government, consequently, were familiar to them. the etiquette of form and ceremony preserved by the governors, conformed to english usage. this was only familiar to those of the masses whose business brought them in contact with these ministerial officers and their appendages. these were continued, to some extent, for a time; but jefferson saw that they must soon cease, and yield to a sensible, simple intercourse between the officials of the government and the people. this was foreshadowed in the declaration of independence, drafted by him. immediately upon the success of the revolution, and the organization of the general government, he enunciated the opinions and principles now known as jeffersonian or democratic. it has been charged upon him, that he borrowed his principles from the leaders of the french revolution, as he did his religion from voltaire and tom paine. jefferson was an original thinker, and thought boldly on all subjects. he had studied not only the character and history of governments, but of religions, and from the convictions of his own judgment were formed his opinions and his principles. his orthodoxy was his doxy, and he cared very little for the doxy of any other man or set of men. his genius and exalted talents gave him a light which shines in upon few brains, and if his religious opinions were fallacious, there are few of our day who will say that his social and political sentiments were or are wrong. as to his correctness in the former, it is not, nor will it ever be, given to man to demonstrate. this is the only subject about which there is no charity for him who differs from the received dogmas of the church, and to-day his name is an abomination only to the federalists and the church. jefferson was made secretary of state by general washington, and was at once the head and representative man of the democracy of the country. there was, however, no organized opposition to the administration of washington. but immediately upon the election of adams it begun to take shape and form, under the leadership of jefferson. the two parties were first known as the virginia and massachusetts parties. jefferson had been elected vice-president with adams, and before the termination of the first year of the administration the opposition was formidable in congress. governor wolcott was of opinion that adams destroyed the federal party by the unwise policy of his administration. he said he was a man of great intellect, but of capricious temper, incapable from principle or habit of yielding to the popular will. he certainly saw the palpable tendency of public feeling, and must have known its strength: instead of attempting to go with it, and shape it to the exigencies his party required, he vainly attempted to stem the current, defy it, and control it by law. he disregarded the earnest entreaties of his best friends, counselling only with the extremists of the federal party: the result was the alien and sedition laws. pickering warned him, and he quarrelled with him. he would not conciliate, but punish his political foes. he loved to exercise power; he did it unscrupulously, and became exceedingly offensive to many of his own party, and bitterly hated by his political enemies. the alien and sedition laws emanated from the extremists of the federal party, and were in opposition to the views of adams himself--yet he approved them, and determined to execute them. he knew these laws were in direct opposition to the views and feelings of an immense majority of the people; and with these lights before him, and when he had it in his power to have conciliated the masses, he defied them. mr. adams was unaccustomed to seek or court public favor; his associations had never been with the masses, and he understood very little of their feelings; when these were forced upon him, he received their manifestations with contempt, and uniformly disregarded their teachings. all these defects of character were seized upon by the opposition, to render odious the federal party. mr. jefferson placed himself in active opposition, and was known at an early day as the candidate of the opposition to succeed adams. our difficulties with france, and the action of congress in appointing washington commander-in-chief of the american forces, brought washington into contact with adams on several occasions; and especially when washington made his acceptance of the office conditional upon the appointment of hamilton as second in command, adams thought he had not been respectfully treated, either by congress or washington; and there were some pretty sharp letters written by washington in relation to the course of adams. jefferson was opposed to the french war. the aid afforded by france in our revolution had made grateful the public heart, and the people were indisposed to rush into a war with her for slight cause. the pen of jefferson was never idle: he knew the general feeling, and inflamed it, and what the consequences to the country might have been, had not the war come to an abrupt and speedy end, there are no means of knowing. the trial and conviction of lyon and cooper under the sedition law, aroused a burst of indignation from the people. still it taught no wisdom to mr. adams. he was urged to have their prosecutions abandoned, but he refused. after conviction, he was seriously pressed to pardon these men, in obedience to the popular will, but he persistently refused, and lyon was continued in prison until liberated by the success of the republican party, and the repeal of the offensive and impolitic laws soon after. adams professed great veneration for the character of washington, and he was doubtless sincere. yet he never lost sight of the fact that it was he who had seconded the motion when made in congress by samuel adams to appoint washington commander-in-chief of the armies of the revolution, or that it was he who suggested it to samuel adams, and that he sustained the motion in a speech of burning eloquence. he felt that this conferred an obligation and that washington was at times unmindful of this. he was more exacting than generous, and more suspicious than confiding. in truth, adams had more mind than soul; more ambition than patriotism, and more impulse than discretion. yet the country owes him much. he was a great support in the cause of the revolution, and his folly was to charge too high for his services. the people honored him--they have honored his family, and will yet make his son president. he received all they could give, and his littleness crept out in his desire for more. general washington's estimate of men was generally correct. he understood adams, jefferson, hamilton, and burr. i do not think he was personally attached to any one of them; yet he appreciated them as the public now do. he had need of the talents of hamilton and jefferson. the organization of the government required the first minds of the country; and washington was the man to call them to his side. in nothing did he show more greatness than in this. he knew jefferson was without principle, but he knew that he was eminently talented; he could forget the one, and call to his aid the other. his confidence in the integrity of hamilton was stronger, as well as in his ability. upon all matters of deep concern to the country he consulted both, and these consultations often brought these two men into antagonistical positions before him, and upon important public matters--one of which was the constitutionality of a united states bank. to each of these, when the charter of the bank was before him, he addressed a note requesting their opinions upon its constitutionality. jefferson replied promptly in a short, written opinion, not well considered or ably argued, as was his wont; denying the constitutionality of such an institution. this opinion was handed to hamilton, who pleaded public duties as the cause of delay on his part, for not furnishing an opinion. it came at last, and was able and conclusive, as to its constitutionality. but it was terrible in its slashing and exposure of the dogmatical sophisms of jefferson. from that time forward there were bitter feelings between these two eminent men. intellectually, hamilton had no equal in his day. it is ridiculous to compare him with burr, which is often done by persons who should know better, because they have all the evidence upon which to predicate a conclusion. the occasion was open to both, equally, to discover to the world what abilities they possessed. they equally filled eminent positions before the nation, and at a time when she demanded the use of the first abilities in the land. what each performed is before the world. men having talent will always leave behind some evidence of this, whether they pass through life in a public or private capacity. flippant pertness, with some wit, is too often mistaken for talent--and a still tongue with a sage look, will sometimes pass for wisdom. but wherever there is talent or wisdom, it makes its mark. the evidences of hamilton's abilities are manifested in his works. they show a versatility of talent unequalled by any modern man. he was conspicuous for his great genius before he was fifteen years of age; he was chief-of-staff for general washington before he was twenty, and before he was thirty, was admitted to be the first mind of the country. as a military man, every officer of the army of the revolution considered him the very first; as a lawyer, he had no equal of his day; as a statesman, he ranked above all competition; as a financier, none were his equal, and an abundance of evidence has been left by him to sustain this reputation in every particular. what has burr left? nothing. he still lives, and what his posthumous papers may say for him, i cannot say; but i know him well, and consequently expect nothing. as a lawyer, he was mediocre; as a statesman, vacillating and without any fixed principles; as an orator, (for some had claimed him to be such,) he was turgid and verbose--sometimes he was sarcastic, but only when the malignity of his nature found vent in the bitterness of words. his private conduct has, in every situation, been bad. he was one of the lee and gates faction to displace washington from the command of the army. he decried the abilities of washington. he violated the confidence of general putnam, when his aide, in seducing margaret moncrief, (whose father had intrusted her to putnam's care.) he violated his faith to the republican party, in lending himself to the federal party to defeat the known and expressed will of the people, and the republican party, by contesting the election before congress of mr. jefferson. in the legislature of new york, his conduct was such as to draw on him the suspicion of corruption, and universal condemnation. contrast his public services with his public and private vices, and see what he is--the despised of the whole world, eking out a miserable existence in hermitical seclusion with a woman of ill-fame. there resided as minister of the congregational church, at that time, in litchfield, lyman beecher. he was a man of short stature; remarkable dark complexion, with large and finely formed head; his features were strong and irregular, with stern, ascetic expression. he was naturally a man of great mind, and but for the bigoted character of his religion, narrowing his mind to certain contemptible prejudices and opinions, might have been a great man. reared in the practice of puritan opinions, and associated from childhood with that strait-laced and intolerant sect, his energies, (which were indomitable) and mind, more so perverted as to become mischievous, instead of useful. he was a propagandist in the broadest sense of the term--would have made an admirable inquisitor--was without any of the charities of the christian; despised as heretical the creed of every sect save his own, and had all of the intolerant bitterness and degrading superstitions of the puritans, and persecutors of laud, in the long parliament. in truth, he was an immediate descendant of the puritans of the seventeenth century, and was distinguished for the persecuting and intolerant spirit of that people. he seemed ever casting about for something in the principles or conduct of others to abuse, and delighted to exhaust his genius in pouring out his venom upon those who did not square their conduct and opinions by his rule. at this time, , the admission of missouri into the union gave rise to the agitation of the extension of slavery. this was a sweet morsel under and on his tongue. he at once commenced the indulgence of his persecuting spirit, in the abuse of slavery, and slave owners. his own immediate people had committed no sin in the importation of the african, and the money accumulated in the traffic was not blood-money. the institution had been wiped out in new england, not by enfranchisement, but by sale to the people of the south, when no longer useful or valuable at home; and all the sin of slavery had followed the slave, to barbarize and degrade the people of the south. the fertility of his imagination could suggest a thousand evils growing from slavery, which concentrating in the character of those possessing them, made them demons upon earth, and fit heritors of hell, deserving the wrath of god and man. it was palpable to the scrutinizing observer, that it was not the sin of slavery which actuated the zeal of beecher. the south had held control of the government almost from its inception. the northern, or federal party, had been repudiated for the talents and energy of the south. its principles and their professors were odious--the conduct of its leading representatives, during the late war, had tainted new england, and she was offensive to the nostrils of patriotism everywhere. her people were restless and dissatisfied under the disgrace. they were anxious for power, not to control for the public good the destinies of the country; but for revenge upon those who had triumphed in their overthrow. their people had spread over the west, and carried with them their religion and hatred--they were ambitious of more territory, over which to propagate their race and creed; yet preparatory to the great end of their aims, and the agitation necessary to the education of their people upon this subject, they must commence in the pulpit to abolish some cursing sin which stood in their way. they had found it, and a fit instrument, too, in lyman beecher, to commence the work. it was the sin of slavery. it stood in the way of new england progress and new england civilization. new england religion must come to the rescue. there was nothing good which could come from the south; all was tainted with this crying sin. new england purity, through new england puritanism, must permeate all the land, and effect the good work--and none so efficient as beecher. the students of the law-school had a pew in his little synagogue--it was after the fashion of a square pew, with seats all around, and to this he would direct his eye when pouring out his anathemas upon the south, southern habits, and southern institutions; four out of five of the members of the school were from the south. it was his habit to ascribe the origin and practice of every vice to slavery. debauchery of every grade, name, and character, was born of this, and though every one of these vices, in full practice, were reeking under his nose, and permeating every class of his own people; when seven out of every ten of the bawds of every brothel, from maine to the sabine, were from new england, they were only odious in the south. i remember upon one occasion he was dilating extensively upon the vice of drunkenness, and accounting it as peculiar to the south, and the direct offshoot of slavery, he exclaimed, with his eyes fixed upon the students' pew: "yes, my brethren, it is peculiar to the people who foster the accursed institution of slavery, and so common is it in the south, that the father who yields his daughter in wedlock, never thinks of asking if her intended is a sober man. all he asks, or seems desirous to know, is whether he is good-natured in his cups." before him sat his nest of young adders, growing up to inherit his religion, talents, and vindictive spirit. instilled into those from their cradles were all the dogmas of puritanism, to stimulate the mischievous spirit of the race to evil works. admirably have they fulfilled their destiny. to the preaching and writings of the men and women descended from lyman beecher has more misery ensued, than from any other one source, for the last century. "uncle tom's cabin" has slain its hundreds of thousands, and the sermons of henry ward beecher have made to flow an ocean of blood. the example of pymm, cromwell, whaley, and goff, and their fate, has taught the puritans no useful lesson. they seem to think to triumph in civil war, as their ancestors did, regardless of the danger that a reaction may bring to them, is all they can desire. the fate of these men has no warning. reactions sometimes come with terrible consequences. they cannot see cromwell's dead body hanging in chains. they will not remember the fate of whaley and goff, whose bones are mouldering in their own new haven, after flying their country and, for years, hiding in caves and cellars from the revengeful pursuit of resentful enemies. the pymms and the praise-god-bare-bones of the thirty-ninth congress may and (it is to be hoped) will yet meet the merited reward of their crimes of persecution and oppression. at the time of which i write, there were many remaining in connecticut who participated in the conflicts and perils of the revolution. these men were all animated with strong national sentiments, and felt that every part of the union was their country. they idolized washington, and always spoke with affectionate praise of the southern spirit, so prominent in her troops during the war. the conduct of the south (and especially that of georgia toward general greene, in donating him a splendid plantation, with a palatial residence, upon the savannah river, near the city of savannah, to which he removed, lived, and in which he died,) was munificent, and characteristic of a noble and generous people. but these were passing away, and a new people were coming into their places. the effects of a common cause, a common danger, and a united success, were not felt by these. new interests excited new aspirations. the nation's peril was past, and she was one of the great powers of the earth, and acknowledged as such. she had triumphantly passed through a second war with her unnatural mother, in which new england, as a people, had reaped no glory. in the midst of the struggle, she had called a convention of her people, with a view of withdrawing from the union. her people had invited the enemy, with their blue-light signals, to enter the harbor they were blockading, and where the american ships, under the command of one of our most gallant commanders, had sought refuge. they were sorely chagrined, and full of wrath. they hated the south and her people. it was growing, and they were nursing it. even then we were a divided people, with every interest conserving to unite us--the south producing and consuming; the north manufacturing, carrying, and selling for, and to, the south. the harmony of commerce, and the harmony of interest, had lost its power, and we were a divided people. the breach widened, war followed, and ruin riots over the land. the south was the weaker, and went down; the north was the stronger, and triumphed--and the day of her vengeance has come. in that remote time, the chase after the almighty dollar had commenced, and especially in new england, where every sentiment was subordinate to this. patriotism was a secondary sentiment. hypocritical pretension to the purity of religion was used to cover the vilest practices, and to shield from public indignation men who, praying, pressed into their service the vilest means to make haste to be rich. the sordid parsimony of ninety-hundredths of the population shut out every sentiment of generosity, and rooted from the heart every emotion honorable to human nature. neighborhood intercourse was poisoned with selfishness, and the effort to overreach, and make money out of, the ignorance or necessities of these, was universal. these degrading practices crept into every business, and petty frauds soon became designated as yankee tricks. there was nothing ennobling in their pursuits. the honorable profession of law dwindled into pettifogging tricks. commerce was degraded in their hands by fraud and chicanery. the pernicious and grasping nature everywhere cultivated, soon fastened upon the features. their eyes were pale, their features lank and hard, and the stony nature was apparent in the icy coldness of manner, in the deceitful grin, and lip-laugh, which the eye never shared, and which was only affected, when interest prompted, or the started suspicions of an intended victim warned them to be wary. the climate, and the inhospitable and ungenerous soil, seemed to impart to the people their own natures. the men were all growing sharp, and the women, cold and passionless; the soul appeared to shrivel and sink into induration, and the whole people were growing into a nation of cheats and dastards. such was the promise for the people of new england, in . has it not been realized in the years of the recent intestine war? the incentive held out to her people to volunteer into her armies, was the plunder of the south. the world has never witnessed such rapacity for gain as marked the armies of the united states in their march through the south. religion and humanity were lost sight of in the general scramble for the goods and the money of the southern people. rings were snatched from the fingers of ladies and torn from their ears; their wardrobes plundered and forwarded to expectant families at home; graves were violated for the plates of gold and silver that might be found upon the coffins; the dead bodies of women and men were unshrouded after exhumation, to search in the coffins and shrouds to see if valuables were not here concealed; and, in numerous instances, the teeth were torn from the skeleton mouths of the dead for the gold plugs, or gold plates that might be found there. nor was this heathenish rapacity confined to the common soldier; the commanders and subalterns participated with acquisitive eagerness, sharing fully with their commands the hellish instincts of their race. they professed to come to liberate the slave, and they uniformly robbed or swindled him of every valuable he might possess--even little children were stripped of their garments, as trophies of war, to be forwarded home for the wear of embryo puritans, as an example for them in future. such are the yankees of - , and ' . they now hold control of the nation; but her mighty heart is sore under their oppression. she is beginning to writhe. it will not be long, before with a mighty effort she will burst the bonds these people have tied about her limbs, will reassert the freedom of her children, and scourge their oppressors with a whip of scorpions. such men as talmadge, humphries, and wolcott are no more to be found in new england. the animus of these men is no longer with these people. the work of change is complete. nothing remains of their religion but its semblance--the fanaticism of cotton mather, without his sincerity--the persecuting spirit of cotton, without the sincerity of his motives. every tie that once united the descendants of the norman with those of the saxon is broken. they are two in interest, two in feeling, two in blood, and two in hatred. for a time they may dwell together, but not in unison; for they have nothing in common but hatred. its fruit is discord, and the day is not distant, when these irreconcilable elements must be ruled with a power despotic as independent, whose will must be law unto both. it is painful to look back fifty years and contrast the harmony then pervading every class of every section with the discord and bitterness of hate which substitutes it to day. then, the national airs of "hail columbia" and "yankee doodle" thrilled home to the heart of every american. to-day, they are only heard in one half of the union to be cursed and execrated. to ask a lady to play one of these airs upon the harp or piano, from the rio grande to the potomac, would be resented as an insult. the fame of washington and john hancock mingled as the united nations; but the conduct of the sons of the puritan fathers has stolen the respect for them from the heart of half of the nation; and now, even the once glorious name of daniel webster stirs no enthusiasm in the bosoms which once beat joyfully to his praise, as it came to them from new england. those who from party purposes proclaim peace and good will, only deceive the world, not themselves, or the people of the south. peace there is; but good will, none. when asked to be given, memory turns to the battle-fields upon southern soil, the bloody graves where the chosen spirits of the south are sleeping, and the heart burns with indignant hatred. generations may come and pass away, but this hatred, this cursed memory of oppressive wrong will live on. the mothers of to-day make for their infants a tradition of these memories, and it will be transmitted as the highlander's cross of fire, from clan to clan, in burning brightness, for a thousand years. the graveyards will no more perish than the legends of the war that made them. they are in our midst, our children, the kindred of all are there--and those who are to come will go there--and their mothers, as hamilcar did, will make them upon these green graves swear eternal hatred to those who with their vengeance filled these sacred vaults. we are expected to love those whose hands are red with the blood of our children; to take to our bosoms the murderers and robbers who have slain upon the soil of their nativity our people, and who have robbed our homes and devastated our country; who have fattened southern soil with southern blood, and enriched their homes with the stolen wealth of ours. are we not men, and manly? do we feel as men? and is not this insult to manliness, and a vile mockery to the feelings of men? we can never forget--we will never forgive, and we will wait; for when the opportunity shall come, as come it will, we will avenge the damning wrong. this may be unchristian, but it is natural--nature is of god and will assert herself. no mawkish pretension, no hypocritical cant, can repress the natural feelings of the heart: its loves and resentments are its strongest passions, and the love that we bore for our children and kindred kindles to greater vigor in the hatred we bear for their murderers. chapter xvii. congress in its brightest days. missouri compromise--john randolph's juba--mr. macon--holmes and crawford--mr. clay's influence--james barbour--philip p. barbour--mr. pinkney--mr. beecher, of ohio--"cuckoo, cuckoo!"--national roads-- william lowndes--william roscoe--duke of argyle--louis mclean--whig and democratic parties. it was at the last session of the fifteenth congress, in the winter of - , when the famous compromise measure, known as the missouri compromise, was effected. a portion of that winter was spent by the writer at washington. congress was then composed of the first intellects of the nation, and the measure was causing great excitement throughout the entire country. missouri, in obedience to a permissory statute, had framed a constitution, and demanded admission into the union as a state. by this constitution slavery was recognized as an institution of the state. objection was made to this clause on the part of the northern members, which led to protracted and sometimes acrimonious debate. at the first session of the congress the admission of the state had been postponed, and during the entire second session it had been the agitating question; nor was it until the very end of the session settled by this famous compromise. the debates were conducted by the ablest men in congress, in both the senate and the house of representatives. in the senate, william pinkney, of maryland; rufus king, of new york; harrison gray otis, of massachusetts; james barbour, of virginia; william smith, of south carolina, and freeman walker, of georgia, were most conspicuous. in the house were john randolph, of virginia; william lowndes, of south carolina; louis mclean, of delaware; thomas w. cobb, of georgia, and louis williams, of north carolina, and many others of less note. henry clay, of kentucky, was speaker of the house during the first session of the congress; but resigned before the meeting of the succeeding congress, and john taylor, of new york, was elected to preside as speaker for the second session. mr. clay was absent from his seat during the early part of this session; and notwithstanding the eminent men composing the congress, there seemed a want of some leading and controlling mind to master the difficulty, and calm the threatening excitement which was intensifying as the debate progressed. mr. randolph was the leader in the debates of the house, and occupied the floor frequently in the delivery of lengthy and almost always very interesting speeches. these touched every subject connected with the government, its history, and its powers. they were brilliant and beautiful; full of classical learning and allusion, and sparkling as a casket of diamonds, thrown upon, and rolling along, a wilton carpet. it seemed to be his pleasure to taunt the opposition to enforce an angry or irritable reply, and then to launch the arrows of his biting wit and sarcasm at whoever dared the response, in such rapid profusion, as to astonish the house, and overwhelm his antagonist. his person was as unique as his manner. he was tall and extremely slender. his habit was to wear an overcoat extending to the floor, with an upright standing collar which concealed his entire person except his head, which seemed to be set, by the ears, upon the collar of his coat. in early morning it was his habit to ride on horseback. this ride was frequently extended to the hour of the meeting of congress. when this was the case, he always rode to the capitol, surrendered his horse to his groom--the ever-faithful juba, who always accompanied him in these rides--and, with his ornamental riding-whip in his hand, a small cloth or leathern cap perched upon the top of his head, (which peeped out, wan and meagre, from between the openings of his coat-collar,) booted and gloved, he would walk to his seat in the house--then in session--lay down upon his desk his cap and whip, and then slowly remove his gloves. if the matter before the house interested him, and he desired to be heard, he would fix his large, round, lustrous black eyes upon the speaker, and, in a voice shrill and piercing as the cry of a peacock, exclaim: "mr. speaker!" then, for a moment or two, remain looking down upon his desk, as if to collect his thoughts; then lifting his eyes to the speaker would commence, in a conversational tone, an address that not unfrequently extended through five hours, when he would yield to a motion for adjournment, with the understanding that he was to finish his speech the following day. he had but few associates. these were all from the south, and very select. with mr. macon, mr. crawford, louis williams, and mr. cobb, he was intimate. he was a frequent visitor to the family of mr. crawford, then secretary of the treasury, where occasionally he met macon and cobb, with other friends of crawford. macon and crawford were his models of upright men. he believed mr. crawford to be the first intellect of the age, and mr. macon the most honest man. the strict honesty of macon captivated him, as it did most men. his home-spun ideas, his unaffected plainness of dress, and primitive simplicity of manner, combined with a wonderful fund of common sense, went home to the heart of randolph, and he loved macon in sincerity. macon and crawford humored his many eccentricities, and would always deferentially listen to him when the humor was on him to talk. it was at such times that randolph was most interesting. he had read much, and to great advantage; he had travelled, and with an observant eye; he knew more, and he knew it more accurately, than any other man of his country, except, perhaps, that wonderful man, william lowndes. in his talking moods all the store-house of his information was drafted into service. his command of language was wonderful. the antithetical manner of expressing himself gave piquancy and _vim_ to his conversation, making it very captivating. he was too impatient, and had too much nervous irritability and too rapid a flow of ideas, to indulge in familiar and colloquial conversation. he would talk all, or none. he inaugurated a subject and exhausted it, and there were few who desired more than to listen when he talked. two or three evenings in the week there would assemble at mr. crawford's a few gentlemen, members of congress. this was especially the case pending the missouri question, when mr. randolph, mr. macon, mr. mclean, mr. holmes, of maine, (a great admirer of mr. crawford,) mr. lowndes, and sometimes one or two gentlemen from pennsylvania, would be present. at these meetings this question was the first and principal topic, and mr. randolph would engross the entire conversation for an hour, when he would almost universally rise, bid good-night, and leave. at other times he would listen attentively, without uttering a word, particularly when crawford or lowndes were speaking. these, then, almost universally, did all the talking. the diversity of opinion scarcely ever prompted reply or interruption. in these conversations the great powers of crawford's mind would break out, astonishing and convincing every one. it was upon one of these occasions, when discussing in connection with the missouri question, the subject of slavery, its influences, and its future, that mr. crawford remarked: "if the union is of more importance to the south than slavery, the south should immediately take measures for the gradual emancipation of the slaves, fixing a period for its final extinction. but if the institution of slavery is of more vital importance than the perpetuation of the union to the south, she should at once secede and establish a government to protect and preserve this institution. she now has the power to do so without the fear of provoking a war. her people should be unanimous, and this agitation has made them so--i believe. i know the love of the union has been paramount to every other consideration with the southern people; but they view, as i do, this attempt to arrest the further spread of slavery as aggressive on the part of congress, and discover an alarming state of the northern mind upon this subject. this with an increasing popular strength may grow into proportions which shall be irresistible, and the south may be ultimately forced to do, what she never will voluntarily do--abolish at once the institution." it was urged by mr. holmes that the constitution guaranteed slavery to the states, that its control and destiny was alone with the states, and there was no danger that the north would ever violate the constitution to interfere with what they had no interest in. "never violate the constitution!" said randolph, in an excited and querulous tone. "mr. holmes, you perhaps know the nature of your people better than i do. but i know them well enough not to trust them. they stickle at nothing to accomplish an end; and their preachers can soon convince them that slavery is a sin, and that they are responsible for its existence here, and that they can only propitiate offended deity by its abolition. you are a peculiar people, holmes, prone to fanaticism upon all subjects, and this fanaticism concentrated as a religious duty--the constitution will only prove a barrier of straw. no, sir; i am unwilling to trust them. they want honesty of purpose, have no sincerity, no patriotism, no principle. your dough-faces will profess, but at a point will fly the track, sir; they can't stand, sir; they can't stand pressing. interest, interest, sir, is their moving motive. do you not see it in their action in this matter? missouri is a fertile and lovely country; they want it for the purpose of settlement with their own people. prohibit slavery to the inhabitants, and no southern man will go there; there will be no competition in the purchase of her land. your people will have it all to themselves; they will flock to it like wild geese, and very soon it is a northern state in northern interest; and, step after step, all the western territory will be in your possession, and you will create states _ab libitum_. you know the constitution permits two-thirds of the states to amend or alter it: establish the principle that congress can exclude slavery from a territory, contrary to the wishes of her people expressed in a constitution formed by them for their government, and how long will it be, before two-thirds of the states will be free? then you can change the constitution and place slavery under the control of congress--and, under such circumstances, how long will it be permitted to remain in any state? "your people are too religious, sir; eminently practical, inventive, restless, cold, calculating, malicious, and ambitious; invent curious rat-traps, and establish missions. i don't want to be trapped, sir; i am too wary a rat for that; and think with mr. crawford, now is the time for separation, and i mean to ask clay to unite with us. yet, sir, i have not spoken to the fellow for years, sir; but i will to-morrow; i will tell him i always despised him, but if he will go to his people, i will to mine, and tell them now is the time for separation from you; and i will follow his lead if he will only do so, if it leads me to perdition. i never did follow it, but in this matter i will. i bid you good night, gentlemen." he waited for no reply, but taking his hat and whip, hurriedly left the room. "can mr. randolph be in earnest?" asked several. "intensely so," replied mr. crawford. "mr. holmes, your people are forcing mr. randolph's opinions upon the entire south. they will not permit northern intermeddling with that which peculiarly interests themselves, and over which they alone hold control." there was a pause, the party was uneasy. there were more than mr. holmes present who were startled at both crawford's and randolph's speculation as to the value of the union. they had ever felt that this was anchored safely in every american breast, and was paramount to every other consideration or interest. it was a terrible heresy, and leading to treason. this was not said, but it was thought, and in no very agreeable mood the party separated for the night. mr. clay had just arrived from kentucky. there had been many speculations as to what course he would pursue in this delicate matter. many had suspended their opinions awaiting his action. the members from ohio were generally acting and voting with those of the east and north. some seemed doubtful, and it was supposed mr. clay would exercise great influence with all the west, and those from ohio, especially. hence, his coming was universally and anxiously awaited. but now he was in washington, all were on the _qui vive_. randolph's declaration was whispered about in the morning, and little coteries were grouped about the hall of the house of representatives. randolph was in conversation, near the speaker's chair, with the clerk, who was pointing and calling his attention to something upon the journal of the house. the hour of meeting was at hand, and the crowd was increasing upon the floor. mr. taylor was in conversation, near the fire-place, on the left of the speaker's chair, with stratford canning, the british plenipotentiary, harrison gray otis, and governor chittenden, of vermont. mr. clay entered in company with william s. archer, a man whose only merit and sole pride was the having been born in virginia; whose pusillanimous arrogance was only equalled by the poverty of his intellect, and who always foisted himself upon the presence of eminent men, deeming he was great because of his impudence and their association. all eyes were turned to clay, and the members flocked about him. releasing himself from these he came up the aisle toward the speaker's chair. mr. randolph stepped into the aisle immediately in front of the chair. at this moment clay discovered him and, towering to his full height, paused within a few feet of him whose eye he saw fixed upon his own. randolph advanced and, without extending his hand, said: "good morning, mr. clay." clay bowed, and randolph immediately said: "i have a duty to perform to my country; so have you, mr. clay. leave your seat here, sir, and return to your people, as i will to mine. tell them, as i will mine, that the time has come: if they would save themselves from ruin, and preserve the liberties for which their fathers bled, they must separate from these men of the north. do so, sir; and, though i never did before, i will follow your lead in the effort to save our people, and their liberties." mr. clay listened, and without apparent surprise remarked, with a smile: "mr. randolph, that will require more reflection than this moment of time affords," and bowing passed on. but a bomb had fallen on the floor, and consternation was on every face. all turned to mr. clay. all saw a crisis was at hand, and that this matter must be settled as speedily as possible. archer filed off with randolph, who affected to pet him, as some men do foils for their wit, in the person of a toady. a few days after this occurrence the famous compromise measure was reported, and the first speech i ever listened to from mr. clay was in its advocacy. about him was gathered the talent of the senate and the house. the lobbies and galleries were filled to overflowing. mr. pinkney, of maryland; landman, of connecticut; rufus king, william lowndes, otis, holmes, macon, and others, all manifested intense interest in the speech of mr. clay. how grandly he towered up over those seated about him! dressed in a full suit of black, his hair combed closely down to his head, displaying its magnificent proportions, with his piercing, gray eyes fixed upon those of the speaker, he poured out, in fervid words, the wisdom of his wonderful mind, and the deep feelings of his great heart. all accorded to him sincerity and exalted patriotism; all knew and confided in his wisdom; all knew him to be a national man, and into the hearts of all his words sank deep, carrying conviction, and calming the storm of angry passions which threatened not only the peace, but the existence of the government. all the majesty of his nature seemed as a halo emanating from his person and features, as, turning to those grouped about him, and then to the house, his words, warm and persuasive, flowing as a stream of melody, with his hand lifted from his desk, he said: "i wish that my country should be prosperous, and her government perpetual. i am in my soul assured that no other can ever afford the same protection to human liberty, and insure the same amount. leave the north to her laws and her institutions. extend the same conciliating charity to the south and west. their people, as yours, know best their wants--know best their interests. let them provide for their own--our system is one of compromises--and in the spirit of harmony come together, in the spirit of brothers compromise any and every jarring sentiment or interest which may arise in the progress of the country. there is security in this; there is peace, and fraternal union. thus we may, we shall, go on to cover this entire continent with prosperous states, and a contented, self-governed, and happy people. to the unrestrained energies of an intelligent and enterprising people, the mountains shall yield their mineral tribute, the valleys their cereals and fruits, and a million of millions of contented and prosperous people shall demonstrate to an admiring world the great problem that man is capable of self-government." there beamed from every countenance a pleased satisfaction, as the members of the senate and the house came up to express their delight, and their determination to support the measure proposed, and so ably advocated. there was oil upon the waters, and the turbulent waves went down. men who had been estranged and angered for many months, met, and with friendly smiles greeted each other again. the ladies in the gallery above rose up as if by a common impulse, to look down, with smiles, upon the great commoner. one whose silvered hair, parted smoothly and modestly upon her aged forehead, fell in two massy folds behind her ears, clasped her hands, and audibly uttered: "god bless him." the reconciliation seemed to be effected, and the confidence and affection between the sections to be renewed with increased fervor and intensity. there was rejoicing throughout the land. dissatisfaction only spake from the pulpits of new england, and there only from those of the puritan congregationalists. but the public heart had received a shock, and though it beat on, it was not with the healthful tone of former days. the men of the revolution were rapidly passing to eternity. the cement of blood which bound these as one was dissolving, and the fabric of their creation was undermined in the hearts of the people, with corroding prejudices, actively fomented by the bigotry of a selfish superstition. a sectional struggle for supremacy had commenced. the control of the government was the aim, and patriotism was consuming in the flame of ambition. the government's security, the government's perpetuity, and the common good, were no longer prime considerations. all its demonstrated blessings had remained as ever the same. stimulated by the same motives and the same ambitions, the new world and the new government were moving in the old groove; and the old world saw repeating here the history of all the governments which had arisen, lived, and passed away, in her own borders. the mighty genius of clay and webster, of jackson and calhoun, had, for a time, stayed the rapid progress of ruin which had begun to show itself, but only for a time. they have been gathered to their fathers, and the controlling influence of their mighty minds being removed, confusion, war, and ruin have followed. the men conspicuous in the debates on the missouri question were giants in intellect, and perhaps few deliberative assemblies of the world ever contained more talent, or more public virtue. at the head of these stood henry clay, pinkney, rufus king, william lowndes, harrison gray otis, william smith, louis mclean, the two barbours, john randolph, freeman walker, thomas w. cobb, and john holmes, of maine. james barbour was a member of the senate; philip p. barbour, of the house. they were brothers, and both from virginia. they were both men of great abilities, but their style and manner were very different. james was a verbose and ornate declaimer; philip was a close, cogent reasoner, without any attempt at elegance or display. he labored to convince the mind; james, to control and direct the feelings. a wag wrote upon the wall of the house, at the conclusion of a masterly argument of philip p. barbour, "two barbers to shave our congress long did try. one shaves with froth; the other shaves dry." of the senate mr. pinkney was the great orator. his speech upon this most exciting question has ever been considered the most finished for eloquence and power, ever delivered in the united states senate. the effect upon the senate, and the audience assembled in the galleries and lobbies of the senate, was thrilling. mr. king was old, but retained in their vigor his faculties, was more tame perhaps than in his younger years; still the clearness and brilliancy of his powerful mind manifested itself in his every effort. mr. pinkney had all the advantages which a fine manly person and clear, musical voice gives to an orator. he spoke but rarely and never without great preparation. he was by no means a ready debater, and prized too much his reputation to hazard anything in an impromptu, extemporaneous address. he listened, for weeks, to king, otis, and others who debated the question, and came at last prepared in one great effort to answer and demolish the arguments of these men. those who listened to that wonderful effort of forensic power will never forget his reply to king, when he charged him with uttering sentiments in debate calculated to incite a servile war. the picture he drew of such a war: the massacring by infuriated black savages of delicate women and children; the burning and destroying of cities; the desolating by fire and sword the country, was so thrilling and descriptively perfect, that you smelt the blood, saw the flames, and heard the shrieks of perishing victims. mr. king shuddered as he looked on the orator, and listened to his impassioned declamation. but when pinkney turned from the president of the senate and, flashing his eye upon king, continued in words hissing in whispers, full of pathos as of biting indignation, mr. king folded his arms and rested his head upon them, concealing his features and emotion from the speaker and the senate. for two hours the senate and galleries were chained as it were to their seats. at times so intense was the feeling, that a pause of the speaker made audible the hard and excited breathing of the audience, catching their breath as though respiration had been painfully suspended and relief had come in this pause. when he had finished and resumed his seat, there was profound silence for many seconds, when a senator in seeming trepidation rose and moved an adjournment. mr. pinkney was in every respect a most finished gentleman, highly bred, only associating with the first men and minds of the country; courteous and polished in his manners, and scrupulously neat in his dress, which was always in the height of fashion and always of the finest and most costly materials. he never came to the senate but in full dress, and would have been mortified to find a mite of lint upon his coat, or a dash of dust upon his boots. at that time the united states senate was the most august and dignified body in the world. what is it to-day? _o tempora, o mores!_ in the house, the palm of oratory was disputed between mr. clay and mr. randolph. their styles were so different, and both so effective, that it was difficult to distinguish by comparison, to which belonged the distinction of being first. mr. clay was always collected and self-possessed--he was, too, always master of his subject; and though he was a ready debater, he never made a set speech upon any important subject without careful preparation. he was not easily disconcerted; courageous, with a strong will, he feared no intemperate opposition, and was never restrained from uttering his sentiments and opinions of men or measures. he was kind and generous, until aroused or offended and, then, was merciless. his sarcasm and invective upon such occasions was withering, and his vehemence daring and terrible. no man of his day had a mind better balanced than mr. clay. his judgment was almost always correct; his imagination brilliant, but always under the control of his judgment; his memory and preceptive faculties were wonderful; his education was defective, and the associations of the west had not given that polish to his manners which distinguishes men of education, reared in educated communities, and associating always with polished society. mr. clay had been at the most polished courts of europe, and was familiar with their most refined society; but these he visited in mature life, after the manners are formed, and habit made them indurate. he had long been familiar, too, with the best society in his own country and, by this, had been much improved. still the kentuckian would sometimes come through the shell, but always in a manner more to delight than offend; besides, mr. clay set little value upon forms and ceremony. there was too much heart for such cold seeming, too much fire for the chill, unfeeling ceremony of what is termed first society. mr. clay's manners partook much of the character of his mind and soul. they were prompt, bold, and easy; his eloquence was bold, rough, and overwhelming. like all men of genius, will, and self-reliance, mr. clay was impatient of contradiction. the similarity in this regard, between jackson, clay, and crawford was wonderful. they were equally passionate, equally impetuous, and equally impatient--all being natural men of great powers and limited education. to say they were self-made, would be paying the almighty a left-handed compliment. but to say they assiduously cultivated his great gifts without much aid from the schoolmaster, would only be doing them unbiased justice. randolph was classically educated. he had enjoyed every advantage of cultivation. socially, he had never mingled with any but refined society. the franchise of suffrage in virginia was confined to the freeholders, thus obviating in the public man the necessity of mingling with, and courting the good opinion of the multitude. the system, too, of electioneering was to address from the hustings the voters, to declare publicly the opinions of candidates, and the policy they proposed supporting. the vote was given _viva voce_. all concurred to make representative and constituent frank and honest. while this system existed, virginia ruled the nation. these means secured the services of the first intellects, and the first characters of her people. the system was a training for debate and public display. eloquence became the first requisite to the candidate, and was the most powerful means of influence and efficiency in the representative. randolph had been thus trained; he had listened to, and been instructed by the eloquence of patrick henry, in his early youth, and in later life had met him as a competitor on the hustings. he had grown up by the side of edmonds, peyton randolph, george mason, and thomas jefferson. in his very youth he had excited the wonder and admiration of these great minds. he was sent into the congress of the united states almost before he was qualified by age to take his seat; and at once took position by the side of such men as william b. giles, william h. crawford, james a. byard, and littleton w. tazwell. his style of speaking was peculiar; his wit was bitter and biting; his sarcasm more pungent and withering than had ever been heard on the floor of congress; his figure was _outre_; his voice, fine as the treble of a violin; his face, wan, wrinkled, and without beard; his limbs, long and unsightly, especially his arms and fingers; the skin seemed to grow to the attenuated bone; and the large, ill-formed joints were extremely ugly. but those fingers, and especially the right fore-finger, gave point and _vim_ to his wit and invective. in his manner he was at times deliberate, and apparently very considerate, and again he was rapid and vehement. when he would demolish an adversary, he would commence slowly, as if to collect all his powers, preparatory to one great onset. he would turn and talk, as it were, to all about him, and seemingly incongruously. it was as if he was slinging and whirling his chain-shot about his head, and circling it more and more rapidly, to collect all his strength for the fatal blow. all knew it would fall, but none knew where, until he had collected his utmost strength, and then, with the electrical flash of his eye, he would mark the victim, and the thundering crash of his vengeance, in words of vehemence, charged with the most caustic satire, would fall upon, and crush the devoted head of his scarce suspecting foe. i remember, upon one occasion, pending the debate upon the missouri question, and when mr. randolph was in the habit of almost daily addressing the house, that a mr. beecher, of ohio, who was very impatient with randolph's tirades, would, in the lengthy pauses made by him, rise from his place, and move the previous question. the speaker would reply: "the member from virginia has the floor." the first and second interruption was not noticed by randolph, but upon the repetition a third time, he slowly lifted his head from contemplating his notes, and said: "mr. speaker, in the netherlands, a man of small capacity, with bits of wood and leather, will, in a few moments, construct a toy that, with the pressure of the finger and thumb, will cry 'cuckoo! cuckoo!' with less of ingenuity, and with inferior materials, the people of ohio have made a toy that will, without much pressure, cry, 'previous question, mr. speaker! previous question, mr. speaker!'" at the same time designating beecher, by pointing at him with his long, skeleton-looking finger. in a moment the house was convulsed with laughter, and i doubt if beecher ever survived the sarcasm. at the time mr. clay came into congress, randolph had no rival upon the floor of the house. he had become a terror to timid men. few ventured to meet him in debate, and none to provoke him. mr. clay's reputation had preceded him. he had before, for a short time, been in the senate. he was known to be the first orator in the west, and the west boasted doddridge, humphrey marshall, john rowan, jesse bledsoe, john pope, and felix grundy. it was not long, before these two met in debate upon the subject of the national road. randolph opposed this measure as unconstitutional, denying to the general government any power to make any improvements within the limits of any state, without the consent of the state. mr. clay claimed the power under that grant which constituted congress competent to establish post-offices and post-roads. the discussion was an excited one. mr. clay was a virginian, but not of randolph's class; besides, he was not now from virginia, and randolph chose to designate him a degenerate, renegade son of the old dominion. he had been reared, as randolph, a democrat of the jeffersonian school. in this he was an apostate from the ancient faith. randolph fully expected an easy victory, and no man upon the floor was more surprised than himself, at the bold, eloquent, and defiant reply of clay. between them the combat was fierce and protracted. randolph had the mortification of seeing western virginia moving with clay, and the entire representation of the western states joining with them. clay was triumphant. the measure became a law, the road was built, and a monument was erected to mr. clay in western virginia, and by virginians. it stands in a beautiful valley, immediately on the road's side. from that time until, as old men, they met in mortal combat upon the banks of the potomac, they were rivals and enemies. randolph was rancorous in his hatred of clay. in proportion as clay rose in the estimation of his countrymen, did randolph's hate increase. clay sprang from the plebeian stock of his native virginia. he had come as the representative of the rustics of kentucky. he was not sanctified by a college diploma. he boasted no long line of ancestry, and yet he had met, and triumphed over, the scions of a boasted line--had bearded the aristocrat upon the field of his fame, and vanquished him. this triumph was followed up, in quick succession, with many others. he was now the cynosure of the nation, and the star of randolph was waning. his disregard of randolph's proposition, to withdraw from congress and denounce the union, and his success in effecting this compromise, sublimated randolph's hatred, and no opportunity was permitted to pass unimproved for abuse of him as a politician, and as a man. william lowndes, after clay, exercised more influence in the house than any other man. he was a south carolinian, and of distinguished family. his health, at this time, was failing: it had always been delicate. mr. lowndes was comparatively a young man. he was remarkably tall: perhaps six feet six inches. he stood a head and shoulders above any man in congress. his hair was golden; his complexion, clear and pale, and his eyes were deep blue, and very expressive. he had been elaborately educated, and improved by foreign travel, extensive reading, and research. as a belles-lettres scholar, he was superior even to mr. randolph. very retiring and modest in his demeanor, he rarely obtruded himself upon the house. when he did, it seemed only to remind the house of something which had been forgotten by his predecessors in debate. sometimes he would make a set speech. when he did, it was always remarkable for profound reasoning, and profound thought. he was suffering with disease of the lungs, and his voice was weak: so much so that he never attempted to elevate it above a conversational tone. so honest was he in his views, so learned and so unobtrusive, that he had witched away the heart of the house. no man was so earnestly listened to as mr. lowndes. his mild and persuasive manner, his refined and delicate deportment in debate and social intercourse captivated every one; and at a time when acrimonious feelings filled almost every breast, there was no animosity for mr. lowndes. his impression upon the nation had made him the favored candidate of every section for the next president; and it is not, perhaps, saying too much, that had his life been spared, he, and not john quincy adams, would have been the president in . he would have been to all an acceptable candidate. his talents, his virtues, his learning, and his broad patriotism had very much endeared him to the intelligence of the country. at that time these attributes were expected in the president, and none were acceptable without them. mr. lowndes in very early life gave evidence of future usefulness and distinction. his thirst for knowledge, intense application, and great capacity to acquire, made him conspicuous at school, and in college. he entered manhood already distinguished by his writings. while yet very young he travelled in europe, and for the purpose of mental improvement. knowledge was the wife of his heart, and he courted her with affectionate assiduity. an anecdote is related of him illustrative of his character and attainments. while in london, he was left alone at his hotel, where none but men of rank and distinction visited, with a gentleman much his senior; neither knew the other. a social instinct, (though not very prominent in an englishman,) induced conversation. after a time the gentleman left the apartment and was returning to the street, when he encountered the duke of argyle. this gentleman was william roscoe, of liverpool, and author of "the life of leo the tenth." "i have been spending a most agreeable hour," he said to the duke, "with a young american gentleman, who is the tallest, wisest, and best bred young man i have ever met." "it must have been mr. lowndes, of south carolina," replied the duke. "he is such a man, i know him and i know no other like him. return and let me make you his acquaintance." he did so, and the acquaintance then commenced, ripened into a friendship which endured so long as they both lived. blue eyes, of a peculiar languid expression; yellow hair, lank and without gloss; with a soft sunny sort of complexion, seems ever to indicate physical weakness. indeed, pale colors in all nature point to brief existence, want of stamina and capacity to endure. all of these combined in the physical organization of mr. lowndes, and served to make more conspicuous the brilliancy of his intellect. it has been said, consumption sublimates the mind, stealing from the body, etherealizing and intensifying the intellect. this was peculiarly the case in the instance of mr. lowndes. as the disease progressed, attenuating and debilitating the physical man, his intellectual faculties grew brighter, and brighter, assuming a lucidity almost supernatural. at length he passed from time while yet young, leaving a vacuum which in south carolina has never been filled. his death was at a time his services were most needed, and as with clay, jackson, and webster; his death was a national calamity. conspicuous among the remarkable men of that era was louis mclean, of delaware. he belonged to the republican school of politics, and was a very honest and able man. he combined very many most estimable traits in his character; open and frank, without concealment; cheerful and mild, without bitterness, and with as few prejudices as any public man. yet he was consistent and firm in his political opinions and principles, as he was devoted and tenacious in his friendships. he was extremely considerate of the feelings and prejudices of other people--had a large stock of charity for the foibles and follies of his friends and political antagonists. in social intercourse he was quite as familiar and intimate with these as with his political friends. difference of political principles did not close his eyes to the virtues and worth of any man, and his respect for talent and uprightness was always manifest in his public and private intercourse with those who differed with him in opinion. his was a happy constitution, and one well fitted to win him friends. personally, with the exception of mr. lowndes, he was perhaps the most popular man upon the floor of the house of representatives. the influence of his character and talent was very great, and his geographical position added greatly to these in his efforts upon the missouri question. his speech was widely read, and no one found fault with it. it was a masterly effort and added greatly to his extended fame. in the character of mr. mclean there was a very happy combination of gentleness with firmness. he carried this into his family, and its influence has made of his children a monument to his fame; they have distinguished, in their characters and conduct, the name and the virtues of their father. it may be said of him what cannot be said of many distinguished men, his children were equal to the father in talent, usefulness, and virtue. the administration of mr. monroe saw expire the federal and republican parties, as organized under the administration of john adams. it saw also the germ of the democratic and whig parties planted. it was a prosperous administration, and under it the nation flourished like a green bay-tree. he was the last of the presidents who had actively participated in the war of the revolution. to other virtues and different merits, those who now aspire to the high distinction of the presidency must owe their success. there must always be a cause for distinction. however great the abilities of a man or exalted his virtues, he must in some manner make a display of them before the public eye, or he must of necessity remain in obscurity. war developes more rapidly and more conspicuously the abilities of men than any other public employment. gallantry and successful conflict presents the commander and subalterns at once prominently before the country; besides military fame addresses itself to every capacity, and strange as it may seem, there is no quality so popular with man and woman, too, as the art of successfully killing our fellow-man, and devastating his country. it is ever a successful claim to public honors and political preferments. no fame is so lasting as a military fame. cæsar and hannibal are names, though they lived two thousand years ago, familiar in the mouths of every one, and grow brighter as time progresses. philip and his more warlike son, alexander, are names familiar to the learned and illiterate, alike; while those who adorned the walks of civil life with virtues, and godlike abilities, are only known to those who burrow in musty old books, and search out the root of civilization enjoyed by modern nations. they who fought at cannæ and marathon, at troy and at carthage, are household names; while those who invented the plough and the spade, and first taught the cultivation of the earth, the very base of civilization, are unknown--never thought of. such is human nature. the war of had developed one or two men only of high military genius, and the furor for military men had not then become a mania. abilities for civil government were considered essential in him who was to be elevated to the presidency. indeed, it was not so much a warrior's fame which had controlled in the election of the previous presidents, as their high intellectual reputations. washington had rendered such services to the country, both as a military man and a civilian, that his name was the nation. he had been everywhere designated as the father of his country, and such was the public devotion, that he had only to ask it, and a despot's crown would have adorned his brow. john adams, jefferson, and madison had no military record; but in the capacity of civilians had rendered essential service to the cause of the revolution. their administrations had been successful, and the public mind attributed this success to their abilities as statesmen, and desired to find as their successors, men of like minds, and similar attainments. crawford, calhoun, clay, john quincy adams, and lowndes, had all of them given evidences of eminent statesmanship, and the public mind among these was divided. at the time of the death of lowndes, this mind was rapidly concentrating upon him, as more eminently uniting the desired qualifications than any other. it was about this very time that general jackson's name began to attract the public as a prominent candidate. mr. calhoun was ready to retire from the contest, and it is very probable his friends would have united in the support of lowndes, but he being out of the way, they united upon jackson. when jackson was first spoken of as a candidate, most men of intelligence viewed it as a mere joke, but very soon the admiration for his military fame was apparent in the delight manifested by the masses, when he was brought prominently forward. that thirst for military glory, and the equally ardent thirst to do homage to the successful military man, was discovered to be as innate and all-pervading with the american people, as with any other of the most warlike nations. had the name of jackson been brought before the people six months earlier than it was, he would, most assuredly, have been triumphantly elected by the popular vote. it would be fruitless to speculate upon what might have been the consequences to the country had he been then chosen. besides, such is foreign to my purpose. i mean merely to record memories of men and things which have come under my eye and to my knowledge, for the last fifty years, and which i may suppose will be interesting to the general reader, and particularly to the young, who are just now coming into position as men and women, and who will constitute the controlling element in society and in the government. to those of my own age, it may serve to awaken reminiscences of a by-gone age, and enable them to contrast the men and things of now and then. chapter xviii. french and spanish territory. settlers on the tombigbee and mississippi rivers--la salle--natchez-- family apportionment--the hill country--hospitality--benefit of african slavery--capacity of the negro--his future. about the year , many persons of the then colonies, fearful of the consequences of the war then commencing for the independence of the colonies, removed and sought a home beyond their limits. some selected the tombigbee, and others the mississippi river, and, braving the horrors of the wilderness, made a home for themselves and posterity, amid the rude inhospitalies of uncultivated nature. there were, at that time, small settlements of french and spanish adventurers upon these streams, in different localities. la salle descended upon canada, and, taking possession of louisiana in the name of the french king, had created among many of the chivalrous and adventurous spirits of france a desire to take possession of the entire country, from the mouth of the saint lawrence to that of the mississippi. nova scotia, called acadia by its first settlers, and the provinces of canada, were his already, and france desired to restrict the further expansion of the english colonies, now growing into importance along the atlantic coast. the vast extent of the continent and its immense fertility, with its mighty rivers, its peculiar adaptation to settlement, and the yielding of all the necessaries and luxuries of human wants, had aroused the enterprise of europe. spain had possessed herself of south america, mexico, and cuba, the pride of the antilles. the success of her scheme of colonization stimulated both england and france to push forward their settlements, and to foster and protect them with governmental care. after some fruitless attempts, the mouth of the mississippi had been discovered, and approached from the gulf. the expedition under la salle had failed to find it. the small colony brought by him for settlement upon the mississippi, had been landed many leagues west of the river's mouth, and owing to disputes between that great and enterprising man and the officer commanding the two ships which had transported them across the atlantic, they were mercilessly left by this officer, without protection, and almost without provisions, upon the coast of what is now texas. la salle had started with a small escort, by land, to find the great river. these men became dissatisfied, and not sharing in the adventurous and energetic spirit of their leader, remonstrated with him and proposed to return to their companions; but, disregarding them, he pressed on in his new enterprise. in wading a small stream, one of the men was carried off by an alligator, and a day or so after, another was bitten and killed by a rattle-snake. terror seized upon his men, and all their persuasions proving fruitless, they determined to assassinate him and return. they did so, only to find the colony dispersed and nowhere to be found. after many hazardous adventures they reached the arkansas river, and descended it to its mouth, where they proposed preparing some means of ascending the mississippi, and thus return to canada. fortunately they had been there but a few hours, when a small boat or two, which had been dispatched from canada to look after the colony so long expected, arrived, and, learning the unfortunate issue of the enterprise, took on board the party, and returned up the river. they reported the colony destroyed, and it was not until many years after, that it was discovered that those left on the sea-side had been found, and conveyed to the jesuit mission, at san antonio, where they had been cared for and preserved by the pious and humane missionaries. subsequently a colony was located at boloxy, on the shore of the lake, and thence was transferred to new orleans. mobile, soon after, was made the nucleus of another colony, and from these two points had proceeded the pioneers of the different settlements along these rivers--the tombigbee and the mississippi. it was to these settlements or posts, or their neighborhoods, that these refugees from the revolutionary war in the colonies had retired. natchez and st. francisville, on the mississippi, and st. stephen's and mcintosh's bluff, on the tombigbee, were the most populous and important. about these, and under the auspicious protection of the spanish government, then dominant in louisiana and florida, commenced the growth of the anglo-norman population, which is now the almost entire population of the country. there proceeded from south carolina, about the time mentioned above, a colony of persons which located near natchez. they came down the holston, tennessee, and mississippi rivers, on flat-boats; and after many escapes from the perils incident to the streams they navigated, and the hostility of the savages who dwelt along their shores, they reached this canaan of their hopes. they had intended to locate at new madrid. the country around was well suited for cultivation, being alluvial and rich, and the climate was all they could desire; but they found a population mongrel and vicious, unrestrained by law or morals, and learning through a negro belonging to the place of an intended attack upon their party, for the purpose of robbery, they hastily re-embarked what of their property and stock they had debarked. under pretense of dropping a few miles lower down the river for a more eligible site, they silently and secretly left in the night, and never attempted another stop until reaching the walnut hills, now vicksburg. a few of the party concluded to remain here, while the larger number went on down; some to the mouth of cole's creek, some to natchez, and others to the cliffs known by the name of one of the emigrants whose party concluded to settle there. these cliffs, which are eighteen miles below natchez, have always been known as ellis' cliffs. in their rear is a most beautiful, and eminently fertile country. grants were obtained from the spanish government of these lands, in tracts suited to the means of each family. a portion was given to the husband, a portion to the wife, and a portion to each child of every family. these grants covered nearly all of that desirable region south of st. catharine's creek and west of second creek to the mississippi river, and south to the homochitto river. similar grants were obtained for lands about the mouth, and along the banks of cole's creek, at and around fort adams, ten miles above the mouth of red river, and upon the bayou pierre. the same authority donated to the emigrants lands about mcintosh's bluff, fort st. stephens, and along bassett's creek, in the region of the tombigbee river. here the lands were not so fertile, nor were they in such bodies as in the region of the mississippi. the settlements did not increase and extend to the surrounding country with the same rapidity as in the latter country. many of those first stopping on the tombigbee, ultimately removed to the mississippi. here they encountered none of the perils or losses incident to the war of the revolution. the privations of a new country they did, of necessity, endure, but not to the same extent that those suffer who are deprived of a market for the products of their labor. new orleans afforded a remunerative market for all they could produce, and, in return, supplied them with every necessary beyond their means of producing at home. the soil and climate were not only auspicious to the production of cotton, tobacco, and indigo--then a valuable marketable commodity--but every facility for rearing without stint every variety of stock. these settlements were greatly increased by emigration from pennsylvania, subsequently to the conclusion of the war, as well as from the southern states. very many who, in that war, had sided with the mother country from conscientious, or mercenary views, were compelled by public opinion, or by the operation of the law confiscating their property and banishing them from the country, to find new homes. those, however, who came first had choice of locations, and most generally selected the best; and bringing most wealth, maintained the ascendency in this regard, and gave tone and direction to public matters as well as to the social organization of society. most of them were men of education and high social position in the countries from which they came. constant intercourse with new orleans, and the education of the youth of both sexes of this region in the schools of that city, carried the high polish of french society into the colony. louisiana, and especially new orleans, was first settled by the nobility and gentry of france. they were men in position among the first of that great and glorious people. animated with the ambition for high enterprise, they came in sufficient numbers to create a society, and to plant french manners and customs, and the elegance of french learning and french society, upon the banks of the mississippi. the commercial and social intermingling of these people resulted in intermarriages, which very soon assimilated them in most things as one people, at least in feeling, sentiment and interest. from such a stock grew the people inhabiting the banks of the mississippi, from vicksburg to new orleans. in , young men of talent and enterprise had come from europe, and every section of the united states, and, giving their talents to the development of the country, had created a wealth, greater and more generally diffused than was, at that time, to be found in any other planting or farming community in the united states. living almost exclusively among themselves, their manners and feelings were homogeneous; and living, too, almost entirely upon the products of their plantations, independent of their market-crops, they grew rich so rapidly as to mock the fable of jonah's gourd. this wealth afforded the means of education and travel; these, cultivation and high mental attainments, and, with these, the elegances of refined life. the country was vast and fertile; the mississippi, flowing by their homes, was sublimely grand, and seemed to inspire ideas and aspirations commensurate with its own majesty in the people upon its borders. in no country are to be found women of more refined character, more beauty, or more elegance of manners, than among the planters' wives and daughters of the mississippi coast. reared in the country, and accustomed to exercise in the open air, in walking through the shady avenues of the extensive and beautifully ornamented grounds about the home or plantation-house; riding on horseback along the river's margin, elevated upon the levee, covered with the green bermuda grass, smoothly spreading over all the ground, save the pretty open road, stretching through this grass, like a thread of silver in a a cloth of green; with the great drab river, moving in silent majesty, on one side, and the extended fields of the plantation, teeming with the crop of cane or cotton, upon the other. their exercise, thus surrounded, becomes a school, and their ideas expand and grow with the sublimity of their surroundings. the health-giving exercise and the wonderful scene yields vigor both to mind and body. nor is this scene, or its effects, greater in the development of mind and body than that of the hill-country of the river-counties of mississippi. these hills are peculiar. they are drift, thrown upon the primitive formation by some natural convulsion, and usually extend some twelve or fifteen miles into the interior. they consist of a rich, marly loam, and, when in a state of nature were clothed to their summits with the wild cane, dense and unusually large, a forest of magnolia, black walnut, immense oaks, and tulip or poplar-trees, with gigantic vines of the wild grape climbing and overtopping the tallest of these forest monarchs. here among these picturesque hills and glorious woods, the emigrants fixed their homes, and here grew their posterity surrounding themselves with wealth, comforts, and all the luxuries and elegances of an elevated civilization. surrounded in these homes with domestic slaves reared in them, and about them, who came at their bidding, and went when told, but who were carefully regarded, sustained, and protected, and who felt their family identity, and were happy, served affectionately, and with willing alacrity, the master and his household. in the midst of scenes and circumstances like these grew women in all that constitutes nobility of soul and sentiment, delicacy, intelligence, and refined purity, superior to any it has ever been my fortune to meet on earth. here in these palatial homes was the hospitality of princes. it was not the hospitality of pride or ostentation, but of the heart; the welcome which the soul ungrudgingly gives, and which delights and refines the receiver. it is the welcome of a refined humanity, untainted with selfishness, and felt as a humane and duly bound tribute to civilization and christianity; such hospitality as can only belong to the social organization which had obtained in the community from its advent upon this great country. the independence of the planter's pursuit, the institution of domestic slavery, and the form and spirit of the government, all conduce to this. the mind is untrammelled and the soul is independent, because subservient neither to the tyrannical exactions of unscrupulous authority, or the more debasing servility of dependence upon the capricious whims of petty officials, or a monied aristocracy. independently possessing the soil and the labor for its cultivation, with only the care necessary to the comforts and necessities of this labor, superadded to those of a family, they were without the necessity of soliciting or courting favors from any one, or pandering to the ignorant caprices of a labor beyond their control. independence of means is the surest guarantee for independence of character. where this is found, most private and most public virtues always accompany it. truth, sincerity, all the cardinal virtues are fostered most where there is most independence. this takes away the source of all corruption, all temptation. this seeks dependence, and victimizes its creatures to every purpose of corruption and meanness. under the influences of the institutions of the south, as they were, there was little of the servile meanness so predominant where they were not, and the lofty and chivalrous character of the southern people was greatly owing to these institutions, and the habits of the people growing out of them. the slave was a class below all others. his master was his protector and friend; he supplied his wants and redressed his wrongs, and it was a point of honor as well as duty to do so; he was assured of his care and protection, and felt no humility at his condition. the white man, without means, was reminded that, though poor, he was above the slave, and was stimulated with the pride of position as contrasted with that of the slave; his political, legal, and social rights were unrestrained and equal with those of the wealthiest. this was the only distinction between him and the wealthiest in the land, and this wealth conferred no exclusive privilege, and its acquisition was open to his energy and enterprise, and he gloried in his independence. he could acquire and enjoy without dependence, and his pride and ambition were alike stimulated to the emulation of those who shared most fortune's favors. the beneficial influences of the institution of african slavery were not only apparent in the independent and honorable bearing and conduct of the southern people, growing from the habit of command, and involuntary contrast of condition, but upon the material advancement and progress of the country. the product of slave labor, when directed by a higher intelligence than his own, is enormous, and was the basis of the extended and wealth-creating commerce of the entire country. these products could be obtained in no other manner, and without this labor, are lost to the world. the african negro, in osseous and muscular developments, and in all the essentials for labor, is quite equal to those of the white race; in his cerebral, greatly inferior. the capacities of his brain are limited and incapable of cultivation beyond a certain point. his moral man is as feeble and unteachable as his mental. he cannot be educated to the capacity of self-government, nor to the formation and conducting of civil government to the extent of humanizing and controlling by salutary laws a people aggregated into communities. he learns by example which he imitates, so long as the exampler is present before him; but this imitation never hardens to fixed views or habits, indicating the design of providence, that these physical capacities should be directed and appropriated for good, by an intelligence beyond the mental reach of the negro. why is this so? in the wisdom and economy of creation every created thing represents a design for a use. the soil and climate of the tropical and semi-tropical regions of the earth produce and mature all, or very nearly all of the necessaries and luxuries of human life. but human beings of different races and different capacities fill up the whole earth. the capacity to build a fire and fabricate clothing is given only to man. was the element of fire and the material for clothing given for any but man's use? this enables him to inhabit every clime. but the capacity to produce all the necessaries and luxuries of life is given only to a certain portion of the earth's surface; and its peculiar motions give the fructifying influences of the sun only to the middle belt of the planet. the use of this organization is evidenced in the production of this belt, and these productions must be the result of intelligently directed labor. the peculiarity of the physical organization of the white man makes it impossible for him to labor healthfully and efficiently for the greatest development of this favored region. yet his wants demand the yield and tribute of this region. his inventive capacity evolved sugar from the wild canes of the tropics, than which nothing is more essential to his necessities, save the cereals and clothing. he fabricated clothing from the tropical grass and tropical cotton, found the uses of cassia, pimento, the dye woods, and the thousand other tropical products which contribute to comfort, necessity, and luxury; advancing human happiness, human progress, and human civilization. the black man's organization is radically different. he was formed especially to live and labor in these tropical and semi-tropical regions of the earth; but he is naturally indolent, his wants are few, and nature unaided supplies them. he is uninventive, and has always, from creation down, lived amid these plants without the genius to discover, or the skill and industry to develope their uses. that they are used, and contribute to human health and human necessities, is abundant evidence of divine design in their creation. the black man's labor, then, and the white man's intelligence are necessary to the production and fabrication, for human use, of these provisions of providence. this labor the black man will not yield without compulsion. he is eminently useful under this compulsion, and eminently useless, even to himself, without it. that he was designed to obey this authority, and to be most happy when and where he was most useful, is apparent in his mental and moral organization. by moral i mean those functions of the nervous system which bring us in relation with the external world. he aspires to nothing but the gratification of his passions, and the indulgence of his indolence. he only feels the oppression of slavery in being compelled to work, and none of the moral degradation incident to servility in the higher or superior races. he is, consequently, more happy, and better contented in this, than in any other condition of life. his morals, his bodily comforts, and his status as a man, attain to an elevation in this condition known to his race in no other. all the results of his condition react upon the superior race, holding him in the condition designed for him by his creator, producing results to human progress all over the world, known to result in an equal ratio from no other cause. the institution has passed away, and very soon all its consequences will cease to be visible in the character of the southern people. the plantation will dwindle to the truck-patch, the planter will sink into the grave, and his offspring will degenerate into hucksters and petty traders, and become as mean and contemptible as the puritan yankee. in the two hundred years of african slavery the world's progress was greater in the arts and sciences, and in all the appliances promotive of intelligence and human happiness, than in any period of historical time, of five centuries. why? because the labor was performed by the man formed for labor and incapable of thinking, and releasing the man formed to think, direct, and invent, from labor, other than labor of thought. this influence was felt over the civilized world. the productions of the tropics were demanded by the higher civilization. men forgot to clothe themselves in skins when they could do so in cloth. as commerce extended her flight, bearing these rich creations of labor, elaborated by intelligence, civilization went with her, expanding the mind, enlarging the wants, and prompting progress in all with whom she communicated. its influence was first felt from the antilles, extending to the united states. in proportion to the increase of these products was the increase of commerce, wealth, intelligence, and power. compare the statistics of production by slave-labor with the increase of commerce, and they go hand in hand. as the slave came down from the grain-growing region to the cotton and sugar region, the amount of his labor's product entering into commerce increased four-fold. the inventions of whitney and arkwright cheapened the fabric of cotton so much as to bring it within the reach of the poorest, and availed the world in all the uses of cloth. the shipping and manufacturing interests of england grew; those of the united states, from nothing, in a few years were great rivals of the mother country, and very soon surpassed her in commercial tonnage. every interest prospered with the prosperity of the planter of the southern states. his class has passed away; the weeds blacken where the chaste, white cotton beautified his fields; his slave is a freedman--a constitution-maker--a ruler set up by a beastly fanaticism to control his master, and to degrade and destroy his country. this must bear its legitimate fruit. it is the beginning of the end of the negro upon this continent. two races with the same civil, political and social privileges cannot long exist in harmony together. the struggle for supremacy will come, and with it a war of races--then god have mercy on the weaker! the mild compulsion which stimulated his labor is withdrawn, and with it the care and protection which alone preserved him. he works no more; his day of jubilee has come; he must be a power in the land. infatuated creature! i pity you from my heart. you cannot see or calculate the inevitable destiny now fixed for your race. you cannot see the vile uses you are made to subserve for a time, or deem that those who now appear your conservators, are but preparing your funeral pyre. chapter xix. the natchez traditions. natchez--mizezibbee; or, the parent of many waters--indian mounds--the child of the sun--treatment of the females--poetic marriages--unchaste maids and pure wives--walking archives--the profane fire--alahoplechia --oyelape--the chief with a beard. the little city of natchez is built upon a bluff some three hundred feet in elevation above the mississippi river, and immediately upon its brink. it receives its name from a tribe of indians once resident in the country; and who were much further advanced in civilization than their more warlike neighbors, the choctaws and the chickasaws. the country around is hilly and beautiful, fertile and salubrious. the population was intelligent and refined, and was remarkable for having more wealth than any community outside of a large city, in the united states, of the same amount of population. the town of natchez (for, properly speaking, it is no more) consists of some three or four thousand inhabitants, and has not increased to any considerable extent, for many years. beyond the river, in louisiana, is an alluvial plain extending for fifty miles, through which meander many small streams, or bayous, as they are termed in the language of the country. upon most of these the surface of the soil is slightly elevated above the plane of the swamp, and is remarkably fertile. most of these were, at the commencement of the late war, in a high state of cultivation as cotton plantations. as in many other places, the river here has changed its bed by cutting off a large bend immediately opposite the town, creating what is known as lake concordia. this lake was formerly the bed of the river, and describes almost a complete circle of some twelve miles in diameter. on both sides of this lake beautiful plantations, with splendid improvements, presented a view from the bluff at natchez extremely picturesque when covered with luxuriant crops of corn and cotton. the fertility of the soil is such that these crops are immensely heavy; and when the cotton-plant has matured its fruit, and the pent-up lint in the large conical balls has burst them open, exposing their white treasure swelling out to meet the sun's warm rays, and the parent stock to the first frost of autumn has thrown off her foliage, and all these broad fields are one sheet of lovely white, as far as the eye can view--the scene is lovely beyond description; and when the same rich scene was presented extending along the banks of the great river, with the magnificent steamers resting at the wharf below, and others cleaving the current in proud defiance of the mighty volume of hurrying waters--the splendor and magnificence of the whole sublimated the feelings as we viewed it in wonder. the river, the bluff, and the lake are there; but waste and desolation frown on these, and the fat earth's rich fruits are yielded no more. fanaticism's hot breath has breathed upon it, and war's red hand (her legitimate offspring) has stricken down the laborer; tillage has ceased, and gaunt poverty and hungry want only are left in her train. when the great la salle moored his little fleet at the foot of this bluff, ascended to its summit, and looked over this then forest-clad plain, did he contemplate the coming future of this beautiful discovery of his genius and enterprise? when he looked upon the blue smoke curling above the tall tree-tops along the lake, in the far distance, as it ascended from the wigwams of the natchez, the wild denizens of this interminable forest, did his prophetic eye perceive these lovely fields, happy homes, and prosperous people, who came after him to make an eden of this chosen spot of all the earth? and did it stretch on to contemplate the ruin and desolation which overspreads it now? how blest is man that he sees not beyond to-day! here he first met the natchez, and viewed with wonder the flat heads and soft, gazelle eyes of this strange people. they welcomed his coming, and tendered him and his people a home. from them he learned the extent of the great river below, and that it was lost in the great water that was without limit and had no end. these indians, according to their traditions, had once inhabited, as a mighty nation, the country extending from near the city of mexico to the rio grande, and were subjects of the aztec empire of mexico. they had been persecuted and oppressed, and determined, in grand council, to abandon the country and seek a home beyond the mizezibbee, or parent-of-many-waters, which the word signifies. their exodus commenced in a body. they were many days in assembling upon the east bank of the rio grande; and thence commenced their long march. they abandoned their homes and the graves of their ancestors for a new one in the lovely region they found on the hills extending from the mouth of the yazoo to baton rouge. their principal town and seat of empire was located eleven miles below natchez, on the banks of second creek, two miles from the mississippi river. it is a delightful spot of high table-land, with a small strip of level low-land immediately upon the margin of the dimpling little stream of sweet water. upon this flat they erected the great mound for their temple of the sun, and the depository of the holy fire, so sacred in their worship. at each point of the compass they erected smaller mounds for the residences of their chief, or child of the sun, and his ministers of state. in the great temple upon the principal mound they deposited the fire of holiness, which they had borne unextinguished from the deserted temple in mexico, and began to build their village. parties went forth to establish other villages, and before a great while they were located in happy homes in a land of abundance. they formed treaties of amity with their powerful but peaceable neighbors, the choctaws, and ere long with the chickasaws and other minor tribes, east, and below them, on the river, the tunicas, houmas, and others; for the country abounded with little bands, insignificant and powerless. these indians revered, as more than mortal, their great chief, whom they called the child of the sun. they had a tradition that when they were a great nation, in mexico, they were divided into parties by feuds among their chiefs, and all their power to resist the aggressions of their enemies was lost; consequently they had fallen under the power of the aztecs, who dominated them, and destroyed many of their people. upon one occasion, when a common enemy and a common suffering had made them forget their quarrels, they were assembled for council. suddenly there appeared in their midst a white man and woman, surrounded with a halo of light coming directly from the sun. they were all silent with awe when this man spoke, and with such authority as to make every chief tremble with fear. they bowed to him with reverence, and he professing to be weary with his long journey, they conducted him with his wife to a lodge, and bade them repose and be rested. the chiefs, in the darkness of the night and in silence, assembled, while the celestial pair slept, conscious of security. after long and close council, they determined to proffer the supreme authority of the nation to this man, sent to them by the sun. when this determination had been reached, the chiefs, in a body, repaired to the house occupied by their mysterious visitors and, arousing them from sleep, they formally tendered to the man the crown and supreme authority over the chiefs, all their villages, and all their people. at first he refused, asserting that he knew their hearts; they carried hatred of one another, and that they would come to hate him; then they would disobey him, and this would be death to all the natchez. finally yielding to the importunities and earnestly repeated protestations of a determination to obey him and follow his counsels implicitly, he agreed to accept the crown upon certain conditions. these were: first and paramount, that the natchez should abandon their homes and country, and follow him to a new home which he would show them; and that they should live and conform strictly to the laws he would establish. the principal of these were: the sovereign of natchez should always and forever be of his race, and that if he had sons and daughters, they should not be permitted to intermarry with each other, but only with the people of the natchez. the first-born of his sons should be his successor, and then the son of his eldest daughter, and should he have no daughter, then the son of his eldest sister, or in default of such an heir, then the eldest son of the nearest female relative of the sovereign, and so in perpetuity. so soon as he was inaugurated chief and supreme ruler, he went out in the midst of the assembled multitude and called down in their presence fire from the sun; blessed it and made it holy. he created a guard of eight men, made them priests and gave them charge of the fire, and bid them, under pain of death, to preserve and keep alive this holy fire. they must tend it day and night and feed it with walnut wood, and in their charge it went before the moving host to where he had promised they should find a new and better home than the one they were leaving. another tradition says, they were aiders of the spaniards in the conquest of mexico, and that these became as great persecutors of their people as the aztecs. but from many of their traditions connected with their new home which extended back far beyond the conquest of mexico, it is thought by historians that this tradition alludes to some other war in which they took part against their oppressors. they were remarkable for their size and symmetry of form of their men; but like all the race, they made slaves of their women, imposing every burden from the cultivation of their fields to the duties of the household--the carrying of heavy burdens and the securing of fuel for winter. these labors served to disfigure and make their women to appear prematurely aged and worn, and they seemed an inferior race when compared with the men. the laws imposed by their chief of the sun were strictly obeyed. they compelled the telling of truth on all occasions; never to kill, but in self-defence; never to steal, and to preserve inviolate the marriage-vow. the marriage ceremony was poetic and impressive. no girl ever dreamed of disobeying her parents in the choice of a husband; nor was elopement ever heard of among them; nor did the young man presume to thrust himself upon a family to whom, or to any member of whom, he was not acceptable. but when the marriage was agreeable to the families of both parties and was consequently determined upon, the head of the family of the bride went with her and her whole family to the house of the bridegroom, who there stood with all his family around him, when the old man of the bridegroom's family welcomed them, by asking: "is it thou?" "yes," answered the other ancient. "sit down," continued the other. immediately all were seated, and a profound silence for many minutes ensued. then the eldest man of the party bid the groom and bride to stand up, when he addressed them in a speech in which he recapitulated all the duties of man and wife; informed them of the obligations they were assuming, and then concluded with a lecture of advice as to their future lives. when this ceremony was concluded, the father of the bridegroom handed to his son the present he was to make to the family of the bride. then the father of bride stepped up to the side of his daughter, when the groom said to the bride: "wilt thou have me for thy husband?" the bride answered: "with all my heart; love me as i will love thee; for thou art my only love for all my life." then holding the gift above her head, the groom said: "i love thee; therefore i take thee for my wife, and this is the present with which i buy thee," and then he handed the present to her parents. upon his head he wore a tuft of feathers, and in his hand a bow, emblematic of authority and protection. the bride held in one hand a green twig of the laurel-tree, and in the other an ear of corn--the twig indicated she would preserve her fame ever fair and sweet as the laurel leaf; the corn was to represent her capacity to grow it and prepare it for his food, and to fulfil all the duties of a faithful wife. these ceremonies completed, the bride dropped the ear of corn which she held in her right hand, and tendered that hand to the bridegroom, who took it and said: "i am thy husband." she replied: "i am thy wife." the bridegroom then went round and gave his hand to every member of the family of his wife. he then took his bride by the arm and led her around and she took the right hand of all the family of the bridegroom. this done, he walked with her to his bed, and said: "this is our bed, keep it undefiled." there obtained among these primitive beings a most curious and most disgusting custom. the young marriageable females were permitted to prostitute themselves for gain, in order to provide a marriage portion; and she who could thus enrich herself was the most distinguished and the most sought. but after marriage, she was compelled to purity, both by their laws and by public sentiment; and in all the intercourse of the french with them, no instance of infidelity was ever known in a wife. the great sun was indeed their lycurgus. if before his advent among them they had any laws, these had become obsolete, and his edicts adopted universally. their traditions represent him as living to extreme old age, seeing his descendants of the fourth generation. these were all little suns, and constituted the nobility of their nation, which extended at one time to the country above, as far as st. louis and across to the wabash. these traditions were carefully kept. every two years there were selected from the most intelligent boys of the nation ten, to whom these traditions were carefully taught by the depositories of them who had kept them best for the greatest time. they were careful to exact that no word or fact should be withheld, and this lesson was daily taught until the boy was a man, and every legend a familiar memory. these he was compelled to repeat daily lest the memory should rust, and for this purpose they went forth to all the villages repeating all of these legends to all the people. there were others selected in like manner to whom the laws were taught as the traditions, and in like manner these were taught the people. in every community there was a little sun to administer these laws, and every complaint was submitted to him, and great ceremony was observed at every trial, especially criminal trials. the judge, or little sun, purified himself in the forest, imploring the enlightenment of the good spirit, and purging away the influence of bad spirits by his purification; and when he felt himself a fitted tabernacle of pure justice, he came forward and rendered his judgment in the presence of all the villagers of his jurisdiction, whose attention was compulsory. it was one of the laws established in the beginning of the reign of the great sun, that his posterity should not marry _inter se_, but only with the common people of the nation. this custom was expelling the pure blood of royalty more and more every generation, and long after the arrival of the natchez upon the mississippi, the great and little suns were apparently of the pure blood of the red man. their traditions, however, preserved the history of every cross, and when lasalle found these at natchez and the white apple village, nearly every one could boast of relationship to the great sun. at that time they had diminished to an insignificant power, and were overawed by their more numerous and more powerful neighbors, the choctaws and muscagees or alabamas. their legends recorded this constant decline, but assigned no reason for it. they could now not bring more than two thousand warriors into the field. gayarie says not more than six hundred; but those contemporaneous with planting the colony of orleans say, some two thousand, some more, and some estimate them as low as the number stated in that admirable history of louisiana whose author is so uniformly correct. and here let me acknowledge my obligations to that accomplished historian, and no less accomplished gentleman, for most of the facts here stated, and if i have used his own language in portraying them to a great extent, it was because it was so pure and beautiful i could not resist it, the excuse the brazilian gave for stealing the diamond. with regard to these people, their mode of life was that of most of the other tribes. they lived principally by the chase; their only cultivation was the indian corn, pumpkins, and a species of wild beans or peas, perfectly black, until their intercourse with the french, and then they only added a few of the coarser vegetables. from whom they derived the pumpkin is not known. their wars were not more frequent or more destructive than those of their neighbors; and their general habits were the same. still they were going on to decay, and they contemplated with stolid calmness their coming extinction. they felt it a destiny not to be averted or avoided by anything they could do, and were content with the excuse of folly for all its errors and sins. _it is the will of god, or the great spirit, as the indian phrases it._ they were more enlightened than their neighbors, as historians have stated, because, i suppose, they were more superstitious. they bowed to fate, the attribute of superstition everywhere, and made no effort at relief from the causes of decay. their religion, like all the aborigines of the continent, consisted in the worship of the great spirit typified in the sun, to whom was addressed their prayers and all their devotion. the sacred fire was the emblem on earth; their great sun had brought it from the sun and given it as holy to them to be forever preserved and propitiated by watching and prayer. in every village and settlement they erected mounds upon which the temple of the sun was built, and where was deposited the sacred fire. mounds, too, were built for burying-places, and in these are now to be found in great abundance the flat heads and other bones of this remarkable people. they had a tradition that an evil spirit was always tempting them to violate the laws, and the regulations of their religious belief. that at one time he had so nearly extinguished the holy fire in their temples, and the love of the sun in their hearts, that the great spirit came and fought with them against him, until finally he was conquered and chained in a deep cave, whence he still continued to send out little devils to tempt and torment their people. it was these who brought disease and death; these who tempted to lie, steal, and kill; disobedience in their wives when they refused to perform their duties or became bellicose, as wives sometimes will, of every people on earth. it was a trite saying, shut up the cave in your heart and smother or put out the bad spirit. it was a belief that these imps or little devils found much more easy access to the caves in the hearts of women than into those of men, and that they encouraged them to come and nestle there. is the belief alone the indian's? there are some within my knowledge whose experience at home might readily yield belief to this faith of the savage. their traditions, too, told them of the great waters coming over all the land, and destroying all the inhabitants except those who had boats; and that the latter were carried away by the waters and left by them on all the land that was permitted again to come above the waters; and that by that means people were planted everywhere. these traditions are quite as rational as most of the speculations as to how the earth was populated, especially that which we learn in the cradle, of adam and eve's mission. it was death, by their law, to permit the holy fire to become extinguished in the temples. to prevent such a calamity, it was preserved in two temples at different points; when accidentally extinguished in one, it was to be obtained from the other; but not peacefully. the keepers must resist and blood must be spilt in order to obtain it. soon after they became acquainted with the french, the fire was extinguished in the great temple at the white apple village by the lazy watcher. knowing his fate, he stealthily lighted it from profane fire. great misfortunes following this, and shortly thereafter the loss of the holy fire in the other temple near the grindstone ford, on the bayou pierre, in claiborne county, mississippi, they sought after the legal and holy manner to procure fire from the white apple village. yet the calamities continued. the watch who had suffered the fire to fail in the first temple, conscience smitten, confessed his sin and paid its penalty. they now had only profane fire, and the whole nation was in the agonies of despair. the cause of all their calamities was now no longer a secret. they extinguished the profane fire, and in prayer, fasting, and continued oblations, they propitiated the sun to send them fire that was holy, to protect and preserve them. it was the folly of ignorance and superstition, and availed nothing; but, like all prayer, was considered a pious duty, though nothing was ever known to result therefrom, and nature moved steadily and undeviatingly forward in obedience to the fixed, immutable, and eternal laws affirmed by the all-wise creator. there was gloom upon every brow and despair in every heart. the curse pronounced by the first great sun had come--destruction and death to all the natchez--because of the extinction of the holy fire. at length a tree was stricken by lightning near the white apple village temple, and set on fire. the men of the temple saw the answer to their prayers in this, and hastened to re-kindle the holy flame from this fire, so miraculously sent them from heaven. it was to them a miracle, because, though perfectly in obedience to natural laws, they did not comprehend them, and like unto all people under similar circumstances, all in nature is a miracle which they do not understand, and cannot satisfactorily explain. but there was no efficiency found in this, and the trouble went forward. the french had come among them, and taught them the value and corrupting influence of money. boats had ascended and descended the great river, and communication, through this channel, had been established with canada. they were grasping, by degrees, the lands, building forts and peopling the country. they had introduced the black man, and the wiser of the natchez saw in the future the doom of their race. they saw the feuds fomented between the numerous tribes along the coast of the mississippi by the french, and the destruction of these by bloody wars. they saw, too, to offend the french was sure to bring destruction upon the offending party. their neighbors were made, through french influence, to fall upon and destroy them. the chickasaws and choctaws--great nations, having multitudes of warriors--were under the dominion of these pale-faced intruders, and they feared they might be turned upon them in an unsuspecting hour. there was among the natchez a mighty chief and warrior. he was of great stature and fame, being seven feet high and powerfully proportioned. he had a large beard, and was called the chief of the beard, because he was the only man of all the tribe who had this facial ornament or incumbrance. he was a mighty warrior and was wise in counsel. he believed he saw great evil to the natchez in the increase of the french and the extension of french power. he knew, and told his people, this was the foreboding of the extinction of the holy fire. he went forth with the chief of the walnut hills, named alahoplechia, and the chief of the white clay, oyelape, among their neighbors of other tribes, the chicasaws and choctaws, preaching a crusade against the french; urging them to unite with the natchez, the homochittas, and the alabamas, and to attack and destroy the last man of the french settlements at mobile, boloxy, ship island, and new orleans, as they were mischievous intruders from across the salt lake, whence they were yearly bringing their people to rob them of their homes and appropriate them. there had come to them red men from the wabash and muskingum, who bore to them the sad news of the encroachments of the pale-faces upon their people and their hunting-grounds. "soon," said the bearded chief, who was the leading spirit of the mission, "these white faces will meet along the great river. they will forget the arrow of truth and the tomahawk of justice. they will only know power and oppression. then they will be mighty as the hurricane when the great sun hides his face in wrath and the tempest tears the forest. who can resist him then? the holy fire has been sent again from heaven, from the great spirit, our god, the great sun. it tells us to save our people from this fearful destruction which comes with the white man. these pale-faces are cunning; they must not know of our union. we must not counsel long, or they will learn our intentions. we must strike at once. the choctaws must strike at mobile. at the same moment, homochittas, boloxies, and homas, you must strike at boloxi. the chickasaws and the natchez will fall upon new orleans and rosalie." (the latter is the indian name for what is now natchez.) his advice was startling, but unheeded. in order to precipitate a war, on his return with the chiefs who accompanied him and two warriors, they murdered a trading-party of french, at the hills where is now warrenton, in warren county, mississippi. this murder was communicated to the french who, under bienville, were sent by cordelac, then governor of louisiana, to take revenge, by waging war upon the natchez. bienville was hated by cordelac, because he had refused the hand of his daughter, formally tendered him by her father. he only gave the young and sagacious commander a small force with which to wage this war--such an one as would have been overwhelmed at once had he attempted open field movements. knowing this, he proceeded to an island opposite the village of the tunicas, where he entrenched himself and invited a conference. three spies were sent by the natchez to reconnoitre; but they were baffled by bienville with superior cunning. they were sent back as not the equals of bienville, and with a message to the great sun that he must come with his chiefs, that he desired to establish trading-posts among them, and would only treat with the first in authority. they came with a consciousness that the french were ignorant of these murders, and were immediately arrested and ironed. bienville told them at once of the murder, and of his determination to have the murderers and to punish them. he had the great sun, the stung serpent, and the little sun. the latter was sent to bring the heads of the murderers, and he returned with three heads; but bienville, after examining these, told the chiefs they had treacherously deceived him, and that those were not the heads of the murderers. after a night's consultation they concluded it was impossible to deceive him, and in the morning confessed the whole truth, proposing to send stung serpent to bring the real murderers. but knowing the wily character of this chief and his influence with his tribe, he was not permitted to go. the young sun was dispatched, and succeeded in bringing the chief of the beard and the chief of the walnut hills, with the two warriors; but oyelape had fled and could not be had. he had probed to the truth of the french expedition; and being guilty, cunningly and wisely made his escape. the death sentence was passed upon these, and the two warriors were shot at once; but the two chiefs were reserved for execution to another day. upon the sentence being communicated to them they commenced to chant the death-song of their people, which they continued to do throughout all the time, night and day, until led forth for execution. the great sun, stung serpent, his brother, and all the other indians were brought out to witness the execution. when the two condemned chiefs were brought forward, these witnesses of their death sang the death-song; but the chief of the beard looked sternly at them, and defiantly at the executioners; and taking his position, turned to his people and, addressing them, said: "let there be joy in the hearts of the natchez. a child is born to them of the race of their suns. a boy is born with a beard on his chin. the prodigy still works on from generation to generation.' so sang the warriors of my tribe when i sprang from my mother's womb, and the shrill cry of the eagle, in the heavens, was heard in joyful response. hardly fifteen summers had passed over my head when my beard had grown long and glossy. i looked around, and saw i was the only red man that had this awful mark on his face, and i interrogated my mother and she said: "'son of the chiefs of the beard, thou shall know the mystery in which thy curious eye wishes to pry, when thy beard from black becomes red.' "let there be joy in the hearts of the natchez! a hunter is born to them--a hunter of the race of the suns. ask of the bears, of the buffaloes, of the tigers, and of the swift-footed deer, whose arrows they fear most! they tremble and cower when the footstep of the hunter with the beard on his chin is heard on the heath. but i was born with brains in my head as well as a beard on my chin, and i pondered on my mother's words. one day, when a panther which i slaughtered had torn my breast, i painted my beard with my own blood, and i stood smiling before her. she said nothing; but her eye gleamed with wild delight, and she took me to the temple when, standing by the sacred fire, she thus sang to me: "'son of the chiefs of the beard, thou shall know the mystery, since, true to thy nature, with thine own blood thy black beard thou hast turned to red.' "let there be joy in the hearts of the natchez; for a mighty chief, worthy of the race of their suns, has been born to them in thee, my son--a noble chief with a beard on his chin. listen to the explanation of this prodigy. in days of old a natchez maid of the race of their suns was on a visit to the mobelians. there she soon loved the youthful chief of that nation, and her wedding-day was nigh, when there came from the big salt lake on the south a host of bearded men, who sacked the town, slew the red chief with their thunder, and one of those accursed evil spirits used violence to the maid when her lover's corpse was hardly cold in death. she found in sorrow her way back to the natchez hills, where she became a mother, and lo! the boy had a beard on his chin, and when he grew old enough to understand his mother's words she whispered in his ear: "'son of the chiefs of the beard, born from a bloody day, bloody be thy hand, and bloody be thy life until thy black beard with blood becomes red.' "let there be joy in the hearts of the natchez. in my first ancestor a long line of the first of hunters, chiefs, and warriors of the race of their suns had been born to them with beards on their chins. what chase was ever unsuccessful over which they presided? when they spoke in the council of the wise men of the nation, did it not always turn out that their advice, whether adopted or rejected, was the best in the end? in what battle were they ever defeated? when were they known to be worn out with fatigue--with hardship, hunger or thirst, heat or cold, either on land or water? who ever could stem as they the rushing current of the father of rivers? who can count the number of scalps which they brought from distant expeditions? their names have always been famous in the wigwams of all the red nations. they have struck terror into the breasts of the boldest enemies of the natchez; and mothers, when their sons paint their bodies in the colors of war, say to them: "'fight where, and with whom you please; but beware, oh! beware of the chiefs of the beard. give way to them as you would to death, or their black beards with your blood will be red.' "let there be joy in the hearts of the natchez. when the first chief of the beard first trimmed the sacred fire in the temple, a voice was heard which said: 'as long as there lives a chief of the race of the suns with a beard on his chin, no evil can happen to the natchez nation; but if the white race should ever resume the blood which it gave in a bloody day, woe, three times woe, to the natchez! of them nothing will remain but the shadow of a name.' thus spake the invisible prophet. years rolled on, years thick on years, and none of the accursed white-faces were seen; but they appeared at last, wrapped up in their pale skins like shrouds of the dead, and the father of my father, whom tradition had taught to guard against the predicted danger, slew two of the hated strangers, and my father, in his turn, killed four. "'praise be to the chiefs of the beard, who knew how to avenge their old ancestral injury, when with the sweet blood of a white foe their black beards they proudly dyed red.' "let there be joy in the hearts of the natchez. when i saw the glorious light of day there was born to them a great warrior of the race of their suns--a warrior and a chief with a beard on his chin. the pledge of protection, of safety, and of glory stood embodied in me. when i shouted my first war-whoop the owl hooted and smelt the ghosts of my enemies, the wolves howled, and the carrion vultures shrieked with joy; for they knew their food was coming, and i fed them with chickasaws' flesh and with choctaws' flesh until they were gorged with the flesh of the red man. a kind master and purveyor i was to them--the poor, dumb creatures that i loved. but lately i have given them more dainty food. i boast of having done better than my father. five frenchmen have i killed, and my only regret in dying is, that it will prevent me from killing more. "'ha! ha! ha! that was game worthy of the chief of the beard! how lightly he danced. ho! ho! ho! how gladly he shouted. ha! ha! ha! each time with french blood his beard became red." "sorrow in the hearts of the natchez! the great hunter is no more. the wise chief is going to meet his fathers. the indomitable warrior will no more raise his hatchet in defence of the children of the sun. o burning shame! he was betrayed by his brother-chiefs, who sold his blood. if they had followed his advice they would have united with the choctaws, chickasaws, and all the other red nations, and they would have slain all the french dogs that came prowling and stealing over the beautiful face of our country. but there was too much of the woman in their cowardly hearts. well and good! let the will of fate be accomplished. the white race will soon resume the blood which it gave, and then the glory and the very existence of the natchez nation will have departed forever with the chief of the beard; for i am the last of my race, and my blood flows in no other human veins. o natchez, natchez! remember the prophet's voice! i am content to die; for i leave no one behind me but the doomed, while i go to revel with my brave ancestors. "'they will recognize their son in the chief of the beard; they will welcome him to their glorious homestead when they see so many scalps at his girdle, and his black beard with french blood painted red.'" he stood up in proud defiance before the admiring french; his noble form expanded to its full proportions, hatred in his heart and triumph in his eyes. facing his foes, he viewed the platoon selected to deal him his death, and lifted his eyes and hands to the sun. the officer gave the command, the platoon fired as one man, and the great chief of the beard passed away. this was the beginning of difficulties with the french, and also the commencement of the utter destruction of the natchez. war succeeded war, until the last of this people, few in number, broke up from the washita, whither they had fled for security years before, and went, as they fondly hoped, too far into the bosom of the deep west to be found again by the white-skins. but clarke and lewis found them high up on the missouri, still preserving the holy fire, the flat heads, and their hatred of the white race. their bones are even now turned up by the plough near the mounds of their making, and soon these mounds will be all that is left to speak of the once powerful natchez. i have stood upon the great mound of their temple at the white apple village, forty years ago, then covered with immense forest-trees, at the graves of the great grandfather and mother of my children. to these was donated, in , by the spanish government, the land on which the temple and the village stood. it is a beautiful spot in the centre of a lovely and most picturesque country. it was here these indians feasted the great la salle and his party when descending the mississippi. they were the first white men that had descended the river, and the first white men the natchez had ever seen. chapter xx. exploration of the mississippi valley. chicago--crying indians--chickasaws--de soto--feast of the great sun-- cane knives--love-stricken indian maiden--rape of the natchez--man's will--subjugation of the waters--the black man's mission--its decade. la salle, who first discovered the mouth of the mississippi river, was a man of most remarkable energy and enterprise. he had been engaged in commercial pursuits for some time in canada; but, seized with the spirit of adventure--very probably inspired by the reports of the jesuit missionaries, who were going and returning from the vast wilderness--and inspired with the belief (then common) that the rivers west, and particularly the great river found by de soto, debouched into the pacific ocean, he determined to learn the truth, and projected and commenced the ascent of the st. lawrence and the navigation of the lakes as a means of reaching the mississippi. it required almost superhuman daring to undertake such an enterprise; but there was enough in la salle to accomplish anything possible to human capacity. his followers, like himself, were fearless and determined and, with a few small boats, or skiffs, he commenced his perilous adventure. it was like walking in the dark over uncertain ground; for every step was over unexplored territory, the moment he passed the establishments of the jesuits, who were then pioneering to propagate their creed among the aborigines of the new continent. his first winter was spent on the spot, or in the immediate neighborhood of where chicago now stands. here he invited to his camp the neighboring indians, and endeavored to learn as much as possible of the geography of the country he was about to explore. parties were sent out with these indians to ascertain if there was any stream or water-communication leading from lake michigan to the west, and which might connect it with the mississippi. sufficient of the language of the tribes about him had been acquired to establish a means of intelligent intercourse with them. they were curious to know the objects of the visit of the white strangers to their country. always suspicious of strangers--supposing all, like themselves, treacherous and cruel--they kept on the alert and were chary of giving any information they might possess as to this, or any other matters about which the white men asked; but, watchful of their movements, and seeing from their explorations their intentions, they became convinced of the sincerity of their inquiries, and readily pointed out the portage dividing the waters of chicago creek and those of the illinois river. when the spring came, and the snows had melted away, and the boats were all over the portage, with the assistance of the savages, the expedition was renewed in the descent of the illinois. the indians had been so kindly treated, and so sincerely dealt with, that every suspicion that made them fear the whites was dissipated, and they were loath to part from them, and many accompanied the party until they were about entering the territory of hostile neighbors. of these they seemed to entertain great fears, and every means of persuasion and warning were used to prevent their white friends hazarding themselves to the power of these enemies. when the last were to leave, they manifested more emotion than is usual with the savage, and one of la salle's party more facetious than the indian designated them the crying indians. la salle was a wise as well as a bold adventurer. his policy with all the tribes he encountered was kindness and truth. these were human beings, and he correctly judged influenced by the motives and impulses of men. they had never seen white men before, and there could be no cause of quarrel, and there was little in the possession of the whites, the use of which was known to the indian to tempt his cupidity. he manifested no fears in approaching them. their curiosity tempted them to come to him, and once met, his kindness and gentleness won them; and he experienced no opposition or trouble from any he met; but succeeded in gaining much information from his communications with them. when he reached the mississippi he began to doubt the accepted theory of its discharging its waters into the pacific, and upon reaching the mouth of the missouri and counseling with the chief of the tribe he met there, he at once determined the speculation a delusion, and decided to prosecute his journey to the mouth of the mighty stream, now with almost irresistible impetuosity hurrying on his little flotilla. this chief by many signs and diagrams marked with his finger upon the sand of the beach, described the country out of which flowed the missouri, and into which went the mississippi, and seemed to comprehend at least the extent of its constantly accumulating waters and great length. like all the other savages, he represented the dangers below as being too formidable for the small party of la salle. he described the natchez indians and gave them a terrible character; then the monsters of the woods and the waters. he marked the form of the tiger, the bear, and the alligator and described them as aggressive and ferocious. taking a handful of sand he scattered it on the boat's floor or bottom, and pointing to the separate particles, attempted to explain by this means the countless numbers of these indians, and monsters of the country below. here was his first information of the existence of the natchez, but his information augmented as he descended the river. at the bluffs, where now is memphis, he encountered the chickasaws and learned of the visit of de soto to that point, and of his death. these indians warned him of the dangers he had to encounter. they had had trouble with de soto and were chary of their intercourse with the whites, but manifested no hostility. the next tribe of indians seen was at the walnut hills, now vicksburg. their flat heads told him he had reached the country of that formidable nation, but he held no communication with them. landing at the great bluff or natchez, he found there quite a village. the natives approached him manifesting the kindest and most hospitable intentions. for some days he delayed, to learn as much as possible from these people in the observation of their character and the topography and peculiarities of the country they were inhabiting. runners had been dispatched to the great sun at the white apple village, to inform him of the advent of these pale-faced strangers, with beard on their chins. like information was communicated to the towns on cole's creek and further in the interior. la salle was furnished with pilots and requested to drop down to the white cliffs, now known as ellis' cliffs, eighteen miles below natchez, where a delegation would meet and conduct him to the white apple village. these pilots caused the landing of the party at the mouth of st. catharine's creek, a point much nearer the village than the cliffs, and from whence it was much more easily approached. thence they conducted them to the village and temple of the great sun. they came by surprise, and there was manifested some suspicions of the motive. but being informed it was the work of the pilots, all were satisfied and a messenger dispatched for the great escort awaiting the party at white cliffs. there were great preparations made for a solemn feast. game in abundance had been collected: the meat of the deer and the bear and every variety of the wild-fowl peculiar to the country and season. these were spread out upon tables made of the wild-cane, placed upon poles sustained by posts driven into the ground, and covered with neatly dressed skins of the bear, elk, and buffalo. there were fish in abundance, the paupaw and the berries which grew abundantly in the forest. the great sun led la salle to the centre of the square formed by the tables, where one had been prepared for him and the great ruler of the natchez. rude seats were arranged only for these two. the little suns, or smaller chiefs of surrounding villages, assembled with the great warriors and whites accompanying the expedition at the tables forming the square. these indians had knives formed from the wild cane of the country and hardened in the fire, which were used for carving their meats and other like purposes, one of these was placed in the hand of every white man. the great sun standing up, looked reverently upon the sun for a few moments. then lifting his hands, placed them on the head of la salle. this was imitated by the little suns placing their hands upon the heads of all the whites, and when the chief or great sun removed his hands, and said, "eat," the little suns did likewise, and the feast commenced. these cane knives, however, were comparatively useless in the hands of the french, and laying them down, they took from the belts at their sides the large hunting-knives they carried. this movement was so simultaneous, that alarm was apparent in every indian face and a movement was made by the indians as if to leave the table; but they were soon reassured when they saw the use to which they were applied. they watched the ease with which these cut through the flesh and cleaved the smaller bones of their repast, and expressed their astonishment in asking where the canes grew from which they were made--indicating conclusively that they had never before seen a metallic knife, and probably never before had seen iron or steel. when the feast had concluded, la salle was led to a lodge prepared for him, and all his party were shown to places prepared for them, to repose after the meal. upon the males retiring, the women came forth cleanly clad and removed everything from the tables. this was the first view the whites had of the natchez women. when their work was completed, they commenced to chant a song in slow and measured tones; soon, however, it quickened into merry cadences and the young females commenced a wild, fantastic dance. the older sang on, keeping time by slapping their hands and a swinging movement of the head and body right and left. apparently, at the termination of a stanza, they would stoop suddenly forward and slap the hands upon each thigh, uttering at the same moment a shrill cry, when the dancers would leap with astonishing agility high in the air and, alighting, stand perfectly still. this exhibition called the french from their repose, who seemed delighted, and very soon joined in the dance; mirth excited mirth, and in a little while the village was in a complete uproar. the young warriors, however, were seen to scowl whenever the french approached too nigh the women, and especially when they took their hands and turned them around. the french were not slow to perceive this, nor were they mistaken in the delight it afforded the girls. the timidity of the latter soon disappeared and each lass singled out a beau, and was quite familiar with him. the french remained for some days enjoying the hospitality of the natchez, returning to their boats and to the opposite shore of the river at night for greater security. among the french there was one, a stalwart young fellow, who had made the conquest of a heart among the maidens, and was surprised late at night to find she had swum the mississippi to place herself by his side at the camp-fire. she implored him to remain with the natchez and become a great sun, that her family was one of great influence at the white clay village of which she was the belle, and she would marry him. she was rich, and the favorite of the little sun of her town, who had given her great presents. but crapaud was aware of the price of these gifts, and though he did not refuse, was not inclined to the union, or to remain with her people. he promised, however, to see her to-morrow, and told her if he could prevail on some of his companions to remain, he would; but insisted if they would not, she must consent to follow him and provide a girl for each of his companions, who would accompany them to their homes, which he made very lovely in his description. they were standing now on the bank of the river and day was approaching. she pointed to the planet just above the horizon, and then to the place in the heavens where it would be in an hour, and said she must then be in her lodge, and plunging into the river swam rapidly to the opposite shore. the next day was the one appointed for the departure of la salle and party. true to her promise--the natchez girl had found a maiden for each of the party, who was willing to abandon her people and go with the strangers on their perilous and unknown journey, and to be the wives of the pale-faces. the french, with much ceremony, were dismissed by the great sun, and a strong escort of both sexes followed them to their boats. the ceremony of shaking hands was gone through with; all the men first, and then the women; the last, as previously arranged, were the girls who were to follow their sweethearts. at a signal each was grasped and hurried forward toward the boats. the alarm was given, and in a moment the bows of the warriors were strung, and they rushed yelling to the rescue; overpowered, the french released the women and springing into their boats were soon out of danger of the arrows which were sent in showers after them--nor did they escape unscathed. several of the men were wounded, and some of them severely. when once away from the shore, the french seized their guns and fired a volley, but were prevented from further demonstrations by la salle; not wishing to leave behind him an enemy, who might be troublesome to him on his return up the river. this adventure was the only hostile one of the entire trip. this was provoked by the folly and crime of his men without the knowledge of la salle. how true it is that man in every condition and of every race will fight for his woman as surely as the game cock for his hen! long years after, and when the last natchez had been gone from the land of his love many years, and when threatening war was disturbing the people of the colonies, there came here a band of men, as had come to this land of beauty and plenty, the oppressors of the natchez, seeking to make a peaceful home upon these hills, where grew in luxuriant profusion the magnolia and great tulip-trees, and where the atmosphere was redolent with the perfume of the wild flowers which clothed and ornamented the trees and grounds so fruitful and rich with nature's gifts. the country was claimed as part of west florida and dominated by the spanish government. they were anxious to have the country populated, and donated certain quantities or tracts of land to any one who came to settle and remain in the country. these settlements at first were made on the bluffs projecting through the alluvial swamp to the river's brink, and at or near the mouths of the small streams debouching into the river from the eastern shore. the west bank was deemed uninhabitable in consequence of the spring floods sweeping over the alluvial formation, extending from forty to seventy miles west of the river; and there being no highlands or bluffs approaching the river from the west, below what is now known as helena, in arkansas, this vast territory was one interminable swamp, clothed with immense forest-trees, gigantic vines, and jungle-bushes. it was interspersed with lakes, and bayous as reservoirs and drains for the wonderful floods which annually visit this country. around these were lands remarkable for their fertility--indeed, unsurpassed by any on the face of the earth; but worthless, however, for cultivation, as long as unprotected against these annual floods. the system of leveeing was too onerous and expensive to be undertaken by the people sparsedly populating the eastern bank throughout the hill-country. the levee system which had reclaimed so much of the low country in louisiana, had not extended above pointe coupée, in . yet there were some settlements on several of the lakes above, especially on lakes concordia and st. joseph. the immense country in georgia, tennessee, alabama, and mississippi in possession of the indians, interposed a barrier to emigration. to think of leaving home and friends to go away beyond these savages, seemed an undertaking too gigantic for any but men of desperate fortunes, or of the most indomitable energy. adventurers had wandered into the country and returned with terrible stories of the unhealthiness of the climate as well as the difficulties to be overcome in reaching it; thus deterring the emigrant who desired a new home. when general jackson was elected to the presidency a new policy was inaugurated. the indians were removed beyond the mississippi; the lands they had occupied were brought into market, and a flood of emigration poured into these new acquisitions. cotton had suddenly grown into great demand. the increase of population, and the great cheapness of the, fabrics from cotton, had increased the demand. in europe it had rapidly increased, and in truth all over the world. emigration from europe had set in to a heavy extent upon the united states, and the west was growing in population so rapidly as to create there a heavy demand for these fabrics. the world was at peace; commerce was unrestricted, and prosperity was everywhere. europe had recovered from her long war, and the arts of peace had taken hold of every people, and were bearing their fruit. all the lands intermediate between the frontiers west of georgia and tennessee and those of the east of mississippi and louisiana were soon appropriated; and the more fertile lands of the two latter states were coming rapidly into request for the purpose of cotton cultivation. the great flood of had swept over every cultivated field west of the mississippi, and seemed to demonstrate the folly of ever attempting to reduce these lands to profitable cultivation. but with the increase of population came wealth and enterprise. the levees were continued up the river. a long period of comparatively low water encouraged settlements upon the alluvial bottoms. the levees were continued up the west bank, and in a few years the forests had melted away from the margin of the river. large fields were in their stead, and were continually increasing in extent. improvements of a superior character were commencing, and an occasional break in the levee, and partial inundation, did not deter, but rather stimulated the planters to increased exertion, to discipline and control the great floods poured down from the rain-sheds extending from the headwaters of the ohio to those of the mississippi, missouri, arkansas, and red rivers, embracing in extent an area greater than the continent of europe. it really seemed an attempt to defy the decrees of fate. in , the waters from cairo to baton rouge, a distance of nine hundred miles, averaged fifty miles in width. for months the great river was covered with forests of timber, torn up with the roots by the flood, floating and tumbling wildly along the terrible torrent, making the navigation extremely dangerous for the few steamers then upon the river. how often have i heard old men, who were long resident in the country, when standing on the bluff at natchez, viewing the extent of that memorable flood, say: "every man who attempts to cultivate these bottom lands will be ruined. the river demands them as a reservoir for her surplus waters when in flood." but enterprise was undeterred; the levees went up and the settlements went on to increase; and when the spoiler came all the valley was dotted over with pretty villages and magnificent cotton plantations, containing and sustaining a prosperous, rich, intelligent, and happy population. they are swept away, and ruin reigns over this desolated land. this was but the beginning of the subduing to man's will and cultivation this entire and unparalleled valley. what had been done demonstrated the possibility of redeeming every inch of the alluvial land along the entire valley to the production of the richest staples, with all the necessaries to man's support, comfort, and wealth. it is pleasing to contemplate this immense plain as one extended scene of cultivation--the beautiful lakes of every form, surrounded with palatial homes and fertile fields; lovely towns upon their borders, with the church-spires pointing to heaven, surrounded with shrubs and flowers of every variety and hue; streams meandering among the extended plantations; railroads intersecting it in every direction; and all this mighty field, a thousand miles long by fifty broad, teeming with production, and pouring into the lap of commerce a wealth absolutely incalculable. the work was begun and was rapidly progressing; but now, when and by whom will this great, glorious garden be made? to do this was the black man's mission; but ere his work was done he was converted into a machine to undo all his work. inconceivable calamity has followed, and to him is fixed a decade which will soon run to extinction. chapter xxi. two strange beings. romance of western life--met by chance--parting on the levee--meeting at the sick-bed--convalescent--love-making--"home, sweet home"-- theological discussions--uncle tony--wild, yet gentle--an odd family--the adventurer speculates. it was in the spring of the year away back in time when there landed at the town of st. francisville, or bayou sara, a small periagua, or canoe, containing two young men clad in skins, with a camp-kettle, guns, some curiously painted skins, indian bows, quivers, and indian curiosities. their hair was long, their unshaven beards were full and flowing, and in all their appearance they were wild and savage. there were but few houses in the hamlet below the hill. among these was one of more pretensions than the rest. it was a store, and the merchant was an irishman. there was near it a neat family carriage. one of the young savages went into this store to find materials for writing to his home-friends, from whom he had been separated for many long months. he found in the store three ladies. two were young, the other was an aged matron. they seemed not only surprised at the novel apparition before them, but alarmed. this surprise seemed to increase when they saw the young savage rapidly filling, upon the counter, a sheet of paper. they desisted from their shopping, and watched intently the wild savage. when his letter was completed, he politely desired the accommodating merchant to send it for him to the post-office. then lifting his gray wolf-skin cap from his head, he bowed politely to the ladies and turned to leave the store and their presence. the salutation was gracefully acknowledged, and especially by the matron. very soon they joined the curious crowd who were examining the contents of the canoe, now placed on the land to await the coming of a steamer that was freighting with cotton above. one of the young ladies seemed much interested and made many inquiries. a bow and quiver was given into her hand. the latter was fashioned from the skin of a mexican tiger, and was filled with arrows. one of these was bloody, and its history was asked of the youth she had met in the store. it was the blood of a pawnee chief who, by this arrow, had been slain in battle, and was the gift to the youth from the daughter of the fallen chief, together with the bow and quiver of the indian who had slain her father, and who was in turn killed by a chief of her tribe. how beautiful she was to this wanderer of the wilderness! months upon months had passed away, and he had only looked upon the blank and unmeaning features of the desert savage woman. with these his heart had no sympathy. like the panther of their plains they were swift of foot, symmetrical in form, wild, untamed and untamable, fierce and unfeeling; and were not formed by nature for sympathy or social union with the higher organizations of civilized man. his dream of romance was being realized. the vacuum in his heart was filling. how in contrast were his feelings and appearance! clad as a savage, his skin was covered with the fabric of an indian woman, closely fitting, with moccasins on his feet, and a gray wolf-skin cap upon his head--his long, black hair with the luxuriant growth of two years curling over his shoulders, and his beard, like the wing of night fluttering in the breeze, waving down from his chin to his breast in ringlets, glossy and beautiful. he was lithe as a savage, and seemed to be one. in his heart were kindling soft emotions, and memories of maidens he had known--now far, far away--came crowding upon that heart. before him stood the embodiment of beauty and grace, attired with costly and beautiful fabrics which flowed about her person like the white vapor upon the breezes of spring. elegance was in her every attitude, and grace in every movement. her features and her eyes beamed with a curious wish to learn the story of the strange wild being before her. their two hearts were in sympathy; but to each other it was a secret. how strangely they had met! how strangely they were feeling! how soon they were to part! "where is he from? where is he going?" asked her eyes; and he looked: "who are you; and where is your home, beautiful being, so strangely and so unexpectedly met?" an arrow was shot from the bow to gratify a request. she followed the quivering thing with her eye, as it sped like a shaft of light to its destined mark. to retrieve it she walked with the youth to where, fixed in a bale of cotton, it trembled, some hundred yards away. slowly she returned by the youth's side, and drooped her head, listening to the wild mountain adventures he was telling--the chase of the elk, the antelope, and the wild buffalo; the hazardous ride through the wild prairies, expanding away in the distance to kiss the horizon; the stealthy wiles of the revengeful savage; the fierce fight of savage men; the race for very life, when the foe followed; and the bivouac upon the prairie's breast, with the weary horse sleeping and resting by his side. will he ever forget the speaking of the beaming features of that beautiful creature, when she lifted her head and looked into his face? a frown darkened the matron's features as her _élève_ returned to the curious group which was listening to the narrative of the older of the two strangers. it said: "what did you leave me for? why this indiscretion?" ah! how often old women forget they were once young! the steamer is coming. she is here; and the trappings of the wanderers are on board. the young wild man stands alone upon the upper deck. his eyes pierce to where stands the sylph he leaves with reluctance. she is looking at him. he lifts his cap and bows farewell. she waves her kerchief in return. the steamer speeds away. they are parted. has that brief interview left an impression upon those two young hearts to endure beyond a day? will she dream of the dark beard, curled and flowing--of the darker eye which looked and spoke? and will the wild story of the western wilderness come in the silent darkness of her chamber, and make her nestle closer to her pillow? will her heart ask: "shall i ever meet him again?" he has gone away; a waif about the land--a feather on the world, driven about, as destiny impels, without fixed intentions; yet buoyant with the ardor of youth, and happy in the excess of youthful hopes, dreamy and wild adventures. he has tasted the savage love of woods and wilds, and the nature--which was born thousands of years ere the teachings of civilization had tamed the wild man into an educated, home-loving being--revives, and the two struggle for mastery in his heart. the bleak mountain-peaks, the wide-extended plain and its wild denizens, and the excitement these give, stirs his bosom, and the wish struggles up to return to them. but the gentler chords of his heart are in tune. the once-loved home, and she, the once-loved and yet-remembered maiden, is there, and it may be she pines for his return. he gazed on the beautiful apparition but a moment gone, and thought of another; and thought begat thought until the loved one he had left rose up to memory's call. he was alone, looking upon the great river through whose turbid waters he was borne away, and he felt he was lengthening a chain linked to his heart which pulled him back--to what, and to whom? it was a vision--a dream with his eyes open: indistinct, unembodied, a very shadow; still it floated about in his imagination, and he was sad. he was in the city--the great sodom of the west. he was an object of wonder to every curious eye. his wild appearance and gentle manner comported illy, and the thoughtless crowd followed him. attired now as a civilized being, and feeling that the vagrant life of a savage must lead to grief, he called to mind the tear which stole from the rheumy eyes of the old trapper as he narrated his adventures in the wilderness, and cursed the hour he ever wandered from his home. his life had been a continual danger, his hope had been always to return to his early attachments; but the chain of habit fettered him, and he had learned to love the wild, solitary life, because of its excitements and its dangers. should he, like this man, come to love the solitude and silence of the wilderness, and find companionship only with his traps and guns? his resolution was taken, he would renew the strife with the world and go back to busy life. his companion of many dangers and long marches was going to mexico in search of new adventures. they are alone upon the broad levee--busy men are hurrying to and fro, little heeding the two--a small schooner is dropping and sheeting home her sails; she is up for tampico, and gilmanot goes in her; she is throwing off her fastenings. "all aboard," cries the swarthy, whiskered captain--a grasp of the hand--no word was spoken--it was warm and sincere, there was no need of words--each understood that last warm farewell pressure. she is sweeping around slaughter-house point--only the topmasts are visible now--and now she is gone. the young adventurer stands alone and the crowd goes hurrying on. how many in desolation of heart have stood alone and unheeded by the busy, passing multitude upon that broad levee! how many tears of misery have moistened its shell-covered summit, when thinking of friends far, far away they should never see again, and when hope had been rooted from the heart! he wandered to the great square, now so beautifully ornamented with shrubs and flowers which love the sun and the south's fat soil, growing and blooming about the bronze representation of the loved hero who had been her shield and savior in the hour of her peril, andrew jackson. then there were a few trees only, and beneath these, here and there, a rude rural seat or bench. the old, gray cathedral was frowning on the world's sins, so rife around her; and the great, naked square and the mighty muddy river which was hurrying away to the sea. to the most thoughtless will come reflection, and the sweetest face is mellowed by sorrow. here under these trees, in the midst of a great city, came to the young adventurer reflection and sighing sorrow. his mother and father came up in memory; the home of childhood, his brother, his sister, his friends, all were remembered; his heart flooded over and he wept like a little child. blessed are they who can cry. it is nature's outlet for grief, and the heart would break if we could not cry. the heart is not desolate when alone in the forest or the boundless grass-clothed plains of the west. nature is all around you, and her smile is beneficent. there is companionship in the breeze, in the waving grass, the rustling leaves, and the meanings of the wind-swayed limbs of the yielding forest. in the city's multitude to move, and be unknown of all; to hear no recognized voice; to meet no sympathizing smile or eye; to be silent when all are speaking, and to know that not one of all these multitudes share a thought or wish with you--this is desolation, the bitterness of solitude. a year has gone by, and the youth has found a new home and has made new friends. he is one of the busy world and struggling with it. he is in commerce's mart and is one of the multitude who come and congregate there for gain; in the hall of justice, where litigants court the smiles and favors of the blind goddess, where right contends against wrong, and is as often trampled as triumphant; and where wisdom lends herself for hire, and bad men rarely meet their dues. pestilence had come, and the frightened multitude were fleeing from the scourge. there was one who came and proffered the hospitality of his home--where hygeia smiled and fever never came. thither he went, but the poison was in his blood, and as he slept it seized upon his vitals. his suffering was terrible, and for days life's uncertain tenure seemed ready to release her hold on time. in his fever-dream there was flitting about him a fairy form; it would come and go, as the moonlight on the restless wave--a moment seen and in a moment gone. he saw and knew nothing for many days distinctly; he would call for his mother and weep, when only winds would answer. delirium was in his brain, and wild fancies chased each other; he heard the crowing of cocks and saw his sister; his father would come to him, and he would stretch out his hand and grasp the shadowy nothing. there was a halo of beauty all about him; prismatic hues trembled in the light, and the tones of sweet music floated upon the breeze. he saw angels swimming in the golden light; the blue ether opened, and they came through to greet him and to welcome him to heaven. then all was darkness, the crisis had come. he slept in oblivious ease--it was long; and awaking, the fever was gone. there was a gentle, sweet, sorrowful face before him--their eyes met; for a moment only he looked--it was she whom he had met and parted from without a hope of ever meeting again when robed as the indian he stood upon the steamer's deck and waved farewell forever. he reached forth his hand. she took it and approached, saying, "you are better, and will soon be well." he could only press her hand as the tears flooded over his eyes. with a kerchief white as innocence it was wiped away and the hand that held it laid gently on his brow--that touch thrilled his every nerve. days went by, and the convalescent was amid the shrubs and flowers of the beautifully ornamented grounds. when he came to the maiden reading in the shade of a great pecan-tree, she bid him to a seat. "do you remember our first meeting?" he asked. "here, on your sick-bed, yes; you were, oh! so sick, and i little thought you would ever leave it alive. you called in your delirium your mother and your father, and in the frenzy of your mind you saw them by you; how my heart was pained, and how i prayed for you, in my chamber, here, and everywhere--and now you are well, only weak." "it was not when sick i met you first," he replied; "as a wild man you saw me first, clothed in the skins of the wild beasts of the forest." she gazed intently; could it be? and clasping her hands she bowed her head and was silent. "we have met again," he continued; "i had not forgotten you, but i dared not hope we should ever meet any more. it was a painful thought; but i must not tell that--" and there was silence. days went by, and the invalid was growing in strength and health. they only met at the table at the family meals, but they were near each other. it was at dinner when a ride on horseback was proposed for the evening's recreation. they rode in company, and through the forest where the winding road circled the hills, and the great magnolias threw their dark shade and deliciously cooled the vesper breeze. "is it romance, or are you the young gentleman with flowing hair and black, curling beard i met, and who shot the arrow into the cotton bale for my amusement? o! how often have i seen you in my dreams; but i shall never see you as i saw you then. what a study you were to me! how could your words be so soft and gentle in the wild costume of the murderous savage? had you uttered the war-whoop and strode away with the stride and pride of the savage warrior, there would have been euphony in it, and i should have felt and known you were a savage--and you would have passed from my mind. but, ah! look how beautifully bounds away the startled doe we have aroused from her lair in the cave here." "she seems scarcely more startled than did you when i came so unexpectedly upon you in the store at bayou sara. were you not surprised to see that i could write?" "you must not question me now. why have you cut your hair and beard? why doffed the prairie chieftain's robes of state and come forth a plain man? you have dispelled my romance. i have tried to paint you as i saw and remembered you, and made charcoal sketches for the gratification of friends to whom i would describe you. i would so like to see you as you were! o! you were a wonder to me, a very orson--now, you are simply a--" "miserable creature in plain clothes, and by no means a lady's fancy. why did you not let me die, since all that was to be fancied about me--my hair, my beard, and my buckskin coat, pants, and moccasins are gone and destroyed?" the maiden laughed wildly; it was not the laugh of mirth or mischief, there was a madness in it that thrilled and awed. "do you know you are on the graves of a great nation?" she asked. "this mound and yonder three, were, the burial-places of the natchez indians. the suns and sachems sleep here, and he, the great sun, who came from the orbit's self, and was their lawgiver, and in whom and whose divinity they believed as the jews in that of moses, or the christians in the redeemer. is it not all a mystery--strange, strange, incomprehensible, and unnatural? what is your faith?" "to worship where i love; the divinity of my soul's worship is the devotion of my wild heart.' "why, you are mysterious! have you, as had the natchez, a holy fire which is never extinguished in your heart? is the flame first kindled burning still? did your sun come to you with fire in her hand and kindle it in your heart? your words mean so much. was she, or is she a red maiden of the wild prairies; or dwells she in a mansion surrounded with the appliances of wealth, reclining on cushions of velvet and sleeping on a bed of down, canopied with a pavilion of damask satin fretted with stars of silver; with handmaids to subserve and minister to every want?" and again the wild laugh rang to the echo among the hills and dense forests all around. "o! i see i have tuned the wrong chord and have made discord, not music in your mind. shall we return? you are not yet strong, and your weakness i have made weaker, because i have disturbed the fountain of your heart and brought up painful memories?" "you are strange," said her companion, "and guess wide of the mark. the untutored savage is only a romance at a distance--the reality of their presence a disgusting fact. they are wild, untamable, and wicked, without sentiment or sympathy, cruel and murderous; disgusting in their habits and brutal in their passions." "and yet, sir, the stories which come down to us of these so quietly sleeping here are full of romance and poetry. their intercourse with the french impressed that mercurial people with exalted notions of their humanity, chivalry, and nobleness of nature. can it be that these historians only wrote romances? you must not disturb this romance. if it is an illusion let me enjoy it; do not strip from it the beard, the hair, the hunting-shirt, the bow and quiver--reality or fiction, it is sweet to the memory. how often have i wandered from our home and stood here alone and conjured from the spirit-land the ghosts of the great suns, the stung serpent, and the chief of the beard, and hers who warned the french of the conspiracy for their destruction. in my day-dreaming i have talked with these; and learned with delight of their bliss in their eternal hunting-grounds. and as i have knelt here, they in hosts have come to me with all their legends and long accounts against the white man, and i have wept above these dry bones, and felt too it was the fate of the white man, when his mission shall have been completed on earth, and his nation's age bear him into the ground, and only his legends shall live a tradition, like that of the natchez. "the hieroglyphics of thotmes, of rameses, of menephthah, and of the host of kings gone before these in egypt's old life, cannot be read; their language, letters, and traditions, too, sleep beyond the revelations of time, and yet their tombs, like these, give up their bones to the curious, who group through the catacombs, or dig at the base of their monumental pyramids. all besides has passed away and is lost. not even the color of the great people who filled these monuments, and carved from the solid stone these miles of galleries, now filled to repletion with their mummied dead, and whose capacity is sufficient to entomb the dead of a nation for thousands of years, is known now to those who people the fields reclaimed from the forest beyond the memory of time. "nations are born, have their periods of youthful vigor, their manhood of sturdy strength, the tottering of decrepit age, the imbecility of superstitious dotage--and their death is final extinction. such is man, and such is the world. what we are, we know; what we shall be, we know not, save that we only leave a pile of bones. come, we are approaching home, and the moon dares to shine, ere yet the sun has gone. yonder is brother, and i expect a scolding; but let him fret--it is not often i have a toy. fate threw you in my way and you must not complain if i use you." "i shall not complain," replied the astonished young man; "but will you ride again to-morrow?" she checked up her steed (a noble one he was) and seemed to take in his entire man, as slowly her eye went up from his stirrup to his face, when she said: "to-morrow, ah, to-morrow! who can tell what to-morrow may bring forth? to you and to me, there may come no to-morrow. we may in a twinkling be hurled from our sphere into oblivion. the earth may open to-night, or even now, and we may drop into her bosom of liquid fire, and be only ashes to-morrow. "'take no heed for to-morrow,' is the admonition of wisdom. look, yonder i was born. here sleep the natchez. see yonder tall mound, shaded from base to summit with the great forest trees peculiar to our land. on the top of that mound stood the temple dedicated to the worship of the sun. he smiles on it as the earth rolls up to hide his light away, as he did when the holy fire was watched by the priests in that temple. but the indian worshipper is gone; to him there comes no morrow. there, on that mound, sleep the parents of my mother; to them comes no morrow. _allons!_ we shall be late for tea. brother has gone to sister's, and we shall be alone." in a few minutes they were galloping down the avenue to the old spanish-looking mansion, hid away almost from view in the forest and floral surroundings, which made it so lovely to view. there had come in their absence another; it was she who was the youthful companion of his fairy at the bayou sara--a silent, reserved woman: very timid and very polished. upon the gallery she was awaiting the return of her cousin. the meeting was (as all meetings between high-bred women should be) quiet, but cordial; without show, but full of heart. they loved one another, and were highbred women. the stranger was presented, and at tea the cousin was informed that he was the man from the mountains, and there was a curious, silent surprise in her face, when she almost whispered, "i am pleased, sir, to meet you again. i hope you will realize the romance of my cousin's dream with your legends of the west, the woods, and the wild men of the prairies." days went by, and still the fever raged in the city. the cerulean was bright and unflecked with a speck of vapor, like a concave mirror of burnished steel. it hung above, and the red sun seemed to burn his way through the azure mass. the leaves drooped as if weighted with lead, and in the shade kindly thrown upon the wilting grass by the tulips, oaks, and pecans about the yard, the poultry lifted their wings and panted with exhaustion in the sickly heat of the fervid atmosphere. the sun had long passed the zenith, dinner was over, and the inmates were enjoying the siesta, so refreshing in this climate of the sun. here and there the leaves would start and dally with a vagrant puff from vesper's lips, then droop again as if in grief at the vagaries of the little truant which now was fanning and stirring into lazy motion another leafy limb. there was music in the drawing room. it was suppressed and soft--so sweet that it melted into the heart in very stealth. ah! it is gone. "home, sweet home!" poor paine! like you, wandering in the friendless streets of england's metropolis and listening to your own sweet song, breathed from titled lips in palatial homes, the listener to-day was homeless. he thought of you and the convivial hours he had passed with you, listening to the narrative of your vagrant life, and how happy you were in the poetry of your own thoughts when you were a stranger to every one, and your purse was empty, and you knew not where you were to find your dinner. genius, thou art a fatal gift! ever creating, never realizing; living in a world of beauty etherialized in imagination's lens, and hating the material world as it is; buffeted by fortune and ridiculed by fools whose conceptions never rise above the dirt. a little note, sweetly scented, is placed in his hand: "cousin and i propose a ride. shall we have your company? you are aware it is the sabbath. you must not, for us, do violence to your prejudices." "is this," thought he, "a delicate invitation to save my feelings, and is the latter clause meant as a hint that they do not want me? well, the french always, when a compliment has as much bitter as sweet in it, take the sweet and leave the bitter unappropriated. it is a good example. i will follow it. say to the ladies i will accompany them." "the horses are all ready, sir; and the ladies bonneted wait in the drawing-room." the sun was in the tree-tops and the shadows were long. there was a flirtation going on between the leaves and the breeze. the birds were flitting from branch to branch. a chill was on the air: it was bathing the cheek with its delicious touch, and animated life was rejoicing that evening had come. arriving at the great mound of the temple of the sun, with some difficulty they climb to its summit. so dense is the shade that it is almost dark. here are two graves, in which sleep the remains of the grand-parents of these two beautiful and lovely women. all around are cultivated fields clothed with rich crops, luxuriant with the promise of abundance. at its base flows the little creek, gliding and gabbling along over pure white sand. sweet alice! how sad she seems! she stood at the grave's side, and, looking down, seemed lost in pious reverie. every feature spoke reverence for the dead. her cousin, too, was silent; and if not reverent, was not gay. he, their gallant, was respectfully silent, when alice said, without lifting her eyes: "i wonder if la salle ever stood here? this is holy ground. no spot on earth has a charm for me like this. i am in the temple. i see the attentive, watchful priest feeding there (as she pointed) the holy fire, and yonder, with upturned eyes, the great lawgiver worshipping his god, as he comes up from his sleep, bringing day, warmth, light, and life. was not this worship pure? was it not natural? the sun came in the spring and awoke everything to life. the grass sprang from the ground and the leaves clothed the trees; the birds chose their mates and the flowers gladdened the fields; everything was redolent of life, and everything rejoiced. he went away in the winter, and death filled the land. there were no leaves, no grass, no flowers. all nature was gloomy in death. could any but a god effect so much? the sun was their god; his temple was the sky, and his holy fire burned on through all time. beautiful conception! who can say it is not the true faith?" "to the unlettered mind, it was," answered the young gentleman; "because the imagination could only be aided by the material presented to the natural eye. science opens the eye of faith. it teaches that the sun is only the instrument, and faith looks beyond for the creator. to such the indian's faith cannot be the true one. the ignorance of one sees god in the instrument, and his thoughts clothe him with the power of the creator, and his heart worships god in sincerity, and to him it is the true faith. but to the educated, scientific man, who knows the offices of the sun, it appears as it is, only the creature of the unseen, unknown god, and to this god he lifts his adoration and prayers, and to him this is the true faith." "so, my philosopher, you believe, whatever lifts the mind to worship god is the true faith?" "you put it strongly, miss, and i will answer by a question. if in sincerity we invoke god's mercy, can the means that prompt the heart's devotion, reliance, and love, be wrong? his magnitude and perfection are a mystery to the untutored savage: he knows only what he sees. the earth to him, (as it was to the founders and patriarchs of our own faith,) is all the world. he has no idea that it is only one, and a small one of a numerous family, and can conceive only that the sun rules his world; gives life and death to everything upon the earth--but this inspires love and reverence for god. the scientific man sees in the sun only an attractive centre, and sees space filled with self-illuminating orbs, and reasoning from the known to the unknown, he believes these centres of attraction to planetary families, and the imagination stretches away through space filled with centres and revolving worlds, and each centre with its dependents revolving around one great centre, and this great centre he believes is god. his idea is only one step beyond the indian's, and has only the same effect: it leads the heart to depend on and worship god." "you are a heretic, and must like a naughty boy be made to read your bible and go to sunday-school, and be lectured and taught the true faith. fy! fy! shall the heathen go to heaven? where is the provision for him in the bible? what are we to do with missions? if this be true, there is no need that we should be sending good men and dear, pious women to convert the chinese, the feejees, and the poor africans so benighted that their very color is black, and the australians, and new georgians, to be roasted and eaten by the cannibals there. if they worship god in sincerity, you say that is all?" "no, miss, faith without works is a futile reliance for heaven. it is the first necessity, and perhaps the next and greatest, is, to 'do unto all what you would have all do unto you.' these are the words of the great chinese philosopher, confucius, and were taught four and a half centuries before christ, yet we see him teaching the same. this, as confucius said, was the great cardinal duty of man, and all else was but a commentary upon this. this i fancy is all, at least it is very comprehensive. you tell me the traditions of the people who worshipped here say that this was a cardinal law unto them?" "you, sir, have lived too long among the heathen, if you are not one already. you are like an august peach in july: you are turning, and in a little while will be ripe. you talk, as uncle toney says, like a book, and to me, like a new book, for yours are new thoughts to me. cousin, does he not astonish you?" "by no means; true, they are new thoughts; but they are natural thoughts, and i do not fear to listen to them--on the contrary, i could listen to them all day, and, alice, i have often, very often, heard from you something like this." "nonsense, cousin, nonsense; i am orthodox, you know, and a good girl and love to go to church, especially when i have a becoming new dress." "here are the bones of our ancestors, if they were once animated with souls; and i guess they were, particularly the old man, for i have heard many stories from old toney, that convince me that he was a pretty hard one. how do we know that their spirits are not here by us now? why is it deemed that there shall be no communication between the living and the dead? o! how i want to ask all about the spirit-land. wake up and reclothe thy bones and become again animated dust, and tell me thou, my great progenitor, the mysteries of the grave, of heaven and hell. how quiet is the grave? no response, and it is impious to ask what i have. o! what is life which animates and harmonizes the elements of this mysterious creation, man! life how imperious, and yet how kind; it unites and controls these antagonistic elements, and they do not quarrel on his watch. mingling and communing they go on through time, regardless of the invitation of those from which they came to return. but when life is weary of his trust and guardianship, and throws up his commission, they declare war at once--dissolve, and each returns to his original. death and corruption do their work, and life returns no more, and death is eternal, and the soul--answer ye dumb graves--did the soul come here? or went it with life to the great first cause? or is here the end of all; here, this little tenement? i shudder--is it the flesh, the instinct of life; or is it the soul which shrinks with horror from this little portal through which it must pass to eternal bliss, or eternal--horrible! assist me to my horse, if you please. come cousin, let us go and see old uncle toney--and, sir, he will teach you more philosophy than you ever dreamed of." "who is uncle toney? miss," asked the stranger of the visiting cousin when he returned to aid her descent of the mound. "he is a very aged african, brought to this country from carolina by our grandfather, in , or earlier; he says there were remnants of the natchez in the country at that time, and the old man has many stories of these, and many more very strange ones of the doings of the whites who first came and settled the country. he retains pretty well his faculties, and, like most old people, is garrulous and loves a listener. he will be delighted with our visit." "miss alice, do you frequently visit uncle toney?" "very nearly every day. i have in my basket, here, something for the old man. turn there, if you please--yonder by that lightning-scared old oak and those top-heavy pecans is his cabin and has been for more than sixty years. here was the local of my grand-father's house; here was born my mother; but all the buildings have long been gone save uncle toney's cabin. think of the hopes, the aspirations, the blisses, the sorrows, the little world that once was here--all gone except uncle toney. in my childhood i used to come here and go with him to the graves where we have been to-day, and have sat by them for hours listening to the stories he delights to tell of my grandfather and mother, until their very appearance seems familiar to my vision. i know that my grandfather was a small man, and a passionate man, and toney sometimes tells me i am like him. his eye was gray--so is mine; his face sharper than round--so is mine, and sometimes my temper is terrible--so was his;" and she laughed again that same wild thrilling laugh as she gallopped up to the cabin and leaped down to greet the old man, who was seated at the door of his hut beneath the shade of a catalpa, the trunk of which was worn smooth from his long leaning against it. he was very black and very fat. his wool was white as snow, and but for the seams in both cheeks, cut by the knife in observance of some ridiculous rite in his native land, would have been really fine-looking for one of his age. he arose and shook hands with the cousin, but did not approach the gentleman. he was evidently not pleased with his presence and was chary of his talk. "ah! young missus," he said, when he received the basket, "you bring old toney sometin good. you is my young missus, too; but dis one is de las one. dey is all married and gone but dis one." (this conversation was addressed to the cousin.) "all gone away but dis one, and when she marry dare will be nobody to fetch dis ole nigger good tings and talk to de ole man." "uncle toney, i don't intend to marry." "ha, ha, ha!" laughed the old man, "berry well, berry well! i hear dat from ebery one ob my young misses, and where is dey now? all done married and gone. you gwine to do jus as all on em hab done, byne by when de right one come. ah! may be he come now." "you old sinner, i have a great mind to pull your ears for you." "o no, missus, i don't know! i see fine young man dare; but maybe he come wid miss ann, and maybe he belong to her." "uncle toney, don't you remember i told you of a wild man away from the mountains, all clothed in skins, with a long, curly beard and hair over his shoulders as black as a stormy night? this is he." "gosh!" said the venerable negro. "i mus shake his hand; but what hab you done wid your beard, your hair, and your huntin-shirt?" "i have thrown them all into the fire, uncle. people among white people must not dress like indians." "dat's a fac, young massa; but i tell you miss alice was mity taken wid dem tings. she come here soon as she comed home, and told me all about 'em and all about you--how you could shoot de bow and how you could talk, and she said: 'o! what would i not give to see him again?'" "toney, if you don't shut up, i won't come to see you, or bring you any more good things. this young gentleman has come with us to see you, and wishes to hear you tell all about the natchez, and to get you to show him the many things you have dug up on and around these mounds, and have you tell him all about the old people who came here first and made all these big plantations and built all these great houses." "well, miss alice, dis is sunday, you know, and dem tings mus not be telled on sunday, and den you and miss ann don't want ole nigger to talk. you go ride and talk wid de young gemman, and maybe to-morrow, or some week-day, young massa can come down from de great house wid de gun to shoot de squirrels along de way, and when he tired, den he can come and rest, and i can tell him all. yes, young massa, i been live long time here. me is mity old. all dem what was here when i comed wid ole massa is dead long time. yes, dare aint one on em livin now, and dare chillin is old." "i shall be sure to come," said the young man, "and suppose i bring with me these ladies?" "neber you do dat, massa. i knows young folks ways too well for dat. toney may talk, but dey neber will listen. dey will talk wid one anoder, and miss alice been hear all de ole nigger's talk many a time, and she don't want to hear it ober and ober all de time; and beside dat, young massa, sometimes when i tells bout de ole folks, she trimbles and cries. she's got a mity soft heart bout some tings, and she tells me i mus tell you eberyting." "there now, toney, you have said enough about me to make the gentleman think i am a very silly little girl." "god bress my young missus!" he said as he tenderly patted her head. "i wouldn't hurt your feelins for noffin. you is too good, miss alice. toney lubed your mamma--toney lubs you, and de day you is married and goes away, i want to go away too. i want to go yonder, miss alice, on de top ob dat mound, and lie down wid ole massa and missus. he told your pa to put me dar; but your pa's gone. o miss alice! dey's all gone but you and me and your brodder, and he don't care for toney, and maybe he will trow him out in de woods like a dog when he die." tears stole down the black face of the venerable man, and the eyes of alice filled--and then she laughed the shrill, fearful laugh, and rode rapidly away. she was singing and walking hurriedly the gallery, when the stranger and her cousin came leisurely into the yard. "your cousin, miss ann, has a strange laugh." "indeed she has, sir; but we who know her understand it. she never laughs that unearthly laugh when her heart is at ease. i doubt if you have ever met such a person. i think the world has but one alice. she is very young, very impressible, and some think very eccentric, very passionate and romantic to frenzy. there is something which impels me to tell you--but no, i have no right to do so. but this i must tell you; for you cannot have been in the house here so long without observing it. there is no congeniality between herself and brother; indeed, very little between her and any of her family. she is alone. she is one by herself; yes, one by herself in the midst of many; for the family is a large one. but remember, there is none like alice. be gentle to her and pity her; and pity her most when you hear that strange laugh." there was music in the drawing-room, soft and gentle, and the accompanying voice was tremulous with suppressed emotion. gradually it swells in volume until it fills the spacious apartment, and the clear notes from the tender trill rose grandly in full, clear tones, full of pathetic melody, and now they almost shriek. they cease--and the laugh, hysterical and shrill, echoes through the entire house. the judge was silent; but a close observer might have seen a slight contraction of the lips, and a slighter closing of the eyes. a moment after alice entered the room, and there was a glance exchanged between her brother and herself. there was in it a meaning only for themselves. "you have been riding, sir," he said to his guest, "and my sister tells me to the mound at the white apple village. to those curious in such legends as are connected with its history, it is an interesting spot. all i know in relation to these, i acquired from a dreamy and solitary man employed by my father to fit myself and brother for college. he read french, and was fond of tracing all he could find in the writings of the historians of the first settlement of louisiana and mississippi, and of the history, habits, and customs of the aborigines of the country. he knew something of the adventures of de soto and la salle, and something of the traditions of the natchez. he was a melancholy man, and perished by his own hand in the chamber that you occupy. my sister is curious in such matters, and from her researches in some old musty volumes she has found in the possession of an old european family, she has made quite a history of the natchez, and from the old servants much of that of the first white or english occupants of this section. for myself, i have little curiosity in that way. my business forbids much reading of that kind, and indeed much of anything else, and i am glad that my tastes and my business accord. i would not exchange one crop of cotton grown on the village-field, for a perfect knowledge of the history of every indian tribe upon the continent." "i am no antiquarian, sir. a life on a plantation i suppose must be most irksome and monotonous to a young lady, unless she should have some resource besides her rural employments." "our only amusements, sir," said alice, "are reading, riding, and music, with an occasional visit to a neighbor. i ride through the old forest and consult the great patriarchal trees, and they tell me many strange stories. when the ruthless axe has prostrated one of these forest monarchs, my good palfrey waits for me, and i count the concentric circles and learn his age. some i have seen which have yielded to man's use or cupidity who have looked over the younger scions of the woods, and upon the waters of the mighty river a thousand years." "indeed, miss," replied the guest, "i had not supposed the natural life of any of our forest trees extended beyond three, or at most four centuries." "the tulip or poplar-tree and the red-oak in the rich loam of these hills live long and attain to giant proportions. the vines which cling in such profusion to many of these are commensurate with them in time. they spring up at their bases and grow with them: the tree performing the kindly office of nurse, lifting them in her arms and carrying them until their summits, with united leaves, seem to kiss the clouds. they live and cling together through tempests and time until worn out with length of days, when they tumble and fall to the earth together, and together die. we all, flora and fauna, go down to the bosom of our common mother to rest in death. i love the companionship of the forest. there is an elevation of soul in this communion with incorruptible nature: there is sincerity and truth in the hills and valleys--in the trees and vines, and music--grand orchestral music--in the moaning of the limbs and leaves, played upon by the hurrying winds. i have prayed to be a savage, and to live in the woods." "you are as usual, sister, very romantic to-night." "by and by, brother, i shall forget it i presume. i am human, and shall soon die, or live on till time hardens my nature, or sordid pursuits plough from my heart all its sympathies, and old age finds me gloating over the gains of laborious care and penurious meanness. "'to such vile uses we must come at last.'" "you draw a sad picture, miss, for old age. do not the gentler virtues of our nature ever ripen with time? is it the alchemist who always turns the sweets of youth to the sours of age? there are many examples in every community to refute your position. i would instance the venerable negro we visited to-day. he wept as he placed his trembling hand upon your head. there was surely nothing ascetic or sordid in his feelings." "uncle toney is an exception, sir. the affectionate memories he has of our family, and especially of my mother and father, redeems him from the obloquy of his race. his heart is as tender as his conduct is void of offense. he was a slave. god had ordained him for his situation. he had not the capacity to aspire beyond his lot, or to contrast it with his master's. contented to render his service, and satisfied with the supply of his wants from the hands of him he served--he had a home, and all the comforts his nature required. he has it still; but i know he is not as contented as when he was my father's slave. god bless the old man! he shall never want while i have anything, and should i see him die, he shall sleep where he wished to-day." "by our grandfather, i suppose, alice?" "yes, my brother, by our grand-parents. they told him it should be so. ah! there are no distinctions in the grave; white skin and black skin alike return to dust, and the marl of the earth is composed alike of the bones of all races, and their properties seem to be the same. i, too, wish to sleep there. it is a romantically beautiful spot, and its grand old traditions make it holy ground. how its associations hallow it! imagination peoples it with those bold old red men who assembled in the temple to worship the holy fire--emblematic of their faith--humbling their fierce natures and supplicating for mercy. i go there and i feel in the touch of the air that it is peopled with the spirits of the mighty dead, surrounding and blessing me for my memory of, and love for, their extinct race." "bravo, sister! what an enthusiast! you, sir, have some knowledge of the indians. do they stir the romance of your nature as that of my baby sister?" the glance from her eye was full of scorn: it flashed with almost malignant hate as she rose from her seat, and taking the arm of her cousin she swept from the room, audibly whispering "baby sister" in sneering accents. "woman's nature is a strange study, my young friend. i have several sisters and they are all strange, each in her peculiar way. they are remarkable for the love they bear their husbands, and yet they all have a pleasure in tormenting them, and are never so unhappy, as when they see these happy. this younger sister has a nature all her own. i do not think she shares a trait with another living being. wild, yet gentle; the eagle to some, to some the dove. quick as the lightning in her temper--as fervid, too; a heart to hate intensely, and yet to melt in love and worship its object; but would slay it, if she felt it had deceived her. always searching into the history of the past, and always careless of the future." "you have drawn something of the character of a spanish woman. their love and their hate is equally fierce; and both easily excited, they are devoted in all their passions. i have thought that this grew from the secluded life they live. ardency is natural to the race, and this restrained makes their lives one long romance. their world is all of imagination. the contacts of real life they never meet outside of their prison-homes, and the influence of experience is never known. they are seen through bars, are sought through bars, they love through bars--and the struggle is, to escape from these restraints; and the moral of the act or means for its accomplishment, or the object to be attained, never enters the mind. such natures properly reared to know the world, to see it, hear it, and suffer it, tunes all the attributes of the mind and heart to make sweet music. nothing mellows the heart like sorrow; nothing so softens the obduracy of our natures as experience. none, sir, man or woman, are fitted for the world without the experiences its contact brings. these experiences are teachings, and the bitter ones the best. to be happy, we must have been miserable; it is the idiosyncracy of the mind, to judge by comparison; and the eternal absence of grief leaves the mind unappreciative of the incidents and excitements which bring to him or her who have suffered, such exquisite enjoyment. the rue of life is scarcely misery to those who have never tasted its ambrosia." "you are young, sir, thus to philosophize, and must have seen and experienced more than your years would indicate." "some, sir, in an incident see all of its characters that the world in a lifetime may present. they suffer, and they enjoy with an acuteness unknown to most natures; and in youth gain the experiences and knowledge they impart, while most of the world forget the pain and the pleasure of an incident with its evanescence. with such, experience teaches nothing. these progress in the world blindly and are always stumbling and falling." "the ladies have retired--shall we imitate their example, sir? this will light you to your chamber; good night." alone, and kindly shielded with the darkness, the adventurer lay thoughtful and sleepless. here are two strange beings. there is in the one angelic beauty animated with a soul of giant proportions, large in love, large in hate, and grandly large in its aspirations; and yet it is chained to a rock with fetters that chafe at every motion. the other cold, emotionless, with a reserved severity of manner, which is the offspring of a heart as malignant and sinister as satan himself may boast of. they hate each other, but how different that hatred! the one is an emotion fierce and fiery but without malice; the other malicious and revengeful. one is the hatred of the recipient of an injury who can forgive; the other the hatred of one who has inflicted an injury with calculation. such never forgive. and this i am sure is the relation of this brother and sister. deprived when yet young of the fostering care of a mother, scarcely remembering her father, she has been the ward of this cold, hard being, whose pleasure it has been to thwart every wish of this lovely being: to hate her because she is lovely, and to aggravate into fury her resentments, and to sour every generous impulse of her extraordinary nature. what a curse to have so sensitive a being subjected to the training of so cold and malignant a one! there is no natural affection. the heart is born a waste: its loves, its hates are of education and association; and the responsibility for the future of a child rests altogether with those intrusted with its rearing and training. the susceptibilities only are born with the heart, and these may be cultivated to good or evil, as imperceptibly as the light permeates the atmosphere. these capacities or susceptibilities are acute or obtuse as the cranium's form will indicate, and require a system suited to each. attention soon teaches this: the one grows and expands beautifully with the slightest attention; the other is a fat soil, and will run to weeds, without constant, close, and deep cultivation, and its production of good fruit is in exact proportion with its fertility and care. it gives the most trouble but it yields the greatest product. and here in that warm, impulsive heart is the fat soil. o! for the hand to weed away all that is noxious now rooting there. that look, that whispered bitterness was the fruit of wicked wrong--i know it; the very nature prompting there would give the sweetest return to justice, kindness, and love. chapter xxii. the romance continued. father confessor--open confession--the unread will--old toney's narrative--squirrel shooting--the farewell unsaid--brothers-in-law-- farewell indeed. when the morrow came, the clouds were weeping and the damp was dripping from every leaf, and gloomy rifts of spongy vapor floated lazily upon the breeze, promising a wet and very unpleasant day. these misty periods rarely endure many hours in the autumn, but sometimes they continue for days. the atmosphere seems half water, and its warm damp compels close-housing, to avoid the clammy, sickly feeling met beyond the portals. at such times, time hangs heavily, and every resource sometimes fails to dispel the gloom and ennui consequent upon the weather; conversation will pall; music cease to delight, and reading weary. to stand and watch the rain through the window-panes, to lounge from the drawing-room to your chamber, to drum with your fingers upon the table--to beat your brain for a thought which you vainly seek to weave into rhyme in praise of your inamorata--all is unavailing. the rain is slow but ceaseless, and the hours are days to the unemployed mind. we hum a tune and whistle to hurry time, but the indicating fingers of the tediously ticking clock seems stationary, and time waits for fair weather. the ladies love their chambers, and sleeping away the laggard hours, do not feel the oppression of a slow, continuous, lazy rain. the morning has well-nigh passed, and the drawing-room is still untenanted. the judge was busy in his office, looking over papers and accounts, seemingly unconscious of the murky day; perhaps he had purposely left this work for such a day--wise judge--a solitary man, unloving, and unloved; hospitable by freaks, sordid by habit, and mean by nature. yet he was wise in his way; devoid of sentiment or sympathy as a grind-stone, his wit was as sharp as his heart was cold. absorbed in himself, the outside world was nothing to him. he had work, gainful work for all weathers, and therefore no feeling for those who suffered from the weather or the world, if it cost him nothing in pence. he was the guardian of his baby sister; but all of her he had in his heart was a care that she should not marry, before he was ready to settle her estate. the interest he felt in her, was his commissions for administering her property with a legitimate gain earned in the use of her money. the guest of this strange man was restless, he knew not why; there were books in abundance, and their authors' names were read over and over again as he rummaged the book-cases he knew not for what. first one and then another was pulled out from its companions, the title-page read and replaced again, only to take another. idly he was turning the pages of one, when a voice surprised him and sweetly inquired at his elbow if he found amusement or edification in his employment. "i must apologize for my rudely leaving you last night. i hope i am incapable of deceit or unnecessary concealments. i was hurt and angry, and i went away in a passion. yours is a gentle nature, you do not suffer your feelings to torture and master you. i should not, but i am incapable of the effort necessary to their control. it is best with me that they burn out, but their very ashes lie heavily upon my heart. our clime is a furnace, and her children are flame, at least, strange sir, some of them are a self-consuming flame. i feel that is my nature. is not this an honest confession? i could explain further in extenuation of my strange nature. it was not my nature until it was burned into my very soul. i am very young, but the bitterness of my experiences makes me old, at least in feeling. but you are not my father confessor--then why do i talk to you as to one long known? because--perhaps--but never mind the reason. i know my cousin has whispered something to you of me; my situation, my nature--is it not so?" "ah! you would be _my_ father confessor. you must not interrogate, but if you would know, ask your cousin." "o! no, i could not. is it not strange that woman will confide to the strange man, what she will not to the kindred woman? woman will not sympathize with woman; she goes not to her for comfort, for sympathy, for relief. is this natural? men lean on one another, women only on man. is this natural? is it instinctive? or an acquired faculty? do not laugh at me, i am very foolish and very sad; such a day should sadden every one. but my cousin is very cheerful, twitters and flits about like an uncaged canary, and is as cheerful when it rains all day, as when the sun in her glory gladdens all the earth and everything thereon. i am almost a natchez, for i worship the sun. how i am running on! you are gentle and kind, are you not? you are quick, perceptive--you have seen that i am not happy--sympathize, but do not pity me. that is a terrible struggle between prudence and inclination. there, now i am done--don't you think me very foolish?" "miss alice--(will you allow me this familiarity?)" "yes, when we are alone; not before cousin or my _man_ brother." (she almost choked with the word.) "not before strangers--we are not strangers when alone. you read my nature, as i do yours, and we are not strangers when alone. it is not long acquaintance which makes familiar friends. the mesmeric spark will do more than years of intercommunication, where there is no congeniality--and do it in a little precious moment. the bloody arrow we held in common was an electric chain. i learned you at the plucking of that arrow from the cotton bale--in your strange, wild garb; but never mind--what were you going to say?" "i was going to say that our acquaintance was very brief, but what i have seen or heard, i will not tell to you or to any one. your imagination is magnifying your sufferings. you want a heart to confide in. you have brothers-in-law, wise and strong men. "that, for the whole of them," she said, as she snapped her fingers. "their wives are my sisters, some of them old enough to be my mother, but they and their husbands are alike--sordid. the hope of money is even more debasing than the hoarding. do you understand me? i must speak or my heart will burst. are you a wizzard that you have so drawn me on? dare i speak? is it maidenly that i should? there is a spell upon me. go to your chamber--there is a spy upon me; i am seen, and i fear i have been overheard; go to your chamber--here, take this book and read it if you never have--dinner is at hand, and after dinner--, but let each hour provide for itself,--at dinner,--well, well, adieu." she was in the drawing-room, and again the soft melody of half-suppressed music, scarcely audible, yet every note distinct, floated to his chamber, and the guest scarcely breathed that he might hear. there was something so plaintive, so melting in the tones that they saddened as well as delighted. how the heart can melt out at the finger-points when touching the keys of a sweetly-toned instrument! it is thrown to the air, and in its plaint makes sweet music of its melancholy. like harmonious spirits chanting in their invisibility, making vocal the very atmosphere, it died away as though going to a great distance, and stillness was in the whole house. he stole gently to the door. there seated was alice; her elbow on her instrument, and her brow upon her hand. the bell rang for dinner. the repast is over, and a glass of generous wine sent the rose to the cheeks of alice, but enlivened not her eye. her heart was sad: the eye spoke it but too plainly, and she looked beautiful beyond comparison. the eye of the stranger was rivetted upon that drooping lid and more than melancholy brow. his situation was a painful one. more than once had he caught the quick, suspicious glance of the judge flash upon him. he was becoming an object of interest to more than one in the house; but how different that interest! how at antipodes the motives of that interest! he knew too much, and yet he wanted to know more. he was left alone in the drawing-room with the timid, modest little cousin. it rained on, and the weather seemed melancholy, and their feelings were in unison with the weather. "i shall leave, i believe, miss, as soon as the rain will permit. i presume i may go down to the city without fear." "you will find it but a sorry place, sir. all the hotels are closed and everybody is out of town save the physicians, and the poor who are unable to get away. the gloom of the desolated place is enough to craze any one. i hope you do not find your stay disagreeable in this house?" "i will not attempt to deceive you, miss. i cannot say why; but i feel uncomfortable--not at my ease. it were needless for me to repeat it; i am sure you know the cause." "perhaps i do, sir; and still i cannot see in that sufficient cause for your going away. perhaps, sir, we are not thinking of the same cause," she said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "i particularly allude to what you yourself communicated to me. i perceive miss alice is very unhappy, and i also am apprehensive that i may in some way be the cause of this." "i will tell you, sir, any special attention on your part to alice will enrage her brother. from motives known to himself, he is very much opposed to her marrying any one. his reasons as given are that she is so peculiar in her disposition that she would only increase her own misery in making her husband miserable, which her eccentric nature would certainly insure. i have heard that he has sometimes had a thought of carrying her to an asylum for the insane. the world, however, is not charitable enough to believe this the true reason. the judge is very grasping, and he has in his hands alice's fortune. some of his own family suppose he desires the use of it as long as possible. there are many hard things said of him in relation to his influencing his mother to leave him the lion's share of her estate. this very home was intended for alice, and though he had not spoken to his mother for years, in her last hours he came with a prepared will and insisted on her signing it. she feared him (most people do) and affixed her name to the fatal document, which report says was never read to her. after that she could not bear the presence of alice, saying in her delirium: 'my poor baby will hate me; i have turned her from her home.' alice has learned all this, and she has upbraided him with his conduct; for once provoked she does not even fear him." "why do not her brothers-in-law inquire into this? they are equally interested in the matter it seems to me." "ah, sir! they are hoping that he may do them justice in his will. i am sure this is the understanding with at least one of them, and neither of them will hazard a loss to protect the rights of alice. large expectations are strong inducements to selfishness. i am disclosing family matters, sir; but i have done so from a good motive. it is but half disclosed to you; but the rest i must not tell. you are not so dull as not from what i have said to be able to shape your conduct. alice is coming." the rain had ceased, and for two days the genial sun had drank up the moisture from the land, which underfoot was dry again. the autumn had come, and the earth groaned with the rich products of this favored land. the cotton-fields were whitening, and the yellow corn's pendant ears hung heavily from their supporting stocks. fat cattle in the shade of the great trees switched away the teasing flies as they lazily ruminated. the crows were cawing and stealing from their bursting shells the rich pecan nuts, and the black-birds flew in great flocks over the fields. in the hickory-woods the gray squirrel leaped from tree to tree, hunting for, and storing away for winter's use, his store of nuts and acorns, or running along the rail-fence to find a hiding-place when frightened from his thieving in the cornfields. the quail whistled for his truant mate in the yellow stubble, and the carrion-bird--black and disgusting--wheeled in circles, lazily, high up in the blue above. there was in everything the appearance of satisfaction; abundance was everywhere, and the yellowing of the leaves and the smoky horizon told that the year was waning into winter. under the influences of the scene and the season the visitor of the judge was sober and reflective as he strolled through the woods, gun in hand, little intent upon shooting. the quail whirred away from his feet; the funny little squirrel leaped up the tree-side and peeped around at him passing; but he heeded not these, and went forward to find the cabin of old toney. he found the old negro in his usual seat at the foot of his favorite tree, upon his well-smoothed and sleek wooden stool. "ha! ha! ha!" laughed toney. "you come dis time widout miss alice. why she not come wid you? you not want somebody to turn de squirrel for you? may be you bring de ole man more dan one dar?" "it was too great a walk for her, uncle toney, and then she does not like my company well enough to pay so much fatigue for it." toney laughed again. "too much walk, indeed, she walk here most ebery day, wid her little bonnet in her hand and basket too, wid sometin good for toney. when sun yonder and de shade cobber de groun; den she set dare, (pointing to the grass which grew luxuriantly near by) and talk to de ole man and lissen so still like a bird hiding, when i tell her all bout de ole folks, dat is buried dare, and how we all comed away from de states when de ole war driv us off, not general jackson's war. no, sir, general washington's war, de ole war of all--and den, young massa, you ought to see her. she's mity putty den, she is--face red and smove, and she little tired and she look so like ole missus yonder, when she was a gall, and dem english red coats comes out from charleston, to de ole place to see her. dat's a long time ago, young massa." "uncle toney, how old are you?" "moss a hundred, young massa; i don't know zackly--but i great big boy when i comed from de ole country, tudder side ob de sea--my country, massa. when i comed to charleston, i was so high--(holding his hand some four feet from the earth) yet i was big nuff to plow, when ole massa, de fadder of him burried yonder, bied me and tuck me up to de high hills ob santee. den, sir, my massa who brought me here, was gone to de country whar de white folks first comed from, england. i neber see him till de ole war, when his fadder been dead two year, den he comed home one night and all de family but one had gone to de war. he not talk much, but look mity sorry. my ole missus was a pretty gall, den, live close by us, and it not long afore dey gets married, and den many ob de nabors come and dey hab long talk. dey's all comes to de greement to come away from de country, fraid ob de war, and all de fadders ob all de nabors here take all der niggers and der stock and go up de country to de riber dat's named de holsten, and dare dey built heep flat boats, and in de spring dey starts down de riber. some ob de boats hab hogs on 'em, some hosses, some cows, some niggers, some corn and meat, and some de white families. dar was boff de grandfadder ob miss alice, and her fadder. he was small, not grown, and old massa, her modder's fadder, was young wid young wife, but dey all made him captain. "we was long time comin down de riber, and we had to fite de injuns long time at de place dey calls mussel shoals. some ob de boats got on de ground, and one on em we had to leave wid de hogs on it. de bullets come from the injuns so hot dat we all had to get out into de water and go to anudder boat and get away from dar. dem was the wust injuns i ebber seed. but we got away and we runned all night. nex day miss alice's fadder was on de top ob de boat ob his fadder when injun shoot him in de back from de woods, and he buried wid dat bullet in him up yonder to de great house. well, young massa, we comed one day into a big riber, and dar we stopt one hole week, and de massa and some on de ress on em got out and luck at de country, but dey not like him and we started agin, and de nex day we gits into di massasippi, and in two days more we comed to de place dey called new madrid, and here stopt agin. "de land was mity level and rich, and all de men said dey would stop here and live. de people what lived here was spanish, and some niggers and injuns, and dey talked a lingo we didn't know. dere was a nigger who could talk american, and he comed one night and tuck ole massa out and telled him de spaniards was gwine to rob dem all, and dat dey would kill all on de white folks, and take all de niggers and stock, and dey was gwine to do it de fus dark night. dis larmed us all, and dat night we slipt off, and when mornin comed we was way down de riber and gwine ahead i tell you. we neber stopt any more till we got to de mouth of cole's creek. dare de fadder of miss alice's fadder stopt, and said he would stay dare. ole massa seed an injun dat tole him ob dis place and dey started true de cane, dey was gone long time, but when dey comed back, ole massa got us all ready and away we went and neber stopt till we comed to the mouth of st. catharine's, right ober dar. dar we landed and unloaded de boats, and in a week we was all camped up dar whar de big percan is, and right dar de ole man raise all his family--and dar he and ole missus died. "all dis country was full ob deer and injuns, and dem hills yonder was all covered wid big canes and de biggest trees you ebber seed. yonder, all round dat mound we cleaned a field and planted corn and indigo; and ober yonder was another settlement; and yonder, down de creek was another; and on de cliffs was another, and den dare comed a heap ob people and stopt at natchez and st. catharine, and all us people a most, young massa, about here is come ob dem; but dare was trouble moss all de time twixt em. "ole massa was made de governor, by somebody, and dare was another man made a governor, too, and he git a company one night and comed down here; but somebody had tole old massa, and dat day he tell me, and we went down to de riber under de cliff war was some cane and he tole me he was gwine to stay dar, and i muss bring him sometin to eat ebery day, but i musn't tell whar he was, not eben to ole missus, for dey would scare her and make her tell on him. shore nuff, dat night here dey comed, a many a one on em, and dey went right into de great house and serched it and ebery whar, but dey was fooled bad, and den dey tuck me and put a rope round my neck and hung me to de lim of a tree what is dead and gone now, right out dar. but wen i was moss dead, dey let me down and axed me whar was de governor. i swared i didn't know, and dey pulled me up agin; and dis time dey thought dey had killed me, shore nuff. it was a long time before i comed to, and den i tole um i could show um whar he was, and we started. "de cane was mity thick, and we went up one hill and down another till we comed to dat big hill ober de creek dar. de todder side ob it is mity steep, but de cane was all de way down it. i was a good ways before em and i jumpt down de steepest place and way i went through de cane down de hill, and de way dey made de bullets whistle was curos. but i got away and went round and told de ole man all dey had done. when i went back all de black people was gone and missus said dese men had tuck em off. de nex nite dey cotch me and carried me to whar our black folks was, and den we all started in a boat down de riber, and when we got to new orleans we got on a skiff and run down de riber to a big ship and went out to sea dat night and landed at pensacola, and dare dat wicked ole man sold us to de spanish." "uncle toney, who was that wicked old man?" "ah! my young massa, i musn't tell, cause his grandchillen is great folks here now, and miss alice telled me i musn't tell all i knows. dey aint sponsible, she says, for what dere grandfadder did. but i tell you he was a mity bad man. well, i staid at pensacola two years wid my ole oman; and we could talk wid de injuns, and one day two injuns dat i knowd out here comed to my cabin, and dey telled me dat ole massa was gone way from here and missus was here by herself and had nobody to help her. so i makes a bargain wid dese injuns to come here wid me and my old woman. one saturday night we started to go and see some ob our people dat was bout ten miles from whar we was; but we neber stopped. we tuck to de woods, and we killed a deer wheneber we was hungry. de injuns, you know, can always do dat. we was a mity long time comin; but at last we got here, and den it was moss a year arter dat before ole massa come. den dar was more trouble. one day dar comed fifty men and tuck ole massa, and dey tied him and den begin to rob de house. dey had all de silver and sich like, when de captain comed in, and he did cuss mity hard and made em put it every bit down, and march out. ole missus she thanked him mitily; but dey carried ole massa off to new orleans. "dar was great trouble wid de nabors. dey comed and talked bout it; and one day when ole massa was gone bout a mont, when dey was all dar, who should step into de house but ole massa. he was fash, i tell you he was, dar was old mr. e----, and mr. o---, and mr. t----, and a heap more, and dey all put der heads togeder and talked. one day ole massa come to me and sez he: 'toney, you mus get on my black hoss and go down to de bluffs. watch down de riber, and when you see two big boats comin up--big keel-boats wid plenty ob men on em--way down de riber, jes come as hard as de hoss can bring you here and let me know it.' "i knowd dar was trouble comin, young massa; for i seed miss alice's papa comin wid plenty ob de nabors wid him. he was a tall man, and neber talk much. miss alice's modder was a young oman den, and i knowd dey was gwine to be married. when she seed him wid his gun and so many men she gins to cry. well, i was gone quick, and moss as soon as i got to de cliff, i see de boats way down de riber, pulling long by de shore. i made dat hoss do his best home, when i told old massa: 'dey's comin, sir!' he sorter grin, and git on his hoss and gallop away down toward st. catharine's. he telled me to come on, and i comed. when we got to de mouth ob de creek dar was fifty men dar, all wid der guns, settin on de ground, and ole massa talkin to em. way moss night de boats comed in sight. den all de men hide in de cane, and massa tell me: 'toney, you call em and tell em to come to de shore.' i called em, and dey comed and tied der boats to de trees, and de captain and some ob de men jumped on de land, and walked out, and corned close to me. "de fuss ting dey knowd, bang! bang! bang! go de guns, and de captain fall. de men all run for de boats, and de men on de boats gin to shoot too. i runs wid all my might, and ole massa shout to his friends to fire agin, and two men untying de boats fall. den dey cut de ropes wid an axe, and shove out de boats into de riber, and pull em away wid de oars too far to hit em. ole massa comes out ob de cane and goes to de men what is lying on the ground. dar was six on em, and four was dead sure nuff. two was jus wounded, and one of dese was de captain. him de same man what make his men put down de silber and tings dey was takin from ole missus. den dey carry all on em to de grate house and bury de dead ones. de captain and de oder wounded man was tuck into de house, and ole missus she knowd de captain, and she cried mitily bout his bein shot. well, he talk plenty bout his wife and modder, and miss alice's modder nurse him; but he died, and his grave's yonder wid ole massa and missus. de oder man he got well and went away, and berry soon arter dat miss alice's fadder and modder got married. dar come de judge. he hab seen you, and he ride out ob de road to come see you." "toney, i shall come to see you again, and you must tell me more about the family and these people about here; you must tell me everything." "you musn't tell anybody i tell you anyting. de judge mity quare man; he don't like for people to know all i knows." the judge rode up, and toney with great respect arose and saluted him. "ah!" said he, "you have found this old hermit, have you? toney is the chronicle of the neighborhood--a record of its history from the day of its first settlement. i hope he has amused you. he is upwards of ninety years old, and retains all his faculties in a remarkable degree." "i have been quite entertained with his history of the descent of the river with your ancestors. he seems to remember every incident, and says your father was wounded at the muscle shoals on the tennessee river." "he is quite right, sir. it was a perilous trip. my grandfather was a man of wonderful energy and determination. he pioneered the ancestors of almost every family in this vicinage to this place. there was a large grant of land from the spanish government made here and divided among his followers, every foot of which is in the possession of their descendants to-day, except perhaps one thousand acres which were swindled from my family by a most iniquitous decision of a jury, influenced by an artful old yankee lawyer. this spot here, sir, was the nucleus of the first settlement which in a few years spread over the country." "this county i believe, sir, was once represented in the state of georgia as the county of bourbon, at the time this state with alabama constituted a part of that state." "my father was elected to represent the county, but he never took his seat. we continued to be governed by the laws of spain which we found in force here until the line between florida and the united states was established--indeed until the american government extended its jurisdiction in the form of a territorial government over the country. i am riding to my sisters. you will have fine shooting if you will go through yonder piece of woods. every tree seems to have a squirrel upon it. we will meet again at tea. adieu, till then." "he been watchin you. better go, young massa." "you don't appear, toney, to like your young master." "him not good to miss alice. he got plenty sisters; but he only lub two, and dey don't lub anybody but just him. him not like his fadder nor ole massa yonder. he bring plenty trouble to massa and to his modder. no, me don't like him. miss alice know him all." "well, toney, no one shall ever know you have told me anything. some of these days i will come and see you again. good by." "god bress you, young massa! kill ole nigger some squirrels. tell miss alice dey is for me, and she will make some on de little ones run down here wid em. good by, massa." slowly the young man wended his way to the mansion; but remembering the negro's request, he shot several squirrels, and gave them as requested. "then you have been to see uncle toney. did he give you any of his stories? like all old persons, he loves to talk about his younger days." "i was quite interested in his narrative of the trip down the river, when your grandparents and your father emigrated to this part of the country." "did he tell you his indian ghost story?" "he did not. he was quite communicative; but your brother came and arrested his conversation." a shade fell upon the features of the beautiful creature as she turned away to send the squirrels to toney. "these are beautiful grounds, miss ann." "yes, sir; there has been great care bestowed upon them, and they make a fairy-land for my cousin who in fair weather is almost always found here in these walks and shady retreats afforded by these old oaks and pecans." "there is something very beautiful, miss, in the attachment of miss alice to uncle toney. the devotion to her on his part almost amounts to adoration." "my aunt, the mother of alice, taught her this attachment. there is a little history connected with it, and indeed, sir, all the family remember his services to our grandfather in a most perilous moment; but you must ask its narration from the old man. he loves to tell it. my cousin's memory of her mother is the cherished of her heart. indeed, sir, that is a strong, deep heart. you may never know it; but should you, you will remember that i told you there was but one alice. in all her feelings she is intense; her love is a flame--her hate a thorn; the fragrance of the one is an incense--the piercing of the other is deep and agonizing. shan't we go in, sir; i see the damp of the dew is on your boot-toe, and you have been ill. the absence of the sun is the hour for pestilence to ride the breeze in our climate, and you cannot claim to be fully acclimated." the autumn progressed, and the rich harvests were being gathered and garnered. this season is the longest and the loveliest of the year in this beautiful country. during the months of september, october, and november, there ordinarily falls very little rain, and the temperature is but slightly different. the evolutions of nature are slow and beneficent, and it seems to be a period especially disposed so that the husbandman should reap in security the fruits of the year's labor. the days lag lazily; the atmosphere is serene, and the cerulean, without a cloud, is deeply blue. the foliage of the forest-trees, so gorgeous and abundant, gradually loses the intense green of summer, fading and yellowing so slowly as scarcely to be perceptible, and by such attenuated degrees accustoming the eye to the change, that none of the surprise or unpleasantness of sudden change is seen or experienced. the fields grow golden; the redly-tinged leaves of the cotton-plant contrast with the chaste pure white of the lint in the bursting pods, now so abundantly yielding their wealth; the red ripe berries all over the woods, and the busy squirrels gathering and hoarding these and the richer forest-nuts; the cawing of the crows as they forage upon the ungathered corn, feeding and watching with the consciousness of thieves, and the fat cattle ruminating in the shade, make up a scene of beauty and loveliness not met with in a less fervid clime. the entranced rapture which filled my soul when first i looked upon this scene comes over me now with a freshness that brings back the delights of that day with all its cherished memories, though fifty years have gone and their sorrows have crushed out all but hope from the heart--and all the pleasures of the present are these memories kindly clustering about the soul. perhaps their delights, and those who shared them, will revive in eternity. perhaps not; perhaps all alike--the pleasant and the painful--are to be lost in an eternal, oblivious sleep. it is all speculation; yet hope and doubt go on to the grave, and thence none return to cheer the one or elucidate the other. but be it eternal life or eternal death, it is wise; for it is of god. the autumn grew old and was threatening a frost--the great enemy of fever. the falling leaves and the fitful gusts of chill wind presaged the coming of winter. the ear caught the ring of sounds more distant and more distinct now that the languor of summer was gone, and all animal nature seemed more invigorated and more elastic. health and her inhabitants were returning to the city, and the guests of the hospitable planters were thinning from the country. business was reviving and commotion was everywhere. the young stranger was preparing to leave; yet he lingered. ann had gone; alice grew more shy and timid, and his walks and rides were solitary, and but that he loved nature in her autumn robes would have been dull and uninteresting. the judge was absent at another plantation beyond the river, and his books and his gun were his only companions. sometimes he read, sometimes he rode, and sometimes he walked to visit toney. it was on one of those peculiarly lonely afternoons which come in the last days of october when the stillness persuades to rest and meditation in the woods that, seated on a prostrate tree near the pathway which led down the little creek to the residence of uncle toney, the young guest of the judge was surprised by alice with a small negro girl on their way to visit uncle toney. both started; but in a moment were reassured, and slowly walked to the cabin of the good old negro. "i have come, uncle toney," said the youth, "to see you for the last time. i am going away to-morrow and, as soon as i can, going back to the distant home i so foolishly left." "i am sorry you tell me so; won't you be sorry, miss alice?" asked toney. alice bit her lip, and the flush upon her cheek was less ruddy than usual. "you no find dis country good like yourn, young massa?" "yes, toney, this is a good country, and there is no country more beautiful. but, uncle, it requires more than a beautiful country to make us happy; we must have with us those we love, and who love us; and the scenes of our childhood--our fathers and mothers, and brothers and sisters who are glad with us and who sorrow with us, and the companions of our school-days, to make us happy. i am here without any of these--not a relation within a thousand miles; with no one to care for me or to love me." there was something plaintively melancholly in his words and tones. he looked at alice, her eyes were swimming in tears and she turned away from his gaze. "you been mity sick, here, young massa, didn't miss alice be good to you? aunt ann tell me so. if miss alice had not nuss you, you die." alice stepped into the cabin taking with her the basket the little negro had borne, and placing its contents away, came out and handing it to rose, bid her run home. "i am coming," she said as she adjusted her bonnet-strings, "the bugaboos won't catch you." "yes, uncle toney, i am very grateful to miss alice. i shall never forget her." how often that word is thoughtlessly spoken? never to forget, is a long time to remember. our lives are a constant change: the present drives out the past, and one memory usurps the place of another. yet there are some memories which are always green. these fasten themselves upon us in agony. the pleasant are evanescent and pass away as a smile, but the bitter live in sighs, recurring eternally. both were silent, both were thoughtful. "good-by, uncle toney," said alice. "may i join you in your walk home, miss?" there was something in the tone of this request, which caused alice to look up into his face and pause a moment before replying, when she said, very timidly, "if you please, sir." the sun was drooping to the horizon and the shadows made giants as thy grew along the sward. "farewell, uncle toney," said the gentleman, shaking hands with the old negro. alice had walked on. "o! you needn't say farewell so sorry, you'll come back. i sees him. you'll come back. eberybody who comes to dis country if he does go way he's sure to come back, ticlar when he once find putty gall like miss alice, ya! ya!" laughed the old man. "you'll come back. i knows it." in a few moments he was by the side of alice. they lounged lazily along through the beautiful forest a few paces behind rose, who was too much afraid of bugaboos to allow herself to get far away from her mistress. there was a chill in the atmosphere and now and then a fitful gust of icy wind from the northwest. winter was coming: these avant-couriers whispered of it; and overhead, swooped high up in the blue, a host of whooping cranes, marching in chase of the sun now cheering the antarctic just waking from his winter's sleep. "i believe, sir," said alice, "that the ancients watched the flight of birds and predicated their predictions or prophecies upon them." "yes, the untutored of every age and country observe more closely the operations of nature than the educated. it is their only means of learning. they see certain movements in the beasts and the birds before certain atmospheric changes, and their superstitions influence a belief, that sentient and invisible beings cause this by communicating the changes going on. the more sagacious and observant, and i may add the less scrupulous, lay hold upon this knowledge, to practice for their own pleasure or profit upon the credulity of the masses. there are very many superstitions, miss, which are endowed with a character so holy, that he who would expose them is hunted down as a wretch, unworthy of life. the older and the more ridiculous these, the more holy, and the more sacredly cherished." "are you not afraid thus to speak--is there nothing too holy to be profanely assaulted?" "nothing which contravenes man's reason. truth courts investigation--the more disrobed, the more beautiful. science reveals, that there is no mystery in truth. its simplicity is often disfigured with unnatural and ridiculous superstitions, and these sometimes are so prominent as to conceal it. they certainly, with many, bring it into disrepute. the more intellectual pluck these off and cast them away. they see and know the truth. yonder birds obey an instinct: the chill to their more sensitive natures warns them that the winter, or the tempest, or the rain-storm is upon them; they obey this instinct and fly from it. yet it in due time follows these--the more observant know it, and predict it. those, with the ancients, were sooth-sayers or prophets; with us, they are the same with the ignorant negroes; with the whites, not quite so ignorant, they are--but, miss, i will not say. i must exercise a little prudence to avoid the wrath of the ignorant--they are multitudinous and very powerful." "kind sir, tell me, have you no superstitions? has nothing ever occurred to you, your reason could not account for? have no predictions, to be revealed in the coming future, come to you as foretold?" "do not press me on that point, if you please, i might astonish and offend you." "i am not in the least afraid of your offending me, sir. i could not look in your face and feel its inspirations, and believe you capable of offending me." "thank you for the generous confidence, thank you. i am going and shall remember this so long as i live, and when in my native land, will think of it as too sacred for the keeping of any but myself." "are you really going to leave us, and so soon? i--i--would--but--" "miss alice, i have trespassed too long already upon your brother's hospitality; beside, miss alice, i begin to feel that his welcome is worn out. your brother, for some days, has seemed less cordial than was his wont during the first weeks of my stay here." "my brother, sir, is a strange being--a creature of whims and caprices. there is nothing fixed or settled in his opinions or conduct. his inviting you to spend the summer with us was a whim: one that has astonished several who have not hesitated to express it. it is as likely on his return from his river place, that he will devour you with kindness as that he will meet you with the coldness he has manifested for some days. do not let your conduct be influenced by his whims." "miss alice, i am suspicious, perhaps, by nature. i have thought that you have avoided me lately. i have been very lonesome at times." alice lifted her bonnet from her head, and was swinging it by the strings as she walked along for a few steps, when she stopped, and, turning to her companion, said with a firm though timid voice: "i cannot be deceitful. you have properly guessed: i have avoided you. it was on your account as well as my own. my self-respect is in conflict with my respect for you. i need not tell you why i avoided you; but i will--conscious that i am speaking to a gentleman who will appreciate my motives and preserve inviolate my communications. you saw my cousin hurry away from here. she came to remain some weeks. the cause of her going was my brother. from some strange, unaccountable cause he became offended with her, and charged her with giving bad advice to me. what she has said to me as advice since she came was in the privacy of my bedroom, and in such tones that had he or another been in the chamber they could not have overheard it. i know, sir, and in shame do i speak it, that i am under the surveillance of the servants, who report to my brother and my sister my every act and every word; and i know, too, my brother's imagination supplies in many instances these reports. why i am thus watched i know not. "my brother is my guardian, and nature and duty, it would seem, should prompt him to guard my happiness as well as my interest; but i know in the one instance he fails, and i fear in the other i am suffering. all my family fear him, and none of them love me. i am my parents' youngest child. oh, sir! england is not the only country where it is a curse to be a younger child. my father died when i was an infant. my mother was affectionate and indulgent; my sisters were harsh and tyrannical, and in very early girlhood taught me to hate them. my mother was made miserable by their treatment of me; and my brother, too, quarrelled with her because she would not subject me to the servility of the discipline he prescribed. this quarrel ripened into hate, and he never came to the house or spoke to my mother for years. "the day before she died, and when her recovery was thought to be impossible, he came with a prepared will and witnesses, which in their presence he almost forced her to sign: in this will i was greatly wronged, and this brother has tauntingly told me the cause of this was my being the means of prejudicing our mother against him. "he married a coarse, vulgar kentucky woman, and brought her into the house. she was insolent and disrespectful toward my mother, and i resented it. she left the house, and died a few months after. since that day, though i was almost a child, my life has been one of constant persecution on the part of my brother and sisters. i am compelled to endure it, but do so under protest; if not in words, i do in manner, and this i am persuaded you have on more than one occasion observed. please do not consider me impertinent, nor let it influence you in your opinion of me, when i tell you my brother has rudely said to me that i was too forward in my intercourse with you. it is humiliating to say this to you; but i must, for it explains my conduct, which save in this regard has been motiveless. "a lady born to the inheritance of fortune is very unpleasantly situated, both toward her family and to the world. these seem solicitous to take greater interest in her pecuniary affairs than in her personal happiness, and are always careful to warn her that her money is more sought than herself--distracting her mind and feelings, and keeping her constantly miserable. since my school-days i have been companionless. if i have gone into society, i have been under the guard of one or the other of my sisters. these are cold, austere, and repulsive, and especially toward those who would most likely seek my society, and with whom i would most naturally be pleased. i must be retired, cold, and never to seem pleased, but always remarkably silent and dignified. i must be a goddess to be worshipped, and not an equal to be approached and my society courted companionably. in fine, i was to be miserable, and make all who came to me participate in this misery. it was more agreeable to remain at home among my flowers and shrubs, my books, and my visits to uncle toney. do you wonder, sir, that i seem eccentric? you know how the young love companionship--how they crave the amusements which lend zest to life. i enjoy none of this, and i am sometimes, i believe, nearly crazy. i fear you think me so, now. i want to love my brother, but he will not permit me to do so. i fear he has a nature so unlovable that such a feeling toward him animates no heart. my sisters and a drunken sot of a brother-in-law pretend to love him--but they measure their affection by the hope of gain. they reside in louisiana, and i am glad they are not here during your stay--for you would certainly be insulted, especially if they saw the slightest evidence of esteem for you on brother's part, or kindness on mine." "oh! sir, how true is the scripture, 'out of the fulness of the heart the mouth speaketh.' out of my heart's fulness have i spoken, and, i fear you will think, out of my heart's folly, too; and in my heart's sincerity i tell you i do not know why i have done so to you--for i have never said anything of these things to any one but cousin ann, before. perhaps it is because i know you are going away and you will not come to rebuke me with your presence any more; for indeed, sir, i do not know how i could meet you and not blush at the memory of this evening's walk." "miss alice, i have a memory, or it may be a fancy, that in the delirium of my fever, some weeks since, i saw you like a spirit of light flitting about my bed and ministering to my wants; and i am sure, when all supposed me _in extremis_, you came, and on my brow placed your soft hand, and pressed it gently above my burning brain. my every nerve thrilled beneath that touch; my dead extremities trembled and were alive again. the brain resumed her functions, and the nervous fluid flashed through my entire system, and departing life came back again. you saved my life. were the records of time and events opened to my inspection and i could read it there, i could not more believe this than i now do. then what is due from me to you? this new evidence of confidence adds nothing to the obligation--it was full without it. but it is an inspiration i had not before. we are here, miss alice, within a few steps of the threshold of the house in which you were born. i am far from the land of my nativity--our meeting was strange, and this second meeting not the less so." "ah! you have almost confessed that you are superstitious. you need not have acknowledged that you are romantic; your young life has proven this." "stay, miss alice: you asked me but now if there had never been the realization of previous predictions. you said you knew i would not offend you. i would not, but may. now listen to me, here under the shade of this old oak. when i was a child, my nurse was an aged african woman; like all her race, she was full of superstition, and she would converse with me of mysteries, and spells, and wonderful revelations, until my mind was filled as her own with strange superstitions and presentiments. on one occasion, on the sabbath day, i found her in the orchard, seated beneath a great pear-tree, and went to her--for though i was no longer her ward to nurse, i liked to be with her and hear her talk. it was a beautiful day, the fruit-trees were in bloom, and the spring-feeling in the sunshine was kindling life into activity through all nature. she asked me to let her see my hand and she would tell me my fortune. she pretended sagely to view every line, and here and there to press her index finger sharply down. at length she began to speak. "'you will not stay with your people,' she said, 'but will be a great traveller; and when in some far-away country, you will be sick--mighty sick; and a beautiful woman will find you, and she will nurse you, and you will love that beautiful woman, and she will love you, and she will marry you, and you will not come to reside with your people any more.' now, miss alice, i have wandered far away from my home, have been sick, very sick, and a beautiful woman has nursed me until i am well, and oh! from my heart i do love that beautiful woman. so far all of this wild prediction has been verified; and it remains with you, my dear alice, to say if the latter portion shall be. you are too candid to delay reply, and too sincere to speak equivocally." she trembled as she looked up into his face and read it for a moment. "you are too much of a gentleman to speak as you have, unless it came from your heart. o my god! is this reality, or am i dreaming?" she drooped her head upon his shoulder, and said: "'whither thou goest i will go; thy house shall be my house, and thy god my god.'" the full moon was just above the horizon, and the long dark shadows veiled them from view. the judge rode in at the gate, and leaving his horse, went directly into the house. a moment after a carriage drove into the court, and from it dismounted the brother-in-law sot and her weird sister; for indeed she was a very hecate in looks and mischief. alice stole away to her chamber; and the happy stranger to wander among the shrubs, regardless of the damp and chill. here were two young hearts conscious of happiness; but was it a happiness derived from the respective merits and congenial natures of the two known to each other? they were comparatively strangers, knowing little of the antecedents of each other. each was unhappily situated--the one from poverty, the other owing to her wealth; the one ardently desirous of bettering pecuniarily his position, the other to release herself from restraints that were tyrannical and to enjoy that independence which she felt was her natural right. might not these considerations override the purer impulses of the heart arising from that regard for qualities which win upon the mind until ripened first into deep respect, then mellowed into tender affection by association protracted and intimate? they had been reared in societies radically different: their early impressions were equally antagonistic; but their aims were identical--to escape from present personal embarrassments. they had met romantically. he had been removed for many months from the presence of civilized society, though naturally fond of female association, and craving deeply in his heart the communion again of that intercourse, which had (as he had learned from sad experience) been the chief cause of the happiness of his youth. he met her first as he entered anew the relations of civilized and social society. she was young and exquisitely beautiful. their meeting was but for a moment; their intercourse was intensely delightful to him, and the interest her ardent nature manifested toward him was extremely captivating. he had gone from her, with her in all his heart. she for the time was free. she felt not the restraint of her female relatives, and the ardor of her heart burned out in the delighted surprise she experienced in the gentle and genial bearing of one to all seeming rude and uncultivated as the savage he so much resembled in the contour of his apparel. she had trembled with a strange ecstasy as he strolled by her side, and felt a thrill pierce her soul as she looked into his face and saw what she had never seen, beaming in his eyes. she had never seen it before; yet she knew it, and felt she had found what her heart had so long and so ardently craved. she had parted from him with a consciousness that she was never to meet him again; and yet his image was with her by day and by night--her fancy kept him by day, and her dreams by night. she loved him for the mellow civilization of his heart and for the wild savageness of his garb. oh, the heart of dear woman! it is her world. would that the realizations of life were as her heart paints and craves them! he had again come as unexpectedly to her; but the figure was without its surroundings: the diamond was there, but the setting was gone, and she was not agreeably surprised: hence the indifference manifested by her when he discovered to her his identity. intercourse had revived the tenderness of the woman as it dispelled the romance of the girl. her affection she deemed was not a fancy, but a feeling now. her heart had wandered and fluttered like a wounded bird seeking some friendly limb for support--some secluded shade for rest. she had found all, and she was happy. he was her future; she thought of none other--of nothing else. was he as happy? he had seen the rough side of the world, and thought more rationally. his night was sleepless. in a moment of feeling he had asked and received the heart of a lovely being whom he felt he could always love. he knew she was more than anxious for a home where she was mistress, and he must prepare it--but how, or where? he was without means. it was humiliating to depend on hers; and this was the first alloy which stained and impoverished the bliss of his anticipations. they met in the early morning. her brow was clouded. none were up save themselves. their interview was brief and explicit. he saw her in a new phase; she had business tact as well as an independent spirit. "you must leave this morning," she said, "and immediately after breakfast. my sister has put the servants through the gantlet of inquiry. they knew what she wanted to know, and if inclination had been wanting, the fear of the stocks and torture would have compelled them to tell it to her. she has heard all she wished, to her heart's content. she was in my chamber until midnight, and, as usual, we have quarrelled. they have told her that i was constantly with you, and that i was in love with you, and a thousand things less true than this. she has upbraided me for entering your chamber when you were sick. she menacingly shook her finger at me, and almost threatened corporal punishment if i did not desist from your association. i shall be surprised if she does not insult you upon sight. nothing will prevent it but fear of offending brother. this she would not do for less than half of his estate--for that, and even more, she is now playing. she pretends devotion to him; and they profess a mutual attachment. if this is sincere, it is the only love either of them ever felt. you must express to brother, the moment you see him, your determination to leave at once, and let it be decided. i don't know your means, but fear you will be embarrassed, as you are comparatively a stranger, in preparing a home for us. give this to its address, and you will have all you want. do not stop to look at it. put it in your pocket--there. i shall not be at the table this morning; there would be unpleasantness for you, i am sure. i shall not see you again until you come to carry me to our own home, which shall be very soon. despite this _contretemps_ i am very happy; and now farewell. i will write to you; for to-day i mean to tell brother i am to be your wife. i know how he will receive it; but he knows me, and will more than simply approve it. he will wish to give us a wedding; but i will not receive it. our marriage must be private. again farewell!" without a kiss they parted. what were the reflections of this young man in his long morning's drive he will never forget. 'twas fifty years ago; but they are green in memory yet, and will be until the grave yonder at the hill's foot, now opening to view, shall close over--close out this mortality, and all the memories which have imbittered life so long. chapter xxiii. when successful, right; when not, wrong. territorial mississippi--wilkinson--adams--jefferson--warren--claiborne --union of the factions--colonel wood--chew--david hunt--joseph dunbar--society of western mississippi--pop visits of a week to tea--the horse "tom" and his rider--our grandfather's days--an emigrant's outfit--my share--george poindexter--a sudden opening of a court of justice--the caldwell and gwinn duel--jackson's opposition to the governor of mississippi. the counties of wilkinson, adams, jefferson, claiborne, and warren are the river counties carved from the territory first settled in the state of mississippi. the settlements along the mississippi came up from new orleans and went gradually up the stream. the english or american immigration to that river antedated but a very short time the war of the revolution. the commencement of this war accelerated the settlement, many seeking an asylum from the horrors of war within the peaceful borders of this new and faraway land. the five counties above named constituted the county of bourbon when the jurisdiction of the united states was extended to the territory. very soon after it was divided into three counties--wilkinson, adams, and jefferson; and subsequently, as the population increased, claiborne and warren were organized and established. these counties were named after john adams, thomas jefferson, general wilkinson, general warren, who fell at bunker's hill, and general ferdinand claiborne, a distinguished citizen of the territory. as a territory, mississippi extended to and comprised all the territory east to the alabama river or to the georgia line. in fact, there was no distinct eastern boundary until the admission of the state into the union. the leading men of the communities first formed in the five counties on the mississippi were men of intelligence and substance. the very first were those who, to avoid the consequences of the war of the revolution, had sought security here. some, who conscientiously scrupled as to their duty in that conflict--unwilling to violate an allegiance which they felt they owed to the british crown, and equally unwilling to take part against their kindred and neighbors--had left their homes and come here. there were not a few of desperate character, who had come to avoid the penalties of the criminal laws of the countries from which they had fled. the descendants of all these constitute a large element of the population of these counties at the present moment. some of these sustain the character of their ancestors in an eminent degree; others again are everything but what their parents were. one feature of the country is different from that of almost any other portion of the united states. the descendants of the first pioneers are all there. there has been no emigration from the country. the consequence is that intermarriages have made nearly all the descendants of the pioneers relatives. in very many instances these marriages have united families whose ancient feuds are traditions of the country. the opprobrium attached to the name of tory (which was freely given to all who had either avoided the war by emigration, or who had remained and taken part against the colonies, and then, to avoid the disgrace they had earned at home, and also to escape the penalties of the laws of confiscation, had brought here their property) induced most families to observe silence respecting their early history, or the causes which brought them to the country, and especially to their children. this was true even as late as forty years ago. there were then in these counties many families of wealth and polish, whose ancestors were obnoxious on account of this damaging imputation; and it was remembered as a tradition carefully handed down by those who at a later day came to the country from the neighborhoods left by these families, and in most instances for crimes of a much more heinous character than obedience to conscientious allegiance to the government. but success had made allegiance treachery, and rebellion allegiance. success too often sanctifies acts which failure would have made infamous. "be it so! though right trampled be counted for wrong, and that pass for right which is evil victorious, here, where virtue is feeble and villany strong, 'tis the cause, not the fate of a cause, that is glorious." the inviting character of the soil and climate induced (as soon as a settled form of government promised protection) rapid emigration to the country. this came from every part of the united states. those coming from the same state usually located as nearly as practicable in the same neighborhood, and to this day many of these are designated by the name of the country or state from which they came. there are in the county of jefferson two neighborhoods known to-day as the maryland settlement and the scotch settlement, and the writer has many memories--very pleasant ones, too--of happy hours in the long past spent with some of nature's noblemen who were inhabitants of these communities. who that has ever sojourned for a time in this dear old county, does not remember the generous and elegant hospitality of colonel wood, joseph dunbar, and mr. chew; nor must i forget that truly noble-hearted man, david hunt, the founder of oakland college, whose charitable munificence was lordly in character, but only commensurate with his soul and great wealth. it seems invidious to individualize the hospitality of this community, where all were so distinguished; but i cannot forbear my tribute of respect--my heart's gratitude--to wood and dunbar. i came among these people young and a stranger, poor, and struggling to get up in the world. these two opened their hearts, their doors, and their purses to me; but it was not alone to me. should all who have in like circumstances been the recipients of their generous and unselfish kindnesses record them as i am doing, the story of their munificent generosity and open, exalted hospitality would seem an eastern romance. they have been long gathered to their fathers; but so long as any live who knew them, their memories will be green and cherished. in this neighborhood was built the first protestant episcopal church in the state, and here worshipped the woods, dunbars, macgruders, shields, greens, and others composing the settlement. the descendants of these families still remain in that neighborhood, where anterior to the late war was accumulated great wealth. the topography of the country is beautifully picturesque with hills and dales, and all exceedingly fertile. these hills are a continuation of the formation commencing at vicksburg, and extending to bayou sara. they are peculiar, and seem to have been thrown over the primitive formation by some extraordinary convulsion, and are of a sandy loam. no marine shells are found in them; but occasionally trees and leaves are exhumed at great depths. no water is found in this loam by digging or boring; but after passing through this secondary formation, the humus or soil of the primitive is reached--the leaves and limbs of trees superincumbent on this indicating its character--then the sand and gravel, and very soon water, as in other primitive formations. these hills extend back from the river in an irregular line from ten to fifteen miles, and are distinguished by a peculiar growth of timber and smaller shrubs. the magnolias and poplars, with linn, red oak, and black walnut, are the principal trees. there is no pine, but occasionally an enormous sassafras, such as are found in no other section on this continent. there is no stone, and no running water except streams having their rise in the interior, passing through these hills to their debouchment into the river. the entire formation is a rich compost, and in great part soluble in water; this causes them to wash, and when not cultivated with care, they cut into immense gullies and ravines. they are in some places almost mountainous in height and exceedingly precipitous. they are designated at different localities by peculiar names--as the walnut hills, grand hills, petit gulf hills, natchez hills, and st. catherine hills. in primitive forest they presented a most imposing appearance. large and lofty timber covered from base to summit these hills, increasing their grandeur by lifting to their height the immense vines found in great abundance all over them. the dense wild cane, clothing as a garment the surface of every acre, went to the very tops of the highest hills, adding a strange feature to hill scenery. the river only approaches these hills in a few places and always at right angles, and is by them deflected, leaving them always on the outer curve of the semicircle or bend in the stream. from these points and from the summit of these cliffs the view is very fine, stretching often in many places far up and down the river and away over the plain west of the river, which seems to repose upon its lap as far as the eye can view. the scene is sombre, but grand, especially when lighted by the evening's declining sun. the plain is unbroken by any elevation: the immense trees rise to a great height, and all apparently to the same level--the green foliage in summer strangely commingling with the long gray moss which festoons from the upper to the lower limbs, waving as a garland in the fitful wind; and the dead gray of the entire scene in winter is sad and melancholy as a vast cemetery. there is a gloomy grandeur in this, which is only rivalled by that of the sea, when viewed from a towering height, lazily lolling in the quiet of a summer evening's calm. to encounter the perils of a pioneer to such a country required men of iron nerve. such, with women who dared to follow them, to meet and to share every danger and fearlessly to overcome every obstacle to their enterprise, coming from every section of the united states, formed communities and introduced the arts and industry of civilization, to subdue these forests and compel the soil to yield its riches for the use of man. from these had grown a population, fifty years ago, combining the daring and noble traits of human character which lie at the base of a grand and chivalrous civilization. such men were the leaders and controllers of the society at that time, assuming a uniform and homogeneous character throughout the western portion of the state. the invasion of new orleans had endangered this section, and to a man they rallied to meet the foe. more than half the male population of that portion of the state were at new orleans and in the trenches on the memorable th of january, . their conduct upon that occasion was distinguished, and won from general jackson high commendation. the charge of the mississippi cavalry, commanded by general thomas hinds, the general, in his report of the battle, said, excited the admiration of one army and the astonishment of the other. this campaign brought together the younger portion of the male population of the state, and under such circumstances as to make them thoroughly to know each other. these men were the prominent personages of the state forty years ago, and they formed the character of the population and inspired the gallantry and chivalry of spirit which so distinguished the troops of mississippi in the late unfortunate civil war--in all, but in none so conspicuously, in this spirit and nobleness of soul and sentiment, as in the characters of jefferson davis and john a. quitman--foremost to take up arms in the war with mexico, resigning high positions for the duties of the soldier, to follow the flag, and avenge the insults of a presumptuous foe. the society of western mississippi, forty years ago, was distinguished above any other in the union, for a bold, generous, and frank character, which lent a peculiar charm. it was polished, yet it was free and unreserved, full of the courtesies of life, with the rough familiarity of a coarser people. the sports of the turf were pursued with enthusiastic ardor. the chase for the fox and the red deer pervaded almost universally the higher walks of life. the topography of the country was such as to make these, in the fearless rides they compelled, extremely hazardous, familiarizing their votaries with danger and inspiring fearlessness and daring. almost every gentleman had his hunting steed and kennel of hounds; and at the convivial dinner which always followed the hunt, he could talk horse and hound with the zest of a groom or whipper-in, and at the evening _soirée_ emulate d'orsay or chesterfield in the polish of his manners and the elegance of his conversation. this peculiarity was not alone confined to the gentlemen. the ladies were familiar with every household duty, and attended to them: they caught from their husbands and brothers the open frankness of their bearing and conversation, a confident, yet not a bold or offensive bearing in their homes and in society, with a polished refinement and an elevation of sentiment in all they said or did, which made them to me the most charming and lovely of their sex--and which made mississippi forty years ago the most desirable place of rural residence in the union. the conduct of these people was universally lofty and honorable. a fawning sycophancy or little meannesses were unknown; social intercourse was unrestrained because all were honorable, and that reserve which so plainly speaks suspicion of your company was never seen. there was no habit of canvassing the demerits of a neighbor or his affairs. the little backbitings and petty slanders which so frequently mar the harmony of communities, was never indulged or tolerated. homogeneous in its character, the population was harmonious. united in the same pursuits, the emulation was kind and honorable. the tone and purity was superior to low and debasing vices, and these and their concomitants were unknown. there were few dram-shops or places of low resort, and these only for the lower and more debased of the community. fortunately, fifty years ago, there were but few such characters, no meetings for gaming or debauchery, and the social communion of the people was chaste and cordial at their hospitable and elegant homes. a peculiar feature of the society of the river counties was the perfect freedom of manners, and yet the high polish, the absence of neighborhood discord, and the strict regard for personal and pecuniary rights: a sort of universal confidence pervaded every community, and in every transaction personal honor supplied the place of litigation. strangers of respectable appearance were not met with apparent suspicion, but with hospitable kindness; and especially was this the case toward young men who professedly came in search of a new home and new fields for the exercise of their abilities professionally, or for the more profitable employment of any means they might to have brought to the country. now, at seventy years of age, and after the experience of half a century of men and society in almost every portion of the union, i can truthfully say, nowhere have i ever met so truthful, so generous, and so hospitable a people as the planters and gentlemen of the river counties of mississippi, fifty years ago--nowhere women more refined, yet affable; so modest, yet frank and open in their social intercourse; so dignified, without austerity; so chaste and pure in sentiment and action, without prudery or affectation, as the mothers, wives, and daughters of those planters. the bench and the bar were distinguished for ability and purity; many of these have left national reputations--all of them honorable names to their families and profession. nor were the physicians less distinguished. the names of provan, mcpheters, cartwright, ogden, parker, cox, and dennie will be remembered when all who were their compeers shall have passed away, as ornaments to their profession. there is one other, still living at a very advanced age, who was perhaps the superior of any i have mentioned--james metcalf, who not only was and is an ornament to his profession, but to human nature. he is one of the few surviving monuments of the men of fifty years ago. his life has been eminently useful and eminently pure. he has lived to see his children emulating his example as virtuous and useful citizens, above reproach, and an honor to their parents. there was not, perhaps, in the union, a stronger bar in any four counties than here--childs, gibbs, worley, george adams, (the father of generals daniel and wirt adams,) robert h. adams, (who died a senator in the united states congress when it was an honor to fill the position,) lyman harding, w.b. griffith, john a. quitman, joseph e. davis, (the elder brother of jefferson davis,) thomas b. reid, robert j. and duncan walker. time has swept on, and but one of all these remains in life--robert j. walker. edward tuner, then the presiding judge of the district court, was a kentuckian. four brothers immigrated to the country about the same time. two remained at natchez, one at bayou sara, in louisiana, and the fourth went to new orleans. all became distinguished: three as lawyers, who honored the bench in their respective localities, and the fourth as a merchant and planter accumulated an immense fortune. the planters almost universally resided upon their plantations, and their habits were rural and temperate. their residences were unostentatious, but capacious and comfortable, with every attachment which could secure comfort or contribute to their pleasure. the plantation houses for the slaves were arranged conveniently together, constituting with the barns, stabling, and gin-houses a neat village. the grounds about the residences were covered with forest-trees carefully preserved; shrubs and flowers were cultivated with exquisite taste among these and over the garden grounds around and beyond them. social intercourse was of the most cordial and unrestrained character. it was entirely free from that embarrassing ceremony which in urban communities makes it formal, stiff, and a mere ceremony. it was characterized by high-breeding, which made it not only unrestrained but polished, cultivating the heart and the manners to feeling and refinement; making society what it should be--a source of enjoyment and heart-happiness, free from jealousies, rivalries, and regrets. the distances from plantation to plantation were such as to preclude visiting as a simple call; consequently calls were for spending a day to dine, or an evening to tea, to a rural ride, or some amusement occupying at least half a day, and not unfrequently half a week. every planter built his house, if not with a view to architectural symmetry and beauty, at least with ample room to entertain his friends, come they in ever such numbers, and his hospitality was commensurate with his house--as capacious and as unpretending. it was the universal habit for both ladies and gentlemen to ride on horseback. the beauty of the forest, through which ran the roads and by-ways--its fragrant blooms--its dark, dense foliage, invited to such exercise; and social reunions were frequently accomplished in the cool shades of these grand old forests by parties ruralizing on horseback when the sun was low, and the shade was sweet, which led them to unite and visit, as unexpectedly as they were welcome, some neighbor, where without ceremony the evening was spent in rural and innocent amusement--a dance, a game of whist or euchre--until weary with these; and on the arrival of the hour for rest they left, and galloped home in the soft moonlight, respectively flushed with health-giving exercise, and only sufficiently fatigued to be able to sleep well. nowhere does a splendid woman appear to more advantage than on horseback. trained from early girlhood to horseback exercise, she learns to sit fearlessly and control absolutely the most fiery steed, to accommodate herself to his every motion, and in his movements to display the ease and grace of this control and confidence. nowhere on earth were to be found more splendid women or more intrepid riders than the daughters of the planters of mississippi fifty years ago. each was provided for her especial use with an animal of high blood, finished form, and well-trained gait. daily intercourse familiarized rider and horse, and an attachment grew up between them that was always manifested by both upon meeting. it was said by napoleon that his parade-horse knew and recognized him, and bore himself with more pride and spirit when he was in the saddle than when mounted by any other. whoever has accustomed himself to treat kindly his saddle-horse, and to suffer no one but himself to ride him, can well understand this. i remember a horse and his rider among my early acquaintances on the banks of the mississippi, whose mutual attachment was so remarkable as to excite the wonder of strangers. that rider was a true woman--kind, gentle, and yet full of spirit. affectionate as she was fearless, she had importuned her brother for the gift of a fine young blood-horse, which he gave her upon the condition that she would ride him. she was an experienced rider, and promised. after a few days of close intimacy, she ventured to mount him. to the astonishment of every one he was perfectly docile, and moved away gently, but with an air of pride, as if conscious of the precious burden he bore. from that time forward no one was permitted to ride him but the lady, who visited him every day in his stall, and always carried him a loaf of bread or a cup of sugar, and never mounted him without going to his front and holding a conversation with pretty tom, stroking his head with her gentle hand, and giving him a lump of sugar or a biscuit. he was allowed the liberty of the yard, to graze on the young sweet grass of the front lawn, and luxuriate in the shade of the princely trees which grew over it. one or many ladies might go out upon the gallery and remain unnoticed by tom. the moment, however, that his mistress came, and he saw her or heard her voice, he would neigh in recognition of her presence, and bound immediately forward to the house, manifesting in his eye and manner great pleasure. this was kindly returned by the lady always descending the steps and gently stroking his head, which he would affectionately rest against her person. he would follow her over the yard like a pet spaniel; but he would do this for no one else. he knew her voice, and would obey it, and bound to her call with the alacrity of a child. his pleasure at her coming to mount him, when saddled for a ride, was so marked as to excite astonishment. he would carefully place himself for her convenience, and stand quiet after she was in the saddle until her riding-skirt was adjusted and her foot well in the stirrup, and then she would only say, "now, tom!" when he would arch his neck and move off with a playful bound, and curvet about the grounds until she would lay her hand upon his mane, and, gently patting his neck, say, "there, tom!" then the play was over, and he went gallantly forward, obediently and kindly as a reasoning being. the young reader will excuse this garrulity of age: it is its privilege; and i am writing my recollections of bygone years, and none are more pleasant than those which recall to me this great woman--the delightful hours spent in her society at the hospitable home of her family. she still lives, an aged woman, respected by all, and honored in the great merits of her children. like tom, they were affectionately trained; and like tom, they were dutiful in their conduct, and live to perpetuate her intelligence and the noble attributes of her glorious heart. should these lines ever meet her eye, she will remember the writer, and recall the delightful rides and happy hours spent together a long time ago. we are both in the winter of life, time's uses are almost ended, and all that is blissful now are the memories of the past. dear fannie, close the book and your eyes, turn back to fifty years ago, and to the memories common to us both, give the heart one brief moment to these, and, as now i do, drop a tear to them. the population in the four river counties, at the time of which i write, was much more dense than of any other portion of the state: still there were numerous settlements in different parts of the state quite populous. that upon pearl river, of these, perhaps, was most populous; but those eastern settlements were constituted of a different people: most of them were from the poorer districts of georgia and the carolinas. true to the instincts of the people from whom they were descended, they sought as nearly as possible just such a country as that from which they came, and were really refugees from a growing civilization consequent upon a denser population and its necessities. they were not agriculturists in a proper sense of the term; true, they cultivated in some degree the soil, but it was not the prime pursuit of these people, nor was the location sought for this purpose. they desired an open, poor, pine country, which forbade a numerous population. here they reared immense herds of cattle, which subsisted exclusively upon the coarse grass and reeds which grew abundantly among the tall, long-leafed pine, and along the small creeks and branches numerous in this section. through these almost interminable pine-forests the deer were abundant, and the canebrakes full of bears. they combined the pursuits of hunting and stock-minding, and derived support and revenue almost exclusively from these. they were illiterate and careless of the comforts of a better reared, better educated, and more intelligent people. they were unable to employ for each family a teacher, and the population was too sparse to collect the children in a neighborhood school. these ran wild, half naked, unwashed and uncombed, hatless and bonnetless through the woods and grass, followed by packs of lean and hungry curs, hallooing and yelling in pursuit of rabbits and opossums, and were as wild as the indians they had supplanted, and whose pine-bark camps were yet here and there to be seen, where temporarily stayed a few strolling, degraded families of choctaws. some of these pioneers had been in the country many years, were surrounded with descendants, men and women, the growth of the country, rude, illiterate, and independent. along the margins of the streams they found small strips of land of better quality than the pine-forests afforded. here they grew sufficient corn for bread and a few of the coarser vegetables, and in blissful ignorance enjoyed life after the manner they loved. the country gave character to the people: both were wild and poor; both were _sui generis_ in appearance and production, and both seeming to fall away from the richer soil and better people of the western portion of the state. between them and the inhabitants of the river counties there was little communication and less sympathy; and i fancy no country on earth of the same extent presented a wider difference in soil and population, especially one speaking the same language and professing the same religion. time, and the pushing a railroad through this eastern portion of the state, have effected vast changes for the better, and among these quaintly called piney-woods people now are families of wealth and cultivation. but in the main they are yet rude and illiterate. not ten years since, i spent some time in eastern mississippi. i met at his home a gentleman i had made the acquaintance of in new orleans. he is a man of great worth and fine intelligence: his grandfather had emigrated to the country in from emanuel county, georgia. his grandson says: "he carried with him a small one-horse cart pulled by an old gray mare, one feather bed, an oven, a frying-pan, two pewter dishes, six pewter plates, as many spoons, a rifle gun, and three deer-hounds. he worried through the creek nation, extending then from the oconee river to the tombigbee. "after four months of arduous travel he found his way to leaf river, and there built his cabin; and with my grandmother, and my father, who was born on the trip in the heart of the creek nation, commenced to make a fortune. he found on a small creek of beautiful water a little bay land, and made his little field for corn and pumpkins upon that spot: all around was poor, barren pine woods, but he said it was a good range for stock; but he had not an ox or cow on the face of the earth. the truth is, it looked like emanuel county. the turpentine smell, the moan of the winds through the pine-trees, and nobody within fifty miles of him, was too captivating a concatenation to be resisted, and he rested here. "about five years after he came, a man from pearl river was driving some cattle by to mobile, and gave my grandfather two cows to help him drive his cattle. it was over one hundred miles, and you would have supposed it a dear bargain; but it turned out well, for the old man in about six weeks got back with six other head of cattle. how or where, or from whom he got them is not one of the traditions of the family. from these he commenced to rear a stock which in time became large. "my father and his brothers and sisters were getting large enough to help a little; but my grandfather has told me that my father was nine years old before he ever tasted a piece of bacon or pork. when my father was eighteen years of age he went with a drove of beef cattle to new orleans. he first went to baton rouge, thence down the river. he soon sold out advantageously; for he came home with a young negro man and his wife, some money, and my mother, whom he had met and married on the route. well, from those negroes, and eight head of cattle, all the family have come to have something. "i was born nine months after that trip, and grew up, as father had done before me, on the banks of that little creek. i doubt if there ever was a book in my grandfather's house. i certainly never remember to have seen one there, and i was sixteen years old when he died. i think i was very nearly that old before i ever saw any woman but those of the family, and i know i was older than that before ever i wore shoes or pants. nearly every year father went to mobile, or natchez, or new orleans. the first time i ever knew my mother had a brother, i was driving up the cows, and a tall, good-looking man overtook me in the road and asked where my father lived. i remember i told him, 'at home.' he thought it was impudence, but it was ignorance. however, he was quite communicative and friendly. "that night, after the family had gone to bed, i heard him tell mother her father was dead, and that he had disinherited her for running off and marrying father. i did not know what this meant; but the next day father came and told mother that her brother wanted to be kind to her, and had proposed to give him a thousand dollars out of the estate of her father, if he and she would take it and sign off. that was the word. i shall not forget, so long as i live, my mother's looks as she walked up to father and said: 'don't you do it, john. john, i say, don't you do it.' uncle had gone down to grandfather's, and when he came back, mother had his horse saddled at the fence. she met him at the door, and said: 'you don't come in here. there's your beast; mount him, and go. i am not such a fool as my john. i was raised in louisiana, and i remember hearing my father say that all he hated in the laws was that a man could not do with his property, when he died, what he pleased. i haven't forgot that. i have not seen nor heard from any of you for fifteen years, and never should, if you hadn't come here to try to cheat me.' "i was scared, and father was scared; for we knew there was danger when mother's nap was up. uncle did not reply to mother, but said: 'john, you can sign off.' "'no, john can't; and i tell you john shan't! so now do you just mount that horse and leave.' "as she said this she lifted the old rifle out of the rack over the door and rubbed her hand over the barrel to get the sight clear. 'i am not going to tell you to go any more.' "it was not necessary--uncle went; but he kept looking back until he was at least a quarter of a mile from the house. mother turned to father and said: 'now, john, you go after my share of father's truck, and go quick.' he did as she bid him: everybody about the house did that. well, he was gone three weeks, and came home with six thousand dollars, which he had taken for mother's share; but she said she knew he had been cheated. "every dollar of that money remained in the house until i got married and came off here. i got two thousand of it, one negro, and two hundred head of cattle. i had promised my wife's people that i would come and live with them. i am glad i did. i was twenty-one years old when i learned my letters. i have been lucky; have educated my children, and they have educated me, and are talking about running me for congress. well, my friend, i believe i could be elected; but that is a small part of the business. i should be of no service to the state, and only show my own ignorance. come, sue, can't you give the gentleman some music? give me my fiddle, and i will help you." sue was a beautiful and interesting girl of nineteen, only a short time returned from a four-years residence at the famous patapsco institute. she had music in her soul, and the art to pour it out through her fingers' ends. it was an inheritance from her extraordinary father, as any judge of music would have said, who had heard the notes melting from that old black violin, on that rainy night in december. there are not many such instances of men springing from such humble origin in eastern mississippi; but this is not a solitary case. there emigrated from different states, north and south, at a remote period in the brief history of this new country, several young men of talent and great energy, who not only distinguished themselves, but shed lustre upon the state. among the first of these was george poindexter, from virginia; rankin, from georgia, (but born in virginia;) thomas b. reid, from kentucky; stephen duncan, and james campbell wilkins, from pennsylvania. the most remarkable of these was george poindexter. he was a lawyer by profession and a jeffersonian republican in politics. very early in life he became the leader of that party in the state, and was sent to congress as its sole representative. very soon he obtained an enviable reputation in that body as a statesman and a powerful debater. his mind was logical and strong; his conception was quick and acute; his powers of combination and application were astonishing; his wit was pointed and caustic, and his sarcasm overwhelming. unusually quick to perceive the weaker parts of an opponent's argument, his ingenuity would seize these and turn them upon him with a point and power not unfrequently confounding and destroying the effect of all he had urged. from congress to the gubernatorial chair of the state was the next step in his political career, and it was in this capacity that he rendered the most signal service to the state. as a lawyer, he was well aware of the wants of the state in statutory provisions for the protection of the people. these were wisely recommended, and, through his exertions, enacted into laws. the several governments which had claimed and held jurisdiction over the territory of mississippi had issued grants to companies and individuals for large tracts of country in different portions of the state. these grants had not been respected by the succeeding governments, or else the records had been lost or carried from the country for a time; hence very many conflicting claims made insecure the titles of the proprietors now settled upon these tracts, and were fruitful of endless litigation. to remedy this evil, a statute was recommended by governor poindexter and enacted into a law, compelling suit to be commenced by all adverse claimants by a certain day. this effectually cured the evil, and a suit to establish titles is now very rare in mississippi. as a judge he was able, prompt, impartial, unrivalled in talent, and, at the same time, unsurpassed by any lawyer in the state in legal learning. his administration of the laws was eminently successful. the country was new, with the exception of a few counties, and, as in all new and frontier countries, there were many bad and desperate men. to purge these from society it was necessary that the criminal laws should be strictly enforced. to do so required decision and sternness in the character and conduct of the judges. very soon after poindexter was placed on the bench he manifested these attributes in an eminent degree. the stern, impartial justice administered to these lawless men, soon created quite a sensation with the class to which they belonged, and threats were freely thrown out against his life; but these had no effect in intimidating him, or in changing his conduct. he went on fearlessly to administer the law, which at that time, instead of imprisonment, inflicted severe corporal punishments for many crimes most common in a new country. these were branding with a hot iron in the hand or on the cheek, whipping on the bare back, and public exposure in the pillory. not a court went by without some one of these punishments being inflicted upon a male malefactor. public opinion had begun to look upon these penalties as barbarous, and in very many cases great sympathy was manifested for the culprit. this sentiment frequently operated with the jury, who were disposed to deal leniently with the accused. this was resisted by poindexter, and effectually--for so clearly did he impress the minds of jurors with what was their duty, that few escaped where the proof was sufficient to convict; and once pronounced guilty, the extreme penalty of the law was surely awarded. the beneficial influence of this stern and inflexible administration of the laws was soon manifest, and the more orderly of the population unhesitatingly gave their approbation and support to the judge. he sustained in court the dignity of the bench, restraining alike the license of the bar and the turbulence of the populace. to do this, he was frequently compelled to exercise to the full the powers of his office. an amusing anecdote is related of him in connection with the discharge of these duties. when holding court at one time in natchez, he had sent to jail a turbulent and riotous individual, who could in no other way be restrained. this fellow, once incarcerated, professed great contrition, and humbly petitioned for release, but poindexter had ordered the sheriff to keep him for a week, and could not be moved from his position. at the expiration of the week he was released, and though he was quiet and orderly, he remained lurking about town and the court-room until the adjournment of court. he watched his opportunity, and meeting the judge upon the street, commenced abusing him roundly; finally telling him he had waited purposely for the opportunity of whipping him, and that he intended then and there to do so. poindexter, perceiving the sheriff on the opposite side of the street, called to him, and ordered him to open court then and there, which in all due form the sheriff proceeded to do. the bully was startled, and the judge, perceiving this, remarked to him authoritatively, "now, you scoundrel, be off with yourself, or i will put you in jail for one year!"--when the blackguard speedily decamped, to the infinite amusement of the crowd upon the street. governor poindexter found at natchez, and a few other localities, strong opposition from the federal party, then constituted almost entirely of emigrants from western pennsylvania, with a sprinkling from the more eastern states. the party was small, but made up for this deficiency in numbers with zeal and violence. as with all heated and hating partisans, their malevolence was principally directed toward the leaders of the opposing party. poindexter was the acknowledged leader of the republican or jeffersonian party, and concentrated on himself the hatred of one and the adoration of the other party. his triumphs were complete and overwhelming in every election. he was not scrupulous in the use of terms when speaking of his enemies. these anathemas, darting in the caustic wit and voluble sarcasm so peculiarly his, went to the mark, and kindled hatred into fury. it was determined to get rid of him. his denunciations of abijah hunt, a prominent merchant and leading federalist, being more pointed and personal than toward any other, it seemed incumbent on him to challenge poindexter to mortal combat--an arbitrament for the settlement of personal difficulties more frequently resorted to at that period than at the present time. they met, and hunt was killed. but such was the violence of feeling with his party friends, that they were determined poindexter should not escape unscathed, and he was denounced as having fired before the word agreed upon in the terms of the conflict were fully enunciated. this, however, effected but little, and he continued the idol of his party. unfortunately, that bane of genius, dissipation, was poisoning his habits and undermining his reputation. it seems that exalted genius feeds upon excitement, and in some shape must have it. the excitement of active business at the bar or in the halls of legislation must of necessity be temporary, and the relaxation which follows this is terrible to the excitable temperament of ardent genius. it craves restlessly its natural food, and in the absence of all others, it seeks for this in the intoxicating bowl or the gaming-table. how many brilliant examples of this fatal fact does memory call up from the untimely grave? these, culled from my seniors when i was a youth, from my compeers in early manhood, from the youth i have seen grow up about me, make a host whose usefulness has been lost to the world. well may the poet sing in melancholy verse that genius is a fatal gift. it dazzles as a meteor with its superhuman light, and as soon fades into darkness, lighting its path with a blaze of glory, astonishing and delighting the world, but consuming itself with its own fire. poindexter had won greatly upon the affections of the people of the territory, in the active part he had taken, in connection with general ferdinand claiborne and general hinds, in stimulating the people to prepare to meet the exigencies of the war of with great britain. her eastern territory was exposed to the inroads of the creek indians, a large and warlike tribe, who were hostile to the united states, and were in league with the english, and being armed by them. the choctaws and chickasaws were on her northern frontier, and were threatening. an invasion by the way of new orleans by english troops was hourly expected. it required great energy and activity to anticipate and guard against these threatening dangers. poindexter employed his time and his influence to prepare the people to act efficiently and at a moment's warning. when the threatened invasion became a reality, and general jackson was descending the river with troops as the american commander, and when the militia were on the ground, and nothing remained to be done in mississippi, he promptly repaired to the scene of action and volunteered his services to jackson, who, accepting them, placed him on his staff as a volunteer aide. in this capacity he continued to serve until the end of the campaign and the termination of the war. it was to him the negro or soldier brought the celebrated countersign of "beauty and booty," found on the battle-field, and which he carried to general jackson. his enemies laid hold of this incident and perverted it slanderously to his injury, by asserting the note to be a forgery of his, done for the purpose of winning favor with the general, and to cast odium upon an enemy incapable of issuing such an infamous countersign. those who have read the history of the various strongholds of the french in spain which were stormed during the peninsular war, will remember these were the same troops and the same commanders, who were quite capable of the excesses in new orleans that they committed in spain. this slander was never traced; but there were those remaining who, when the breach occurred between general jackson and governor poindexter, asserted that general jackson believed it, and who circulated industriously the contemptible slander. poindexter was an active supporter of general jackson's first election. he believed him honest and capable, and deserving of the reward of the presidency for his services to the country. he thought, too, that he would bring back the government to its early simplicity and purity, and administer it upon strictly republican principles. he, with very many of the jeffersonian school, felt it had diverged from the true track. these people were opposed to protective tariffs, internal improvements by the united states government within the limits of a state without the consent of the state, and a national bank, deeming all these measures unconstitutional. the constitutionality of the bank had been affirmed by the supreme court, and poindexter had acquiesced in the decision. nevertheless, as a senator from the state of mississippi, he was in harmony with the administration of jackson, until jackson began to send his personal friends and especial favorites from tennessee to fill the national offices located in mississippi. poindexter felt this as an insult to his state, and in the case of gwinn's appointment as register of the land-office at clinton, mississippi, he opposed the nomination when sent to the senate. he was successful in having it rejected. he urged that though the office was national, and every man in the nation was eligible to fill it, yet it was due to the state that the incumbent should be selected from her own people, provided she could furnish one in every way qualified, and that it was a reflection upon the people of his state to fill the offices within her borders with aliens to her soil and interests--strangers to her people, with no motive to be obliging and respectful to them in the discharge of the duties of the office; that the offices belonged to the people and not to the president, and it was respectful to the people of a state to tender to her people these offices, as had been heretofore the custom; that simply being the president's favorite was not a qualification for office, and this departure from the established usages of former administrations was a dangerous precedent, and would seem to establish a property in the office, belonging to the president. this opposition enraged jackson, who denounced poindexter and persisted in his determination to give the office to gwinn. in this he finally succeeded; but most unfortunately for gwinn, for it embroiled him in quarrels with the citizens of the state. a duel with judge caldwell was the consequence, in which both fell. caldwell died immediately; gwinn survived to suffer intensely for a few months, when death relieved him. the people of mississippi were intensely devoted to general jackson, and in the mad fury of partisan zeal forgot everything but party, nor permitted themselves for a moment to inquire into the official conduct of any political partisan, especially that of the president. poindexter had been unhappy in his domestic relations. he had separated from his wife. he charged her with infidelity; forgot his affection for his children, and threw them off, because he doubted their paternity. in the agony of mind consequent upon this he became desperate, and for years was reckless in his dissipations. his wife's friends were respectable and influential. they, with every personal and political enemy he had, united in ascribing to him all the blame in this matter. the northern portion of the state had been acquired from the indians, and a population unacquainted with poindexter or with his services to the state was crowding into the new territory in such numbers as threatened politically to rule the state. these came principally from the west and south, and were eminently jacksonian in their politics. many young aspirants for fame had sprung up in different sections of the state, and these were in no way averse to seeing an old and talented politician shelved; and they joined in the huzza for jackson and down with his opponents. seeing and feeling the tide setting in so strongly as to sweep everything before it except what comported with the views and wishes of general jackson, and feeling also that he, with the minority in the senate, could be of no possible use to the country, and beginning to experience the pressure of age, at the conclusion of his senatorial term he made no effort to be re-elected. he retired, disgusted with politics forever, and temporarily from the state. subsequently an accident fractured both his legs below the knee, and for some years he was unable to walk. prior to this event he had married a boston lady--following the example of his divorced wife, who had married a boston gentleman. with this lady he lived affectionately and happily. he located in lexington, kentucky, where he remained only a few years. it was here i saw him, at his own house, for the last time--spending an evening in company with daniel webster, henry clay, john j. crittenden, and the celebrated actress, mrs. drake. i enjoyed the hospitality, the wit, and a game of whist with him. he soon became weary of lexington. his heart was in mississippi, and thither he returned, old and worn. he took up his residence at jackson, where in a short time he died, and is buried in the beautiful cemetery at that place. while paying a pilgrimage to the grave of a dear boy who died in defence of jackson in , i saw and paused at the modest stone which marks the grave of governor poindexter. memory was busy with the past. my heart was sad. i had just looked upon the sod which covered my boy, and, thinking of the hours passed, long years ago, with him who was sleeping at my feet, i could not repress the tear due and dear to memory. few men have served more faithfully and more efficiently a people than did george poindexter the people of mississippi. his talents were indisputably of the first order, and, whatever may have been his short comings morally, none can say his political life was stained with selfishness or corruption. every trust reposed in him was faithfully and ably discharged, and to him, more than to any of her public servants, is she indebted for the proud position she occupied before the tyrants' heel was upon her neck. few men can rise superior to the crushing effects of domestic infelicity: man's hopes, man's happiness, all centred in her whom he has chosen as the companion of his life. his love selects, and his love centres in her. the struggle for fortune, for happiness, for fame, is for her; she shares every success, every misfortune; and when she is kind and affectionate, there he meets with the true manliness of an honest and devoted heart. she smooths the brow of disappointment and sorrow, rejoices in his success, and, in the fulness of her confidence and affection, aids and encourages his exertions and enterprises. this reconciles him to life, and life's cares, troubles, and joys. his spirit is buoyant, come what may; for there is an angel at home, and there is happiness with her: she is the mother of his children; she unites with him in love and exertions for the benefit of these. they are one in these, and with every birth there is a new link to bind and gladden two hearts. without the virtuous love of woman, man is a miserable being, worthless to himself and useless to his kind. but when the heart's wealth is given to one who has no sympathy with it, and gives only in return coldness and hate; who betrays every confidence and disappoints every hope; who is only happy when he is miserable, and refuses the generous aid a wife owes to his exertions; who rejoices in his failures, and intrigues to produce them, and weeps over his successes with the bitterness of disappointment; who hates her offspring, because they resemble their father; who spurns his caresses, and turns away from his love--then life's hopes are blighted, and all is black before. his energies die out with his hopes; the goading thought is eternally present; he shrinks away from society, and in solitude and obscurity hides him from the world--which too often condemns him as the architect of all his misery. "oh, a true woman is a treasure beyond price, but a false one the basest of counterfeits." chapter xxiv. the silver-tongued orator. john a. quitman--robert j. walker--robert h. adams--from a cooper-shop to the united states senate--bank monopoly--natchez fencibles--scott in mexico--thomas hall--sargent s. prentiss--vicksburg--single-speech hamilton--god-inspired oratory--drunk by absorption--killing a tailor--defence of wilkinson. john a. quitman came to mississippi in early life. he was a native of the state of new york; had, at first, selected a location in ohio, but, not being pleased, he determined on coming south, and selected natchez for his future home. his father was a prussian; a minister of the german lutheran church, and a very learned man. he had preached in seven kingdoms, and in every one in the language of the country. he came to the state of new york when young, and was the bearer of the recognition of the independence of the united states by frederick the great, of prussia. he settled in one of the interior counties of new york, where was born and reared his distinguished son. when young quitman came to natchez, he found the bar a strong one; but determined to follow the profession of law, and after a short time spent in the office of william b. griffith, he was admitted to the bar, and opened an office. regardless of the overwhelming competition, his open, frank manners soon made him friends, and the stern honesty of his character won the confidence of every one. in a short time, he married the only daughter of henry turner, a wealthy planter, and was received into copartnership by william b. griffith, a lawyer of great ability and eminence, then in full practice at natchez, and who had married the daughter of judge edward turner, and the cousin of quitman's wife. quitman's rise to eminence was rapid in his profession, but more so in the public estimation as a man of great worth. his affability, kindness, and courtesy were so genial and so unaffected as to fasten upon every one, and soon he was the most popular man in the county. soon after quitman, came duncan and robert j. walker--the latter subsequently so distinguished as a senator in congress from mississippi, and still more distinguished as the secretary of the treasury during the administration of mr. polk. a close intimacy grew up between quitman and r.j. walker. this intimacy influenced greatly the future of quitman. walker was from pennsylvania, and had married miss bache, the niece of george m. dallas, sister to the great professor bache, and great-granddaughter of benjamin franklin. mrs. walker was a lady of great beauty, of rare accomplishments, and distinguished for her modesty and womanly bearing. mr. bache, the father of mrs. walker, emigrated to texas, was in the senate of her congress at the time she was received into the united states, and was the only man who voted against the union. he represented galveston, and, after his death, that young city, in honor of his services, erected a monument to his memory. walker was of ardent temperament, great abilities, strong will, intense application, and was soon, at the bar, among the first lawyers in the state. he wanted the softness and genial qualities of quitman, but was superior to him mentally; and in prompt, decisive action his was the stronger character, and controlled. quitman, being intimately associated with the leading men of the party supporting mr. adams, had adopted their opinions and politics; walker was an ardent supporter of jackson, and claimed to be the first man who brought forward his name for the presidency, when he was a citizen of pennsylvania. soon after the election of general jackson, quitman, displeased with mr. clay, abandoned his whig associates, and united himself with the democratic party, and from that time until his death was a devoted democratic partisan. these two men exercised, perhaps, more influence in the state than any others of their day. robert h. adams and william b. griffith, who were considered the ablest members of the bar in the state, died young, and in the opening of their political career. adams was a man of remarkable ability. he was a native of east tennessee, and was a mechanic, with limited education, and without one single advantage save his talents. he came a stranger to natchez, and in a few years was eminent in his profession, and intellectually one of the first men in the state--a man of fine appearance, with large head, and intellectual features. he was sent by the city of natchez to the legislature of the state, and such was the impression upon the members of his great abilities, that they, at the ensuing session, elected him to the united states senate. he served but one session, but made, in that short period, a high reputation with the first minds of the nation. returning home, he resumed his profession; and, after severe fatigue during the heated period of summer, he imprudently drank too freely of ice-water, and died from its effects. there was, at this time, no man of more promise in all the country. he was but thirty-eight years of age, and, without patronage or patrimony, had risen from the cooper's shop to a distinguished position in the senate of the united states. griffith preceded him to the grave one or two years, a victim of yellow fever. quitman and walker came now prominently before the people. they resided in natchez, and there was a strong prejudice in the east and the north of the state against the people of that city and the county of adams. there were quite a number of families, in the city and county, of large fortunes. these were exclusive in their associations. with one or two exceptions they belonged to the whig party, but none of them aspired to political preferment. there was but one bank in the state--this was located in natchez, and was under the control of these men of fortune. it had at the time of obtaining its charter paid an extravagant bonus to the state, upon condition no other bank should be chartered for the period granted to this. it was a monopoly, and was charged with great partiality in its management. its accommodations were for the few, and these only granted for the purpose of enhancing the already bloated wealth of the stockholders, directors, and their special pets. this exclusive aristocracy was odious to the fierce democratic feelings of the masses. they counted their wealth by millions; their homes were palaces; their pleasure-grounds edens; and all this was the fruit of an odious and oppressive monopoly. this fallacious and most ridiculous idea fastened itself upon the minds of the masses, and was fostered and encouraged by many who knew better, but who were willing to pander to the popular taste for popular preferment. r.j. walker seized hold upon this popular whim, and leading the multitude, succeeded in procuring charters for several other banks, in defiance of the vested rights of the bank of mississippi. stephen duncan was the president of the bank, and, under his advice, the directors surrendered the charter, and wound up the business of the bank. duncan was one of the best business-men in the union. from very small beginnings he had amassed an immense fortune--was a man of rare sagacity and wonderful energy. he was the cousin of walker, but was always opposed to him in politics. this was the commencement of the era which culminated in the repudiation of the state's obligations and the general ruin of her people. it was about this period that jefferson davis first made his _debut_ as a public man in the state, with william m. gwinn, and henry s. foote, mcnutt, j.f.h. claiborne, and albert gallatin brown. quitman was made chancellor of the state, and disappointed sadly his friends. his administration of this branch of the judiciary was weak and wild; a vast number of his decisions, or awards in chancery, were overruled, and, in disgust, or from a consciousness that a chancery judgeship was not his speciality, resigned. his mind was greatly overrated: it was neither strong, logical, nor brilliant. his classical attainments were of the first order, and i doubt if the union furnished two better or more finished linguists than john a. quitman and h.s. foote. walker and davis were the leading minds of the period. they were both men of education, extended reading; both men of fine oratorical powers; both men of strong will, ripe judgment, and exceedingly tenacious of purpose. walker was many years the senior of davis, and was in advance of him some years as a successful politician. foote, as an orator, was greatly the superior of all of these; but there was in him want of judgment, want of fixed principles and fixity of purpose. when first appearing before the people of the state, he carried the multitude with him as a tempest drives a feather. in a contest for governor he came out in opposition to quitman, drove him from the canvass, and triumphed over davis, who was placed by his party in nomination to fill the place of quitman. this triumph was evanescent: he left the position, perhaps, the most unpopular man in the state. quitman's abilities were almost exclusively military. this proclivity of mind manifested itself in very early life. he organized a volunteer company, the natchez fencibles, soon after he came to the bar, and took great pride in its drill and soldierly bearing and appearance. he seized with avidity the opportunity the mexican war presented, and there greatly distinguished himself. after the termination of this war, he was engaged (very little to the honor of his sagacity) in endeavoring to organize a filibustering expedition against the island of cuba. in this he signally failed. he was elected to congress, where he was principally distinguished by his extreme southern views, but gained little or no reputation as a politician or statesman. in the qualities of heart, quitman was surpassed by no man; his moral character was unstained. in sincerity and devotion to his friends, no man was his superior. he had acquired large wealth by his marriage--this he had increased by judicious management, and none more freely used it for the benefit of his friends or the public interest. he was especially generous toward poor, enterprising young men; such instances of assistance rendered are innumerable. his friends never deserted him. to his command, during the mexican war, he was exceedingly profuse with his means in aiding their necessities and supplying their wants. he was universally commented upon as the most munificent officer of the army. he was ambitious and courageous; and this ambition knew no bounds. upon his return from mexico, i met him in new orleans, in company with that ill-starred man, general shields, of illinois, and who, irishman as he was, fell fighting to fasten upon the south the fetters she now wears. we had not conversed ten minutes before, taking my arm, he walked apart from his visitors and shields, and commenced to converse upon the consequences of the war. turning to me, he remarked: "general scott is greatly wanting in ambition, he has no daring aspirations; he has thrown away the finest opportunity ever presented to man for aggrandizement. had i commanded the army, and accomplished this great success, i would have established an empire, and made of mexico a great nation. he had only to say so, and the mexicans were ready to crown him emperor. he could have made dukes, marquises, lords, and barons of his officers, and endowed them with principalities; the soldiers would have remained with him; and in six months, enough from the united states and europe would have joined his standard, to have held in check the lawless brigands who make anarchy for the country. the spoils of the church would have rewarded the soldiers; immigration would have poured into the country, and his name and fame have been commensurate with time. everything invited him to the act; he could not or would not see it--he had but one idea, 'this will make me president!' and a lifetime of glory and power was sacrificed for the empty hope of four years filling the presidential chair." it was a grand conception, but he seemed to take no account of the difficulties which would have interposed. he assumed that the united states would have been content with the great outrage, and have sanctioned the act; and that european nations would have immediately recognized the new empire. i knew him well enough to know that he would have attempted the enterprise and braved the consequences; but doubt whether he or scott had the talent for the accomplishment of such an undertaking. general quitman was one of the unfortunates who received a portion of the poison prepared for some victim or victims at washington upon the inauguration of mr. buchanan. it was not immediately fatal, but he never fully recovered from it, and in a few months after sank into the grave. no man ever died more regretted by his personal friends than john a. quitman. he was in every relation of life a true man, chivalrously brave, nobly generous, and sternly faithful to all that ennobles human nature. had his brain been equal to his soul, he had been the world's wonder. it was said of him by one who knew and loved him: "his spirit has gone to the spirit that made him, the rest of the virtuous, chivalric, and brave; he sleeps where the friends of his early youth laid him, and green grows the laurel that springs by his grave." duncan walker practised law with his brother until elevated to the bench of the criminal court for the city of natchez and county of adams. he served with distinguished capacity for only one or two years, when he was prostrated by a severe attack of yellow fever. from this he never entirely recovered. retiring from the bench, he directed his attention to planting in lower louisiana; but his health continuing to decline, he was induced to try for the winter the climate of cuba. it was but a few weeks after reaching there that he died at st. jago de cuba. judge walker was distinguished for great purity of character as well as superior legal attainments. his modesty was almost feminine; yet he was a man of remarkable firmness and decision. by many he was thought superior intellectually to his more distinguished and prominent brother. few men may be truthfully termed superior to r.j. walker. in , there came to natchez, from maine, a youth who was a cripple. he was without acquaintances or recommendations, and also without means. he was in search of a school, and expressed his intention of making the south his future home. his appearance was boyish in the extreme, for one who professed to be twenty years of age. at that time most of the planters in the region of natchez employed private teachers in their families, who resided with the family as one of the household. a lady near natchez, the widow of judge shields, was desirous of employing a teacher, and tendered the situation to the young yankee. mrs. shields had grown-up sons, young men of fine attainments, and who subsequently distinguished themselves as men of sterling worth. they were soon delighted with the young stranger, who was busily employed in his new vocation with their younger brothers. i remember to have heard mr. thomas shields say the young man teaching at his mother's was a most remarkable man, and narrate some instances of his great powers of memory, accompanied with facts which came within his own knowledge. these were so very extraordinary, that notwithstanding the high character for integrity borne by shields, there were many who doubted them. there lived at no great distance from mrs. shields, a planter, mr. thomas hall. this man was a coarse and illiterate overseer for some years in the county, but having carefully husbanded his earnings, was enabled, in company with james c. wilkins, to commence planting upon an extensive scale. at the time this young man was teaching at mrs. shields', hall had accumulated quite a fortune, and was a man of comparative leisure. his mind was good, and now that he had an abundance of the world's goods, and was becoming a man of consideration in the community, he felt, in his intercourse with his educated neighbors, the want of that cultivation which would make him their equal. this had made him morbidly sensitive, and whenever an opportunity presented, he improved it in acquiring all the information possible. on saturdays the young schoolmaster would frequently ride over and converse with hall. the strong mind and coarse but cordial manners of hall pleased him. he was a specimen of the southerner possessing salient points, and was a study for the down-easter. never before had he met such a specimen, and it was his delight to draw him out, little deeming he was filling the same office for his friend. they were mutually agreeable the one to the other, and their association grew into intimacy. each to their friends would speak of the other as a remarkable man. assuredly they were; for neither had ever met such specimens as they presented to each other. they sometimes joined in a squirrel-hunt about the plantation of hall. the schoolmaster's lameness compelled him to ride, while hall preferred to walk. after a fatiguing tramp upon one occasion, they sat down upon the banks of cole's creek, where hall listened with great delight to the conversation of his companion. suddenly hall started up, and exclaimed, with more than his usual warmth: "you have taught me more than i ever knew before meeting with you; but i ought not to say what i am going to say. you, sir, were never made for a schoolmaster. by the eternal god!"--hall was a jackson man--"you know more than any man in the county, and you have got more sense than any of them, though you are nothing but a boy. now, sir, go to town and study law with bob walker; he's the smartest of any of them. in two years you will be ahead of him. if you haven't got the money to pay your way, i have, and you shall have it." the term for which he had engaged was now expiring, and, as hall had requested, he went into the office of robert j. and duncan walker, and commenced the study of law. this yankee youth was sargent s. prentiss. prentiss remained in the office of walker for one year, and was a close student. when admitted to the bar, he went to vicksburg and opened an office. at that time vicksburg was a new place, and presented peculiar inducements to young professional men. the country upon the yazoo river--and indeed the entire northern portion of the state--had but recently been quit of its indian population, and was rapidly filling up with an active and enterprising people. the soil was fertile, and the production of cotton, to which it is so eminently suited, was daily growing in importance. vicksburg was the market-point. trade was increasing daily, and rapidly filling up the town with mercantile men. the young and enterprising were hurrying thither, and in a few years there was met here more talent and more enterprise than at any other point in the state. the bar had prentiss, john guion, mcnutt, sharkey, the three yergers, anderson, lake, brook, burwell, and many others of distinction, including the erratic h.s. foote. the entire population was a live one, and every branch of business was pushed with a _vim_ commensurate with the abilities and enterprise of the population. the planters of the immediately adjacent country were men of intelligence and character, and were animated with the spirit of the people of the town, forming on the whole a community of almost reckless enterprise. it was at such a time and in the midst of such a people that young prentiss had made his selection of a home, and a field for the future exercise of his professional abilities. young, ardent, and ambitious, he sought to rival his seniors at the bar. unwilling to wait on time, he aspired to leap at once to this equality. it was the daring of genius, and of a genius which counted as only a stimulant the obstacles intervening. to grapple with giants, such as he found in guion, yerger, sharkey, mcnutt, and lake, would have intimidated a less bold and daring mind; but prentiss courted the conflict _con amore_, and applying all his herculean powers with the vigor of youth and the ardency of enterprise, he soon found himself quite equal to any competitor. when an infant, a fever settled in his leg, causing it to wither from the knee to the foot, and doomed him through life to lameness. like byron, he was sensitive upon the subject of this physical defect. it was a serious obstacle to his locomotion, and in speaking compelled a sameness of position injurious to the effect of his oratory. scarcely had two years elapsed from the time of his admission to the bar before his fame as a lawyer and advocate was filling the state. his business had increased to such an extent as to require his undivided attention, as he was employed in almost every important suit in that section of the state. his qualities of heart were as conspicuous as those of his brain, which had endeared him to the people of vicksburg perhaps more than any other citizen. this social and professional popularity caused him to be elected to the legislature of the state. he belonged to the whig party, which was largely in the minority in the legislature, but was powerful in talent. before this time, colonel adam l. bingaman, of adams county, had been the acknowledged leader of this party. he was a man of rare qualifications for a popular leader--highly gifted by nature in mind and personal appearance, which was most splendid and commanding, with a polished education and fascinating manners, and by nature an orator. added to these advantages, he was a native of the state, the representative of great wealth, and with extensive family influence. these two met as friends personally and politically in the legislature. prentiss--though known as a great lawyer and a powerful advocate at the bar--had until now taken but little part in politics. none knew of his proficiency as a politician or as a popular political orator, and, long accustomed to the eloquence and the debating abilities of bingaman, the lead was accorded to him as usual. party excitement was fierce, and involved every one. the democracy, armed with numbers and men of great abilities, felt secure in their position. they had no fears that any powers possessed by any man or set of men could operate a change in public opinion dangerous to their supremacy in the state. socially, prentiss knew no party distinction. with all who were gentlemen he mingled, not as a partisan, but as a man. the kindness of his nature won upon all equally, and it was soon discovered that a personal favor to prentiss would sometimes override party allegiance. his personal friends were all gentlemen, and once within the magic influence of his social circle was enough to bind him to the heart of every one. the session had made but little progress before his powers as an orator were beginning to be felt. during an exciting debate, in which bingaman had, as usual, taken the lead, when all the ablest of the democracy had, as they supposed, exhausted the argument and demolished the position of their adversaries, and the house seemed impatient for the question, prentiss rose, and claimed the attention of the chair. his clear and succinct statement of the pending question put a new phase upon it, and the house seemed surprised. he proceeded then to debate the question; and very soon he was in _medias res_, and his bold and lucid argument won the attention of every one. the position of the democracy was dissected to the separation of every fibre; its character and future effects denounced and exposed in a strain of invective eloquence which thrilled to every heart. turning from this to the national policy of the democracy, then in power, and which the measure under consideration was intended to aid and sustain, his powers seemed to expand with the magnitude of the subject, as he went on to analyze the policy and the measures of the government, and to demonstrate the disastrous consequences which must follow these remotely, if not immediately, corrupting, undermining, and ultimately destroying the constitution, and, of consequence, the government. he spoke for three hours; his peroration was so grandly eloquent as to bring down the house and galleries in a round of applause. from that day forward, prentiss was the great man of the house and of the state. a fire in a prairie never spread or ran faster than his fame; it was on every tongue, in every newspaper. such fame from one speech had never been won by any man in america, save patrick henry. single-speech hamilton, of the british parliament, astonished england; but he was never afterward heard of, and is known to this day as "single-speech hamilton." as with henry, this was but the beginning of a fame which was to grow and expand into giant proportions. prentiss was now a national man. soon after this, he visited boston and new york during an exciting political campaign. throughout the north, wherever he appeared and spoke, he bore the palm from every rival. the speech of prentiss in faneuil hall will long be remembered as perhaps the finest specimen of oratory ever listened to in that venerable hall. it was at the time said by the men of the north to surpass the best efforts of fisher ames. subsequently he spoke in new york, and for three hours held spell-bound an immense audience. the writer was informed by a venerable judge, of new jersey, that he had never believed any man possessed such powers of oratory as to interest him and chain his attention for that length of time. hearing this young man from the wilds of mississippi could do so, he embraced the first opportunity of hearing him. when he reached the place, he found the assemblage very great, and with difficulty he succeeded in reaching a point where he might hear well. he was unable to procure a seat, and was compelled to stand, thoroughly jammed by the crowd. he took out his watch to time him, as he commenced, and noting the minute, he essayed to replace his watch: something said arrested his attention and his hands from their work of putting the watch in its fob. "there was something, sir, in his eye," said he, "which startled me, and then the words came bubbling up spontaneously as spring water, so full of power, so intensely brilliant, and his figures so bold, original, and illustrating, and the one following the other in such quick succession; the flights of imagination, so new, so eloquent, and so heart-searching--that i found it impossible to take my eyes from his face, or my ears from drinking in every word. at one time, so intense were my feelings under the effect of his words and the powerful impression they were making on my mind, that i thought i should faint. i forgot the presence of the crowd, and, though seventy years of age, felt no fatigue from my standing position. in truth, sir, i was unconscious of the time--equally so of the presence of any one but the speaker. i perceived that his physical man was failing under his effort, and so intense was my sympathy that i found myself breathing rapidly and painfully; and yet, when he exclaimed, 'my powers fail!' and sank into his seat completely exhausted, i regretted the necessity which compelled him to stop. it was not until then that i found my hand still holding my watch at the opening of its pocket, where, in my excitement, i had forgotten to deposit it. i looked, and i had been standing unmoved in the same position and intently listening for three hours and fifteen minutes. near me stood one old as myself--a friend, a neighbor, and a minister of the gospel; he was livid with excitement, and his lips trembled as he said to me: 'will you ever doubt again that god inspires man?'" notwithstanding the immense democratic majority in the state, the whigs determined to run prentiss for congress: the election, at that time, was by general ticket, and there were two members to be elected: the whig nomination was prentiss and wood; the democratic, claiborne and gholson. claiborne was a native of the state, and the son of general ferdinand claiborne, a young man of very superior abilities, and at the time a member of congress. mcnutt was the democratic candidate for governor. the campaign was a most animated one, and prentiss addressed the people in very nearly every county in the state; the people, _en masse_, flocked to hear him, and his name was in every mouth. the democratic nominees did not attempt to meet him on the stump. his march through the state was over the heads of the people, hundreds following him from county to county in his ovation. mcnutt alone attempted to meet him and speak with him, and he only once. mcnutt was a virginian, and was a man of stupendous abilities; he was a lawyer by profession, and was governor of the state. next to poindexter, he was the ablest man who ever filled the chair. unfortunately, like most of the young and talented of that day in the west, he was too much addicted to the intoxicating bowl. upon the only meeting of these, prentiss and mcnutt, the latter, in his speech, urged as a reason for the rejection or defeat of the former his dissipated habits, admitted his great abilities, his masterly genius, pronounced him the first man of the age intellectually, but deplored his habits, which were rendering him useless, with all his genius, learning, and eloquence. prentiss, in reply, said: "my fellow-citizens, you have heard the charge against my morals, sagely, and, i had almost said, soberly made by the gentleman, the democratic nominee for the chief executive office of this state: had i said this, it would have been what the lawyers term a misnomer. it would be impossible for him to do or say anything soberly, for he has been drunk ten years; not yesterday, or last week, in a frolic, or, socially, with the good fellows, his friends, at the genial and generous board--but at home, and by himself and demijohn; not upon the rich wines of the rhine or the rhone, the saone or the guadalquivir; not with high-spirited or high-witted men, whose souls, when mellowed with glorious wine, leap from their lips sublimated in words swollen with wit, or thought brilliant and dazzling as the blood of the grape inspiring them--no; but by himself: selfish and apart from witty men, or ennobling spirits, in the secret seclusion of a dirty little back-room, and on corn-whiskey!--these only, communing in affectionate brotherhood, the son of virginia and the spirits of old kentucky! why, fellow--citizens, as the governor of the state, he refused to sign the gallon-law until he had tested, by experiment, that a gallon would do him all day! "now i will admit, fellow-citizens, that sometimes, when in the enjoyment of social communion with gentlemen, i am made merry with these, and the rich wines of glorious france. it is then i enjoy the romance of life. imagination, stimulated with the juice of the grape, gave to the world the song of solomon, and the psalms of that old poet of the lord--glorious old david. "the immortal verse of wandering old homer, the blind son of scio's isle, was the inspiration of samian wine; and good old noah, too, would have sung some good and merry song, from the inspiration of the juice of the vine he planted, but having to wait so long, his thirst, like the democratic nominee's here, became so great, that he was tempted to drink too deeply, and got too drunk to sing; and this, i fancy, is the true reason why this distinguished gentleman never sings. "perhaps there is no music in his soul. the glug-glug-glug of his jug, as he tilts and pours from its reluctant mouth the corn-juice so loved of his soul, is all the music dear to his ear, unless it be the same glug-glug-glug as it disappears down his capacious throat. now, fellow-citizens, during this ardent campaign, which has been so fatiguing, i have only been drunk once. over in simpson county i was compelled to sleep in the same bed with this distinguished nominee--this delight of the democracy--this wonderful exponent of the principles and practices of the unwashed democracy--and in the morning i found myself drunk on corn-whiskey. i had lain too close to this soaked mass of democracy, and was drunk from absorption." this was more than the governor could stand, and, amidst the shouts and laughter of the assembled multitude, he left the stand, and declined to meet again, before the people, the young ajax telemon of the whig party. the memory of that campaign will probably never be forgotten in mississippi. mothers, in stories of prentiss, tell it now to their children, and it and he have become a tradition of the early days of mississippi. the election terminated in the choice of prentiss and wood, by a small majority; but the certificate was given, through the basest fraud, to claiborne and gholson. this was contested before the house of representatives in congress assembled, and the contestants permitted to be heard on the floor of the house. it was here, in the presence of the assembled wisdom of the nation, prentiss was to sustain the reputation which had preceded him, and gloriously did he do it. when he rose to commence his speech, all was silent, and every face expressed deep and excited expectation. the unfortunate deformity of his leg was forgotten, in viewing the noble contour of his head and face. young, and for the first time in such a presence--standing there the impersonation of the state of mississippi, demanding justice for her at the hands of the nation--he seemed conscious of the responsibility, and confident of his power to sustain this. there was little preliminary in his remarks opening the matter. he went at once, and as a strong man conscious of the right, to the core. he demonstrated, beyond a doubt, his election, and proceeded in a strain of burning invective to expose the fraud of the returning officer, who had shamefully disregarded the popular voice, and shamelessly violated the law he was sworn to obey, in giving the certificate to his defeated competitors. never did the corruption of party receive so severe an exposition, or a more withering rebuke, than in this speech. very soon after he commenced, the senate chamber was deserted, and the vice-president and secretary were left alone. webster, benton, calhoun, clay, wright, and evans came in and ranged themselves near him. every space large enough, in the chamber, lobby, and galleries, was filled with a listener, and all were still and unmoving, however painful their position, until the enunciation of the last word of that wonderful oration. the speech occupied two hours and forty minutes, and the peroration was thrilling. when exhausted, and closing, he lifted his eyes to the national flag, floating above the speaker's chair, and said, in an almost exhausted voice, "if, mr. speaker, in obedience to the necessities and corrupt behest of party, you are determined to wrest from mississippi her rights as a sister, and coequal in this union of states, and turn from their seats her representatives constitutionally chosen, and place in their stead the repudiated of her people, strike from the flag which waves above you the star which represents her there; but leave the stripes, apt emblem of your iniquity and her degradation." an adjournment was immediately moved; the painful excitement was relieved, the spell was broken, and from every side, and from every party, came men to congratulate him. webster was the first to stretch forth his hand, and with more animation than was his wont, said, in his deep, sonorous tones, "new england claims her own, and is proud of her son." the house, notwithstanding the demonstrative proof, and its enforcement by the powerful and unanswerable argument of prentiss, sent the election back to the state, to be determined by a new election. in this, prentiss and wood were triumphantly elected. he was not again a candidate, retiring for the time from politics, and giving his undivided attention to his profession. it was always a matter of astonishment, to all who could never make of a political enemy a personal friend, why it was that prentiss, so bitter in his political denunciations of political partisans, and so bitter a partisan, should yet, among the opposition, have so many warm admirers and most devoted friends. his nature was sensitive, generous, and confiding. there was no malice festering in his heart, and in his opposition, he was only so to the politics, not the personal qualities of the man. by these he judged of the man, and the character of these regulated his conduct toward him. he did not pass through life without enemies. the man to whom this is possible is one of no positive points in his character, no strength of will, no fixity of purpose, and of but little intellect. such men never occupy the public attention--are altogether negative, as well in action as in mind. the enemies of prentiss were such from envy, or political hatred. his great abilities, when brought in contact with those suing for popular favor, so shrivelled and dwarfed them as to inspire only fear and hatred. but men of this character were scarce in that day in mississippi. such was the tone of society, and such the education of her sons, that traits so dishonorable rendered odious the man manifesting them, and those of talent and education emigrating to the country soon caught this spirit as by inoculation. if there were any who were influenced by such base and degrading motives, and who felt these a part of their nature, they most generally could command policy enough to conceal them. no community is long in discovering the genuine from the counterfeit character. it did not require months to learn all the heart, all the nature of prentiss. too frequently are great abilities coupled with a mean spirit, and transcendent genius underlaid with a low, grovelling nature; but these may be known by the peculiar form or development of the cranium. the high coronal developments discover the intense moral organization: the lofty and expansive forehead, the steady, unblenching eye, and the easy self-possession of manner are all indications of high moral organization, and the possession of a soul superior to envy, malice, and vindictive hatred, and one to which little meannesses are impossible. such a head and such a soul had s.s. prentiss. his whole character was in his face, and so legible that the most illiterate could read it. this won to him like natures, and all such who knew him were instinctively his friends. judge wilkinson was such a man, and though as ardently democratic as prentiss was whig, and as uncompromising in his principles, yet these two were friends in the loftiest sense of the term. judge wilkinson had a difficulty with a tailor in louisville, kentucky, who attempted an imposition upon him to which he would not submit. a quarrel ensued, and the knight of the needle and shears determined on revenge. collecting about him his ready associates, they went to the hotel where wilkinson lodged, and waylaid him at the door between the dining-parlor and the reception-room, and attacked him on his coming in from supper. in the rencontre three of the assailants were killed, and the remainder of the gang fled. immediately surrendering himself, he was incarcerated and held for trial: although assaulted with murderous intent, and acting clearly in self-defence, he was denied bail. he was a stranger, and the prejudices of the court and the people of louisville were so manifest that he demanded and obtained a change of venire. the trial came off at harrodsburg. prentiss, learning the facts and the situation of his friend, volunteered immediately to defend him in court, and to befriend him in any manner possible to him. the celebrated ben hardin was employed to assist in the prosecution. the eyes of all mississippi and kentucky were turned to harrodsburg when this trial commenced. others volunteered--and among these was john rowan--to assist in the defence. but the case for wilkinson was conducted exclusively by prentiss. it continued for some days. john rowan--so celebrated in the state for his talents and great legal learning, as well as for his transcendent abilities as an advocate--sat by, and trusted all to prentiss. there were many sparrings in the course of the trial between hardin and prentiss upon points in the law of evidence, and as to the admissibility or rejection of testimony, as also upon many points of the criminal law of england, whether changed or not by statutory provisions of the state. in one of these, rowan handed an open authority to prentiss, and was taunted by hardin for the act, by saying: "give your friend all the aid you can: he needs it." "i only preserved the book open at the page where mr. prentiss had marked the law," said rowan: "he requires no aid from me, brother hardin. with all your learning and experience, he is more than a match for you." this hardin was not long in discovering, and especially did he feel it when prentiss came to reply to his address to the jury. so long accustomed to defy competition as a criminal lawyer, hardin was not only surprised at the tact and masterly talent displayed by his adversary, but he was annoyed, and felt that to maintain his prestige as the great criminal lawyer of kentucky, he must put forth all his powers. he had done so; and in his summing up before the jury he seemed more than himself. when he had concluded there were many who deemed conviction sure. prentiss followed, and in his grandest manner tore to tatters every argument and every position advanced and assumed by hardin. towering in the majesty of his genius in one of those transcendent flights of imagination so peculiar to him, when his illustrations in figures followed each other in such quick and constant succession as to seem inexhaustible, he turned suddenly upon hardin, and, stooping his face until it almost touched that of the stern old kentuckian, he hissed forth: "dare you, sir, ask a verdict of such a jury as is here sitting upon this testimony?--you, sir, who under the verdict of nature must soon appear before the awful bar to which you now strive prematurely to consign this noble, this gallant young man! should you succeed, you must meet him there. could you, in the presence of almighty god--he who knows the inmost thoughts--justify your work of to-day? his mandate is not to the gibbet. eternal justice dictates there, whose decrees are eternal. do you think of this? do you defy it? if not--if you invoke it, do it through your acts toward your fellow-man. have you to-day done unto this man as you would he should do unto you? i pause for a reply--none. then shudder and repent, for the record even now is making up against you in that high court from which there is no appeal. you, gentlemen of the jury, are no hired advocates: you are not laboring for blood-money. though your responsibility to your god is equal to his, you will not go to the bar of your creator with blood--guiltless blood--upon your consciences. you will not, as he will, in that awful presence, on that eventful day, look around you for the accusing spirit of him whom you consigned to the gibbet with a consciousness of his innocence of murder. how will it be with you? (turning again to hardin.) ah! how will it be with you? still silent. despite the hardness of his features, mercy like a halo sweeps over them, and speaks to you, gentlemen, eloquently: 'acquit the accused!' look over yonder, gentlemen: within these walls is one awaiting your verdict in tearless agony--she who but for this untoward event would now have been happy as his bride: she who has cheered him in his prison-cell daily with her presence and lovely soul! hers, not his fate, is in your hands. to him death is nothing: the brave defy death--the good fear it not; then why should he fear? but she! o god! it is a fearful thing to crush to death with agony the young, hopeful, and loving heart of virtuous woman. his death is only terrible in her future. go with her, gentlemen, through life; contemplate the wan features of slow decay: see in these the one eternal, harrowing thought; list to the sigh which rives the heart; watch the tear which falls in secret; see her sink into the grave; then turn away, look up into heaven, and from your heart say: 'o god! i did it.' you will not; you cannot; you dare not." hardin's conclusion was tame, and without effect; the demonstrations on the part of the jury dispirited him, and his concluding speech had none of the power of his opening. the jury returned a verdict of not guilty, without hesitation. wilkinson was immediately discharged, and in company with his friends was repairing to the hotel, when, in the warmth of his emotion, he said, laying his hand on the shoulder of prentiss: "how shall i pay you, my friend, for this great service you have done me?" "by never mentioning pay again," was the prompt and decisive reply. chapter xxv. a financial crash. a wonderful memory--a nation without debt--crushing the national bank--rise of state banks--inflated currency--grand flare-up--take care of yourself--commencing anew--failing to reach an obtuse heart--king alcohol does his work--prentiss and foote--love me, love my dog--a noble spirit overcome--charity covereth a multitude of sins. the rare combination of the elements of the mind in mr. prentiss is only occasionally met with in time. judgment, imagination, and memory were all transcendent and equal in their respective powers. with such a mind, everything possible to man may be accomplished. the invention is rapid; the combining and applying responds as rapidly; the fitting and the proper wait on these in the judgment, and the emanation of the whole is perfect. the imagination conceives, the memory retains, and the judgment applies. the consummate perfection of all of these elements in one mind, assures greatness. charles james fox, one of england's ablest statesmen, said this combination, organized in the brain of napoleon, was more complete than had existed with any man since the days of julius cæsar, and would have made him transcendently great in anything to which he might have addressed his powers. as a poet, he would have equalled homer; as a lawyer, the author of the pandects; as an architect, michael angelo; as an astronomer, newton or galileo; as an actor, garrick, or his beloved talma--as he had equalled cæsar and hannibal, and greatly surpassed marlborough, frederick the great, and charles xii.; as an orator, demosthenes; and as a statesman, the greatest the earth ever knew. this combination in the mind of prentiss, with the great development of the organ of language, made him the unrivalled orator of his age. his powers of memory were so great as to astonish even those eminently gifted in the same manner. in reading, he involuntarily committed to memory, whether of prose or poetry. he seemed to have memorized the bible, shakspeare, dryden, ben jonson, byron, and many others of the modern poets. the whole range of literature was at his command: to read once, was always to remember. this capacity to acquire was so great that he would in a month master as much as most men could in twelve. it appeared immaterial to what he applied himself, the consequence was the same. scientific research, or light literature; the ordinary occurrences of the day, recorded in the newspapers, or detailed by an occasional visitor--all were remembered, and with truthful exactness. dates, days, names, and events fastened upon his memory tenaciously, and remained there without an effort. hence, the fund of information possessed by him astonished the best informed, who were gray with years and reading. the exuberance of his imagination continually supplied new and beautiful imagery to his conversation; and in private intercourse, such was the rich purity of his language, and his ideas so bold and original, that all were willing listeners: no one desired to talk if prentiss was present and would talk. the disasters which followed the commercial crisis of crushed almost every interest in mississippi: especially was this true of the planting, the great interest of the state. on the healthy condition of him who tills the soil depends that of every other interest. the rapid rise in cotton, commencing in , from the increased demand all over the world for cotton fabrics, caused a heavy immigration to the fertile cotton-lands of the west, and particularly to the extensive and newly acquired lands of mississippi. the world was at peace, and great prosperity was universal; money was cheap, or rather its representative, bank paper. the system of finance, so wisely conceived and put in practical operation subsequently to the war of , had been disturbed by being made an element in the political struggles of party. it had paid the war debt, and all the expenses of the government--furnished a uniform currency, equal to, and at the holder's will convertible into coin. its face was the nation's faith, and its credit equal in new york, london, and calcutta. a surplus fund was accumulating in the united states treasury, and the unexampled instance of a nation out of debt, and with an accumulating surplus of money in her treasury, was presented to the world by the united states. the political economist, from this fact, would naturally infer that the people were heavily taxed: not so; there was not on earth a people who contributed, in proportion to their means, so little to the support of their government. the tax-gatherer of the nation was never seen or known in the house of any citizen; he knew not that he contributed one dollar to the public treasury. so admirably was the source of revenue contrived, that no man knew or felt he paid a national tax. the bank of the united states received and disbursed the moneys arising from customs, or tariffs upon imports, without one cent of expense to the government; affording at the same time every healthy facility to the commerce of the country--holding in check and confining the local state banks to a legitimate business--and was the most complete and perfect fiscal agent ever organized. in the struggle for party ascendency, the idea was conceived of using the bank in aid of one of the factions which divided the country. the machinators of this scheme failed to accomplish it, and, being in power at the time, determined to destroy it, upon the plea of its unconstitutionality, and of having been used to overturn the government--that is, the party in power. it was declared dangerous to the liberties of the country. at the expiration of its charter, then approaching, it was refused a renewal. so intimately was it connected with every interest in the country, that its passing out of existence threatened universal bankruptcy. its branches located at every important commercial point, its credit was universally employed. it furnished exchange at almost a nominal rate upon every commercial city of the world, and permeated every transaction, giving health and vigor as the circulating fluid does the animal system. suddenly to arrest and destroy this, was universal ruin. but to serve the behest of party in a double form, it was crushed. but a substitute was proposed by the party interested, and upon whom the responsibility rested--the creation of state banks without limit, which were recommended to discount liberally to the people, and supply the wants created by the withdrawal of the capital and accommodations of the national bank. this recommendation was literally and instantly obeyed. in every state where the dominant party held control--and they did so throughout the south and west--the legislatures made haste to create, without limit, state banks, with power to flood the country with irresponsible bank paper. each assumed that it must supply not only its portion, but the entire amount of the banking capital withdrawn, and double or treble the circulation. the natural consequence was immense inflation of the currency, or circulating medium, and the rapid appreciation of every species of property in price. everybody and every interest flourished most prosperously--gaunt poverty had fled the land, and bloated abundance laughed in every home. suddenly men sprang into importance who a little while before were humble artizans or employed in the meanest capacities. a new el dorado had been discovered; fortunes were made in a day, without enterprise or work; and unexampled prosperity seemed to cover the land as with a golden canopy--forests were swept away in a week; labor came in crowds to the south to produce cotton; and where yesterday the wilderness darkened over the land with her wild forests, to-day the cotton plantation whitened the earth--production was quadrupled--labor doubled in value, land rose to fearful prices, the wildest extravagance obtained; costly furniture, expensive equipages, ostentatious display--all were contributing to hasten the catastrophe. the wise saw what was impending, and the foolish thought it impossible. all of this was based on credit. the banks were irresponsible, for they were without capital: they had created a credit and loaned it in the shape of bank paper to every one. finally, the hour came when all was to be paid for. the banks failed--like the fame of woman, a whisper destroys it; so a whisper blew away the banks. they could not redeem their promises to pay. these were no longer available for currency: they had driven from the country the coin, and there was no money. the merchants failed, the planters failed, money appreciated to the gold standard, and property correspondingly depreciated; and ruin--financial ruin--swept over the country as a consuming fire. nowhere was this destruction so complete as in mississippi. the people of the state had been collected from all the states of the west and south. there was no common bond but interest; a healthy public sentiment, which must result from a homogeneous population, was unknown; there was no restraining influence upon the conduct of men, save only the law, and, for the want of efficient administration, this was almost powerless. every one was making haste to be rich; speculation was wild, and everyday was witnessing transactions of doubtful morality. society was a chaos, and _sauve qui peut_, or, take care of yourself, the rule. every one who owed money, however inconsiderable the sum, was ruined. under such circumstances, prentiss determined on removing from mississippi, and selected new orleans for his future home. the civil law, or roman code, was the law in louisiana, and materially differed from the common or english law, which was the law of authority in mississippi. very few lawyers coming from the common-law states, have ever been able to succeed in louisiana, especially after having practised in other states for any length of time. they have not only to learn the civil law, but to unlearn the common. some, who did not know the extraordinary powers of prentiss's mind, feared he, like many others who had made the attempt, would fail; but, almost from the moment of his advent at the new orleans bar, his success was complete. to realize the expectations of the public, required abilities and attainments of the highest order. fame had heralded his name and powers to every one: all had and did expect from him more than from any other man, and none were disappointed. from this time forward he eschewed politics, and devoted himself to his profession. some years before leaving mississippi, prentiss had married miss williams, of adams county. this lady was the daughter of james c. williams, a large planter; her mother was a percy, descended from the proud percys of northumberland, and was a most accomplished and intellectual woman. her position was the first among the first, and her birth, blood, and attainments entitled her to the distinction. her daughter, grown up under her eye and training, was the mother's equal, and fit companion for the man of her choice. prentiss had lost everything in the general crash, and was commencing anew, with a growing family to provide for. his business rapidly increased, and his displays at the bar were frequent and wonderful. some of these, recited here, might, if such a necessity existed, serve to illustrate his wonderful powers; but there are parties living whose feelings might suffer, and hence i forbear. it is my earnest wish, in recording these recollections, to offend no one; nor will i "set down aught in malice." the ardent and excitable temperament of prentiss, combined with his social qualities, required constant excitement. when employed with the duties of his profession, or engaged in any matter of business pertaining to politics, or his relations in any capacity with the world, requiring attention, he was sufficiently excited to afford escape for the restlessness of his mind; nor did this man seem fatigued in such occupations sufficiently to require repose and rest. on the contrary, it seemed to whet his desire for fiercer and more consuming excitement. whenever he went abroad, the crowd followed him, and the presence of the increasing mass stimulated his feelings to mild, social delight, and this led him too frequently to indulge beyond a proper temperance in the exhilaration of wine. this, superadded to the fire of his genius, was wearing fearfully his vigorous physique. for the first time, in the case of fraud against james irwin, in which he made one of the most powerful efforts of his life, he manifested mental as well as physical fatigue. it was my good fortune to listen to that speech made to a new orleans jury. i had listened many times to his speeches, and had thought some of these could never be surpassed by any man, not even by himself, and especially that delivered in faneuil hall, boston, and the one delivered from the steps of the court-house at vicksburg, after returning from his political campaign when a candidate for congress. but this one was even grander and more powerful than any i had ever heard from him. returning from the court-house with him upon that occasion, i remarked a flagging in the brilliancy of his conversation. for a moment he sat silent in the carriage, and then remarked: "i was never so much fatigued; i am afraid i am getting old. i have not an idea in my brain." "certainly, you have poured out enough to-day to empty any brain," was my reply; "and you should be content not to have another for a month. but i am sorry your invective was so severe." "ah! my old friend," he continued, "he deserved it all! from my heart i feel he deserved it all! the magnitude of his iniquities inspired the rebuke, and i exhausted my quiver in the attempt to pierce his shame; but i failed. the integuments of his sensibility are armor against the shafts from my bow; and i feel the failure, but i don't regret the attempt: the intention was as sincere as the failure has been signal." "why, what do you mean?" i asked; "for, assuredly, you have to-day made the most powerful and telling speech of your life." "yes, telling upon the audience, perhaps, but not upon the victim--he escapes unscathed. i care nothing for the crack of the rifle, if the bullet flies wide of the mark. i wanted to reach his heart, and crush it to remorse; but i have learned his moral obtusity is superior to shame. i have failed in my attempt." this speech was followed by a challenge to prentiss from the son of irwin. this was promptly accepted, and a meeting was only prevented by the interference of parties from kentucky, mississippi, and louisiana. the settlement was honorable to both parties. soon after, young irwin died by his own hand. he was a youth of brilliant parts, and promised a future of usefulness and distinction. the habits of prentiss were daily growing worse--the excitement he craved he found in the intoxicating bowl. the influence of his lovely and loving wife greatly restrained him; but when she was away, he was too frequently surrounded by his friends and admirers, and in social conviviality forgot the prudence of restraint, and indulged to excess. the more this indulgence was tolerated, the more exacting it became. the great strength of his nervous system had successfully resisted the influence of these indulgences, and after potations deep and long, it was remarked that they had no inebriating effect upon him. this nervous strength by degrees yielded to the power of alcohol, and as he advanced in life it was apparent the poison was doing its work. now it was that he found it necessary, in order to stimulate his genius to its wonted activity and vigor, on occasions demanding all his powers, to resort to artificial stimulants. his friends urged upon him temperance, to forbear altogether, to visit his mother and friends in maine, recreate amidst the scenes of his childhood, and to do so in company with his wife and his lovely children, for they were all a parent could wish them to be. he promised to do so. sad memory brings up our last meeting, and when the subject of his intemperance was the theme of our parting conversation. we stood together upon the portico of the st. charles hotel; he was preparing to leave for maine; i was leaving for my home in the country. "you still keep the old cane," he said, taking from my hand his gift many years before. "i shall do so, prentiss, while i live." he continued to view the head, upon which our names were engraved, and a melancholy shade gathered upon his features. "oh, were i," said he, "to-day, what i was the day i gave you this!" and he paused many minutes; still the shade darkened, and his voice trembled as he proceeded: "we were both young then, and how light our hearts were! we have gathered about us household gods, and we worship them; how sad to think we shall have to leave them! you married long before i did. your children will grow up while yet you live; i shall never see mine other than children." "say not so, prentiss. you are yet young. you have but one thing to do, and you will live to see those boys men; and what may you not expect of them, with such a mother to aid you in rearing them!" "i know what you mean, and i know what i will; but, like laocoon in the folds of the snake, the serpent of habit coils around me, and i fear its strength is too powerful for mine. perhaps, had my angel of to-day been my angel when first a man, i had never wooed the scorpion which is stinging me to death; but all i can do i will. this is all i can promise. keep this stick to remember me: it will support you when tottering with the weight of years, and with strength will endure. when age has done her work, and you are in the grave, give it to your son to remember us both. farewell." with a clasp of the hand we parted, never to meet again. not long after, he died at natchez, and, in the family cemetery of the sargents, sleeps near the city. but few of the speeches of prentiss were ever reported, and though they are like and have the ring of the true metal, yet not one of them is correctly reported. the fragment given in a former chapter is the report of one who heard it, and who wrote it the very hour of its delivery, to myself, that the information of the acquittal might be communicated to the friends of the lady judge wilkinson was about to be married to, who resided in my immediate neighborhood. there is not a word of it in the reporter's speech, which was some time after written out from notes. these speeches, with the traditions of his fame, will serve to perpetuate his memory as perhaps the most gifted man, as an orator, that adorned his generation. in stature he was below the ordinary standard, and his lameness seemed to dwarf even this. his head was large, round, and high; his forehead expansive, high, and rising almost perpendicularly above his eyes, which were gray, deep set, and brilliant; his nose was straight and beautifully chiselled, thin, and the nostrils large, and swelling and expanding when excited. in speaking, his eyes blazed with a most peculiar expression. his chin was broad, square, and strong. his mouth was the most striking feature of his face--large and flexible, with a constant twitching about the corners. the entire contour of the face indicated humor, combined with firmness. this latter trait was also indicated in the large, strong under jaw--no trait was more prominent in his character than this. yet he was slow to anger, and always conciliatory in language and manners. he was charitable in the extreme toward others for any laches in principle; always ready to find an excuse for the short-comings of others. yet no man adhered more closely and more steadily to his principles and opinions. he never gave an insult, unless greatly provoked, but never failed to resent one; always loath to quarrel, but, once in, bore himself like a man, and a brave one. the high oval crown of his head confessed high moral qualities; here the moral organs were in wonderful development. too generous to be malicious, he was ever ready to forgive, and too noble to permit his worst enemy to be slandered in his presence. there was once a quarrel between prentiss and that erratic man of wonderful genius, h.s. foote. this culminated in a hostile meeting, in which foote was wounded. in their impulsiveness these two were very like, as also in the generosity of their natures. neither bore the other malice beyond the conflict, and neither ever permitted an insult to be offered to the name of the other in his absence. a short time after this affair, prentiss was with some friends in cincinnati. there is always to be found men who swell their importance by toadying men of character and eminence. such are as frequently found in cincinnati as elsewhere. one of these had sought out prentiss, and was attempting to make himself agreeable to him by abusing foote: this abuse wound up by denouncing the distinguished mississippian as a dog. prentiss turned sharply upon him with the exclamation: "if he is a dog, sir, he is our dog, and you shall not abuse him in my presence!" the discomfiture of the toady may be easily imagined; he slunk away, nor did he again obtrude his unwanted presence upon prentiss during his stay. few men have ever so fastened themselves upon the affections of their friends as did prentiss: his qualities of heart and head were fascinating, almost beyond humanity; none ever met him for a day and went away unattached; strangers, who knew him not, listening to him, not only admired, but loved him. he never lost a friend; and all his enemies were political, or from envy. in the society of ladies he was extremely diffident and unobtrusive, and always apprehensive lest he should be unable to entertain them agreeably. on one occasion, not long before our final parting, he said he had committed two great errors in his life: leaving his native home to find one in the south, and not marrying when he first commenced the practice of law. "my constitution was strong and suited to a northern climate, and there home-influences would have restrained propensities that have grown with indulgence, and are threatening in their consequences. i feel this: i am not the strong man i was; mind and body are failing, and the beautiful lines of our friend wild are constantly recurring to my mind: "'my life is like the autumn leaf, which trembles in the moon's pale ray: its hold is frail, its date is brief, restless, and soon to pass away.' "why did not wild give his life to literature, instead of the musty maxims of the law. little as he has written, it is enough to preserve his fame as a true poet; and though he has been a member of congress, and a distinguished one, a lawyer, and a distinguished one, his fame and name will only be perpetuated by his verse, so tender, so touching, and so true to the feelings of the heart. it is the heart that he lives in. ah! it is the heart only which forms and fashions the romance of life; and without this romance, life is scarcely worth the keeping. "'tis midnight--on the mountains brown the cold round moon shines deeply down; blue roll the waters, blue the sky spreads like an ocean hung on high, bespangled with those isles of light, so wildly, spiritually bright; who ever gazed upon them shining, and turned to earth without repining, nor wished for wings to flee away, and mix with their eternal ray?' "we feel as byron did when he imagined these lines. i see him with upturned eyes gazing on the blue expanse above, watching the stars; thinking of heaven; feeling earth, and hating it, and his soul flying away from it, to meet and mingle in the firmament above him with the spiritually bright and heavenly pure brilliants sparkling on her diadem. how mean--how miserably mean this earth, and all it gives! one diamond in a world of dirt. the soul that loves and contemplates the eternal--shall it shake off at once the miserable clod, and in a moment glisten among the millions, pure, bright, and lovely as these? there is but one idea of hell--eternal torture! but every man has his own idea of heaven: yet, with all, its chiefest attribute is eternal happiness. the wretch craves it for rest; he who never knew care or suffering, desires it for enjoyment; and the wildest imagination sublimates its bliss to love and beauty. and god only knows what it is, or in what it consists. but we shall know, and i, in a little time. on him who gave me being i confidently rely for all which is destined in my future." his spirit was eminently worshipful. the wisdom and goodness of god he saw in every creature; he contemplated these as a part of the grand whole, and saw a union and use in all for the harmony of the whole; he saw all created nature linked, each filling and subserving a part, in duties and uses, as designed, and, his mind filled with the contemplation, his soul expanded in love and worship of the great architect who conceived and created all. with all this might of mind and beauty of soul, there lurked a demon to mar and destroy. it worked its end: let us draw a veil over the frailties of poor human nature, and, in the admiration of the genius and the soul, forget the foibles and frailties of the body. chapter xxvi. acadian french settlers. sugar _vs._ cotton--acadia--a specimen of mississippi french life--bayou la fourche--the great flood--theological arbitration--a rustic ball --old-fashioned weddings--creoles and quadroons--the planter--negro servants--gauls and anglo-normans--antagonism of races. forty years ago, there was quite an excitement among the cotton-planters, in the neighborhood of natchez, upon the subject of sugar-planting in the southern portion of louisiana. at that time it was thought the duty (two and a half cents per pound) on imported sugars would be continued as a revenue tax, and that it would afford sufficient protection to make the business of sugar-planting much more profitable than that of cotton. the section of country attracting the largest share of attention for this purpose was the teche, or attakapas country, the bayous la fourche, terre bonne, and black. the teche and la fourche had long been settled by a population, known in louisiana as the acadian french. these people, thus named, had once resided in nova scotia and lower canada, or canada east as now known. when peopled by the french, nova scotia was called acadia. upon the conquest by the english, these people were expelled the country, and in a most inhuman and unchristian manner. they were permitted to choose the countries to which they would go, and were there sent by the british government. many went to canada, some to vincennes in indiana, some to st. louis, cape girardeau, viedepouche, and kaskaskia in mississippi, and many returned to france. upon the cession, or rather donation to spain of louisiana by france, these, with many others of a population similar to these, from the different arrondissements of france, were sent to louisiana, and were located in opelousas, attakapas, la fourche, and in the parishes of st. john the baptist, st. charles, and st. james (parishes constituting the acadian coast on the mississippi). on the la fourche they constituted, forty years ago, almost the entire population. they were illiterate and poor. possessing the richest lands on earth, which they had reclaimed from the annual inundations of the mississippi river by levees constructed along the margins of the stream--with a climate congenial and healthful, and with every facility afforded by the navigation of the bayou and the mississippi for reaching the best market for all they could produce--yet, with all these natural advantages, promising to labor and enterprise the most ample rewards, they could not be stimulated to industry or made to understand them. they had established their homes on the margin of the stream, and cleared a few acres of the land donated by the government, upon which to grow a little corn and a few vegetables. with a limited amount of stock, which found subsistence upon the cane and grass of the woods, and with the assistance of a shot-gun, they managed to subsist--as peake's mother served the lord--after a fashion. their houses were unique: a slender frame, often of poles cut from the forest, and rudely squared, served the purpose. into the studding were placed pins, extending from one to the other, horizontally, and about ten inches apart. the long gray moss of the country was then gathered and thrown by layers into a pit dug for the purpose, with the soil, until the pit was full, when water was added in sufficient quantities to wet the mass through; this done, all who are assisting in the construction of the house--men, women, boys, and girls--jump in upon it, and continue to tramp until mud and moss are completely intermingled and made of proper consistence, when it is gathered up and made into rails about two feet long. these rolls are laid over the pins, commencing at the bottom or sill of the building, when each roll is bent down at the ends, covering the intervals between the pins, pressed hardly together, and smoothed with the hands, inside and out, forming a wall some five inches in thickness, with a perfectly smooth surface. the roof is first put on, and the floors laid. when this mud dries thoroughly it is white-washed; the house is then complete, and presents quite a neat appearance. it will continue to do so if the white-washing is annually continued. if, however, this is neglected, the lime falls off in spots, and the primitive mud comes out to view: then the appearance is anything but pleasant. no pains are taken to ornament their yards, or gather about them comforts. there is a pig or two in a pen in the corner of the yard, a hen-roost immediately at the house, a calf or two at large, and numerous half-starved, mangy dogs--and innumerable ragged, half-naked children, with little, black, piercing eyes, and dishevelled, uncombed hair falling about sallow, gaunt faces, are commingling in the yard with chickens, dogs, and calves. a sallow-faced, slatternly woman, bareheaded, with uncared-for hair, long, tangled, and black, with her dress tucked up to her knees, bare-footed and bare-legged, is wading through the mud from the bayou, with a dirty pail full of muddy mississippi water. a diminutive specimen of a man, clad in blue cottonade pants and hickory shirt, barefooted, with a palm-leaf hat upon his head, and an old rusty shot-gun in his hands, stands upon the levee, casting an inquiring look, first up and then down the bayou, deeply desiring and most ardently expecting a wandering duck or crane, as they fly along the course of the bayou. if unfortunately they come within reach of his fusee, he almost invariably brings them down. then there is a shout from the children, a yelp from the dogs, and all run to secure the game; for too often, "no duck, no dinner." such a home and such inhabitants were to be seen on bayou la fourche forty years ago, and even now specimens of the genuine breed may there be found, as primitive as were their ancestors who first ventured a home in the mississippi swamps. the stream known as bayou la fourche, or the fork, is a large stream, some one hundred yards wide, leaving the mississippi at the town of donaldsonville, eighty miles above the city of new orleans, running south-southeast, emptying into the gulf, through timbalier bay, and may properly be termed one of the mouths of the mississippi. its current movement does not in high water exceed three miles an hour, and when the mississippi is at low water, it is almost imperceptible. large steamers, brigs, and schooners come into it when the river is at flood, and carry out three or four hundred tons of freight each at a time. the lands upon the banks of this stream are remarkably fertile, entirely alluvial, and decline from the bank to the swamp, generally some one or two miles distant. this acadian population was sent here during the spanish domination, and with a view to opening up to cultivation this important tract of country. it was supposed they would become--under the favorable auspices of their emigration to the country, and with such facilities for accumulating money--a wealthy and intelligent population. this calculation was sadly disappointed. the mildness of the climate and the fruitfulness of the soil combined to enervate, instead of stimulating them to active industry, without which there can be no prosperity for any country. a few acres, though half cultivated, were found sufficient to yield an ample support, and the mildness of the climate required but little provision for clothing. here, in this eden upon earth, these people continued to live in a simplicity of primitive ignorance and indolence scarcely to be believed by any but an actual observer. their implements of agriculture were those of two centuries before. more than half the population wore wooden shoes, when they wore any at all. their wants were few, and were all supplied at home. save a little flour, powder, and shot, they purchased nothing. these were paid for by the sale of the produce of the poultry-yard--the prudent savings from the labor of the women--to the market-boats from the city. there were, at the period of which i write, but half a dozen americans upon the bayou. these had found the country illy adapted to the growth of cotton, and some of them had commenced the planting of sugar-cane. the results from this were very satisfactory, and consequently stimulating to the enterprise of men of means, who felt they could be more profitably employed in this new culture than in cotton, even in the very best cotton regions. there was one man of high intelligence and long experience who denied this--stephen duncan, of natchez--and the subsequent experience of many brought bitter regret that they had not yielded to the counsels of dr. duncan. the great flood of had not touched the la fourche or teche, while the entire alluvial plain above had been covered many feet, and for many months. this was the most terrible inundation, perhaps, ever experienced in that region; and every one appeared to be now satisfied that to continue to cultivate lands already reduced to man's dominion, or to open and prepare any more, subject to this scourge, was madness. hence the emigration from this chosen section to the new el dorado. lands rose rapidly in south louisiana as an effect of this, while above, in the flooded district, they were to be bought for almost a nominal price. those who ventured to purchase these and reduce them to cultivation realized fortunes rapidly; for there was not a sufficient flood to reach them again for ten years. the levees by this time had become so extended as to afford almost entire immunity against the floods of annual occurrence. the culture of sugar received a new impetus and began rapidly to increase, and capital came flowing in. population of an industrious and hardy character was filling up the west, and the demand from that quarter alone was equal to the production, and both were increasing so rapidly as to induce the belief that it would be as much as all the sugar lands in the state could accomplish to supply this demand. steam power for crushing the cane was introduced--an economy of labor which enhanced the profits of the production--and a new and national interest was developed, rendering more and more independent of foreign supply, at least that portion of the union most difficult of access to foreign commerce--the great and growing west. the americans, or those americans speaking english alone, immigrating into these sections of louisiana, so far as the language, manners, and customs of the people were concerned, were going into a foreign land. the language of the entire population was french, or a patois, as the european french term it--a provincialism which a parisian finds it difficult to understand. the ignorance and squalid poverty of these people put their society entirely out of the question, even if their language had been comprehensible. they were amiable, kind, law-abiding, virtuous, and honest, beyond any population of similar character to be found in any country. out of some fifty thousand people, extending over five or six parishes, such a thing as a suit for slander, or an indictment for malicious mischief, or a case of bastardy was not known or heard of once in ten years. this will seem strange when we reflect that at this time schools were unknown, and not one out of fifty of the people could read or write, and when it was common for the judge of the district court to ask, when a grand jury was impanelled, if there was a man upon it who could write, that he might make him foreman. and not unfrequently was he compelled to call from the court-room one who could, and trump him on the jury for a foreman, as the action was termed. there was not upon the la fourche, which comprised three large parishes, but one pleasure carriage, and not half a dozen ladies' bonnets. the females wore a colored handkerchief tastily tied about their heads, when visiting or at church; and when not, not anything but blowzed, uncombed hair. the enterprise of the new-comers did not stimulate to emulation the action of these people. they were content and unenvious, and when kindly received and respectfully treated, were social and generous in their intercourse with their american neighbors. they were confiding and trustful; but once deceived, they were not to be won back, but only manifested their resentment by withdrawing from communicating with the deceiver, and ever after distrusting, and refusing him their confidence. they were universally catholic; consequently, sectarian disputes were unknown. they practised eminently the christian virtues, and were constant in their attendance at mass. the priest was the universal arbiter in all disputes, and his decision most implicitly acquiesced in. they had a horror of debt, and lawsuits, and would sacrifice any property they might have, to meet punctually an obligation. fond of amusements, their social meetings, though of most primitive character, were frequent and cordial. they observed strictly the exactions of the church, especially lent; but indulged the carnival to its wildest extent. out of lent they met to dance and enjoy themselves, weekly, first at one, and then at another neighbor's house; and with the natural taste of their race, they would appear neatly and cleanly dressed in the attire fabricated by their own hands in the loom and with the needle. the method of invitation to these reunions was simple and speedy. a youth on his pony would take a small wand, and tie to its top end a red or white flag, and ride up and down the bayou, from the house where the ball was intended, for two or three miles; returning, tie the wand and flag to flaunt above the gate, informing all--"_this is the place._" all were welcome who came, and everything was conducted with strict regard to decent propriety. nothing boisterous was ever known--no disputing or angry wrangling, for there was no cause given; harmony and happiness pervaded all, and at proper time and in a proper manner all returned to their homes. marriages, almost universally, were celebrated at the church, as in all catholic countries. the parsonage is at the church, and the priest always on hand, at the altar or the grave; and almost daily, in this dense population, a marriage or funeral was seen at the church. it was the custom for the bride and groom, with a party of friends, all on horseback, to repair without ceremony to the church, where they were united in matrimony by the good priest, who kissed the bride, a privilege he never failed to put into execution, when he blessed the couple, received his fee, and sent them away rejoicing. this ceremony was short, and without ostentation; and then the happy and expectant pair, often on the same horse, would return with the party as they had come, with two or three musicians playing the violin in merry tunes on horseback, as they joyfully galloped home, where a ball awaited them at night, and all went merry with the married belle. these people are iberian in race, are small in stature, of dark complexion, with black eyes, and lank black hair; their hands and feet are small, and beautifully formed, and their features regular and handsome; many of their females are extremely beautiful. these attain maturity very early, and are frequently married at thirteen years of age. in more than one instance, i have known a grandmother at thirty. as in all warm countries, this precocious maturity is followed with rapid decay. here, persons at forty wear the appearance of those in colder climates of sixty years. notwithstanding this apparent early loss of vigor, the instances of great longevity are perhaps more frequent in louisiana than in any other state of the union. this, however, can hardly be said of her native population: emigrants from high latitudes, who come after maturity, once acclimated, seem to endure the effects of climate here with more impunity than those native to the soil. the bayou plaquemine formerly discharged an immense amount of water into the lakes intervening between the la fourche and the teche. these lakes have but a narrow strip of cultivable land. along the right margin of the la fourche, and the left of the teche, they serve as a receptacle for the waters thrown from the plantations and those discharged by the atchafalayah and the plaquemine, which ultimately find their way to the gulf through berwick's bay. they are interspersed with small islands: these have narrow strips of tillable land, but are generally too low for cultivation; and when the mississippi is at flood, they are all under water, and most of them many feet. the la fourche goes immediately to the gulf, between lake barataria and these lakes, affording land high enough, when protected as they now are, for settlement, and cultivation to a very great extent. its length is some one hundred miles, and the settlements extend along it for eighty miles. these are continuous, and nowhere does the forest intervene. at irregular distances between these acadian settlements, large sugar plantations are found. these have been extending for years, and increasing, absorbing the habitats of these primitive and innocent people, who retire to some little ridge of land deeper in the swamp, a few inches higher than the plane of the swamp, where they surround their little mud-houses with an acre or so of open land, from the products of which, and the trophies of the gun and fishing-line and hook, and an occasional frog, and the abundance of crawfish, they contrive to eke out a miserable livelihood, and afford the fullest illustration of the adage, "where ignorance is bliss, it is folly to be wise." the contrast between these princely estates, and the palatial mansions which adorn them, and make a home of luxuriant beauty, and the little log huts, their immediate neighbors, tells at once that the population is either very rich or very poor, and that under such circumstances the communication must be extremely limited; for the ignorance of the poor unfits them for social and intelligent intercourse with their more wealthy and more cultivated neighbors. this is true whether the planter is french or american. the remarkable salubrity of the climate, combined with the comforts and luxuries of home, causes the planter to spend most of his time there, where he can give his attention to his business and mingle with his brother planters in a style and manner peculiar to louisiana and the tastes of her people. intercommunication is facilitated by steamboat travel, and as every plantation is located upon a navigable stream, the planter and family can at any time suiting his business go with little trouble to visit his friends, though they may be hundreds of miles apart. similarity of pursuit and interest draw these together. there is no rivalry, and consequently no jealousy between them. all their relations are harmonious, and their intercourse during the summer is continuous, for at that season the business of the plantation may be safely trusted to a manager, one of whom is found on every plantation. this social intercourse is highly promotive of a general amity, as it cultivates an intimacy which at once familiarizes every one with the feelings, situation, and intentions of the other. sometimes the contiguity of plantations enables the families of planters to exchange formal morning and evening calls, but most generally the distance to be overgone is too great for this. then the visiting is done by families, and extends to days, and sometimes weeks. provisions are so abundant that the extra consumption is never missed, and the residences are always of such dimensions that the visitors seem scarcely to increase the family--never to be in the way; and the suits of apartments occupied by them were built and furnished for the purpose to which they are then devoted. the visitor is at home. the character of the hospitality he is enjoying permits him to breakfast from seven till ten, alone, or in company with the family if he chooses. horses, dogs, and guns for the gentlemen--billiards, the carriage, music, or promenading, with cards, chess, backgammon, or dominos for the ladies, to pass away the day until dinner. at this meal the household and guests unite, and the rich viands, wines, and coffee make a feast for the body and sharpen the wit to a feast of the soul. this society is the freest and most refined to be found in the country. upon the coast of the mississippi, from baton rouge to many miles below the city, the proximity of the large plantations presents an opportunity of close and constant intercourse. a very large majority of these are the property and habitations of the cultivated and intelligent creoles of the state. and here let me explain the term creole, which has led to so many ludicrous, and sometimes to painful mistakes. it is an arbitrary term, and imported from the west indies into louisiana. its original meaning was a native born of foreign parents; but universal use has made it to mean, in louisiana, nothing more than simply "native;" and it is applied indiscriminately to everything native to the state--as creole cane, creole horse, creole negro, or creole cow. many confound its meaning with that of quadroon, and suppose it implies one of mixed blood, or one with whose blood mingles that of the african--than which no meaning is more foreign to the word. the creole planters, or what are termed french creoles, are descended from a very different race from the acadian creole, or iberian. the first colonists who came to louisiana were men of the first blood and rank in france. the ibervilles, the bienvilles, st. denises, and many others, were of noble descent; and the proud prestige of their names and glorious deeds still clings around their descendants now peopling the lands they conquered from the desert, the savage, and the flood. these daring men brought with them the chivalrous spirit which descended to their sons--the open, gallant bearing; the generous hospitality; the noble humanity; the honor which prefers death to a stain, and the soul which never stoops to a lie, a fraud, or a meanness degrading to a gentleman. they have been born upon the banks of the great river of the world; they have seen all the developments of talent, time, and enterprise which have made their country great as the river through which it flows. accustomed from infancy to look upon this scene and these developments, their souls with their ideas have been sublimated, and they are a population unsurpassed in the higher attributes of humanity, and the nobler sympathies of man, by any on the face of the earth--surrounded by wealth, tangible and substantial, descending from generation to generation, affording to each all the blessings wealth can give. the spirit of hospitality and independence has ennobled the sons, as hereditary wealth and privilege had the sires who planted this colony. these sires laid the foundation of this wealth, in securing for their posterity the broad acres of this fat-land where now they are to be found. none have emigrated: conscious of possessing the noblest heritage upon earth, they have remained to eliminate from this soil the wealth which in such abundance they possess. as they were reared, they have reared their sons; the lessons of truth, virtue, honor have borne good fruit. none can say they ever knew a french creole a confirmed drunkard or a professional gambler. none ever knew an aberration of virtue in a daughter of one. the high-bred creole lady is a model of refinement--modest, yet free in her manners; chaste in her thoughts and deportment; generous in her opinions, and full of charity; highly cultivated intellectually and by association; familiar from travel with the society of europe; mistress of two, and frequently of half a dozen languages, versed in the literature of all. accustomed from infancy to deport themselves as ladies, with a model before them in their mothers, they grow up with an elevation of sentiment and a propriety of deportment which distinguishes them as the most refined and polished ladies in the whole country. there is with these a softness of deportment and delicacy of expression, an abstinence from all violent and boisterous expressions of their feelings and sentiments, and above all, the entire freedom from petty scandal, which makes them lovely, and to be loved by every honorable and high-bred gentleman who may chance to know them and cultivate their association. indeed, this is a characteristic of the gentlemen as well as the ladies. these people may have a feud, and sometimes they do; but this rarely remains long unsettled. no one will ever hear it publicly alluded to, and assuredly they will never hear it uttered in slanderous vituperation of the absent party. i may be permitted here to narrate an incident illustrative of this peculiarity. a gentleman, knowing of a dissension between two parties, was dining with one of them, in company with several others. this guest spoke to the hostess disparagingly of the enemy of her husband, who, hearing the remark, rebuked his officious guest by remarking to him: "doctor, my lady and myself would prefer to find out the foibles and sins of our neighbors ourselves." the rebuke was effectual, and informed the doctor, who was new in the country, of an honorable feeling in the refined population of the land of his adoption alien to that of his birth, and which he felt made these people the superior of all he had ever known. no one has ever travelled upon one of those palatial steamers abounding on the mississippi, in the spring season of the year, when the waters swell to the tops of the levees, lifting the steamer above the level of the great fields of sugar-cane stretching away for miles to the forest on either bank of that mighty river, who has not been delighted with the lovely homes, surrounded with grounds highly cultivated and most beautifully ornamented with trees, shrubs, and flowers, which come upon the view in constant and quick succession, as he is borne onward rapidly along the accumulated waters of the great river. this scene extends one hundred and fifty miles up the river, and is one not equalled in the world. the plain is continuous and unbroken; nor hill nor stream intersects it but at two points, where the plaquemine and la fourche leave it to find a nearer way to the sea; and these are so diminutive, in comparison with all around, that they are passed almost always without being seen. the fringe of green foliage which is presented by the trees and shrubs adorning each homestead, follows in such rapid succession as to give it a continuous line, in appearance, to the passers-by on the steamer. these, denuded of timber to the last tree, the immense fields, only separated by a ditch, or fence, which spread along the river--all greened with the luxuriant sugar-cane, and other crops, growing so vigorously as at once to satisfy the mind that the richness of the soil is supreme--and this scene extending for one hundred and fifty miles, makes it unapproachable by any other cultivated region on the face of the globe. along the ganges and the nile, the plain is extensive. the desolate appearance it presents--the miserable homes of the population, devoid of every ornament, without comfort or plenty in their appearance--the stinted and sparse crops, the intervening deserts of sand, the waste of desolation, spreading away far as the eye can reach--the streams contemptible in comparison, and the squalid, degraded, thriftless people along their banks, make it painful to the beholder, who is borne on his way in some dirty little craft, contrasting so strangely with the mississippi steamer. yet, in admirable keeping with everything else, all these present a grand contrast to the valley of the mississippi, and only prove the latter has no equal in all that pertains to grandeur, beauty, and abundance, on the globe. to appreciate all these, you must know and mingle with the population who have thus ornamented, with labor and taste, the margin of this stream of streams. as this great expanse of beauty is a fairy-land to the eye, so is the hospitality of its homes a delight to the soul. in this population, if nowhere else in america, is seen a contented and happy people--a people whose pursuit is happiness, and not the almighty dollar. unambitious of that distinction which only wealth bestows, they are content with an abundance for all their comforts, and for the comfort of those who, as friends or neighbors, come to share it with them. unambitious of political distinction, despising the noisy tumult of the excited populace, they love their homes, and cultivate the ease of quiet in these delicious retreats, enjoying life as it passes, in social and elegant intercourse with each other, nor envying those who rush into the busy world and hunt gain or distinction from the masses, through the shrewdness of a wit cultivated and debased by trade, or a fawning, insincere sycophancy toward the dirty multitude they despise. by such, these people are considered anomalous, devoid of energy or enterprise, contented with what they have, nor ambitious for more--which, to an american, with whom, if the earth is obtained, the moon must be striven for, is stranger than all else--living indolently at their ease, regardless of ephemeral worldly distinctions, but happy in the comforts of home, and striving only to make this a place for the enjoyment of themselves and those about them. to the stranger they are open and kind, universally hospitable, never scrutinizing his whole man to learn from his manner or dress whether he comes as a gentleman or a sharper, or whether he promises from appearance to be of value to them pecuniarily in a trade. there is nothing of the huckster in their natures. they despise trade, because it degrades; they have only their crops for sale, and this they trust to their factors; they never scheme to build up chartered companies for gain, by preying upon the public; never seek to overreach a neighbor or a stranger, that they may increase their means by decreasing his; would scorn the libation of generous wine, if they felt the tear of the widow or the orphan mingled with it, and a thousand times would prefer to be cheated than to cheat; despising the vicious, and cultivating only the nobler attributes of the soul. such is the character of the educated french creole planters of louisiana--a people freer from the vices of the age, and fuller of the virtues which ennoble man, than any it has fallen to my lot to find in the peregrinations of threescore years and ten. the creoles, and especially the creole planters, have had little communication with any save their own people. the chivalry of character, in them so distinguishing a trait, they have preserved as a heritage from their ancestors, whose history reads more like a romance than the lives and adventures of men, whose nobility of soul and mind was theirs from a long line of ancestors, and brought with them to be planted on the mississippi in the character of their posterity. is it the blood, the rearing, or the religion of these people which makes them what they are? they are full of passion; yet they are gentle and forbearing toward every one whom they suppose does not desire to wrong or offend them; they are generous and unexacting, abounding in the charity of the heart, philanthropic, and seemingly from instinct practising toward all the world all the christian virtues. they are brave, and quick to resent insult or wrong, and prefer death to dishonor; scrupulously just in all transactions with their fellow-men, forbearing toward the foibles of others, without envy, and without malice. in their family intercourse they are respectful and kind, and particularly to their children: they are cautious never to oppress or mortify a child--directing the parental authority first to the teaching of the heart, then to the mind--instilling what are duties with a tenderness and gentleness which win the affections of the child to perform these through love only. propriety of deportment toward their seniors and toward each other is instilled from infancy and observed through life. all these lessons are stamped upon the heart, not only by the precepts of parents and all about them, but by their example. the negro servants constitute a part of every household, and are identified with the family as part of it. to these they are very kind and forbearing, as also to their children, to whom they uniformly speak and act gently. a reproof is never given in anger to either, nor in public, for the purpose of mortifying, but always in private, and gently--in sorrow rather than in anger; and where punishment must be resorted to, it is done where only the parent or master, and the child or servant, can see or know it. this is the example of the church. the confessional opens up to the priest the errors of the penitent, and they are rebuked and forgiven in secret, or punished by the imposition of penalties known only to the priest and his repentant parishioner. is it this which makes such models of children and christians in the educated creole population of louisiana? or is it the instinct of race, the consequence of a purer and more sublimated nature from the blue blood of the exalted upon earth? the symmetry of form, the delicacy of feature in the males, their manliness of bearing, and the high chivalrous spirit, as well as the exquisite beauty and grace of their women, with the chaste purity of their natures, would seem to indicate this as the true reason. all who have ever entered a french creole family have observed the gentle and respectful bearing of the children, their strict yet unconstrained observance of all the proprieties of their position, and also the affectionate intercourse between these and their parents, and toward each other--never an improper word; never an improper action; never riotous; never disobedient. they approach you with confidence, yet with modesty, and are respectful even in the mirth of childish play. around the mansions of these people universally are pleasure-grounds, permeated with delightful promenades through parterres of flowers and lawns of grass, covered with the delicious shade thrown from the extended limbs and dense foliage of the great trees. these children, when wandering here, never trespass upon a parterre or pluck unbidden a flower, being restrained only by a sense of propriety and decency inculcated from the cradle, and which grows with their growth, and at maturity is part of their nature. could children of anglo-norman blood be so restrained? would the wild energies of these bow to such control, or yield such obedience from restraint or love? certainly in their deportment they are very different, and seem only to yield to authority from fear of punishment, and dash away into every kind of mischief the moment this is removed. nor is this fear and certainty of infliction of punishment in most cases found to be of sufficient force to restrain these inherent proclivities. too frequently with such as these the heart-training in childhood is neglected or forgotten, and they learn to do nothing from love as a duty to god and their fellow-beings. the good priest comes not as a minister of peace and love into the family; but is too frequently held up by the thoughtless parent as a terror, not as a good and loving man, to be loved, honored, and revered, and these are too frequently the raw-head and bloody-bones painted to the childish imagination by those parents who regard the rod as the only reformer of childish errors--who forget the humanities in inspiring the brutalities of parental discipline, as well as the pastoral duties of their vocation. they persuade not into fruit the blossoms of the heart, but crush out the delicate sensibilities from the child's soul by coarse reproofs and brutal bearing toward them. the causes of difference i cannot divine, but i know that the facts exist, and i know the difference extends to the adults of the two races. the anglo-american is said to be more enterprising, more energetic and progressive--seeks dangers to overcome them, and subdues the world to his will. the gallic or french-american is less enterprising, yet sufficiently so for the necessary uses of life. he is more honest and less speculative; more honorable and less litigious; more sincere with less pretension; superior to trickery or low intrigue; more open and less designing; of nobler motives and less hypocrisy; more refined and less presumptuous, and altogether a man of more chivalrous spirit and purer aspirations. the anglo-american commences to succeed, and will not scruple at the means: he uses any and all within his power, secures success, and this is called enterprise combined with energy. moral considerations are a slight obstacle. they may cause him to hesitate, but never restrain his action. the maxim is ever present to his mind: it is honorable and respectable to succeed--dishonorable and disreputable to fail; it is only folly to yield a bold enterprise to nice considerations of moral right. if he can avoid the penalties of the civil law, success obviates those of the moral law. success is the balm for every wrong--the passport to every honor. "his race may be a line of thieves, his acts may strike the soul with horror; yet infamy no soiling leaves-- the rogue to-day's the prince to-morrow." this demoralizes: the expedient for the just--that which will do, not that which should do, if success requires, must be resorted to. this idea, like the pestilence which rides the breeze, reaches every heart, and man's actions are governed only by the law--not by a high moral sense of right. providence, it is supposed, prepares for all exigencies in the operations of nature. if this be true, it may be that the peculiarities of blood, and the consequence to human character, may, in the anglo-american, be specially designed for his mission on this continent; for assuredly he is the eminently successful man in all enterprises which are essential in subduing the earth, and aiding in the spreading of his race over this continent. every opposition to his progress fails, and the enemies of this progress fall before him, and success is the result of his every effort. that the french creoles retain the chivalry and noble principles of their ancestry is certainly true; but that they have failed to preserve the persevering enterprise of their ancestors is equally true. emigration from france, to any considerable extent, was stayed after the cessation of louisiana to the united states, and the french settlements ceased to expand. the country along and north of red river, on the upper mississippi and the washita, was rapidly filled up with a bold, hardy american population, between whom and the french sparsely peopling the country about natchitoches on the red, and monroe on the washita river, there was little or no sympathy; and the consequence was that many of those domiciled already in these sections left, and returned to the lower mississippi, or went back to france. there had been, anterior to this cession, two large grants of land made to the baron de bastrop and the baron de maison rouge, upon the washita and bartholomew, including almost the entire extent of what is now two parishes. these grants were made by the european government upon condition of settlement within a certain period. the revolution in france was expelling many of her noblest people, and the marquis de breard, with many followers, was one of these: he came, and was the pioneer to these lands. a nucleus formed, and accessions were being made, but the government being transferred and the country becoming americanized, this tide of immigration was changed from french to american, and the requisite number of settlers to complete the grants was not reached within the stipulated period, and they were, after more than half a century, set aside, and the lands disposed of as public lands by the united states government. had the government continued in the hands of france, it is more than probable that the titles to these tracts would never have been contested, even though the requisite number of settlers had not been upon the lands to complete the grants at the specified period; and it is also probable there would have been, in proper time, the required number. but this transfer of dominion was exceedingly distasteful to the french population. the antagonism of races itself is a great difficulty in the way of amalgamation, even though both may belong to the same great division of the human family; but added to this the difference of language, laws, habits, and religion, it would almost seem impossible. in the instance of louisiana it has, so far, proved impossible. although the french have been american subjects for more than sixty years, and there now remain in life very few who witnessed the change, and notwithstanding this population has, so far as the government is concerned, become thoroughly americanized, still they remain to a very great extent a distinct people. even in new orleans they have the french part and the american part of the city, and do not, to any very great degree, extend their union by living among each other. kind feelings exist between the populations, and the prejudices which have so effectually kept them apart for so long a time are giving way rapidly now, since most of the younger portion of the creole-french population are educated in the united states, and away from new orleans; consequently they speak the english language and form american associations, imbibe american ideas, and essay to rival american enterprise. still there is a distinct difference in appearance. perhaps the difference in bearing, and in other characteristics, may be attributable to early education, but the first and most radical is surely that of blood. the settlements upon the red and washita rivers did not augment the french population in the country; it has declined, but more signally upon the latter than the former river. there remain but few families there of the ancient population, and these are now so completely americanized as scarcely to be distinguishable. the descendants of the marquis de breard, in one or two families, are there, but all who located on the bayou des arc (and here was the principal settlement), with perhaps one family only, are gone, and the stranger is in their homes. the french character seems to want that fixity of purpose, that self-denial, and steady perseverance, which is so necessary to those who would colonize and subdue a new and inhospitable country. the elevated civilization of the french has long accustomed them to the refinements and luxuries of life; it has entered into and become a part of their natures, and they cannot do violence to this in a sufficient degree to encounter the wilderness and all its privations, or to create from this wilderness those luxuries, and be content in their enjoyment for all the hardships endured in procuring them: they shrink away from these, and prefer the inconveniences and privations of a crowded community with its enjoyments, even in poverty, to the rough and trying troubles which surround and distress the pioneer, who pierces the forest and makes him a home, which, at least, promises all the comforts of wealth and independence to his posterity. he rather prefers to take care that he enjoys as he desires the present, and leaves posterity to do as they prefer. yet there are many instances of great daring and high enterprise in the french creole: these are the exceptions, not the rule. chapter xxvii. abolition of licensed gambling. baton rouge--florida parishes--dissatisfaction--where there's a will, there's a way--storming a fort on horseback--annexation at the point of the poker--raphignac and larry moore--fighting the "tiger"--carrying a practical joke too far--a silver tea-set. that portion of louisiana known as the florida parishes, and consisting of the parishes east of the mississippi, was part of west florida, and was almost entirely settled by americans when a spanish province. baton rouge, which takes its name from the flagstaff which stood in the spanish fort, and which was painted red, (_baton_ meaning stick, and _rouge_, red, to anglicize the name would make it red stick,) was the seat of power for that part or portion of the province. here was a small spanish garrison: on the opposite bank was louisiana; new orleans was the natural market and outlet for the productions of these florida settlements. when the cession of louisiana to the united states occurred, these american settlers, desirous of returning to american rule, were restless, and united in their dissatisfaction with spanish control. they could devise no plan by which this could be effected. their people reached back from the river, along the thirty-first degree of north latitude, far into the interior, and extended thence to the lake border. on three sides they were encompassed by an american population and an american government. they had carried with them into this country all their american habits, and all their love for american laws and american freedom; to the east they were separated by an immense stretch of barren pine-woods from any other settlements upon spanish soil. pensacola was the seat of governmental authority, and this was too far away to extend the feeble arm of spanish rule over these people. they were pretty much without legal government, save such laws and rule as had been by common consent established. these were all american in character, and, to all intents, this was an american settlement, almost in the midst of an american government, and yet without the protection of that or any other government. it was evident that at no distant day the floridas must fall into the hands of the american government. but there was to these people an immediate necessity for their doing so at once. they could not wait. but, what could they do? among these people were many adventurous and determined men: they had mostly emigrated from the west--tennessee, kentucky, western pennsylvania, and virginia; and some were the descendants of those who had gone to the country from the south, in and ' , to avoid the consequences of the revolutionary war. this class of men met in council, and secretly determined to revolutionize the country, take possession of the spanish fort, and ask american protection. they desired to be attached to louisiana as a part of that state. this, however, they could not effect without the consent of the state; and to ask this consent was deemed useless, until they were first recognized as part of the united states. in this dilemma, a veteran of the revolution, and an early pioneer to kentucky, and thence to west florida, said: "'wherever there is a will, there is a way:' we must first get rid of the spanish authority, and look out for what may follow." they secretly assembled a small force, and, upon a concerted day, met in secret, and under the cover of night approached the vicinity of the fort. here they lay _perdu_, and entirely unsuspected by the spanish governor gayoso. as day was approaching, they moved forward on horseback, and entered the open gate of the fort, and demanded its immediate surrender. the only opposition made to the assault was by young gayoso, the governor's son, who was instantly slain, when the fort surrendered unconditionally. perhaps this is the only instance in the history of wars that a fort was ever stormed on horseback. thomas, morgan, moore, johnson, and kemper were the leaders in this enterprise. they were completely successful, and the spanish authorities were without the means to subdue them to their duty as spanish subjects. the next step in their action was now to be decided. if the government of the united states attempted their protection, it would be cause for war with spain; and it was deemed best to organize under the laws of louisiana, and ask annexation to that state. this was done. members of the legislature were elected in obedience to the laws of this state, and appeared at the meeting of that body, and asked to be admitted as members representing the late florida parishes, then, as they assumed, a part and portion of the state. when asked by what authority they claimed to be a part of the state, they answered, succinctly: "we have thrown off the spanish yoke, and, as free and independent americans, have annexed ourselves and the parishes we represent to this state, and claim as our right representation in this legislature: we have joined ourselves to you, because it is our interest to do so, and yours, too; and we mean to be accepted." at the head of this representation was thomas, who was the commander of the party capturing the fort; associated with him was larry moore. thomas came from the river parishes; moore from those contiguous to the lakes; both were kentuckians, both illiterate, and both determined men. they did not speak as suppliants for favors, but as men demanding a right. they knew nothing of national law, and, indeed, very little of any other law; but were men of strong common sense, and clearly understood what was the interest of their people and their own, and, if determination could accomplish it, they meant to have it. there were in the legislature, at the time, two men of strong minds, well cultivated--blanc and raphignac; they represented the city, were frenchmen--not french creoles, but natives of _la belle_ france. they led the opposition to the admission of the florida parishes as part of the state, and their representatives as members of the legislature. they were acquainted with national law, and appreciated the comity of nations, and were indisposed to such rash and informal measures as were proposed by thomas and moore. the portion of the state bordering upon this spanish territory, and especially that part on the mississippi, were anxious for the admission and union; they were unwilling that spain should participate in the control and navigation of any part of the river; and, being peaceable and law-abiding, they wanted such close neighbors subject to the same government and laws. the influence of blanc and raphignac was likely to carry the majority and reject the application of the floridans. the pertinacious opposition of these men inflamed to anger moore and thomas. the matter, to them, was life or death. by some means they must get under the american flag, and they saw the only preventive in these two men. moore (for it was a cold day when the decision was to be made) was seen to place the iron poker in the fire, and leave it there. thomas was replying to blanc in a most inflammatory and eloquent address; for, though rude and unlettered, he was full of native eloquence, and was very fluent: if he could not clothe his strong thoughts in pure english, he could in words well understood and keenly felt. they stimulated moore almost to frenzy. at that critical moment raphignac walked to the fireplace, where moore had remained sitting and listening to thomas. warm words were passing between thomas and blanc, when suddenly moore grasped the heated poker--the end in the fire being at white heat--and calling to thomas with a stentorian voice, "general thomas! you take that white-headed french scoundrel, and i'll take blue-nose," and, brandishing his hot poker over his head, he charged, as with the bayonet, pointing the poker at the stomach of raphignac. "_tonnerre!_" exclaimed the frightened frenchman, and, lifting both hands, he fell back against the wall. moore still held the poker close to his stomach, as he called aloud, "take the question, general thomas! we come here to be admitted, and d--- me if we won't be, or this goes through your bread-basket, i tell you, mr. raphy blue-nose!" raphignac was a tall, thin man, with a terribly large bottled nose. at the end it was purple as the grape which had caused it. the question was put, and the proposition was carried, amid shouts of laughter. "oh!" said raphignac, as the poker was withdrawn, and moore with it, "vat a d--- ole savage is dat larry moore!" thus a part of west florida became a part of louisiana. from that day forward, many of these men became most prominent citizens of the state. the son of johnson--one of the leaders--became its governor. thomas was frequently a member of the legislature, and once a member of congress, from the baton rouge district, where he resided, and where he now sleeps in an honored grave. morgan and moore were frequently members of the legislature. but of all the participants in this affair, thomas was most conspicuous and most remarkable. he was almost entirely without education; but was gifted with great good sense, a bold and honest soul, and a remarkable natural eloquence. his manner was always natural and genial--never, under any circumstances, embarrassed or affected; and in whatever company he was thrown, or however much a stranger to the company, somehow he became the conspicuous man in a short time. the character in his face, the flash of his eye, the remarkable self-possession, the natural dignity of deportment, and his great good sense, attracted, and won upon every one. in all his transactions, he was the same plain, honest man--never, under any circumstances, deviating from truth--plain, unvarnished truth; rigidly stern in morals, but eminently charitable to the shortcomings of others. he was, from childhood, reared in a new country, amid rude, uncultivated people, and was a noble specimen of a frontier man; without the amenities of cultivated life, or the polish of education, yet with all the virtues of the christian heart, and these, perhaps, the more prominently, because of the absence of the others. it was frequently remarked by him that he did not think education would have been of any advantage to him. it enabled men, with pretty words, to hide their thoughts, and deceive their fellow-men with a grace and an ease he despised; and it might have acted so with him, but it would have made him a worse and a more unhappy man. he now never did or said anything that he was ashamed to think of. he did not want to conceal his feelings and opinions, because he did not know how to do it; and he was sure if he attempted it he should make a fool of himself; for lies required so much dressing up in pretty words to make them look like truth, that he should fail for want of words; and truth was always prettiest when naked. in the main, the general was correct; but there are some who lie with a _naiveté_ so perfect that even he would have deemed it truth naked and unadorned. larry moore was a different man, but quite as illiterate and bold as thomas, without his abilities; yet he was by no means devoid of mind. he resided upon the lake border, in the flat pine country, where the land is poor, and the people are ignorant and bigoted. larry was far from being bigoted, save in his politics. he had been a jeffersonian democrat, he knew; but he did not know why. he lived off the road, and did not take the papers. he knew jefferson had bought louisiana and her people, and, as he understood, at seventy-five cents a head. he did not complain of the bargain, though he thought, if old tom had seen them before the bargain was clinched, he would have hesitated to pay so much. but, anyhow, he had given the country a free government and a legislature of her own, and he was a jefferson man, or democrat, or whatever you call his party. he had been sent to the legislature, and volunteered to meet the british under general jackson. from jefferson to jackson he transferred all his devotion; because the one bought, and the other fought for, the country. some part of the glory of the successful defence of new orleans was his, for he had fought for it, side by side with old hickory; and he loved him because he had imprisoned louallier and hall. the one was a frenchman, the other an englishman, and both were enemies of jackson and the country. now he adored general jackson, and was a jackson democrat. he did not know the meaning of the word, but he understood that it was the slogan of the dominant party, and that general jackson was the head of that party. he knew he was a jackson man, and felt whatever jackson did was right, and he would swear to it. he was courageous and independent; feared no one nor anything; was always ready to serve a friend, or fight an enemy--_a fist-fight_; was kind to his neighbors, and always for the under dog in the fight. it would, after this, be supererogatory to say he was popular with such a people as his neighbors and constituents. whenever he chose he was sent to the senate by three parishes, or to the house by one; and in the legislature he was always conspicuous. he knew the people he represented, and could say or do what he pleased; and for any offence he might give, was ready to settle with words, or a _fist-fight_. physically powerful, he knew there were but few who, in a rough-and-tumble, could compete with him; and when his adversary yielded, he would give him his hand to aid him from the ground, or to settle it amicably in words. "any way to have peace," was his motto. there was, however, a different way of doing things in new orleans, where the legislature met. gentlemen were not willing to wear a black eye, or bruised face, from the hands or cudgels of ruffians. they had a short way of terminating difficulties with them. a stiletto or derringer returned the blow, and the charity hospital or potter's field had a new patient or victim. these were places for which larry had no special _penchant_, and in the city he was careful to avoid rows or personal conflicts. he knew he was protected by the constitution from arrest, or responsibility for words uttered in debate, and this was all he knew of the constitution; yet he was afraid that for such words as might be offensive he would be likely to meet some one who would seek revenge in the night, and secretly. these responsibilities he chose to shun, by guarding his tongue by day, and keeping his chamber at night. sometimes, however, in company with those whom he could trust, he would visit, at night, prado's or hicks's saloon, and play a little, just for amusement, with the "tiger." now, in the heyday of larry's political usefulness, gaming was a licensed institution in the city of new orleans. the magnificent charity of the state, the hospital for the indigent, was sustained by means derived from this tax. it was the enlightened policy of french legislation to tax a vice which could not be suppressed by criminal laws. the experience of civilization has, or ought to have taught every people, that the vice of gaming is one which no law can reach so completely as to suppress _in toto_. then, if it will exist, disarm it as much as possible of the power to harm--let it be taxed, and give the exclusive privilege to game to those who pay the tax and keep houses for the purpose of gaming. these will effectually suppress it. everywhere else they are entitled to the game, and will keep close watch that it runs into no other net. let this tax be appropriated to the support of an institution where, in disease and indigence, its victims may find support and relief. make it public, that all may see and know its _habitués_, and who may feel the reforming influence of public opinion. for, at last, this is the only power by which the morals of a community are preserved. let laws punish crimes--public opinion reform vices. larry was a lawmaker, and though he loved a little fun at times, even at the expense of the law, he was very solicitous as to the health of the public morals. in several visits at prado's, he was successful in plucking some of the hair from the tiger. it was exceedingly pleasant to have a little pocket-change to evince his liberality socially with his friends, when it did not trench upon the crop, which was always a lean one on the sand-plains of st. helena; for, like the great corsican, larry had a desolate home in st. helena. on one occasion, however, he went too close to the varmint, and returned to his little dirty apartments on the rue rampart minus all his gains, with a heavy instalment from the crop. his wonted spirits were gone. he moped to the state house, and he sat melancholy in his seat; he heeded not even the call of the yeas and nays upon important legislation. larry was sick at heart, sick in his pocket, and was only seen to pluck up spirit enough to go to the warrant-clerk, and humbly insist upon a warrant on the treasurer for a week's pay to meet a week's board. on monday, however, he came into the senate with more buoyancy of spirit than had been his wont for some days; for larry was a senator now, and had under his special charge and guardianship the people and their morals of three extensive parishes. the senate was scarcely organized and the minutes read, when it was plain larry meant mischief. the hour for motions had arrived, and larry was on his feet: he cleared his throat, and, throwing back his head, said: "mr. president, i have a motion in my hand, which i will read to the senate: "'_resolved_, that a joint committee, of one from the senate, and two from the house, be appointed to report a bill abolishing licensed gaming in the city of new orleans.'" larry had declared war, for he added, as he sent his resolution to the clerk's desk: "at the proper time i mean to say something about these damnable hells." throughout the city there was a buzz; for at that time new orleans had not the fourth of her present population. any move of this sort was soon known to its very extremes. the trustees of the hospital, the stockholders in these licensed faro-banks--for they were, like all robbing-machines, joint-stock companies--and many who honestly believed this the best system to prevent gaming as far as possible, were seen hanging about the lobbies of the legislature. each had his argument in favor of continuing the license, but all were based upon the same motive--interest. the public morals would be greatly injured, instead of being improved; where there were only four gaming establishments, there would be fifty; instead of being open and public, they would be hid away in private, dark places, to which the young and the innocent would be decoyed and fleeced; merchants could not supervise the conduct of their clerks--these would be robbed by their employes. as the thing stood now, cheating operated a forfeiture of charter or license: this penalty removed, cheating would be universal. "what would become of the hospital?" the tax-payer asked. "god knows, our taxes are onerous enough now, and to add to these the eighty thousand dollars now paid by the gamblers--why, the people would not stand it, and this great and glorious charity would be destroyed." to all of these arguments larry was deaf; his constituents expected it of him; the christian church demanded it. they were responsible to heaven for this great sin. the pious prayers of the good sisters of the holy methodist church, as well as those of the baptist, had at last reached the ears of the almighty, and he, larry, felt himself the instrument in his hands to put down the _d----d infernal sons of b----_, who were robbing the innocent and unsuspecting. there was no use of urging arguments of this sort to him: if the charity hospital fell, _let_ her fall, and if the indigent afflicted could not find relief elsewhere, why, they must die--they had to die anyhow at some time, and he didn't see much use in their living, anyhow; and as for the taxes, he was not much concerned about that: he had but little to be taxed, and his constituents had less. "i, or they, as you see, are not very responsible on that score. by the god of moses, this licensed gambling was a sin and a curse, if it did support seven or eight thousand people in the charity hospital every year: that was the reason so many died there, the curse of god was on the place; for the scripture says, the 'wages of sin is death,' and i see this scripture fulfilled right here in that hospital, and the moral and religious portion of my constituents so feel it, and i am bound to represent them. and the d----d gamblers were no friends of mine or of the church." there was one, a little dark-moustached spaniard, who was listening and peering at him, with eyes black and pointed as a chincapin, and, murmuring softly in spanish, turned and went away. "what did that d----d black-muzzled whelp say?" larry asked. "i don't understand their d----d lingo." an unobtrusive individual in the background translated it for him. he said: "he who strikes with the tongue, should always be ready to guard with the hands!" "what in the h--- does he mean by that?" asked larry. "_je ne sais pas!_" said one whom larry remembered to have seen in the tiger's den, and apparently familiar there, for he had been on the wrong side of the table. "i suppose they mean to shoot me." the frenchman shrugged his shoulders most knowingly. larry grew pale, and walked from the lobby to his seat. here he knew he was safe. he laid his head in his palm, and rested it there for many minutes. at last, he said sharply: "let them shoot, and be d----d." the committee was announced. larry, who was the chairman, and two from the house, constituted this important committee. one of these loved fun, and never lost an opportunity to have it. the meeting of the committee soon took place, and the chairman insisted that the first named on the part of the house should draft the bill. this was the wag. he saw larry was frightened, and peremptorily refused, declaring it was the chairman's duty. "i do not wish to have anything to do with this matter any way. it was a very useless thing, and foolish too, to be throwing a cat into a bee-gum; for this was nothing else. this bill will start every devil of those little moustached foreigners into fury: they are all interested in these faro-banks. it is their only way of making a living, and they are as vindictive as the devil. any of them can throw a spanish knife through a window, across the street, and into a man's heart, seated at his table, or fireside; and to-day i heard one of them say, in french, which he supposed i did not understand, that this bill was nothing but revenge for money lost; and if revenge was so sweet, why, he could taste it too. now, i have lost no money there--have never been in any of their dens, and he could not mean me." "gentlemen, we will adjourn this meeting until to-morrow," said larry, "when i will try and have a bill for your inspection." the morrow came, and the bill came with it, and was reported and referred to the committee of the whole house. on the ensuing morning, larry found upon his desk, in the senate chamber, the following epistle: "mr. larry moore: you have no shame, or i would expose you in the public prints. you know your only reason for offering a bill to repeal the law licensing gaming in this city is to be revenged on the house which won honorably from you a few hundred dollars, most of which you had, at several sittings, won from the same house. now, you have been talked to; still you persist. there is a way to reach you, and it shall be resorted to, if you do not desist from the further prosecution of this bill." the hand in which this epistle was written was cramped and evidently disguised, to create the impression of earnestness and secrecy. it was a long time before larry could spell through it. when he had made it out, he rose to a question of order and privilege, and sent the missive to the secretary's desk, to be read to the senate. during the reading there was quite a disposition to laugh, on the part of many senators, who saw in it nothing but a joke. "what in the h--- do you see in that thar document to laugh at, mr. senators? d--- it, don't you see it is a threat, sirs!--a threat to 'sassinate me? i want to know, by the eternal gods, if a senator in this house--this here body--is to be threatened in this here way? you see, mr. president, that these here gamblers (d--- 'em!) want to rule the state. was that what general jackson fit the battle of new orleans for, down yonder in old chemut's field? i was thar, sir; i risked my life in that great battle, and i want to tell these d----d scoundrels that they can't scare me--no, by the eternal!" "i must call the senator to order. it is not parliamentary to swear in debate," said the president of the senate. "i beg pardon of the chair; but i didn't know this senate was a parliament before; but i beg pardon. i didn't know i swore before; but, mr. president, i'll be d----d if this ain't a figure beyant me: for a parcel of scoundrels--d----d blacklegs, sir!--to threaten a senator in this legislature with 'sassination, for doin' the will of his constituents." "the chair would remind the senator that there is no question or motion before the senate." "thar ain't? well, that's another wrinkle. ain't that thar hell-fired letter to me, sir--a senator, sir, representing three parishes, sir--before this house? (or maybe you'll want me to call it a parliament, sir?) it is, sir; and i move its adoption." this excited a general laugh, and, at the same time, the ire of moore. "by g--, sir; i don't know if it wouldn't benefit the state if these hell-fired gamblers were to 'sassinate the whole of this house or parliament." the laugh continued, and moore left the senate in a rage. the next morning found a second epistle, apparently from a different source, on moore's table. it was written in a fine, bold hand, and said: "larry: you splurged largely over a letter found on your desk yesterday. i see you have carried it to the newspapers. i want you to understand distinctly and without equivocation, if the bill you reported to the senate becomes a law, _you die. verbum sapientis_." larry had not returned to his seat during the day; but the next morning he came in, flanked by several senators, who had come with him from his quarters. there lay the threatening document, sealed, and directed to the "honorable larry moore." in a moment the seal was broken. this he could read without much trouble. after casting his eyes over it, he read it aloud. "now, sir, mr. president, here is another of these d----d letters, and this time i am told if this bill passes, i am to die. maybe you'll say this ain't before the senate." "the chair would remind the senator that the simple reading of a private letter to the senate raises no question. there must be a motion in relation to what disposition shall be made of the paper." "i know that, sir. mr. president, i'm not a greeny in legislator matters. i have been here before, sir; and didn't i move its adoption yesterday, sir? and wasn't i laughed out of the house, sir? and i expect if i was to make the same motion, i should be laughed out of the house again, sir. some men are such d----d fools that they will laugh at anything." "the chair must admonish the senator that oaths are not in order." "well, by g--, sir, is my motion in order to-day? i want to know; i want you to tell me that." "order, mr. senator!" "yes, sir, 'order!' mr. president, that's the word. order, sir; is my motion in order, sir?" "the chair calls the senator to order." "ah! that is it, is it? well, sir, what order shall i take? i ask a question, and the chair calls me to order. well, sir, i'm in only tolerable order, but i want my question answered--i want to know if i'm to be threatened with 'sassination by the hell-fired gamblers, and then laughed at by senators for bringing it before the senate, and insulted by you, sir, by calling me to order for demanding my rights, and the rights of my constituents, here, from this senate? this, sir, is a d----d pretty situation of affairs. if general jackson was in your place, i'd have my rights, and these d----d gamblers would get theirs, sir: he would hang them under the second section, and no mistake." the laugh was renewed, and the president asked larry if he had any motion to make. "yes, sir," said larry, now thoroughly aroused. "i move this senate adjourn and go home, and thar stay until they larn to behave like gentlemen, by g--!" and away he went in angry fury. for four consecutive days, this scene was enacted in the senate. each succeeding day saw moore more and more excited, and the senate began to entertain the opinion that there was an intention to intimidate the legislature, and thus prevent the passage of the bill. these daily missives grew more and more threatening, and terror began to usurp the place of rage with moore. he would not leave the senate chamber or his quarters without being accompanied by friends. in the mean time the bill came up, and moore had made a characteristic speech, and the morning following there were half a dozen letters placed upon his table from the post-office. their threats and warnings increased his alarm. some of these purported to come from friends, detailing conversations of diabolical character which had been overheard--others told him only an opportunity was wanting to execute the threats previously made. the city became excited--a public meeting was called, strong indignation resolutions were passed, and highly approbatory ones of the course and conduct of the intrepid senator, pledging him countenance and support. a subscription was taken up, and a splendid silver tea-set was presented him, and in this blaze of excitement the bill became a law--and the city one extended gambling-shop. the silver set was publicly exhibited, with the name of the senator engraved upon it, and the cause for presenting it, and by whom presented. moore was contemplating this beautiful gift with a group of friends: among them were the three individuals who had been the authors of all this mischief, when one of them asked moore, "where will you put this rich gift? it will show badly in your pine-pole cabin." "i intend having the cabin, every log of it, painted red as lightning," said moore. "the silver shan't be disgraced." originally it had been intended by those getting up the joke, when it had sufficiently frightened moore, to laugh at him; but it took too serious a turn, and moore died a hero, not knowing that every letter was written by the same hand, and that the whole matter was a practical joke. all, save only one, who participated in it, are in the grave, and only a few remain who will remember it. larry moore was a kentuckian by birth, and had many kentucky characteristics. he was boisterous but kind-hearted, boastful and good at a fist-fight, decently honest in most matters, but would cheat in a horse-trade. early education is sometimes greatly at fault in its inculcations, and this was, in moore's case, peculiarly so. had he not been born in kentucky, these jockey tricks perhaps would not have been a part of his accomplishments. for there, it is said, no boy is permitted to leave home on a horse enterprise until he has cheated his father in a horse-trade. moore left the state so young that it was by some doubted whether this trait was innate or acquired; but it always distinguished him, as a kentuckian by birth at least. he was remarkable for the tenacity of his friendships. he would not desert any one. it was immaterial what was the character of the man, if he served moore, moore was his friend, and he would cling quite as close to one in the penitentiary as in the halls of congress. it made no difference whether he wore cloth or cottonade, lived in a palace or pine-pole cabin, whether honest or a thief, the touchstone to his heart was, "he is my friend, and i am at his service." not only in this, but in everything else, he strove to imitate his great friend and prototype, general jackson. he lived to be an old man, and among his constituents he was great, and made his mark in his day in the state. there was some fun in larry, but he was the cause of much more in others. larry, rest in peace, and light be the sand that lies on your coffin! chapter xxviii. three great judges. a speech in two languages--long sessions--matthews, martin, and porter --a singular will--a scion of ' --five hundred dollars for a little fun with the dogs--cancelling a note. the legislature of louisiana, forty years ago, sat in new orleans, and was constituted of men of varied nationalities. it was common to see in close union, frenchmen, germans, italians, englishmen, and americans, with here and there a scotchman, with his boat-shaped head and hard common sense. the creole-french and the americans, however, constituted the great majority of the body. when the cession to the united states took place, and the colony soon after was made a state of the union, the constitution required all judicial and legislative proceedings to be conducted in english, which was the legal language. but as very few of the ancient population could speak or read english, it was obligatory on the authorities to have everything translated into french. all legislative and judicial proceedings, consequently, were in two languages. this imposed the necessity of having a clerk or translator, who could not only translate from the records, but who could retain a two-hours' speech in either language, and, immediately upon the speaker's concluding, repeat it in the opposite language. this complicated method of procedure consumed much time, and consequently the sessions of the legislature were protracted usually for three months, and sometimes four. this fact caused many planters, whose business called them frequently to the city during the winter, to become members of the legislature. at this time, too, representation was based on taxation, and the suffragist was he who paid a tax to the state. the revenues of the state were from taxation, and these taxes were levied alone upon property. there were no poll taxes, and very few articles except land, negroes, and merchandise were taxed. the consequence was, the government was in the hands of the property-holders only. the constituency was of a better order than is usually furnished by universal suffrage, and the representation was of a much more elevated character than generally represents such a constituency. party spirit, at that time, had made little progress in dividing the people of the state, and the gentlemen representatives met cordially, and constituted an undivided society. there was no division of interest between different sections of the state, and the general good was consulted by all. the legislature was then composed of substantial men. the seat of government being in the city, and the sessions held during the winter and spring months, men of business, and especially professional men, might represent the city constituency, and yet give a good portion of their time to their usual avocations. good laws were the consequence; and the bench being filled by executive appointment, with the consent of the senate, and their tenure of office being for life or good behavior, insured the selection of proper men for judges. the supreme court was composed at that time of three judges, matthews, martin, and porter. matthews was a georgian by birth, martin was a native of france, and porter an irishman: all of these were remarkable men, and each in his own history illustrative of what energy and application will effect for men, when properly applied in youth. chief-justice george matthews was the son of that very remarkable man, governor george matthews, of the state of georgia. he was born in oglethorpe county, georgia, and received only such education as at that time could be obtained in the common country schools of the state. he read law in early life, and was admitted to the bar of his native state. his father was governor of the state at the time of the passage of the celebrated yazoo act, alienating more than half of the territory of the state. this act was secured from the legislature by corruption of the boldest and most infamous character. governor matthews was only suspected of complicity in this transaction from the fact that he signed the bill as governor. his general character was too pure to allow of suspicion attaching to him of corruption in the discharge of the duties of his office of governor. at the period of passing this act, the united states government was new. the states, under their constitutions, were hardly working smoothly; the entire system was experimental. the universal opinion that the people were sovereign, and that it was the duty of every public officer to yield obedience to the will of the majority, clearly expressed, operated strongly upon the executives of the states, and very few, then, attempted to impose a veto upon any act of the legislatures of the different states. tradition represents governor matthews as opposed individually to the act, but he did not feel himself justified in interposing a veto simply upon his individual opinion of the policy or propriety of the measure, especially when he was assured in his own mind that the legislature had not transcended their constitutional powers; and this opinion was sustained as correct by the supreme court of the united states in the case of fletcher _vs._ peck. the great unpopularity of the transaction involved the governor and his family. men excited almost to frenzy, never stay to reflect, but madly go forward, and, in attempts to right great wrongs, commit others, perhaps quite as great as those they are seeking to remedy. governor matthews, despite his revolutionary services and his high character for honesty and moral worth, never recovered from the effects of this frenzy which seized upon the people of the state, and is the only one of the early governors of the state who has remained unhonored by the refusal of the legislature, up to this day, to call or name a county for him. this unpopularity was keenly felt by the children of matthews, who were men of great worth. william h. crawford was at this time filling a large space in the public confidence of the people of georgia, and gave to governor matthews his confidence and friendship. it was he who persuaded george matthews, the son, to emigrate to louisiana. he frankly told him this unpopularity of his father would weigh heavily upon him through life, if he remained in georgia. "you have talents, george," said he, "and, what is quite as important to success in life, common sense, with great energy: these may pull you through here, but you will be old before you will reap anything from their exercise in your native state. these prejudices against your father may die out, but not before most of those who have participated in them shall have passed away: truth will ultimately triumph, but it will be when your father is in the grave, and you gray with years. to bear and brave this may be heroic, but very unprofitable. i think i have influence enough with the president to secure an appointment in louisiana--probably the judgeship of the territory, or one of them." matthews feared his qualifications for such an appointment, and so expressed himself to crawford. the civil law was the law of louisiana, and he was entirely unacquainted with this. crawford's reply was eminently characteristic. the great principles of all laws are the same. their object is to enforce the right, and maintain impartial justice between man and man. in hearing a case, a judge of good common sense will generally find out the justice of the matter. let him decide right, and do substantial justice, and he will, ninety-nine times out of one hundred, decide according to law, whether he knows anything about the law or not. and such a judge is always best for a new country, or, in truth, for any country. the appointment was secured, and george matthews left his native state forever. soon after reaching louisiana, he married miss flower, of west feliciana--a lady in every way suited to him. she was of fine family, with strong mind, domestic habits, and full of energy. they were very much attached to each other, and were happy and prosperous through all the life of the great judge. mrs. matthews still lives, and in the immediate neighborhood of her birthplace, and is now active, useful, and beloved by all who know her, though extremely old. when the territory was organized into a state under the constitution, matthews was appointed chief justice of the supreme court by governor claiborne--an office he held through life, and the duties of which he discharged with distinguished ability, and to the honor of the state and the entire satisfaction of the bar and the people. the mind of judge matthews was strong and methodical. his general character largely partook of the character of his mind. he steadily pursued a fixed purpose, and was prudent, cautious, and considerate in all he did. there was no speculation in his mind. he jumped to no conclusions; but examined well and profoundly every question--weighed well every argument; but he never forgot the advice of mr. crawford, and sometimes would strain a point in order to effect strict and substantial justice. as a judge, he was peculiarly cautious. however intricate was any case, he bent to it his whole mind, and the great effort was always to learn the right--to sift from it all the verbiage and ambiguity which surrounded and obscured it, and then to sustain it in his decision. upright and sincere in his pursuits, methodical, with fixity of purpose, he was never in a hurry about anything, and was always content, in his business, with moderate profits as the reward of his labor. as a companion, he was gentle, kind, and eminently social; but he gave little time to social entertainments or light amusements. in his decisions as a judge, he established upon a firm basis the laws, and the enlightened exposition of these, in their true spirit. a foundation was given to the jurisprudence of the state by this court, which entitles it justly to the appellation of the supreme court, and to the gratitude of the people of the state. the life of judge george matthews was one of peculiar usefulness. learned and pure as a judge, moral and upright as a citizen, affectionate and gentle as a husband and father, and humane and indulgent as a master, his example as a man was one to be recommended to every young man. its influence upon society was prominently beneficial, and was an exemplification of moral honesty, perseverance, and success. he won a proud name as a man and as a jurist, and accumulated a large fortune, without ever trenching upon the rights of another. he secured the confidence and affection of every member of his wife's family--a very extensive one--and was the benefactor of most of them. he was beloved and honored by all his neighbors, through a long life. in his public duties and his private relations he never had an imputation cast upon his conduct, and he died without an enemy. françois xavier martin was a native of france. in early life he emigrated to the united states, and fixed his residence at newbern, north carolina. he was poor, and without a trade or profession by which to sustain himself, or to push his fortunes in a strange land. he labored under another exceedingly great obstacle to success: though pretty well educated, he could not speak the english language. but he had a proud spirit and an indomitable will. he sought employment as a printer, choosing this as a means of learning the english language. though he had never fingered a type in his life, he had that confidence in himself which inspired the conviction that he could overcome any difficulty presenting itself between his will and success. he found the editor of the newspaper kind, and apparently indifferent; for he asked no questions relative to his qualifications as a printer, but, requiring help, gave him immediate employment. he went to work--was very slow, but very assiduous and constant, never leaving his stand until he had completed his work. there was a compositor near him, and he watched and learned without asking questions. owing to the little english he knew, no questions were asked; but it was observed in the office that he was rapidly improving in this, and in the facility of doing his work. the paper was a weekly one, consequently he had ample time for his work, and he improved every moment. the many mistakes he made in the beginning were attributed to his ignorance of the language, and it was not until he became the most expert compositor in the office that it was known that he had never, until he entered this office, been in a printing-office. he was so abstemious in his habits that those about the office wondered how he lived. he rarely left the composing-room, and, in his moments of rest from his work, was employed in studying the language, or reading some english author. a bit of cheese, a loaf of bread, some dried fish, and a cup of coffee constituted his bill of fare for every day, and these were economically used. he never spoke of home, of previous pursuits, or future intentions. he held communion with no one--his own thoughts being his only companions--but steadily persevered in his business. no amusements attracted him. he was never at any place of public resort. he was the talk of the town, though none had seen him unless they visited the little, dirty, inky office in which he was employed. he never seemed to know he was an object of curiosity, and when--as sometimes was the case--half a dozen persons would come expressly to see him, he never turned his head from his work, or seemed to be conscious of their presence. in this office his progress was very rapid, and it was not very long before he became the foreman in the composing-room. he continued in that capacity until he became the owner of the entire establishment. not content with the life of a printer, he disposed of his printing establishment and paper, and came to new orleans. before leaving france he had read some law, and now he applied himself closely to its study. in a short time he rose to distinction, and was in a lucrative practice. it was a maxim with judge martin never to be idle, and never to expend time or money uselessly. he found time from his professional duties to write a history of louisiana, which is, perhaps, more correct in its facts than any history ever written. early deprivations, and the necessity of a most rigid economy to meet the exigencies of this straitened condition, created habits of abstinence and saving which he never gave up. on the contrary, like all habits long indulged, they became stronger and more obdurate as life advanced. before his elevation to the supreme bench, he had accumulated a fortune of at least one hundred thousand dollars, which he had judiciously invested in the city of new orleans. the tenure of his office was for life, and his ambition never aspired to anything beyond; but he devoted himself to the duties of this with the assiduity of one determined, not only to know, but faithfully to discharge them. judge martin was conscientious in all that he did as a man, and remarkably scrupulous as a judge. he was unwilling to hasten his judgments, and sometimes was accused of tardiness in rendering them. this resulted from the great care exercised in examining the merits of the case, and to make himself sure of the law applicable to it. the peculiar organization of the supreme court of louisiana imposes immense labor upon the judges; they are not only charged with the duty of correcting errors of law, but the examination of all the facts and all the testimony introduced in the trials in the district court. in truth, the case comes up _de novo_, and is reviewed as from the beginning, and a judgment made up without regard to the proceedings below further than to determine from the record of facts and law sent up, holding in all cases jurisdiction as well of facts as law--and in truth it is nothing more than a high court of chancery. judge martin was fond of labor, but did not like to do the same labor twice; hence his particularity in examining well both facts and law, in every case submitted for his adjudication. he wished the law permanently established applicable to every case, and disliked nothing so much as being compelled to overrule any previous decision of the supreme court. his mind was eminently judicial; its clear perceptions and analytical powers peculiarly fitted him for the position of supreme judge. but there was another trait of character, quite as necessary to the incumbent of the bench, for which he was altogether as much distinguished. he was without prejudice, and only knew men before his court as parties litigant. it was said of him, by john r. grymes, a distinguished lawyer of new orleans, that he was better fitted by nature for a judge than any man who ever graced the bench. "he was all head, and no heart." this was severely said, and to some extent it was true, for judge martin appeared without sympathy for the world, or any of the world. he had no social habits; he lived in seclusion with his servant ben, a venerable negro, who served him for all purposes. these two had been so long and so intimately associated, that in habits and want of feeling they seemed identical. ben served him because he was his master and could compel it. he tolerated ben because he could not well do without him. he kept an interest account with ben. he had paid for him six hundred dollars, when first purchased. ten per cent, upon this amount was sixty dollars. his insurance upon a life policy, which risk he took himself, was one hundred dollars. his services were regularly valued by what such a man would hire for. ben accompanied him on the circuit, and died at alexandria. when this was told him, he immediately referred to this account, and declared he had saved money by buying ben, but should be loser if he paid his funeral expenses, which he declined to do. judge martin was very near-sighted, and it was amusing to see him with his little basket doing his marketing, examining scrupulously every article, cheapening everything, and finally taking the refuse of meats and vegetables, rarely expending more than thirty cents for the day's provisions. his penurious habits seemed natural: they had characterized him from the moment he came to the united states, and were then so complete as not to be intensified by age and experience. for many years, he had no relative in this country, and he created no relations, outside of his business, with the community in which he lived. his antisocial nature and his miserable manner of living kept every one from him. secluded, and studious in his habits, he never seemed solitary, for his books and papers occupied his entire time. his thirst for knowledge was coequal with his thirst for money--and why, no one could tell. he never made a display of the one, or any use of the other but to beget money. there seemed an innate love for both, and an equal disposition to husband both. he seemed to have no ulterior view in hoarding--he endowed no charity, nor sought the world's praise in the grave, by building a church or endowing a hospital. with mankind, his only relations were professional. he never married, and had no taste for female society--was never known to attend a ball or private party, to unite himself with any society, or be at a public meeting--never indulged in a joke or frivolous conversation, and had no use for words unless to expound law or conclude a contract; strictly punctual to every engagement, but exceedingly chary in making any. as judge martin advanced in years, his habits became more and more secluded. he had written for a brother, who came to him from france. this brother was quite as peculiar as himself--they lived together, and he in a great degree substituted ben, at least so far as society was concerned. now he was rarely seen upon the street, or mingling with any, save an occasional visit to some member of the bar, who, like himself, had grown old in the harness of the law. during the early period of the state government he reported the decisions of the supreme court: these reports are models, and of high authority in the courts of louisiana. judge martin's mind was one of peculiar lucidity and extraordinary vigor; its capacity to acquire, analyze, and apply was quite equal to that of the great marshall; its power of condensation was superior to either of his compeers, while its capacity for application was never surpassed. it had been trained to close and continuous thought, and so long had this habit been indulged that it had become nature with him. his phlegmatic temperament relieved him from anything like impulsiveness in thought or action; all work with him was considerately approached and assiduously performed. his habits were temperate to austerity, and his mode of life penuriously mean; but, as said of another judge, this may have been the result of habit growing from extreme necessity--though the same characteristics were conspicuous in his brother: like the judge, he was unmarried, and, though but little younger, was always spoken to and spoken of as his boy-brother. like his confrere, he remained upon the bench until he died, which was in extreme old age. it has been asserted by some that judge martin soiled his reputation in his will. it was a very simple and brief will, giving all he possessed to his brother, and was autographic--that is, written in his own hand, and signed, dated, and sealed up, and upon the back of the document written, "this is my autographic will," and this signed with his own proper hand. such a will is almost impervious to attack under the laws of louisiana. the law of louisiana levies a tax of ten per cent, upon all estates or legacies made to leave the state for foreign countries. the brother of judge martin, as soon as his will was administered and the proceeds of his estate were in hand, left the united states for france, carrying with him three hundred thousand dollars, the entire amount of which the judge died possessed; and it was subsequently ascertained that he had left written instructions with his brother to dispose among his european relatives this sum in obedience to this secret letter of instructions. this was considered as his will proper; and it was contended that the transaction was a fraud, to deprive the state of the legal percentage upon the amount going out of the country. an attempt was made to recover this amount from his executor, but failed; and the attorney for the state was rebuked by the supreme court for attempting an imputation dishonorable to the character of the deceased judge--a legacy bequeathed to the state, in the distinguished services rendered to her by him and through so many years of his life. the facts are as stated. it is true, the will was a clear bequest of all his estate to his brother, a resident of the state, and the memorandum a mere request, and this might have been destroyed or disobeyed with impunity. the will alone was the authoritative disposition of his estate; the brother claimed under this, and the property once in his possession, it was his to dispose of at pleasure. the death of judge martin was regretted by every one as a serious loss to the state, though he had attained very nearly to the age of fourscore. he had failed, from the entire want of social and sympathetic attributes in the composition of his nature, to fasten himself upon the affections of any one, though he commanded the respect of all for the high qualities of his intellect, his public services, and the consistent honesty of his life. he was followed to the grave by the entire bench and bar, and most of the distinguished people of his adopted city. but i doubt if a tear was shed at his funeral. he was without the ties in life which, sundered by death, wring tears and grief from the living who loved and who have lost the endeared one. all that the head could give, he had--the heart denied him all: in life he had given it to no one, and his death had touched no heart; and no tear embalmed his bier, no flower planted by affection's hand blooms about his grave. still he has left an imperishable monument to his fame in his judicial career. alexander porter, the junior by many years of matthews and martin, his associates on the bench, was an irishman by birth, and came in very early life to the united states. he was the son of an irish presbyterian minister of remarkable abilities and great learning. as a chemist, he was only inferior to sir humphrey davy, of his day. during the troubles of , (since known as the rebellion of ' ,) he was travelling and delivering lectures upon chemistry through ireland. he fell under suspicion as being an emissary of the society of united irishmen, who was covering, under the character of a scientific lecturer, his real mission to stir up and unite the irish people in aid of the views of those who were organizing the rebellion. to be suspected was to be arrested, and to be arrested was wellnigh equivalent to being executed--sometimes with the mockery of a trial, and, where evidence was wanting to fix suspicion, even by drum-head court-martial. this latter was the fate of the accomplished and learned porter. the wrath of the government visited his family. the brother of the sufferer collected his own and the children of his murdered brother, consisting of two sons and several daughters, and emigrated to america. a number of emigrants from their immediate neighborhood had selected nashville, tennessee, as a home in the new world, and thither he came. the education of alexander, the eldest of the sons, had progressed considerably in ireland, and was continued for some years at nashville. being poor, he was compelled to employ some of his time in pursuits foreign to study, in order to supply him with the means of pursuing the latter. this education was irregular, but was the foundation of that which in maturer life was most complete. he studied law when quite young, intending at first to remain at nashville. the competition at the bar in that place was formidable, and he could not hope to succeed as his ambition prompted, without patient application for years. louisiana had just been ceded to the united states, mississippi was filling with population: both these territories would soon be states. already they were inviting fields for enterprise and talent, and soon to be more so. pondering these facts in his ardent mind, and riding alone on one occasion to a justice's court in the country to attend to some trifling matter, he chanced to overtake general jackson. he had been frequently importuned by jackson to remove to louisiana. jackson was, to some extent, familiar with the country, had frequently visited it, and at that time was interested in a retail store at bruensburg, a place situated at the mouth of the bayou pierre, immediately on the bank of the mississippi river. mentioning his wish to emigrate to some point or place where he might expect more speedy success in his profession, jackson, with his accustomed ardor and emphasis, advised him to go to one of these new territories, and in such colors did he paint their advantages and the certain and immediate success of any young man of abilities and industry, that porter's imagination was fired, and he immediately determined to go at once to one of these el dorados--there to fix his home and commence the strife with fortune, to coax or command her approving smiles. returning to nashville, he communicated his intentions to his uncle; they met his approval, and in a short time he was ready to leave in search of a new home. he was about to leave every friend, to find his home in the midst of strangers, without even an acquaintance to welcome and encourage him. but he was young, vigorous, and hopeful; alive, too, to all he had to encounter, and determined to conquer it. still, to one of his natural warmth of feeling, the parting from all he had ever known, and all on earth he loved, wrung his heart, and he lingered, dreading the parting that was to come. his kind and devoted uncle, his brothers he loved so tenderly, his sisters, and the friends he had made, all were to be left--and perhaps forever. there were then no steamers to navigate the waters of the west. he might float away, and rapidly, to his new home; but to return through the wilderness, filled with savages and beset with dangers, was a long and hazardous journey, and would require, not only time, but means, neither of which were at his command. he met general jackson again. "what!" said he, "alick, not gone yet? this won't do. when you determine, act quickly; somebody may get in before you. and remember, alick, you are going to a new country--and a country, too, where men fight. you will find a different people from those you have grown among, and you must study their natures, and accommodate yourself to them. if you go to louisiana, you will find nearly all the people french; they are high-minded, and fight at the drop of a hat; and now let me tell you, it is always best to avoid a fight; but sometimes it can't be done, and then a man must stand up to it like a man. but let me tell you, alick, there are not half the men who want to fight that pretend to; you can tell this by their blustering. now, when you find one of these, and they are mighty common, just stand right up to him, and always appear to get madder than he does--look him right in the eye all the time; but remember to keep cool, for sometimes a blusterer will fight; so keep cool, and be ready for anything. but, alick, the best way of all is to fight the first man that offers, and do it in such a way as to let everybody know you will fight, and you will not be much bothered after that. now, alick, you will hear a great deal of preaching against fighting--well, that is all right; but i tell you the best preacher among them all loves a man who will fight, a thousand times more than he does a coward who won't. all the world respects a brave man, because all the better qualities of human nature accompany courage. a brave man is an honest man; he is a good husband, a good neighbor, and a true friend. you never saw a true woman who did not love a brave man. and now do you be off at once, look for a good place, and when you stop, stop to stay; and let all you say and all you do look to your advantage in the future." long years after this parting scene, and when porter had become a national man, he used to love to recount this conversation to his friends, and the impression it created upon his mind of the wonderful man who had so freely advised him. when porter came, he explored the entire country, and selected for his home opelousas, the seat of justice for the parish of st. landry. to reach this point from new orleans, at that time, required no ordinary exertion. he came first to donaldsonville, where he hired a man to bring him in a small skiff to the courthouse of the parish of assumption. there he employed another to transport him through the verret canal to the lakes, and on through these to marie jose's landing, in attakapas; then another was engaged to take him up the teche to st. martinsville, and from there he went by land to opelousas. this route is nearly three hundred miles. the banks of the teche he found densely populated with a people altogether different in appearance, and speaking a language scarcely one word of which he understood, and in everything different from anything he had ever before seen: added to this, he found them distrustful, inhospitable, and hating the americans, to whose dominion they had been so recently transferred. he used to relate an anecdote of this trip, in his most humorous manner. "i had," he said, "been all day cramped up in the stern of a small skiff, in the broiling sun, with nothing to drink but the tepid water of the teche. i was weary and half sick, when i came to the front of a residence, which wore more the appearance of comfort and respectability than any i had passed during the day. it was on sunday, and there were a number of decently dressed people, young and old, upon the gallery or piazza, and there were great numbers of cattle grazing out on the prairie. here, i thought, i may find some cool water, and perhaps something to mix with it. i landed, and went to the front gate, and called. this was quite near the house, and i thought some one said, 'come in.' i opened the gate, and started for the house. at this juncture, a tall, dark man, wearing a very angry look, came from the interior of the house, and stopping at the gallery door, looked scowlingly down upon me as i approached the steps. '_arrêtez!_' he said, waving his hand. this wave i understood, but not the word, and stopped. he spoke to me in french: i did not understand. i asked for water: this he did not understand, as it was pronounced with considerable of the brogue. turning abruptly round, he called aloud, '_pierre!_' and a negro man came out, who was directed to ask me what i wanted. i told him, water: this he translated for his master. he spoke again angrily to the negro, who told me there was water in the bayou. 'then, can i get a little butter-milk?' i asked. as soon as this was translated to him, he flew into a violent rage, and commenced gesticulating passionately. 'you better run, sir,' said the negro, 'he call de dogs for bite you.' i heard the yelp in the back yard, and started for the gate with a will: it was time, for in a moment there were a dozen lean and vicious curs at my heels, squalling and snapping with angry determination. i fortunately reached the gate in time to close it behind me and shut off my pursuers, amid the laughter and gibes of those in the gallery. i took my boat, and a few miles above found a more hospitable man, who gave me my dinner, plenty of milk, and a most excellent glass of brandy. i inquired the name of the brute, and recorded it in my memory for future use. ten years after that, he came into my office, and told me he wished to have my services as a lawyer. he had quarrelled with his wife, and they had separated. she was suing him for a separation, and property, dotal and paraphernal. if she recovered, and there were strong reasons for supposing she would, he was ruined. "'why do you come to me?' i asked. "'ah! advocat porter, my friend tell me you de best lawyer, and in my trouble i want de best.' he stated his case, and i told him i would undertake it for a thousand dollars. "'_mon dieu!_' he exclaimed, with a desponding shrug, 'it is not possible to me for pay so much.' "'then you must employ some one else.' "'but dere is none else dat be so good like you. monsieur brent is for my wife--got damn!--an' you is de best now, so my friend tell me.' "'very well, then, if you want my services, you must pay for them; and you had better come to terms at once, for here is a note which i have just received from mr. brent, telling me he wishes to see me, and i expect it is to engage me to assist him in this very case.' "'_o mon dieu! mon dieu!_' he exclaimed, in agony. 'vell, i shall give you one thousand dollar.' "i immediately wrote a note for the amount, payable when the suit was determined; but it was with great difficulty i could induce him to sign it. at length he did, however, and i gained his case for him. he came punctually to pay his note. when i had the money in hand, i told him i had charged him five hundred dollars for attending to his case, and five hundred for setting his dogs on me. "'i been tink dat all de time,' he said, as he left the office." there were then several men of eminence at the bar in the opelousas and attakapas country--brent, baker, bowen, and bronson. the superior abilities of porter soon began to be acknowledged. his practice increased rapidly, and when a convention was called to form a constitution for the state of louisiana, porter was elected from opelousas as a delegate. still very young, and scarcely known in the city or along the coast parishes, he came unheralded by any extraordinary reputation for abilities. very soon, however, he was taking the lead amid the best talent in the state. in every feature of this constitution the mind of porter is apparent; and to-day, to one who has witnessed the forming and passing away of many constitutions, and their effect upon public morals and the general interests of the country, it appears the best that was ever given to a state in this union. to those who were most active in the formation of this constitution, and who had most at heart the protection of every interest in the state, the judicial system was most interesting. the preserving of the civil law as the law of the land, and which was guaranteed by the treaty of cession, and at the same time to engraft american ideas upon that system, was a delicate and difficult matter. the french and the french creoles were desirous of retaining as much of french law and french ideas as possible. to these they had always been accustomed: they thought them best, and were very loath to permit innovations. a written constitution was to these people entirely a new thing. accustomed to almost absolute power in the hands of their governors, with his council--these being appointed by the crown, to which they owed allegiance--they could hardly comprehend a constitutional representative form of government, and, naturally distrustful of the americans, they feared every move on their part. porter was an irishman, and they distrusted him and henry johnson less than any others of the convention speaking the english language. where a difference of opinion seemed irreconcilable between the two interests, porter was generally the referee, and he was always successful in reconciling these disputes, and bringing both parties to the support of his own views, which were those generally between the two extremes. in this way he succeeded in having a constitution framed as he wished it, upon the organization of the state government. under this constitution, with matthews and martin, he was placed upon the bench of the supreme court. here he remained for many years; but his ambition sought distinction in the councils of the nation, and he resigned his seat to become a candidate for the senate of the united states. he had, years before, married the sister of isaac l. baker, of the attakapas country, by whom he had two daughters. one of them had died in early life; the other--a most lovely woman--was under the care of his maiden sister, who resided with him, and had charge of his household until her death. subsequently to the death of this lady, this only child was married to mr. alston, of south carolina, but survived her marriage only a short time, dying childless. he was successful in his canvass for the senate, and in that body he soon became prominent as an orator of great powers, and as a most active business man. it was here the long-existing acquaintance with mr. clay ripened into deep friendship. porter had always been the supporter of the views of mr. clay, and during his six years' service in the senate, he gave a hearty and efficient support to the measures representing the policy of that great statesman. after the expiration of his senatorial term he retired with an exhausted constitution to his elegant home in the parish of st. mary, where he devoted himself to his planting interest, now very large. after the death of his daughter, his health declined rapidly; yet, notwithstanding his debilitated condition, he was chosen by a democratic legislature, a second time, as senator to the united states congress; but he never took his seat. just before the meeting of congress, he visited philadelphia for the purpose of obtaining medical advice. dr. chapman made a thorough examination of his case, which he pronounced ossification of the arteries of the heart, and which was rapidly progressing. he advised the judge to return immediately home, and not to think of taking his seat in the senate, as he was liable to die at any moment, and certainly must die in a very short time. he left immediately for his home. some years before this, mr. clay found himself so embarrassed that it was necessary for him to apply to his friends for aid. judge porter came forward and loaned him a large sum, for which he held his note. upon reaching maysville, in descending the ohio, on his return from philadelphia, porter debarked, and went, by stage, to lexington, where he visited mr. clay, and spent one night with him. finding his disease increasing, and fearing, unless he hurried, that he might never reach home, he declined a longer visit. when in the carriage, (so it was stated at the time, but i do not vouch for the fact,) he took the hand of mr. clay, and, pressing it tenderly, said, "farewell until eternity!" and bade the boy drive on. mr. clay found his note left in his hand, marked across the face, "paid." on reaching home, his health seemed for a short time to rally; but he began again to sink. finding it impossible to lie down to sleep, he anticipated speedy dissolution. as a politician, he had been greatly harassed by a dissolute press, and, as a lawyer and prominent man, he had made some enemies. among these was thomas h. lewis, a distinguished lawyer of opelousas, who, of all his enemies, he hated most, and he was an honest hater. a clergyman was spending some time with him, and apprehending that he might pass suddenly away, remained, in company with mr. james porter, his brother, almost constantly with him. only a day or two anterior to his death, after some conversation upon the subject of the great change, leaning back in his reclining easy-chair, he seemed to forget the presence of these two, and, after remaining for more than an hour entirely silent, without moving or opening his eyes, he commenced to speak, as if communing with himself. "i have," he said, "retrospected all my life, and am satisfied. many things i have done i should not; but they were never from a bad motive. i have accomplished more than my merits were entitled to. to the inconsiderate generosity of the people of louisiana i owe much of the success of my life. i have filled the highest offices in their gift, the duties of which i have faithfully discharged to the best of my abilities, and, i believe, to the satisfaction of the people of the state. i have differed with many of my fellow-citizens, and some of them are my enemies; but from my heart i have forgiven them all, as i hope to be forgiven by them, and by my god, before whom i must in a few hours appear." he paused many minutes, and then emphatically added: "yes, lord, even tom lewis." the opinions of judge porter in the reports of the decisions of the supreme court are magnificent specimens of learning, logic, and eloquence. of every question he took a bold and comprehensive view, and the perspicuity of his style and the clearness of his ideas made all he wrote comprehensible to the commonest capacity. in his decisions he was merciless toward a suitor where he discovered fraud, or the more guilty crime of perjury. his wit was like the sword of saladin: its brilliancy was eclipsed by the keenness of the edge. in debate he was brilliant and convincing; in argument, cogent and lucid; in declamation, fervid and impassioned, abounding in metaphor, and often elucidating a position with an apposite anecdote, both pointed and amusing. his memory was wonderful, and his reading extensive and diversified. he had so improved the defective education of his youth as to be not only classical, but learned. impulsive and impetuous, he was sometimes severe and arrogant toward his inferiors who presumed too much upon his forbearance. in his feelings and social associations he was aristocratic and select. he could not tolerate presumptuous ignorance; but to the modest and unobtrusive he was respectful and tolerant. for the whining hypocrisy of pretended piety he had the loftiest contempt, while he gave not only his confidence, but his most sincere respect, to him whose conduct squared with his religious professions. he was a protestant in religion, as his father had been; but was superior to bigotry or the intolerance of little minds and lesser souls. like all men of exalted genius, he was erratic at times, and uncertain in his temper. he died without pain, bequeathing his large estate to his brother, with legacies to his sister in ireland, and to some friends there. to mr. clay he left his great diamond ring. he had, at his death, attained only to the age of fifty-seven years. like judge martin, his besetting sin was love of money; but he was not a miser. to his slaves he was remarkably kind and indulgent, never permitting them to be persecuted by any one, and always treating them with paternal kindness--attentive to their comfort, furnishing them with good houses, beds, and an abundance of food and clothing--indeed, with everything which could contribute to their comfort or happiness. his hospitality was not surpassed by any gentleman in all the land. all who have visited at woodlawn, the beautiful and beautifully improved residence of judge porter, will remember the warm irish welcome and luxurious hospitality of its accomplished and talented master. thus have i attempted a slight sketch of the characters, minds, peculiarities, and services of these eminent men and jurists, who reduced to order and form the jurisprudence of louisiana. it was the eminent abilities and extensive legal learning for which they were so eminently distinguished, as well as the stern integrity of each one of them, which prompted the executive of the state to select them for this delicate and onerous position. at this time, there were not three other men in the state combining so fully all these traits. their long continuance in office systematized the law and the proceedings in the courts, making order out of chaos, and building up a jurisprudence not inferior to that of any country. under the peculiar circumstances, this was no very easy or enviable task. the country was now american, and it was important that the judicial system should approximate as nearly as possible to the american system, and, at the same time, preserve the civil law as the law of the land. this law is a most beautiful system of equity, and is disrobed of many of the difficulties which surround the common law, and which oblige in every common-law country a separate and distinct system of equity. the criminal code was that of the common law. it was so radically different from that which had heretofore prevailed in the country, that it was absolutely necessary, in order to secure to the accused the trial by jury, that this change should be made. owing to the extended commerce of new orleans, many cases arose of contracts made in the common-law states, and this must control these cases. to reconcile and blend the two systems became, in many of these, a necessity. to do this required a knowledge of both on the part of the judges, and this knowledge, in order that no error might misdirect, should be thorough. it was happily accomplished, and now the system is clear and fixed, and will remain a monument to the learning and genius of this court. of the three judges, matthews alone left descendants, and he but two--a son, who soon followed him to the grave, and a daughter, who is still living, the accomplished lady of major chase, formerly of the engineer corps of the army of the united states. chapter xxix. americanizing louisiana. powers of louisiana courts--governor william c.c. claiborne--cruel o'reilly--lefrenier and noyan executed--a dutch justice--edward livingston--a caricature of general jackson--stephen mazereau--a speech in three languages--john r. grymes--settling a ca. sa.--batture property--a hundred thousand dollar fee. the supreme court of the state of louisiana differs in this from that of the other states: it has jurisdiction as well of the facts as of the law. in the trial of all cases in the district or lower courts, the testimony is made a part of the record, and goes up to the supreme court for supervision, as well as for the enlightenment of the court, which passes upon the facts as well as the law; thus making the judges in the lower courts merely masters in chancery, with the exception, that where the decision of the judge is considered correct, it is approved and made the judgment of the supreme court. this court, by reason of its very extraordinary powers, becomes of the highest importance to every citizen, and is really by far the most important, as it is the most responsible branch of the government. the executive can only execute the law; the legislative acts are revisable and amendable, so often as the legislature holds its sessions; but the judicial decisions of the supreme court become the permanent law of the land. true, these decisions may be revised and overruled, but this is not likely to be done by those judges who have made them, and the tenure of office is such as practically to make them permanent. under the first constitution of the state, these judges were nominated by the executive, and confirmed by the senate. this senate consisted of seventeen members, chosen by the people from senatorial districts containing a large area of territory and a numerous population. this concentration of responsibility insured the selection of men of the first abilities, attainments, and moral character. so long as this system obtained, the supreme bench was ably filled, and its duties faithfully and wisely discharged, with one exception only; but for the sake of those who, though not blamable, would be deeply wounded, i forbear further remark. governor william c.c. claiborne, who was the territorial governor, was elected by acclamation the first governor of the state. he was a virginian and a man of fine attainments. his peculiar temperament was well suited to the creole population, and identifying himself with that population by intermarrying with one of the most respectable families of new orleans, and studiously devoting himself to the discharge of the duties of his office, he assumed some state in his style of living, and when going abroad kept up something of the regality of his colonial predecessors. thus suiting the taste and genius of the people, and in some degree comporting with what they had been accustomed to, at the same time assuming great affability of manner, both in private and in the discharge of his public duties, he rendered himself extremely popular with both populations. governor claiborne studiously promoted harmony between the people of the different races constituting the population of the state, and especially that of new orleans. the state had been under the dominion of three separate nations. the mass of the population, originally french, very reluctantly yielded to spanish domination, and not without an attempt at resistance. for a time this had been successful in expelling a hated governor; but the famous o'reilly, succeeding to the governorship of the colony, came with such a force as was irresistible, suppressing the armed attempt to reclaim the colony from spanish rule. he made prisoners of the chiefs of the malcontents, with lefrenier at their head, and condemned them to be shot. one of these was noyan, the son-in-law of lefrenier. he was a young man, and but recently united to the beautiful and accomplished daughter of the gallant lefrenier. his youth, his chivalry, and extraordinary intrepidity excited the admiration of the cold, cruel o'reilly, and he was offered a pardon. he refused to accept it, unless mercy should be extended to his father-in-law: this having been denied, he was executed, holding in his own the hand of lefrenier, defiantly facing his executioners and dying with roman firmness. this bloody tragedy was transacted upon the square in front of the cathedral, where now stands the colossal statue of andrew jackson, in the midst of the most lovely and beautiful shrubs and flowers indigenous to the soil of louisiana. the orange, with her pale green foliage, and sweet, modest white flowers, so delicate and so delicious; the oleander, the petisporum, and roses of every hue unite their foliage and blend their fragrance to enchant and delight the eye and sense, and to contrast too the scene of carnage once deforming and outraging this eden spot. scarcely had the people become reconciled to spanish domination, before the colony was retroceded to france, and again in no great while ceded to the united states. the french were prejudiced against the spaniards and despised them, and now the americans were flowing into the country and city, with manners and customs intolerable to both french and spaniards, hating both and being hated by both, creating a state of society painfully unpleasant, and apparently irreconcilable. this state of affairs made the governor's position anything but pleasant. but distressing as it was, he accomplished more in preserving harmony than one well acquainted with the facts would have deemed possible. in doing this he was skilful enough to preserve his popularity, and secure his election to the gubernatorial chair upon the formation of the state. indeed, so great was his popularity, that it was said some aspirants to gubernatorial honors incorporated the clause in the constitution which makes the governor ineligible to succeed himself, lest claiborne should be perpetual governor. few men ever lived who could so suit themselves to circumstances as governor claiborne. there was a strange fascination in his manners, and a real goodness of heart, which spell-bound every one who came within the range of his acquaintance. he granted a favor in a manner that the recipient forever felt the obligation, and when he refused one, it was with such apparent regret as to make a friend. he sincerely desired the best interest of every one, and promoted it whenever he could. it was said of him that he never refused, but always promised, and always fulfilled his promise whenever it was in his power. when coming to take charge of the territorial government he stopped at baton rouge, and spent the night with an honest dutchman who kept entertainment for travellers. in the morning, when his guest was leaving, learning his official character, he took him aside, and solicited the appointment of justice of the peace for baton rouge. "certainly, sir," said the governor, "certainly;" and the dutchman, supposing the appointment made, hoisted his sign above his door, and continued to administer justice in his way until his death, without ever being questioned as to the nature of his appointment. the governor never thought a second time of the promise. the selection and appointment of governor claiborne for the very delicate duties devolving on an american governor, with such a population as then peopled louisiana, showed great wisdom and prudence in mr. jefferson: he was to reconcile discordant materials within the territory, and reconcile all to the dominion of the united states. he was to introduce, with great caution, the institutions of a representative republican form of government among a people who had never known any but a despotic government; whose language and religion were alien to the great mass of the people of the nation. an american protestant population was hurrying to the country, and of all difficulties most difficult, to reconcile into harmonious action two antagonistic religions in the same community is certainly the one. claiborne accomplished all this. his long continuance in office showed his popularity, and the prosperity of the people and territory, his wisdom. in all his appointments he exercised great discretion, and in almost every case his judgment and wisdom were manifested in the result; and to this, day his name is revered and his memory cherished as a benefactor. he was twice married, and left two sons--one by each marriage; both live, highly respected, and very worthy citizens of the city of their birth. his name is borne by one of the finest parishes of the state and one of the most beautiful streets in the city of new orleans, and no man ever deserved more this high and honorable commemoration from a grateful people than did william c.c. claiborne. among those most conspicuous in americanizing the state and city at the early commencement of the american domination, after the governor and supreme court, were henry johnson, edward livingston, james brown, john r. grymes, thomas urquhart, boling robinson, and general philemon thomas. edward livingston was a citizen at the time of the cession, having emigrated from new york in , where he had already acquired fame as a lawyer. he was the brother of the celebrated chancellor livingston, and had, as an officer of the general government, in the city of new york, defaulted in a large amount. to avoid the penalties of the law he came to new orleans, then a colony of a foreign government, and there commenced the practice of his profession. after the cession he was not disturbed by the government, and continued actively to pursue his profession. he was the intimate friend of daniel clark, who was the first territorial representative in congress; and it has been supposed that, through the instrumentality of clark, the government declined pursuing the claim against him. he first emerged to public view in a contest with mr. jefferson relative to the batture property in the city of new orleans. livingston had purchased a property above canal street, and claimed all the batture between his property and the river as riparian proprietor. this was contested by mr. jefferson as president of the united states. he claimed this as public land belonging to the united states under the treaty of purchase. the question was very ably argued by both parties; but the title to this immensely valuable property remained unsettled for many years after the death of both jefferson and livingston, and finally was decreed by the supreme court of the united states to belong to the city of new orleans. when, during the invasion of new orleans by the english forces in the war of and ' , general jackson came to its defence, livingston volunteered as one of his aids, and rendered distinguished services to jackson and the country in that memorable affair, the battle of new orleans. a friendship grew up between jackson and livingston, which continued during their lives. soon after the war, livingston was elected to represent the new orleans or first congressional district in congress. he continued for some time to represent this district; but was finally, about , beaten by edward d. white. at the succeeding session of the legislature, however, he was elected a senator to congress in the place of henry johnson. from the senate he was sent as minister to france, and was afterward secretary of state during the administration of general jackson. it was in his case that jackson exercised the extraordinary power of directing the treasurer of the united states to receipt mr. livingston for the sum of his defalcation thirty-four years before. at the time this was done, tobias watkins was in prison in washington for a defalcation of only a few hundreds to the government. these two events gave rise to the ludicrous caricature, which caused much amusement at the time, of general jackson's walking with his arm in livingston's by the jail, when watkins, looking from the window, points to livingston, saying to the general: "you should turn me out, or put him in." immediately upon this receipt being recorded, livingston presented an account for mileage and per diem for all the time he had served in congress, and received it. so long as he was a defaulter to the government, he could receive no pay for public services. as a lawyer, mr. livingston had no superior. he was master of every system prevailing in the civilized world; he spoke fluently four languages, and read double that number. as a statesman he ranked with the first of his country, and was skilled as a diplomatist. in every situation where placed by fortune or accident, he displayed ample ability for the discharge of its duties. it is not known, but is generally believed that, as secretary of state, he wrote the state papers of general jackson. the same has been said of that veteran amos kendall. there was one for which livingston obtained the credit, which he certainly did not write--the celebrated proclamation to the people of south carolina upon the subject of nullification. this was written by mr. webster. upon one occasion, mr. webster, per invitation, with many members of congress, dined with the president. when the company was about retiring, general jackson requested mr. webster to remain, as he desired some conversation with him. the subject of south carolina nullification had been discussed cursorily by the guests at dinner, and jackson had been impressed with some of webster's remarks; and when alone together, he requested webster's opinions on the subject at length. mr. webster replied, that the time was wanting for a full discussion of the question; but if it would be agreeable to the president, he would put them in writing and send them to him. he did so. these opinions, expressing fully mr. webster's views, were handed to mr. livingston, who, approving them, made a few verbal alterations, and submitted the document, which was issued as the president's proclamation. the doctrines politically enunciated in this paper are identical with those entertained in the great speech of mr. webster, in the famous contest with robert t. hayne, on foote's resolutions, some years before; and are eminently federal. they came like midnight at noon upon the states-rights men of the south, and a virginian, wherever found, groaned as he read them. mr. livingston, though a jeffersonian democrat in his early life, and now a jackson democrat, held very strong federal notions in regard to the relations between the states and the united states government, and was disposed to have these sanctioned by the adoption of general jackson. jackson, probably, never read this paper; and if he did, did not exactly comprehend its tenor; for general jackson's political opinions were never very fixed or clear. what he willed, he executed, and though it cut across the constitution, or the laws, his friends and followers threw up their caps and cheered him. mr. livingston was charged with the delicate duty of discussing the claims of our government, representing its citizens, for spoliations committed upon our commerce under the celebrated milan and berlin decrees of napoleon, and, backed by the determination of jackson, happily succeeded in finally settling this vexatious question. a sum was agreed upon, and paid into the united states treasury; but if i am not mistaken, none, or very little of it, has ever reached the hands of the sufferers. upon the proof of the justice of their claims, france was compelled to pay them to the government; but now the government wants additional proof of this same fact, before the money is paid over to them. mr. livingston's learning was varied and extensive; he was a fine classical scholar, and equally as accomplished in belles-lettres. in the literature of france, germany, and spain he was quite as well versed as in that of his native tongue. his historical knowledge was more extensive and more accurate than that of any public man of the day, except, perhaps, mr. benton. at the bar, he met those eminent jurists, grymes, lilly, brown, and mazereau, and successfully. this is great praise, for nowhere, in any city or country, were to be found their superiors in talent and legal lore. livingston never had the full confidence of his party, and perhaps with the exception of general jackson, that of any individual. in moneyed matters, he was eminently unreliable; but all admitted his great abilities. in social qualities, he was entirely deficient. he had no powers of attraction to collect about him friends, or to attach even his political partisans. these were proud of his talents, and felt honored in his representation, and with the rest of the world honored and admired the statesman, while they despised the man. he was illiberal, without generosity, unsocial, and soulless, with every attribute of mind to be admired, without one quality of the heart to be loved. in person he was tall and slender, and without grace in his movements, or dignity in his manners. with a most intellectual face, his brow was extremely arched, his eye gray, and his prominent forehead narrow but high and receding; his mouth was large and well formed, and was as uncertain and restless as his eye. no one could mistake from his face the talent of the man; yet there lurked through its every feature an unpleasant something, which forced an unfavorable opinion of the individual. mr. livingston lived very many years in louisiana, and rendered her great services in codifying her laws, and making them clear and easy of comprehension. he shed lustre upon her name, by his eminent abilities as a jurist and statesman, and thus has identified his name most prominently with her history. but without those shining qualities which clasp to the heart in devoted affection the great man, and which constitute one great essential of true greatness. and now that he is in the grave, he is remembered with cold respect alone. stephen mazereau was a frenchman, a parisian, and a lawyer there of the first eminence. when about to emigrate to madrid, in spain, the bar of his native city presented him with a splendid set of silver, in respect for his position as a lawyer and his virtues as a man. he remained ten years in spain's capital, and was at the head of the bar of that city; and when leaving it to come to new orleans, received a similar testimonial from his brethren there to his worth and talents. immediately upon coming to new orleans, he commenced the practice of the law, and at once took rank with livingston, lilly, brown, and grymes, who, though then a very young man, had already gained eminence in his profession. mr. mazereau, except giving his state, in the legislature, the benefit of his abilities, avoided politics, confining himself exclusively to his profession. in the argument of great questions before the supreme court of the state between these eminent jurists, was to be seen the combat of giants. mazereau was a short, stout man, with an enormous head, which made his appearance singularly unique. in his arguments he was considerate, cautious, and eminently learned. sometimes he would address the people on great political questions, and then all the fervor of the frenchman would burst forth in eloquent and impressive appeals. i remember hearing him, when he was old, address an immense gathering of the people. he looked over the crowd, when he rose, and said: "i see three nations before me. americans, i shall speak to you first. frenchmen, to you next--and to you, my spanish friends, last. i shall probably occupy two hours with each of you. it will be the same speech; so you who do not understand the english language, need not remain. you who understand french, may return when i shall dismiss these americans--and you, my spanish friends, when i am through with these frenchmen." this he fulfilled to the letter in a six-hours' speech, and i never knew a political speech effect so much. for many years he was attorney-general of the state, and legal adviser and counsellor of the governor. although his practice was eminently profitable, he was so careless and extravagant in money matters, that he was always poor and necessitous, especially in his old age. it really seems one of the attributes of genius to be indifferent to this world's goods, and when time and labor have done their work, and the imbecility of years obscures its brilliancy, to droop neglected, and, if not in want, in despised poverty. such was the fate for a short time of this great man--but only for a short time. his powerful intellect retained its vigor, and his brilliant wit all its edges, to within a little while of his death. sadly i turn back, in memory, to the day he communicated to me that his necessities would compel him to dispose of the beautiful and valuable testimonials of the bar of two proud nations to his character and abilities. his great intellect was beginning to fade out; but, as the sun, declining to rest canopied with increasing clouds, will sometimes pierce through the interstices of the dark masses, and dart for a moment the intensity of his light upon the earth, the mind of mazereau would flash in all its youthful grandeur and power from the dimness that was darkening it out. he was a noble specimen of a french gentleman: a french scholar, and a frenchman. his memory is embalmed in the hearts of his friends of every nation who knew him in new orleans. strictly moral in his habits, full of truth and honor, and overflowing with generosity, social in his habits, and kindly in his feelings, he made friends of all who came in contact with him; and yet he had his enemies. his intolerance of everything that was little or mean, and his scorn and hatred of men of such character, was never concealed, either in his conversation or conduct. such men were his enemies, and some, too, were his foes from the intolerance of political antagonism; but the grave obliterated these animosities, and the generous political antagonist cherishes now only respect for this truly great man. with deep gratitude my heart turns to his memory: his generous kindness, his warm friendship was mine for long years, and to me his memory is an incense. john r. grymes was a virginian and close connection of john randolph, of roanoke, whose name he bore; but of this he never boasted, nor did any one hear him claim alliance of blood with pocahontas. mr. madison appointed him district attorney of the united states for the district of louisiana, when a very young man. this appointment introduced him to the bar and the practice immediately. he was one of those extraordinary creations, who leap into manhood without the probation of youth: at twenty-two he was eminent and in full practice, ranking with the leading members of the bar. truly, grymes was born great, for no one can remember when he was not great! never, in company, in social life, with a private friend, at the bar, or anywhere, was he even apparently simple or like other men; in private, with his best friend, he spoke, he looked, and he was the great man. he was great in his frivolities, great in his burlesques, great in his humor, great in common conversation; the great lawyer, the great orator, the great blackguard, and the great companion, the great beau, and the great spendthrift: in nothing was he little. his language was ornate, his style was terse and beautiful; in conversation he was voluble and transcendently entertaining; knew everybody and everything; never seemed to read, and yet was always prepared in his cases, and seemed to be a lawyer by intuition. he was rarely in his office, but always on the street, and always dressed in the extreme of the fashion; lived nowhere, boarded nowhere, slept nowhere, and ate everywhere. he dined at a restaurant, but scarcely ever at the same twice in succession; would search for hours to find a genial friend to dine with him, and then, if he was in the mood, there was a feast of the body and flow of the soul; went to every ball, danced with everybody, visited the ladies; was learned or frivolous, as suited the ladies' capacities or attainments; appeared fond of their society, and always spoke of them with ridicule or contempt; married, and separated from his wife, no one knew for what cause, yet still claimed and supported her. she was the widow of governor claiborne, and a magnificent woman; she was a spaniard by blood, aristocratic in her feelings, eccentric, and, intellectually, a fit companion for grymes. she was to claiborne an admirable wife, but there was little congeniality between her and grymes. grymes knew that it was not possible for any woman to tolerate him as a husband, and was contented to live apart from his wife. they were never divorced, but lived--she in new york, or at her villa on staten island; grymes in new orleans. he never complained of her; always spoke kindly, and sometimes affectionately of her; denied the separation, and annually visited her. their relations were perfectly amicable, but they could not live together. grymes could have lived with no woman. in all things he was _sui generis_; with no one like him in any one thing, for he was never the same being two consecutive days. he had no fixed opinions that any one knew of; he was a blatant democrat, and yet never agreed with them in anything; a great advocate of universal equality, and the veriest aristocrat on earth; he would urge to-day as a great moral or political truth certain principles, and ridicule them with contemptuous scorn to-morrow. he was the most devout of christians to-day, the most abandoned infidel to-morrow; and always, and with everybody, striving to appear as base and as abandoned as profligate man could be: to believe all he said of himself, was to believe him the worst man on earth. he despised public opinion and mankind generally; still he was kind in his nature, and generous to profligacy; was deeply sympathetic, and never turned from the necessitous without dropping a tear or giving a dollar--the one he bestowed generously, the other he rarely had to give; but, if an acquaintance was at hand, he would borrow and give, and the charity of heart was as sincere as though the money had been his own. on one occasion i was with him when charity was solicited of him by a wretched old woman. "give me five dollars," he said to me; the money was handed the woman, and she was sent away, to be drunk and in a police-station within the hour. i remarked: "that old wretch has brought all this upon her by an abandoned profligacy." "then i owe her sympathy as well as charity," was his reply; "i do not know the cause of her suffering, but i know she is suffering: it may be for food, it may be for drink; if either obliterates her misery, your money is well spent." he had no idea of the value of money; was constantly in the receipt of large fees, with a most lucrative practice, but was always embarrassed, owed everybody, loaned to everybody, gave to everybody, and paid nobody. during the existence of the law which imprisoned for debt, he was constantly in the sheriff's hands, but always settling, by the most ingenious devices, the claim at the jail-door. it is told of him, that the sheriff on one occasion notified him that there was a _ca. sa._ in his hands, and that he did not want to arrest him. the sum was large, some two thousand dollars--grymes had not a dollar. he paused a moment, then said, "come to me to-morrow. i have a case of milliadon's for trial to-morrow; he is greatly interested in it. when it is called, i will give you the wink, then arrest me." in obedience to directions, the sheriff came, the case was called, and grymes arrested. milliadon was in court, his hopes were in grymes, and when he was informed that grymes was in custody of the sheriff, he groaned aloud. "oh! mr. grymes, vat am i to do?" "why, you must employ other counsel," said grymes. "_mon dieu!_ but i have pay you for attend this case, and i want you. you know about it, and it must be try now." "yes," continued the imperturbable grymes, "you have paid me, i know, and i know it would be dangerous to trust it to other counsel, but it is your only hope. i have no money, and here is a _ca. sa._, and i am on my way to jail." "oh! _mon dieu! mon dieu!_ vat is de amount of de _ca. sa._?" "two thousand dollars," said the sheriff. "two thousand dollars!" repeated milliadon. "goodall _vs._ milliadon," said the judge, "preston, for plaintiff--grymes, for defendant. what do you do with this case, gentlemen?" "we are ready," said preston. "and you, mr. grymes?" asked the court. "vill you take my check for de _ca. sa._, mr. sheriff?" "certainly, sir," replied the officer. "say we is ready too, mr. grymes--all my witness be here." "i believe we are ready, your honor," answered grymes. milliadon was writing his check. "enter satisfaction on the _ca. sa._," said grymes. the sheriff did so, as milliadon handed him the check. grymes now turned his attention to the case as coolly as though nothing had occurred. that was the last milliadon ever heard of his two thousand dollars. laurent milliadon and the millionaire john mcdonough were litigious in their characters; and their names occur in the report of the supreme court decisions more frequently than those of any ten other men in the state. grymes was the attorney for both of them for many years. they were both men of great shrewdness, and both speculative in their characters, and both had accumulated large fortunes. without any assignable cause, mcdonough ceased to employ grymes, and intrusted his business to other counsel, who did not value their services so extravagantly. mentioning the fact upon one occasion to grymes, "ah! yes," said he, "i can explain to your satisfaction the cause. in a certain case of his, in which he had law and justice with him, he suddenly became very uneasy. 'i shall certainly lose it, grymes,' he said excitedly to me. i told him it was impossible; he had never had so sure a thing since i had been his attorney. in his dogmatical manner, which you know, he still persisted in saying, he was no great lawyer as i was, but some things he knew better than any lawyer, and 'i shall lose that case.' at the same time he significantly touched his pocket and then his palm, signifying that money had been paid by his adversary to the court, or some member of it. 'ah!' said i, 'are you sure--very sure?' 'very sure--i know it; and you will see i shall lose this suit.' he was not wont to speak so positively, without the best evidence of any fact. 'well, mac,' said i, jestingly, 'if that is the game, who can play it better than you can--you have a larger stake than any of them, and of course better ability?' well, sir, he did lose one of the plainest cases i ever presented to a court. from that day forward i have not received a fee from him: and now the secret is before the world. he has been detected in bribing one of the judges of the supreme court." as an orator, grymes was among the first of the country. all he wanted, to have been exceedingly eloquent, was earnestness and feeling; of this he was devoid. his manner was always collected and cool; his style chaste and beautiful, with but little ornament; he spoke only from the brain--there was nothing from the heart. in argument he was exceedingly cogent and lucid, and when the subject seemed most complicated, the acuteness of his analytical mind seemed to unravel and lay bare the true features of the case, with an ease and power that required scarce an effort. his powers of ratiocination were very great, and this was the forte of his mind; his conclusions were clearly deduced from arguments always logical. there were times when he would be serious--and then there was a grandeur about him very striking. at such times, bursts of passionate feeling would break from him that seemed like volcanic eruptions. they appeared to come from a deep and intense tenderness of heart. these were momentary--the lightning's flash illuminating the gloom and darkness of its parent cloud. i have thought this was the man's nature, born with a heart capable of intense feeling, which had been educated to believe this weakness. coming very young away from his home and early associations, to live and mingle with strangers of a different race--leaving the rural scenes and home associations which were forming and developing nature's glorious gifts, to come to a profligate and heartless city--the whole current of his susceptible nature was changed, and the feeling and good perverted and overshadowed, yet not entirely rooted out. hence the contradictions in his character. sometimes nature was too strong for art, and would break out in beauty, as the flower, rich in fragrance and delicate loveliness, when touched by the genial sun, will burst from the black and uninviting bud. upon one occasion, when there was a united states senator to be elected, and when the democratic party held a majority in the legislature, rendering it impossible for the whigs to elect any member of their own party, yet, with the assistance of three from the democratic party, could choose from this party any man they would select and unite upon--they determined to propose grymes, and had secured the requisite assistance from the democracy. i was a member, and a whig, and was delegated to communicate the facts to grymes. i knew the senate had been his ambition for years. i knew he felt his powers would give him a position with the greatest of that body, and an immediate national reputation, and had no doubt of his cheerful acquiescence. to my astonishment he assumed a grave and most serious manner. "i am grateful, most grateful to you," he said, "for i know this has been brought about by you, and that you sincerely desire to gratify me; but i cannot consent to be a candidate. most frankly will i tell you my reasons. i admit it has been my desire for years. it has been, i may say to you, my life-long ambition; but i have always coupled the possession of the position with the power of sustaining it reputably. i was never ambitious of the silly vanity of simply being a senator and known as such; but of giving to it the character and dignity due it. louisiana is a proud state, her people are a noble and a proud people, they have a right to be so--look at her! with a soil and a climate congenial to the production of the richest staples now ministering to the luxuries and necessities of man--with a river emptying into her commercial mart the productions of a world, her planters are princes, in feeling, fortune, and position. at their mansions is dispensed a noble hospitality, rich in the feasts of body and mind, generous and open as was virginia's in her proudest days. at washington i would represent these, and the merchant-princes of her metropolis. you have said, as eloquently as truly, 'there is but one mississippi river; but one louisiana; but one new orleans on the face of the earth.' as she is, and as her people are, i would represent her as her senator. "i am a beggar, and cannot consent, in this character, to be made more conspicuous, by being made a beggarly senator. i cannot take a house in washington, furnish it, and live in it as a gentleman. i could not, in any other manner, entertain my people visiting washington, consistently with my ideas of what a senator should do. i cannot go to washington, and, as one of them, stand among the great men of the senate, in that magnificent hall, and feel my soul swell to theirs and its proportions, and then dodge you, or any other gentleman from louisiana, and sneak home to a garret. my means would allow me no better apartment. i could not live in the mean seclusion of a miserable penury, nor otherwise than in a style comporting, in my estimation, with the dignity and the duty of a senator from louisiana, as some have done, who were able to live and entertain as gentlemen, for the purpose of the degraded saving of half my _per diem_ to swell my coffers at home. "now, my friend, i feel how miserably foolish i have been all my life. i have thrown away fortune because i despised it. it was too grovelling a pursuit, too mean a vocation, to make and to hoard money. in my soul i despised it, and now you see it is revenged; for without it, i have learned, there is no gratification for ambition--no independence of a sneering, envious world. a bankrupt is a felon, though his mind, his virtues, and his attainments may be those of a god. he is a useless waif upon the world; for all he has, or all he may be, is, to himself and the world, unavailable without money. i have discarded all my ambitious aspirations long since, and tried to reconcile myself to the fact that my life has been and is a failure. and i am sorry you have come to me to remind me that the aim of my young life was within my reach, when i have no means to grasp it, and, now that i am miserable, to show me what i might have been. no, my friend, i must go on with the drudgery of the law, to earn my bread, and thus eke out a miserable future. i am grateful to you and my other friends, who have delegated you to this mission. say so to them, if you please. i must go to court. the horse of the bark-mill must go to his daily circle. good morning!" some years after the event above mentioned, grymes, as the attorney of the city of new orleans, succeeded, before the supreme court of the united states, in making good the title to the batture property in the city. what is termed batture in louisiana is the land made by accretion or deposits of the mississippi. one strange feature of this great river is, that it never gets any wider. it is continually wearing and caving on one side or the other, and making a corresponding deposit on the other bank. opposite a portion of the city of new orleans this deposit has been going on for many years, while the opposite bank has been wearing away. there are living citizens who saw in youth the river occupying what is now covered by many streets and many blocks of buildings, and is one of the most valuable portions of the city. in truth, what was a century ago entire river, is now one-fourth of the city, and this deposit goes on annually without any decrease in its ratio. by agreement of all parties, this batture was surveyed into squares and lots, and sold at public auction, and the money deposited in the bank of louisiana, to the credit of the supreme court of the united states, to abide the decision of that tribunal as to the rightful ownership. the decision gave it to the city. grymes, as attorney for the city, by order of the court, received a check for the money. the bank paid the check, and grymes appropriated one hundred thousand dollars of it, as a fee for his services, and then deposited the balance to the credit of the mayor and council of the city. this was a large fee, but was not really what he was entitled to, under the custom of chancery for collecting money. he had agreed to pay daniel webster for assistance rendered; but mr. webster, some years after, informed me that he had never received a cent, and i am sure he never did, after that. grymes was well aware, if the city fathers got their hands upon the money, it would be years before he got this amount, if ever. with a portion of this money he liquidated all claims not antiquated and forgotten by him, and the balance was intrusted to the hands of a friend to invest for his benefit. this, together with his practice, which was now declining, furnished a handsome support for him. age appeared to effect little change in his _personnel_. at sixty-seven, he was as erect in person and as elastic in step as at thirty. there was none of that _embonpoint_ usually the consequence of years and luxurious living. he was neither slender nor fat; but what is most agreeable to the eye--between the two, with a most perfectly formed person. his features were manly, and strikingly beautiful; his blue eyes beaming with the _hauteur_ of high breeding and ripe intelligence. these features were too often disfigured with the sneer of scorn, or the curled lip of expressive contempt. his early hopes, his manhood's ambition had been disappointed; and, soured and sore, he sneered at the world, and despised it. he had no confidence in man or woman, and had truly reached hamlet's condition, when "man delighted him not, nor woman either." he felt the world was his debtor, and was niggardly in its payments. he grew more and more morose as the things of time receded. others, full of youth, talent, and vigor, were usurping the positions and enjoying the honors of life, which were slipping away from him unenjoyed. he turned upon these the bitterness engendered by disappointment. cynicism lent edge to his wit, and bitterness to his sarcasm. he was at war with himself, and consequently with all the world. his mind felt none of the imbecility of age, and to the last retained its perspicuity and power. as he came into life a man, and never knew a boyhood, so he went from it a man, without the date of years. at sixty-eight years of age, he went quietly from life without suffering, and, to himself, without regret. he was a man--take him all in all--whose like we shall not look on soon again. the virtues and the vices, the loves and the hates of life were strangely blended in the character of john randolph grymes; but if we judge from the fact that he had and left many warm and devoted friends, and few enemies, we must suppose the good in his nature greatly preponderated. but notwithstanding the great space he had filled in the eyes of the people of the city, his death startled only for a moment, and straightway he was forgotten; as the falling pebble dimples for a moment the lake's quiet surface--then all is smooth again. chapter xxx. division of new orleans into municipalities. american hotel--introduction of steamboats--faubourg st. mary--canal street--st. charles hotel--samuel j. peters--james h. caldwell-- fathers of the municipality--bernard marigny--an ass--a.b. roman. forty years ago there was not a public hotel in the city of new orleans which received and entertained ladies. there was but one respectable american hotel in the city. this was kept by john richardson, who still lives, and was on conti street, between chartres and the levee. about that time madame heries opened the planter's hotel on canal street, which some years after fell and crushed to death some thirty persons. there were many boarding-houses, where ladies were entertained, and to these were all ladies visiting the city constrained to resort. some of these were well kept and comfortable, but afforded none or very few of the advantages of public hotels. they were generally kept by decayed females who were constrained to this vocation by pecuniary misfortunes. the liberal accommodation afforded in hotels, especially built and furnished for the purpose, was not to be found in any of them. at this period all the means of travel between mobile and new orleans, across the lake, consisted of one or two schooners, as regular weekly packets, plying between the two cities. it was about this time that the tide of emigration which had peopled the west, and the rapid increase of production, was stimulating the commerce of new orleans. it was obeying the impulse, and increasing in equal ratio its population. this commerce was chiefly conducted by americans, and most of these were of recent establishment in the city. that portion of the city above canal street, and then known as the faubourg st. mary, was little better than a marsh in its greater portion. along the river and canal street, there was something of a city appearance, in the improvements and business, where there were buildings. in every other part there were shanties, and these were filled with a most miserable population. about this time, too, steamboats were accumulating upon the western waters--a new necessity induced by the increase of travel and commerce--affording facilities to the growing population and increasing production of the vast regions developing under the energy of enterprise upon the mississippi and her numerous great tributaries. it seemed that at this juncture the whole world was moved by a new impulse. the difficulties of navigating the mississippi river had been overcome, and the consequences of this new triumph of science and man's ingenuity were beginning to assume a more vigorous growth. the ohio and its tributaries were peopling with a hardy and industrious race; the missouri, arkansas, and red rivers, too, were filling with a population which was sweeping away the great wild forests, and fields of teeming production were smiling in their stead. new orleans was the market-point for all that was, and all that was to be, the growth of these almost illimitable regions. it was, as it ever is, the exigencies of man answered by the inspirations of god. the necessities of this extending population along the great rivers demanded means of transportation. these means were to be devised, by whom? the genius of fulton was inspired, and the steamboat sprang into existence. the necessity existed no longer, and the flood of population poured in and subdued the earth to man's will, to man's wants. over the hills and valleys, far away it went, crowding back the savage, demanding and taking for civilized uses his domain of wilderness, and creating new necessities--and again the inspired genius of man gave to the world the railroad and locomotive. the great increase in the production of cotton in the west, and which went for a market to new orleans, necessitated greater accommodations for the trade in that city--presses for compressing, and houses for merchants, where the business could be conducted with greater facility and greater convenience. american merchants crowded to the city, and located their places of business above canal street, beyond which there was not a street paved. there was not a wharf upon which to discharge freights, consequently the cotton bales had to be rolled from the steamers to the levee, which in the almost continued rains of winter were muddy, and almost impassable at times for loaded vehicles. below canal street the levee was made firm by being well shelled, and the depth of water enabled boats and shipping to come close alongside the bank, which the accumulating batture prevented above. the french, or creole population greatly preponderated, and this population was all below canal street. they elected the mayor, and two-thirds of the council, and these came into office with all the prejudices of that people against the americans, whom a majority of them did not hesitate to denominate intruders. the consequence was the expenditure of all the revenue of the city upon improvements below canal street. every effort was made to force trade to the lower portion of the city. this was unavailing. the faubourg st. mary continued to improve, and most rapidly. business and cotton-presses sprang up like magic. americans were purchasing sugar plantations and moving into the french parishes, drawing closer the relations of fellow-citizens, and becoming more and more acquainted with the feelings and opinions of each other, and establishing good neighborhoods and good feelings, and by degrees wearing out these national prejudices, by encouraging social intercourse and fraternity. they were introducing new methods of cultivation, and new modes of making sugar; pushing improvements, stimulating enterprise, and encouraging a community of feeling, as they held a common interest in the country. in the country parishes these prejudices of race had never been so strong as in the city, and were fast giving way; intermarriages and family relations were beginning to identify the people, and this to some extent was true in the city. but here there was a conflict of interest, and this seemed on the increase. the improvements made in the faubourg were suggested by the necessities of commerce, and this naturally went to these. there was a superior enterprise in the american merchant, there was greater liberality in his dealings: he granted hazardous accommodations to trade, and made greater efforts to secure it. this had the effect of securing the rapidly increasing commerce of the city to the american merchants, and of course was promoting the settlement and improvement of the faubourg st. mary. it excited, too, more and more the antipathies of the ancient population. these, controlling the city government constantly in a most envious spirit, refused to extend the public improvements of the faubourg. there was not, forty years ago, or in , a paving-stone above canal street, nor could any necessity induce the government of the city to pave a single street. where now stands the great st. charles hotel, there was an unsightly and disgusting pond of fetid water, and the locations now occupied by the city hotel and the st. james were cattle-pens. there was not a wharf in the entire length of the city, and the consequence was an enormous tax levied upon produce, in the shape of drayage and repairs of injuries to packages, from the want of these prime necessities. the navigation of the bayou st. john commanded for the lower portion of the city the commerce crossing the lake, and to monopolize the profits of travel, a railroad was proposed from the lake to the river, and speedily completed. the people of the faubourg, to counteract as much as possible these advantages, constructed a canal from the city to the lake, which was to enter the city, or faubourg st. mary, at the foot of julia street, one of the broadest and best streets in that quarter of the city. this was of sufficient capacity for schooners and steamboats of two hundred tons burden. when this was completed, with great difficulty the authorities were prevailed upon to pave julia street; still the greatly increasing demands of commerce were neglected, and while by these refusals the population of the city proper was doing all it could to force down to the city this increasing trade, they neglected to do anything there for its accommodation. the streets were very narrow; the warehouses small and inconvenient; the merchants close and unenterprising, seemingly unconscious of the great revolution going on in their midst. from the growing greatness of the surplus products of the immense valley, this was quadrupling annually. the cotton crop of the united states, forty years ago, scarcely reached half a million of bales, and of this new orleans did not receive one-third; but in five years after, her receipts were very nearly one-half of the entire crop. at the same period, the sugar crop did not amount to more than twenty thousand hogsheads; five years thereafter, it had quadrupled, and the commerce from the upper rivers had increased a hundred-fold, and was going on in all the products of the soil to increase in like ratio. at this time the antipathy was at its acme between the two races or populations. then the legislature held its sessions in new orleans, and the american residents, merchants, and property-holders determined to apply to the legislature for an amendment of the city charter. a bill was introduced accordingly, proposing to divide the city into three municipalities, making canal and esplanade streets the lines of division; giving the city proper and each faubourg a separate government: in truth, making three cities where there had been but one. the excitement in the city became intense, and sectional animosities increased in bitterness. to the american population it was a matter of prime necessity; to the property-holders and merchants of the city proper it was a matter of life and death. to these it was apparent that the moment this bill became a law, and the faubourg st. mary controlled her own finances, her streets would be paved and warehouses spring up to meet every demand--wharves would be constructed, the quay or levee would be sheltered, capital would flow to the faubourg, and, in a moment as it were, she would usurp the entire domestic trade of the country: in other words, the faubourg st. mary would become the city of new orleans. after carefully canvassing the legislature, it was found very doubtful whether the bill would pass or not; the attempt had heretofore proved eminently unsuccessful, but now it was apparent that it had gained many friends, and it was not certain it could be defeated. under these circumstances, overtures were made by the city government, to expend all the revenue in improvements above canal street, which should be collected from the inhabitants of that quarter. this proposition was declined, and the bill after a most exciting struggle became a law. under its provisions a new council and recorder were chosen, and a new impetus was given the faubourg st. mary, which was now, under this law, the second municipality. extensive wharves were erected along the front of the municipality; streets were paved, and the whole trading community felt the improvements were assuming gigantic proportions, and trade relieved of onerous and vexatious impositions. property rose in value rapidly; canal street grew speedily into importance. the dry-goods trade, hitherto confined almost exclusively to chartres street, came out upon this magnificent street as rapidly as it could be accommodated. from an almost deserted suburb, it became the centre of business and the great boulevard of the city. a company built the great st. charles hotel, and here were first opened hotel accommodations for ladies in new orleans, thirty-one years ago. the commercial crisis of retarded temporarily the improvements, but only for a day as it were, and in a few years there was a great american city, fashioned by american energy and american capital from the unsightly and miserable mire of the faubourg st. mary. to the enterprise and perseverance of two men was mostly due this rapid improvement of the city and its new and extended accommodations to commerce--samuel j. peters and james h. caldwell. mr. peters was a native of canada, and came when quite a youth to new orleans. he married a creole lady, a native of the city; and, after serving as a clerk for some time in the business house of james h. leverick & co., commenced business as a wholesale grocer. in this business he was successful, and continued in it until his death. he was a man of splendid abilities and great business tact, great energy and application, and full of public spirit. new orleans he viewed as his home; he identified himself and family with the people, and his fame with her prosperity. to this end he devoted his time and energies; around him congregated others who lent willingly and energetically their aid to accomplish his conceptions, and to fashion into realities the projections of his mind. i remember our many walks about the second municipality--when, where now is the city hall, and camp and charles streets, and when these magnificent streets, now stretching for miles away, ornamented with splendid buildings and other improvements, were but muddy roads through open lots, with side-walks of flat-boat gunwales, with only here and there a miserable shanty, with a more miserable tenant--to contemplate and talk of the future we both lived to see of this municipality. stopping on one occasion in front of what is lafayette square, at the time the bill was pending for the division of the city into municipalities, he said: "here must be the city of new orleans. you can pass the bill, now before the legislature; and if you will, i promise you i will make the faubourg st. mary the city of new orleans." only a few months before his death, we stood again upon the same spot, surrounded by magnificent buildings--odd-fellows' hall, the first presbyterian church, the great city hall, and grand and beautiful buildings of every character. "do you remember my promise made here?" he said. "have i fulfilled it? many days of arduous labor and nights of anxious thought that promise cost me. you did your part well, and when i thought it impossible. have i done mine?" i could but answer: "well, and worthily!" i never saw him after--but i shall never cease to remember him as a great, true man. james h. caldwell was an englishman, and by profession a comedian. it was he who first brought a theatrical company to the west. he had built the first theatres in cincinnati, st. louis, and new orleans, and first created a taste for theatricals in the great west. possessing fine natural abilities, and wonderful enterprise, he pushed his fortunes, as a theatrical manager, successfully for a number of years. he built the camp street theatre, and made it exceedingly profitable. away back, forty-five years ago, i remember my first meeting with him at vicksburg, then a little hamlet, with but few houses and many hills, abrupt, and ugly. he and his company were descending to natchez, and thence, after a short season, to new orleans. edwin forrest, then a youth, was one of his company, which also included russell and wife, sol. smith and brother, with their wives, mrs. rose crampton, and, as a star, junius brutus booth. how wild was the scene around us! the river was low and sluggish; the boat small and dirty; the captain ignorant and surly; the company full of life, wit, and humor. slowly we labored on. the dense forest came frowning to the river's brink, with only here and there, at long intervals, an opening, where some adventurous pioneer had cut and burned the cane, and built his shanty. the time was whiled away with song, recitation, anecdotes, and laughter, until midnight brought us to natchez. it was a terrible night--dark, and beginning to rain. under the hill at natchez, forty-five years ago, was a terrible place. the road up the bluff was precipitous and muddy. there were no accommodations for decent people under the hill. the dance-houses were in full blast. boisterous and obscene mirth rang from them; men and women were drunk; some were singing obscene songs; some were shouting profanity in every disgusting term; some, overcome with debauchery, were insensible to shame, and men and women, rushing from house to house, gathered a crowd to meet us as we landed. one tremendous slattern shouted, as she saw us come on shore: "there are the show-folks; now we'll have fun!" if mrs. farren--the daughter of russell--still lives, i will say to her that this was her advent to natchez. up that hill, through mire and rain, i bore her in my arms, on that terrible night. caldwell alone was cheerful; sol. smith joked, and russell swore. "how many, many memories sweep o'er my spirit now!" it was a peculiarity of james h. caldwell to do whatever he did with all his might. no obstacle seemed to deter or impede the execution of any public or individual enterprise of his. beside being a splendid performer, he was an accomplished gentleman, and a fine, classic scholar. his reading was select and extensive. at a very early day, he was impressed with the future importance of new orleans as a commercial city, and commenced to identify himself with the american population, and to make this his future home. his ideas on this subject were in advance of those of many whose business had always been commerce, and they were generally deemed utopian and extravagant; but his self-reliance was too great to heed any ridicule thrown upon any thought or enterprise of his. he invested his limited means in property in the second municipality, and lent himself, heart and soul, in connection with peters, to its development into the proportions his imagination conceived it was ultimately capable of attaining, should the extent of its commerce reach the magnitude he supposed it would. immediately upon the amendment of the city charter, creating the municipalities, and making independent the second, caldwell conceived the idea of lighting the city with gas, and, at the same time, of building a city hall, and the establishment of a system of public schools. edward york, a merchant of the city, gave this idea his special attention, and co-operated with peters and caldwell in every project for the advancement of the interests of the municipality. caldwell set to work in the face of difficulties, which really seemed insurmountable, to effect his scheme of lighting the city with gas. i was at that time a member of the legislature. caldwell's scheme was to obtain a charter for a bank, and with this carry into execution rapidly his scheme. he came to me, and opened up his views. he wanted my aid so far as assisting him in drafting the charter, and undertaking its passage through the legislature. there was no delay, and in a short time the gas-light and banking company was chartered, the stock taken, and the bank in successful operation. caldwell, though entirely unacquainted with the practical necessities of constructing the proper works to complete his plan, went energetically to work to acquire this, and did so, and in a few months everything was systematically and economically moving forward to completion. he alone conceived, planned, and superintended the whole work. nor did he abate in energy and perseverance one moment until all was completed. all this while he was a member of the council, and giving his attention to many other matters of prime importance to the municipality. peters, caldwell, and york may justly be said to have been the fathers of the municipality. to edward york is justly due the system of public schools, which is so prominent a feature in the institutions of new orleans. these three have passed away, and with them all who co-operated with them in this enterprise, which has effected so much for the city of new orleans. they were unselfish public benefactors, and deserve this commemoration. among the remarkable men of new orleans, at this period, was bernard marigny, a scion of the noble stock of the marigny de mandevilles, of france. his ancestor was one of the early settlers of louisiana, and was a man of great enterprise, and accumulated an immense fortune, which descended to bernard marigny. this fortune, at the time it came into the hands of marigny, was estimated at four millions. his education was sadly neglected in youth; so was his moral training. he was a youth of genius, and proper cultivation would, or might, have made him a man of distinguished fame and great usefulness. coming into possession of his immense estate immediately upon his majority, with no experience in business matters, flushed with youth and fortune, courted by every one, possessing a brilliant wit, fond to excess of amusements, delighting in play, and flattered by every one, he gave up his time almost entirely to pleasure. a prominent member of the legislature for many years, he had identified himself with the history of the state, as had his ancestor before him. he was the youngest member of the convention which formed the first constitution of the state, and was the last survivor of that memorable body. soon after succeeding to his fortune, and when he was by far the wealthiest man in the state, louis philippe, the fugitive son of louis Égalité, duke of orleans, came to new orleans, an exile from his native land, after his father had perished by the guillotine. marigny received him, and entertained him as a prince. he gave him splendid apartments in his house, with a suite of servants to attend him, and, opening his purse to him, bade him take _ad libitum_. for some years he remained his guest, indeed until he deemed it necessary to leave, and when he went, was furnished with ample means. long years after, when fortune had abandoned the fortunate, and was smiling upon the unfortunate--when the exile was a monarch, and his friend and benefactor was needy and poor--when louis philippe was king of france and the wealthiest man in europe, they met again. their circumstances were reversed. marigny was old and destitute. the monarch waited to be importuned, though apprised of his benefactor's necessities and dependence, and answered his appeal with a snuff-box, and the poor old man learned that there was truth in the maxim, "put not your trust in princes." wasteful habits, and the want of economy in every branch of his business, wrought for him what it must for every one--"ruin." during the discussion in the legislature upon the bill dividing the city into municipalities, marigny, then a member, exerted himself against the bill. he viewed it as the destruction of the property of the ancient population in value, and their consequent impoverishment, and threw much of his wit and satire at those who were its prominent supporters. among them was thomas green davidson, a distinguished member of congress, (still living, and long may he live!) robert hale, and myself. ridicule was marigny's _forte_. upon the meeting of the house, and before its organization for business, one morning, the writer, at his desk, was approached by alexander barrow, a member--and who afterward died a member of the united states senate--who read to me a squib which marigny was reading, at the same moment, to a group about him. it read thus: "sparks, and thomas green davidson, rascals by nature and profession: dey can bos go to hell wid colonel bob hailles." i saw that the group would, with marigny, soon approach me, and made haste to reply. it was only a day or two before we were to adjourn. when they came, and the squib was read, i read the following reply: "dear marigny, we're soon to part, so let that parting be in peace: we've not been angered much in heart, but e'en that little soon shall cease. "when you are sleeping with the dead, the spars we've had i'll not forget: a warmer heart, or weaker head, on earth, i'll own, i never met. "and on your tomb inscribed shall be, in letters of your favorite brass, here lies, o lord! we grieve to see, a man in form, in head an ass." he arched his brow, and, without speaking, retired. an hour after, he came to me, and said: "suppose you write no more poetry. i shall stop. you can call me a villain, a knave, a great rascal: every gentleman have dat said about him. mr. clay, mr. webster, general jackson, all have been call so. you can say dat; but i tell you, sir, i not like to be call ass." he was the aggressor, and, though offended, was too chivalrous to quarrel. he had fought nineteen duels, and i did not want to quarrel either. for many of his latter years he was destitute and miserable. he had seen all his compeers pass away, and he felt that he was in the way of a generation who knew nothing of him, or his history, and who cared nothing for either. at nearly ninety years of age he died in extreme poverty. nature had done much for bernard marigny. his mind was of no ordinary stamp. he was a natural orator, abounding in humor and wit, and was the life of society. his person was symmetry itself, about five feet ten inches, and admirably proportioned; and, to the day of his death, he was truly a handsome man, so symmetrical and well-preserved were his features, and the sparkling light in his eyes. he long enjoyed the luxuries of life, and lived to lament its follies in indigence and imbecility. of all the creole population, a.b. roman was, at this time, the most prominent, and the most talented. in very early life he was elected governor of the state, and discharged the duties of the office with great ability, and, after claiborne, with more satisfaction to the people than any man who ever filled the office. the constitution did not admit of his being elected a second time as his own successor, but he might be again chosen to fill the chair after the four years' service of another. he was elected to a second term, and when it expired, he was chosen president of the draining company, in which office he rendered most important services to the city, in planning and effecting a system of drainage which relieved the city of the immense swamp immediately in its rear. in all the relations of life, a.b. roman was a model--gentle and affable in his manners, punctiliously honorable, faithful in all his transactions, affectionate and indulgent as a husband and father, kind and obliging as a neighbor, faithful to all the duties of a citizen; and ambitious to promote the best interests of his native state, he gave his time and talents for this purpose, wherever and whenever they could be of service. the war, in his old age, left him destitute and heart-broken. i had the opportunity of several conversations with him, and found him despondent in the extreme. our last interview was the week before his death. "in my old age," he said, "i am compelled, for a decent support, to accept a petty office--recorder of mortgages--and i feel humiliated. i see no future for me or my people. my days are wellnigh over, and i can't say i regret it." only five days after, he fell dead in the street, near his own door. a wise and good man went to his god when a.b. roman died. he was one of a large and respectable family, long resident in the state, and surely was one of her noblest sons. chapter xxxi. blowing up the lioness. doctor clapp--views and opinions--universal destiny--alexander barrow --e.d. white--cross-breed, irish renegade and acadian--heroic woman-- the ginseng trade--i-i-i'll d-d-die f-f-first. dr. clapp, so conspicuous in the annals of new orleans, was from new england, and was located in new orleans as a presbyterian minister, as early as , and about the same period that the great and lamented larned died. his mind was bold and original, analytical and independent. soon after his location and the commencement of his ministry, he gave offence to some of his church, and especially to some of his brother pastors, by the enunciation of opinions not deemed orthodox. there was at this time preaching at natchez, one potts, who was a presbyterian, a puritan, and extremely straight-laced in doctrine, and eminently puritan in practice, intolerant, bigoted, and presumptuous. potts had accomplished one great aim of his mission: he had married a lady of fortune, and assumed more purity than any one else, and was a sort of self-constituted exponent of the only true doctrines of his church. arrogant and conceited, he, though a very young man, thrust himself forward as a censor, and very soon was in controversy with dr. clapp. without a tithe of his talent, or a grain of his piety, he assumed to arraign him on the ground of unfaithfulness to the tenets of the church. this controversy was bitter and continued. the result was, that dr. clapp dissolved connection with the presbyterian church, and, at the call of the most numerous and talented as well as wealthy congregation ever preached to, up to that time, in new orleans; established himself as an independent, and continued to preach for many years--indeed, until age and infirmity compelled him to retire. his peculiar religious opinions were more unitarian than presbyterian. they consisted of an enlightened philosophy derived from _natural revelation_, which elevated deity above the passions, prejudices, loves, and hates of mortality. _his_ god _was_ infinite, all-pervading, _and_ perfect. the purity of his character, and his wonderful intellect, combined, brought around him the most intelligent and moral of the population, and his opinions won many converts. he preached and practised a rational religion, defined a rigid morality as the basis and main requisite to true piety, and the doing good toward his fellow-man, the duty of man toward god. the faith he exacted was predicated upon works.... that he who had faith in the existence of the soul, and who believed its future dependent upon him, should be taught this faith was best exemplified by a faithful discharge of all the duties imposed by society and law. that he who was pious, was a good husband, father, and friend, a good neighbor, an honest, and sincere man, faithful in the discharge of all his duties as a citizen and member of society: resting here the hope of future reward, and not looking to the merits of any other for that salvation, which the mind hopes, and the heart craves for all eternity; fixing a responsibility individually and indivisibly upon each and every one, to earn salvation by discharging temporal duties which secure the harmony, well-being, and general love of mankind. any other doctrine, he contended, destroyed man's free agency, and discouraged the idea that virtue and goodness were essential to true piety. god had created him for an especial mission. his existence in time was his chrysalis condition; to make this as nearly perfect as was possible to his nature, he was gifted with mind, passion, and propensities--the former to conceive and control the discharge of the duties imposed upon him in this state: this done, he perished as to time, and awoke prepared for eternity. these ideas were impressed with a logic irresistible to the enlightened mind--not clouded with the bigotry of fanaticism--and an eloquence so persuasive and sweet as to charm the heart and kindle it into love. he never burned brimstone under the noses of his auditory, nor frenzied their imaginations with impassioned appeals to supernatural agencies. he expounded the scriptures as the teachings of men. his learning was most profound, especially in the languages. he understood thoroughly the hebrew and greek. he read from the originals the scriptures, and interpreted them to his hearers, as to their meaning in their originals, and disrobed them of the supernatural character which an ignorant fanaticism has thrown over them, and which time and folly has indurated beyond the possibility of learning and science to crack or crush. a great original thinker, untrammelled by the schools, and independent of precedents, he saw nature before him, and studied closely all her developments. eminently schooled in the philosophy of life, deeply read in the human mind and the heart, he searched for all the influences operating its conclusions, and the motives of human action: the relations of man to external nature, the connection of mind with matter, the origin of things, their design as developed in their creation, their connection and dependence, one upon the other, and the relation of all to the creator, and in those the duty of man. it was his idea, that, commencing from the humblest, and ascending to man, through created nature, the design was manifest that these were all, in the animal and the vegetable kingdom, assigned by the creator for man's uses. to him alone, in all these creations, are given the faculties necessary to a comprehension of the nature of all of these, as well as their uses. from this fact, so powerfully prominent in all natural developments, he viewed man as the most intimate relation of the creator on this globe, and discovering in him no designs beyond the cultivation of the great faculty of thought for time, the inference was natural that his future was not for time, or time's uses. that all was only fitting the soul, which his instincts tell him exists within, when, refined by time, and the probation of life, for the independence, and the fruition of the sublime designs of god in eternal life, he should ascend to his destined sphere, etherialized, and know his creator and the future of his being; when speculation should cease, and reality and unambiguous truth be made manifest. of this great truth his mind was so fully impressed that all his life was by it governed. his convictions were palpable in his conduct, for it was in strict conformity with these opinions. the aberrations from virtue and the laws of morals, as established by man for the better regulation of his conduct toward his fellow-men, he deemed the result of improper education, and especially the education of the heart, and the want of the training this gives to the natural desires of his organization. that these desires, passions, and instincts, are given as essential to his mission in time, and those properly educated, trained, and directed, are necessary to his fulfilment of life's duties, in the perfection of the creator's design, and, when so educated and directed, secure to the individual, and to society, the consummation of this design; but when perverted, become a punishment to both society and the individual, for the neglect of a prime duty; and belong alone to time. similar results he saw from similar causes, in the operations of inanimate life. the design of the tree was to grow upward, but an unnatural obstacle, in the falling of another, bends it away, and its growth is perverted from the original design, yet it grows on and completes the cycle of its destiny. the stream flows onward, naturally obeying a natural law; but an obstacle interposes and interrupts the design; still it will go on to complete its cycle, obedient to its destiny, though turned from its natural channel: and these are the same in the end with those undisturbed in the fulfilment of their designs. all crime or vice is of time, and made such by the laws of man. the aggregation of men into societies or communities necessitate laws to establish moral, legal, and political duties, and to provide punishments for the infraction of these. the right to acquire and possess the fruits of labor--the right of free thought--the right to enjoy the natural relations of life, and the privileges conferred by society--the right to live undisturbed, all are the objects of legal protection; because the attributes of man's nature, unrestrained in the discharge of his duties to his fellow-man, will invade these rights, and hence the necessity of a universal rule of action. all these attributes are susceptible of education as to what is right, and what is wrong; and it is the duty of religion to impress upon the mind the importance of the one to the security of society, and the evil of the other in its effect upon the design of the creator. this design is harmony and love universal, and pervades all nature, where a free will is not vouched; but with this free will is given a capacity to cultivate it into that love and harmony, and thus to consummate the great design of the creator. he taught, _religion was the sublimation of moral thought and moral action_; because it was in harmony with nature, and subserved the purposes of the creator--because it brought man into harmony with every other creation, whose design was apparent to his capacity of understanding--that this design, made manifest to his mind, taught him his duty, and it was the province of the teacher to show to all this design, and illustrate this harmony. the teacher should know before he attempted to teach. he should disabuse his own mind of prejudices and superstitions at variance with nature, and study natural organization to learn the intention of the creator; learn the nature of plants, the organization of the earth, its components how formed, and of what--all animal creation--the mechanism of the universe, its motions--the exact perfection of every creation for the design of that creation; see and know god's will, and god's wisdom, and god's power in all of them; descend to the minor and most infinitesimal creation; learn its organization, and see god here with a design, and a perfect organization, to work it out--learn truth, where only truth exists, from god in all created nature, and teach this, that all may learn and conserve to the same great end. when comprehended, this planet, with all its creations, was designed for man, and to perfect him for the use of god's design. these are for consummation in eternity--all that relates to him in time, but subserves the great end. the relationship to him is apparent in all that surrounds him on earth. step by step it comes up to him, and all is for his use. at this point, all stops except himself. what was his design as manifested in his nature? surely, not solely to control and appropriate all created matter surrounding him--not simply to probate for a period, and pass away. it must be, that he is the link perfected in this probation for a higher creation, as a part of a more consummate perfection revealed through death. it cannot be, that the mind given to him, alone, was only given to learn in this combination of elements--earth, air, fire, and water--the startling and omnipotent wisdom of the all-wise creator, and then to perish with knowing no more of that god, which this knowledge has created so consummate a desire to know. the cycle of man's destiny is not in time, that of all else is; and that destiny centres in his use, and is complete. if for him there is not a future, why were the instincts of his nature given? why the power to learn so much? to trace in the planetary system divine wisdom, and divine power; to see and know the same in the mite which floats in the sunbeam? if this is all he is ever to know, does this complete a destiny for use? if so, for what? can it be, simply to propagate his species, and perish? and was all this grand creation of the earth, and all things therein, made to subserve him for so mean a purpose? it cannot be. life is a probation, death the key which unlocks the portal through which we pass to the perfection of the design of god. in these views and opinions dr. clapp lived and died. when worn out with labor and the ravages of time, he sought to renovate his exhausted energies, by removing to a higher latitude, and selected louisville, kentucky, for his future home. he had seen most of his early friends pass into eternity, in the fruition of time, and felt and knew it was only a day that his departure for eternity was delayed; yet how calmly and contentedly he awaited the mandate which should bid him home! his belief in the universal destiny of man made him universally tolerant. his intimates were of every creed, and the harmony existing with these and himself made his life beautiful as exemplary. with the ministers of every creed he was affectionately social: he had no prejudices, cultivated no animosities, and was universally charitable. he inculcated his principles by example, encouraged social communion with all sects, teaching that he whose life is in the right cannot be in the wrong. to a very great extent he infused his spirit into the people of his adopted city. his most intimate associate was that very remarkable israelite, judah luro. this man was a native of newport, rhode island, and in early life came to new orleans and commenced a small business, to which he gave his energetic attention. his means, though small at the beginning, were carefully husbanded, and ultimately grew into immense wealth. he was exceedingly liberal in his nature, philanthropic, and devoted to his friends. on the night of the d of december, , he was engaged in the battle between the english and american forces, near new orleans, and was severely wounded. in this condition he was found, when bleeding profusely from his wounds and threatened with speedy death, by a young merchant of the city, resin d. shepherd, who generously lifted him to his shoulder, after stanching his wounds, and bore him, through brambles and mire, in the darkness, to a place of security and comfort, some miles distant from the scene of the fight. he never lost sight of this friend. when he came to die, he made him executor to his will, and residuary legatee, after disposing of some half a million of money in other legacies. these were all immediately paid by mr. shepherd, who entered upon the possession of all the property the deceased died possessed of--consequently, the extent of his fortune was never publicly known. this man built upon his own property, on gravier street, fronting st. charles, and immediately across gravier street from the st. charles hotel, a church for dr. clapp, in which his congregation worshipped for many years. when the hotel was built, and business began crowding around this locality, it became necessary to remove his church. again, mr. luro built for him a church, in a more private and eligible position, on the corner of julia and st. charles streets, and donated it to the pastor and congregation of the gravier street church. here mr. clapp continued his ministry during the remaining time of his residence in new orleans. he found with the cultivated and intelligent of new orleans an approval of his teachings and example. the consequence was, and is, the entire absence of sectarian dissensions, and a social intercourse between all, resulting in a united effort for the common good, and the maintenance of moral sentiments and moral conduct--the basis and source of true and triumphant religion. "the deeds that men do, live after them." of no man can this be more truly said than of dr. clapp. through every phase of society his example and teachings continue to live; and every virtuous and intelligent man in the community of dr. clapp's ministry, in new orleans, conspires to continue the effect of them. in no community on earth is there a greater diversity of nationalities, than in that of new orleans, where every sect of religionists is to be found. all pursue the worship of god after their own manner of belief, exciting no jealousies, heart-burnings, or hatreds. all agree that a common end is the aim of all, and that a common destiny awaits mankind. in the pursuits of life, and the duties of time, nothing of religious intolerance enters. a man's opinions upon that subject are his own, and for these he is responsible to god only. his neighbor respects his prejudices and feelings, and appreciates him according to his conduct toward his fellow-man, and the discharge of his duties to society. good follows the honest discharge of the duties of his vocation, from every moral and religious teacher, if he is sincere and earnest, whether jew or christian. an intelligent and virtuous community appreciates this, and encourages such efforts as advance and sustain public morals and social harmony. how such a man is esteemed in new orleans, a recent instance is ample illustration. a distinguished jewish rabbi, long a resident minister of his faith in that city, was called, to minister in a synagogue in the city of new york. his walk and his work had been upright and useful. the good of all denominations were unwilling to give up so good and so useful a man. in the true spirit of pure religion, a large committee, appointed by a meeting of the citizens from among every sect, composed of the leading and most influential men of the city, waited upon him, and influenced him to remain among them, and continue his vocation and pious usefulness in the field where he had labored so long and so efficiently. to the teachings of dr. clapp, much of this toleration is due. this tone of feeling is the offspring of enlightenment, the enemy of bigotry. his mission completed, he retired for health and quiet to a point from which he could contemplate the results of his labors. he saw that they were good, and felt his whole duty had been done. in the fulness of years he awaited the coming of the hour when, released from his prison-house and freed from earth, he should go to his reward. it came, and ere the spirit was plumed for its final flight, he asked that its wornout casket should be carried and deposited by those he loved in life, in the city of his adoption and love; where, in death, the broken community of life should be restored. this was done, and now with them he sleeps well. memory turns sadly back to many, now no more, who were compeers of dr. clapp, and to new orleans, as new orleans was; but to none with more melancholy pleasure than to alexander barrow and e.d. white. these were both natives of the city of nashville, tennessee. both came to new orleans in early life: white, with his father when a child, and barrow, when a young man. white was left an orphan when quite young, in attakapas, where his father lived, and with very limited means. he struggled on in the midst of a people whose very language was alien to his own, and managed to acquire a limited education, with which he commenced the study of the law, the profession of his father. when admitted to practice, he located at donaldsonville, in the parish of ascension, where he rose rapidly to distinction. appointed subsequently to a judgeship in new orleans, he removed there to reside. this appointment he did not continue to hold for any length of time, his popularity being such as to point him out as a fit person to contest with mr. livingston the seat in congress then filled by the latter. in this contest he was successful, and continued to represent the district until he was chosen governor. he filled this chair for the constitutional period of four years, and immediately upon the expiration of his term, he was again elected to congress. he continued to represent the district until the treachery of a family, numerous and ignorant, yet influential with their ignorant, uneducated neighbors, caused him to be beaten. they succeeded subsequently in placing one of their family in his place, only to show the triumph of folly and stupidity over worth and intelligence. yet this cross of an irish renegade upon an acadian woman was a fit representative of a large majority of his constituents. the climate of washington operated injuriously upon his constitution. long accustomed to that of louisiana, it failed to resist the terrible winter-climate of washington, and he found his health broken. he returned to his plantation, on the bayou la fourche, where he lingered for a year or more, and died, in the meridian of life, leaving a young and interesting family. governor white was a man of great eccentricity of character, but with a ripe intellect, and a heart overflowing with generous emotions and tenderness. he loved his kind, and his life was most unselfishly devoted to their service. like all who have for any time made her their home, he loved louisiana first of all things. he was too young when coming from his native land to remember it, and his first attachment was for the soil of his adoption. he was reared in the midst of the creole population of the state; spoke french and spanish as his mother-tongue, and possessed the confidence and affection of these people in a most remarkable degree. governor white was a passenger on board the ill-fated steamer lioness, in company with many friends, among whom were josiah s. johnston, (the elder brother of a. sidney johnston, who fell at the battle of shiloh,) and judge boyce, of the district court. josiah s. johnston was, at the time, a senator in congress. some miles above the mouth of red river, and in that stream, the boat blew up, many of the passengers being killed, among whom was judge johnston. governor white was terribly burned, and by many it was thought this led to his death. his disease was bronchitis, which supervened soon after this terrible disaster. the steamer had in her hold considerable powder. this, it was said at the time, was ignited by the mate of the boat, who had become enraged from some cause with the captain. the body of judge johnston was never found. the boat was blown to atoms, with the exception of the floor of the ladies' cabin. the upper works were all demolished. this floor was thrown, it seemed almost miraculously, intact upon the water. there were some six or eight ladies on board, who were saved on this floor. when the smoke had lifted sufficiently to permit a night view--for it was night--governor white and judge boyce were seen swimming near this floor of the wreck. white was burned terribly in the face and on the hands, and was blinded by this burning. the ladies were in their night-clothes; but what will not woman do to aid the distressed, especially in the hour of peril? one of the most accomplished ladies of the state snatched from her person her _robe de chambre_, and, throwing one end to the struggling governor, called to him to reach for it, and with it pulled him to the wreck, and kindly, with the aid of others, lifted him on. the same kind office was performed for boyce, and they were saved. though a stranger to the governor, this great-hearted woman tore into strips her gown, and kindly did the work of the good samaritan, in binding up the wounds of one she did not know, had never before seen, and to whose rank and character she was equally a stranger; and when she was floating upon a few planks, at the mercy of the waters, and surrounded by interminable forests covering the low and mucky shores of red river for many miles, where human foot had rarely trod, and human habitation may never rest--one garment her only covering, and all she could hope for, until some passing steamer should chance to rescue them, or until she should float to the river's mouth, and find a human habitation. she, too, is in the grave, but the memory of this act embalms her in the hearts of all who knew her. blessed one!--for surely she who blessed all who came within her sphere, and only lived to do good, must in eternity and for eternity be blest, like thousands of others who have ministered in kindness for a day, and then went to the grave--in thy youth and loveliness thou wert exhaled from earth: like a storm-stricken flower in the morning of its bloom, wilted and dead, the fragrance of thy virtues is the incense of thy memory! it was long before governor white was fully restored to sight. no public man, and especially one so long in public life, ever enjoyed more fully the confidence of his constituents than edward douglass white. his private character was never impeached, even in the midst of the most excited political contests, nor did the breath of slander ever breathe upon his fair fame, from his childhood to the grave. i am incompetent to write of alexander barrow as his merits deserve. in him all that was noble and all that was respectable was most happily combined. a noble and commanding person, a manly and intellectual face, an eye that bespoke his heart, a soul that soared in every relation of life above everything that was little or selfish, a ripe and accurate judgment, a purpose always honorable and always open, without concealment or deceit, and an integrity pure and unsullied as the ether he breathed, an affectionate father, a devoted husband, a firm and unflinching friend through every phase of fortune--in fine, every element which makes a man united in alexander barrow. dear reader, if i seem extravagant in these words, pardon it to me. when seventy winters have passed over your head, and you turn back your memory upon all that has passed, recalling the incidents and the friends of life, and you remember those which have transpired with him you loved best and trusted most, and remember that he was always true, never capricious, always wise, never foolish, always sincere, never equivocal, and who never failed you in the darkest hours of adversity, but was always the same to you in kindness, forbearance, and devotion, remember such was ever to me alexander barrow, and forgive this wild outpouring of the heart to the virtues of the friend, tried so long, and loved so well. for more than twenty years he has been in his grave; but in all that time no day has ever passed that alick has not stood before me as he was when we were young and life was full of hope. his blood with mine mingles in the veins of our grandchildren. o god! i would there were nothing to make this a painful memory. barrow served some years in the legislature of the state, and was thence transferred to the united states senate, where, after a service of six years, he died, in the prime of his manhood. those who remember the speech of hannegan, and the attempt of crittenden, who, under the deep sorrow of his heart, sank voiceless and in tears to his chair--the feeling which filled and moved the senate when paying the last tribute to his dead body, coffined and there before them in the senate chamber--may know how those estimated the man who knew him best. friend of my heart, farewell! we soon shall meet, with vernal youth restored, to endure forever. there was another, walter brashear, our intimate friend for long years. he went to eternity after a pilgrimage of eighty-eight years in the sunshine and shadows of this miserable world. he was a native of the city of philadelphia, but with his parents went to kentucky, when a boy. these soon died, and walter was left an orphan and poor, then but a boy. after attending a common neighborhood school in the county of fayette, near lexington, one year, he found it necessary to find support in some employment. walking the streets of lexington in search of this, the breeze blew to his feet a fragment of newspaper, which he picked up and read from curiosity. here he found an advertisement inviting those who had ginseng for sale, to call. he knew there was plenty of this root to be found in portions of kentucky, and determined immediately to embark in the speculation of searching for it and sending it to philadelphia. he labored assiduously, and soon had acquired a considerable sum of money for those times, . he employed several hands to assist him the ensuing season, and after forwarding the root collected, found there was no longer any market for it in philadelphia. suspecting the person to whom he had previously sold was deceiving him, in order to drive a profitable bargain with him, he determined to go himself with his venture to china. this he did, and, making so handsome a business of it, he returned and immediately went to work to procure a much larger amount for another venture. this he likewise accomplished, but was less fortunate than before, though he made some money. he was now twenty-one years of age, and had been twice to china; but had not contracted much love for commerce or voyaging upon the sea. he married soon after his return, read medicine, and commenced the practice of it in kentucky. forming an intimacy with mr. clay, they soon became close friends, being nearly of the same age, and very like in character. after some years' residence in kentucky as a physician, he determined on emigrating to louisiana, and embarking in the business of sugar-planting. purchasing belle isle, an island off the coast of attakapas, he removed his family there about . he was successful in his new vocation; but not liking an island residence, where he was twenty miles from a neighbor, he purchased a residence upon berwick's bay, and a portion of tiger island, which was immediately opposite, and there made a new plantation, which is now the site of brashear city. at this place he lies buried, by his children, all of whom, save one daughter, are there with him. for many years he was a member of the legislature of the state of his adoption, an honest and efficient one, of fine abilities, and great will. he usually triumphed in what he undertook. his fine social qualities attached to him many friends. his devotion to them was unflinching, and he rather preferred to fight for these than play with any others. his courage was truly chivalrous, and he is remembered by all who knew him, and yet live, as the man who never felt the sensation of fear. an unfortunate difficulty with a neighbor, dr. tolls, brought on a personal rencontre. his antagonist was known to be brave and physically powerful; but in this affair, brashear, after receiving a number of blows, wrested away his enemy's cane, and would soon have had the better of the fight, but persons interposing prevented it. "doctor," said brashear, "this is not the way for gentlemen to settle their difficulties. as soon as i can bind up my head, which you have battered pretty severely, i shall be in the street armed. if you are as brave a man as your friends claim you to be, you will meet me there prepared to fight me as a gentleman." "in forty minutes from this time, if you please," said his enemy. at the appointed time and place they met, each with his friend, and each armed. when they had approached within ten paces, brashear stopped and said, "are you ready?" being answered in the affirmative, "then fire, sir; i scorn to take the first fire." dr. tolls did so, and, missing him, stood and received brashear's ball through both thighs, and fell. there was no surgeon in town, and the wounds were bleeding profusely, when brashear went to him, and proposed to dress the wounds. tolls stuttered badly, and replied, "i-i-i'll d-d-die first." "i can do no more," said brashear, and, bowing, left the ground. this chivalry of character characterized him in everything. fond of amusement, he indulged himself in hunting and innocent sports, when and where he was always the life of the party. energetic and restless in his nature, he could not bear confinement, and, when a member of the legislature, he was more frequently to be found walking rapidly to and fro in the lobby of the house than in his seat. to sit still and do nothing was impossible to him. a hundred anecdotes might be related of him, all illustrative of his lofty courage, and daring, and his utter contempt of danger. a noble and generous spirit was ever manifested by him, in every relation of life. his frankness and liberal hospitality, his kindness to his slaves, and his generosity to the poor, endeared him to his neighbors, who live to feel that his void can never be filled. chapter xxxii. gradual extinction of the red man. line creek fifty years ago--hopothlayohola--mcintosh--undying hatred-- a big powwow--massacre of the mcintoshes--nehemathla--onchees--the last of the race--a brave warrior--a white man's friendship--the death-song--tuskega, or jim's boy. i have been to-day, the d of august, over the same spot i wandered over this day fifty years ago. what changes have supervened it is difficult to realize. this was then a dense, unsettled wilderness. the wild deer was on every hill, in every valley. limpid streams purled rippling and gladly along pebbly beds, and fell babbling over great rocks. these alone disturbed the profound silence, where solitude brooded, and quiet was at home. these wild forests extended west to line creek, then the dividing line between the indian possessions and the newly acquired territory now constituting the state of alabama. upon this territory of untamed wilderness there wandered then fifty thousand indians, the remnant of the mighty nation of muscogees, who one hundred and thirty years ago welcomed the white man at yamactow, now savannah, and tendered him a home in the new world. fifty years ago he had progressed to the banks of the ocmulgee, driving before him the aboriginal inhabitant, and appropriating his domains. here for a time his march was stayed. but the indian had gone forward to meet the white man coming from the mississippi to surround him, the more surely to effect his ultimate destruction and give his home and acres to the enterprise and capacity of the white man. wandering through these wilds fifty years ago, i did not deem this end would be so soon accomplished. here now is the city and the village, the farm-house and extended fields, the railroads and highways, and hundreds of thousands of busy men who had not then a being. the appurtenances of civilization everywhere greet you: many of these are worn and mossed over with the lapse of time and appear tired of the weight of wasting years. the red men, away in the west, have dwindled to a mere handful, still flying before the white man, and shrinking away from his hated civilization. is this cruel and sinful--or the silent, mysterious operation of the laws of nature? one people succeeds another, as day comes after day, and years follow years. upon this continent the indian found the evidences in abundance of a preceding people, the monuments of whose existence he disregards, but which, in the earth-mounds rising up over all the land, arrest the white man's attention and wonder. he inquires of the indian inhabitant he is expelling from the country, who was the architect of these, and what their signification? and is answered: we have no tradition which tells; our people found them when they came, as you find them to-day. these traditions give the history of the nations now here, and we find in every southern tribe that they tell of an immigration from the southwest. the muscogee, natchez, choctaw, and chickasaw, all have the history of their flying from beyond the mississippi, and from the persecutions of superior and more warlike nations, and resting here for security, where they found none to molest them, and only these dumb evidences of another people, who once filled the land, but had passed away. when the white man came, he found but one race upon the two continents. their type was the same and universal, and only these mounds to witness of a former race. ethnology has discovered no other. all the remains of man indicate the same type, and there remains not a fossil to record the existence of those who reared these earth-books, which speak so eloquently of a race passed away. how rapidly the work of demolition goes on! will a century hence find one of the red race upon this continent? certainly not, if it shall accomplish so much as the century past. there is not one for every ten, then; and the tenth remaining are now surrounded on all sides, and, being pushed to the centre, must perish. they are by nature incapable of that civilization which would enable them to organize governments and teach the science of agriculture. they were formed for the woods, and physically organized to live on flesh. the animals furnishing this were placed with them here, and the only vegetable found with them was the maize, or indian corn. the white man was organized to feed on vegetables, and they were placed with him in his centre of creation, and he brought them here, and with himself acclimated them, as a necessity to his existence in america. no effort can save the red man from extermination that humanity or christianity may suggest. when deprived of his natural food furnished by the forest, he knows not nor can he be taught the means of supplying the want. the capacities of his brain will not admit of the cultivation necessary to that end. and as he has done in the presence of civilization, he will know none of its arts; and receiving or commanding none of its results, he will wilt and die. here, on the very spot where i am writing, is evidence in abundance of the facts here stated. every effort to civilize and make the nomadic indian a cultivator of the earth--here has been tried, and within my memory. missionary establishments were here, schools, churches, fields, implements, example and its blessings, all without effect. nothing now remains to tell of these efforts but a few miserable ruins; nothing in any change of character or condition of the indian. and here, where fifty years ago, with me, he hunted the red deer and wild turkey for the meat of his family and the clothing of himself and offspring--to-day he would be a curiosity, and one never seen by half the population which appropriates and cultivates the soil over which he wandered in the chase. his beautiful woods are gone; the green corn grows where the green trees grew, and the bruised and torn face of his mother earth muddies to disgust, with her clay-freighted tears, the limpid streams by which he sat down to rest, and from which he drank to quench his thirst from weariness earned in his hunt for wild game, which grew with him, and grew for him, as nature's provision. the deer and the indian are gone. the church-steeple points to heaven where the wigwam stood, and the mart of commerce covers over all the space where the camp-fires burned. the quarrels of hopothlayohola and mcintosh are history now, and the great tragedy of its conclusion in the death of mcintosh is now scarcely remembered. true to his hatred of the georgians, hopothlayohola, in the recent war, away beyond the mississippi, arrayed his warriors in hostility to the confederacy, and, when numbering nearly one hundred winters, led them to battle in arkansas, against the name of his hereditary foe, and hereditary hate--mcintosh; and by that officer, commanding the confederate troops, was defeated, and his followers dispersed. since that time, nothing has been known of the fate of the old warrior-chief. it had been agreed between the united states and georgia, and the famous yazoo company, in order to settle the difficulties between the two latter, that the united states should purchase, at a proper time, from the indian proprietors, all the lands east of the chattahoochee and a line running from the west bank of that stream, starting at a place known as west point, and terminating at what is known as nickey jack, on the tennessee river. the increase of population, and the constant difficulties growing out of the too close neighborhood of the indians, induced the completion of this agreement. commissioners on the part of the government were appointed to meet commissioners or delegations from the indians, to treat for the sale of their lands within the limits of the state of georgia. mcintosh favored the sale, hopothlayohola opposed it. as a chief, mcintosh was second to his great antagonist in authority, and, in truth, to several other chiefs. but he was a bold man, with strong will, fearless and aggressive, and he assumed the power to sell. in the war of - , he had sided with the americans, hopothlayohola with the english; and leading at least half the tribe, mcintosh felt himself able to sustain his authority. the commissioners met the indian delegation at the indian springs, where negotiations were commenced by a proposition placed before the chiefs, and some days given for their consideration of it. their talks or consultations among themselves were protracted and angry, and inconclusive. every effort was made to induce hopothlayohola to accede to the proposition of mcintosh. the whites united in their efforts to win his consent to sell: persuasions, threats, and finally large bribes were offered, but all availed nothing. thus distracted and divided, they consumed the time for consultation, and met the white commissioners to renew the strife, in open council with these. each chief was followed to this council by the members of his band, sub-chiefs, and warriors. mcintosh announced his readiness to sell, and sustained his position with reasons which demonstrated him a statesman, and wise beyond his people. "here in the neighborhood of the whites," he said, "we are subject to continual annoyance and wrong. these have continued long, and they have dwarfed our mighty nation to a tribe or two, and our home to one-tenth of its original dimensions. this must go on if we remain in this proximity, until we shall be lost, and there will be none to preserve our traditions. let us sell our lands, and go to the proffered home beyond the great river. our young men have been there: they have seen it, and they say it is good. the game is abundant; the lands are broad, and there is no sickness there." turning to hopothlayohola, who stood, with dignified and proud defiance in his manner, listening, he proceeded: "will you go and live with your people increasing and happy about you: or will you stay and die with them here, and leave no one to follow you, or come to your grave, and weep over their great chief? beyond the great river the sun is as bright, and the sky is as blue, and the waters are as clear and as sweet as they are here. our people will go with us. we will be one, and where we are altogether, there is home. to love the ground is mean; to love our people is noble. we will cling to them--we will do for their good; and the ground where they are will be as dear to us as this, because they will be upon it, and with us. "the white man is growing. he wants our lands. he will buy them now. by and by he will take them, and the little band of our people left will wander without homes, poor and despised, and be beaten like dogs. we must go to a new home, and learn like the white man to till the earth, grow cattle, and depend on these for food and life. nohow else can many people live on the earth. this makes the white man like the leaves; the want of it makes the red men weak and few. let us learn how to make books, how to make ploughs, and how to cultivate the ground, as the white man does, and we will grow again, and again become a great people. we will unite with the cherokee, the choctaw, and the seminole, and be one people. the great spirit made us one people. yes, we are all the children of one family: we are the red men of the great spirit, and should be one people for strength and protection. we shall have schools for our children. each tribe shall have its council, and all shall unite in great council. they will be wise through learning as the white man is, and we shall become a great state, and send our chiefs to congress as the white man does. we shall all read, and thus talk, as the white man does, with the mighty dead who live in books; and write and make books that our children's children shall read and talk with, and learn the counsels of their great fathers in the spirit-land. this it is which makes the white man increase and spread over the land. in our new home he promises to protect us--to send us schools and books, and teach our children to know them; and he will send us ploughs, and men to make them, and to teach our young men how to make them. "the plough will make us corn for bread, for the strength of the body; the books will be food for the head, to make us wise and strong in council. let us sell and go away, and if we suffer for a time, it will be better for our children. you see it so with the white man; shall we not learn from him, and be like him?" when he had concluded his talk, it was greeted in their own peculiar manner by his followers as good. hopothlayohola, the great red chief, turning from mcintosh as if disdaining him, addressed the commissioners of the government: "our great father, your head chief at washington, sent us a talk by you, which is pleasant to hear, because it promises the red man much--his friendship, his protection, and his help; but in return for this he asks of us much more than we are willing to give even for all his promises. the white man's promises, like him, are white, and bring hope to the red man; but they always end in darkness and death to him. "the great spirit has not given to the red man, as he has to the white man, the power to look into the dark, and see what to-morrow has in its hand; but he has given him the sense to know what experience teaches him. look around, and remember! away when time was young, all this broad land was the red man's, and there was none to make him afraid. the woods were wide and wild, and the red deer, and the bear, and the wild turkey were everywhere, and all were his. he was great, and, with abundance, was happy. from the salt sea to the great river the land was his: the great spirit had given it to him. he made the woods for the red man, the deer, the bear, and the turkey; and for these he made the red man. he made the white man for the fields, and taught him how to make ploughs, to have cattle and horses, and how to make books, because the white man needed these. he did not make these a necessity to the red man. "away beyond the mighty waters of the dreary sea, he gave the white man a home, with everything he wanted, and he gave him a mind which was for him, and only him. the red man is satisfied with the gifts to him of the great spirit; and he did not know there was a white man who had other gifts for his different nature, until he came in his winged canoes across the great water, and our fathers met him at yamacrow. the great spirit gave him a country, and he gave the red man a country. why did he leave his own and come to take the red man's? did the great spirit tell him to do this? he gave him his word in a book: do you find it there? then read it for us, that we may hear. if he did, then he is not just. we see him in the sun, and moon, and stars. we hear him in the thunder, and feel him in the mighty winds; but he made no book for the red man to tell him his will, but we see in all his works justice. the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the ground keep their places, and never leave them to crowd upon one another. they stay where he placed them, and come not to trouble or to take from one another what he had given. only the white man does this. a few--a little handful--came in their canoe to the land of the red man, as spirits come out of the water. the red man gave them his hand. he gave them meat, and corn, and a home, and welcomed them to come and live with him. and the flying canoes came again and again, and many came in them, and at last they brought their great chief, with his long knife by his side, and his red coat, and he asked for more land. our chiefs and warriors met him, and sold him another portion of our lands; and his white squaws came with him, and they made houses and homes near our people. they made fields, and had horses and herds, and grew faster than our people, and drove away the deer and the turkeys deeper into the woods. and then they wanted more land, and our chiefs and warriors sold them more land, and now again another piece, until now we have but a little of our all. and you come again with the same story on your forked tongues, and wish to buy the last we have of all we had, and offer us a home away beyond the great river, and money, and tell us we shall there have a home forever, free from the white man's claims, and in which we shall dwell in peace, with no one to make us afraid. "our traditions tell us that our fathers fled before the powerful red men who dwell beyond the great river, and who robbed us of our homes and made them their own, as you, the white men, have done. have you bought the home of our fathers from these red men? or have you taken it? that you bid us take it from you, and go back, and make a new home where the fathers of our fathers sleep in death? if you have not, will they not hunt us away again, as you have? how shall we know you will not come and make us sell to you, for the white man, the homes you promise shall always be ours and a home for our children's children? "we love the land where we were born and where we have buried our fathers and our kindred. it is the great spirit which teaches us to love the land, the wigwam, the stream, the trees where we hunted and played from our childhood, where we have buried out of sight our ancestors for generations. who says it is mean to love the land, to keep in our hearts these graves, as we keep the great spirit? it is noble to love the land, where the corn grows, and which was given to us by the great spirit. we will sell no more; we know we are passing away; the leaves fall from the trees, and we fall like these; some will stay to be the last. the snow melts from the hills, but there is some left for the last; we are left for the last, like the withered leaf and little spot of snow. leave to us the little we have, let us die where our fathers have died, and let us sleep where our kindred sleep; and when the last is gone, then take our lands, and with your plough tear up the mould upon our graves, and plant your corn above us. there will be none to weep at the deed, none to tell the traditions of our people, or sing the death-song above their graves--none to listen to the wrongs and oppressions the red man bore from his white brother, who came from the home the great spirit gave him, to take from the red man the home the great spirit gave him. we are few and weak, you are many and strong, and you can kill us and take our homes; but the great spirit has given us courage to fight for our homes, if we may not live in them--and we will do it--and this is our talk, our last talk." he folded back the blanket he had thrown from his shoulders, and, followed by his band, he stalked majestically away. they had broken up their camp and returned to their homes upon the tallapoosa. unawed by the defection of the tuscahatchees, the band attached to hopothlayohola, mcintosh went on to complete the treaty. this chief, because he had been the friend of the united states in the then recent war, assumed to be the principal chief of the nation, as he held the commission of a brigadier-general from the united states; a commission, however, which only gave him command with his own people. this assumption was denied by hopothlayohola, chief of the tuscahatchees, tuskega, and other chiefs of the nation, who insisted upon the ancient usages, and the power attaching through these to the recognized head-chief of the nation. strong representations and protests against the treaty were sent to washington, and serious complications were threatened, very nearly producing collision between the state of georgia and the general government. the hostility to mcintosh and his party culminated in a conspiracy for his assassination. fifty warriors were selected, headed by a chief for the purpose. these received their orders, which were that on a day designated they should concentrate at a given spot, and at night proceed to the house of mcintosh, in secret, and surrounding it at or near daylight, call him up, and as he came forth, all were to fire upon him. his brother, his son, and son-in-law, rolla and chillie mcintosh, and hawkins, were all doomed to die, and by the hands of this executory band. that there might be no mistake as to the day, each warrior was furnished with a bundle of sticks of wood, each of these represented a day--the whole, the number of days intervening between the time of receiving them, and the day of execution. every night upon the going down of the sun one of these was to be thrown away--the last one, on the night of concentration and assassination. it was death to betray the trust reposed, or to be absent from the point of rendezvous at the time appointed. the secret was faithfully kept--every one was present. the house of mcintosh stood immediately upon the bank of the chattahoochee river, at the point or place now known as mcintosh's reserve. it was approached and surrounded under the cover of night, and so stealthily as to give no warning even to the watch-dogs. mcintosh and his son chillie were the only victims in the house, the two others were away. hawkins was at his own home, rolla mcintosh no one knew where. hopothlayohola had accompanied this band, but not in the character of chief. the command was delegated to another. this chief knocked at the door, and commanded mcintosh to come out and meet his doom. the reverend francis flornoy, a baptist preacher, was spending the night with the chief, and was in a room with chillie. the chief mcintosh knew his fate, and, repairing to the apartment of his guest and son, told them he was about to die, and directing his son to escape from the rear of the house, and across the river, said he would meet his fate as a warrior. taking his rifle, he went to the front door, and throwing it open, fired upon the array of warriors as he gave the war-whoop, and, in an instant after, fell dead; pierced with twenty balls. chillie, at this moment, sprang from the window, leaped into the river, and made his escape, though fired at repeatedly. a detachment was immediately sent to execute hawkins at his home, which was successful in effecting it. soon after this tragic occurrence, the mcintosh party, consisting of fully one-half the nation, emigrated to the lands granted them west of the state of arkansas, and made there a home. the remainder of the creeks retired to the district of country between the chattahoochee and line creek, only to learn that to remain upon this circumscribed territory was certain destruction. the whites soon populated the acquired territory, and the chattahoochee was no barrier to their aggressions upon the helpless indian beyond. feuds grew up: this led to killings, and in the winter of - active hostilities commenced. this war was of short duration. before the nation was divided, hopothlayohola was opposed to war. in his communication with general jessup, he told him: "my strength is gone; my warriors are few, and i am opposed to war. but had i the men, i would fight you. i am your enemy--i shall ever be; but to fight you would only be the destruction of my people. we are in your power, and you can do with us as you will." but the chiefs of the lower towns would not yield, and made the fight. in a short time this was concluded by the capture of their leading chief, nehemathla. he was decoyed by treachery into the power of general jessup, who detained him as a prisoner, and almost immediately his band surrendered. nehemathla was an onchee chief. this was the remnant of a tribe absorbed into the nation of the creeks or muscogees, and was probably one of those inferior bands inhabiting the land when this nation came from the west and took possession of the country. their language they preserved, and it is remarkable it was never acquired by white or red man, unless he was reared from infancy among the tribe. it was guttural entirely, and spoken with the mouth open, and no word or sound ever required it to be closed for its pronunciation. they had dwindled to a handful at the time of his capture, but more obstinately determined to remain and die upon their parental domain, than any other portion of the nation. nehemathla was more than eighty years of age at the time of his capture. when brought into the presence of general jessup, he expected nothing short of death. the general told him of his crimes, upbraided him with bad faith to his great father, general jackson, and drawing his sword, told him he deserved to die. the chief, seeing the sword lifted, snatched the turban from his head, and fiercely and defiantly looking the general in the face, as the wind waved about his brow and head the long locks white as snow, said firmly and aloud: "strike, and let me sleep here with my father and my children! strike, i am the last of my race! the great spirit gave me seven sons--three of them died at emucfaw, two at talladega, and two at aletosee. general jackson killed them all, and you call him my great father! when did a father wash his hands in his children's blood? when did a father rob his children of their homes? when did a father drive his children in anger into the wilderness, where they will find an enemy who claim it as the gift of the great spirit, and who will fight to retain it? strike, and let me die--no time, no place like this! the mother of my sons, their sisters, perished for food, when i with my sons was fighting for our homes. i am alone; and not afraid to die! strike: eighty winters are on my head--they are heavier than your sword! they weigh me to the earth! strike, and let me go to my squaw, my sons, and my daughters, and let me forget my wrongs! strike, and let my grave be here, where all i have is in the ground! strike: i would sleep where i was born--all around me are the graves of my people, let mine be among them; and when the great spirit shall come, let him find us all together, here with our fathers of a thousand winters, who first built their wigwams here, and who first taught their children to be more cautious than the panther--more watchful than the turkey!" "i will not strike you," said the general. "no, i will not strike my foe, a prisoner; but here is my hand in friendship." "no," said the chief; "you have put your sword in its pocket, put your hand in its pocket; do not let it reach out to blind me, or to take my home. i am the white man's enemy; his friendship i fear more than his anger. it is more fatal to the red man. it takes away his home, and forces him living to go away and grieve for his country, and the graves of his fathers, and to starve in a strange land. in his anger he kills, and its mercy shuts his eyes and his heart away from the wrongs and the miseries of his people. i have lived and i will die the white man's enemy. i have done you all the harm in my power. if i could, i would do you more. my tongue is not forked like yours, my heart has no lies to make it speak to deceive. strike, and let me go to the happy hunting-grounds where all my people are." he sat down upon the ground, and, in a low, monotonous, melancholy tone, chanted the death-song. "who-ah-who-allee! wait for me, i am coming. who-ah-who-allee! prepare the feast, the great warrior's feast. who-ah-who-allee! let my boys and my braves come down to welcome me. who-ah-who-allee! those who went before me, tell them the old warrior is coming. who-ah-who-allee! the white man has come, he treads on their graves, and the graves of their fathers. who-ah-who-allee! the last of the onchee is coming, prepare--his bow is broken, his arrows are all gone. who-ah-who-allee!" concluding his song with one shrill whoop, he dropped his head and lifted up his hands--then prone upon the earth he threw himself, kissed it, rose up, and seemed prepared for the fate he surely expected. nehemathla spoke english fluently, and all his conversation was in that language. he was informed that there was no intention of taking his life, but that he would be kept a close prisoner, until his people could be conquered and collected--when they would be sent to join their brethren, who had gone with the cussetas and cowetas and broken arrows, beyond the great river of the west. tamely and sullenly he submitted to his confinement, until the period approached, when all were collected and in detachments forwarded to their future homes. it was my fortune to be in new orleans when the old chief and his little band arrived at that place. it was winter, and the day of their debarkation was cold and rainy. the steamer chartered to take them to fort smith, upon the arkansas, from some cause did not arrive at the levee at the time appointed for their leaving, and they, with their women and children, were exposed upon the levee to all the inclemencies of rain and cold, through a protracted winter night. many propositions were made to give them shelter, which were rejected. one warm-hearted, noble spirit, james d. fresett, the proprietor of an extensive cotton-press, went in person to the aged chief, and implored him to take his people to shelter there. he declined, and when the importunity was again pressed upon him, impatient of persuasion, he turned abruptly to his tormentor and sternly said: "i am the enemy of the white man. i ask, and will accept, nothing at his hands. me and my people are children of the woods. the great spirit gave them to us, and he gave us the power to endure the cold and the rain. the clouds above are his, and they are shelter and warmth enough for us. he will not deceive and rob us. the white man is faithless; with two tongues he speaks: like the snake, he shows these before he bites. never again shall the white man's house open for me, or the white man's roof shelter me. i have lived his enemy, and his enemy i will die." the grunt of approval came from all the tribe, while many rough and stalwart men stood in mute admiration of the pride, the spirit, and the determination of this white-haired patriarch of a perishing people. the next day he went away to his new home, but only to die. about this time a delegation from both the tuscahatchees or hopothlayohola band and the mcintosh band met by private arrangement, in new orleans, to reconcile all previous difficulties between these parties. hopothlayohola and tuskega, or jim's boy, and chillie mcintosh and hawkins, constituted the delegations. i was present at the city hotel, and witnessed the meeting. it was in silence. mcintosh and hopothlayohola advanced with the right hand extended and met. the clasping hands was the signal for the others: they met, clasping hands, and unity was restored, the nations reconciled and reunited, and hopothlayohola and his people invited to come in peace to their new homes. it was evidently a union of policy, as there could be no heart-union between mcintosh and hopothlayohola; and though the latter placed his conduct upon the broad basis of national law and national justice, yet this was inflicted upon the parent of the other, who denied the law, or the power under the law, supposing it to exist, of the other to adjudge and to execute its sentence. in the meeting of these chiefs, and their apparent reconciliation, was to be seen, a desire that the nation should reunite, and that there should be amity between the bands, or divided parties, for the national good, and for the good of all the parties or people. but there could never be between the two representative chiefs other than a political reconciliation. there was no attempt on the part of either to deceive the other. both acted from the same high motives, while their features told the truth--personally they were enemies. the son held the hand of his father's executioner, red with the life-blood of him who gave him being--a father he revered, and whose memory he cherished. the filial and hereditary hatred was in his heart. the feeling was mutual. both knew it, and the cold, passive eye, and relaxed, inexpressive features but bespoke the subdued, not the extinguished passion. chillie mcintosh is only one-fourth indian in blood. hopothlayohola is a full-blooded indian. his features are coarse and striking. his high forehead and prominent brow indicate intellect, and his large compressed mouth and massive underjaw, terminating in a square, prominent chin, show great fixity of purpose, and resolution of will. unquestionably he was the great man of his tribe. tuskega, or jim's boy, was a man of herculean proportions. he was six feet eight inches in height, and in every way admirably proportioned. he was the putative son of a chief whose name he bore, and whose titles and power he inherited. but the old warrior-chief never acknowledged him as such. the old chief owned as a slave a very large mulatto man, named jim, who was his confidant and chief adviser, and to him he ascribed the parentage of his successor, and always called him jim's boy. his complexion, hair, and great size but too plainly indicated his parentage. he was not a man of much mark, except for his size, and would probably never have attained distinction but through hereditary right. in their new home these people do not increase. the efforts at civilization seem only to reach the mixed bloods, and these only in proportion to the white blood in their veins. the indian is incapable of the white man's civilization, as indeed all other inferior races are. he has fulfilled his destiny, and is passing away. no approximation to the pursuits or the condition of the white man operates otherwise than as a means of his destruction. it seems his contact is death to every inferior race, when not servile and subjected to his care and control. chapter xxxiii. fun, fact, and fancy. eugenius nesbitt--washington poe--yelverton p. king--preparing to receive the court--walton tavern, in lexington--billy springer, of sparta--freeman walker--an augusta lawyer--a georgia major--major walker's bed--uncle ned--discharging a hog on his own recognizance --morning admonition and evening counsel--a mother's request-- invocation--conclusion. to-day i parted from eugenius nesbitt and washington poe, two of only four or five of those who commenced life and the practice of law with me in the state of georgia. we had just learned of the death of y.p. king, of greensboro, georgia, who was only a few years our senior. the four of us were young together, and were friends, but i had been separated from them for more than forty years. yet the ties of youthful attachment remained, and together we mourned the loss of our compeer and companion in youth. i was a member of the legislature when judge nesbitt, by act of the legislature, was admitted to the bar, he having not attained his majority, and by a rule could not be admitted in the ordinary manner. nesbitt, though so young, was known through the up-country of georgia as a young man of more than ordinary promise. the same was the case with poe. they had so deported themselves as to win the confidence and affection of the wise and the good. there were some in the legislature who were lawyers, and who conscientiously believed that no one so young as nesbitt was could be sufficiently matured mentally to properly discharge the duties of the profession. these men themselves were naturally dull, and ignorantly supposed all minds, like their own, were weak in youth, and could only be strengthened and enlightened by time and cultivation. they honestly opposed the bill admitting the applicant. there was one though, who held no such ridiculous notions--himself an example to the contrary--but from some cause he strenuously opposed the bill. it was the celebrated seaborne jones, one of the very ablest lawyers the state ever produced. it seemed ever a delight to him to bear heavily upon young lawyers. it would be difficult to divine his motives. he was at the head of the bar, unapproached by competition, especially by any young man. i was young and ardent, and felt offended at this opposition, and gave all the aid i could to the passage of the bill. fortunately for our cause, there were many young lawyers in the legislature, and these were a unit, and we succeeded in carrying the measure. from that day nesbitt seemed nearer to me than any other of the bar in our circuit. we have been separated over forty years, he remaining in his native state, while i have wandered away to the west. still that warmth of heart toward him has never died out. and now, when both are on the grave's brink, we meet, not to renew, but to find the old flame burning still. king, nesbitt, and myself were born in the same county, and our ancestors worshipped at the same church--old bethany--and to-day we recalled the fact as we mourned the death of our early friend and compeer at the bar. time has swept on. our children are gray with years. one by one, all who were at the bar with us are gone, save two or three, and to-morrow we shall be gone. but the oblivious past has not curtained from memory yet the incidents and the men of that past, and while i may i will bear testimony to these, and to the men who were their chief actors. nesbitt justified in his subsequent life all that his friends and the public hoped from him. in every relation of life he has done his duty ably, honestly, and purely. as a member of the legislature, of congress, as a judge of the supreme court, as a worthy member of the presbyterian church, and, above all, as a father, husband, and citizen, he has been good, wise, and faithful. is not his measure full? who deserves it more? we were sad to-day. one said, "king is dead." "yes," answered the other, and we were silent. memory was busy. we could not talk. in his office, where yet he wears the harness of the law, surrounded by musty, well-thumbed books, and piles of papers with hard judicial faces, we sat and mused. perhaps we thought of the past, when those to whom eternity is a reality were with us and joyous. at such times the mind turns quickly back to youth's joys, nor lingers along the vista of intervening time. all of that day will revive, but these memories sadden the heart, and we are fain to think, but not to talk. perhaps we wondered what were the realizations of the dead. what are they? who knows, except the dead? do the dead know? unprofitable thought! faith and hope only buoy the heart, and time brings the end. well, time has whitened our heads, but not indurated our hearts, and time is now as busy as when in the joyousness of youth we heeded not his flight, and to-morrow may bring us to the grave. ah! then we shall know the secret, and we will keep it, as all who have gone before. oh, what a blessed hope is that which promises that we shall, forgetful of the cares and sorrows of time, meet those whom death has refined, and be happy as they in eternity! but the doubt, and then the fear! but why the fear? we come into time without our knowledge or consent, fulfil a destiny, and without our knowledge or consent die out of time. this is the economy of man's life, and was given him by his creator. then why should he fear? if it is wise for him to be born, to live, it is surely wise that he should die, since that is equally a part of his economy. then why fear? reason is satisfied, but instinct fears. yelverton p. king never removed from the county of his birth, nor abandoned his profession, remaining upon the soil of his nativity and among those with whom he had been reared, maintaining through life the character of an upright man. many memories are connected with his name. when we were young at the bar, there were as our associates very many who attained eminence as lawyers, and fame as politicians; but these distinctions are not connected with the endearing attributes which make them so cherished in memory--the incidents of social intercourse, the favors, the kindnesses of good neighborhood, the sympathies of young life, the unity of sentiment, the sameness of hopes, little regarded at the moment; but oh! how they were rooting in the heart, to bear, away in the coming time, these fruits of memory, in which is the most of happiness when age whitens the head, and the heart is mellowed with the sorrows of time. though all were affectionate and social in their intercourse with each other, yet each had his favorites, because of greater congeniality in nature, more intense sympathies, and more continual intercourse. little incidents were of frequent occurrence which drew these continually closer, until friendships ripened into confidences--some more special favorites of some, and some more general favorites of all. this latter was y.p. king; and yet this favoritism was never very demonstrative, but perhaps the stronger and more permanent for this. such, too, was nesbitt; the older members of the profession loved him, and those of his own age were unenvious and esteemed him. our circuit consisted of seven counties, and the ridings were spring and fall, occupying about two months each term. in each courthouse town was a tavern or two. these houses of entertainment were not then dignified with the sonorous title of hotel. the proprietors were usually jolly good fellows, or some staid matronly lady, in black gown and blue cap, and they all looked forward with anxious delight to the coming of court week. every preparation was made for the judge and lawyers. beds were aired and the bugs hunted out. saturday previous to the coming monday was a busy day in setting all things to rights, and the scrubbing-broom was heard in consonance with calls to the servants to be busy and careful, as sally and nancy sprang to their work with a will. with garments tucked up to their knees, they splashed the water and suds over the floors, strangers to the cleansing element until then for months ago. a new supply of corn and fodder was arriving from the country; stables and stable lots were undergoing a scraping eminently required for the comfort of decent beasts, who gave their lives in labor to exacting man. the room usually appropriated to the bench and bar was a great vagabond-hall, denominated the ball-room, and for this purpose appropriated once or twice a year. along the bare walls of this mighty dormitory were arranged beds, each usually occupied by a couple of the limbs of the law, and sometimes appropriated to three. if there was not a spare apartment, a bed was provided here for the judge. and if there were no lawyers from augusta, this one was distinguished by the greatest mountain of feathers in the house. here assembled at night the rollicking boys of the georgia bar, who here indulged, without restraint, the convivialities for which they were so celebrated. humor and wit, in anecdotes and repartee, beguiled the hours; and the few old taverns time has spared, could they speak, might narrate more good things their walls have heard, than have ever found record in the _noctes ambrosianæ_ of the wits of scrogie. there are but few now left who have enjoyed a night in one of these old tumble-down rooms, with a.s. clayton, o.h. prince, a.b. longstreet, and john m. dooly. here and there one, old, tottering, and gray, lives to laugh at his memories of those chosen spirits of fun. yes, that is the word--fun--for these _ancients_ possessed a fund of mirth-exciting humor, combined with a biting wit, which, in the peregrinations of a long life, i have met nowhere else. were i to select one of these inns, it would be the old walton tavern, in the mean little hamlet of livingston in oglethorpe county, or the old house, kept long and indifferently, by that mountain of mortal obesity, billy springer, in sparta, hancock county. it was here, and when springer presided over the fried meat and eggs of this venerable home for the weary and hungry, after a night of it, that all were huddled to bed like pigs in a sty. this bulky boniface was polite to all, but especially to an augusta lawyer. freeman walker, of that ilk, usually attended this court, and was the great man of the week. a man of splendid abilities and polished manners, dressed and deporting himself like a gentleman, as he was, he shone among the lesser lights which orbed about him, a star of the first magnitude. the choice seat, the choice bed, and choice bits at the table, were ever for major walker. big billy, with his four hundred and ten pounds of adipose flesh, was always behind major walker's chair. he was first served; the choicest pieces of the pig were pointed out, cuts from the back and side bones and breast were hunted from the dish of fried chicken, a famous georgia dish, for major walker. it was a great thing in those days in georgia, to live in a little town of three thousand inhabitants, and wear _store clothes_. it was this and these which made a georgia major. judge dooly, upon one occasion, when attempting to usurp the seat of honor, was unceremoniously informed by big billy that it was major walker's seat. custom since has familiarized the retention of special seats for special persons, and now such a remark from a host astonishes no one. but in those days of unadulterated democracy, to assume a right to an unoccupied seat, startled every one. dooly, amid the astonished gaze of the assembled guests, unmurmuringly retired to an unoccupied seat of more humble pretensions near the foot of the extended table. the occurrence was canvassed at night with full house in the democratic dormitory. when the jests incidental were hushed, and one after another had retired to bed, judge dooly, then on the bench, went slowly to the only unappropriated bed, and undressing, folded down the bed-clothes. suddenly, as if he had forgotten something, he slipped to the landing of the stairway and called anxiously for the landlord. "come up, if you please," he said to the answering host. springer commenced the ascent with slow and heavy tread; at length, after a most exhausting effort, and breathing like a wounded bellows, he lifted his mighty burden of flesh into the room. "what is your will, judge dooly?" he asked, with a painful effort at speech. dooly, standing in his shirt by the bedside and pointing to it, asked, with much apparent solicitude, if that "was major walker's bed." springer felt the sarcasm keenly, and, amid the boisterous outburst of laughter from every bed, turned and went down. a thousand anecdotes might be related of the peculiar wit, sarcasm, and drollery of this remarkable man. one more must suffice. when newton county was first organized, it was made the duty of dooly to hold the first court. there then lived and kept the only tavern in the new town of covington, a man of huge proportions, named ned williams, usually called uncle ned--he, as well as dooly, have long slept with their fathers. the location of the village and court-house had been of recent selection, and uncle ned's tavern was one of those peculiar buildings improvised for temporary purposes--a log cabin, designated, in some parts of georgia at that time, as a two-storied house, with both stories on the ground; in other words, a double-penned cabin with passage between. uncle ned had made ample provision for the bench and bar. one pen of his house was appropriated to their use. there was a bed in each corner, and there were nine lawyers, including the judge. the interstices between the cabin poles were open, but there was no window, and but one door, which had to be closed to avoid too close companionship with the dogs of the household. it was june, and georgia june weather, sultry, warm, and still, especially at night. in the centre there stood a deal table of respectable dimensions, and this served the double purpose of dining-table and bed-place for one. uncle ned was polite and exceedingly solicitous to please. he had scoured the county for supplies; it was too new for poultry or eggs, but acorns abounded, and pigs were plenty. they had never experienced want, and consequently were well-grown and fat. uncle ned had found and secured one which weighed some two hundred pounds. this he divided into halves longitudinally, and had barbecued the half intended for the use of the bar and bench. at dinner, on monday, it was introduced upon a large wooden tray as the centre substantial dish for the dinner of the day. it was swimming in lard. there were side-dishes of potatoes and cold meats, appellated in georgia collards, with quantities of corn-bread, with two bowls of hash from the lungs and liver of the pig, all reeking with the fire and summer heat. a scanty meal was soon made, but the tray and contents remained untouched. the court continued three days, and was adjourned at noon of the fourth day, until the next term. each day the tray and contents were punctual in their attendance. the depressed centre of the tray was a lake of molten lard, beneath which hid a majority of the pig. after dinner of the last day, all were ready to leave. when the meal was concluded, dooly asked if all were done. "landlord," said the judge, "will you give us your attention?" uncle ned entered. "your will, judge," he asked. "i wish you, sir, to discharge this hog on his own recognizance. we do not want any bail for his appearance at the next term." the dinner concluded in a roar of laughter, in which uncle ned heartily joined. only one of the nine who assisted to organize that county, now remains in life. there were four men there whose names are inscribed on the scroll of fame--whose names their fellow-citizens have honored and perpetuated by giving them to counties: cobb, dawson, colquitt, and dougherty. warner and pierman died young. i alone remain. the children of most of them are now gray with years, and have seen their grandchildren. the name of dooly remains only a memory. the affections arising from youthful associations are more enduring than those which come of the same cause in riper years. they are more disinterested and sincere. they come with the spring of life, root deep into the heart, and cling with irradicable tenacity through life. we find in mature life dear friends, friends who will share the all they have with you, who will for you hazard even life, and you love them--but not as you love the boys who were at school with you, who ran with you wild through the woods, when you hunted the squirrel and trapped the quail. when fortuitous time forces your separation, and long intervening years blot the features, in their change, from your recognition, and chance throws you again with a loved companion of life's young morn--the thrill which stirs the heart, when his name is announced, comes not for the friend found only when time has grown gray. go and stand by the grave of one loved when a boy, the little laughing girl you played with at hide-and-seek, through the garden shrubbery and the intricacies of the house and yard, one who was always gentle and kind, she for whom you carried the satchel and books when going to school, who came at noon and divided her blackberry-pie with you, and always gave you the best piece--and see how all these memories will come back; and if the green grass upon the roof-top of her home for eternity does not bear, when you have gone away, a tear-drop to sparkle and exhale, a tribute to endearing memory, your heart is not worth the name. it is not given to us to love all with whom we may be familiar in early life. but every one will sincerely love some few of the companions of his school-days and early manhood. this is really the sugar of life, and the garrulity of age loves to recount these, for in his narrative he lives over and revives the attachments of boyhood. woman may confess only to her own heart these memories--she must love only in secret. when the heart is fresh and brimming with affection, she may love with all the devotion of woman's heart; but if her love meets no return its birthplace must be its grave. she may only tell, when she is old, of her successful and more fortunate love. ah! how many recount to their grandchildren their love, in budding youth, for their grandfather, who hide in the secret alcoves of the heart a more sacred memory of one who found his way there before dear old grandfather came. what sorrows these memories have sown along the way of life! but they have winced not when the thorn has pricked; and how she has folded to her bosom dear john, while imagination made him the more dear willie, her first and foremost love! these endure in secret, and are the more sacred for this; they die only with the dead heart. oh! the grave, the secrets of the grave, are they hidden there for ages, or shall they survive as treasures for eternity? i have been wandering among the graves of those loved best when the heart could love most, and dead memories sprouted anew, and with them a flash of the feelings which made them treasures of the heart. yonder is the grave of thomas w. cobb; near me is that of him most loved--william c. dawson; and here, in this green grave, is yelverton p. king; and near him is the last resting-place of adeline harrison. dear, sweet adeline, you went, in truth, to heaven, ere yet the bud of life had opened into flower! this is the county of my birth, and all of these, save cobb, were natives, too, of the dear old land. to me, how near and dear were these! turn back, o time, thy volume for fifty years, and let me read over anew the records of dead days, and make memories once more realities, as they were real then--else hurry on to the end, that i may know with these, or with these forget forever! i would not linger in the twilight of life, with all of time dimming out, and nothing of eternity dawning upon my vision. let me sleep in the forgetfulness of the one, to awake to the fruition of the other! i have been to the graves of my father and my mother. for more than a third of a century they have been sleeping here. i sat down in the moonlight, and placed my hand upon the cold, heavy stone which rests above them: they do not feel its pressure, but sleep well. they are but earth now--and why am i here? the moon and the stars are the same, and as sweetly bright, looking down upon this sacred spot, as they were when, a little child, i sat upon the knee of her who is nothing here, and listened to her telling me the names of these, as she would point to them, and ask me if i did not see them winking at me. yet they are there, and the same now as then. but where is that gentle, sweet, affectionate mother? is she up among these gems of heaven? is she yonder in the mighty jupiter, looking down, and smiling at me? is she permitted, in her new being, to come at will, and breathe to my mind holy thoughts and holy feelings? disembodied, is she, as god, pervading all, and knowing all? does she, with that devotion of heart which was so much hers in time, still love and protect me? shall i, when purified by death, go to her? and shall this hope become a reality, and endure forever? surely, this must be true; or, why are these thoughts and hopes in the mind--why this affection sublimated still in the heart--why this link between the living, and the dead, if its fruition shall be denied in eternity? why this question, which implies a doubt of the goodness of god? sweet is the belief, sweeter the hope, that i shall see that smile of benignity, feel that gentle, loving caress, and forever, in unalloyed bliss, participate heaven with her. my mother--my mother! see you into my heart, here by your gravestone, to-night? hast thou gone with me through my long pilgrimage of time? if i have kept thy counsels, and walked by their wisdom, hast thou approved, my mother? my mother, all that is good and pure in me has come of thee! if the allurements of vice have tempted, and frail nature has threatened to yield, the morning's admonition, the evening's counsel in our long walks, would strengthen me to forbearance. these bright memories have lived and remained with me a guide and salvation; and now they are the morning's memory, the evening's thought. as i have remembered and loved thee, i have been guided and governed by these. surely there can be no loss to the child like the loss of the mother! how those are to be pitied! they go through life without the holy influences for good coming from a mother; they stumble on, and learn here and there, as time progresses, the moral lessons only taught to childhood from a mother's lips: they stumble and fall for the want of these; and, by experience, too often bitter experience, learn in youth what in childhood should be taught, which should grow up with them as a part of their being, to be the guides and comforts of life. and oh, how many never learn this! go, and converse with the wise and good, and they will tell you of their mothers' teachings; go to the condemned criminal, whose crimes have cast him from society, and ask him why he is thus--and he will tell you he disregarded the teachings of his mother; or, 'i had a wicked and vicious mother, who taught me evil instead of good;' or, 'i had no mother, to plant in my childhood's heart the fear of god and the love of virtue.' here, to me, to-night, in grateful memory, comes the sabbath morning in the garden at the home of my childhood, more than sixty years ago, when this dead mother here sleeping pointed to the drunken man passing on the highway, and, kindly looking up into my face, asked me to look at him, and, when he had passed out of sight, said: "my child, will you here, this beautiful morning of god's day, promise your mother that you will not drink one drop of ardent spirits until you are twenty-one years of age? you are so full of animal spirits, i fear, should you touch it at all, that you will come to drink to excess, and fill a drunkard's grave before you shall have passed half the days allotted to man's life." i see that pleading face, those soft brown eyes to-night, as they looked from where she was seated into my face; i see the soft smile of satisfaction, as it came up from her heart and illumined her features, when i lifted up my hand and made the promise! and, oh, shall i ever forget the thrill which gladdened my heart when she rose up and kissed me, and murmured so gently, so tenderly, so full of hope and confidence: "i know you will keep it, my child." that promise is a holy memory! it was kept with sacred fidelity. angel of love and light--my mother--look down upon thy child here to-night, and for the last time by thy grave, with whitened head and tottering step, and see if i have ever departed from the way you taught me to go! soon i shall be with you. my work is over, my task is done! southwest *** the conquest of the old southwest: the romantic story of the early pioneers into virginia, the carolinas, tennessee, and kentucky - by archibald henderson, ph.d., d.c.l. some to endure and many to fail, some to conquer and many to quail toiling over the wilderness trail. new york the century co. to the historian of old west and new west frederick jackson turner with admiration and regard the country might invite a prince from his palace, merely for the pleasure of contemplating its beauty and excellence; but only add the rapturous idea of property, and what allurements can the world offer for the loss of so glorious a prospect? --richard henderson. the established authority of any government in america, and the policy of government at home, are both insufficient to restrain the americans.... they acquire no attachment to place: but wandering about seems engrafted in their nature; and it is a weakness incident to it, that they should for ever immagine the lands further off, are still better than those upon which they are already settled. --lord dunmore, to the earl of dartmouth. introduction the romantic and thrilling story of the southward and westward migration of successive waves of transplanted european peoples throughout the entire course of the eighteenth century is the history of the growth and evolution of american democracy. upon the american continent was wrought out, through almost superhuman daring, incredible hardship, and surpassing endurance, the formation of a new society. the european rudely confronted with the pitiless conditions of the wilderness soon discovered that his maintenance, indeed his existence, was conditioned upon his individual efficiency and his resourcefulness in adapting himself to his environment. the very history of the human race, from the age of primitive man to the modern era of enlightened civilization, is traversed in the old southwest throughout the course of half a century. a series of dissolving views thrown upon the screen, picturing the successive episodes in the history of a single family as it wended its way southward along the eastern valleys, resolutely repulsed the sudden attack of the indians, toiled painfully up the granite slopes of the appalachians, and pitched down into the transmontane wilderness upon the western waters, would give to the spectator a vivid conception, in miniature, of the westward movement. but certain basic elements in the grand procession, revealed to the sociologist and the economist, would perhaps escape his scrutiny. back of the individual, back of the family, even, lurk the creative and formative impulses of colonization, expansion, and government. in the recognition of these social and economic tendencies the individual merges into the group; the group into the community; the community into a new society. in this clear perspective of historic development the spectacular hero at first sight seems to diminish; but the mass, the movement, the social force which he epitomizes and interprets, gain in impressiveness and dignity. [ ] as the irresistible tide of migratory peoples swept ever southward and westward, seeking room for expansion and economic independence, a series of frontiers was gradually thrust out toward the wilderness in successive waves of irregular indentation. the true leader in this westward advance, to whom less than his deserts has been accorded by the historian, is the drab and mercenary trader with the indians. the story of his enterprise and of his adventures begins with the planting of european civilization upon american soil. in the mind of the aborigines he created the passion for the fruits, both good and evil, of the white man's civilization, and he was welcomed by the indian because he also brought the means for repelling the further advance of that civilization. the trader was of incalculable service to the pioneer in first spying out the land and charting the trackless wilderness. the trail rudely marked by the buffalo became in time the indian path and the trader's "trace"; and the pioneers upon the westward march, following the line of least resistance, cut out their roads along these very routes. it is not too much to say that had it not been for the trader--brave, hardy, and adventurous however often crafty, unscrupulous, and immoral--the expansionist movement upon the american continent would have been greatly retarded. so scattered and ramified were the enterprises and expeditions of the traders with the indians that the frontier which they established was at best both shifting and unstable. following far in the wake of these advance agents of the civilization which they so often disgraced, came the cattle-herder or rancher, who took advantage of the extensive pastures and ranges along the uplands and foot-hills to raise immense herds of cattle. thus was formed what might be called a rancher's frontier, thrust out in advance of the ordinary farming settlements and serving as the first serious barrier against the indian invasion. the westward movement of population is in this respect a direct advance from the coast. years before the influx into the old southwest of the tides of settlement from the northeast, the more adventurous struck straight westward in the wake of the fur-trader, and here and there erected the cattle-ranges beyond the farming frontier of the piedmont region. the wild horses and cattle which roamed at will through the upland barrens and pea-vine pastures were herded in and driven for sale to the city markets of the east. the farming frontier of the piedmont plateau constituted the real backbone of western settlement. the pioneering farmers, with the adventurous instincts of the hunter and the explorer, plunged deeper and ever deeper into the wilderness, lured on by the prospect of free and still richer lands in the dim interior. settlements quickly sprang up in the neighborhood of military posts or rude forts established to serve as safeguards against hostile attack; and trade soon flourished between these settlements and the eastern centers, following the trails of the trader and the more beaten paths of emigration. the bolder settlers who ventured farthest to the westward were held in communication with the east through their dependence upon salt and other necessities of life; and the search for salt-springs in the virgin wilderness was an inevitable consequence of the desire of the pioneer to shake off his dependence upon the coast. the prime determinative principle of the progressive american civilization of the eighteenth century was the passion for the acquisition of land. the struggle for economic independence developed the germ of american liberty and became the differentiating principle of american character. here was a vast unappropriated region in the interior of the continent to be had for the seeking, which served as lure and inspiration to the man daring enough to risk his all in its acquisition. it was in accordance with human nature and the principles of political economy that this unknown extent of uninhabited transmontane land, widely renowned for beauty, richness, and fertility, should excite grandiose dreams in the minds of english and colonials alike. england was said to be "new land mad and everybody there has his eye fixed on this country." [ ] groups of wealthy or well-to-do individuals organized themselves into land companies for the colonization and exploitation of the west. the pioneer promoter was a powerful creative force in westward expansion; and the activities of the early land companies were decisive factors in the colonization of the wilderness. whether acting under the authority of a crown grant or proceeding on their own authority, the land companies tended to give stability and permanence to settlements otherwise hazardous and insecure. the second determinative impulse of the pioneer civilization was wanderlust--the passionately inquisitive instinct of the hunter, the traveler, and the explorer. this restless class of nomadic wanderers was responsible in part for the royal proclamation of , a secondary object of which, according to edmund burke, was the limitation of the colonies on the west, as "the charters of many of our old colonies give them, with few exceptions, no bounds to the westward but the south sea." the long hunters, taking their lives in their hands, fared boldly forth to a fabled hunter's paradise in the far-away wilderness, because they were driven by the irresistible desire of a ponce de leon or a de soto to find out the truth about the unknown lands beyond. but the hunter was not only thrilled with the passion of the chase and of discovery; he was intent also upon collecting the furs and skins of wild animals for lucrative barter and sale in the centers of trade. he was quick to make "tomahawk claims" and to assert "corn rights" as he spied out the rich virgin land for future location and cultivation. free land and no taxes appealed to the backwoodsman, tired of paying quit-rents to the agents of wealthy lords across the sea. thus the settler speedily followed in the hunter's wake. in his wake also went many rude and lawless characters of the border, horse thieves and criminals of different sorts, who sought to hide their delinquencies in the merciful liberality of the wilderness. for the most part, however, it was the salutary instinct of the home-builder--the man with the ax, who made a little clearing in the forest and built there a rude cabin that he bravely defended at all risks against continued assaults--which, in defiance of every restraint, irresistibly thrust westward the thin and jagged line of the frontier. the ax and the surveyor's chain, along with the rifle and the hunting-knife, constituted the armorial bearings of the pioneer. with individual as with corporation, with explorer as with landlord, land-hunger was the master impulse of the era. the various desires which stimulated and promoted westward expansion were, to be sure, often found in complete conjunction. the trader sought to exploit the indian for his own advantage, selling him whisky, trinkets, and firearms in return for rich furs and costly peltries; yet he was often a hunter himself and collected great stores of peltries as the result of his solitary and protracted hunting-expeditions. the rancher and the herder sought to exploit the natural vegetation of marsh and upland, the cane-brakes and pea-vines; yet the constantly recurring need for fresh pasturage made him a pioneer also, drove him ever nearer to the mountains, and furnished the economic motive for his westward advance. the small farmer needed the virgin soil of the new region, the alluvial river-bottoms, and the open prairies, for the cultivation of his crops and the grazing of his cattle; yet in the intervals between the tasks of farm life he scoured the wilderness in search of game and spied out new lands for future settlement. this restless and nomadic race, says the keenly observant francis baily, "delight much to live on the frontiers, where they can enjoy undisturbed, and free from the control of any laws, the blessings which nature has bestowed upon them." [ ] independence of spirit, impatience of restraint, the inquisitive nature, and the nomadic temperament--these are the strains in the american character of the eighteenth century which ultimately blended to create a typical democracy. the rolling of wave after wave of settlement westward across the american continent, with a reversion to primitive conditions along the line of the farthest frontier, and a marked rise in the scale of civilization at each successive stage of settlement, from the western limit to the eastern coast, exemplifies from one aspect the history of the american people during two centuries. [ ] this era, constituting the first stage in our national existence, and productive of a buoyant national character shaped in democracy upon a free soil, closed only yesterday with the exhaustion of cultivable free land, the disappearance of the last frontier, and the recent death of "buffalo bill". the splendid inauguration of the period, in the region of the carolinas, virginia, tennessee, and kentucky, during the second half of the eighteenth century, is the theme of this story of the pioneers of the old southwest. contents introduction i. the migration of the peoples ii. the cradle of westward expansion iii. the back country and the border iv. the indian war v. in defense of civilization vi. crushing the cherokees vii. the land companies viii. the long hunters in the twilight zone ix. daniel boone and wilderness exploration x. daniel boone in kentucky xi. the regulators xii. watauga--haven of liberty xiii. opening the gateway--dunmore's war xiv. richard henderson and the transylvania company 	 xv. transylvania--a wilderness commonwealth 	 xvi. the repulse of the red men xvii. the colonization of the cumberland xviii. king's mountain xix. the state of franklin xx. the lure of spain--the haven of statehood list of notes bibliographical notes index the conquest of the old southwest chapter i. the migration of the peoples inhabitants flock in here daily, mostly from pensilvania and other parts of america, who are over-stocked with people and some directly from europe, they commonly seat themselves towards the west, and have got near the mountains. --gabriel johnston, governor of north carolina, to the secretary of the board of trade, february , . at the opening of the eighteenth century the tide of population had swept inland to the "fall line," the westward boundary of the established settlements. the actual frontier had been advanced by the more aggressive pioneers to within fifty miles of the blue ridge. so rapid was the settlement in north carolina that in the interval - the population quadrupled in numbers. a map of the colonial settlements in reveals a narrow strip of populated land along the atlantic coast, of irregular indentation, with occasional isolated nuclei of settlements further in the interior. the civilization thus established continued to maintain a close and unbroken communication with england and the continent. as long as the settlers, for economic reasons, clung to the coast, they reacted but slowly to the transforming influences of the frontier. within a triangle of continental altitude with its apex in new england, bounded on the east by the atlantic, and on the west by the appalachian range, lay the settlements, divided into two zones--tidewater and piedmont. as no break occurred in the great mountain system south of the hudson and mohawk valleys, the difficulties of cutting a passage through the towering wall of living green long proved an effective obstacle to the crossing of the grim mountain barrier. in the beginning the settlements gradually extended westward from the coast in irregular outline, the indentations taking form around such natural centers of attraction as areas of fertile soil, frontier posts, mines, salt-springs, and stretches of upland favorable for grazing. after a time a second advance of settlement was begun in new jersey, pennsylvania, and maryland, running in a southwesterly direction along the broad terraces to the east of the appalachian range, which in north carolina lies as far as two hundred and fifty miles from the sea. the blue ridge in virginia and a belt of pine barrens in north carolina were hindrances to this advance, but did not entirely check it. this second streaming of the population thrust into the long, narrow wedge of the piedmont zone a class of people differing in spirit and in tendency from their more aristocratic and complacent neighbors to the east. these settlers of the valley of virginia and the north carolina piedmont region--english, scotch-irish, germans, scotch, irish, welsh, and a few french--were the first pioneers of the old southwest. from the joint efforts of two strata of population, geographically, socially, and economically distinct--tidewater and piedmont, old south and new south--originated and flowered the third and greatest movement of westward expansion, opening with the surmounting of the mountain barrier and ending in the occupation and assumption of the vast medial valley of the continent. synchronous with the founding of jamestown in virginia, significantly enough, was the first planting of ulster with the english and scotch. emigrants from the scotch lowlands, sometimes as many as four thousand a year ( ), continued throughout the century to pour into ulster. "those of the north of ireland...," as pungently described in by the secretary of state, leoline jenkins, to the duke of ormond, "are most scotch and scotch breed and are the northern presbyterians and phanatiques, lusty, able-bodied, hardy and stout men, where one may see three or four hundred at every meeting-house on sunday, and all the north of ireland is inhabited by these, which is the popular place of all ireland by far. they are very numerous and greedy after land." during the quarter of a century after the english revolution of and the jacobite uprising in ireland, which ended in with the complete submission of ireland to william and mary, not less than fifty thousand scotch, according to archbishop synge, settled in ulster. until the beginning of the eighteenth century there was no considerable emigration to america; and it was first set up as a consequence of english interference with trade and religion. repressive measures passed by the english parliament ( - ), prohibiting the exportation from ireland to england and scotland of cattle, beef, pork, dairy products, etc., and to any country whatever of manufactured wool, had aroused deep resentment among the scotch-irish, who had built up a great commerce. this discontent was greatly aggravated by the imposition of religious disabilities upon the presbyterians, who, in addition to having to pay tithes for the support of the established church, were excluded from all civil and military office ( ), while their ministers were made liable to penalties for celebrating marriages. this pressure upon a high-spirited people resulted inevitably in an exodus to the new world. the principal ports by which the ulsterites entered america were lewes and newcastle (delaware), philadelphia and boston. the streams of immigration steadily flowed up the delaware valley; and by the scotch-irish began to arrive in bucks county. so rapid was the rate of increase in immigration that the number of arrivals soon mounted from a few hundred to upward of six thousand, in a single year ( ); and within a few years this number was doubled. according to the meticulous franklin, the proportion increased from a very small element of the population of pennsylvania in to one fourth of the whole in , and to one third of the whole ( , ) in . writing to the penns in , james logan, secretary of the province, caustically refers to the ulster settlers on the disputed maryland line as "these bold and indigent strangers, saying as their excuse when challenged for titles, that we had solicited for colonists and they had come accordingly." the spirit of these defiant squatters is succinctly expressed in their statement to logan that it "was against the laws of god and nature that so much land should be idle while so many christians wanted it to work on and to raise their bread." the rising scale of prices for pennsylvania lands, changing from ten pounds and two shillings quit-rents per hundred acres in to fifteen pounds ten shillings per hundred acres with a quit-rent of a halfpenny per acre in , soon turned the eyes of the thrifty scotch-irish settlers southward and southwestward. in maryland in lands were offered at five pounds sterling per hundred acres. simultaneously, in the valley of virginia free grants of a thousand acres per family were being made. in the north carolina piedmont region the proprietary, lord granville, through his agents was disposing of the most desirable lands to settlers at the rate of three shillings proclamation money for six hundred and forty acres, the unit of land-division; and was also making large free grants on the condition of seating a certain proportion of settlers. "lord carteret's land in carolina," says north carolina's first american historian, "where the soil was cheap, presented a tempting residence to people of every denomination. emigrants from the north of ireland, by the way of pennsylvania, flocked to that country; and a considerable part of north carolina ... is inhabited by those people or their descendants." [ ] from onward, attracted by the rich lure of cheap and even free lands in virginia and north carolina, a tide of immigration swept ceaselessly into the valleys of the shenandoah, the yadkin, and the catawba. the immensity of this mobile, drifting mass, which sometimes brought "more than families with horse waggons and cattle" into north carolina in a single year ( - ), is attested by the fact that from to , mainly as the result of the scotch-irish inundation, the population of north carolina more than doubled. the second important racial stream of population in the settlement of the same region was composed of germans, attracted to this country from the palatinate. lured on by the highly colored stories of the commercial agents for promoting immigration--the "newlanders," who were thoroughly unscrupulous in their methods and extravagant in their representations--a migration from germany began in the second decade of the eighteenth century and quickly assumed alarming proportions. although certain of the emigrants were well-to-do, a very great number were "redemptioners" (indentured servants), who in order to pay for their transportation were compelled to pledge themselves to several years of servitude. this economic condition caused the german immigrant, wherever he went, to become a settler of the back country, necessity compelling him to pass by the more expensive lands near the coast. for well-nigh sixty years the influx of german immigrants of various sects was very great, averaging something like fifteen hundred a year into pennsylvania alone from to . indeed, pennsylvania, one third of whose population at the beginning of the revolution was german, early became the great distributing center for the germans as well as for the scotch-irish. certainly by adam mÃ�¼ller and his fellow germans had established the first permanent white settlement in the valley of virginia. [ ] by jost heydt, accompanied by sixteen families, came from york, pennsylvania, and settled on the opeckon river, in the neighborhood of the present winchester. [ ] there is no longer any doubt that "the portion of the shenandoah valley sloping to the north was almost entirely settled by germans." it was about the middle of the century that these pioneers of the old southwest, the shrewd, industrious, and thrifty pennsylvania germans (who came to be generally called "pennsylvania dutch" from the incorrect translation of pennsylvÃ�¤nische deutsche), began to pour into the piedmont region of north carolina. in the autumn, after the harvest was in, these ambitious pennsylvania pioneers would pack up their belongings in wagons and on beasts of burden and head for the southwest, trekking down in the manner of the boers of south africa. this movement into the fertile valley lands of the yadkin and the catawba continued unabated throughout the entire third quarter of the century. owing to their unfamiliarity with the english language and the solidarity of their instincts, the german settlers at first had little share in government. but they devotedly played their part in the defense of the exposed settlements and often bore the brunt of indian attack. [ ] the bravery and hardihood displayed by the itinerant missionaries sent out by the pennsylvania synod under the direction of count zinzendorf ( - ), and by the moravian church ( - ), are mirrored in the numerous diaries, written in german, happily preserved to posterity in religious archives of pennsylvania and north carolina. these simple, earnest crusaders, animated by pure and unselfish motives, would visit on a single tour of a thousand miles the principal german settlements in maryland and virginia (including the present west virginia). sometimes they would make an extended circuit through north carolina, south carolina, and even georgia, everywhere bearing witness to the truth of the gospel and seeking to carry the most elemental forms of the christian religion, preaching and prayer, to the primitive frontiersmen marooned along the outer fringe of white settlements. these arduous journeys in the cause of piety place this type of pioneer of the old southwest in alleviating contrast to the often relentless and bloodthirsty figure of the rude borderer. noteworthy among these pious pilgrimages is the virginia journey of brothers leonhard schnell and john brandmÃ�¼ller (october to december , ). [ ] at the last outpost of civilization, the scattered settlements in bath and alleghany counties, these courageous missionaries--feasting the while solely on bear meat, for there was no bread--encountered conditions of almost primitive savagery, of which they give this graphic picture: "then we came to a house, where we had to lie on bear skins around the fire like the rest.... the clothes of the people consist of deer skins, their food of johnny cakes, deer and bear meat. a kind of white people are found here, who live like savages. hunting is their chief occupation." into the valley of the yadkin in december, , came bishop spangenberg and a party of moravians, accompanied by a surveyor and two guides, for the purpose of locating the one hundred thousand acres of land which had been offered them on easy terms the preceding year by lord granville. this journey was remarkable as an illustration of sacrifices willingly made and extreme hardships uncomplainingly endured for the sake of the moravian brotherhood. in the back country of north carolina near the mulberry fields they found the whole woods full of cherokee indians engaged in hunting. a beautiful site for the projected settlement met their delighted gaze at this place; but they soon learned to their regret that it had already been "taken up" by daniel boone's future father-in-law, morgan bryan. on october , , a party of twelve single men headed by the rev. bernhard adam grube, set out from bethlehem, pennsylvania, to trek down to the new-found haven in the carolina hinterland--"a corner which the lord has reserved for the brethren"--in anson county. [ ] following for the most part the great highway extending from philadelphia to the yadkin, over which passed the great throng sweeping into the back country of north carolina--through the valley of virginia and past robert luhny's mill on the james river--they encountered many hardships along the way. because of their "long wagon," they had much difficulty in crossing one steep mountain; and of this experience brother grube, with a touch of modest pride, observes: "people had told us that this hill was most dangerous, and that we would scarcely be able to cross it, for morgan bryan, the first to travel this way, had to take the wheels off his wagon and carry it piecemeal to the top, and had been three months on the journey from the shanidore [shenandoah] to the etkin [yadkin]." these men were the highest type of the pioneers of the old southwest, inspired with the instinct of home-makers in a land where, if idle rumor were to be credited, "the people lived like wild men, never hearing of god or his word." in one hand they bore the implement of agriculture, in the other the book of the gospel of jesus christ. true faith shines forth in the simply eloquent words: "we thanked our saviour that he had so graciously led us hither, and had helped us through all the hard places, for no matter how dangerous it looked, nor how little we saw how we could win through, everything always went better than seemed possible." the promise of a new day--the dawn of the heroic age--rings out in the pious carol of camaraderie at their journey's end: we hold arrival lovefeast here, in carolina land, a company of brethren true, a little pilgrim-band, called by the lord to be of those who through the whole world go, to bear him witness everywhere, and nought but jesus know. chapter ii. the cradle of westward expansion in the year i was up in the country that is now anson, orange and rowan counties, there was not then above one hundred fighting men there is now at least three thousand for the most part irish protestants and germans and dailey increasing. --matthew rowan, president of the north carolina council, to the board of trade, june , . the conquest of the west is usually attributed to the ready initiative, the stern self-reliance, and the libertarian instinct of the expert backwoodsmen. these bold, nomadic spirits were animated by an unquenchable desire to plunge into the wilderness in search of an el dorado at the outer verge of civilization, free of taxation, quit-rents, and the law's restraint. they longed to build homes for themselves and their descendants in a limitless, free domain; or else to fare deeper and deeper into the trackless forests in search of adventure. yet one must not overlook the fact that behind boone and pioneers of his stamp were men of conspicuous civil and military genius, constructive in purpose and creative in imagination, who devoted their best gifts to actual conquest and colonization. these men of large intellectual mold--themselves surveyors, hunters, and pioneers--were inspired with the larger vision of the expansionist. whether colonizers, soldiers, or speculators on the grand scale, they sought to open at one great stroke the vast trans-alleghany regions as a peaceful abode for mankind. two distinct classes of society were gradually drawing apart from each other in north carolina and later in virginia--the pioneer democracy of the back country and the upland, and the planter aristocracy of the lowland and the tide-water region. from the frontier came the pioneer explorers whose individual enterprise and initiative were such potent factors in the exploitation of the wilderness. from the border counties still in contact with the east came a number of leaders. thus in the heart of the old southwest the two determinative principles already referred to, the inquisitive and the acquisitive instincts, found a fortunate conjunction. the exploratory passion of the pioneer, directed in the interest of commercial enterprise, prepared the way for the great westward migration. the warlike disposition of the hardy backwoodsman, controlled by the exercise of military strategy, accomplished the conquest of the trans-alleghany country. fleeing from the traditional bonds of caste and aristocracy in england and europe, from economic boycott and civil oppression, from religious persecution and favoritism, many worthy members of society in the first quarter of the eighteenth century sought a haven of refuge in the "quackerthal" of william penn, with its trustworthy guarantees of free tolerance in religious faith and the benefits of representative self-government. from east devonshire in england came george boone, the grandfather of the great pioneer, and from wales came edward morgan, whose daughter sarah became the wife of squire boone, daniel's father. these were conspicuous representatives of the society of friends, drawn thither by the roseate representations of the great quaker, william penn, and by his advanced views on popular government and religious toleration. [ ] hither, too, from ireland, whither he had gone from denmark, came morgan bryan, settling in chester county, prior to ; and his children, william, joseph, james, and morgan, who more than half a century later gave the name to bryan's station in kentucky, were destined to play important rÃ�´les in the drama of westward migration. [ ] in september, , michael finley from county armagh, ireland, presumably accompanied by his brother archibald finley, settled in bucks county, pennsylvania. according to the best authorities, archibald finley was the father of john finley, or findlay as he signed himself, boone's guide and companion in his exploration of kentucky in - . [ ] to pennsylvania also came mordecai lincoln, great-grandson of samuel lincoln, who had emigrated from england to hingham, massachusetts, as early as . this mordecai lincoln, who in settled in chester county, pennsylvania, the great-great-grandfather of president lincoln, was the father of sarah lincoln, who was wedded to william boone, and of abraham lincoln, who married anne boone, william's first cousin. early settlers in pennsylvania were members of the hanks family, one of whom was the maternal grandfather of president lincoln. [ ] no one race or breed of men can lay claim to exclusive credit for leadership in the hinterland movement and the conquest of the west. yet one particular stock of people, the ulster scots, exhibited with most completeness and picturesqueness a group of conspicuous qualities and attitudes which we now recognize to be typical of the american character as molded by the conditions of frontier life. cautious, wary, and reserved, these scots concealed beneath a cool and calculating manner a relentlessness in reasoning power and an intensity of conviction which glowed and burned with almost fanatical ardor. strict in religious observance and deep in spiritual fervor, they never lost sight of the main chance, combining a shrewd practicality with a wealth of devotion. it has been happily said of them that they kept the sabbath and everything else they could lay their hands on. in the polity of these men religion and education went hand in hand; and they habitually settled together in communities in order that they might have teachers and preachers of their own choice and persuasion. in little-known letters and diaries of travelers and itinerant ministers may be found many quaint descriptions and faithful characterizations of the frontier settlers in their habits of life and of the scenes amidst which they labored. in a letter to edmund fanning, the cultured robin jones, agent of lord granville and attorney-general of north carolina, summons to view a piquant image of the western border and borderers: "the inhabitants are hospitable in their way, live in plenty and dirt, are stout, of great prowess in manly athletics; and, in private conversation, bold, impertinent, and vain. in the art of war (after the indian manner) they are well-skilled, are enterprising and fruitful of strategies; and, when in action, are as bold and intrepid as the ancient romans. the shawnese acknowledge them their superiors even in their own way of fighting.... [the land] may be truly called the land of the mountains, for they are so numerous that when you have reached the summit of one of them, you may see thousands of every shape that the imagination can suggest, seeming to vie with each other which should raise his lofty head to touch the clouds.... it seems to me that nature has been wanton in bestowing her blessings on that country." [ ] an excellent pen-picture of educational and cultural conditions in the backwoods of north carolina, by one of the early settlers in the middle of the century, exhibits in all their barren cheerlessness the hardships and limitations of life in the wilderness. the father of william few, the narrator, had trekked down from maryland and settled in orange county, some miles east of the little hamlet of hillsborough. "in that country at that time there were no schools, no churches or parsons, or doctors or lawyers; no stores, groceries or taverns, nor do i recollect during the first two years any officer, ecclesiastical, civil or military, except a justice of the peace, a constable and two or three itinerant preachers.... these people had few wants, and fewer temptations to vice than those who lived in more refined society, though ignorant. they were more virtuous and more happy.... a schoolmaster appeared and offered his services to teach the children of the neighborhood for twenty shillings each per year.... in that simple state of society money was but little known; the schoolmaster was the welcome guest of his pupil, fed at the bountiful table and clothed from the domestic loom.... in that country at that time there was great scarcity of books." [ ] the journals of itinerant ministers through the valley of virginia and the carolina piedmont zone yield precious mementoes of the people, their longing after the things of the spirit, and their pitiful isolation from the regular preaching of the gospel. these missionaries were true pioneers in this old southwest, ardent, dauntless, and heroic--carrying the word into remote places and preaching the gospel beneath the trees of the forest. in his journal ( - ), the rev. hugh mcaden, born in pennsylvania of scotch-irish parentage, a graduate of nassau hall ( ), makes the unconsciously humorous observation that wherever he found presbyterians he found people who "seemed highly pleased, and very desirous to hear the word"; whilst elsewhere he found either dissension and defection to baptist principles, or "no appearance of the life of religion." in the scotch-irish presbyterian settlements in what is now mecklenburg county, the cradle of american liberty, he found "pretty serious, judicious people" of the stamp of moses, william, and james alexander. while traveling in the upper country of south carolina, he relates with gusto the story of "an old gentleman who said to the governor of south carolina, when he was in those parts, in treaty with the cherokee indians that 'he had never seen a shirt, been in a fair, heard a sermon, or seen a minister in all his life.' upon which the governor promised to send him up a minister, that he might hear one sermon before he died." the minister came and preached; and this was all the preaching that had been heard in the upper part of south carolina before mr. mcaden's visit. [ ] such, then, were the rude and simple people in the back country of the old southwest--the deliberate and self-controlled english, the aggressive, land-mongering scotch-irish, the buoyant welsh, the thrifty germans, the debonair french, the impetuous irish, and the calculating scotch. the lives they led were marked by independence of spirit, democratic instincts, and a forthright simplicity. in describing the condition of the english settlers in the backwoods of virginia, one of their number, doddridge, says: "most of the articles were of domestic manufacture. there might have been incidentally a few things brought to the country for sale in a primitive way, but there was no store for general supply. the table furniture usually consisted of wooden vessels, either turned or coopered. iron forks, tin cups, etc., were articles of rare and delicate luxury. the food was of the most wholesome and primitive kind. the richest meat, the finest butter, and best meal that ever delighted man's palate were here eaten with a relish which health and labor only know. the hospitality of the people was profuse and proverbial." the circumstances of their lives compelled the pioneers to become self-sustaining. every immigrant was an adept at many trades. he built his own house, forged his own tools, and made his own clothes. at a very early date rifles were manufactured at the high shoals of the yadkin; squire boone, daniel's brother, was an expert gunsmith. the difficulty of securing food for the settlements forced every man to become a hunter and to scour the forest for wild game. thus the pioneer, through force of sheer necessity, became a dead shot--which stood him in good stead in the days of indian incursions and bloody retaliatory raids. primitive in their games, recreations, and amusements, which not infrequently degenerated into contests of savage brutality, the pioneers always set the highest premium upon personal bravery, physical prowess, and skill in manly sports. at all public gatherings, general musters, "vendues" or auctions, and even funerals, whisky flowed with extraordinary freedom. it is worthy of record that among the effects of the rev. alexander craighead, the famous teacher and organizer of presbyterianism in mecklenburg and the adjoining region prior to the revolution, were found a punch bowl and glasses. the frontier life, with its purifying and hardening influence, bred in these pioneers intellectual traits which constitute the basis of the american character. the single-handed and successful struggle with nature in the tense solitude of the forest developed a spirit of individualism, restive under control. on the other hand, the sense of sharing with others the arduous tasks and dangers of conquering the wilderness gave birth to a strong sense of solidarity and of human sympathy. with the lure of free lands ever before them, the pioneers developed a restlessness and a nervous energy, blended with a buoyancy of spirit, which are fundamentally american. yet this same untrammeled freedom occasioned a disregard for law and a defiance of established government which have exhibited themselves throughout the entire course of our history. initiative, self-reliance, boldness in conception, fertility in resource, readiness in execution, acquisitiveness, inventive genius, appreciation of material advantages--these, shot through with a certain fine idealism, genial human sympathy, and a high romantic strain--are the traits of the american national type as it emerged from the old southwest. chapter iii. the back country and the border far from the bustle of the world, they live in the most delightful climate, and richest soil imaginable; they are everywhere surrounded with beautiful prospects and sylvan scenes; lofty mountains, transparent streams, falls of water, rich valleys, and majestic woods; the whole interspersed with an infinite variety of flowering shrubs, constitute the landscape surrounding them; they are subject to few diseases; are generally robust; and live in perfect liberty; they are ignorant of want and acquainted with but few vices. their inexperience of the elegancies of life precludes any regret that they possess not the means of enjoying them, but they possess what many princes would give half their dominion for, health, content, and tranquillity of mind. --andrew burnaby: travels through north america. the two streams of ulstermen, the greater through philadelphia, the lesser through charleston, which poured into the carolinas toward the middle of the century, quickly flooded the back country. the former occupied the yadkin valley and the region to the westward, the latter the waxhaws and the anson county region to the northwest. the first settlers were known as the "pennsylvania irish," because they had first settled in pennsylvania after migrating from the north of ireland; while those who came by way of charleston were known as the "scotch-irish." the former, who had resided in pennsylvania long enough to be good judges of land, shrewdly made their settlements along the rivers and creeks. the latter, new arrivals and less experienced, settled on thinner land toward the heads of creeks and water courses. [ ] shortly prior to , morgan bryan, his wife martha, and eight children, together with other families of quakers from pennsylvania, settled upon a large tract of land on the northwest side of the opeckon river near winchester. [ ] a few years later they removed up the virginia valley to the big lick in the present roanoke county, intent upon pushing westward to the very outskirts of civilization. in the autumn of , leaving behind his brother william, who had followed him to roanoke county, morgan bryan removed with his family to the forks of the yadkin river. [ ] the morgans, with the exception of richard, who emigrated to virginia, remained in pennsylvania, spreading over philadelphia and bucks counties; while the hanks and lincoln families found homes in virginia--mordecai lincoln's son, john, the great-grandfather of president lincoln, removing from berks to the shenandoah valley in . on may , , squire boone, his wife sarah (morgan), and their eleven children--a veritable caravan, traveling like the patriarchs of old--started south; and tarried for a space, according to reliable tradition, on linville creek in the virginia valley. in they removed to the forks of the yadkin, and the following year received from lord granville three tracts of land, all situated in rowan county. [ ] about the hamlet of salisbury, which in consisted of seven or eight log houses and the court house, there now rapidly gathered a settlement of people marked by strong individuality, sturdy independence, and virile self-reliance. the boones and the bryans quickly accommodated themselves to frontier conditions and immediately began to take an active part in the local affairs of the county. upon the organization of the county court squire boone was chosen justice of the peace; and morgan bryan was soon appearing as foreman of juries and director in road improvements. the great trading path, leading from virginia to the towns of the catawbas and other southern indians, crossed the yadkin at the trading ford and passed a mile southeast of salisbury. above sapona town near the trading ford was swearing creek, which, according to constant and picturesque tradition, was the spot where the traders stopped to take a solemn oath never to reveal any unlawful proceedings that might occur during their sojourn among the indians. [ ] in his divertingly satirical "history of the dividing line" william byrd in thus speaks of this locality: "the soil is exceedingly rich on both sides the yadkin, abounding in rank grass and prodigiously large trees; and for plenty of fish, fowl and venison, is inferior to no part of the northern continent. there the traders commonly lie still for some days, to recruit their horses' flesh as well as to recover their own spirits." in this beautiful country happily chosen for settlement by squire boone--who erected his cabin on the east side of the yadkin about a mile and a quarter from alleman's, now boone's, ford--wild game abounded. buffaloes were encountered in eastern north carolina by byrd while running the dividing line; and in the upper country of south carolina three or four men with their dogs could kill fourteen to twenty buffaloes in a single day. [ ] deer and bears fell an easy prey to the hunter; wild turkeys filled every thicket; the watercourses teemed with beaver, otter, and muskrat, as well as with shad and other delicious fish. panthers, wildcats, and wolves overran the country; and the veracious brother joseph, while near the present wilkesboro, amusingly records: "the wolves wh. are not like those in germany, poland and lifland (because they fear men and don't easily come near) give us such music of six different cornets the like of wh. i have never heard in my life." [ ] so plentiful was the game that the wild deer mingled with the cattle grazing over the wide stretches of luxuriant grass. in the midst of this sylvan paradise grew up squire boone's son, daniel boone, a pennsylvania youth of english stock, quaker persuasion, and baptist proclivities. [ ] seen through a glorifying halo after the lapse of a century and three quarters, he rises before us a romantic figure, poised and resolute, simple, benign--as naÃ�¯ve and shy as some wild thing of the primeval forest--five feet eight inches in height, with broad chest and shoulders, dark locks, genial blue eyes arched with fair eyebrows, thin lips and wide mouth, nose of slightly roman cast, and fair, ruddy countenance. farming was irksome to this restless, nomadic spirit, who on the slightest excuse would exchange the plow and the grubbing-hoe for the long rifle and keen-edged hunting-knife. in a single day during the autumn season he would kill four or five deer; or as many bears as would make from two to three thousand pounds weight of bear-bacon. fascinated with the forest, he soon found profit as well as pleasure in the pursuit of game; and at excellent fixed prices he sold his peltries, most often at salisbury, some thirteen miles away, sometimes at the store of the old "dutchman," george hartman, on the yadkin, and occasionally at bethabara, the moravian town sixty-odd miles distant. skins were in such demand that they soon came to replace hard money, which was incredibly scarce in the back country, as a medium of exchange. upon one occasion a caravan from bethabara hauled three thousand pounds, upon another four thousand pounds, of dressed deerskins to charleston. [ ] so immense was this trade that the year after boone's arrival at the forks of yadkin thirty thousand deerskins were exported from the province of north carolina. we like to think that the young daniel boone was one of that band of whom brother joseph, while in camp on the catawba river (november , ) wrote: "there are many hunters about here, who live like indians, they kill many deer selling their hides, and thus live without much work." [ ] in this very class of professional hunters, living like indians, was thus bred the spirit of individual initiative and strenuous leadership in the great westward expansionist movement of the coming decade. an english traveler gives the following minute picture of the dress and accoutrement of the carolina backwoodsman: their whole dress is very singular, and not very materially different from that of the indians; being a hunting shirt, somewhat resembling a waggoner's frock, ornamented with a great many fringes, tied round the middle with a broad belt, much decorated also, in which is fastened a tomahawk, an instrument that serves every purpose of defence and convenience; being a hammer at one side and a sharp hatchet at the other; the shot bag and powder-horn, carved with a variety of whimsical figures and devices, hang from their necks over one shoulder; and on their heads a flapped hat, of a reddish hue, proceeding from the intensely hot beams of the sun. sometimes they wear leather breeches, made of indian dressed elk, or deer skins, but more frequently thin trowsers. on their legs they have indian boots, or leggings, made of coarse woollen cloth, that either are wrapped round loosely and tied with garters, or laced upon the outside, and always come better than half-way up the thigh. on their feet they sometimes wear pumps of their own manufacture, but generally indian moccossons, of their own construction also, which are made of strong elk's, or buck's skin, dressed soft as for gloves or breeches, drawn together in regular plaits over the toe, and lacing from thence round to the fore part of the middle of the ancle, without a seam in them, yet fitting close to the feet, and are indeed perfectly easy and pliant. their hunting, or rifle shirts, they have also died in a variety of colours, some yellow, others red, some brown, and many wear them quite white. [ ] no less unique and bizarre, though less picturesque, was the dress of the women of the region--in particular of surry county, north carolina, as described by general william lenoir: the women wore linsey [flax] petticoats and 'bed-gowns' [like a dressing-sack], and often went without shoes in the summer. some had bonnets and bed-gowns made of calico, but generally of linsey; and some of them wore men's hats. their hair was commonly clubbed. once, at a large meeting, i noticed there but two women that had on long gowns. one of these was laced genteelly, and the body of the other was open, and the tail thereof drawn up and tucked in her apron or coat-string. [ ] while daniel boone was quietly engaged in the pleasant pursuits of the chase, a vast world-struggle of which he little dreamed was rapidly approaching a crisis. for three quarters of a century this titanic contest between france and england for the interior of the continent had been waged with slowly accumulating force. the irrepressible conflict had been formally inaugurated at sault ste. marie in , when daumont de saint lusson, swinging aloft his sword, proclaimed the sovereignty of france over "all countries, rivers, lakes, and streams ... both those which have been discovered and those which may be discovered hereafter, in all their length and breadth, bounded on the one side by the seas of the north and of the west, and on the other by the south sea." just three months later, three hardy pioneers of virginia, despatched upon their arduous mission by colonel abraham wood in behalf of the english crown, had crossed the appalachian divide; and upon the banks of a stream whose waters slipped into the ohio to join the mississippi and the gulf of mexico, had carved the royal insignia upon the blazed trunk of a giant of the forest, the while crying: "long live charles the second, by the grace of god, king of england, scotland, france, ireland and virginia and of the territories thereunto belonging." la salle's dream of a new france in the heart of america was blotted out in his tragic death upon the banks of the river trinity ( ). yet his mantle was to fall in turn upon the square shoulders of le moyne d'iberville and of his brother--the good, the constant bienville, who after countless and arduous struggles laid firm the foundations of new orleans. in the precious treasury of margry we learn that on reaching rochelle after his first voyage in iberville in these prophetic words voices his faith: "if france does not immediately seize this part of america which is the most beautiful, and establish a colony which is strong enough to resist any which england may have, the english colonies (already considerable in carolina) will so thrive that in less than a hundred years they will be strong enough to seize all america." [ ] but the world-weary louis quatorze, nearing his end, quickly tired of that remote and unproductive colony upon the shores of the gulf, so industriously described in paris as a "terrestrial paradise"; and the "paternal providence of versailles" willingly yielded place to the monumental speculation of the great financier antoine crozat. in this paris of prolific promotion and amazed credulity, ripe for the colossal scheme of law, soon to blow to bursting-point the bubble of the mississippi, the very songs in the street echoed flamboyant, half-satiric panegyrics upon the new utopia, this mississippi land of cockayne: it's to-day no contribution to discuss the constitution and the spanish war's forgot for a new utopian spot; and the very latest phase is the mississippi craze. [ ] interest in the new colony led to a great development of southwesterly trade from new france. already the french coureurs de bois were following the water route from the illinois to south carolina. jean couture, a deserter from the service in new france, journeyed over the ohio and tennessee rivers to that colony, and was known as "the greatest trader and traveller amongst the indians for more than twenty years." in young charles charleville accompanied an old trader from crozat's colony on the gulf to the great salt-springs on the cumberland, where a post for trading with the shawanoes had already been established by the french. [ ] but the british were preparing to capture this trade as early as , when tonti warned villermont that carolinians were already established on a branch of the ohio. four years later, nicholson, governor of maryland, was urging trade with the indians of the interior in the effort to displace the french. at an early date the coast colonies began to trade with the indian tribes of the back country: the catawbas of the yadkin valley; the cherokees, whose towns were scattered through tennessee; the chickasaws, to the westward in northern mississippi; and the choctaws farther to the southward. even before the beginning of the eighteenth century, when the south carolina settlements extended scarcely twenty miles from the coast, english traders had established posts among the indian tribes four hundred miles to the west of charleston. following the sporadic trading of individuals from virginia with the inland indians, the heavily laden caravans of william byrd were soon regularly passing along the great trading path from virginia to the towns of the catawbas and other interior tribes of the carolinas, delighting the easily captivated fancy and provoking the cupidity of the red men with "guns, powder, shot, hatchets (which the indians call tomahawks), kettles, red and blue planes, duffields, stroudwater blankets, and some cutlary wares, brass rings and other trinkets." [ ] in pennsylvania, george croghan, the guileful diplomat, who was emissary from the council to the ohio indians ( ), had induced "all-most all the ingans in the woods" to declare against the french; and was described by christopher gist as a "meer idol among his countrymen, the irish traders." against these advances of british trade and civilization, the french for four decades had artfully struggled, projecting tours of exploration into the vast medial valley of the continent and constructing a chain of forts and trading-posts designed to establish their claims to the country and to hold in check the threatened english thrust from the east. soon the wilderness ambassador of empire, cÃ�©loron de bienville, was despatched by the far-visioned galissoniÃ�¨re at quebec to sow broadcast with ceremonial pomp in the heart of america the seeds of empire, grandiosely graven plates of lasting lead, in defiant yet futile symbol of the asserted sovereignty of france. thus threatened in the vindication of the rights of their colonial sea-to-sea charters, the english threw off the lethargy with which they had failed to protect their traders, and in grants to the ohio and loyal land companies began resolutely to form plans looking to the occupation of the interior. but the french seized the english trading-house at venango which they converted into a fort; and virginia's protest, conveyed by a calm and judicious young man, a surveyor, george washington, availed not to prevent the french from seizing captain trent's hastily erected military post at the forks of the ohio and constructing there a formidable work, named fort duquesne. washington, with his expeditionary force sent to garrison captain trent's fort, defeated jumonville and his small force near great meadows (may, ); but soon after he was forced to surrender fort necessity to coulon de villiers. the titanic struggle, fittingly precipitated in the backwoods of the old southwest, was now on--a struggle in which the resolute pioneers of these backwoods first seriously measured their strength with the french and their copper-hued allies, and learned to surpass the latter in their own mode of warfare. the portentous conflict, destined to assure the eastern half of the continent to great britain, is a grim, prophetic harbinger of the mighty movement of the next quarter of a century into the twilight zone of the trans-alleghany territory. chapter iv. the indian war all met in companies with their wives and children, and set about building little fortifications, to defend themselves from such barbarian and inhuman enemies, whom they concluded would be let loose upon them at pleasure. --the reverend hugh mcaden: diary, july, . long before the actual outbreak of hostilities powerful forces were gradually converging to produce a clash between the aggressive colonials and the crafty indians. as the settlers pressed farther westward into the domain of the red men, arrogantly grazing their stock over the cherished hunting-grounds of the cherokees, the savages, who were already well disposed toward the french, began to manifest a deep indignation against the british colonists because of this callous encroachment upon their territory. during the sporadic forays by scattered bands of northern indians upon the catawbas and other tribes friendly to the pioneers the isolated settlements at the back part of the carolinas suffered rude and sanguinary onslaughts. in the summer of a party of northern indians warring in the french interest made their appearance in rowan county, which had just been organized, and committed various depredations upon the scattered settlements. to repel these attacks a band of the catawbas sallied forth, encountered a detached party of the enemy, and slew five of their number. among the spoils, significantly enough, were silver crucifixes, beads, looking-glasses, tomahawks and other implements of war, all of french manufacture. [ ] intense rivalry for the good will of the near-by southern tribes existed between virginia and south carolina. in strong remonstrance against the alleged attempt of governor dinwiddie of virginia to alienate the cherokees, catawbas, muscogees, and chickasaws from south carolina and to attach them to virginia, governor glen of south carolina made pungent observations to dinwiddie: "south carolina is a weak frontier colony, and in case of invasion by the french would be their first object of attack. we have not much to fear, however, while we retain the affection of the indians around us; but should we forfeit that by any mismanagement on our part, or by the superior address of the french, we are in a miserable situation. the cherokees alone have several thousand gunmen well acquainted with every inch of the province ... their country is the key to carolina." by a treaty concluded at saluda (november , ), glen promised to build the cherokees a fort near the lower towns, for the protection of themselves and their allies; and the cherokees on their part agreed to become the subjects of the king of great britain and hold their lands under him. [ ] this fort, erected this same year on the headwaters of the savannah, within gunshot distance of the important indian town of keowee, was named fort prince george. "it is a square," says the founder of the fort (governor glen to the board of trade, august , ), "with regular bastions and four ravelins it is near two hundred foot from salient angle to salient angle and is made of earth taken out of the ditch, secured with fachines and well rammed with a banquet on the inside for the men to stand upon when they fire over, the ravelins are made of posts of lightwood which is very durable, they are ten foot in length sharp pointed three foot and a half in the ground." [ ] the dire need for such a fort in the back country was tragically illustrated by the sudden onslaught upon the "house of john gutry & james anshers" in york county by a party of sixty french indians (december , ), who brutally murdered sixteen of the twenty-one persons present, and carried off as captives the remaining five. [ ] at the outbreak of the french and indian war in north carolina voted twelve thousand pounds for the raising of troops and several thousand pounds additional for the construction of forts--a sum considerably larger than that voted by virginia. a regiment of two hundred and fifty men was placed under the command of colonel james innes of the cape fear section; and the ablest officer under him was the young irishman from the same section, lieutenant hugh waddell. on june , , dinwiddie appointed innes, his close friend, commander-in-chief of all the forces against the french; and immediately after the disaster at great meadows (july, ), innes took command. within two months the supplies for the north carolina troops were exhausted; and as virginia then failed to furnish additional supplies, colonel innes had no recourse but to disband his troops and permit them to return home. appointed governor of fort cumberland by general braddock, he was in command there while braddock advanced on his disastrous march. the lesson of braddock's defeat (july , ) was memorable in the history of the old southwest. well might braddock exclaim with his last breath: "who would have thought it? ... we shall know better how to deal with them another time." led on by the reckless and fiery beaujeu, wearing an indian gorget about his neck, the savages from the protection of trees and rough defenses, a prepared ambuscade, poured a galling fire into the compact divisions of the english, whose scarlet coats furnished ideal targets. the obstinacy of the british commanders in refusing to permit their troops to fight indian fashion was suicidal; for as herman alrichs wrote governor morris of pennsylvania (july , ): "... the french and indians had cast an intrenchment across the road before our army which they discovered not untill the [y] came close up to it, from thence and both sides of the road the enemy kept a constant fireing on them, our army being so confused, they could not fight, and they would not be admitted by the genl or sir john st. clair, to break thro' their ranks and take behind trees." [ ] daniel boone, who went from north carolina as a wagoner in the company commanded by edward brice dobbs, was on the battle-field; but dobbs's company at the time was scouting in the woods. when the fierce attack fell upon the baggage train, boone succeeded in effecting his escape only by cutting the traces of his team and fleeing on one of the horses. to his dying day boone continued to censure braddock's conduct, and reprehended especially his fatal neglect to employ strong flank-guards and a sufficient number of provincial scouts thoroughly acquainted with the wilderness and all the wiles and strategies of savage warfare. for a number of months following braddock's defeat there was a great rush of the frightened people southward. in a letter to dinwiddie, washington expresses the apprehension that augusta, frederick, and hampshire county will soon be depopulated, as the whole back country is in motion toward the southern colonies. during this same summer governor arthur dobbs of north carolina made a tour of exploration through the western part of the colony, seeking a site for a fort to guard the frontier. [ ] the frontier company of fifty men which was to garrison the projected fort was placed under the command of hugh waddell, now promoted to the rank of captain, though only twenty-one years old. in addition to waddell's company, armed patrols were required for the protection of the rowan county frontier; and during the summer indian alarms were frequent at the moravian village of bethabara, whose inhabitants had heard with distress on march st of the slaughter of eleven moravians on the mahoni and of the ruin of gnadenhÃ�¼tten. many of the settlers in the outlying districts of rowan fled for safety to the refuge of the little village; and frequently every available house, every place of temporary abode was filled with panic-stricken refugees. so persistent were the depredations of the indians and so alarmed were the scattered rowan settlers by the news of the murders and the destruction of vaux's fort in virginia (june , ) that at a conference on july th the moravians "decided to protect our houses with palisades, and make them safe before the enemy should invade our tract or attack us, for if the people were all going to retreat we would be the last left on the frontier and the first point of attack." by july d, they had constructed a strong defense for their settlement, afterward called the "dutch fort" by the indians. the principal structure was a stockade, triangular in plan, some three hundred feet on a side, enclosing the principal buildings of the settlement; and the gateway was guarded by an observation tower. the other defense was a stockade embracing eight houses at the mill some distance away, around which a small settlement had sprung up. [ ] during the same year the fort planned by dobbs was erected upon the site he had chosen--between third and fourth creeks; and the commissioners richard caswell and francis brown, sent out to inspect the fort, made the following picturesque report to the assembly (december , ): that they had likewise viewed the state of fort dobbs, and found it to be a good and substantial building of the dimentions following (that is to say) the oblong square fifty three feet by forty, the opposite angles twenty four feet and twenty-two in height twenty four and a half feet as by the plan annexed appears, the thickness of the walls which are made of oak logs regularly diminished from sixteen inches to six, it contains three floors and there may be discharged from each floor at one and the same time about one hundred musketts the same is beautifully scituated in the fork of fourth creek a branch of the yadkin river. and that they also found under command of capt hugh waddel forty six effective men officers and soldiers ... the said officers and soldiers appearing well and in good spirits. [ ] as to the erection of a fort on the tennessee, promised the cherokees by south carolina, difficulties between the governor of that province and of virginia in regard to matters of policy and the proportionate share of expenses made effective coÃ�¶peration between the two colonies well-nigh impossible. glen, as we have seen, had resented dinwiddie's efforts to win the south carolina indians over to virginia's interest. and dinwiddie had been very indignant when the force promised him by the indians to aid general braddock did not arrive, attributing this defection in part to glen's negotiations for a meeting with the chieftains and in part to the influence of the south carolina traders, who kept the indians away by hiring them to go on long hunts for furs and skins. but there was no such contention between virginia and north carolina. dinwiddie and dobbs arranged (november , ) to send a commission from these colonies to treat with the cherokees and the catawbas. virginia sent two commissioners, colonel william byrd, third of that name, and colonel peter randolph; while north carolina sent one, captain hugh waddell. salisbury, north carolina, was the place of rendezvous. the treaty with the catawbas was made at the catawba town, presumably the village opposite the mouth of sugaw creek, in york county, south carolina, on february - , ; that with the cherokees on broad river, north carolina, march - . as a result of the negotiations and after the receipt of a present of goods, the catawbas agreed to send forty warriors to aid virginia within forty days; and the cherokees, in return for presents and virginia's promise to contribute her proportion toward the erection of a strong fort, undertook to send four hundred warriors within forty days, "as soon as the said fort shall be built." virginia and north carolina thus wisely coÃ�¶perated to "straighten the path" and "brighten the chain" between the white and the red men, in important treaties which have largely escaped the attention of historians. [ ] on may , , a conference was held at salisbury between king heygler and warriors of the catawba nation on the one side and chief justice henley, doubtless attended by captain waddell and his frontier company, on the other. king heygler, following the lead set by the cherokees, petitioned the governor of north carolina to send the catawbas some ammunition and to "build us a fort for securing our old men, women and children when we turn out to fight the enemy on their coming." the chief justice assured the king that the catawbas would receive a necessary supply of ammunition (one hundred pounds of gunpowder and four hundred pounds of lead were later sent them) and promised to urge with the governor their request to have a fort built as soon as possible. pathos not unmixed with dry humor tinges the eloquent appeal of good old king heygler, ever the loyal friend of the whites, at this conference: i desire a stop may be put to the selling of strong liquors by the white people to my people especially near the indian nation. if the white people make strong drink, let them sell it to one another, or drink it in their own families. this will avoid a great deal of mischief which otherwise will happen from my people getting drunk and quarrelling with the white people. i have no strong prisons like you to confine them for it. our only way is to put them under ground and all these (pointing proudly to his warriors) will be ready to do that to those who shall deserve it. [ ] in response to this request, the sum of four thousand pounds was appropriated by the north carolina assembly for the erection of "a fort on our western frontier to protect and secure the catawbas" and for the support of two companies of fifty men each to garrison this and another fort building on the sea coast. the commissioners appointed for the purpose recommended (december , ) a site for the fort "near the catawba nation"; and on january , , governor dobbs reported: "we are now building a fort in the midst of their towns at their own request." the fort thereupon begun must have stood near the mouth of the south fork of the catawba river, as dobbs says it was in the "midst" of their towns, which are situated a "few miles north and south of Ã�°" and might properly be included within a circle of thirty miles radius. [ ] during the succeeding months many depredations were committed by the indians upon the exposed and scattered settlements. had it not been for the protection afforded by all these forts, by the militia companies under alexander osborne of rowan and nathaniel alexander of anson, and by a special company of patrollers under green and moore, the back settlers who had been so outrageously "pilfered" by the indians would have "retired from the frontier into the inner settlements." [ ] chapter v. in defense of civilization we give thanks and praise for the safety and peace vouchsafed us by our heavenly father in these times of war. many of our neighbors, driven hither and yon like deer before wild beasts, came to us for shelter, yet the accustomed order of our congregation life was not disturbed, no, not even by the more than indians who at sundry times passed by, stopping for a day at a time and being fed by us. --wachovia community diary, with commendable energy and expedition dinwiddie and dobbs, acting in concert, initiated steps for keeping the engagements conjointly made by the two colonies with the cherokees and the catawbas in the spring and summer of . enlisting sixty men, "most of them artificers, with tools and provisions," major andrew lewis proceeded in the late spring to echota in the cherokee country. here during the hot summer months they erected the virginia fort on the path from virginia, upon the northern bank of the little tennessee, nearly opposite the indian town of echota and about twenty-five miles southwest of knoxville. [ ] while the fort was in process of construction, the cherokees were incessantly tampered with by emissaries from the nuntewees and the savannahs in the french interest, and from the french themselves at the alibamu fort. so effective were these machinations, supported by extravagant promises and doubtless rich bribes, that the cherokees soon were outspokenly expressing their desire for a french fort at great tellico. dinwiddie welcomed the departure from america of governor glen of south carolina, who in his opinion had always acted contrary to the king's interest. from the new governor, william henry lyttelton, who arrived in charleston on june , , he hoped to secure effective coÃ�¶peration in dealing with the cherokees and the catawbas. this hope was based upon lyttelton's recognition, as stated in dinwiddie's words, of the "necessity of strict union between the whole colonies, with't any of them considering their particular interest separate from the general good of the whole." after constructing the fort "with't the least assistance from south carolina," major lewis happened by accident upon a grand council being held in echota in september. at that time he discovered to his great alarm that the machinations of the french had already produced the greatest imaginable change in the sentiment of the cherokees. captain raymond demere of the provincials, with two hundred english troops, had arrived to garrison the fort; but the head men of all the upper towns were secretly influenced to agree to write a letter to captain demere, ordering him to return immediately to charleston with all the troops under his command. at the grand council, atta-kulla-kulla, the great cherokee chieftain, passionately declared to the head men, who listened approvingly, that "as to the few soldiers of captain demere that was there, he would take their guns, and give them to his young men to hunt with and as to their clothes they would soon be worn out and their skins would be tanned, and be of the same colour as theirs, and that they should live among them as slaves." with impressive dignity major lewis rose and earnestly pleaded for the observance of the terms of the treaty solemnly negotiated the preceding march. in response, the crafty and treacherous chieftains desired lewis to tell the governor of virginia that "they had taken up the hatchet against all nations that were enemies to the english"; but lewis, an astute student of indian psychology, rightly surmised that all their glib professions of friendship and assistance were "only to put a gloss on their knavery." [ ] so it proved; for instead of the four hundred warriors promised under the treaty for service in virginia, the cherokees sent only seven warriors, accompanied by three women. although the cherokees petitioned virginia for a number of men to garrison the virginia fort, dinwiddie postponed sending the fifty men provided for by the virginia assembly until he could reassure himself in regard to the "behaviour and intention" of the treacherous indian allies. this proved to be a prudent decision; for not long after its erection the virginia fort was destroyed by the indians. whether on account of the dissatisfaction expressed by the cherokees over the erection of the virginia fort or because of a recognition of the mistaken policy of garrisoning a work erected by virginia with troops sent from charleston, south carolina immediately proceeded to build another stronghold on the southern bank of the tennessee at the mouth of tellico river, some seven miles from the site of the virginia fort; and here were posted twelve great guns, brought thither at immense labor through the wilderness. [ ] to this fort, named fort loudoun in honor of lord loudoun, then commander-in-chief of all the english forces in america, the indians allured artisans by donations of land; and during the next three or four years a little settlement sprang up there. the frontiers of virginia suffered most from the incursions of hostile indians during the fourteen months following may , . in july, the rev. hugh mcaden records that he preached in virginia on a day set apart for fasting and prayer "on account of the wars and many murders, committed by the savage indians on the back inhabitants." on july th a large party of shawano indians fell upon the new river settlement and wiped it out of existence. william ingles was absent at the time of the raid; and mrs. ingles, who was captured, afterward effected her escape. [ ] the following summer (june , ), fort vaux on the headwaters of the roanoke, under the command of captain john smith, was captured by about one hundred french and indians, who burnt the fort, killed john smith junior, john robinson, john tracey and john ingles, wounded four men, and captured twenty-two men, women, and children. among the captured was the famous mrs. mary ingles, whose husband, john ingles, was killed; but after being "carried away into captivity, amongst whom she was barbarously treated," according to her own statement, she finally escaped and returned to virginia. [ ] the frontier continued to be infested by marauding bands of french and indians; and dinwiddie gloomily confessed to dobbs (july d): "i apprehend that we shall always be harrass'd with fly'g parties of these banditti unless we form an expedit'n ag'st them, to attack 'em in y'r towns." [ ] such an expedition, known as the sandy river expedition, had been sent out in february to avenge the massacre of the new river settlers; but the enterprise engaged in by about four hundred virginians and cherokees under major andrew lewis and captain richard pearis, proved a disastrous failure. not a single indian was seen; and the party suffered extraordinary hardships and narrowly escaped starvation. [ ] in conformity with his treaty obligations with the catawbas, governor dobbs commissioned captain hugh waddell to erect the fort promised the catawbas at the spot chosen by the commissioners near the mouth of the south fork of the catawba river. this fort, for which four thousand pounds had been appropriated, was for the most part completed by midsummer, . but owing, it appears, both to the machinations of the french and to the intermeddling of the south carolina traders, who desired to retain the trade of the catawbas for that province, oroloswa, the catawba king heygler, sent a "talk" to governor lyttelton, requesting that north carolina desist from the work of construction and that no fort be built except by south carolina. accordingly, governor dobbs ordered captain waddell to discharge the workmen (august , ); [ ] and every effort was made for many months thereafter to conciliate the catawbas, erstwhile friends of north carolina. the catawba fort erected by north carolina was never fully completed; and several years later south carolina, having succeeded in alienating the catawbas from north carolina, which colony had given them the best possible treatment, built for them a fort [ ] at the mouth of line creek on the east bank of the catawba river. in the spring and summer of the long-expected indian allies arrived in virginia, as many as four hundred by may--cherokees, catawbas, tuscaroras, and nottaways. but dinwiddie was wholly unable to use them effectively; and in order to provide amusement for them, he directed that they should go "a scalping" with the whites--"a barbarous method of war," frankly acknowledged the governor, "introduced by the french, which we are oblidged to follow in our own defense." most of the indian allies discontentedly returned home before the end of the year, but the remainder waited until the next year, to take part in the campaign against fort duquesne. three north carolina companies, composed of trained soldiers and hardy frontiersmen, went through this campaign under the command of major hugh waddell, the "washington of north carolina." long of limb and broad of chest, powerful, lithe, and active, waddell was an ideal leader for this arduous service, being fertile in expedient and skilful in the employment of indian tactics. with true provincial pride governor dobbs records that waddell "had great honor done him, being employed in all reconnoitring parties, and dressed and acted as an indian; and his sergeant, rogers, took the only indian prisoner, who gave mr. forbes certain intelligence of the forces in fort duquesne, upon which they resolved to proceed." this apparently trivial incident is remarkable, in that it proved to be the decisive factor in a campaign that was about to be abandoned. the information in regard to the state of the garrison at fort duquesne, secured from the indian, for the capture of whom two leading officers had offered a reward of two hundred and fifty pounds, emboldened forbes to advance rather than to retire. upon reaching the fort (november th), he found it abandoned by the enemy. sergeant rogers never received the reward promised by general forbes and the other english officer; but some time afterward he was compensated by a modest sum from the colony of north carolina. [ ] a series of unfortunate occurrences, chiefly the fault of the whites, soon resulted in the precipitation of a terrible indian outbreak. a party of cherokees, returning home in may, , seized some stray horses on the frontier of virginia--never dreaming of any wrong, says an old historian, as they saw it frequently done by the whites. the owners of the horses, hastily forming a party, went in pursuit of the indians and killed twelve or fourteen of the number. the relatives of the slain indians, greatly incensed, vowed vengeance upon the whites. [ ] nor was the tactless conduct of forbes calculated to quiet this resentment; for when atta-kulla-kulla and nine other chieftains deserted in disgust at the treatment accorded them, they were pursued by forbes's orders, apprehended and disarmed. [ ] this rude treatment, coupled with the brutal and wanton murder of some cherokee hunters a little earlier, by an irresponsible band of virginians under captain robert wade, still further aggravated the indians. [ ] incited by the french, who had fled to the southward after the fall of fort duquesne, parties of bloodthirsty young indians rushed down upon the settlements and left in their path death and desolation along the frontiers of the carolinas. [ ] on the upper branch of the yadkin and below the south yadkin near fort dobbs twenty-two whites fell in swift succession before the secret onslaughts of the savages from the lower cherokee towns. [ ] many of the settlers along the yadkin fled to the carolina fort at bethabara and the stockade at the mill; and the sheriff of rowan county suffered siege by the cherokees, in his home, until rescued by a detachment under brother loesch from bethabara. while many families took refuge in fort dobbs, frontiersmen under captain morgan bryan ranged through the mountains to the west of salisbury and guarded the settlements from the hostile incursions of the savages. so gravely alarmed were the rowan settlers, compelled by the indians to desert their planting and crops, that colonel harris was despatched post-haste for aid to cape fear, arriving there on july st. with strenuous energy captain waddell, then stationed in the east, rushed two companies of thirty men each to the rescue, sending by water-carriage six swivel guns and ammunition on before him; and these reinforcements brought relief at last to the harassed rowan frontiers. [ ] during the remainder of the year, the borders were kept clear by bold and tireless rangers--under the leadership of expert indian fighters of the stamp of griffith rutherford and morgan bryan. when the cherokee warriors who had wrought havoc along the north carolina border in april arrived at their town of settiquo, they proudly displayed the twenty-two scalps of the slain rowan settlers. upon the demand for these scalps by captain demere at fort loudon and under direction of atta-kulla-kulla, the settiquo warriors surrendered eleven of the scalps to captain demere who, according to custom in time of peace, buried them. new murders on pacolet and along the virginia path, which occurred shortly afterward, caused gloomy forebodings; and it was plain, says a contemporary gazette, that "the lower cherokees were not satisfied with the murder of the rowan settlers, but intended further mischief." [ ] on october st and again on october st, governor dobbs received urgent requests from governor lyttelton, asking that the north carolina provincials and militia coÃ�¶perate to bring him assistance. although there was no law requiring the troops to march out of the province and the exposed frontiers of north carolina sorely needed protection, waddell, now commissioned colonel, assembled a force of five small companies and marched to the aid of governor lyttelton. but early in january, , while on the march, waddell received a letter from lyttelton, informing him that the assistance was not needed and that a treaty of peace had been negotiated with the cherokees. [ ] chapter vi. crushing the cherokees thus ended the cherokee war, which was among the last humbling strokes given to the expiring power of france in north america. --hewatt: an historical account of the rise and progress of the colonies of south carolina and georgia. . governor lyttelton's treaty of "peace," negotiated with the cherokees at the close of , was worse than a crime: it was a crass and hideous blunder. his domineering attitude and tyrannical treatment of these indians had aroused the bitterest animosity. yet he did not realize that it was no longer safe to trust their word. no sooner did the governor withdraw his army from the borders than the cunning cherokees, whose passions had been inflamed by what may fairly be called the treacherous conduct of lyttelton, rushed down with merciless ferocity upon the innocent and defenseless families on the frontier. on february , , while a large party (including the family of patrick calhoun), numbering in all about one hundred and fifty persons, were removing from the long cane settlement to augusta, they were suddenly attacked by a hundred mounted cherokees, who slaughtered about fifty of them. after the massacre, many of the children were found helplessly wandering in the woods. one man alone carried to augusta no less than nine of the pitiful innocents, some horribly mutilated with the tomahawk, others scalped, and all yet alive. atrocities defying description continued to be committed, and many people were slain. the cherokees, under the leadership of si-lou-ee, or the young warrior of estatoe, the round o, tiftoe, and others, were baffled in their persistent efforts to capture fort prince george. on february th the crafty oconostota appeared before the fort and under the pretext of desiring some white man to accompany him on a visit to the governor on urgent business, lured the commander, lieutenant coytomore, and two attendants to a conference outside the gates. at a preconceived signal a volley of shots rang out; the two attendants were wounded, and lieutenant coytomore, riddled with bullets, fell dead. enraged by this act of treachery, the garrison put to death the indian hostages within. during the abortive attack upon the fort, oconostota, unaware of the murder of the hostages, was heard shouting above the din of battle: "fight strong, and you shall be relieved." [ ] now began the dark days along the rowan border, which were so sorely to test human endurance. many refugees fortified themselves in the different stockades; and colonel hugh waddell with his redoubtable frontier company of indian-fighters awaited the onslaught of the savages, who were reported to have passed through the mountain defiles and to be approaching along the foot-hills. the story of the investment of fort dobbs and the splendidly daring sortie of waddell and bailey is best told in waddell's report to governor dobbs (february , ): for several days i observed a small party of indians were constantly about the fort, i sent out several parties after them to no purpose, the evening before last between & o'clock i found by the dogs making an uncommon noise there must be a party nigh a spring which we sometimes use. as my garrison is but small, and i was apprehensive it might be a scheme to draw out the garrison, i took our capt. bailie who with myself and party made up ten: we had not marched yds. from the fort when we were attacked by at least or indians. i had given my party orders not to fire until i gave the word, which they punctually observed: we recd the indians' fire: when i perceived they had almost all fired, i ordered my party to fire which we did not further than steps each loaded with a bullet and buck shot, they had nothing to cover them as they were advancing either to tomahawk us or make us prisoners: they found the fire very hot from so small a number which a good deal confused them: i then ordered my party to retreat, as i found the instant our skirmish began another party had attacked the fort, upon our reinforcing the garrison the indians were soon repulsed with i am sure a considerable loss, from what i myself saw as well as those i can confide in they cou'd not have less than or killed and wounded; the next morning we found a great deal of blood and one dead whom i suppose they cou'd not find in the night. on my side i had men wounded one of whom i am afraid will die as he is scalped, the other is in way of recovery, and one boy killed near the fort whom they durst not advance to scalp. i expected they would have paid me another visit last night, as they attack all fortifications by night, but find they did not like their reception. [ ] alarmed by waddell's "offensive-defensive," the indians abandoned the siege. robert campbell, waddell's ranger, who was scalped in this engagement, subsequently recovered from his wounds and was recompensed by the colony with the sum of twenty pounds. [ ] in addition to the frontier militia, four independent companies were now placed under waddell's command. companies of volunteers scoured the woods in search of the lurking indian foe. these rangers, who were clad in hunting-shirts and buckskin leggings, and who employed indian tactics in fighting, were captained by such hardy leaders as the veteran morgan bryan, the intrepid griffith rutherford, the german partisan, martin phifer (pfeiffer), and anthony hampton, the father of general wade hampton. they visited periodically a chain of "forest castles" erected by the settlers--extending all the way from fort dobbs and the moravian fortifications in the wachau to samuel stalnaker's stockade on the middle fork of the holston in virginia. about the middle of march, thirty volunteer rowan county rangers encountered a band of forty cherokees, who fortified themselves in a deserted house near the catawba river. the famous scout and hunter, john perkins, assisted by one of his bolder companions, crept up to the house and flung lighted torches upon the roof. one of the indians, as the smoke became suffocating and the flames burned hotter, exclaimed: "better for one to die bravely than for all to perish miserably in the flames," and darting forth, dashed rapidly hither and thither, in order to draw as many shots as possible. this act of superb self-sacrifice was successful; and while the rifles of the whites, who riddled the brave indian with balls, were empty, the other savages made a wild dash for liberty. seven fell thus under the deadly rain of bullets; but many escaped. ten of the indians, all told, lost their scalps, for which the volunteer rangers were subsequently paid one hundred pounds by the colony of north carolina. [ ] beaten back from fort dobbs, sorely defeated along the catawba, hotly pursued by the rangers, the cherokees continued to lurk in the shadows of the dense forests, and at every opportunity to fall suddenly upon wayfaring settlers and isolated cabins remote from any stronghold. on march th william fish, his son, and thompson, a companion, were riding along the "trace," in search of provisions for a group of families fortified on the yadkin, when a flight of arrows hurtled from the cane-brake, and fish and his son fell dead. although pierced with two arrows, one in the hip and one clean through his body, thompson escaped upon his fleet horse; and after a night of ghastly suffering finally reached the carolina fort at bethabara. the good dr. bonn, by skilfully extracting the barbed shafts from his body, saved thompson's life. the pious moravians rejoiced over the recovery of the brave messenger, whose sensational arrival gave them timely warning of the close proximity of the indians. while feeding their cattle, settlers were shot from ambush by the lurking foe; and on march th, a family barricaded within a burning house, which they were defending with desperate courage, were rescued in the nick of time by the militia. no episode from fenimore cooper's leatherstocking tales surpasses in melancholy interest harry hicks's heroic defense of his little fort on bean island creek. surrounded by the indians, hicks and his family took refuge within the small outer palisade around his humble home. fighting desperately against terrific odds, he was finally driven from his yard into his log cabin, which he continued to defend with dauntless courage. with every shot he tried to send a redskin to the happy hunting-grounds; and it was only after his powder was exhausted that he fell, fighting to the last, beneath the deadly tomahawk. so impressed were the indians by his bravery that they spared the life of his wife and his little son; and these were afterward rescued by waddell when he marched to the cherokee towns in . [ ] the kindly moravians had always entertained with generous hospitality the roving bands of cherokees, who accordingly held them in much esteem and spoke of bethabara as "the dutch fort, where there are good people and much bread." but now, in these dread days, the truth of their daily text was brought forcibly home to the moravians: "neither nehemiah nor his brethren put off their clothes, but prayed as they watched." with bible in one hand and rifle in the other, the inhabitant of wachovia sternly marched to religious worship. no puritan of bleak new england ever showed more resolute courage or greater will to defend the hard-won outpost of civilization than did the pious moravian of the wachau. at the new settlement of bethania on easter day, more than four hundred souls, including sixty rangers, listened devoutly to the eloquent sermon of bishop spangenberg concerning the way of salvation--the while their arms, stacked without the gemein haus, were guarded by the watchful sentinel. on march th the watchmen at bethania with well-aimed shots repelled the indians, whose hideous yells of baffled rage sounded down the wind like "the howling of a hundred wolves." religion was no protection against the savages; for three ministers journeying to the present site of salem were set upon by the red men--one escaping, another suffering capture, and the third, a baptist, losing his life. a little later word came to fort dobbs that john long and robert gillespie of salisbury had been shot from ambush and scalped--long having been pierced with eight bullets and gillespie with seven. [ ] there is one beautiful incident recorded by the moravians, which has a truly symbolic significance. while the war was at its height, a strong party of cherokees, who had lost their chief, planned in retaliation to attack bethabara. "when they went home," sets forth the moravian diary, "they said they had been to a great town, where there were a great many people, where the bells rang often, and during the night, time after time, a horn was blown, so that they feared to attack the town and had taken no prisoners." the trumpet of the watchman, announcing the passing of the hour, had convinced the indians that their plans for attack were discovered; and the regular evening bell, summoning the pious to prayer, rang in the stricken ears of the red men like the clamant call to arms. following the retirement from office of governor lyttelton, lieutenant-governor bull proceeded to prosecute the war with vigor. on april , , twelve hundred men under colonel archibald montgomerie arrived at charleston, with instructions to strike an immediate blow and to relieve fort loudon, then invested by the cherokees. with his own force, two hundred and ninety-five south carolina rangers, forty picked men of the new "levies," and "a good number of guides," montgomerie moved from fort ninety-six on may th. on the first of june, crossing twelve-mile river, montgomerie began the campaign in earnest, devastating and burning every indian village in the valley of keowee, killing and capturing more than a hundred of the cherokees, and destroying immense stores of corn. receiving no reply to his summons to the cherokees of the middle and upper towns to make peace or suffer like treatment, montgomerie took up his march from fort prince george on june th, resolved to carry out his threat. on the morning of the th, he was drawn into an ambuscade within six miles of et-chow-ee, eight miles south of the present franklin, north carolina, a mile and a half below smith's bridge, and was vigorously attacked from dense cover by some six hundred and thirty warriors led by si-lou-ee. fighting with indian tactics, the provincial rangers under patrick calhoun particularly distinguished themselves; and the blood-curdling yells of the painted savages were responded to by the wild huzzas of the kilted highlanders who, waving their scotch bonnets, impetuously charged the redskins and drove them again and again from their lurking-places. nevertheless montgomerie lost from eighty to one hundred in killed and wounded, while the loss of the indians was supposed to be about half the loss of the whites. unable to care for his wounded and lacking the means of removing his baggage, montgomerie silently withdrew his forces. in so doing, he acknowledged defeat, since he was compelled to abandon his original intention of relieving the beleaguered garrison of fort loudon. captain demere and his devoted little band, who had been resolutely holding out, were now left to their tragic fate. after the bread was exhausted, the garrison was reduced to the necessity of eating dogs and horses; and the loyal aid of the indian wives of some of the garrison, who secretly brought them supplies of food daily, enabled them to hold out still longer. realizing at last the futility of prolonging the hopeless contest, captain demere surrendered the fort on august , . at daylight the next morning, while on the march to fort prince george, the soldiers were set upon by the treacherous cherokees, who at the first onset killed captain demere and twenty-nine others. a humane chieftain, outassitus, says one of the gazettes of the day, "went around the field calling upon the indians to desist, and making such representations to them as stopped the further progress and effects of their barbarous and brutal rage," which expressed itself in scalping and hacking off the arms and legs of the defenseless whites. atta-kulla-kulla, who was friendly to the whites, claimed captain stuart, the second officer, as his captive, and bore him away by stealth. after nine days' journey through the wilderness they encountered an advance party under major andrew lewis, sent out by colonel byrd, head of a relieving army, to rescue and succor any of the garrison who might effect their escape. thus stuart was restored to his friends. this abortive and tragic campaign, in which the victory lay conclusively with the indians, ended when byrd disbanded his new levies and montgomerie sailed from charleston for the north (august, ). during the remainder of the year, the province of north carolina remained free of further alarms from the indians. but the view was generally entertained that one more joint effort of north carolina, south carolina, and virginia would have to be made in order to humble the cherokees. at the sessions of the north carolina assembly in november and again in december, matters in dispute between governor dobbs and the representatives of the people made impossible the passage of a proposed aid bill, providing for five hundred men to coÃ�¶perate with virginia and south carolina. nevertheless volunteers in large numbers patriotically marched from north carolina to charleston and the congaree (december, , to april, ), to enlist in the famous regiment being organized by colonel thomas middleton. [ ] on march , , governor dobbs called together the assembly to act upon a letter received from general amherst, outlining a more vigorous plan of campaign appropriate to the succession of a young and vigorous sovereign, george iii. an aid bill was passed, providing twenty thousand pounds for men and supplies; and one regiment of five companies of one hundred men each, under the command of colonel hugh waddell, was mustered into service for seven months' duty, beginning may , . [ ] on july , , colonel james grant, detached from the main army in command of a force of twenty-six hundred men, took up his march from fort prince george. attacked on june th two miles south of the spot where montgomerie was engaged the preceding year, grant's army, after a vigorous engagement lasting several hours, drove off the indians. the army then proceeded at leisure to lay waste the fifteen towns of the middle settlements; and, after this work of systematic devastation was over, returned to fort prince george. peace was concluded in september as the result of this campaign; and in consequence the frontier was pushed seventy miles farther to the west. meantime, colonel waddell with his force of five hundred north carolinians had acted in concert with colonel william byrd, commanding the virginia detachment. the combined forces went into camp at captain samuel stalnaker's old place on the middle fork of holston. because of his deliberately dilatory policy, byrd was superseded in the command by colonel adam stephen. marching their forces to the long island of holston, stephen and waddell erected there fort robinson, in compliance with the instructions of governor fauquier, of virginia. the cherokees, heartily tired of the war, now sued for peace, which was concluded, independent of the treaty at charleston, on november , . the successful termination of this campaign had an effect of signal importance in the development of the expansionist spirit. the rich and beautiful lands which fell under the eye of the north carolina and virginia pioneers under waddell, byrd, and stephen, lured them irresistibly on to wider casts for fortune and bolder explorations into the unknown, beckoning west. chapter vii. the land companies it was thought good policy to settle those lands as fast as possible, and that the granting them to men of the first consequence who were likeliest and best able to procure large bodies of people to settle on them was the most probable means of effecting the end proposed. --acting-governor nelson of virginia to the earl of hillsborough: . although for several decades the virginia traders had been passing over the great trading path to the towns of the cherokees and the catawbas, it was not until the early years of the eighteenth century that virginians of imaginative vision directed their eyes to the westward, intent upon crossing the mountains and locating settlements as a firm barrier against the imperialistic designs of france. acting upon his oft-expressed conviction that once the english settlers had established themselves at the source of the james river "it would not be in the power of the french to dislodge them," governor alexander spotswood in , animated with the spirit of the pioneer, led an expedition of fifty men and a train of pack-horses to the mountains, arduously ascended to the summit of the blue ridge, and claimed the country by right of discovery in behalf of his sovereign. in the journal of john fontaine this vivacious account is given of the historic episode: "i graved my name on a tree by the river side; and the governor buried a bottle with a paper enclosed on which he writ that he took possession of this place in the name and for king george the first of england. we had a good dinner, and after it we got the men together and loaded all their arms and we drank the king's health in burgundy and fired a volley, and all the rest of the royal family in claret and a volley. we drank the governor's health and fired another volley." by this jovial picnic, which the governor afterward commemorated by presenting to each of the gentlemen who accompanied him a golden horseshoe, inscribed with the legend, sic juvat transcendere montes, alexander spotswood anticipated by a third of a century the more ambitious expedition on behalf of france by cÃ�¨loron de bienville (see chapter iii), and gave a memorable object-lesson in the true spirit of westward expansion. during the ensuing years it began to dawn upon the minds of men of the stamp of william byrd and joshua gee that there was imperative need for the establishment of a chain of settlements in the trans-alleghany, a great human wall to withstand the advancing wave of french influence and occupation. by the fifth decade of the century, as we have seen, the virginia settlers, with their squatter's claims and tomahawk rights, had pushed on to the mountains; and great pressure was brought to bear upon the council to issue grants for vast tracts of land in the uncharted wilderness of the interior. at this period the english ministry adopted the aggressive policy already mentioned in connection with the french and indian war, indicative of a determination to contest with france the right to occupy the interior of the continent. this policy had been inaugurated by virginia with the express purpose of stimulating the adoption of a similar policy by north carolina and pennsylvania. two land companies, organized almost simultaneously, actively promoted the preliminaries necessary to settlement, despatching parties under expert leadership to discover the passes through the mountains and to locate the best land in the trans-alleghany. in june, , a great corporation, the loyal land company of virginia, received a grant of eight hundred thousand acres above the north carolina line and west of the mountains. dr. thomas walker, an expert surveyor, who in company with several other gentlemen had made a tour of exploration through eastern tennessee and the holston region in , was chosen as the agent of this company. starting from his home in albemarle county, virginia, march , , accompanied by five stalwart pioneers, walker made a tour of exploration to the westward, being absent four months and one week. on this journey, which carried the party as far west as the rockcastle river (may th) and as far north as the present paintsville, kentucky, they named many natural objects, such as mountains and rivers, after members of the party. their two principal achievements were the erection of the first house built by white men between the cumberland mountains and the ohio river--a feat, however, which led to no important developments; and the discovery of the wonderful gap in the alleghanies to which walker gave the name cumberland, in honor of the ruthless conqueror at culloden, the "bloody duke." in the ohio company was organized by colonel thomas lee, president of the virginia council, and twelve other gentlemen, of virginia and maryland. in their petition for five hundred thousand acres, one of the declared objects of the company was "to anticipate the french by taking possession of that country southward of the lakes to which the french had no right...." by the royal order of may , , the company was awarded two hundred thousand acres, free of quit-rent for ten years; and the promise was made of an additional award of the remainder petitioned for, on condition of seating a hundred families upon the original grant and the building and maintaining of a fort. christopher gist, summoned from his remote home on the yadkin in north carolina, was instructed "to search out and discover the lands upon the river ohio & other adjoining branches of the mississippi down as low as the great falls thereof." in this journey, which began at colonel thomas cresap's, in maryland, in october, , and ended at gist's home on may , , gist visited the lower shawnee town and the lower blue licks, ascended pilot knob almost two decades before findlay and boone, from the same eminence, "saw with pleasure the beautiful level of kentucky," intersected walker's route at two points, and crossed cumberland mountain at pound gap on the return journey. this was a far more extended journey than walker's, enabling gist to explore the fertile valleys of the muskingum, scioto, and miami rivers and to gain a view of the beautiful meadows of kentucky. [ ] it is eminently significant of the spirit of the age, which was inaugurating an era of land-hunger unparalleled in american history, that the first authentic records of the trans-alleghany were made by surveyors who visited the country as the agents of great land companies. the outbreak of the french and indian war so soon afterward delayed for a decade and more any important colonization of the west. indeed, the explorations and findings of walker and gist were almost unknown, even to the companies they represented. but the conclusion of peace in , which gave all the region between the mountains and the mississippi to the british, heralded the true beginning of the westward expansionist movement in the old southwest, and inaugurated the constructive leadership of north carolina in the occupation and colonization of the imperial domain of kentucky and the ohio valley. in the middle years of the century many families of virginia gentry removed to the back country of north carolina in the fertile region ranging from williamsborough on the east to hillsborough on the west. [ ] there soon arose in this section of the colony a society marked by intellectual distinction, social graces, and the leisured dignity of the landlord and the large planter. so conspicuous for means, intellect, culture, and refinement were the people of this group, having "abundance of wealth and leisure for enjoyment," that governor josiah martin, in passing through this region some years later, significantly observes: "they have great pre-eminence, as well with respect to soil and cultivation, as to the manners and condition of the inhabitants, in which last respect the difference is so great that one would be led to think them people of another region." [ ] this new wealthy class which was now turning its gaze toward the unoccupied lands along the frontier was "dominated by the democratic ideals of pioneers rather than by the aristocratic tendencies of slave-holding planters." [ ] from the cross-fertilization of the ideas of two social groups--this back-country gentry, of innate qualities of leadership, democratic instincts, economic independence, and expansive tendencies, and the primitive pioneer society of the frontier, frugal in taste, responsive to leadership, bold, ready, and thorough in execution--there evolved the militant american expansion in the old southwest. a conspicuous figure in this society of virginia emigrants was a young man named richard henderson, whose father had removed with his family from hanover county, virginia, to bute, afterward granville county, north carolina, in . [ ] educated at home by a private tutor, he began his career as assistant of his father, samuel henderson, the high sheriff of granville county; and after receiving a law-license, quickly acquired an extensive practice. "even in the superior courts where oratory and eloquence are as brilliant and powerful as in westminster-hall," records an english acquaintance, "he soon became distinguished and eminent, and his superior genius shone forth with great splendour, and universal applause." this young attorney, wedded to the daughter of an irish lord, often visited salisbury on his legal circuit; and here he became well acquainted with squire boone, one of the "worshipfull justices," and often appeared in suits before him. by his son, the nomadic daniel boone, conspicuous already for his solitary wanderings across the dark green mountains to the sun-lit valleys and boundless hunting-grounds beyond, henderson was from time to time regaled with bizarre and fascinating tales of western exploration; and boone, in his dark hour of poverty and distress, when he was heavily involved financially, turned for aid to this friend and his partner, who composed the law-firm of williams and henderson. [ ] boone's vivid descriptions of the paradise of the west stimulated henderson's imaginative mind and attracted his attention to the rich possibilities of unoccupied lands there. while the board of trade in drafting the royal proclamation of october , , forbade the granting of lands in the vast interior, which was specifically reserved to the indians, it was clearly not their intention to set permanent western limits to the colonies. [ ] the prevailing opinion among the shrewdest men of the period was well expressed by george washington, who wrote his agent for preÃ�«mpting western lands: "i can never look upon that proclamation in any other light (but i say this between ourselves) than as a temporary expedient to quiet the minds of the indians." and again in : "it [the proclamation of ] must fall, of course, in a few years, especially when those indians consent to our occupying the lands. any person, therefore, who neglects the present opportunity of hunting out good lands, and in some measure marking out and distinguishing them for his own, in order to keep others from settling them, will never regain it." washington had added greatly to his holdings of bounty lands in the west by purchasing at trivial prices the claims of many of the officers and soldiers. three years later we find him surveying extensive tracts along the ohio and the great kanawha, and, with the vision of the expansionist, making large plans for the establishment of a colony to be seated upon his own lands. henderson, too, recognized the importance of the great country west of the appalachians. he agreed with the opinion of benjamin franklin, who in called it "one of the finest in north america for the extreme richness and fertility of the land, the healthy temperature of the air and the mildness of the climate, the plenty of hunting, fishing and fowling, the facility of trade with the indians and the vast convenience of inland navigation or water carriage." [ ] henderson therefore proceeded to organize a land company for the purpose of acquiring and colonizing a large domain in the west. this partnership, which was entitled richard henderson and company, was composed of a few associates, including richard henderson, his uncle and law-partner, john williams, and, in all probability, their close friends thomas and nathaniel hart of orange county, north carolina, immigrants from hanover county, virginia. seizing the opportunity presented just after the conclusion of peace, the company engaged daniel boone as scout and surveyor. he was instructed, while hunting and trapping on his own account, to examine, with respect to their location and fertility, the lands which he visited, and to report his findings upon his return. the secret expedition must have been transacted with commendable circumspection; for although in after years it became common knowledge among his friends that he had acted as the company's agent, boone himself consistently refrained from betraying the confidence of his employers. [ ] upon a similar mission, gist had carefully concealed from the suspicious indians the fact that he carried a compass, which they wittily termed "land stealer"; and washington likewise imposed secrecy upon his land agent crawford, insisting that the operation be carried on under the guise of hunting game. [ ] the discreet boone, taciturn and given to keeping his own counsel, in one instance at least deemed it advantageous to communicate the purpose of his mission to some hunters, well known to him, in order to secure the results of their information in regard to the best lands they had encountered in the course of their hunting expedition. boone came among the hunters, known as the "blevens connection," at one of their tennessee station camps on their return from a long hunt in kentucky, in order, as expressed in the quaint phraseology of the period, to be "informed of the geography and locography of these woods, saying that he was employed to explore them by henderson & company." [ ] the acquaintance which boone on this occasion formed with a member of the party, henry scaggs, the skilled hunter and explorer, was soon to bear fruit; for shortly afterward scaggs was employed as prospector by the same land company. in scaggs had passed through cumberland gap and hunted for the season on the cumberland; and accordingly the following year, as the agent of richard henderson and company, he was despatched on an extended exploration to the lower cumberland, fixing his station at the salt lick afterward known as mansker's lick. [ ] richard henderson thus, it appears, "enlisted the harts and others in an enterprise which his own genius planned," says peck, the personal acquaintance and biographer of boone, "and then encouraged several hunters to explore the country and learn where the best lands lay." just why henderson and his associates did not act sooner upon the reports brought back by the hunters--boone and scaggs and callaway, who accompanied boone in in the interest of the land company--is not known; [ ] but in all probability the fragmentary nature of these reports, however glowing and enthusiastic, was sufficient cause for the delay of five years before the land company, through the agency of boone and findlay, succeeded in having a thorough exploration made of the kentucky region. delay was also caused by rival claims to the territory. in the virginia gazette of december , , henderson must have read with astonishment not unmixed with dismay that "the six nations and all their tributaries have granted a vast extent of country to his majesty, and the proprietaries of pennsylvania, and settled an advantageous boundary line between their hunting country and this, and the other colonies to the southward as far as the cherokee river, for which they received the most valuable present in goods and dollars that was ever given at any conference since the settlement of america." the news was now bruited about through the colony of north carolina that the cherokees were hot in their resentment because the northern indians, the inveterate foes of the cherokees and the perpetual disputants for the vast middle ground of kentucky, had received at the treaty of fort stanwix, november , , an immense compensation from the crown for the territory which they, the cherokees, claimed from time immemorial. [ ] only three weeks before, john stuart, superintendent for indian affairs in the southern department, had negotiated with the cherokees the treaty of hard labor, south carolina (october th), by which governor tryon's line of , from reedy river to tryon mountain, was continued direct to colonel chiswell's mine, the present wytheville, virginia, and thence in a straight line to the mouth of the great kanawha. [ ] thus at the close of the year the crown through both royal governor and superintendent of indian affairs acknowledged in fair and open treaty the right of the cherokees, whose tennessee villages guarded the gateway, to the valley lands east of the mountain barrier as well as to the dim mid-region of kentucky. in the very act of negotiating the treaty of fort stanwix, sir william johnson privately acknowledged that possession of the trans-alleghany could be legally obtained only by extinguishing the title of the cherokees. [ ] these conflicting claims soon led to collisions between the indians and the company's settlers. in the spring of occurred one of those incidents in the westward advance which, though slight in itself, was to have a definite bearing upon the course of events in later years. in pursuance of his policy, as agent of the loyal land company, of promoting settlement upon the company's lands, dr. thomas walker, who had visited powell's valley the preceding year and come into possession of a very large tract there, simultaneously made proposals to one party of men including the kirtleys, captain rucker, and others, and to another party led by joseph martin, trader of orange county, virginia, afterward a striking figure in the old southwest. the fevered race by these bands of eighteenth-century "sooners" for possession of an early "cherokee strip" was won by the latter band, who at once took possession and began to clear; so that when the kirtleys arrived, martin coolly handed them "a letter from dr. walker that informed them that if we got to the valley first, we were to have , acres of land, and they were not to interfere with us." martin and his companions were delighted with the beautiful valley at the base of the cumberland, quickly "eat and destroyed deer-- bears-- buffaloes and a great quantity of turkeys," and entertained gentlemen from virginia and maryland who desired to settle more than a hundred families there. the company reckoned, however, without their hosts, the cherokees, who, fortified by the treaty of hard labor ( ) which left this country within the indian reservation, were determined to drive martin and his company out. while hunting on the cumberland river, northwest of cumberland gap, martin and his company were surrounded and disarmed by a party of cherokees who said they had orders from cameron, the royal agent, to rob all white men hunting on their lands. when martin and his party arrived at their station in powell's valley, they found it broken up and their goods stolen by the indians, which left them no recourse but to return to the settlements in virginia. it was not until six years later that martin, under the stable influence of the transylvania company, was enabled to return to this spot and erect there the station which was to play an integral part in the progress of westward expansion. [ ] before going on to relate boone's explorations of kentucky under the auspices of the land company, it will be convenient to turn back for a moment and give some account of other hunters and explorers who visited that territory between the time of its discovery by walker and gist and the advent of boone. chapter viii. the long hunters in the twilight zone the long hunters principally resided in the upper countries of virginia & north carolina on new river & holston river, and when they intended to make a long hunt (as they calld it) they collected near the head of holston near whare abingdon now stands.... --general william hall. before the coming of walker and gist in and respectively, the region now called kentucky had, as far as we know, been twice visited by the french, once in when chaussegros de lÃ�©ry and his party visited the big bone lick, and again in the summer of when the baron de longueuil with four hundred and fifty-two frenchmen and indians, going to join bienville in an expedition against "the cherickees and other indians lying at the back of carolina and georgia," doubtless encamped on the kentucky shore of the ohio. kentucky was also traversed by john peter salling with his three adventurous companions in their journey through the middle west in . but all these early visits, including the memorable expeditions of walker and gist, were so little known to the general public that when john filson wrote the history of kentucky in he attributed its discovery to james mcbride in . more influential upon the course of westward expansion was an adventure which occurred in , the very year in which the boones settled down in their yadkin home. in the autumn of , a pennsylvania trader, john findlay, with three or four companions, descended the ohio river in a canoe as far as the falls at the present louisville, kentucky, and accompanied a party of shawanoes to their town of es-kip-pa-ki-thi-ki, eleven miles east of what is now winchester. this was the site of the "indian old corn field," the iroquois name for which ("the place of many fields," or "prairie") was ken-ta-ke, whence came the name of the state. five miles east of this spot, where still may be seen a mound and an ellipse showing the outline of the stockade, is the famous pilot knob, from the summit of which the fields surrounding the town lie visible in their smooth expanse. during findlay's stay at the indian town other traders from pennsylvania and virginia, who reported that they were "on their return from trading with the cuttawas (catawbas), a nation who live in the territories of carolina," assembled in the vicinity in january, . here, as the result of disputes arising from their barter, they were set upon and captured by a large party of straggling indians (coghnawagas from montreal) on january th; but findlay and another trader named james lowry were so fortunate as to escape and return through the wilderness to the pennsylvania settlements. [ ] the incident is of important historic significance; for it was from these traders, who must have followed the great warriors' path to the country of the catawbas, that findlay learned of the ouasioto (cumberland) gap traversed by the indian path. his reminiscences--of this gateway to kentucky, of the site of the old indian town on lulbegrud creek, a tributary of the red river, and of the pilot knob--were sixteen years later to fire boone to his great tour of exploration in behalf of the transylvania company. during the next two decades, largely because of the hostility of the savage tribes, only a few traders and hunters from the east ranged through the trans-alleghany. but in , a party of hunters led by a rough frontiersman, elisha walden, penetrated into powell's valley, followed the indian trail through cumberland gap, explored the cumberland river, and finally reached the laurel mountain where, encountering a party of indians, they deemed it expedient to return. with walden went henry scaggs, afterward explorer for the henderson land company, william blevens and charles cox, the famous virginia hunters, one newman, and some fifteen other stout pioneers. their itinerary may be traced from the names given to natural objects in honor of members of the party--walden's mountain and walden's creek, scaggs' ridge and newman's ridge. following the peace of , which made travel in this region moderately safe once more, the english proceeded to occupy the territory which they had won. in george croghan with a small party, on the way to prepare the inhabitants of the illinois country for transfer to english sovereignty, visited the great bone licks of kentucky (may th, st); and a year later captain harry gordon, chief engineer in the western department in north america, visited and minutely described the same licks and the falls. but these, and numerous other water-journeys and expeditions of which no records were kept, though interesting enough in themselves, had little bearing upon the larger phases of westward expansion and colonization. the decade opening with the year is the epoch of bold and ever bolder exploration--the more adventurous frontiersmen of the border pushing deep into the wilderness in search of game, lured on by the excitements of the chase and the profit to be derived from the sale of peltries. in midsummer, , captain james smith, joshua horton, uriah stone, william baker, and a young mulatto slave passed through cumberland gap, hunted through the country south of the cherokee and along the cumberland and tennessee rivers, and as smith reports "found no vestige of any white man." during the same year a party of five hunters from south carolina, led by isaac lindsey, penetrated the kentucky wilderness to the tributary of the cumberland, named stone's river by the former party, for one of their number. here they encountered two men, who were among the greatest of the western pioneers, and were destined to leave their names in historic association with the early settlement of kentucky--james harrod and michael stoner, a german, both of whom had descended the ohio from fort pitt. with the year began those longer and more extended excursions into the interior which were to result in conveying at last to the outside world graphic and detailed information concerning "the wonderful new country of cantucky." in the late spring of this year hancock and richard taylor (the latter the father of president zachary taylor), abraham hempinstall, and one barbour, all true-blue frontiersmen, left their homes in orange county, virginia, and hunted extensively in kentucky and arkansas. two of the party traveled through georgia and east and west florida; while the other two hunted on the washita during the winter of - . explorations of this type became increasingly hazardous as the animosity of the indians increased; and from this time onward for a number of years almost all the parties of roving hunters suffered capture or attack by the crafty red men. in this same year major john mcculloch, living on the south branch of the potomac, set out accompanied by a white man-servant and a negro, to explore the western country. while passing down the ohio from pittsburgh mcculloch was captured by the indians near the mouth of the wabash and carried to the present site of terre haute, indiana. set free after four or five months, he journeyed in company with some french voyageurs first to natchez and then to new orleans, whence he made the sea voyage to philadelphia. somewhat later, benjamin cleveland (afterward famous in the revolution), attended by four companions, set out from his home on the upper yadkin to explore the kentucky wilderness. after passing through cumberland gap, they encountered a band of cherokees who plundered them of everything they had, even to their hats and shoes, and ordered them to leave the indian hunting-grounds. on their return journey they almost starved, and cleveland, who was reluctantly forced to kill his faithful little hunting-dog, was wont to declare in after years that it was the sweetest meat he ever ate. fired to adventure by the glowing accounts brought back by uriah stone, a much more formidable band than any that had hitherto ventured westward--including uriah stone as pilot, gasper mansker, john rains, the bledsoes, and a dozen others--assembled in june, , in the new river region. "each man carried two horses," says an early pioneer in describing one of these parties, "traps, a large supply of powder and led, and a small hand vise and bellows, files and screw plate for the purpose of fixing the guns if any of them should get out of fix." passing through cumberland gap, they continued their long journey until they reached price's meadow, in the present wayne county, kentucky, where they established their encampment. in the course of their explorations, during which they gave various names to prominent natural features, they established their "station camp" on a creek in sumner county, tennessee, whence originated the name of station camp creek. isaac bledsoe and gasper mansker, agreeing to travel from here in opposite directions along a buffalo trace passing near the camp, each succeeded in discovering the famous salt-lick which bears his name--namely bledsoe's lick and mansker's lick. the flat surrounding the lick, about one hundred acres in extent, discovered by bledsoe, according to his own statement "was principally covered with buffelows in every direction--not hundreds but thousands." as he sat on his horse, he shot down two deer in the lick; but the buffaloes blindly trod them in the mud. they did not mind him and his horse except when the wind blew the scent in their nostrils, when they would break and run in droves. indians often lurked in the neighbourhood of these hunters--plundering their camp, robbing them, and even shooting down one of their number, robert crockett, from ambush. after many trials and vicissitudes, which included a journey to the spanish natchez and the loss of a great mass of peltries when they were plundered by piomingo and a war party of chickasaws, they finally reached home in the late spring of . [ ] the most notable expedition of this period, projected under the auspices of two bold leaders extraordinarily skilled in woodcraft, joseph drake and henry scaggs, was organized in the early autumn of . this imposing band of stalwart hunters from the new river and holston country, some forty in number, garbed in hunting shirts, leggings, and moccasins, with three pack-horses to each man, rifles, ammunition, traps, dogs, blankets, and salt, pushed boldly through cumberland gap into the heart of what was later justly named the "dark and bloody ground" (see chapter xiv)--"not doubting," says an old border chronicler, "that they were to be encountered by indians, and to subsist on game." from the duration of their absence from home, they received the name of the long hunters--the romantic appellation by which they are known in the pioneer history of the old southwest. many natural objects were named by this party--in particular dick's river, after the noted cherokee hunter, captain dick, who, pleased to be recognized by charles scaggs, told the long hunters that on his river, pointing it out, they would find meat plenty--adding with laconic significance: "kill it and go home." from the knob lick, in lincoln county, as reported by a member of the party, "they beheld largely over a thousand animals, including buffaloe, elk, bear, and deer, with many wild turkies scattered among them; all quite restless, some playing, and others busily employed in licking the earth.... the buffaloe and other animals had so eaten away the soil, that they could, in places, go entirely underground." upon the return of a detachment to virginia, fourteen fearless hunters chose to remain; and one day, during the absence of some of the band upon a long exploring trip, the camp was attacked by a straggling party of indians under will emery, a half-breed cherokee. two of the hunters were carried into captivity and never heard of again; a third managed to escape. in embittered commemoration of the plunder of the camp and the destruction of the peltries, they inscribed upon a poplar, which had lost its bark, this emphatic record, followed by their names: deer skins lost ruination by god [ ] undismayed by this depressing stroke of fortune, they continued their hunt in the direction of the lick which bledsoe had discovered the preceding year. shortly after this discovery, a french voyageur from the illinois who had hunted and traded in this region for a decade, timothÃ�© de monbreun, subsequently famous in the history of tennessee, had visited the lick and killed an enormous number of buffaloes for their tallow and tongues with which he and his companion loaded a keel boat and descended the cumberland. an early pioneer, william hall, learned from isaac bledsoe that when "the long hunters crossed the ridge and came down on bledsoe's creek in four or five miles of the lick the cane had grown up so thick in the woods that they thought they had mistaken the place until they came to the lick and saw what had been done.... one could walk for several hundred yards a round the lick and in the lick on buffellows skuls, & bones and the whole flat round the lick was bleached with buffellows bones, and they found out the cause of the canes growing up so suddenly a few miles around the lick which was in consequence of so many buffellows being killed." this expedition was of genuine importance, opening the eyes of the frontiersmen to the charms of the country and influencing many to settle subsequently in the west--some in tennessee, some in kentucky. the elaborate and detailed information brought back by henry scaggs exerted an appreciable influence, no doubt, in accelerating the plans of richard henderson and company for the acquisition and colonization of the trans-alleghany. but while the "long hunters" were in tennessee and kentucky the same region was being more extensively and systematically explored by daniel boone. to his life, character, and attainments, as the typical "long hunter" and the most influential pioneer we may now turn our particular attention. chapter ix. daniel boone and wilderness exploration here, where the hand of violence shed the blood of the innocent; where the horrid yells of the savages, and the groans of the distressed, sounded in our ears, we now hear the praises and adorations of our creator; where wretched wigwams stood, the miserable abodes of savages, we behold the foundations of cities laid, that, in all probability, will equal the glory of the greatest upon earth. --daniel boone, . the wandering life of a border nimrod in a surpassingly beautiful country teeming with game was the ideal of the frontiersman of the eighteenth century. as early as , while running the dividing line between north carolina and virginia, william byrd encountered along the north carolina frontier the typical figure of the professional hunter: "a famous woodsman, call'd epaphroditus bainton. this forester spends all his time in ranging the woods, and is said to make great havock among the deer, and other inhabitants of the forest, not much wilder than himself." by the middle of the century, as he was threading his way through the carolina piedmont zone, the hunter's paradise of the yadkin and catawba country, bishop spangenberg found ranging there many hunters, living like indians, who killed thousands of deer each year and sold the skins in the local markets or to the fur-traders from virginia whose heavy pack-trains with their tinkling bells constantly traversed the course of the great trading path. the superlative skill of one of these hunters, both as woodsman and marksman, was proverbial along the border. the name of daniel boone became synonymous with expert huntsmanship and almost uncanny wisdom in forest lore. the bottoms of the creek near the boone home, three miles west of present mocksville, contained a heavy growth of beech, which dropped large quantities of its rich nuts or mast, greatly relished by bears; and this creek received its name, bear creek, because daniel and his father killed in its rich bottoms ninety-nine bears in a single hunting-season. after living for a time with his young wife, rebecca bryan, in a cabin in his father's yard, daniel built a home of his own upon a tract of land, purchased from his father on october , , and lying on sugar tree, a tributary of dutchman's creek. here he dwelt for the next five years, with the exception of the period of his temporary removal to virginia during the terrible era of the indian war. most of his time during the autumn and winter, when he was not engaged in wagoning or farming, he spent in long hunting-journeys into the mountains to the west and northwest. during the hunting-season of he struck deeper than ever before into the western mountain region and encamped in a natural rocky shelter amidst fine hunting-grounds, in what is now washington county in east tennessee. of the scores of inscriptions commemorative of his hunting-feats, which boone with pardonable pride was accustomed throughout his life-time to engrave with his hunting-knife upon trees and rocks, the earliest known is found upon a leaning beech tree, only recently fallen, near his camp and the creek which since that day has borne his name. this is a characteristic and enduring record in the history of american exploration: d. boon cilled a. bar on tree in the year late in the summer of the following year boone marched under the command of the noted indian-fighter of the border, colonel hugh waddell, in his campaign against the cherokees. from the lips of waddell, who was outspoken in his condemnation of byrd's futile delays in road-cutting and fort-building, boone learned the true secret of success in indian warfare, which was lost upon braddock, forbes, and later st. clair: that the art of defeating red men was to deal them a sudden and unexpected blow, before they had time either to learn the strength of the force employed against them or to lay with subtle craft their artful ambuscade. in the late autumn of , daniel boone and nathaniel gist, the son of washington's famous guide, who were both serving under waddell, temporarily detached themselves from his command and led a small party on a "long hunt" in the valley of the holston. while encamping near the site of black's fort, subsequently built, they were violently assailed by a pack of fierce wolves which they had considerable difficulty in beating off; and from this incident the locality became known as wolf hills (now abingdon, virginia). [ ] from this time forward boone's roving instincts had full sway. for many months each year he threaded his way through that marvelously beautiful country of western north carolina felicitously described as the switzerland of america. boone's love of solitude and the murmuring forest was surely inspired by the phenomenal beauties of the country through which he roamed at will. blowing rock on one arm of a great horseshoe of mountains and tryon mountain upon the other arm, overlooked an enormous, primeval bowl, studded by a thousand emerald-clad eminences. there was the pilot mountain, the towering and isolated pile which from time immemorial had served the aborigines as a guide in their forest wanderings; there was the dizzy height of the roan on the border; there was mt. mitchell, portentous in its grandeur, the tallest peak on the continent east of the rockies; and there was the grandfather, the oldest mountain on earth according to geologists, of which it has been written: oldest of all terrestrial things--still holding thy wrinkled forehead high; whose every seam, earth's history enfolding, grim science doth defy! thou caught'st the far faint ray from sirius rising, when through space first was hurled the primal gloom of ancient voids surprising, this atom, called the world! what more gratifying to the eye of the wanderer than the luxuriant vegetation and lavish profusion of the gorgeous flowers upon the mountain slopes, radiant rhododendron, rosebay, and laurel, and the azalea rising like flame; or the rare beauties of the water--the cataract of linville, taking its shimmering leap into the gorge, and that romantic river poetically celebrated in the lines: swannanoa, nymph of beauty, i would woo thee in my rhyme, wildest, brightest, loveliest river of our sunny southern clime. ââ�¬Â¢ ââ�¬Â¢ ââ�¬Â¢ gone forever from the borders but immortal in thy name, are the red men of the forest be thou keeper of their fame! paler races dwell beside thee, celt and saxon till thy lands wedding use unto thy beauty-- linking over thee their hands. the long rambling excursions which boone made through western north carolina and eastern tennessee enabled him to explore every nook and corner of the rugged and beautiful mountain region. among the companions and contemporaries with whom he hunted and explored the country were his little son james and his brother jesse; the linville who gave the name to the beautiful falls; julius cÃ�¦sar dugger, whose rock house stood near the head of elk creek; and nathaniel gist, who described for him the lofty gateway to kentucky, through which christopher gist had passed in . boone had already heard of this gateway, from findlay, and it was one of the secret and cherished ambitions of his life to scale the mountain wall of the appalachians and to reach that high portal of the cumberland which beckoned to the mysterious new eden beyond. although hunting was an endless delight to boone he was haunted in the midst of this pleasure, as was kipling's explorer, by the lure of the undiscovered: till a voice as bad as conscience, rang interminable changes on one everlasting whisper day and night repeated--so: 'something hidden. go and find it. go and look behind the ranges-- 'something lost behind the ranges. lost and waiting for you. go.' of boone's preliminary explorations for the land company known as richard henderson and company, an account has already been given; and the delay in following them up has been touched on and in part explained. meanwhile boone transferred his efforts for a time to another field. toward the close of the summer of a party consisting of major john field, william hill, one slaughter, and two others, all from culpeper county, virginia, visited boone and induced him to accompany them on the "long journey" to florida, whither they were attracted by the liberal offer of colonel james grant, governor of the eastern section, the florida of to-day. on this long and arduous expedition they suffered many hardships and endured many privations, found little game, and on one occasion narrowly escaped starvation. they explored florida from st. augustine to pensacola; and boone, who relished fresh scenes and a new environment, purchased a house and lot in pensacola in anticipation of removal thither. but upon his return home, finding his wife unwilling to go, boone once more turned his eager eye toward the west, that mysterious and alluring region beyond the great range, the fabled paradise of kentucky. the following year four young men from the yadkin, benjamin cutbird, john stewart (boone's brother-in-law who afterwards accompanied him to kentucky), john baker, and james ward made a remarkable journey to the westward, crossing the appalachian mountain chain over some unknown route, and finally reaching the mississippi. the significance of the journey, in its bearing upon westward expansion, inheres in the fact that while for more than half a century the english traders from south carolina had been winning their way to the mississippi along the lower routes and indian trails, this was the first party from either of the carolinas, as far as is known, that ever reached the mississippi by crossing the great mountain barrier. when cutbird, a superb woodsman and veritable leatherstocking, narrated to boone the story of his adventures, it only confirmed boone in his determination to find the passage through the mountain chain leading to the mesopotamia of kentucky. such an enterprise was attended by terrible dangers. during and the steady encroachments of the white settlers upon the ancestral domain which the indians reserved for their imperial hunting-preserve aroused bitter feelings of resentment among the red men. bloody reprisal was often the sequel to such encroachment. the vast region of tennessee and the trans-alleghany was a twilight zone, through which the savages roamed at will. from time to time war parties of northern indians, the inveterate foes of the cherokees, scouted through this no-man's land and even penetrated into the western region of north carolina, committing murders and depredations upon the cherokees and the whites indiscriminately. during the summer of , while boone's friend and close connection, captain william linville, his son john, and another young man, named john williams, were in camp some ten miles below linville falls, they were unexpectedly fired upon by a hostile band of northern indians, and before they had time to fire a shot, a second volley killed both the linvilles and severely wounded williams, who after extraordinary sufferings finally reached the settlements. [ ] in may, , four traders and a half-breed child of one of them were killed in the cherokee country. in the summer of this year governor william tryon of north carolina laid out the boundary line of the cherokees, and upon his return issued a proclamation forbidding any purchase of land from the indians and any issuance of grants for land within one mile of the boundary line. despite this wise precaution, seven north carolina hunters who during the following september had lawlessly ventured into the mountain region some sixty miles beyond the boundary were fired upon, and several of them killed, by the resentful cherokees. [ ] undismayed by these signs of impending danger, undeterred even by the tragic fate of the linvilles, daniel boone, with the determination of the indomitable pioneer, never dreamed of relinquishing his long-cherished design. discouraged by the steady disappearance of game under the ruthless attack of innumerable hunters, boone continued to direct his thoughts toward the project of exploring the fair region of kentucky. the adventurous william hill, to whom boone communicated his purpose, readily consented to go with him; and in the autumn of boone and hill, accompanied, it is believed, by squire boone, daniel's brother, set forth upon their almost inconceivably hazardous expedition. they crossed the blue ridge and the alleghanies, the holston and clinch rivers near their sources, and finally reached the head waters of the west fork of the big sandy. surmising from its course that this stream must flow into the ohio, they pushed on a hundred miles to the westward and finally, by following a buffalo path, reached a salt-spring in what is now floyd county, in the extreme eastern section of kentucky. here boone beheld great droves of buffalo that visited the salt-spring to drink the water or lick the brackish soil. after spending the winter in hunting and trapping, the boones and hill, discouraged by the forbidding aspect of the hilly country which with its dense growth of laurel was exceedingly difficult to penetrate, abandoned all hope of finding kentucky by this route and wended their arduous way back to the yadkin. the account of boone's subsequent accomplishment of his purpose must be postponed to the next chapter. chapter x. daniel boone in kentucky he felt very much as columbus did, gazing from his caravel on san salvador; as cortes, looking down from the crest of ahualco, on the valley of mexico; or vasco nuÃ�±ez, standing alone on the peak of darien, and stretching his eyes over the hitherto undiscovered waters of the pacific. --william gilmore simms: views and reviews. a chance acquaintance formed by daniel boone, during the french and indian war, with the irish lover of adventure, john findlay, [ ] was the origin of boone's cherished longing to reach the el dorado of the west. in this slight incident we may discern the initial inspiration for the epochal movement of westward expansion. findlay was a trader and horse peddler, who had early migrated to carlisle, pennsylvania. he had been licensed a trader with the indians in . during the same year he was married to elizabeth harris, daughter of john harris, the indian-trader at harris's ferry on the susquehanna river, after whom harrisburg was named. during the next eight years findlay carried on his business of trading in the interior. upon the opening of the french and indian war he was probably among "the young men about paxtang who enlisted immediately," and served as a waggoner in braddock's expedition. over the camp-fires, during the ensuing campaign in , young boone was an eager listener to findlay's stirring narrative of his adventures in the ohio valley and on the wonderfully beautiful levels of kentucky in . the fancies aroused in his brooding mind by findlay's moving recital and his description of an ancient passage through the ouasioto or cumberland gap and along the course of the warrior's path, inspired him with an irrepressible longing to reach that alluring promised land which was the perfect realization of the hunter's paradise. thirteen years later, while engaged in selling pins, needles, thread, and irish linens in the yadkin country, findlay learned from the pennsylvania settlers at salisbury or at the forks of the yadkin of boone's removal to the waters of the upper yadkin. at boone's rustic home, in the winter of - , findlay visited his old comrade-in-arms of braddock's campaign. on learning of boone's failure during the preceding year to reach the kentucky levels by way of the inhospitable sandy region, findlay again described to him the route through the ouasioto gap traversed sixteen years before by pennsylvania traders in their traffic with the catawbas. boone, as we have seen, knew that christopher gist, who had formerly lived near him on the upper yadkin, had found some passage through the lofty mountain defiles; but he had never been able to discover the passage. findlay's renewed descriptions of the immense herds of buffaloes he had seen in kentucky, the great salt-licks where they congregated, the abundance of bears, deer, and elk with which the country teemed, the innumerable flocks of wild turkeys, geese, and ducks, aroused in boone the hunter's passion for the chase; while the beauty of the lands, as mirrored in the vivid fancy of the irishman, inspired him with a new longing to explore the famous country which had, as john filson records, "greatly engaged mr. findlay's attention." in the comprehensive designs of henderson, now a judge, for securing a graphic report of the trans-alleghany region in behalf of his land company, boone divined the means of securing the financial backing for an expedition of considerable size and ample equipment. [ ] in numerous suits for debt, aggregating hundreds of dollars, which had been instituted against boone by some of the leading citizens of rowan, williams and henderson had acted as boone's attorneys. in order to collect their legal fees, they likewise brought suit against boone; but not wishing to press the action against the kindly scout who had hitherto acted as their agent in western exploration, they continued the litigation from court to court, in lieu of certain "conditions performed" on behalf of boone, during his unbroken absence, by his attorney in this suit, alexander martin. [ ] summoned to appear in at the march term of court at salisbury, boone seized upon the occasion to lay before judge henderson the designs for a renewed and extended exploration of kentucky suggested by the golden opportunity of securing the services of findlay as guide. shortly after march th, when judge henderson reached salisbury, the conference, doubtless attended by john stewart, boone's brother-in-law, john findlay, and boone, who were all present at this term of court, must have been held, for the purpose of devising ways and means for the expedition. peck, the only reliable contemporary biographer of the pioneer, who derived many facts from boone himself and his intimate acquaintances, draws the conclusion ( ): "daniel boone was engaged as the master spirit of this exploration, because in his judgment and fidelity entire confidence could be reposed.... he was known to henderson and encouraged by him to make the exploration, and to examine particularly the whole country south of the kentucky--or as then called the louisa river." [ ] as confidential agent of the land company, boone carried with him letters and instructions for his guidance upon this extended tour of exploration. [ ] on may , , with findlay as guide, and accompanied by four of his neighbors, john stewart, a skilled woodsman, joseph holden, james mooney, and william cooley, boone left his "peaceable habitation" on the upper yadkin and began his historic journey "in quest of the country of kentucky." already heavily burdened with debts, boone must have incurred considerable further financial obligations to judge henderson and colonel williams, acting for the land company, in order to obtain the large amount of supplies requisite for so prolonged an expedition. each of the adventurers rode a good horse of strength and endurance; and behind him were securely strapped the blanket, ammunition, salt, and cooking-utensils so indispensable for a long sojourn in the wilderness. in powell's valley they doubtless encountered the party led thither by joseph martin (see chapter vii), and there fell into the "hunter's trail" commented on in a letter written by martin only a fortnight before the passing of boone's cavalcade. crossing the mountain at the ouasioto gap, they made their first "station camp" in kentucky on the creek, still named after that circumstance, on the red lick fork. after a preliminary journey for the purpose of locating the spot, findlay led the party to his old trading-camp at es-kip-pa-ki-thi-ki, where then (june , ) remained but charred embers of the indian huts, with some of the stockading and the gate-posts still standing. in boone's own words, he and findlay at once "proceeded to take a more thorough survey of the country"; and during the autumn and early winter, encountering on every hand apparently inexhaustible stocks of wild game and noting the ever-changing beauties of the country, the various members of the party made many hunting and exploring journeys from their "station camp" as base. on december , , while engaged in a hunt, boone and stewart were surprised and captured by a large party of shawanoes, led by captain will, who were returning from the autumn hunt on green river to their villages north of the ohio. boone and stewart were forced to pilot the indians to their main camp, where the savages, after robbing them of all their peltries and supplies and leaving them inferior guns and little ammunition, set off to the northward. they left, on parting, this menacing admonition to the white intruders: "now, brothers, go home and stay there. don't come here any more, for this is the indians' hunting-ground, and all the animals, skins, and furs are ours. if you are so foolish as to venture here again, you may be sure the wasps and yellow jackets will sting you severely." chagrined particularly by the loss of the horses, boone and stewart for two days pursued the indians in hot haste. finally approaching the indians' camp by stealth in the dead of night, they secured two of the horses, upon which they fled at top speed. in turn they were immediately pursued by a detachment of the indians, mounted upon their fleetest horses; and suffered the humiliation of recapture two days later. indulging in wild hilarity over the capture of the crestfallen whites, the indians took a bell from one of the horses and, fastening it about boone's neck, compelled him under the threat of brandished tomahawks to caper about and jingle the bell, jeering at him the while with the derisive query, uttered in broken english: "steal horse, eh?" with as good grace as they could summon--wry smiles at best--boone and stewart patiently endured these humiliations, following the indians as captives. some days later (about january , ), while the vigilance of the indians was momentarily relaxed, the captives suddenly plunged into a dense cane-brake and in the subsequent confusion succeeded in effecting their escape. finding their camp deserted upon their return, boone and stewart hastened on and finally overtook their companions. here boone was both surprised and delighted to encounter his brother squire, loaded down with supplies. having heard nothing from boone, the partners of the land company had surmised that he and his party must have run short of ammunition, flour, salt, and other things sorely needed in the wilderness; and because of their desire that the party should remain, in order to make an exhaustive exploration of the country, squire boone had been sent to him with supplies. [ ] findlay, holden, mooney, and cooley returned to the settlements; but stewart, squire boone, and alexander neely, who had accompanied squire, threw in their lot with the intrepid daniel, and fared forth once more to the stirring and bracing adventures of the kentucky wilderness. in daniel boone's own words, he expected "from the furs and peltries they had an opportunity of taking ... to recruit his shattered circumstances; discharge the debts he had contracted by the adventure; and shortly return under better auspices, to settle the newly discovered country." [ ] boone and his party now stationed themselves near the mouth of the red river, and soon provided themselves, against the hardships of the long winter, with jerk, bear's oil, buffalo tallow, dried buffalo tongues, fresh meat, and marrow-bones as food, and buffalo robes and bearskins as shelter from the inclement weather. neely had brought with him, to while away dull hours, a copy of "gulliver's travels"; and in describing neely's successful hunt for buffalo one day, boone in after years amusingly deposed: "in the year i encamped on red river with five other men, and we had with us for our amusement the history of samuel gulliver's travels, wherein he gave an account of his young master, glumdelick, careing him on market day for a show to a town called lulbegrud. a young man of our company called alexander neely came to camp and told us he had been that day to lulbegrud, and had killed two brobdignags in their capital." [ ] far from unlettered were pioneers who indulged together in such literary chat and gave to the near-by creek the name (after dean swift's lorbrulgrud) of lulbegrud which name, first seen on filson's map of kentucky ( ), it bears to this day. from one of his long, solitary hunts stewart never returned; and it was not until five years later, while cutting out the transylvania trail, that boone and his companions discovered, near the old crossing at rockcastle, stewart's remains in a standing hollow sycamore. the wilderness never gave up its tragic secret. the close of the winter and most of the spring were passed by the boones, after neely's return to the settlements, in exploration, hunting, and trapping beaver and otter, in which sport daniel particularly excelled. owing to the drain upon their ammunition, squire was at length compelled to return to the settlements for supplies; and daniel, who remained alone in the wilderness to complete his explorations for the land company, must often have shared the feelings of balboa as, from lofty knob or towering ridge, he gazed over the waste of forest which spread from the dim outlines of the alleghanies to the distant waters of the mississippi. he now proceeded to make those remarkable solitary explorations of kentucky which have given him immortality--through the valley of the kentucky and the licking, and along the "belle riviÃ�¨re" (ohio) as low as the falls. he visited the big bone lick and examined the wonderful fossil remains of the mammoth found there. along the great buffalo roads, worn several feet below the surface of the ground, which led to the blue licks, he saw with amazement and delight thousands of huge shaggy buffalo gamboling, bellowing, and making the earth rumble beneath the trampling of their hooves. one day, while upon a cliff near the junction of the kentucky and dick's rivers, he suddenly found himself hemmed in by a party of indians. seizing his only chance of escape, he leaped into the top of a maple tree growing beneath the cliffs and, sliding to safety full sixty feet below, made his escape, pursued by the sound of a chorus of guttural "ughs" from the dumbfounded savages. finally making his way back to the old camp, daniel was rejoined there by squire on july , . during the succeeding months, much of their time was spent in hunting and prospecting in jessamine county, where two caves are still known as boone's caves. eventually, when ammunition and supplies had once more run low, squire was compelled a second time to return to the settlements. perturbed after a time by squire's failure to rejoin him at the appointed time, daniel started toward the settlements, in search of him; and by a stroke of good fortune encountered him along the trail. overjoyed at this meeting (december, ) the indomitable boones once more plunged into the wilderness, determined to conclude their explorations by examining the regions watered by the green and cumberland rivers and their tributaries. in after years, gasper mansker, the old german scout, was accustomed to describe with comic effect the consternation created among the long hunters, while hunting one day on green river, by a singular noise which they could not explain. stealthily slipping from tree to tree, mansker finally beheld with mingled surprise and amusement a hunter, bare-headed, stretched flat upon his back on a deerskin spread on the ground, singing merrily at the top of his voice! it was daniel boone, joyously whiling away the solitary hours in singing one of his favorite songs of the border. in march, , after spending some time in company with the long hunters, the boones, their horses laden with furs, set their faces homeward. on their return journey, near cumberland gap, they had the misfortune to be surrounded by a party of indians who robbed them of their guns and all their peltries. with this humiliating conclusion to his memorable tour of exploration, daniel boone, as he himself says, "once more reached home after experiencing hardships which would defy credulity in the recital." [ ] despite the hardships and the losses, boone had achieved the ambition of years: he had seen kentucky, which he "esteemed a second paradise." the reports of his extended explorations, which he made to judge henderson, were soon communicated to the other partners of the land company; and their letters of this period, to one another, bristle with glowing and minute descriptions of the country, as detailed by their agent. boone was immediately engaged to act in the company's behalf to sound the cherokees confidentially with respect to their willingness to lease or sell the beautiful hunting-grounds of the trans-alleghany. [ ] the high hopes of henderson and his associates at last gave promise of brilliant realization. daniel boone's glowing descriptions of kentucky excited in their minds, says a gifted early chronicler, the "spirit of an enterprise which in point of magnitude and peril, as well as constancy and heroism displayed in its execution, has never been paralleled in the history of america." chapter xi. the regulators it is not a persons labour, nor yet his effects that will do, but if he has but one horse to plow with, one bed to lie on, or one cow to give a little milk for his children, they must all go to raise money which is not to be had. and lastly if his personal estate (sold at one tenth of its value) will not do, then his lands (which perhaps has cost him many years of toil and labour) must go the same way to satisfy these cursed hungry caterpillars, that are eating and will eat out the bowels of our commonwealth, if they be not pulled down from their nests in a very short time. --george sims: a serious address to the inhabitants of granville county, containing an account of our deplorable situation we suffer ... and some necessary hints with respect to a reformation. june , . it is highly probable that even at the time of his earlier explorations in behalf of richard henderson and company, daniel boone anticipated speedy removal to the west. indeed, in the very year of his first tour in their interest, daniel and his wife rebeckah sold all their property in north carolina, consisting of their home and six hundred and forty acres of land, and after several removals established themselves upon the upper yadkin. this removal and the later western explorations just outlined were due not merely to the spirit of adventure and discovery. three other causes also were at work. in the first place there was the scarcity of game. for fifteen years the shipments of deerskins from bethabara to charleston steadily increased; and the number of skins bought by gammern, the moravian storekeeper, ran so high that in spite of the large purchases made at the store by the hunters he would sometimes run entirely out of money. tireless in the chase, the far-roaming boone was among "the hunters, who brought in their skins from as far away as the indian lands"; and the beautiful upland pastures and mountain forests, still teeming with deer and bear, doubtless lured him to the upper yadkin, where for a time in the immediate neighborhood of his home abundance of game fell before his unerring rifle. certainly the deer and other game, which were being killed in enormous numbers to satisfy the insatiable demand of the traders at salisbury, the forks, and bethabara, became scarcer and scarcer; and the wild game that was left gradually fled to the westward. terrible indeed was the havoc wrought among the elk; and it was reported that the last elk was killed in western north carolina as early as . another grave evil of the time with which boone had to cope in the back country of north carolina was the growth of undisguised outlawry, similar to that found on the western plains of a later era. this ruthless brigandage arose as the result of the unsettled state of the country and the exposed condition of the settlements due to the indian alarms. when rude borderers, demoralized by the enforced idleness attendant upon fort life during the dark days of indian invasion, sallied forth upon forays against the indians, they found much valuable property--horses, cattle, and stock--left by their owners when hurriedly fleeing to the protection of the frontier stockades. the temptations thus afforded were too great to resist; and the wilder spirits of the backwoods, with hazy notions of private rights, seized the property which they found, slaughtered the cattle, sold the horses, and appropriated to their own use the temporarily abandoned household goods and plantation tools. the stealing of horses, which were needed for the cultivation of the soil and useful for quickly carrying unknown thieves beyond the reach of the owner and the law, became a common practice; and was carried on by bands of outlaws living remote from one another and acting in collusive concert. toward the end of july, , when the indian outrages upon the new river settlements in virginia had frightened away all the families at the town fork in the yadkin country, william owen, a man of welsh stock, who had settled in the spring of in the upper yadkin near the mulberry fields, was suspected of having robbed the storekeeper on the meho. not long afterward a band of outlaws who plundered the exposed cabins in their owners' absence, erected a rude fort in the mountain region in the rear of the yadkin settlements, where they stored their ill-gotten plunder and made themselves secure from attack. other members of the band dwelt in the settlements, where they concealed their robber friends by day and aided them by night in their nefarious projects of theft and rapine. the entire community was finally aroused by the bold depredations of the outlaws; and the most worthy settlers of the yadkin country organized under the name of regulators to break up the outlaw band. when it was discovered that owen, who was well known at bethabara, had allied himself with the highwaymen, one of the justices summoned one hundred men; and seventy, who answered the call, set forth on december , , to seek out the outlaws and to destroy their fortress. emboldened by their success, the latter upon one occasion had carried off a young girl of the settlements. daniel boone placed himself at the head of one of the parties, which included the young girl's father, to go to her rescue; and they fortunately succeeded in effecting the release of the frightened maiden. one of the robbers was apprehended and brought to salisbury, where he was thrown into prison for his crimes. meanwhile a large amount of plunder had been discovered at the house of one cornelius howard; and the evidences of his guilt so multiplied against him that he finally confessed his connection with the outlaw band and agreed to point out their fort in the mountains. daniel boone and george boone joined the party of seventy men, sent out by the colonial authorities, under the guidance of howard, to attack the stronghold of the bandits. boone afterward related that the robbers' fort was situated in the most fitly chosen place for such a purpose that he could imagine--beneath an overhanging cliff of rock, with a large natural chimney, and a considerable area in front well stockaded. the frontiersmen surrounded the fort, captured five women and eleven children, and then burned the fort to the ground. owen and his wife, cumberland, and several others were ultimately made prisoners; but harman and the remainder of the band escaped by flight. owen and his fellow captives were then borne to salisbury, incarcerated in the prison there, and finally (may, ) condemned to the gallows. owen sent word to the moravians, petitioning them to adopt his two boys and to apprentice one to a tailor, the other to a carpenter. but so infuriated was owen's wife by howard's treachery that she branded him as a second judas; and this at once fixed upon him the sobriquet "judas" howard--a sobriquet he did not live long to bear, for about a year later he was ambushed and shot from his horse at the crossing of a stream. he thus paid the penalty of his betrayal of the outlaw band. for a number of years, the regulators continued to wage war against the remaining outlaws, who from time to time committed murders as well as thefts. as late as january, , the regulators caught a horse thief in the hollows of surry county and brought him to bethabara, whence richter and spach took him to the jail at salisbury. after this year, the outlaws were heard of no more; and peace reigned in the settlements. colonel edmund fanning--of whom more anon--declared that the regulation began in anson county which bordered upon south carolina. [ ] certain it is that the upper country of that province was kept in an uproar by civil disturbances during this early period. owing to the absence of courts in this section, so remote from charleston, the inhabitants found it necessary, for the protection of property and the punishment of outlaws, to form an association called, like the north carolina society, the regulation. against this association the horse thieves and other criminals made common cause, and received tacit support from certain more reputable persons who condemned "the irregularity of the regulators." the regulation which had been thus organized in upper south carolina as early as led to tumultuous risings of the settlers; and finally in the effort to suppress these disorders, the governor, lord charles montagu, appointed one scovil, an utterly unworthy representative, to carry out his commands. after various disorders, which became ever more unendurable to the law-abiding, matters came to a crisis ( ) as the result of the high-handed proceedings of scovil, who promiscuously seized and flung into prison all the regulators he could lay hands on. in the month of march the back country rose in revolt against scovil and a strong body of the settlers was on the point of attacking the force under his command when an eleventh-hour letter arrived from montagu, dismissing scovil from office. thus was happily averted, by the narrowest of margins, a threatened precursor of the fight at alamance in (see chapter xii). as the result of the petition of the calhouns and others, courts were established in , though not opened until four years later. many horse thieves were apprehended, tried, and punished. justice once more held full sway. another important cause for boone's removal from the neighborhood of salisbury into the mountain fastnesses was the oppressive administration of the law by corrupt sheriffs, clerks, and tax-gatherers, and the dissatisfaction of the frontier squatters with the owners of the soil. at the close of the year reports reached the town of wilmington, after the adjournment of the assembly in november, of serious disturbances in orange county, due, it was alleged, to the exorbitant exactions of the clerks, registers, and some of the attorneys. [ ] as a result of this disturbing news, governor dobbs issued a proclamation forbidding any officer to take illegal fees. troubles had been brewing in the adjacent county of granville ever since the outbreak of the citizens against francis corbin, lord granville's agent (january , ), and the issuance of the petition of reuben searcy and others (march d) protesting against the alleged excessive fees taken and injustices practised by robert (robin) jones, the famous lawyer. these disturbances were cumulative in their effect; and the people at last ( ) found in george sims, of granville, a fit spokesman of their cause and a doughty champion of popular rights. in his "serious address to the inhabitants of granville county, containing an account of our deplorable situation we suffer ... and some necessary hints with respect to a reformation," recently brought to light, he presents a crushing indictment of the clerk of the county court, samuel benton, the grandfather of thomas hart benton. after describing in detail the system of semi-peonage created by the merciless exactions of lawyers and petty court officials, and the insatiable greed of "these cursed hungry caterpillars," sims with rude eloquence calls upon the people to pull them down from their nests for the salvation of the commonwealth. [ ] other abuses were also recorded. so exorbitant was the charge for a marriage-license, for instance, that an early chronicler records: "the consequence was that some of the inhabitants on the head-waters of the yadkin took a short cut. they took each other for better or for worse; and considered themselves as married without further ceremony." the extraordinary scarcity of currency throughout the colony, especially in the back country, was another great hardship and a perpetual source of vexation. all these conditions gradually became intolerable to the uncultured but free-spirited men of the back country. events were slowly converging toward a crisis in government and society. independent in spirit, turbulent in action, the backwoodsmen revolted not only against excessive taxes, dishonest sheriffs, and extortionate fees, but also against the rapacious practices of the agents of lord granville. these agents industriously picked flaws in the titles to the lands in granville's proprietary upon which the poorer settlers were seated; and compelled them to pay for the land if they had not already done so, or else to pay the fees twice over and take out a new patent as the only remedy of the alleged defect in their titles. in mecklenburg county the spirit of backwoods revolt flamed out in protest against the proprietary agents. acting under instructions to survey and close bargains for the lands or else to eject those who held them, henry eustace mcculloh, in february, , went into the county to call a reckoning. the settlers, many of whom had located without deeds, indignantly retorted by offering to buy only at their own prices, and forbade the surveyors to lay out the holdings when this smaller price was declined. they not only terrorized into acquiescence those among them who were willing to pay the amount charged for the lands, but also openly declared that they would resist by force any sheriff in ejectment proceedings. on may th an outbreak occurred; and a mob, led by thomas polk, set upon john frohock, abraham alexander, and others, as they were about to survey a parcel of land, and gave them a severe thrashing, even threatening the young mcculloh with death. [ ] the choleric backwoodsmen, instinctively in agreement with francis bacon, considered revenge as a sort of wild justice. especial objects of their animosity were the brothers frohock, john and thomas, the latter clerk of the court at salisbury, and edmund fanning, a cultured gentleman-adventurer, associate justice of the superior court. so rapacious and extortionate were these vultures of the courts who preyed upon the vitals of the common people, that they were savagely lampooned by rednap howell, the backwoods poet-laureate of the regulation. the temper of the back country is well caught in howell's lines anent this early american "grafter," the favorite of the royal governor: when fanning first to orange came, he looked both pale and wan; an old patched coat was on his back, an old mare he rode on. both man and mare wan't worth five pounds, as i've been often told; but by his civil robberies, he's laced his coat with gold. [ ] the germs of the great westward migration in the coming decade were thus working among the people of the back country. if the tense nervous energy of the american people is the transmitted characteristic of the border settlers, who often slept with loaded rifle in hand in grim expectation of being awakened by the hideous yells, the deadly tomahawk, and the lurid firebrand of the savage, the very buoyancy of the national character is in equal measure "traceable to the free democracy founded on a freehold inheritance of land." the desire for free land was the fundamental factor in the development of the american democracy. no colony exhibited this tendency more signally than did north carolina in the turbulent days of the regulation. the north carolina frontiersmen resented the obligation to pay quit-rents and firmly believed that the first occupant of the soil had an indefeasible right to the land which he had won with his rifle and rendered productive by the implements of toil. preferring the dangers of the free wilderness to the paying of tribute to absentee landlords and officials of an intolerant colonial government, the frontiersman found title in his trusty rifle rather than in a piece of parchment, and was prone to pay his obligations to the owner of the soil in lead rather than in gold. chapter xii. watauga--haven of liberty the regulators despaired of seeing better times and therefore quitted the province. it is said , departed since the battle of alamance and to my knowledge a great many more are only waiting to dispose of their plantations in order to follow them. --reverend morgan edwards, . the five years ( - ) which saw the rise, development, and ultimate defeat of the popular movement known as the regulation, constitute a period not only of extraordinary significance in north carolina but also of fruitful consequences in the larger movements of westward expansion. with the resolute intention of having their rulers "give account of their stewardship," to employ their own words, the sandy creek association of baptists (organized in ), in a series of papers known as regulators' advertisements ( - ) proceeded to mature, through popular gatherings, a rough form of initiative and referendum. at length, discouraged in its efforts, and particularly in the attempt to bring county officials to book for charging illegal fees, this association ceased actively to function. it was the precursor of a movement of much more drastic character and formidable proportions, chiefly directed against colonel edmund fanning and his associates. this movement doubtless took its name, "the regulation," from the bands of men already described who were organized first in north carolina and later in south carolina, to put down highwaymen and to correct many abuses in the back country, such as the tyrannies of scovil and his henchmen. failing to secure redress of their grievances through legal channels, the regulators finally made such a powerful demonstration in support of their refusal to pay taxes that governor william tryon of north carolina, in , called out the provincial militia, and by marching with great show of force through the disaffected regions, succeeded temporarily in overawing the people and thus inducing them to pay their assessments. [ ] the suits which had been brought by the regulators against edmund fanning, register, and francis nash, clerk, of orange county, resulted in both being "found guilty of taking too high fees." [ ] fanning immediately resigned his commission as register; while nash, who in conjunction with fanning had fairly offered in to refund to any one aggrieved any fee charged by him which the superior court might hold excessive, gave bond for his appearance at the next court. similar suits for extortion against the three frohocks in rowan county in met with failure, however; and this outcome aroused the bitter resentment of the regulators, as recorded by herman husband in his "impartial relation." during this whole period the insurrectionary spirit of the people, who felt themselves deeply aggrieved but recognized their inability to secure redress, took the form of driving local justices from the bench and threatening court officials with violence. an impartial relation of the first rise and cause of the recent differences, in publick affairs, in the province of north-carolina; and of the past tumults and riots that lately happened in that province. containing most of the true and genuine copies of letters, messages and remonstrances, between the parties contending:------by which any impartial man may easily gather and see the true ground and reasons of the dissatisfaction that universally reigns all over said province in more or less degree. printed for the compiler, . at the session of the superior court at hillsborough, september , , an elaborate petition prepared by the regulators, demanding unprejudiced juries and the public accounting for taxes by the sheriffs, was handed to the presiding justice by james hunter, a leading regulator. this justice was our acquaintance, judge richard henderson, of granville county, the sole high officer in the provincial government from the entire western section of the colony. in this petition occur these trenchant words: "as we are serious and in good earnest and the cause respects the whole body of the people it would be loss of time to enter into arguments on particular points for though there are a few men who have the gift and art of reasoning, yet every man has a feeling and knows when he has justice done him as well as the most learned." [ ] on the following monday (september th), upon convening of court, some one hundred and fifty regulators, led by james hunter, herman husband, rednap howell, and others, armed with clubs, whips, and cudgels, surged into the court-room and through their spokesman, jeremiah fields, presented a statement of their grievances. "i found myself," says judge henderson, "under a necessity of attempting to soften and turn away the fury of these mad people, in the best manner in my power, and as such could well be, pacify their rage and at the same time preserve the little remaining dignity of the court." [ ] during an interim, in which the regulators retired for consultation, they fell without warning upon fanning and gave him such rough treatment that he narrowly escaped with his life. the mob, now past control, horsewhipped a number of leading lawyers and citizens gathered there at court, and treated others, notably the courtly mr. hooper of boston, "with every mark of contempt and insult." judge henderson was assured by fields that no harm should come to him provided he would conduct the court in accordance with the behest of the regulators: namely, that no lawyer, save the king's attorney, should be admitted to the court, and that the regulators' cases should be tried with new jurors chosen by the regulators. with the entire little village terrorized by this campaign of "frightfulness," and the court wholly unprotected, judge henderson reluctantly acknowledged to himself that "the power of the judiciary was exhausted." nevertheless, he says, "i made every effort in my power consistent with my office and the duty the public is entitled to claim to preserve peace and good order." [ ] agreeing under duress to resume the session the following day, the judge ordered an adjournment. but being unwilling, on mature reflection, to permit a mockery of the court and a travesty of justice to be staged under threat and intimidation, he returned that night to his home in granville and left the court adjourned in course. enraged by the judge's escape, the regulators took possession of the court-room the following morning, called over the cases, and in futile protest against the conditions they were powerless to remedy, made profane entries which may still be seen on the record: "damned rogues," "fanning pays cost but loses nothing," "negroes not worth a damn, cost exceeds the whole," "hogan pays and be damned," and, in a case of slander, "nonsense, let them argue for ferrell has gone hellward." [ ] the uprising of these bold and resolute, simple and imperfectly educated people, which had begun as a constitutional struggle to secure justice and to prevent their own exploitation by dishonest lawyers of the county courts, now gave place to open anarchy and secret incendiarism. [ ] in the dead of night, november th and th, judge henderson's barn, stables, and dwelling house were fired by the regulators and went up in flames. glowing with a sense of wrong, these misguided people, led on by fanatical agitators, thus vented their indiscriminate rage, not only upon their oppressors, but also upon men wholly innocent of injuring them--men of the stamp of william hooper, afterward signer of the declaration of independence, alexander martin, afterward governor and united states senator, and richard henderson, popular representative of the back country and a firm champion of due process of law. it is perhaps not surprising in view of these events that governor tryon and the ruling class, lacking a sympathy broad enough to ensure justice to the oppressed people, seemed to be chiefly impressed with the fact that a widespread insurrection was in progress, threatening not only life and property, but also civil government itself. the governor called out the militia of the province and led an army of well-nigh one thousand men and officers against the regulators, who had assembled at alamance to the number of two thousand. tryon stood firm upon the demands that the people should submit to government and disperse at a designated hour. the regulators, on their side, hoped to secure the reforms they desired by intimidating the governor with a great display of force. the battle was a tragic fiasco for the regulators, who fought bravely, but without adequate arms or real leadership. with the conclusion of this desultory action, a fight lasting about two hours (may , ), the power of the regulators was completely broken. [ ] among these insurgents there was a remarkable element--an element whose influence upon the course of american history has been but imperfectly understood--which now looms into prominence as the vanguard of the army of westward expansion. there were some of the regulators who, though law-abiding and conservative, were deeply imbued with ideas of liberty, personal independence, and the freedom of the soil. through the influence of benjamin franklin, with whom one of the leaders of the group, herman husband, was in constant correspondence, the patriotic ideas then rapidly maturing into revolutionary sentiments furnished the inspiration to action. as early as , the sandy creek leaders, referred to earlier in this chapter, issued a call to each neighborhood to send delegates to a gathering for the purpose of investigating the question "whether the free men of this country labor under any abuses of power or not." the close connection between the sandy creek men and the sons of liberty is amply demonstrated in this paper wherein the sons of liberty in connection with the "stamp law" are praised for "redeeming us from tyranny" and for having "withstood the lords in parliament in behalf of true liberty." [ ] upon the records of the dutchman's creek church, of "regular" baptists, at the forks of the yadkin, to which daniel boone's family belonged, may be found this memorable entry, recognizing the "american cause" well-nigh a year before the declaration of independence at philadelphia: "at the monthly meeting it was agreed upon concerning the american cause, if any of the brethren see cause to join it they have the liberty to do it without being called to an account by the church. but whether they join or do not join they should be used with brotherly love." [ ] the fundamental reasons underlying the approaching westward hegira are found in the remarkable petition of the regulators of anson county (october , ), who request that "benjamin franklin or some other known patriot" be appointed agent of the province in london to seek redress at the source. they exposed the basic evil in the situation by pointing out that, in violation of the law restricting the amount of land that might be granted to each person to six hundred and forty acres, much of the most fertile territory in the province had been distributed in large tracts to wealthy landlords. in consequence "great numbers of poor people are necessitated to toil in the cultivation of the bad lands whereon they hardly can subsist." [ ] it was these poor people, "thereby deprived of his majesties liberality and bounty," who soon turned their gaze to the westward and crossed the mountains in search of the rich, free lands of the trans-alleghany region. this feverish popular longing for freedom, stimulated by the economic pressure of thousands of pioneers who were annually entering north carolina, set in motion a wave of migration across the mountains in . long before alamance, many of the true americans, distraught by apparently irremediable injustices, plunged fearlessly into the wilderness, seeking beyond the mountains a new birth of liberty, lands of their own selection free of cost or quit-rents, and a government of their own choosing and control. [ ] the glad news of the rich valleys beyond the mountains early lured such adventurous pioneers as andrew greer and julius cÃ�¦sar dugger to the watauga country. the glowing stories, told by boone, and disseminated in the back country by henderson, williams, and the harts, seemed to give promise to men of this stamp that the west afforded relief from oppressions suffered in north carolina. during the winter of - there was also a great rush of settlers from virginia into the valley of the holston. a party from augusta county, led by men who had been delighted with the country viewed seven years before when they were serving under colonel william byrd against the cherokees, found that this region, a wilderness on their outward passage in , was dotted with cabins on every spot where the grazing was good, upon their return the following year. writing to hillsborough on october , , concerning the "many hundred families" in the region from green river to the branches of the holston, who refused to comply with the royal proclamation of , acting-governor nelson of virginia reports that "very little if any quit rents have been received for his majesty's use from that quarter for some time past"--the people claiming that "his majesty hath been pleased to withdraw his protection from them since ." [ ] in the spring of , with the express intention of discovering suitable locations for homes for himself and a number of others, who wished to escape the accumulating evils of the times, james robertson of orange county, north carolina, made an arduous journey to the pleasing valley of the watauga. robertson, who was born in brunswick county, virginia, june , , of excellent scotch-irish ancestry, was a noteworthy figure of a certain type--quiet, reflective, conservative, wise, a firm believer in the basic principles of civil liberty and the right of local self-government. robertson spent some time with a man named honeycut in the watauga region, raised a crop of corn, and chose for himself and his friends suitable locations for settlement. lost upon his return in seeking the mountain defiles traversed by him on the outward journey, robertson probably escaped death from starvation only through the chance passing of two hunters who succored him and set him upon the right path. on arriving in orange he found political and social conditions there much worse than before, many of the colonists declining to take the obligatory oath of allegiance to the british crown after the battle of alamance, preferring to carve out for themselves new homes along the western waters. some sixteen families of this stamp, indignant at the injustices and oppressions of british rule, and stirred by robertson's description of the richness and beauty of the western country, accompanied him to watauga shortly after the battle. this vanguard of the army of westward advance, independent americans in spirit with a negligible sprinkling of loyalists, now swept in a great tide into the northeastern section of tennessee. the men of sandy creek, actuated by independent principles but out of sympathy with the anarchic side of the regulation, left the colony almost to a man. "after the defeat of the regulators," says the historian of the sandy creek association, "thousands of the oppressed, seeing no hope of redress for their grievances, moved into and settled east tennessee. a large proportion of these were of the baptist population. sandy creek church which some time previous to , numbered , was afterward reduced to fourteen members!" [ ] this movement exerted powerful influence in stimulating westward expansion. indeed, it was from men of regulating principles--boone, robertson, and the searcys--who vehemently condemned the anarchy and incendiarism of , that judge henderson received powerful coÃ�¶peration in the opening up of kentucky and tennessee. [ ] the several treaties concerning the western boundary of white settlement, concluded in close succession by north carolina, virginia, and the crown with the southern and northern indians, had an important bearing upon the settlement of watauga. the cherokee boundary line, as fixed by governor tryon ( ) and by john stuart ( ), ran from reedy river to tryon mountain, thence straight to chiswell's mine, and thence direct to the mouth of the great kanawha river. by the treaty at fort stanwix (november , ), in the negotiation of which virginia was represented by dr. thomas walker and major andrew lewis, the six nations sold to the crown their shadowy claim to a vast tract of western country, including in particular all the land between the ohio and the tennessee rivers. the news of the cession resulted in a strong southwestward thrust of population, from the neighborhood of abingdon, in the direction of the holston valley. [ ] recognizing that hundreds of these settlers were beyond the line negotiated by stuart, but on lands not yet surveyed, governor botetourt instructed the virginia commissioners to press for further negotiations, through stuart, with the cherokees. accordingly, on october , , a new treaty was made at lochaber, south carolina, by which a new line back of virginia was established, beginning at the intersection of the north carolina-cherokee line (a point some seventy-odd miles east of long island), running thence in a west course to a point six miles east of long island, and thence in a direct course to the confluence of the great kanawha and ohio rivers. at the time of the treaty, it was agreed that the holston river, from its intersection with the north carolina-virginia line, and down the course of the same, should be a temporary southern boundary of virginia until the line should be ascertained by actual survey. [ ] a strong influx of population into the immense new triangle thus released for settlement brought powerful pressure to bear upon northern tennessee, the point of least resistance along the western barrier. singularly enough, this advance was not opposed by the cherokees, whose towns were strung across the extreme southeast corner of tennessee. when colonel john donelson ran the line in the latter part of , the little carpenter, who with other indian chiefs accompanied the surveying party, urged that the line agreed upon at lochaber should break off at the head of the louisa river, and should run thence to the mouth thereof, and thence up the ohio to the mouth of the great kanawha. for this increase in the territory of virginia they of course expected additional payment. as a representative of virginia, donelson agreed to the proposed alteration in the boundary line; and accordingly promised to send the cherokees, in the following spring, a sum alleged by them to have been fixed at five hundred pounds, in compensation for the additional area. this informal agreement, it is believed, was never ratified by virginia; nor was the promised compensation ever paid the cherokees. [ ] under the belief that the land belonged to virginia, jacob brown with one or two families from north carolina settled in upon a tract of land on the northern bank of the nonachunheh (corruption, nolichucky) river. during the same year, an experimental line run westward from steep rock and beaver creek by anthony bledsoe showed that upon the extension of the boundary line, these settlers would fall within the bounds of north carolina. although thus informally warned of the situation, the settlers made no move to vacate the lands. but in the following year, after the running of donelson's line, alexander cameron, stuart's deputy, required "all persons who had made settlements beyond the said line to relinquish them." thus officially warned, brown and his companions removed to watauga. [ ] cameron's order did not apply, however, to the settlement north of the holston river, south and east of long island; and the settlement in carter's valley, north of the holston and west of the long island, although lying without the virginia boundary, strangely enough remained unmolested. the order was directed at the watauga settlers, who were seated south of the holston river in the watauga valley. the plight in which the watauga settlers now found themselves was truly desperate; and the way in which they surmounted this apparently insuperable difficulty is one of the most striking and characteristic events in the pre-revolutionary history of the old southwest. it exhibits the indomitable will and fertile resource of the american character at the margin of desperation. the momentous influence of the watauga settlers, inadequately reckoned hitherto by historians, was soon to make itself powerfully felt in the first epochal movement of westward expansion. chapter xiii. opening the gateway--dunmore's war virginia, we conceive, can claim this country [kentucky] with the greatest justice and propriety, its within the limits of their charter. they fought and bled for it. and had it not been for the memorable battle, at the great kanaway those vast regions had yet continued inaccessable. --the harrodsburg petition. june - , . it was fortunate for the watauga settlers that the indians and the whites were on the most peaceful terms with each other at the time the watauga valley was shown, by the running of the boundary line, to lie within the indian reservation. with true american self-reliance, the settlers met together for deliberation and counsel, and deputed james robertson and john been, as stated by tennessee's first historian, "to treat with their landlords, and agree upon articles of accomodation and friendship. the attempt succeeded. for though the indians refused to give up the land gratuitously, they consented, for a stipulated amount of merchandise, muskets, and other articles of convenience, to lease all the country on the waters of the watauga." [ ] in addition to the land thus leased for ten years, several other tracts were purchased from the indians by jacob brown, who reoccupied his former location on the nolichucky. in taking this daring step, the watauga settlers moved into the spotlight of national history. for the inevitable consequence of leasing the territory was the organization of a form of government for the infant settlement. through his familiarity with the north carolina type of "association," in which the settlers had organized for the purpose of "regulating" abuses, and his acquaintance with the contents of the "impartial relation," in which husband fully expounded the principles and practices of this association, robertson was peculiarly fitted for leadership in organizing this new government. the convention at which articles of association, unfortunately lost, were drawn up, is noteworthy as the first governmental assemblage of free-born american citizens ever held west of the alleghanies. the government then established was the first free and independent government, democratic in spirit, representative in form, ever organized upon the american continent. in describing this mimic republic, the royal governor of virginia says: "they appointed magistrates, and framed laws for their present occasion, and to all intents and purposes, erected themselves into, though an inconsiderable, yet a separate state." [ ] the most daring spirit in this little state was the young john sevier, of french huguenot family (originally spelled xavier), born in augusta county, virginia, on september , . it was from millerstown in shenandoah county where he was living the uneventful life of a small farmer, that he emigrated (december, ) to the watauga region. with his arrival there begins one of the most fascinating and romantic careers recorded in the varied and stirring annals of the old southwest. in this daring and impetuous young fellow, fair-haired, blue-eyed, magnetic, debonair--of powerful build, splendid proportions, and athletic skill--we hold the gallant exemplar of the truly heroic life of the border. the story of his life, thrilling in the extreme, is rich in all the multi-colored elements which impart romance to the arduous struggle of american civilization in the opening years of the republic. the creative impulses in the watauga commonwealth are hinted at by dunmore, who observes, in the letter above quoted, that watauga "sets a dangerous example to the people america, of forming governments distinct from and independent of his majesty's authority." it is true that the experiment was somewhat limited. the organization of the watauga association, which constituted a temporary expedient to meet a crisis in the affairs of a frontier community cut off by forest wilderness and mountain barriers from the reach of the arm of royal or provincial government, is not to be compared with the revolutionary assemblage at boonesborough, may , , or with the extraordinary demands for independence in mecklenburg county, north carolina, during the same month. nevertheless the watauga settlers defied both north carolina and the crown, by adopting the laws of virginia and by ignoring governor josiah martin's proclamation (march , ) "requiring the said settlers immediately to retire from the indian territories." [ ] moreover, watauga really was the parent of a series of mimic republics in the old southwest, gradually tending toward higher forms of organization, with a larger measure of individual liberty. watauga, transylvania, cumberland, franklin represent the evolving political genius of a free people under the creative leadership of three constructive minds--james robertson, john sevier, and richard henderson. indeed, watauga furnished to judge henderson precisely the "dangerous example" of which dunmore prophetically speaks. [ ] immediately upon his return in from the extended exploration of kentucky, daniel boone as already noted was engaged as secret agent, to treat with the cherokees for the lease or purchase of the trans-alleghany region, on behalf of judge henderson and his associates. embroiled in the exciting issues of the regulation and absorbed by his confining duties as colonial judge, henderson was unable to put his bold design into execution until after the expiration of the court itself which ceased to exist in . disregarding the royal proclamation of and locke's fundamental constitutions for the carolinas, which forbade private parties to purchase lands from the indians, judge henderson applied to the highest judicial authorities in england to know if there was any law in existence forbidding purchase of lands from the indian tribes. lord mansfield gave judge henderson the "sanction of his great authority in favor of the purchase." [ ] lord chancellor camden and mr. yorke had officially advised the king in , in regard to the petition of the east indian company, "that in respect to such territories as have been, or shall be acquired by treaty or grant from the great mogul, or any of the indian princes or governments, your majesty's letters patent are not necessary; the property of the soil vesting in the company by the indian grant subject only to your majesties right of sovereignty over the settlements, as english settlements, and over the inhabitants, as english subjects, who carry with them your majesties laws wherever they form colonies, and receive your majesties protection by virtue of your royal charters." [ ] this opinion, with virtually no change, was rendered in regard to the indian tribes of north america by the same two authorities, certainly as early as ; [ ] and a true copy, made in london, april , , was transmitted to judge henderson. [ ] armed with the legal opinions received from england, judge henderson was fully persuaded that there was no legal bar whatsoever to his seeking to acquire by purchase from the cherokees the vast domain of the trans-alleghany. [ ] a golden dream of empire, with its promise of an independent republic in the form of a proprietary colony, casts him under the spell of its alluring glamour. in the meantime, the restless boone, impatient over the delay in the consummation of judge henderson's plans, resolved to establish himself in kentucky upon his own responsibility. heedless of the question of title and the certain hazards incident to invading the territory of hostile savages, boone designated a rendezvous in powell's valley where he and his party of five families were to be met by a band under the leadership of his connections, the bryans, and another company led by captain william russell, a daring pioneer of the clinch valley. a small detachment of boone's party was fiercely attacked by shawanoes in powell's valley on october , , and almost all were killed, including sons of boone and russell, and young john and richard mendenhall of guilford county, north carolina. as the result of this bloody repulse, boone's attempt to settle in kentucky at this time was definitely abandoned. his failure to effect a settlement in kentucky was due to that characteristic disregard of the territorial rights of the indians which was all too common among the borderers of that period. this failure was portentous of the coming storm. the reign of the long hunters was over. dawning upon the horizon was the day of stern adventurers, fixed in the desperate and lawless resolve to invade the trans-alleghany country and to battle savagely with the red man for its possession. more successful than boone was the mcafee party, five in number, from botetourt county, virginia, who between may th and september , , safely accomplished a journey through kentucky and carefully marked well-chosen sites for future location. [ ] an ominous incident of the time was the veiled warning which cornstalk, the great shawanoe chieftain, gave to captain thomas bullitt, head of a party of royal surveyors, sent out by lord dunmore, governor of virginia. cornstalk at chillicothe, june , , warned bullitt concerning the encroachments of the whites, "designed to deprive us," he said, "of the hunting of the country, as usual ... the hunting we stand in need of to buy our clothing." during the preceding summer, george rogers clark, an aggressive young virginian, with a small party, had descended the ohio as low as fish creek, where he built a cabin; and in this region for many months various parties of surveyors were busily engaged in locating and surveying lands covered by military grants. most significant of the ruthless determination of the pioneers to occupy by force the kentucky area was the action of the large party from monongahela, some forty in number, led by captain james harrod, who penetrated to the present miller county, where in june, , they made improvements and actually laid out a town. a significant, secretly conducted movement, of which historians have taken but little account, was now in progress under the manipulation of virginia's royal governor. as early as dr. john connolly proposed the establishment of an extensive colony south of the ohio; and the design of securing such territory from the indians found lodgment in the mind of lord dunmore. but this design was for the moment thwarted when on october , , an order was issued from the privy council chamber in whitehall granting an immense territory, including all of the present west virginia and the land alienated to virginia by donelson's agreement with the cherokees ( ), to a company including thomas walpole, samuel wharton, benjamin franklin, and others. this new colony, to be named "vandalia," seemed assured. a clash between dunmore and the royal authorities was imminent; for virginia under her sea-to-sea charter claimed the vast middle region of the continent, extending without known limit to west and northwest. moreover, dunmore was interested in great land speculations on his own account; and while overtly vindicating virginia's claim to the trans-alleghany by despatching parties of surveyors to the western wilderness to locate and survey lands covered by military grants, he with the collusion of certain members of the "honourable board," his council, as charged by washington, was more than "lukewarm," secretly restricting as rigorously as he dared the extent and number of the soldiers' allotments. according to the famous virginia remonstrance, he was in league with "men of great influence in some of the neighboring states" to secure, under cover of purchases from the indians, large tracts of country between the ohio and the mississippi. [ ] in shaping his plans dunmore had the shrewd legal counsel of patrick henry, who was equally intent upon making for himself a private purchase from the cherokees. it was henry's legal opinion that the indiana purchase from the six nations by the pennsylvania traders at fort stanwix (november , ) was valid; and that purchase by private individuals from the indians gave full and ample title. [ ] in consequence of these facts, william murray, in behalf of himself and his associates of the illinois land company, and on the strength of the camden-yorke decision, purchased two large tracts, on the illinois and ohio respectively, from the illinois indians (july , ); and in order to win the support of dunmore, who was ambitious to make a fortune in land speculation, organized a second company, the wabash (ouabache) land company, with the governor as the chief share-holder. in response to murray's petition on behalf of the illinois land company, dunmore (may, ) recommended it to lord dartmouth, secretary of state for the colonies, and urged that it be granted; and in a later letter he disingenuously disclaimed any personal interest in the illinois speculation. the party of surveyors sent out under the direction of colonel william preston, on the request of washington and other leading eastern men, in located lands covered by military grants on the ohio and in the kentucky area for prominent virginians, including washington, patrick henry, william byrd, william preston, arthur campbell, william fleming, and andrew lewis, among others, and also a large tract for dr. connolly. certain of these grants fell within the vandalia area; and in his reply (september , ) to dunmore's letter, lord dartmouth sternly censured dunmore for allowing these grants, and accused the white settlers of having brought on, by such unwarrantable aggressions, the war then raging with the indians. this charge lay at the door of dunmore himself; and there is strong evidence that dunmore personally fomented the war, ostensibly in support of virginia's charter rights, but actually in order to further his own speculative designs. [ ] dunmore's agent, dr. connolly, heading a party posing as virginia militia, fired without provocation upon a delegation of shawanoe chiefs assembled at fort pitt (january, ). taking advantage of the alarming situation created by the conflict of the claims of virginia and pennsylvania, connolly, inspired by dunmore without doubt, then issued an incendiary circular (april , ), declaring a state of war to exist. just two weeks before the battle of the great kanawha, patrick henry categorically stated, in conversation with thomas wharton: that he was at williamsburg with ld. d. when dr. conolly first came there, that conolly is a chatty, sensible man, and informed ld. dunmore of the extreme richness of the lands which lay on both sides of the ohio; that the prohibitory orders which had been sent him relative to the land on the hither side (or vandalia) had caused him to turn his thoughts to the opposite shore, and that as his lordship was determined to settle his family in america he was really pursueing this war, in order to obtain by purchase or treaty from the natives a tract of territory on that side; he then told me that he was convinced from every authority that the law knew, that a purchase from the natives was as full and ample a title as could be obtained, that they had lord camden and mr. york's opinion on that head, which opinion with some others that ld. dunmore had consulted, and with the knowledge conolly had given him of the quality of the country and his determined resolution to settle his family on this continent, were the real motives or springs of the present expedition. [ ] at this very time, patrick henry, in conjunction with william byrd d and others, was negotiating for a private purchase of lands from the cherokees; and when wharton, after answering henry's inquiry as to where he might buy indian goods, remarked: "it's not possible you mean to enter the indian trade at this period," henry laughingly replied: "the wish-world is my hobby horse." "from whence i conclude," adds wharton, "he has some prospect of making a purchase of the natives, but where i know not." the war, thus promulgated, we believe, at dunmore's secret instigation and heralded by a series of ghastly atrocities, came on apace. after the inhuman murder of the family of logan, the indian chieftain, by one greathouse and his drunken companions (april th), logan, who contrary to romantic views was a black-hearted and vengeful savage, harried the tennessee and virginia borders, burning and slaughtering. unable to arouse the cherokees, owing to the opposition of atta-kulla-kulla, logan as late as july st said in a letter to the whites: "the indians are not angry, only myself," and not until then did dunmore begin to give full execution to his warlike plans. the best woodsmen of the border, daniel boone and the german scout michael stoner, having been despatched on july th by colonel william preston to warn the surveyors of the trans-alleghany, made a remarkable journey on foot of eight hundred miles in sixty-one days. harrod's company at harrodsburg, a company of surveyors at fontainebleau, floyd's party on the kentucky, and the surveyors at mann's lick, thus warned, hurried in to the settlements and were saved. meanwhile, dunmore, in command of the virginia forces, invaded territory guaranteed to the indians by the royal proclamation of and recently ( ) added to the province of quebec, a fact of which he was not aware, conducted a vigorous campaign, and fortified camp charlotte, near old chillicothe. andrew lewis, however, in charge of the other division of dunmore's army, was the one destined to bear the real brunt and burden of the campaign. his division, recruited from the very flower of the pioneers of the old southwest, was the most representative body of borderers of this region that up to this time had assembled to measure strength with the red men. it was an army of the true stalwarts of the frontier, with fringed leggings and hunting-capes, rifles and powder-horns, hunting-knives and tomahawks. the battle of the great kanawha, at point pleasant, was fought on october , , between lewis's force, eleven hundred strong, and the indians, under cornstalk, somewhat inferior in numbers. it was a desultory action, over a greatly extended front and in very brushy country between crooked creek and the ohio. throughout the long day, the indians fought with rare craft and stubborn bravery--loudly cursing the white men, cleverly picking off their leaders, and derisively inquiring, in regard to the absence of the fifes: "where are your whistles now?" slowly retreating, they sought to draw the whites into an ambuscade and at a favorable moment to "drive the long knives like bullocks into the river." no marked success was achieved on either side until near sunset, when a flank movement directed by young isaac shelby alarmed the indians, who mistook this party for the expected reinforcement under christian, and retired across the ohio. in the morning the whites were amazed to discover that the indians, who the preceding day so splendidly heeded the echoing call of cornstalk, "be strong! be strong!", had quit the battle-field and left the victory with the whites. [ ] the peace negotiated by dunmore was durable. the governor had accomplished his purpose, defied the authority of the crown, and vindicated the claim of virginia, to the enthusiastic satisfaction of the backwoodsmen. while tendering their thanks to him and avowing their allegiance to george iii, at the close of the campaign, the borderers proclaimed their resolution to exert all their powers "for the defense of american liberty, and for the support of her just rights and privileges, not in any precipitous, riotous or tumultuous manner, but when regularly called forth by the unanimous voice of our countrymen." dunmore's war is epochal, in that it procured for the nonce a state of peace with the indians, which made possible the advance of judge henderson over the transylvania trail in , and, through his establishment of the transylvania fort at boonesborough, the ultimate acquisition by the american confederation of the imperial domain of the trans-alleghany. [ ] chapter xiv. richard henderson and the transylvania company i happened to fall in company, and have a great deal of conversation with one of the most singular and extraordinary persons and excentric geniuses in america, and perhaps in the world. his name is richard henderson. --j. f. d. smyth: a tour in the united states of america. early in , chastened by his own disastrous failure the preceding autumn, boone advised judge henderson that the time was auspicious for opening negotiations with the cherokees for purchasing the trans-alleghany region. [ ] in organizing a company for this purpose, henderson chose men of action and resource, leaders in the colony, ready for any hazard of life and fortune in this gigantic scheme of colonization and promotion. the new men included, in addition to the partners in the organization known as richard henderson and company, were colonel john luttrell, destined to win laurels in the revolution, and william johnston, a native of scotland, the leading merchant of hillsborough. [ ] meeting in hillsborough on august , , these men organized the new company under the name of the louisa company. in the articles then drawn up they agreed to "rent or purchase" a tract of land from the indian owners of the soil for the express purpose of "settling the country." each partner obligated himself to "furnish his quota of expenses necessary towards procuring the grant." in full anticipation of the grave dangers to be encountered, they solemnly bound themselves, as "equal sharers in the property," to "support each other with our lives and fortunes." [ ] negotiations with the indians were begun at once. accompanied by colonel nathaniel hart and guided by the experienced indian-trader, thomas price, judge henderson visited the cherokee chieftains at the otari towns. after elaborate consultations, the latter deputed the old chieftain, atta-kulla-kulla, a young buck, and a squaw, "to attend the said henderson and hart to north carolina, and there examine the goods and merchandize which had been by them offered as the consideration of the purchase." the goods purchased at cross creek (now fayetteville, north carolina), in which the louisa company "had embarked a large amount," met the entire approval of the indians--the squaw in particular shrewdly examining the goods in the interest of the women of the tribe. [ ] on january , , the company was again enlarged, and given the name of the transylvania company--the three new partners being david hart, brother to thomas and nathaniel, leonard henley bullock, a prominent citizen of granville, and james hogg, of hillsborough, a native scotchman and one of the most influential men in the colony. in the elaborate agreement drawn up reference is explicitly made to the contingency of "settling and voting as a proprietor and giving rules and regulations for the inhabitants etc." [ ] hillsborough was the actual starting-point for the westward movement, the first emigrants traveling thence to the sycamore shoals of the watauga. in speaking of the departure of the settlers, the first movement of extended and permanent westward migration, an eye-witness quaintly says: "at this place [hillsborough] i saw the first party of emigrant families that moved to kentucky under the auspices of judge henderson. they marched out of the town with considerable solemnity, and to many their destination seemed as remote as if it had been to the south sea islands." [ ] meanwhile, the "proposals for the encouragement of settling the lands etc.," issued on christmas day, , were quickly spread broadcast through the colony and along the border. [ ] it was the greatest sensation north carolina had known since alamance; and archibald neilson, deputy-auditor and naval officer of the colony, inquired with quizzical anxiety: "pray, is dick henderson out of his head?" the most liberal terms, proffered by one quite in possession of his head, were embodied in these proposals. land at twenty shillings per hundred acres was offered to each emigrant settling within the territory and raising a crop of corn before september , , the emigrant being permitted to take up as much as five hundred acres for himself and two hundred and fifty acres for each tithable person under him. in these "proposals" there was no indication that the low terms at which the lands were offered would be maintained after september , . [ ] in a letter to governor dunmore (january, ), colonel william preston, county surveyor of fincastle county, virginia, says: "the low price he [henderson] proposes to sell at, together with some further encouragement he offers, will i am apprehensive induce a great many families to remove from this county (fincastle) & carolina and settle there." [ ] joseph martin, states his son, "was appointed entry-taker and agent for the powell valley portion" of the transylvania purchase on january , ; and "he (joseph martin) and others went on in the early part of the year and made their stand at the very spot where he had made corn several years before." [ ] in speaking of the startling design, unmasked by henderson, of establishing an independent government, colonel preston writes to george washington of the contemplated "large purchase by one col.o henderson of north carolina from the cherokees.... i hear that henderson talks with great freedom & indecency of the governor of virginia, sets the government at defiance & says if he once had five hundred good fellows settled in that country he would not value virginia." [ ] early in runners were sent off to the cherokee towns to summon the indians to the treaty ground at the sycamore shoals of the watauga; and boone, after his return from a hunt in kentucky in january, was summoned by judge henderson to aid in the negotiations preliminary to the actual treaty. the dominating figure in the remarkable assemblage at the treaty ground, consisting of twelve hundred indians and several hundred whites, was richard henderson, "comely in person, of a benign and social disposition," with countenance betokening the man of strenuous action--"noble forehead, prominent nose, projecting chin, firm-set jaw, with kindness and openness of expression." gathered about him, picturesque in garb and striking in appearance, were many of the buckskin-clad leaders of the border--james robertson, john sevier, isaac shelby, william bailey smith, and their compeers--as well as his carolina friends john williams, thomas and nathaniel hart, nathaniel henderson, jesse benton, [ ] and valentine searcy. little was accomplished on the first day of the treaty (march th); but on the next day, the cherokees offered to sell the section bargained for by donelson acting as agent for virginia in . although the indians pointed out that virginia had never paid the promised compensation of five hundred pounds and had therefore forfeited her rights, henderson flatly refused to entertain the idea of purchasing territory to which virginia had the prior claim. angered by henderson's refusal, the dragging canoe, leaping into the circle of the seated savages, made an impassioned speech touched with the romantic imagination peculiar to the american indian. with pathetic eloquence he dwelt upon the insatiable land-greed of the white men, and predicted the extinction of his race if they committed the insensate folly of selling their beloved hunting-grounds. roused to a high pitch of oratorical fervor, the savage with uplifted arm fiercely exhorted his people to resist further encroachments at all hazards--and left the treaty ground. this incident brought the conference to a startling and abrupt conclusion. on the following day, however, the savages proved more tractable, agreeing to sell the land as far south as the cumberland river. in order to secure the additional territory watered by the tributaries of the cumberland, henderson agreed to pay an additional sum of two thousand pounds. upon this day there originated the ominous phrase descriptive of kentucky when the dragging canoe, dramatically pointing toward the west, declared that a dark cloud hung over that land, which was known as the bloody ground. on the last day, march th, the negotiations were opened with the signing of the "great grant." the area purchased, some twenty millions of acres, included almost all the present state of kentucky, and an immense tract in tennessee, comprising all the territory watered by the cumberland river and all its tributaries. for "two thousand weight of leather in goods" henderson purchased "the lands lying down holston and between the watauga lease, colonel donelson's line and powell's mountain" as a pathway to kentucky--the deed for which was known as the "path deed." by special arrangement, carter's valley in this tract went to carter and lucas; two days later, for two thousand pounds, charles robertson on behalf of the watauga association purchased a large tract in the valleys of the holston, watauga, and new rivers; and eight days later jacob brown purchased two large areas, including the nolichucky valley. this historic treaty, which heralds the opening of the west, was conducted with absolute justice and fairness by judge henderson and his associates. no liquor was permitted at the treaty ground; and thomas price, the ablest of the cherokee traders, deposed that "he at that time understood the cherokee language, so as to comprehend everything which was said and to know that what was observed on either side was fairly and truly translated; that the cherokees perfectly understood, what lands were the subject of the treaty...." the amount paid by the transylvania company for the imperial domain was ten thousand pounds sterling, in money and in goods. [ ] although daniel boone doubtless assisted in the proceedings prior to the negotiation of the treaty, his name nowhere appears in the voluminous records of the conference. indeed, he was not then present; for a fortnight before the conclusion of the treaty he was commissioned by judge henderson to form a party of competent woodmen to blaze a passage through the wilderness. on march th this party of thirty ax-men, under the leadership of boone, started from the rendezvous, the long island of holston, to engage in the arduous labor of cutting out the transylvania trail. [ ] henderson, the empire-builder, now faced with courage and resolution the hazardous task of occupying the purchased territory and establishing an independent government. no mere financial promoter of a vast speculative enterprise, he was one of the heroic figures of the old southwest; and it was his dauntless courage, his unwavering resolve to go forward in the face of all dangers, which carried through the armed "trek" to a successful conclusion. at martin's station, where henderson and his party tarried to build a house in which to store their wagons, as the road could be cleared no further, they were joined by another party, of five adventurers from prince william county, virginia. [ ] in henderson's party were some forty men and boys, with forty pack-horses and a small amount of powder, lead, salt, and garden-seeds. the warning freely given by joseph martin of the perils of the path was soon confirmed, as appears from the following entry in henderson's diary: friday the th. [april] about brake of day began to snow. about oclock received a letter from mr. luttrells camp that were five persons killd. on the road to the cantuckie by indians. capt. [nathaniel] hart, uppon the receipt of this news retreated back with his company, & determined to settle in the valley to make corn for the cantucky people. the same day received a letter from dan. boone, that his company was fired uppon by indians, kill'd two of his men--tho he kept the ground & saved the baggage &c. [ ] the following historic letter, which reveals alike the dogged resolution of boone and his reliance upon henderson and his company in this black hour of disaster, addressed "colonel richard henderson--these with care," is eloquent in its simplicity: dear colonel: after my compliments to you, i shall acquaint you of our misfortunes. on march the a party of indians fired on my company about half an hour before day, and killed mr. twitty and his negro, and wounded mr. walker very deeply, but i hope he will recover. on march the as we were hunting for provisions, we found samuel tate's son, who gave us an account that the indians fired on their camp on the th day. my brother and i went down and found two men killed and sculped, thomas mcdowell and jeremiah mcfeters. i have sent a man down to all the lower companies in order to gather them all at the mouth of otter creek. my advice to you, sir, is to come or send as soon as possible. your company is desired greatly, for the people are very uneasy, but are willing to stay and venture their lives with you. and now is the time to flusterate their [the indians'] intentions, and keep the country, whilst we are in it. if we give way to them now, it will ever be the case. this day we start from the battle ground, for the mouth of otter creek, where we shall immediately erect a fort, which will be done before you can come or send, then we can send ten men to meet you, if you send for them. i am, sir, your most obedient omble sarvent daniel boone. n.b. we stood on the ground and guarded our baggage till day, and lost nothing. we have about fifteen miles to cantuck [kentucky river] at otter creek. [ ] this dread intelligence caused the hearts of strong men to quail and induced some to turn back, but henderson, the jurist-pioneer, was made of sterner stuff. at once (april th) he despatched an urgent letter in hot haste to the proprietors of transylvania, enclosing boone's letter, informing them of boone's plight and urging them to send him immediately a large quantity of powder and lead, as he had been compelled to abandon his supply of saltpeter at martin's station. "we are all in high spirits," he assures the proprietors, "and on thorns to fly to boone's assistance, and join him in defense of so fine and valuable a country." laconically eloquent is this simple entry in his diary: "saturday the th. started abt. oclock crossed cumberland gap about miles met about persons returning from the cantucky, on acct. of the late murders by the indians could prevail on one only to return. memo several virginians who were with us return'd." there is no more crucial moment in early western history than this, in which we see the towering form of henderson, clad in the picturesque garb of the pioneer, with outstretched arm resolutely pointing forward to the "dark and bloody ground," and in impassioned but futile eloquence pleading with the pale and panic-stricken fugitives to turn about, to join his company, and to face once more the mortal dangers of pioneer conquest. significant indeed are the lines: some to endure, and many to fail, some to conquer, and many to quail, toiling over the wilderness trail. the spirit of the pioneer knight-errant inspires henderson's words: "in this situation, some few, of genuine courage and undaunted resolution, served to inspire the rest; by the help of whose example, assisted by a little pride and some ostentation, we made a shift to march on with all the appearance of gallantry, and, cavalier like, treated every insinuation of danger with the utmost contempt." fearing that boone, who did not even know that henderson's cavalcade was on the road, would be unable to hold out, henderson realized the imperative necessity for sending him a message of encouragement. the bold young virginian, william cocke, volunteered to brave alone the dangers of the murder-haunted trail--to undertake a ride more truly memorable and hazardous than that of revere. "this offer, extraordinary as it was, we could by no means refuse," remarks henderson, who shed tears of gratitude as he proffered his sincere thanks and wrung the brave messenger's hand. equipped with "a good queen anne's musket, plenty of ammunition, a tomahawk, a large cuttoe knife [french, couteau], a dutch blanket, and no small quantity of jerked beef," cocke on april th rode off "to the cantuckey to inform capt boone that we were on the road." the fearful apprehensions felt for cocke's safety were later relieved, when along the road were discovered his letters informing henderson of his arrival and of his having been joined on the way by page portwood of rowan. on his arrival at otter creek, cocke found boone and his men, and on relating his adventures, "came in for his share of applause." boone at once despatched the master woodman, michael stoner, with pack-horses to assist henderson's party, which he met on april th at their encampment "in the eye of the rich land." along with "excellent beef in plenty," stoner brought the story of boone's determined stand and an account of the erection of a rude little fortification which they had hurriedly thrown up to resist attack. with laconic significance henderson pays the following tribute to boone which deserves to be perpetuated in national annals: "it was owing to boone's confidence in us, and the people's in him, that a stand was ever attempted in order to wait for our coming." in the course of their journey over the mountains and through the wilderness, the pioneers forgot the trials of the trail in the face of the surpassing beauties of the country. the cumberlands were covered with rich undergrowth of the red and white rhododendron, the delicate laurel, the mountain ivy, the flame-azalea, the spicewood, and the cane; while the white stars of the dogwood and the carmine blossoms of the red-bud, strewn across the verdant background of the forest, gleamed in the eager air of spring. "to enter uppon a detail of the beuty & goodness of our country," writes nathaniel henderson, "would be a task too arduous.... let it suffice to tell you it far exceeds any country i ever saw or herd off. i am conscious its out of the power of any man to make you clearly sensible of the great beuty and richness of kentucky." young felix walker, endowed with more vivid powers of description, says with a touch of native eloquence: perhaps no adventureor since the days of donquicksotte or before ever felt so cheerful & ilated in prospect, every heart abounded with joy & excitement ... & exclusive of the novelties of the journey the advantages & accumalations arising on the settlement of a new country was a dazzling object with many of our company.... as the cain ceased, we began to discover the pleasing & rapturous appearance of the plains of kentucky, a new sky & strange earth to be presented to our view.... so rich a soil we had never saw before, covered with clover in full bloom. the woods alive abounding in wild game, turkeys so numerous that it might be said there appeared but one flock universally scattered in the woods ... it appeared that nature in the profusion of her bounties, had spread a feast for all that lives, both for the animal & rational world, a sight so delightful to our view and grateful to our feelings almost induced us, in immitation of columbus in transport to kiss the soil of kentucky, as he haild & saluted the sand on his first setting his foot on the shores of america. [ ] on the journey henderson was joined in powell's valley by benjamin logan, afterward so famous in kentucky annals, and a companion, william galaspy. at the crab orchard they left henderson's party; and turning their course westward finally pitched camp in the present lincoln county, where logan subsequently built a fort. on sunday, april th, on scaggs's creek, henderson records: "about oclock met james mcafee with other persons returning from cantucky." they advised henderson of the "troublesomeness and danger" of the indians, says robert mcafee junior: "but henderson assured them that he had purchased the whole country from the indians, that it belonged to him, and he had named it transylvania.... robt, samuel, and william mcafee and others were inclined to return, but james opposed it, alleging that henderson had no right to the land, and that virginia had previously bought it. the former ( ) returned with henderson to boonesborough." among those who had joined henderson's party was abraham hanks from virginia, the maternal grandfather of abraham lincoln; but alarmed by the stories brought by stewart and his party of fugitives, hanks and drake, as recorded by william calk on that day (april th), turned back. [ ] at last the founder of kentucky with his little band reached the destined goal of their arduous journeyings. henderson's record on his birthday runs: "thursday the th [april] arrived at fort boone on the mouth of oter creek cantuckey river where we were saluted by a running fire of about guns; all that was then at fort.... the men appeared in high spirits & much rejoiced in our arrival." it is a coincidence of historic interest that just one day after the embattled farmers at lexington and concord "fired the shots heard round the world," the echoing shots of boone and his sturdy backwoodsmen rang out to announce the arrival of the proprietor of transylvania and the birth of the american west. chapter xv. transylvania--a wilderness commonwealth you are about a work of the utmost importance to the well-being of this country in general, in which the interest and security of each and every individual are inseparably connected.... our peculiar circumstances in this remote country, surrounded on all sides with difficulties, and equally subject to one common danger, which threatens our common overthrow, must, i think, in their effects, secure to us an union of interests, and, consequently, that harmony in opinion, so essential to the forming good, wise and wholesome laws. --judge richard henderson: address to the legislature of transylvania, may , . the independent spirit displayed by the transylvania company, and henderson's procedure in open defiance of the royal governors of both north carolina and virginia, naturally aroused grave alarm throughout these colonies and south carolina. "this in my opinion," says preston in a letter to george washington (january , ), "will soon become a serious affair, & highly deserves the attention of the government. for it is certain that a vast number of people are preparing to go out and settle on this purchase; and if once they get fixed there, it will be next to impossible to remove them or reduce them to obedience; as they are so far from the seat of government. indeed it may be the cherokees will support them." [ ] governor martin of north carolina, already deeply disturbed in anticipation of the coming revolutionary cataclysm, thundered in what was generally regarded as a forcible-feeble proclamation (february , ) against "richard henderson and his confederates" in their "daring, unjust and unwarrantable proceedings." [ ] in a letter to dartmouth he denounces "henderson the famous invader" and dubs the transylvania company "an infamous company of land pyrates." officials who were themselves eager for land naturally opposed henderson's plans. lord dunmore, who in , as we have seen, was heavily interested in the wabash land company engineered by william murray, took the ground that the wabash purchase was valid under the camden-yorke decision. this is so stated in the records of the illinois company, likewise under murray's control. but although the "ouabache company," of which dunmore was a leading member, was initiated as early as may , , the purchase of the territory was not formally effected until october , --too late to benefit dunmore, then deeply embroiled in the preliminaries to the revolution. under the cover of his agent's name, it is believed, dunmore, with his "passion for land and fees," illegally entered tracts aggregating thousands of acres of land surveyed by the royal surveyors in the summer of for dr. john connolly. [ ] early in this same year, patrick henry, who, as already pointed out, had entered large tracts in kentucky in violation of virginia's treaty obligations with the cherokees, united with william byrd d, john page, ralph wormley, samuel overton, and william christian, in the effort to purchase from the cherokees a tract of land west of donelson's line, being firmly persuaded of the validity of the camden-yorke opinion. their agent, william kenedy, considerably later in the year, went on a mission to the cherokee towns, and upon his return reported that the indians might be induced to sell. when it became known that judge henderson had organized the transylvania company and anticipated patrick henry and his associates, colonel arthur campbell, as he himself states, applied to several of the partners of the transylvania company on behalf of patrick henry, requesting that henry be taken in as a partner. [ ] it was afterward stated, as commonly understood among the transylvania proprietors, that both patrick henry and thomas jefferson desired to become members of the company; but that colonel richard henderson was instrumental in preventing their admission "lest they should supplant the colonel [henderson] as the guiding spirit of the company." [ ] fully informed by preston's elaborate communication on the gravity of the situation, dunmore acted energetically, though tardily, to prevent the execution of henderson's designs. on march st dunmore sent flying through the back country a proclamation, demanding the immediate relinquishment of the territory by "one richard henderson and other disorderly persons, his associates," and "in case of refusal, and of violently detaining such possession, that he or they be immediately fined and imprisoned." [ ] this proclamation, says a peppery old chronicler, may well rank with the one excepting those arch traitors and rebels, samuel adams and john hancock, from the mercy of the british monarch. in view of dunmore's confidence in the validity of the camden-yorke decision, it is noteworthy that no mention of the royal proclamation of occurs in his broadside; and that he bases his objection to the transylvania purchase upon the king's instructions that all vacant lands "within this colony" be laid off in tracts, from one hundred to one thousand acres in extent, and sold at public auction. this proclamation which was enclosed, oddly enough, in a letter of official instructions to preston warning him not to survey any lands "beyond the line run by colonel donaldson," proved utterly ineffective. at the same time, dunmore despatched a pointed letter to oconostota, atta-kulla-kulla, judge's friend, and other cherokee chieftains, notifying them that the sale of the great tract of land below the kentucky was illegal and threatening them with the king's displeasure if they did not repudiate the sale. [ ] news of the plans which henderson had already matured for establishing an independent colony in the trans-alleghany wilderness, now ran like wild-fire through virginia. in a letter to george washington (april , ), preston ruefully says: "henderson i hear has made the purchase & got a conveyance of the great and valluable country below the kentucky from the cherokees. he and about adventurers are gone out to take possession, who it is said intends to set up an independent government & form a code of laws for themselves. how this may be i cant say, but i am affraid the steps taken by the government have been too late. before the purchase was made had the governor interfered it is believed the indians would not have sold." [ ] meanwhile judge henderson, with strenuous energy, had begun to erect a large stockaded fort according to plans of his own. captain james harrod with forty-two men was stationed at the settlement he had made the preceding year, having arrived there before the mcafees started back to virginia; and there were small groups of settlers at boiling spring, six miles southeast of harrod's settlement, and at st. asaph's, a mile west of the present stanford. a representative government for transylvania was then planned. when the frank and gallant floyd arrived at the transylvania fort on may d, he "expressed great satisfaction," says judge henderson, "on being informed of the plan we proposed for legislation & sayd he must most heartily concur in that & every other measure we should adopt for the well governg or good of the community in genl." in reference to a conversation with captain james harrod and colonel thomas slaughter of virginia, henderson notes in his diary (may th): "our plan of legislation, the evils pointed out--the remedies to be applyed &c &c &c were acceeded to without hesitation. the plann was plain & simple--'twas nothing novel in its essence a thousand years ago it was in use, and found by every year's experience since to be unexceptionable. we were in four distinct settlemts. members or delegates from every place by free choice of individuals they first having entered into writings solemnly binding themselves to obey and carry into execution such laws as representatives should from time to time make, concurred with, by a majority of the proprietors present in the country." in reply to inquiries of the settlers, judge henderson gave as his reason for this assembling of a transylvania legislature that "all power was derived from the people." six days before the prophetic arrival of the news of the battle of lexington and eight days before the revolutionary committee of mecklenburg county, north carolina, promulgated their memorable resolves establishing laws for an independent government, the pioneers assembled on the green beneath the mighty plane-tree at the transylvania fort. in his wise and statesmanlike address to this picturesque convention of free americans (may , ), an address which felix walker described as being "considered equal to any of like kind ever delivered to any deliberate body in that day and time," judge henderson used these memorable words: you, perhaps, are fixing the palladium, or placing the first corner stone of an edifice, the height and magnificence of whose superstructure ... can only become great in proportion to the excellence of its foundation.... if any doubt remain amongst you with respect to the force or efficiency of whatever laws you now, or hereafter make, be pleased to consider that all power is originally in the people; make it their interest, therefore, by impartial and beneficent laws, and you may be sure of their inclination to see them enforced. an early writer, in speaking of the full-blooded democracy of these "advanced" sentiments, quaintly comments: "if jeremy bentham had been in existence of manhood, he would have sent his compliments to the president of transylvania." this, the first representative body of american freemen which ever convened west of the alleghanies, is surely the most unique colonial government ever set up on this continent. the proceedings of this backwoods legislature--the democratic leadership of the principal proprietor; the prudence exhibited in the laws for protecting game, breeding horses, etc.; the tolerance shown in the granting of full religious liberty--all display the acumen and practical wisdom of these pioneer law-givers. as the result of henderson's tactfulness, the proprietary form of government, thoroughly democratized in tone, was complacently accepted by the backwoodsmen. from one who, though still under royal rule, vehemently asserted that the source of all political power was the people, and that "laws derive force and efficiency from our mutual consent," western democracy thus born in the wilderness was "taking its first political lesson." in their answer to henderson's assertion of freedom from alien authority the pioneers unhesitatingly declared: "that we have an absolute right, as a political body, without giving umbrage to great britain, or any of the colonies, to form rules for the government of our little society, cannot be doubted by any sensible mind and being without the jurisdiction of, and not answerable to any of his majesty's courts, the constituting tribunals of justice shall be a matter of our first contemplation...." in the establishment of a constitution for the new colony, henderson with paternalistic wisdom induced the people to adopt a legal code based on the laws of england. out of a sense of self-protection he reserved for the proprietors only one prerogative not granted them by the people, the right of veto. he clearly realized that if this power were given up, the delegates to any convention that might be held after the first would be able to assume the claims and rights of the proprietors. a land-office was formally opened, deeds were issued, and a store was established which supplied the colonists with powder, lead, salt, osnaburgs, blankets, and other chief necessities of pioneer existence. writing to his brother jonathan from leestown, the bold young george rogers clark, soon to plot the downfall of transylvania, enthusiastically says (july , ): "a richer and more beautifull cuntry than this i believe has never been seen in america yet. col. henderson is hear and claims all ye country below kentucke. if his claim should be good, land may be got reasonable enough and as good as any in ye world." [ ] those who settled on the south side of kentucky river acknowledged the validity of the transylvania purchase; and clark in his memoir says: "the proprietors at first took great pains to ingratiate themselves in the favr. of the people." in regard to the designs of lord dunmore, who, as noted above, had illegally entered the connolly grant on the ohio and sought to outlaw henderson, and of colonel william byrd d, who, after being balked in patrick henry's plan to anticipate the transylvania company in effecting a purchase from the cherokees, was supposed to have tried to persuade the cherokees to repudiate the "great treaty," henderson defiantly says: "whether lord dunmore and colonel byrd have interfered with the indians or not, richard henderson is equally ignorant and indifferent. the utmost result of their efforts can only serve to convince them of the futility of their schemes and possibly frighten some few faint-hearted persons, naturally prone to reverence great names and fancy everything must shrink at the magic of a splendid title." [ ] prompted by henderson's desire to petition the continental congress then in session for recognition as the fourteenth colony, the transylvania legislature met again on the first thursday in september and elected richard henderson and john williams, among others, as delegates to the gathering at philadelphia. [ ] shortly afterward the proprietors of transylvania held a meeting at oxford, north carolina (september , ), elected williams as the agent of the colony, and directed him to proceed to boonesborough there to reside until april, . james hogg, of hillsborough, chosen as delegate to represent the colony in the continental congress, was despatched to philadelphia, bearing with him an elaborate memorial prepared by the president, judge henderson, petitioning the congress "to take the infant colony of transylvania into their protection." [ ] almost immediately upon his arrival in philadelphia, james hogg was presented to "the famous samuel and john adams." the latter warned hogg, in view of the efforts then making toward reconciliation between the colonies and the king, that "the taking under our protection a body of people who have acted in defiance of the king's proclamation, will be looked on as a confirmation of that independent spirit with which we are daily reproached." jefferson said that if his advice were followed, all the use the virginians should make of their charter would be "to prevent any arbitrary or oppressive government to be established within the boundaries of it"; and that it was his wish "to see a free government established at the back of theirs [virginia's] properly united with them." he would not consent, however, that congress should acknowledge the colony of transylvania, until it had the approbation of the virginia convention. the quit-rents imposed by the company were denounced in congress as a mark of vassalage; and many advised a law against the employment of negroes in the colony. "they even threatened us with their opposition," says hogg, with precise veracity, "if we do not act upon liberal principles when we have it so much in our power to render ourselves immortal." [ ] chapter xvi. the repulse of the red men to this short war may be properly attributed all the kind feelings and fidelity to treaty stipulations manifested by the cherokees ever afterwards. general rutherford instilled into the indians so great a fear of the whites, that never afterwards were they disposed to engage in any cruelty, or destroy any of the property of our frontier men. --david l. swain: the indian war of . during the summer of the proprietors of transylvania were confronted with two stupendous tasks--that of winning the favor and support of the frontiersmen and that of rallying the rapidly dwindling forces in kentucky in defense of the settlements. recognizing the difficulty of including martin's station, because of its remoteness, with the government provided for transylvania, judge henderson prepared a plan of government for the group of settlers located in powell's valley. in a letter to martin (july th), in regard to the recent energetic defense of the settlers at that point against the indians, henderson says: "your spirited conduct gives me much pleasure.... keep your men in heart if possible, now is our time, the indians must not drive us." the gloom which had been occasioned by the almost complete desertion of the stations at harrodsburg, the boiling spring, and the transylvania fort or boonesborough was dispelled with the return of boone, accompanied by some thirty persons, on september th, and of richard callaway with a considerable party on september th. the crisis was now passed; and the colony began for the first time really to flourish. the people on the south side of the kentucky river universally accepted proprietary rule for the time being. but the seeds of dissension were soon to be sown among those who settled north of the river, as well as among men of the stamp of james harrod, who, having preceded henderson in the establishment of a settlement in kentucky, naturally resented holding lands under the transylvania company. the great liberality of this organization toward incoming settlers had resulted in immense quantities of land being taken up through their land-office. [ ] the ranging, hunting, and road-building were paid for by the company; and the entire settlement was furnished with powder, lead, and supplies, wholly on credit, for this and the succeeding year. "five hundred and sixty thousand acres of land are now entered," reports floyd on december st, "and most of the people waiting to have it run out." [ ] after dunmore, having lost his hold upon the situation, escaped to the protection of a british vessel, the fowey, colonel preston continued to prevent surveys for officers' grants within the transylvania territory; and his original hostility to judge henderson gave place to friendship and support. on december st, colonel john williams, resident agent of the transylvania company, announced at boonesborough the long-contemplated and widely advertised advance in price of the lands, from twenty to fifty shillings per hundred acres, with surveying fees of four dollars for tracts not exceeding six hundred and forty acres. [ ] at a meeting of the transylvania legislature, convened on december st, john floyd was chosen surveyor general of the colony, nathaniel henderson was placed in charge of the entering office, and richard harrison given the post of secretary. at this meeting of the legislature, the first open expression of discontent was voiced in the "harrodsburg remonstrance," questioning the validity of the proprietors' title, and protesting against any increase in the price of lands, as well as the taking up by the proprietors and a few other gentlemen of the best lands at the falls of the ohio. every effort was made to accommodate the remonstrants, who were led by abraham hite. office fees were abolished, and the payment of quit-rents was deferred until january , . despite these efforts at accommodation, grave doubts were implanted by this harrodsburg remonstrance in the minds of the people; and much discussion and discontent ensued. by midsummer, , george rogers clark, a remarkably enterprising and independent young pioneer, was "engrossing all the land he could" in kentucky. upon his return to virginia, as he relates, he "found there was various oppinions respecting henderson claim. many thought it go[o]d, others douted whether or not virginia coud with propriety have any pretentions to the cuntrey." [ ] jefferson displayed a liberal attitude toward the claims of the transylvania proprietors; and patrick henry openly stated that, in his opinion, "their claim would stand good." but many others, of the stamp of george mason and george washington, vigorously asserted virginia's charter rights over the western territory. [ ] this sharp difference of opinion excited in clark's mind the bold conception of seizing the leadership of the country and making terms with virginia under threat of secession. with the design of effecting some final disposition in regard to the title of the transylvania proprietors, judge henderson and colonel williams set off from boonesborough about may st, intending first to appeal to the virginia convention and ultimately to lay their claims before the continental congress. "since they have gone," reports floyd to preston, "i am told most of the men about harrodsburg have re-assumed their former resolution of not complying with any of the office rules whatever. jack jones, it is said, is at the head of the party & flourishes away prodigiously." [ ] john gabriel jones was the mere figurehead in the revolt. the real leader, the brains of the conspiracy, was the unscrupulous george rogers clark. at clark's instance, an eight-day election was held at harrodsburg (june - ), at which time a petition to the virginia convention was drawn up; [ ] and clark and jones were elected delegates. clark's plan, the scheme of a bold revolutionist, was to treat with virginia for terms; and if they were not satisfactory, to revolt and, as he says, "establish an independent government" ... "giving away great part of the lands and disposing of the remainder." in a second petition, prepared by the self-styled "committee of west fincastle" (june th), it was alleged that "if these pretended proprietors have leave to continue to act in their arbitrary manner out the controul of this colony [virginia] the end must be evident to every well wisher to american liberty." [ ] the contest which now ensued between richard henderson and george rogers clark, waged upon the floor of the convention and behind the scenes, resulted in a conclusion that was inevitable at a moment in american history marked by the signing of the declaration of independence. virginia, under the leadership of her new governor, patrick henry, put an end to the proprietary rule of the transylvania company. on december th such part of transylvania as lay within the chartered limits of virginia was erected by the legislature of that colony into the county of kentucky. the proprietary form of government with its "marks of vassalage," although liberalized with the spirit of democracy, was unendurable to the independent and lawless pioneers, already intoxicated with the spirit of freedom swept in on the first fresh breezes of the revolution. yet it is not to be doubted that the transylvania company, through the courage and moral influence of its leaders, made a permanent contribution to the colonization of the west, which, in providential timeliness and effective execution, is without parallel in our early annals. [ ] while events were thus shaping themselves in kentucky--events which made possible clark's spectacular and meteoric campaign in the northwest and ultimately resulted in the establishment of the mississippi instead of the alleghanies as the western boundary of the confederation--the pioneers of watauga were sagaciously laying strong the foundations of permanent occupation. in september, , north carolina, through her provincial congress, provided for the appointment in each district of a committee of safety, to consist of a president and twelve other members. following the lead thus set, the watauga settlers assumed for their country the name of "washington district"; and proceeded by unanimous vote of the people to choose a committee of thirteen, which included james robertson and john sevier. this district was organized "shortly after october, ," according to felix walker; and the first step taken after the election of the committee was the organization of a court, consisting of five members. felix walker was elected clerk of the court thus organized, and held the position for about four years. james robertson and john sevier, it is believed, were also members of this court. to james robertson who, with the assistance of his colleagues, devised this primitive type of frontier rule--a true commission form of government, on the "watauga plan"--is justly due distinctive recognition for this notable inauguration of the independent democracy of the old southwest. the watauga settlement was animated by a spirit of deepest loyalty to the american cause. in a memorable petition these hardy settlers requested the provincial council of north carolina not to regard them as a "lawless mob," but to "annex" them to north carolina without delay. "this committee (willing to become a party in the present unhappy contest)", states the petition, which must have been drafted about july , , "resolved (which is now on our records), to adhere strictly to the rules and orders of the continental congress, and in open committee acknowledged themselves indebted to the united colonies their full proportion of the continental expense." [ ] while these disputes as to the government of the new communities were in progress an additional danger threatened the pioneers. for a whole year the british had been plying the various indian tribes from the lakes to the gulf with presents, supplies, and ammunition. in the northwest bounties had actually been offered for american scalps. during the spring of plans were concerted, chiefly through stuart and cameron, british agents among the southern indians, for uniting the loyalists and the indians in a crushing attack upon the tennessee settlements and the back country of north carolina. already the frontier of south carolina had passed through the horrors of indian uprising; and warning of the approaching invasion had been mercifully sent the holston settlers by atta-kulla-kulla's niece, nancy ward, the "pocahontas of the west"--doubtless through the influence of her daughter, who loved joseph martin. the settlers, flocking for refuge into their small stockaded forts, waited in readiness for the dreaded indian attacks, which were made by two forces totaling some seven hundred warriors. on july th, warned in advance of the approach of the indians, the borderers, one hundred and seventy in all, marched in two columns from the rude breastwork, hastily thrown up at eaton's station, to meet the indians, double their own number, led by the dragging canoe. the scouts surprised one party of indians, hastily poured in a deadly fire, and rushed upon them with such impetuous fury that they fled precipitately. withdrawing now toward their breastwork, in anticipation of encountering there a larger force, the backwoodsmen suddenly found themselves attacked in their rear and in grave danger of being surrounded. extending their own line under the direction of captain james shelby, the frontiersmen steadily met the bold attack of the indians, who, mistaking the rapid extension of the line for a movement to retreat, incautiously made a headlong onslaught upon the whites, giving the war-whoop and shouting: "the unakas are running!" in the ensuing hot conflict at close quarters, in some places hand to hand, the indians were utterly routed--the dragging canoe being shot down, many warriors wounded, and thirteen left dead upon the field. on the day after thompson, cocke, shelby, campbell, madison, and their men were thus winning the battle of the long island "flats," robertson, sevier, and their little band of forty-two men were engaged in repelling an attack, begun at sunrise, upon the watauga fort near the sycamore shoals. this attack, which was led by old abraham, proved abortive; but as the result of the loose investment of the log fortress, maintained by the indians for several weeks, a few rash venturers from the fort were killed or captured, notably a young boy who was carried to one of the indian towns and burned at the stake, and the wife of the pioneer settler, william been, who was rescued from a like fate by the intercession of the humane and noble nancy ward. it was during this siege, according to constant tradition, that a frontier lass, active and graceful as a young doe, was pursued to the very stockade by the fleet-footed savages. seeing her plight, an athletic young officer mounted the stockade at a single leap, shot down the foremost of the pursuers, and leaning over, seized the maiden by the hands and lifted her over the stockade. the maiden who sank breathless into the arms of the young officer, john sevier, was "bonnie kate sherrill"--who, after the fashion of true romance, afterward became the wife of her gallant rescuer. while the tennessee settlements were undergoing the trials of siege and attack, the settlers on the frontiers of rowan were falling beneath the tomahawk of the merciless savage. in the first and second weeks of july large forces of indians penetrated to the outlying settlements; and in two days thirty-seven persons were killed along the catawba river. on july th, the bluff old soldier of rowan, general griffith rutherford, reported to the council of north carolina that "three of our captains are killed and one wounded"; and that he was setting out that day with what men he could muster to relieve colonel mcdowell, ten men, and one hundred and twenty women and children, who were "besieged in some kind of a fort." aroused to extraordinary exertions by these daring and deadly blows, the governments of north carolina, south carolina, virginia, and georgia instituted a joint campaign against the cherokees. it was believed that, by delivering a series of crushing blows to the indians and so conclusively demonstrating the overwhelming superiority of the whites, the state governments in the old southwest would convince the savages of the futility of any attempt ever again to oppose them seriously. within less than a week after sending his despatches to the council rutherford set forth at the head of twenty-five hundred men to protect the frontiers of north carolina and to overwhelm the foe. leading the south carolina army of more than eighteen hundred men, colonel andrew williamson directed his attack against the lower cherokee towns; while colonel samuel jack led two hundred georgians against the indian towns at the heads of the chattahoochee and tugaloo rivers. assembling a force of some sixteen hundred virginians, colonel william christian rendezvoused in august at the long island of holston, where his force was strengthened by between three and four hundred north carolinians under colonels joseph williams and love, and major winston. the various expeditions met with little effective opposition on the whole, succeeding everywhere in their design of utterly laying waste the towns of the cherokees. one serious engagement occurred when the indians resolutely challenged rutherford's advance at the gap of the nantahala mountains. indian women--heroic amazons disguised in war-paint and armed with the weapons of warriors and the courage of despair--fought side by side with the indian braves in the effort to arrest rutherford's progress and compass his defeat. more than forty frontiersmen fell beneath the deadly shots of this truly spartan band before the final repulse of the savages. the most picturesque figures in this overwhelmingly successful campaign were the bluff old indian-fighter, griffith rutherford, wearing "a tow hunting shirt, dyed black, and trimmed with white fringe" as a uniform; captain benjamin cleveland, a rude paladin of gigantic size, strength, and courage; lieutenant william lenoir (le noir), the gallant and recklessly brave french huguenot, later to win a general's rank in the revolution; and that militant man of god, the reverend james hall, graduate of nassau hall, stalwart and manly, who carried a rifle on his shoulder and, in the intervals between the slaughter of the savages, preached the gospel to the vindictive and bloodthirsty backwoodsmen. such preaching was sorely needed on that campaign--when the whites, maddened beyond the bounds of self-control by the recent ghastly murders, gladly availed themselves of the south carolina bounty offered for fresh indian scalps. at times they exultantly displayed the reeking patches of hair above the gates of their stockades; at others, with many a bloody oath, they compelled their commanders either to sell the indian captives into slavery or else see them scalped on the spot. twenty years afterward benjamin hawkins relates that among indian refugees in extreme western georgia the children had been so terrorized by their parents' recitals of the atrocities of the enraged borderers in the campaign of , that they ran screaming from the face of a white man. chapter xvii. the colonization of the cumberland march , . set out this day, and after running some distance, met with col. richard henderson, who was running the line between virginia and north carolina. at this meeting we were much rejoiced. he gave us every information we wished, and further informed us that he had purchased a quantity of corn in kentucky, to be shipped at the falls of ohio, for the use of the cumberland settlement. we are now without bread, and are compelled to hunt the buffalo to preserve life. --john donelson: journal of a voyage, intended by god's permission, in the good boat adventure, from fort patrick henry, on holston river, to the french salt springs on cumberland river. to the settlements in tennessee and kentucky, which they had seized and occupied, the pioneers held on with a tenacious grip which never relaxed. from these strongholds, won through sullen and desperate strokes, they pushed deeper into the wilderness, once again to meet with undimmed courage the bitter onslaughts of their resentful foes. the crushing of the cherokees in relieved the pressure upon the tennessee settlers, enabling them to strengthen their hold and prepare effectively for future eventualities; the possession of the gateway to kentucky kept free the passage for western settlement; watauga and its defenders continued to offer a formidable barrier to british invasion of the east from kentucky and the northwest during the revolution; while these tennessee frontiersmen were destined soon to set forth again to invade a new wilderness and at frightful cost to colonize the cumberland. the little chain of stockades along the far-flung frontier of kentucky was tenaciously held by the bravest of the race, grimly resolved that this chain must not break. the revolution precipitated against this chain wave after wave of formidable indian foes from the northwest under british leadership. at the very time when griffith rutherford set out for the relief of mcdowell's fort, a marauding indian band captured by stealth near the transylvania fort, known as boone's fort (boonesborough), elizabeth and frances callaway, and jemima boone, the daughters of richard callaway and daniel boone, and rapidly marched them away toward the shawanoe towns on the ohio. a relief party, in two divisions, headed respectively by the young girls' fathers, and composed among others of the lovers of the three girls, samuel henderson, john holder, and flanders callaway, pursued them with almost incredible swiftness. guided by broken twigs and bits of cloth surreptitiously dropped by elizabeth callaway, they finally overtook the unsuspecting savages, killed two of them, and rescued the three maidens unharmed. this romantic episode--which gave fenimore cooper the theme for the most memorable scene in one of his leatherstocking tales--had an even more romantic sequel in the subsequent marriage of the three pairs of lovers. this bold foray, so shrewdly executed and even more sagaciously foiled, was a true precursor of the dread happenings of the coming years. soon the red men were lurking in the neighborhood of the stations; and relief was felt when the transylvania fort, the great stockade planned by judge henderson, was completed by the pioneers (july, ). glad tidings arrived only a few days later when the declaration of independence, read aloud from the virginia gazette, was greeted with wild huzzas by the patriotic backwoodsmen. during the ensuing months occasional invasions were made by savage bands; but it was not until april , , that henderson's "big fort" received its first attack, being invested by a company of some seventy-five savages. the twenty-two riflemen in the fort drove off the painted warriors, but not before michael stoner, daniel boone, and several others were severely wounded. as he lay helpless upon the ground, his ankle shattered by a bullet, boone was lifted by simon kenton and borne away upon his shoulders to the haven of the stockade amid a veritable shower of balls. the stoical and taciturn boone clasped kenton's hand and gave him the accolade of the wilderness in the brief but heartfelt utterance; "you are a fine fellow." on july th of this same year the fort was again subjected to siege, when two hundred gaudily painted savages surrounded it for two days. but owing to the vigilance and superb markmanship of the defenders, as well as to the lack of cannon by the besieging force, the indians reluctantly abandoned the siege, after leaving a number dead upon the field. soon afterward the arrival of two strong bodies of prime riflemen, who had been hastily summoned from the frontiers of north carolina and virginia, once again made firm the bulwark of white supremacy in the west. kentucky's terrible year, , opened with a severe disaster to the white settlers--when boone with thirty men, while engaged in making salt at the "lower salt spring," was captured in february by more than a hundred indians, sent by governor hamilton of detroit to drive the white settlers from "kentucke." boone remained in captivity until early summer, when, learning that his indian captors were planning an attack in force upon the transylvania fort, he succeeded in effecting his escape. after a break-neck journey of one hundred and sixty miles, during which he ate but one meal, boone finally arrived at the big fort on june th. the settlers were thus given ample time for preparation, as the long siege did not begin until september th. the fort was invested by a powerful force flying the english flag--four hundred and forty-four savages gaudy in the vermilion and ochre of their war-paint, and eleven frenchmen, the whole being commanded by the french-canadian, captain dagniaux de quindre, and the great indian chief, black-fish, who had adopted boone as a son. [ ] in the effort to gain his end de quindre resorted to a dishonorable stratagem, by which he hoped to outwit the settlers and capture the fort with but slight loss. "they formed a scheme to deceive us," says boone, "declaring it was their orders, from governor hamilton, to take us captives, and not to destroy us; but if nine of us would come out and treat with them, they would immediately withdraw their forces from our walls, and return home peacably." transparent as the stratagem was, boone incautiously agreed to a conference with the enemy; callaway alone took the precaution to guard against indian duplicity. after a long talk, the indians proposed to boone, callaway, and the seven or eight pioneers who accompanied them that they shake hands in token of peace and friendship. as picturesquely described by daniel trabue: the indians sayed two indians must shake hands with one white man to make a double or sure peace at this time the indians had hold of the white men's hands and held them. col. calloway objected to this but the other indians laid hold or tryed to lay hold of the other hand but colonel calloway was the first that jerked away from them but the indians seized the men two indians holt of one man or it was mostly the case and did their best to hold them but while the man and indians was a scuffling the men from the fort agreeable to col. calloway's order fired on them they had a dreadful skuffel but our men all got in the fort safe and the fire continued on both sides. [ ] during the siege callaway, the leader of the pioneers, made a wooden cannon wrapped with wagon tires, which on being fired at a group of indians "made them scamper perdidiously." the secret effort of the indians to tunnel a way underground into the fort, being discovered by the defenders, was frustrated by a countermine. unable to outwit, outfight, or outmaneuver the resourceful callaway, de quindre finally withdrew on september th, closing the longest and severest attack that any of the fortified stations of kentucky had ever been called upon to withstand. the successful defense of the transylvania fort, made by these indomitable backwoodsmen who were lost sight of by the continental congress and left to fight alone their battles in the forests, was of national significance in its results. had the transylvania fort fallen, the northern indians in overwhelming numbers, directed by hamilton and led by british officers, might well have swept kentucky free of defenders and fallen with devastating force upon the exposed settlements along the western frontiers of north carolina, virginia, and pennsylvania. this defense of boonesborough, therefore, is deserving of commemoration in the annals of the revolution, along with lexington and bunker's hill. coupled with clark's meteoric campaign in the northwest and the subsequent struggles in the defense of kentucky, it may be regarded as an event basically responsible for the retention of the trans-alleghany region by the united states. the bitter struggles, desperate sieges, and bloody reprisals of these dark years came to a close with the expeditions of clark and logan in november, , which appropriately concluded the revolution in the west by putting a definite end to all prospect of formidable invasion of kentucky. in november, , "washington district," the delegates of which had been received in the preceding year by the provincial congress of north carolina, was formed by the north carolina general assembly into washington county; and to it were assigned the boundaries of the whole of the present state of tennessee. while this immense territory was thus being definitely included within the bounds of north carolina, judge henderson on behalf of the transylvania company was making a vigorous effort to secure the reÃ�«stablishment of its rights from the virginia assembly. by order of the virginia legislature, an exhaustive investigation of the claims of the transylvania company was therefore made, hearings being held at various points in the back country. on july , , judge henderson presented to the peace commissioners for north carolina and virginia at the long island treaty ground an elaborate memorial in behalf of the transylvania company, which the commissioners unanimously refused to consider, as not coming under their jurisdiction. [ ] finally, after a full and impartial discussion before the virginia house of delegates, that body declared the transylvania purchase void. [ ] but in consideration of "the very great expense [incurred by the company] in making the said purchase, and in settling the said lands, by which the commonwealth is likely to receive great advantage, by increasing its inhabitants, and establishing a barrier against the indians," the house of delegates granted richard henderson and company two hundred thousand acres of land situated between the ohio and green rivers, where the town of henderson, kentucky, now stands. [ ] with this bursting of the transylvania bubble and the vanishing of the golden dreams of henderson and his associates for establishing the fourteenth american colony in the heart of the trans-alleghany, a first romantic chapter in the history of westward expansion comes to a close. but another and more feasible project immediately succeeded. undiscouraged by virginia's confiscation of transylvania, and disregarding north carolina's action in extending her boundaries over the trans-alleghany region lying within her chartered limits, henderson, in whom the genius of the colonizer and the ambition of the speculative capitalist were found in striking conjunction, was now inspired to repeat, along broader and more solidly practical lines, the revolutionary experiment of transylvania. it was not his purpose, however, to found an independent colony; for he believed that millions of acres in the transylvania purchase lay within the bounds of north carolina, and he wished to open for colonization, settlement, and the sale of lands, the vast wilderness of the valley of the cumberland supposed to lie within those confines. but so universal was the prevailing uncertainty in regard to boundaries that it was necessary to prolong the north carolina-virginia line in order to determine whether or not the great french lick, the ideal location for settlement, lay within the chartered limits of north carolina. [ ] judge henderson's comprehensive plans for the promotion of an extensive colonization of the cumberland region soon began to take form in vigorous action. just as in his transylvania project henderson had chosen daniel boone, the ablest of the north carolina pioneers, to spy out the land and select sites for future location, so now he chose as leader of the new colonizing party the ablest of the tennessee pioneers, james robertson. although he was the acknowledged leader of the watauga settlement and held the responsible position of indian agent for north carolina, robertson was induced by henderson's liberal offers to leave his comparatively peaceful home and to venture his life in this desperate hazard of new fortunes. the advance party of eight white men and one negro, under robertson's leadership, set forth from the holston settlement on february , , to make a preliminary exploration and to plant corn "that bread might be prepared for the main body of emigrants in the fall." after erecting a few cabins for dwellings and posts of defense, robertson plunged alone into the wilderness and made the long journey to post st. vincent in the illinois, in order to consult with george rogers clark, who had entered for himself in the virginia land office several thousand acres of land at the french lick. after perfecting arrangements with clark for securing "cabin rights" should the land prove to lie in virginia, robertson returned to watauga to take command of the migration. toward the end of the year two parties set out, one by land, the other by water, for the wonderful new country on the cumberland of which boone and scaggs and mansker had brought back such glowing descriptions. during the autumn judge henderson and other commissioners from north carolina, in conjunction with commissioners from virginia, had been running out the boundary line between the two states. on the very day--christmas, --that judge henderson reached the site of the transylvania fort, now called boonesborough, the swarm of colonists from the parent hive at watauga, under robertson's leadership, reached the french lick; and on new year's day, , crossed the river on the ice to the present site of nashville. the journal of the other party, which, as has been aptly said, reads like a chapter from one of captain mayne reid's fascinating novels of adventure, was written by colonel john donelson, the father-in-law of andrew jackson. setting out from fort patrick henry on holston river, december , , with a flotilla consisting of about thirty flatboats, dugouts, and canoes, they encountered few difficulties until they began to run the gauntlet of the chickamauga towns on the tennessee. here they were furiously attacked by the indians, terrible in their red and black war-paint; and a well-filled boat lagging in the rear, with smallpox on board, was driven to shore by the indians. the occupants were massacred; but the indians at once contracted the disease and died by the hundreds. this luckless sacrifice of "poor stuart, his family and friends," while a ghastly price to pay, undoubtedly procured for the cumberland settlements comparative immunity from indian forays until the new-comers had firmly established themselves in their wilderness stronghold. eloquent of the granite endurance and courageous spirit of the typical american pioneer in its thankfulness for sanctuary, for reunion of families and friends, and for the humble shelter of a log cabin, is the last entry in donelson's diary (april , ): this day we arrived at our journey's end at the big salt lick, where we have the pleasure of finding capt. robertson and his company. it is a source of satisfaction to us to be enabled to restore to him and others their families and friends, who were intrusted to our care, and who, some time since, perhaps, despaired of ever meeting again. though our prospects at present are dreary, we have found a few log cabins which have been built on a cedar bluff above the lick by capt. robertson and his company. [ ] in the midst of the famine during this terrible period of the "hard winter," judge henderson was sorely concerned for the fate of the new colony which he had projected, and immediately proceeded to purchase at huge cost a large stock of corn. on march , , this corn, which had been raised by captain nathaniel hart, was "sent from boonesborough in perogues [pettiaugers or flatboats] under the command of william bailey smith.... this corn was taken down the kentucky river, and over the falls of ohio, to the mouth of the cumberland, and thence up that river to the fort at the french lick. it is believed have been the only bread which the settlers had until it was raised there in ." [ ] there is genuine impressiveness in this heroic triumphing over the obstacles of obdurate nature and this paternalistic provision for the exposed cumberland settlement--the purchase by judge henderson, the shipment by captain hart, and the transportation by colonel smith, in an awful winter of bitter cold and obstructed navigation, of this indispensable quantity of corn purchased for sixty thousand dollars in depreciated currency. upon his arrival at the french lick, shortly after the middle of april, judge henderson at once proceeded to organize a government for the little community. on may st articles of association were drawn up; and important additions thereto were made on may th, when the settlers signed the complete series. the original document, still preserved, was drafted by judge henderson, being written throughout in his own handwriting; and his name heads the list of two hundred and fifty and more signatures. [ ] the "cumberland compact," as this paper is called, is fundamentally a mutual contract between the copartners of the transylvania company and the settlers upon the lands claimed by the company. it represents the collective will of the community; and on account of the careful provisions safeguarding the rights of each party to the contract it may be called a bill of rights. the organization of this pure democracy was sound and admirable--another notable early example of the commission form of government. the most remarkable feature of this backwoods constitution marks judge henderson as a pioneer in the use of the political device so prominent to-day, one hundred and forty years later--the "recall of judges." in the following striking clause this innovation in government was recognized thus early in american history as the most effective means of securing and safeguarding justice in a democracy: as often as the people in general are dissatisfied with the doings of the judges or triers so to be chosen, they may call a new election in any of the said stations, and elect others in their stead, having due respect to the number now agreed to be elected at each station, which persons so to be chosen shall have the same power with those in whose room or place they shall or may be chosen to act. a land-office was now opened, the entry-taker being appointed by judge henderson, in accordance with the compact; and the lands, for costs of entry, etc., were registered for the nominal fee of ten dollars per thousand acres. but as the transylvania company was never able to secure a "satisfactory and indisputable title," the clause resulted in perpetual nonpayment. in , following the lead of virginia in the case of transylvania, north carolina declared the transylvania company's purchase void, but granted the company in compensation a tract of one hundred and ninety thousand acres in powell's valley. [ ] as compensation, the grants of north carolina and virginia were quite inadequate, considering the value of the service in behalf of permanent western colonization rendered by the transylvania company. [ ] james robertson was chosen as presiding officer of the court of twelve commissioners, and was also elected commander-in-chief of the military forces of the eight little associated settlements on the cumberland. here for the next two years the self-reliant settlers under robertson's wise and able leadership successfully repelled the indians in their guerrilla warfare, firmly entrenched themselves in their forest-girt stronghold, and vindicated their claim to the territory by right of occupation and conquest. here sprang up in later times a great and populous city--named, strangely enough, neither for henderson, the founder, nor for robertson and donelson, the leaders of the two colonizing parties, but for one having no association with its history or origins, the gallant north carolinian, general francis nash, who was killed at the battle of germantown. chapter xviii. king's mountain with the utmost satisfaction i can acquaint you with the sudden and favorable turn of our public affairs. a few days ago destruction hung over our heads. cornwallis with at least british and tories waited at charlotte for the reinforcement of from broad river, which reinforcement has been entirely cut off, killed and the remainder captured. cornwallis immediately retreated, and is now on his way toward charleston, with part of our army in his rear.... --elizabeth maxwell steel: salisbury, october , . so thoroughly had the cherokees been subdued by the devastations of the campaign of that for several years thereafter they were unable to organize for a new campaign against the backwoodsmen along the frontiers of north carolina and tennessee. during these years the holston settlers principally busied themselves in making their position secure, as well as in setting their house in order by severely punishing the lawless tory element among them. in the chickamaugas, with whom the dragging canoe and his irreconcilable followers among the cherokees had joined hands after the campaign of , grew so bold in their bloody forays upon small exposed settlements that north carolina and virginia in conjunction despatched a strong expedition against them. embarking on april th at the mouth of big creek near the present rogersville, tennessee, three hundred and fifty men led by colonel evan shelby descended the tennessee to the fastnesses of the chickamaugas. meeting with no resistance from the astonished indians, who fled to the shelter of the densely wooded hills, they laid waste the indian towns and destroyed the immense stores of goods collected by the british agents for distribution among the red men. the chickamaugas were completely quelled; and during the period of great stress through which the tennessee frontiersmen were soon to pass, the cherokees were restrained through the wise diplomacy of joseph martin, superintendent of indian affairs for virginia. the great british offensive against the southern colonies, which were regarded as the vulnerable point in the american confederacy, was fully launched upon the fall of charleston in may, . cornwallis established his headquarters at camden; and one of his lieutenants, the persuasive and brilliant ferguson, soon rallied thousands of loyalists in south carolina to the british standard. when cornwallis inaugurated his campaign for cutting washington wholly off from the southern colonies by invading north carolina, the men upon the western waters realized that the time had come to rise, in defense of their state and in protection of their homes. two hundred tennessee riflemen from sullivan county, under colonel isaac shelby, were engaged in minor operations in south carolina conducted by colonel charles mcdowell; and conspicuous among these engagements was the affair at musgrove's mill on august th when three hundred horsemen led by colonel james williams, a native of granville county, north carolina, colonel isaac shelby, and lieutenant-colonel clark of georgia repulsed with heavy loss a british force of between four and five hundred. these minor successes availed nothing in face of the disastrous defeat of gates by cornwallis at camden on august th and the humiliating blow to sumter at rocky mount on the following day. ferguson hotly pursued the frontiersmen, who then retreated over the mountains; and from his camp at gilbert town he despatched a threatening message to the western leaders, declaring that if they did not desist from their opposition to the british arms and take protection under his standard, he would march his army over the mountains and lay their country waste with fire and sword. stung to action, shelby hastily rode off to consult with sevier at his log castle near jonesboro; and together they matured a plan to arouse the mountain men and attack ferguson by surprise. in the event of failure, these wilderness free-lances planned to leave the country and find a home with the spaniards in louisiana. [ ] at the original place of rendezvous, the sycamore shoals of the watauga, the over-mountain men gathered on september th. there an eloquent sermon was preached to them by that fiery man of god, the reverend samuel doak, who concluded his discourse with a stirring invocation to the sword of the lord and of gideon--a sentiment greeted with the loud applause of the militant frontiersmen. here and at various places along the march they were joined by detachments of border fighters summoned to join the expedition--colonel william campbell, who with some reluctance had abandoned his own plans in response to shelby's urgent and repeated message, in command of four hundred hardy frontiersmen from washington county, virginia; colonel benjamin cleveland, with the wild fighters of wilkes known as "cleveland's bulldogs"; colonel andrew hampton, with the stalwart riflemen of rutherford; major joseph winston, the cousin of patrick henry, with the flower of the citizenry of surry; the mcdowells, charles and joseph, with the bold borderers of burke; colonels lacy and hill, with well-trained soldiers of south carolina; and brigadier-general james williams, leading the intrepid rowan volunteers. before breaking camp at quaker meadows, the leading officers in conference chose colonel william campbell as temporary officer of the day, until they could secure a general officer from headquarters as commander-in-chief. the object of the mountaineers and big-game hunters was, in their own terms, to pursue ferguson, to run him down, and to capture him. in pursuance of this plan, the leaders on arriving at the ford of green river chose out a force of six hundred men, with the best mounts and equipment; and at daybreak on october th this force of picked mounted riflemen, followed by some fifty "foot-cavalry" eager to join in the pursuit, pushed rapidly on to the cowpens. here a second selection took place; and colonel campbell, was again elected commander of the detachment, now numbering some nine hundred and ten horsemen and eighty odd footmen, which dashed rapidly on in pursuit of ferguson. the british commander had been apprised of the coming of the over-mountain men. scorning to make a forced march and attempt to effect a junction with cornwallis at charlotte, ferguson chose to make a stand and dispose once for all of the barbarian horde whom he denounced as mongrels and the dregs of mankind. after despatching to cornwallis a message asking for aid, ferguson took up his camp on king's mountain, just south of the north carolina border line, in the present york county, south carolina. here, after his pickets had been captured in silence, he was surprised by his opponents. at three o'clock in the afternoon of october th the mountain hunters treed their game upon the heights. the battle which ensued presents an extraordinary contrast in the character of the combatants and the nature of the strategy and tactics. [ ] each party ran true to form--ferguson repeating braddock's suicidal policy of opposing bayonet charges to the deadly fusillade of riflemen, who in indian fashion were carefully posted behind trees and every shelter afforded by the natural inequalities of the ground. in the army of the carolina and virginia frontiersmen, composed of independent detachments recruited from many sources and solicitous for their own individual credit, each command was directed in the battle by its own leader. campbell--like cleveland, winston, williams, lacey, shelby, mcdowell, sevier, and hambright--personally led his own division; but the nature of the fighting and the peculiarity of the terrain made it impossible for him, though the chosen commander of the expedition, actually to play that rÃ�´le in the battle. the plan agreed upon in advance by the frontier leaders was simple enough--to surround and capture ferguson's camp on the high plateau. the more experienced indian fighters, sevier and shelby, unquestionably suggested the general scheme which in any case would doubtless have been employed by the frontiersmen; it was to give the british "indian play"--namely to take cover everywhere and to fire from natural shelter. cleveland, a hercules in strength and courage who had fought the indians and recognized the wisdom of indian tactics, ordered his men, as did some of the other leaders, to give way before a bayonet charge, but to return to the attack after the charge had spent its force. "my brave fellows," said cleveland, "every man must consider himself an officer, and act from his own judgment. fire as quick as you can, and stand your ground as long as you can. when you can do no better, get behind trees, or retreat; but i beg you not to run quite off. if we are repulsed, let us make a point of returning and renewing the fight; perhaps we may have better luck in the second attempt than in the first." the plateau upon which ferguson was encamped was the top of an eminence some six hundred yards long and about two hundred and fifty yards from one base across to the other; and its shape was that of an indian paddle, varying from one hundred and twenty yards at the blade to sixty yards at the handle in width. outcropping boulders upon the outer edge of the plateau afforded some slight shelter for ferguson's force; but, unsuspicious of attack, ferguson had made no abatis to protect his camp from the assault to which it was so vulnerable because of the protection of the timber surrounding it on all sides. as to the disposition of the attacking force, the center to the northeast was occupied by cleveland with his "bulldogs," hambright with his south fork boys from the catawba (now lincoln county, north carolina), and winston with his surry riflemen; to the south were the divisions of joseph mcdowell, sevier, and campbell; while lacey's south carolinians, the rowan levies under williams, and the watauga borderers under shelby were stationed upon the north side. ferguson's forces consisted of provincial rangers, one hundred and fifty strong, and other well-drilled loyalists, between eight and nine hundred in number; but his strength was seriously weakened by the absence of a foraging party of between one and two hundred who had gone off on the morning the battle occurred. shelby's men, before getting into position, received a hot fire, the opening shots of the engagement. this inspired campbell, who now threw off his coat, to shout encouraging orders to his men posted on the side of the mountain opposite to shelby's force. when campbell's virginians uttered a series of piercing shouts, the british officer, de peyster, second in command, remarked to his chief: "these things are ominous--these are the damned yelling boys." the battle, which lasted some minutes short of an hour, was waged with terrific ferocity. the loyalist militia, whenever possible, fired from the shelter of the rocks; while the provincial corps, with fixed bayonets, steadily charged the frontiersmen, who fired at close range and then rapidly withdrew to the very base of the mountain. after each bayonet charge the provincials coolly withdrew to the summit, under the accumulating fire of the returning mountaineers, who quickly gathered in their rear. owing to their elevated location, the british, although using the rapid-fire breech-loading rifle invented by ferguson himself, found their vision deflected, and continually fired high, thus suffering from nature's handicap, refraction. [ ] the militia, using sharpened butcher-knives which ferguson had taught them to utilize as bayonets, charged against the mountaineers; but their fire, in answer to the deadly fusillade of the expert squirrel-shooters, was belated, owing to the fact that they could not fire while the crudely improvised bayonets remained inserted in their pieces. the americans, continually firing upward, found ready marks for their aim in the clearly delineated outlines of their adversaries, and felt the fierce exultation which animates the hunter who has tracked to its lair and surrounded wild game at bay. the leaders of the various divisions of the mountaineers bore themselves with impetuous bravery, recklessly rushing between the lines of fire and with native eloquence, interspersed with profanity, rallying their individual commands again and again to the attack. the valiant campbell scaled the rugged heights, loudly encouraging his men to the ascent. cleveland, resolutely facing the foe, urged on his bulldogs with the inspiriting words: "come, boys; let's try 'em again. we'll have better luck next time." no sooner did shelby's men reach the bottom of the hill, in retreating before a charge, than their commander, fiery and strenuous, ardently shouted: "now boys, quickly reload your rifles, and let's advance upon them, and give them another hell of a fire." the most deadly charge, led by de peyster himself, fell upon hambright's south fork boys; and one of their gallant officers, major chronicle, waving his military hat, was mortally wounded, the command, "face to the hill!", dying on his lips. these veteran soldiers, unlike the mountaineers, firmly met the shock of the charge, and a number of their men were shot down or transfixed; but the remainder, reserving their fire until the charging column was only a few feet away, poured in a deadly volley before retiring. the gallant william lenoir, whose reckless bravery made him a conspicuous target for the enemy, received several wounds and emerged from the battle with his hair and clothes torn by balls. the ranking american officer, brigadier-general james williams, was mortally wounded while "on the very top of the mountain, in the thickest of the fight"; and as he momentarily revived, his first words were: "for god's sake, boys, don't give up the hill." [ ] hambright, sorely wounded, his boot overflowing with blood and his hat riddled with three bullet holes, declined to dismount, but pressed gallantly forward, exclaiming in his "pennsylvania dutch": "huzza, my prave poys, fight on a few minutes more, and the pattle will be over!" on the british side, ferguson was supremely valorous, rapidly dashing from one point to another, rallying his men, oblivious to all danger. wherever the shrill note of his silver whistle sounded, there the fighting was hottest and the british resistance the most stubborn. his officers fought with the characteristic steadiness of the british soldier; and again and again his men charged headlong against the wavering and fiery circle of the frontiersmen. [ ] ferguson's boast that "he was on king's mountain, that he was king of the mountain, and god almighty could not drive him from it" was doubtless prompted, less by a belief in the impregnability of his position, than by a desperate desire to inspire confidence in his men. his location was admirably chosen for defense against attack by troops employing regulation tactics; but, never dreaming of the possibility of sudden investment, ferguson had erected no fortifications for his encampment. his frenzied efforts on the battle-field seem like a mad rush against fate; for the place was indefensible against the peculiar tactics of the frontiersmen. while the mountain flamed like a volcano and resounded with the thunder of the guns, a steady stricture was in progress. the lines were drawn tighter and tighter around the trapped and frantically struggling army; and at last the fall of their commander, riddled with bullets, proved the tragic futility of further resistance. the game was caught and bagged to a man. when winston, with his fox-hunters of surry, dashed recklessly through the woods, says a chronicler of the battle, and the last to come into position, flow'd in, and settling, circled all the lists, then from all the circle of the hills death sleeted in upon the doomed. the battle was decisive in its effect--shattering the plans of cornwallis, which till then appeared certain of success. the victory put a full stop to the invasion of north carolina, which was then well under way. cornwallis abandoned his carefully prepared campaign and immediately left the state. after ruthlessly hanging nine prisoners, an action which had an effectively deterrent effect upon future tory murders and depredations, the patriot force quietly disbanded. the brilliant initiative of the buckskin-clad borderers, the strenuous energy of their pursuit, the perfection of their surprise--all reinforced by the employment of ideal tactics for meeting the given situation--were the controlling factors in this overwhelming victory of the revolution. the pioneers of the old southwest--the independent and aggressive yeomanry of north carolina, virginia, and south carolina--had risen in their might. without the aid or authority of blundering state governments, they had created an army of frontiersmen, indian-fighters, and big-game hunters which had found no parallel or equal on the continent since the battle of the great kanawha. chapter xix. the state of franklin designs of a more dangerous nature and deeper die seem to glare in the western revolt.... i have thought proper to issue this manifesto, hereby warning all persons concerned in the said revolt ... that the honour of this state has been particularly wounded, by seizing that by violence which, in time, no doubt, would have been obtained by consent, when the terms of separation would have been explained or stipulated, to the mutual satisfaction of the mother and new state.... let your proposals be consistent with the honour of the state to accede to, which, by your allegiance as good citizens, you cannot violate and i make no doubt but her generosity, in time, will meet your wishes. --governor alexander martin: manifesto against the state of franklin, april , . to the shrewd diplomacy of joseph martin, who held the cherokees in check during the period of the king's mountain campaign, the settlers in the valleys of the watauga and the holston owed their temporary immunity from indian attack. but no sooner did sevier and his over-mountain men return from the battle-field of king's mountain than they were called upon to join in an expedition against the cherokees, who had again gone on the war-path at the instigation of the british. after sevier with his command had defeated a small party of indians at boyd's creek in december, the entire force of seven hundred riflemen, under the command of colonel arthur campbell, with major joseph martin as subordinate, penetrated to the heart of the indian country, burned echota, chilhowee, settiquo, hiawassee, and seven other principal villages, and destroyed an immense amount of property and supplies. in march, suspecting that the arch-conspirators against the white settlers were the cherokees at the head waters of the little tennessee, sevier led one hundred and fifty horsemen through the devious mountain defiles and struck the indians a swift and unexpected blow at tuckasegee, near the present webster, north carolina. in this extraordinarily daring raid, one of his most brilliant feats of arms, sevier lost only one man killed and one wounded; while upon the enemy he inflicted the loss of thirty killed, took many more prisoners, burned six indian towns, and captured many horses and supplies. once his deadly work was done, sevier with his bold cavaliers silently plunged again into the forest whence he had so suddenly emerged, and returned in triumph to the settlements. disheartened though the indians were to see the smoke of their burning towns, they sullenly remained averse to peace; and they did not keep the treaty made at long island in july, . the indians suffered from very real grievances at the hands of the lawless white settlers who persisted in encroaching upon the indian lands. when the indian ravages were resumed, sevier and anderson, the latter from sullivan county, led a punitive expedition of two hundred riflemen against the creeks and the chickamaugas; and employing the customary tactics of laying waste the indian towns, administered stern and salutary chastisement to the copper-colored marauders. during this same period the settlers on the cumberland were displaying a grim fortitude and stoical endurance in the face of indian attack forever memorable in the history of the old southwest. on the night of january , , the settlers at freeland's station, after a desperate resistance, succeeded in beating off the savages who attacked in force. at nashborough on april d, twenty of the settlers were lured from the stockade by the artful wiles of the savages; and it was only after serious loss that they finally won their way back to the protection of the fort. indeed, their return was due to the fierce dogs of the settlers, which were released at the most critical moment, and attacked the astounded indians with such ferocity that the diversion thus created enabled the settlers to escape from the deadly trap. during the next two years the history of the cumberland settlements is but the gruesome recital of murder after murder of the whites, a few at a time, by the lurking indian foe. robertson's dominant influence alone prevented the abandonment of the sorely harassed little stations. the arrival of the north carolina commissioners for the purpose of laying off bounty lands and settlers' preemptions, and the treaty of peace concluded at the french lick on november and , , gave permanence and stability to the cumberland settlements. the lasting friendship of the chickasaws was won; but the creeks for some time continued to harass the tennessee pioneers. the frontiersmen's most formidable foe, the cherokees, stoically, heroically fighting the whites in the field, and smallpox, syphilis, and drunkenness at home, at last abandoned the unequal battle. the treaty at hopewell on november , , marks the end of an era--the spartan yet hopeless resistance of the intrepid red men to the relentless and frequently unwarranted expropriation by the whites of the ancient and immemorial domain of the savage. the skill in self-government of the isolated people beyond the mountains, and the ability they had already demonstrated in the organization of "associations," received a strong stimulus on june , , when the legislature of north carolina ceded to the congress of the united states the title which that state possessed to the land west of the alleghanies. among the terms of the cession act were these conditions: that the ceded territory should be formed into a separate state or states; and that if congress should not accept the lands thus ceded and give due notice within two years, the act should be of no force and the lands should revert to north carolina. [ ] no sooner did this news reach the western settlers than they began to mature plans for the organization of a government during the intervening twelve months. their exposed condition on the frontiers, still harassed by the indians, and north carolina's delay in sending goods promised the indians by a former treaty, both promoted indian hostility; and these facts, combined with their remote location beyond the mountains, rendering them almost inaccessible to communication with north carolina--all rendered the decision of the settlers almost inevitable. moreover, the allurements of high office and the dazzling dreams of ambition were additional motives sufficiently human in themselves to give driving power to the movement toward independence. at a convention assembled at jonesborough on august , , delegates from the counties of washington, sullivan, and greene characteristically decided to organize an "association." they solemnly declared by resolution: "we have a just and undeniable right to petition to congress to accept the session made by north carolina, and for that body to countenance us for forming ourselves into a separate government, and to frame either a permanent or temporary constitution, agreeably to a resolve of congress...." meanwhile, governor martin, largely as the result of the prudent advice of north carolina's representative in congress, dr. hugh williamson, was brought to the conclusion that north carolina, in the passage of the cession act, had acted precipitately. this important step had been taken without the full consideration of the people of the state. among the various arguments advanced by williamson was the impressive contention that, in accordance with the procedure in the case of other states, the whole expense of the huge indian expeditions in and the heavy militia aids to south carolina and georgia should be credited to north carolina as partial fulfilment of her continental obligations before the cession should be irrevocably made to the federal government. williamson's arguments proved convincing; and it was thus primarily for economic reasons of far-reaching national importance that the assembly of north carolina (october to november , ) repealed the cession act made the preceding spring. [ ] before the news of the repeal of the cession act could reach the western waters, a second convention met at jonesborough on december th. sentiment at this time was much divided, for a number of the people, expecting the repeal of the cession act, genuinely desired a continued allegiance to north carolina. of these may well have been john sevier, who afterward declared to joseph martin that he had been "draged into the franklin measures by a large number of the people of this country." [ ] the principal act of this convention was the adoption of a temporary constitution for six months and the provision for a convention to be held within one year, at the expiration of which time this constitution should be altered, or adopted as the permanent constitution of the new state. [ ] the scholars on the western waters, desiring to commemorate their aspirations for freedom, chose as the name of the projected new state: "frankland"--the land of the free. the name finally chosen, however, perhaps for reasons of policy, was "franklin," in honor of benjamin franklin. meanwhile, in order to meet the pressing needs for a stable government along the tennessee frontier, the north carolina assembly, which repealed the cession act, created out of the four western counties the district of washington, with john haywood as presiding judge and david campbell as associate, and conferred upon john sevier the rank of brigadier-general of the new district. the first week in december governor martin sent to sevier his military commission; and replying to joseph martin's query (december , , prompted by governor martin) as to whether, in view of the repeal of the cession act, he intended to persist in revolt or await developments, sevier gave it out broadcast that "we shall pursue no furtheir measures as to a new state." owing to the remoteness of the tennessee settlements and the difficulty of appreciating through correspondence the atmosphere of sentiment in franklin, governor martin realized the necessity of sending a personal representative to discover the true state of affairs in the disaffected region beyond the mountains. for the post of ambassador to the new government, governor martin selected a man distinguished for mentality and diplomatic skill, a pioneer of tennessee and kentucky, judge richard henderson's brother, colonel samuel henderson. despite sevier's disavowal of any further intention to establish a new state, the governor gave colonel henderson elaborate written instructions, the purport of which was to learn all that he could about the political complexion of the tennessee frontiersmen, the sense of the people, and the agitation for a separate commonwealth. moreover, in the hope of placating the leading chieftains of the cherokees, who had bitterly protested against the continued aggressions and encroachments upon their lands by the lawless borderers, he instructed colonel henderson also to learn the temper and dispositions of the indians, and to investigate the case of colonel james hubbardt who was charged with the murder of untoola of settiquo, a chief of the cherokees. when colonel henderson arrived at jonesborough, he found the third franklin legislature in session, and to this body he presented governor martin's letter of february , . in response to the governor's request for an "account of the late proceedings of the people in the western country," an extended reply was drafted by the new legislature; and this letter, conveyed to governor martin by colonel henderson, in setting forth in detail the reasons for the secession, made the following significant statement: "we humbly thank north carolina for every sentiment of regard she has for us, but are sorry to observe, that as it is founded upon principles of interest, as is aparent from the tenor of your letter, we are doubtful, when the cause ceases which is the basis of that affection, we shall lose your esteem." at the same time (march nd), sevier, who had just been chosen governor of the state of franklin, transmitted to governor martin by colonel henderson a long letter, not hitherto published in any history of the period, in which he outspokenly says: it gives me great pain to think there should arise any disputes between us and north carolina, & i flatter myself when north carolina states the matter in a fair light she will be fully convinced that necessity and self-preservation have compelled us to the measures we have taken, and could the people have discovered that no. carolina would have protected and govern'd them, they would have remained where they were; but they perceived a neglect and coolness, and the language of many of your most leading members convinced them they were altogether disregarded. [ ] following the issuance of vigorous manifestos by martin (april th) and sevier (may th), [ ] the burden of the problem fell upon richard caswell, who in june succeeded martin as governor of north carolina. meantime the legislature of the over-mountain men had given the name of franklin to the new state, although for some time it continued to be called by many frankland, and its adherents franks. the legislature had also established an academy named after governor martin, and had appointed (march th) william cocke as a delegate to the continental congress, urging its acceptance of the cession. in the memorial from the franklin legislature to the continental congress, dealing in some detail with north carolina's failure to send the cherokees some goods promised them for lands acquired by treaty, it is alleged: she [north carolina] immediately stoped the goods she had promised to give the indians for the said land which so exasperated them that they begun to commit hostalities on our frontiers in this situation we were induced to a declaration of independence not doubting we should be excused by congress ... as north carolina seemed quite regardless of our interest and the indians daily murdering our friends and relations without distinction of age or sex. [ ] sympathizing with the precarious situation of the settlers, as well as desiring the cession, congress urged north carolina to amend the repealing act and execute a conveyance of the western territory to the union. a declaration of rights also, the constitution or form of government agreed to, and resolved upon, by the representatives of the freemen of the state of frankland, elected and chosen for that particular purpose, in convention assembled at greeneville, the th of november, . philadelphia: printed by francis bailey, at yorick's head. m.dcc.lxxxvi. among the noteworthy features of the franklin movement was the constitution prepared by a committee, headed by the reverend samuel houston of washington county, and presented at the meeting of the franklin legislature, greeneville, november , . this eccentric constitution was based in considerable part upon the north carolina model; but it was "rejected in the lump" and the constitution of north carolina, almost unchanged, was adopted. under this houston constitution, the name "frankland" was chosen for the new state. the legislature was to consist of but a single house. in a section excluding from the legislature "ministers of the gospel, attorneys at law, and doctors of physics," those were declared ineligible for office who were of immoral character or guilty of "such flagrant enormities as drunkenness, gaming, profane swearing, lewdness, sabbath-breaking and such like," or who should deny the existence of god, of heaven, and of hell, the inspiration of the scriptures, or the existence of the trinity. full religious liberty and the rights of conscience were assured--but strict orthodoxy was a condition for eligibility to office. no one should be chosen to office who was "not a scholar to do the business." this remarkable document, which provided for many other curious innovations in government, was the work of pioneer doctrinaires--houston, campbell, cocke, and tipton--and deserves study as a bizarre reflection of the spirit and genius of the western frontiersmen. [ ] the liberal policy of martin, followed by the no less conciliatory attitude of his successor, caswell, for the time proved wholly abortive. however, martin's appointment of evan shelby in sevier's place as brigadier, and of jonathan tipton as colonel of his county, produced disaffection among the franks; and the influence of joseph martin against the new government was a powerful obstacle to its success. at first the two sets of military, civil, and judicial officers were able to work amicably together; and a working-basis drawn up by shelby and sevier, although afterward repudiated by the franklin legislature, smoothed over some of the rapidly accumulating difficulties. the persistent and quiet assertion of authority by north carolina, without any overt act of violence against the officers of franklin state, revealed great diplomatic skill in governors martin and caswell. it was doubtless the considerate policy of the latter, coupled with the defection from sevier's cause of men of the stamp of houston and tipton, after the blundering and cavalier rejection of their singular constitution, which undermined the foundations of franklin. sevier himself later wrote with considerable bitterness: "i have been faithfull, and my own breast acquits myself that i have acted no part but what has been consistent with honor and justice, tempered with clemency and mercy. how far our pretended patriots have supported me as their pretended chiefe magistrate, i leave the world at large to judge." arthur campbell's plans for the formation of a greater franklin, through the union of the people on the western waters of virginia with those of north carolina, came to nought when virginia in the autumn of with stern decisiveness passed an act making it high treason to erect an independent government within her limits unless authorized by the assembly. sevier, however, became more fixed in his determination to establish a free state, writing to governor caswell: "we shall continue to act independent and would rather suffer death, in all its various and frightful shapes, than conform to anything that is disgraceful." north carolina, now proceeding with vigor (november, ), fully reassumed its sovereignty and jurisdiction over the mountain counties, but passed an act of pardon and oblivion, and in many ways adopted moderate and conciliatory measures. driven to extremities, cocke and sevier in turn appealed for aid and advice to benjamin franklin, in whose honor the new state had been named. in response to cocke, franklin wrote (august , ): "i think you are perfectly right in resolving to submit them [the points in dispute] to the decision of congress and to abide by their determination." [ ] franklin's views change in the interim; for when, almost a year later, sevier asks him for counsel, franklin has come to the conclusion that the wisest move for sevier was not to appeal to congress, but to endeavor to effect some satisfactory compromise with north carolina (june , ): there are only two things that humanity induces me to wish you may succeed in: the accomodating your misunderstanding with the government of north carolina, by amicable means; and the avoiding an indian war, by preventing encroaching on their lands.... the inconvenience to your people attending so remote a seat of government, and the difficulty to that government in ruling well so remote a people, would i think be powerful inducements with it, to accede to any fair & reasonable proposition it may receive from you towards an accommodation. [ ] despite sevier's frenzied efforts to achieve independence--his treaty with the indians, his sensational plan to incorporate the cherokees into the new state, his constancy to an ideal of revolt against others in face of the reality of revolt against himself, his struggle, equivocal and half-hearted, with the north carolina authorities under tipton--despite all these heroic efforts, the star of franklin swiftly declined. the vigorous measures pursued by general joseph martin, and his effective influence focussed upon a movement already honey-combed with disaffection, finally turned the scale. to the franklin leaders he sent the urgent message: "nothing will do but a submission to the laws of north carolina." early in april, , martin wrote to governor randolph of virginia: "i returned last evening from green co. washington destrict, north carolina, after a tower through that co'ntry, and am happy to inform your excellency that the late unhappy dispute between the state of north carolina, and the pretended state of franklin is subsided." ever brave, constant, and loyal to the interest of the pioneers, sevier had originally been drawn into the movement against his best judgment. caught in the unique trap, created by the passage of the cession act and the sudden volte-face of its repeal, he struggled desperately to extricate himself. alone of all the leaders, the governor of ill-starred franklin remained recalcitrant. chapter xx. the lure of spain[ ]--the haven of statehood the people of this region have come to realize truly upon what part of the world and upon which nation their future happiness and security depend, and they immediately infer that their interest and prosperity depend entirely upon the protection and liberality of your government. --john sevier to don diego de gardoqui, september , . from the early settlements in the eastern parts of this continent to the late & more recent settlements on the kentucky in the west the same difficulties have constantly occurred which now oppress you, but by a series of patient sufferings, manly and spirited exertions and unconquerable perseverance, they have been altogether or in great measure subdued. --governor samuel johnston to james robertson and anthony bledsoe, january , . a strange sham-battle, staged like some scene from opÃ�©ra bouffe, in the bleak snow-storm of february, , is really the prelude to a remarkable drama of revolt in which sevier, robertson, bledsoe, and the cumberland stalwarts play the leading rÃ�´les. on february th, incensed beyond measure by the action of colonel john tipton in harboring some of his slaves seized by the sheriff under an execution issued by one of the north carolina courts, sevier with one hundred and fifty adherents besieged tipton with a few of his friends in his home on sinking creek. the siege was raised at daybreak on february th by the arrival of reinforcements under colonel maxwell from sullivan county; and sevier, who was unwilling to precipitate a conflict, withdrew his forces after some desultory firing, in which two men were killed and several wounded. soon afterward sevier sent word to tipton that on condition his life be spared he would submit to north carolina. on this note of tragi-comedy the state of franklin appeared quietly to expire. the usually sanguine sevier, now thoroughly chastened, sought shelter in the distant settlements--deeply despondent over the humiliating failure of his plans and the even more depressing defection of his erstwhile friends and supporters. the revolutionary designs and separatist tendencies which he still harbored were soon to involve him in a secret conspiracy to give over the state of franklin into the protection of a foreign power. the fame of sevier's martial exploits and of his bold stroke for independence had long since gone abroad, astounding even so famous an advocate of liberty as patrick henry and winning the sympathy of the continental congress. one of the most interested observers of the progress of affairs in the state of franklin was don diego de gardoqui, who had come to america in the spring of , bearing a commission to the american congress as spanish chargÃ�© d'affaires (encargados de negocios) to the united states. in the course of his negotiations with jay concerning the right of navigation of the mississippi river, which spain denied to the americans, gardoqui was not long in discovering the violent resentment of the western frontiersmen, provoked by jay's crass blunder in proposing that the american republic, in return for reciprocal foreign advantages offered by spain, should waive for twenty-five years her right to navigate the mississippi. the cumberland traders had already felt the heavy hand of spain in the confiscation of their goods at natchez; but thus far the leaders of the tennessee frontiersmen had prudently restrained the more turbulent agitators against the spanish policy, fearing lest the spirit of retaliation, once aroused, might know no bounds. throughout the entire region of the trans-alleghany, a feeling of discontent and unrest prevailed--quite as much the result of dissatisfaction with the central government which permitted the wholesale restraint of trade, as of resentment against the domination of spain. no sooner had the shrewd and watchful gardoqui, who was eager to utilize the separatist sentiment of the western settlements in the interest of his country, learned of sevier's armed insurrection against the authority of north carolina than he despatched an emissary to sound the leading men of franklin and the cumberland settlements in regard to an alliance. this secret emissary was dr. james white, who had been appointed by the united states government as superintendent of indian affairs for the southern department on november , . reporting as instructed to don estevan mirÃ�³, governor of louisiana, white, the corrupt tool of spain, stated concerning his confidential mission that the leaders of "frankland" and "cumberland district" had "eagerly accepted the conditions" laid down by gardoqui: to take the oath of allegiance to spain, and to renounce all submission or allegiance whatever to any other sovereign or power. satisfied by the secret advices received, the spanish minister reported to the home authorities his confident belief that the tennessee backwoodsmen, if diplomatically handled, would readily throw in their lot with spain. [ ] after the fiasco of his siege of tipton's home, sevier had seized upon the renewal of hostilities by the cherokees as a means of regaining his popularity. this he counted upon doing by rallying his old comrades-in-arms under his standard and making one of his meteoric, whirlwind onslaughts upon their ancient indian foe. the victory of this erstwhile popular hero, the beloved "nolichucky jack of the border," over the indians at a town on the hiwassee "so raised him in the esteem of the people on the frontier," reports colonel maxwell, "that the people began [once more] to flock to his standard." inspirited by this good turn in his fortunes, sevier readily responded to dr. white's overtures. alarmed early in the year over the unprovoked depredations and murders by the indians in several tennessee counties and on the kentucky road, sevier, robertson, and anthony bledsoe had persuaded governor samuel johnston of north carolina to address gardoqui and request him to exert his influence to prevent further acts of savage barbarity. in letters to governor johnston, to robertson, and to sevier, all of date april th, gardoqui expressed himself in general as being "extremely surprised to know that there is a suspicion that the good government of spain is encouraging these acts of barbarity." the letters to robertson and sevier, read between the lines as suggestive reinforcements of spain's secret proposals, possess real significance. the letter to sevier contains this dexterously expressed sentiment: "his majesty is very favorably inclined to give the inhabitants of that region all the protection that they ask for and, on my part, i shall take very great pleasure in contributing to it on this occasion and other occasions." this letter, coupled with the confidential proposals of dr. white, furnished a convenient opening for correspondence with the spaniards; and in july sevier wrote to gardoqui indicating his readiness to accede to their proposals. after secret conferences with men who had supported him throughout the vicissitudes of his ill-starred state, sevier carefully matured his plans. the remarkable letter of great length which he wrote to gardoqui on september , , reveals the conspiracy in all its details and presents in vivid colors the strong separatist sentiment of the day. sevier urgently petitions gardoqui for the loan of a few thousand pounds, to enable him to "make the most expedient and necessary preparations for defense"; and offers to repay the loan within a short time "by sending the products of this region to the lower ports." upon the vital matter of "delivering" the state of franklin to spain, he forthrightly says: since my last of the th of july, upon consulting with the principal men of this country, i have been particularly happy to find that they are equally disposed and ready as i am to accept your propositions and guarantees. you may be sure that the pleasing hopes and ideas which the people of this country hold with regard to the probability of an alliance with, and commercial concessions from, you are very ardent, and that we are unanimously determined on that score. the people of this region have come to realize truly upon what part of the world and upon which nation their future happiness and security depend, and they immediately infer that their interest and prosperity depend entirely upon the protection and liberality of your government.... being the first from this side of the appalachian mountains to resort in this way to your protection and liberality, we feel encouraged to entertain the greatest hope that we shall be granted all reasonable aid by him who is so amply able to do it, and to give the protection and help that is asked of him in this petition. you know our delicate situation and the difficulties in which we are in respect to our mother state which is making use of every strategem to impede the development and prosperity of this country.... before i conclude, it may be necessary to remind you that there will be no more favorable occasion than the present one to put this plan into execution. north carolina has rejected the constitution and moreover it seems to me that a considerable time will elapse before she becomes a member of the union, if that event ever happens. through mirÃ�³, gardoqui was simultaneously conducting a similar correspondence with general james wilkinson. the object of the spanish conspiracy, matured as the result of this correspondence, was to seduce kentucky from her allegiance to the united states. despite the superficial similarity between the situation of franklin and kentucky, it would be doing sevier and his adherents a capital injustice to place them in the category of the corrupt wilkinson and the malodorous sebastian. moreover, the secessionists of franklin, as indicated in the above letter, had the excuse of being left virtually without a country. on the preceding august st, north carolina had rejected the constitution of the united states; and the leaders of franklin, who were sorely aggrieved by what they regarded as her indifference and neglect, now felt themselves more than ever out of the union and wholly repudiated by the mother state. again, sevier had the embittered feeling resultant from outlawry. because of his course in opposing the laws and government of north carolina and in the killing of several good citizens, including the sheriff of washington county, by his forces at sinking creek, sevier, through the action of governor johnston of north carolina, had been attainted of high treason. under the heavy burden of this grave charge, he felt his hold upon franklin relax. further, an atrocity committed in the recent campaign under sevier's leadership--kirk's brutal murder of corn tassel, a noble old indian, and other chieftains, while under the protection of a flag of truce--had placed a bar sinister across the fair fame of this stalwart of the border. utter desperation thus prompted sevier's acceptance of gardoqui's offer of the protection of spain. john sevier's son, james, bore the letter of september th to gardoqui. by a strangely ironic coincidence, on the very day (october , ) that gardoqui wrote to mirÃ�³, recommending to the attention of spain dr. white and james sevier, the emissaries of franklin, with their plans and proposals, john sevier was arrested by colonel tipton at the widow brown's in washington county, on the charge of high treason. he was handcuffed and borne off, first to jonesborough and later to morganton. but his old friends and former comrades-in-arms, charles and joseph mcdowell, gave bond for his appearance at court; and morrison, the sheriff, who also had fought at king's mountain, knocked the irons from his wrists and released him on parole. soon afterward a number of sevier's devoted friends, indignant over his arrest, rode across the mountains to morganton and silently bore him away, never to be arrested again. in november an act of pardon and oblivion with respect to franklin was passed by the north carolina assembly. although sevier was forbidden to hold office under the state, the passage of this act automatically operated to clear him of the alleged offense of high treason. with affairs in franklin taking this turn, it is little wonder that gardoqui and mirÃ�³ paid no further heed to sevier's proposal to accept the protection of spain. sevier's continued agitation in behalf of the independence of franklin inspired governor johnston with the fear that he would have to be "proceeded against to the last extremity." but sevier's opposition finally subsiding, he was pardoned, given a seat in the north carolina assembly, and with extraordinary consideration honored with his former rank of brigadier-general. when dr. white reported to mirÃ�³ that the leaders of "frankland" had eagerly accepted gardoqui's conditions for an alliance with spain, he categorically added: "with regard to cumberland district, what i have said of frankland applies to it with equal force and truth." james robertson and anthony bledsoe had but recently availed themselves of the good offices of governor johnston of north carolina in the effort to influence gardoqui to quiet the creek indians. the sagacious and unscrupulous half breed alexander mcgillivray had placed the creeks under the protection of spain in ; and shortly afterward they began to be regularly supplied with ammunition by the spanish authorities. at first spain pursued the policy of secretly encouraging these indians to resist the encroachments of the americans, while she remained on outwardly friendly terms with the united states. during the period of the spanish conspiracy, however, there is reason to believe that mirÃ�³ endeavored to keep the indians at peace with the borderers, as a friendly service, intended to pave the way for the establishment of intimate relations between spain and the dwellers in the trans-alleghany. yet his efforts cannot have been very effective; for the cumberland settlements continued to suffer from the ravages and depredations of the creeks, who remained "totally averse to peace, notwithstanding they have had no cause of offence"; and robertson and bledsoe reported to governor caswell (june , ): "it is certain, the chickasaws inform us, that spanish traders offer a reward for scalps of the americans." the indian atrocities became so frequent that robertson later in the summer headed a party on the famous coldwater expedition, in which he severely chastised the marauding indians. aroused by the loss of a number of chiefs and warriors at the hands of robertson's men, and instigated, as was generally believed, by the spaniards, the creeks then prosecuted their attacks with renewed violence against the cumberland settlements. unprotected either by the mother state or by the national government, unable to secure free passage to the gulf for their products, and sorely pressed to defend their homes, now seriously endangered by the incessant attacks of the creeks, the cumberland leaders decided to make secret overtures to mcgillivray, as well as to communicate to mirÃ�³, through dr. white, their favorable inclination toward the proposals of the one country which promised them protection. in a letter which mcgillivray wrote to mirÃ�³ (transmitted to madrid, june , ) in regard to the visit of messrs. hackett and ewing, two trusty messengers sent by robertson and bledsoe, he reports that the two delegates from the district of cumberland had not only submitted to him proposals of peace but "had added that they would throw themselves into the arms of his majesty as subjects, and that kentucky and cumberland are determined to free themselves from their dependence on congress, because that body can not protect either their property, or favor their commerce, and they therefore believe that they no longer owe obedience to a power which is incapable of protecting them." commenting upon mcgillivray's communication, mirÃ�³ said in his report to madrid (june , ): "i consider as extremely interesting the intelligence conveyed to mcgillivray by the deputies on the fermentation existing in kentucky, with regard to a separation from the union. concerning the proposition made to mcgillivray by the inhabitants of cumberland to become the vassals of his majesty, i have refrained from returning any precise answer." in his long letter of reply to robertson and bledsoe, mcgillivray agreed to make peace between his nation, the creeks, and the cumberland settlers. this letter was most favorably received and given wide circulation throughout the west. in a most ingratiating reply, offering mcgillivray a fine gun and a lot in nashville, robertson throws out the following broad suggestion, which he obviously wishes mcgillivray to convey to mirÃ�³: "in all probability we cannot long remain in our present state, and if the british or any commercial nation who may be in possession of the mouth of the mississippi would furnish us with trade, and receive our produce there cannot be a doubt but the people on the west side of the appalachian mountains will open their eyes to their real interest." robertson actually had the district erected out of the counties of davidson, sumner, and tennessee given the name of "mirÃ�³" by the assembly of north carolina in november, --a significant symbol of the desires of the cumberland leaders. in a letter (april , ), mirÃ�³, who had just received letters from robertson (january th) and daniel smith (march th) postmarked "district of mirÃ�³," observes: "the bearer, fagot, a confidential agent of gen. smith, informed me that the inhabitants of cumberland, or mirÃ�³, would ask north carolina for an act of separation the following fall, and that as soon as this should be obtained other delegates would be sent from cumberland to new orleans, with the object of placing that territory under the domination of his majesty. i replied to both in general terms." [ ] robertson, bledsoe, and smith were successful in keeping secret their correspondence with mcgillivray and mirÃ�³; and few were in the secret of sevier's effort to deliver the state of franklin to spain. joseph martin was less successful in his negotiations; and a great sensation was created throughout the southern colonies when a private letter from joseph martin to mcgillivray (november , ) was intercepted. in this letter martin said: "i must beg that you write me by the first opportunity in answer to what i am now going to say to you.... i hope to do honor to any part of the world i settle in, and am determined to leave the united states, for reasons that i can assign to you when we meet, but durst not trust it to paper." the general assembly of georgia referred the question of the intercepted letter to the governor of north carolina (january , ); and the result was a legislative investigation into martin's conduct. eleven months later, the north carolina assembly exonerated him. from the correspondence of joseph martin and patrick henry, it would appear that martin, on henry's advice, had acted as a spy upon the spaniards, in order to discover the views of mcgillivray, to protect the exposed white settlements from the indians, and to fathom the designs of the spaniards against the united states. [ ] the sensational disclosures of martin's intercepted letter had no deterrent effect upon james robertson in the attempted execution of his plan for detaching the cumberland settlements from north carolina. history has taken no account of the fact that robertson and the inhabitants now deliberately endeavored to secure an act of separation from north carolina. in the event of success, the next move planned by the cumberland leaders, as we have already seen, was to send delegates to new orleans for the purpose of placing the cumberland region under the domination of spain. a hitherto unknown letter, from robertson to (mirÃ�³), dated nashville, september , , proves that a convention of the people was actually held--the first overt step looking to an alliance with spain. in this letter robertson says: i must beg your excellency's permission to take this early opportunity of thanking you for the honor you did me in writing by mr. white. i still hope that your government, and these settlements, are destined to be mutually friendly and usefull, the people here are impressed with the necessity of it. we have just held a convention; which has agreed that our members shall insist on being seperated from north carolina. unprotected, we are to be obedient to the new congress of the united states; but we cannot but wish for a more interesting connection. the united states afford us no protection. the district of mirÃ�³ is daily plundered and the inhabitants murdered by the creeks, and cherokees, unprovoked. for my own part, i conceive highly of the advantages of your government. [ ] a serious obstacle to the execution of the plans of robertson and the other leaders of the cumberland settlements was the prompt action of north carolina. in actual conformity with the wishes of the western people, as set forth in the petition of robertson and hayes, their representatives, made two years earlier, [ ] the legislature of north carolina in december passed the second act of cession, by which the western territory of north carolina was ceded to the united states. instead of securing an act of separation from north carolina as the preparatory step to forming what robertson calls "a more interesting connection" with spain, robertson and his associates now found themselves and the transmontane region which they represented flung bodily into the arms of the united states. despite the unequivocal offer of the calculating and desperate sevier to "deliver" franklin to spain, and the ingenious efforts of robertson and his associates to place the cumberland region under the domination of spain, the spanish court by its temporizing policy of evasion and indecision definitely relinquished the ready opportunities thereby afforded, of utilizing the powerful separatist tendencies of tennessee for the purpose of adding the empire upon the western waters to the spanish domain in america. the year marks the end of an era--the heroic age of the pioneers of the old southwest. following the acceptance of north carolina's deed of cession of her western lands to the union (april , ) the southwest territory was erected on may th; and william blount, a north carolina gentleman of eminence and distinction, was appointed on june th to the post of governor of the territory. two years later (june , ) kentucky was admitted into the union. it is a remarkable and inspiring circumstance, in testimony of the martial instincts and unwavering loyalty of the transmontane people, that the two men to whom the western country in great measure owed its preservation, the inciting and flaming spirits of the king's mountain campaign, were the unopposed first choice of the people as leaders in the trying experiment of statehood--john sevier of tennessee and isaac shelby of kentucky. had franklin possessed the patient will of kentucky, she might well have preceded that region into the union. it was not, however, until june , , that tennessee, after a romantic and arduous struggle, finally passed through the wide-flung portals into the domain of national statehood. list of notes roosevelt's the winning of the west, a stirring recital with chief stress thrown upon the militant characteristics of the frontiersmen, is open to grave criticism because of failure to give adequate account of social and economic tendencies, the development of democracy, and the evolution of government under the pressure of frontier conditions. johnson mss., xii, no. . journal of a tour in unsettled parts of north america in and , . turner: "significance of the frontier in american history," american historical association report, . hugh williamson: history of north carolina ( ), ii, - . virginia historical magazine, xiii, ; william and mary quarterly, ix, . virginia historical magazine, op. cit. cf. also west virginia historical magazine, april, . bernheim: the german element and the lutheran church in the carolinas. for this and other moravian diaries, see virginia historical magazine, vols xi and xii. original diary in german in archives of the moravian church, winston-salem, n. c. cf. mereness, travels in the american colonies - , - . cf. original minutes of abington and gwynedd monthly meetings, pa. ms. history of bryan family, compiled by col. w. l. bryan, boone, n. c. ely: the finleys of bucks (publications, bucks county historical society); also "historic associations of neshaminy valley," daily intelligencer (reading, pa.), july , . see also wisconsin state historical society, draper mss., b . "the creative forces in westward expansion," american historical review, xx, . north carolina colonial records, vii, - . magazine of american history, november, . foote: sketches of north carolina, xiii. howe: history of the presbyterian church in south carolina. virginia historical magazine, xiii, - - . draper: ms. life of boone; draper collection, wisconsin state historical society. rowan county records, salisbury, n. c. rumple: history of rowan county. logan: history of upper south carolina. "diary of bishop spangenberg" ( ), north carolina colonial records, v. sheets: history of liberty baptist association. moravian community diary, preserved at winston-salem, n. c. north carolina colonial records, v, . j. f. d. smyth: a tour in the united states of america (london: ), vol. . chapter xxiii. unpublished ms.: "in the olden time." margry: navigation of the mississippi, iv, . rauniÃ�©: chansonnier historique du xviiie siÃ�¨cle, iii, - . this translation is by barbara henderson. j. haywood: natural and aboriginal history of tennessee ( ), . byrd: history of the dividing line. north carolina colonial records, v, . d. d. wallace: the life of henry laurens, appendix iv. see also hewit in carroll's collections, i, . fort prince george was located in the fork of the six mile creek and keowee river, in the southwestern part of pickens county, and was completed probably by the end of (south carolina gazette, december , ). north carolina colonial records, v, . cited in channing, history of the united states, ii, - n. north carolina colonial records, v, , . moravian community diary. north carolina colonial records, v, . virginia historical magazine, xiii, - . north carolina colonial records, v, , . north carolina colonial records, v, . north carolina colonial records, v, , , . cf. also hunter: sketches of western north carolina, . north carolina colonial records, v, , . virginia historical magazine, xiii, ; north carolina colonial records, v, , , . north carolina colonial records, v, , - , , . north carolina colonial records, v, ; cf. timberlake's "a draught of the cherokee country" in avery's history of the united states, iv, facing p. ; ramsey, history of tennessee, . summers: southwest virginia, - . virginia historical magazine, xv, - ; waddell, augusta county (second edition), - , - . north carolina colonial records, v, - . summers: southwest virginia, - . williamson: history of north carolina, ii, , footnote. north carolina colonial records, viii, ; xi, map facing p. , and p. . north carolina colonial records, v. introduction, pp. xxx-xxxi. carroll's collections, i, ; ii, - ; draper's ms. life of boone, iii, - . sparks: washington, ii, . journal: "concerning a march that capt. robt. wade took to the new river," in summers, southwest virginia. - . carroll's collections, i, - . south carolina gazette, may , . south carolina gazette, july , . south carolina gazette, aug. , sept. , . north carolina colonial records, vi, . draper: ms. life of boone, iii, . north carolina colonial records, vi, - . for a full account of the part which fort dobbs played in this indian warfare see the monograph, fort dobbs, by mrs. m. h. eliason. maryland gazette, may , ; haywood: natural and aboriginal history of tennessee, - ; north carolina colonial records, xxii, . "notes on the indians and the early settlers of western north carolina," collections of the north carolina historical commission. printed in papers of a. d. murphy, ii, et seq. maryland gazette, may , . south carolina gazette, dec. , ; feb. , april , . north carolina colonial records, vi, . j. s. johnston: the first explorations of kentucky. filson club publications, no. . william and mary college quarterly, xii, - ; young: genealogical narrative of the hart family ( ); nash: "history of orange county," north carolina booklet; henderson: "a federalist of the old school," north carolina booklet. north carolina colonial records, ix, . turner: "the old west," wisconsin historical society proceedings, . cf. "memoir of pleasant henderson," draper mss. cc - ; w. h. battle: "a memoir of leonard henderson," north carolina university magazine, nov., ; t. b. kingsbury: "chief justice leonard henderson," wake forest student, november, . "the life and times of richard henderson," in the charlotte observer, march to june , ; draper's ms. life of boone; morehead's address at boonesborough, n. c. w. alvord: "the genesis of the proclamation of ," michigan pioneer and historical collections, xxxvi. sparks: works of franklin ( ), iii, - . j. m. peck to l. c. draper, may , . washington to crawford, september , , in sparks: life and writings of washington, ii, - . haywood: civil and political history of tennessee ( ), . ramsey: annals of tennessee ( ), - . ramsey: annals of tennessee, . cf. c. w. alvord: "the british ministry and the treaty of fort stanwix," wisconsin historical society proceedings, . north carolina colonial records, vii, - . for tryon's line, ibid., , , , . johnson to gage, december , . jefferson mss. department of state. cf. also weeks: general joseph martin. hanna: the wilderness trail, ii, , , ; darlington: journals of gist, . "narrative of general william hall," draper mss., wisconsin state historical society. draper: ms. life of boone, viii, . summers: southwest virginia, . papers of a. d. murphy, ii, . pennsylvania journal, october , . compare "john finley; and kentucky before boone," being chapter seven in volume two of c. a. hanna's the wilderness trail ( ). j. w. monette: history of the discovery and settlement of the valley of the mississippi ( ), ii, . court records of rowan county. cf. "the pioneers of the west" in missouri republican ( ). cf. also putnam: middle tennessee, . j. m. peck to l. c. draper, may , . missouri republican ( ). a memorial to the legislature of kentucky ( ). deposition book no. , p. , clark county court, kentucky. cf. "daniel boone and the wilderness trail," bristol (tennessee-virginia) herald courier, boone trail edition, april, . hall: the romance of western history ( ), - , - . north carolina colonial records, vii, . martin: history of north carolina, ii, . "the origin of the regulation in north carolina," american historical review, xxi, no. . north carolina colonial records, vii, - , - , . raleigh (n. c.) register, june , . cf. tryon's journal, north carolina colonial records, vii, - . tryon to hillsborough, december , . north carolina colonial records, viii, - . north carolina colonial records, viii, - . north carolina colonial records, viii, - . north carolina colonial records, viii, - . cf. j. s. bassett: "the regulators of north carolina ( - )", american historical association report for . north carolina colonial records, x, - ; caruthers: life of caldwell, - . north carolina colonial records, vi, . alderman: "the baptists at the forks of the yadkin," in baptist historical papers. north carolina colonial records, viii, - . the discovery of an immense quantity of contemporary documents, since roosevelt's the winning of the west was written, betrays the numerous inaccuracies of that fascinating work, as well as the imperfect perspective in the picture of the westward expansionist movement. mr. roosevelt's virile apotheosis of the strenuous pioneer seems today almost as old-fashioned in its method and outlook as is draper's work on king's mountain. bancroft transcripts, library of congress. purefoy: history of sandy creek baptist association ( ). cf. "pioneer contributions of north carolina to kentucky," charlotte (n. c.) observer, november , . summers: southwest virginia, - . north carolina colonial records, xiv, . cf. farrand: "the indian boundary line," american historical review, x. dunmore to hillsborough, march, . cf. also draper, ms. life of boone, draper mss., b , . north carolina colonial records, x, - . moses fisk: "a summary notice of the first settlements made by white people within the limits which bound the state of tennessee," in massachusetts historical collections, st series ( ). dunmore to dartmouth, may , . north carolina colonial records, ix, - , . ms. copy in minutes of council, public record office, colonial office, : . haywood: civil and political history of tennessee ( ), . butler: history of kentucky ( ), p. lxvii, note. also draper mss., cc . wharton: plain facts ( ), . alvord: the illinois-wabash land company manuscript. a copy of the opinion, bearing this date, is in the henderson papers, draper collection, wisconsin historical society. extended investigation establishes beyond question that judge henderson was proceeding in strict accordance with law in seeking to acquire title by purchase from the cherokees instead of applying to the royal government for a grant. when virginia's sea-to-sea charter was abrogated in , virginia became a royal province and the settlement of boundaries a royal prerogative. of the three presumed indian claimants to the trans-alleghany region, viz., the iroquois, shawanoes, and cherokees, the iroquois by defeating the shawanoes and their confederates in the ohio valley at the battle of sandy island in acquired title, as understood by the indians, to this region. by the treaties of lancaster ( ), loggstown ( ), and fort stanwix ( ), the claims of the shawanoes and the iroquois to the trans-alleghany territory were ceded to the crown. while the shawanoes and the cherokees acquiesced in the treaty of fort stanwix, the crown fully acknowledged the claim of the cherokees to the trans-alleghany region; and by the treaties of hard labor ( ) and lochaber ( ) confirmed them in possession of this region to the west of the boundary line (see chapter xii). the sovereignty of england extended over this territory, the right of eminent domain being vested in the crown. henderson was legally justified in disregarding the royal proclamation of which was largely in the nature of a temporary expedient, and in purchasing the title to the trans-alleghany region from the cherokees in . the right of eminent domain over the trans-alleghany region still vested in the crown after the treaty of sycamore shoals. ms. journals of james and robert mcafee. durrett collection, university of chicago. these journals are printed in woods-mcafee memorial. hening: virginia statutes at large, x, . wharton: plain facts, et seq. see also text ff. alvord: the mississippi valley in british politics, ii, ch. ; cotterill: history of pioneer kentucky, - . t. wharton to walpole, september , , in "letter book of thomas wharton," pennsylvania magazine of history and biography, xxxiii (october, ). for ample materials, cf. thwaites and kellogg: documentary history of dunmore's war-- . cf. "the inauguration of westward expansion," news and observer (raleigh, n. c.) july , . letter of major pleasant henderson, in the harbinger (chapel hill, n. c), . cf. "the beginnings of westward expansion," north carolina review, september and october, . draper mss. cc - , wisconsin state historical society. jefferson mss. th series, v. . in mss. division, library of congress. draper mss. cc - . diary of morgan brown in tennessee historical magazine. enclosure in dunmore to dartmouth, no. , march , , public record office, colonial office, : . north carolina colonial records, ix, , - . draper mss. qq . virginia historical magazine, viii, . cf. also draper mss. cc . letters to washington, mss. division, library of congress. i am indebted to miss lucretia hart clay for the privilege of examining the extensive collection of hart and benton mss. in her possession. the voluminous records of the treaty are found in the jefferson mss., vol. . mss. division, library of congress. "narrative of felix walker," original ms. owned by c. l. walker. hulbert: boone's road. original of henderson's journal is in draper mss., cc - a. d. hall: sketches of the west, i, - . this quotation is taken from the original manuscript. the version in de bow's review, , is imperfect. for better printed versions of walker's two accounts, see memoirs of felix walker, new orleans ( ), and journal of american history, i, no. ( ). original journal of william calk, owned by mrs. price calk. letters to washington, mss. division, library of congress. north carolina gazette. draper mss., cc - , deposition of arthur campbell. draper mss., cc - , deposition of arthur campbell. draper collection, kentucky mss., ii. for a contrary view, cf. p. henry's deposition, kentucky mss., i. published in virginia gazette, march , . cf. "forerunners of the republic", neale's monthly, january-june, . draper mss., qq . letters to george washington, mss. division, library of congress. draper mss., l . henderson and luttrell to the proprietors, july , ; printed in louisville news-letter, may , . nathaniel henderson to john williams, october , . copy supplied by heirs of b. j. lossing. "the struggle for the fourteenth american colony," news and observer (raleigh, n. c.), may , . in connection with transylvania, consult g. w. ranck: boonesborough: filson club publications, no. ; f. j. turner: "state making in the revolutionary era", american historical review, i; g. h. alden: "new governments west of the alleghanies before ." in a "proposal for the sale of its lands" (virginia gazette, sept. , ), the transylvania company offered to any settlers before june , , land, limited in amount, at the rate of fifty shillings sterling per hundred acres, subject to an annual quit-rent of two shillings. cf. facsimile. draper mss., cc . these increased rates were voted at a meeting of the proprietors of transylvania at oxford, n. c., september , . american archives, iv. draper mss., j . this memoir has often been printed. cf. for example, mason to washington, march , , in letters to washington, mss. division, library of congress. letter of date may , . draper mss., s - . original in virginia state archives. original in virginia state archives. this and the aforementioned petition are printed in the virginia historical magazine, xvi, - . see also j. r. robertson: petitions of the early inhabitants of kentucky, filson club publications, no. . cf. "richard henderson and the occupation of kentucky, ," mississippi valley historical review, december, . also a. b. hulbert: pilots of the republic. original in north carolina state archives. printed in ramsey: annals of tennessee ( ), - . haldimand mss. original in draper mss. collections. it has recently been printed in colonial men and times ( ), by lillie du p. van c. harper. haywood: civil and political history of tennessee, ( ), appendix, - . journal virginia house of delegates, nov. - , . hening: statutes at large, ix, . cf. also starling: history of henderson county, kentucky. cf. sioussat: "the journal of daniel smith," tennessee historical magazine, march, . the original journal is in the archives of the tennessee state historical society. n. hart, jr., to wilkins tannehill, april , , in louisville news-letter, may , . the original document is preserved in the archives of the tennessee historical society. it is printed, with a number of minor inaccuracies, in putnam: middle tennessee, - . acts of north carolina, , ch. xxxviii, north carolina state records, xxiv, - . for a more extended treatment of the subjects dealt with in the present chapter, see "richard henderson, the authorship of the cumberland compact, and the founding of nashville," tennessee historical magazine, september, . "isaac shelby, revolutionary patriot and border hero," in north carolina booklet, xvi, no. , - . while draper's king's mountain and its heroes is most valuable as a source book, it is very faulty in style and arrangement. the account of the battle, in particular, is deficient in perspective; and in general no clear line is drawn between traditionary and authentic testimony. f. b. mcdowell: the battle of king's mountain (raleigh, ). this account was prepared chiefly from unpublished letters from isaac shelby to franklin brevard. a sketch of the life and career of colonel james d. williams, by rev. j. d. bailey (cowpens, s. c., ). a valuable source is the king's mountain expedition, by david vance and robert henry, edited by d. l. schenck (greensboro, ). cf. acts of north carolina, , april session, chapters xi and xii. sioussat: "the north carolina cession of in its federal aspects," mississippi valley historical association proceedings, ii. quoted in alden: "the state of franklin," american historical review, viii. see charlotte (n. c.) observer, september , . also consult north carolina state records, xxii, ff. state archives of north carolina. pennsylvania packet, august , . state department mss., library of congress. a single complete draft, in pamphlet form, printed in , is preserved in the archives of the tennessee historical society. cf. "the provisional constitution of frankland," american historical magazine, i. franklin papers, vii, folio . mss. division, library of congress. franklin papers, viii, folio . mss. division, library of congress. for a more extended treatment of matters dealt with in this chapter, compare "the spanish conspiracy in tennessee," tennessee historical magazine, december, . gardoqui to floridablanca, april , . on april th mirÃ�³ wrote to valdez, in spain, informing him of the proposals received through mcgillivray and stating that he had returned conciliatory replies but had refrained from committing the spanish government until the pleasure of the king should be known. w. w. henry: life, correspondence and speeches of patrick henry, iii, , - . archives of the indies, seville, spain. ramsey: annals of tennessee ( ), - . bibliographical note for the entire period ( - ) covered by this volume, an exceptionally rich store of materials is to be found in the colonial records of north carolina, - (published - ), and its continuation, the state records of north carolina, - (published - ), thirty volumes in all, including the four volumes of index. the introductions and supplementary matter in these volumes constitute a survey of the period. theodore roosevelt's the winning of the west ( - ; various editions), a vigorous and stirring narrative, over-accentuates the strenuous life, largely underemphasises economic and governmental phases, and is by no means free from error. for the scotch-irish migrations one should read c. a. hanna, the scotch-irish ( vols., ), a large collection of original materials, imperfectly coÃ�¶rdinated; and the excellent historical sketch by h. j. ford, the scotch-irish in america ( ). for the german migrations, adequate and readable accounts are a. b. faust, the german element in the united states ( vols., ); j. h. clewell, history of wachovia in north carolina ( ); j. w. wayland, the german element of the shenandoah valley of virginia ( ); and g. d. bernheim, history of the german settlements and of the lutheran church in north and south carolina ( ). the best original sources for the life of the people in this period are: the state archives of north carolina at raleigh, scientifically ordered and accessible to collectors; the lyman c. draper collection at madison, wisconsin; the reuben t. durrett collection at the university of chicago; the state archives of south carolina, especially rich in collections of contemporary newspapers; the collections of the north carolina historical society at chapel hill; and the archives of the moravian church, in pennsylvania and at winston-salem, north carolina. the state archives of virginia, an unexplored mine of great riches, are as yet inaccessible, properly speaking, to investigators. the state of tennessee has not yet made any provision for the conservation of historical materials; but the tennessee historical society has preserved much valuable documentary material. books shedding light, from various quarters, upon the life of the people in this period are: w. h. foote, sketches of north carolina, historical and biographical ( ; reprinted ), dealing almost exclusively with the presbyterian church and the scotch-irish; j. f. d. smyth, a tour in the united states of america ( vols., ), untrustworthy as to historical events and partisan as to politics, but graphic in description of the people and the country; william bartram, travels through north and south carolina, georgia, east and west florida ( ), delightful in its simplicity and genial tone; william byrd, history of the dividing line and other writings (j. s. bassett's edition, ), of sprightly style and instinct with literary charm, pungently satirical, untrustworthy as to north carolina; joseph doddridge, notes on the settlement and indian wars &c. ( ; reprinted ), photographic in its realistic delineation of backwoods conditions; j. h. logan, history of upper south carolina ( ); j. rumple, rowan county ( ; reprinted ); biographical history of north carolina ( volumes printed, -); s. dunbar, a history of travel in america( vols., ), first volume; travels in the american colonies, - (edited by n. d. mereness, ); and o. taylor, historic sullivan ( ). many valuable articles, of both local and national interest, are found in the excellent periodical publications: james sprunt historical monographs and publications ( vols., -), published by the university of north carolina; north carolina booklet ( vols., -), published by the n. c. society, d. a. r.; virginia magazine of history and biography ( vols., -); american historical magazine ( vols., - ); tennessee historical magazine ( vols., -); register of the kentucky state historical society ( vols., -); mississippi valley historical review ( vols., -). a notable study is f. j. turner, the old west (wisconsin historical society proceedings, ). there is no adequate account in print of the french and indian war, in the old southwest. useful sources are e. mccrady, south carolina under the royal government, - ( ); s. a. ashe, history of north carolina, - ( vol., ); l. p. summers, history of south-west virginia, - ( ); j. p. hale, trans-alleghany pioneers ( ); j. a. waddell, annals of augusta county, virginia ( ); s. kercheval, a history of the valley of virginia (third edition, ); a. s. withers, chronicles of border warfare (r. g. thwaites' edition, ); b. r. carroll, historical collections of south carolina ( vols., ); e. m. avery, history of the united states ( vols., ), fourth volume; j. g. m. ramsey, annals of tennessee ( ); calendar virginia state papers ( vols., - ). an interesting biography is a. m. waddell, a colonial officer and his times ( ). the early explorations of the west, and the career of boone, are treated with reasonable fullness in the admirable publications of the filson club of kentucky ( vols., -); c. a. hanna, the wilderness trail ( vols., ); john haywood, civil and political history of tennessee ( ; reprinted ), written in delightfully quaint style; l. and r. h. collins, history of kentucky ( vols., ), a mine of conglomerate material; n. m. woods, the woods-mcafee memorial ( ); a. b. hulbert, pilots of the republic ( ) and boone's wilderness road ( ), attractively written; r. g. thwaites, daniel boone ( ), a lifeless condensation of draper's sprawling projected (ms.) biography; and john filson, kentucke ( ). of the voluminous mass of literature dealing with the regulation in north carolina, one should read: j. s. bassett, the regulators of north carolina, - (american historical association report, ); m. del. haywood, governor tryon of north carolina ( ); h. husband, an impartial relation of the first rise and cause of the present differences in publick affairs, in the province of north carolina ( ); and archibald henderson, the origin of the regulation in north carolina (american historical review, ). in addition to titles already mentioned, the following books and monographs give the best accounts of the watauga and cumberland settlements and of the state of franklin: a. w. putnam, history of middle tennessee ( ), a remarkably interesting book by a real "character"; j. w. caldwell, constitutional history of tennessee (second edition, ); f. m. turner, life of general john sevier ( ), in pedestrian style, reasonably accurate for the romantic period only; g. h. alden, the state of franklin (american historical review, ); s. b. weeks, joseph martin (american historical association report, ); archibald henderson, isaac shelby (north carolina booklet, - ). the source book for the indian war of is documentary history of dunmore's war (edited by r. g. thwaites and l. p. kellogg, ). for exhaustive data concerning the king's mountain campaign and its preliminaries, read l. c. draper, king's mountain and its heroes ( ), though the book is lacking in discrimination and deficient in perspective. for a briefer treatment, read d. l. schenck, north carolina, - ( ). other books and monographs dealing with the period, the westward movement, the settlement of the trans-alleghany, and the little governments, to be consulted are: james hall, sketches of the west ( vols., ) and the romance of western history ( ); journals of the house of burgesses of virginia for - and - (published ); g. h. alden, new governments west of the alleghanies before (published ); c. w. alvord, the mississippi valley in british politics ( vols., ), a notable work, ably written and embodying an immense amount of information; j. t. morehead, address at boonesborough, may , (published ); f. j. turner, the significance of the frontier in american history (wisconsin historical society proceedings, ) and western state-making in the revolutionary era (american historical review, - ), papers characterised by both brilliance and depth; and archibald henderson, the creative forces in westward expansion (american historical review, ), the occupation of kentucky in (mississippi valley historical review, ), the founding of nashville (tennessee historical magazine, ), and the spanish conspiracy in tennessee (tennessee historical magazine, ). on the subject of indian tribes and indian treaties, the annual reports of the bureau of ethnology, in especial numbers , , and , although compiled from secondary historical sources and occasionally erroneous in important matters, are useful--as is also bulletin : j. mooney, siouan tribes of the east ( ). rare and interesting works dealing with the eastern indian tribes are h. timberlake, memoirs ( ); j. haywood, natural and aboriginal history of tennessee ( ); and j. adair, american indians ( ). for both wider and more intensive reading in the history of this period, consult: f. j. turner, list of references on the history of the west (edition of ); a critical bibliography of kentucky history, in r. m. mcelroy, kentucky in the nation's history ( ); s. b. weeks, a bibliography of the historical literature of north carolina ( ); e. g. swem, a bibliography of virginia (part i, ); and the bibliographies in j. phelan, history of tennessee ( ); e. mccrady, south carolina under the royal government, - (published ) and south carolina in the revolution, - (published ); and e. m. avery, a history of the united states ( ), volumes , , and . note. for the use of a complete set of transcripts of the richard henderson papers in the draper collection, i am indebted to the north carolina historical commission through the courtesy of the secretary, mr. r. d. w. connor. index a abingdon: , . adams, john: . adams, samuel: , . ahualco: . alamance: see battles. alexander, abraham: . alexander, james: . alexander, moses: . alexander, capt. nathaniel: . alexander, william: . alibamu fort: . alleghany mountains: , , , , , . alleman's ford: . alrichs, herman: describes ambuscade of braddock's army, . amazons: . america: , , , , , ; continent of, ; history of, ; emigration to, ; people of, , , , ; democracy in, ch. xiv-ch. xv, ; colonies of, necessity for union, - . american: cause, ; congress, , ; confederation, , , ; republic, . american revolution: , , , , , , , . american union: , , , , , ; see union. americans: , , , , ; pioneers, ; civilization of, ch. x, ; character of, ch. x, - , . amherst, gen. jeffrey: . anderson, colonel: . anshers, james: . appalachian mountains: , , , , , , , . arkansas: . atlantic ocean: . atta-kulla-kulla, cherokee chief: , , , , , . augusta: . b bacon, francis: . bailey, capt. andrew: leads sortie from fort dobbs, - . baily, francis: on frontiersmen, ch. xiv. baker, john: . baker, william: . bainton, epaphroditus: . balboa: . baptists: , , . barbour, explorer: . battles: alamance, , , - , , , ; great kanawha, of the, - , , ; king's mountain, at, ch. xviii, , ; lexington, , ; long island flats, of, - ; musgrove's mill, at, . beaujeu, captain: . been, john: . been, mrs. william: . "belle riviere": ; see ohio river. bentham, jeremy: . benton, jesse: . benton, samuel: . benton, thomas hart: . bethabara: , , , , , , ; invested by indians, . bethania: . bienville (blainville) cÃ�©loron de: - , , . bienville, jean baptiste le moyne, sieur de: . big bone lick: , ; see great bone lick. big lick: . big salt lick: ; see french lick, french salt springs, great french lick, great salt springs. black fish, shawanoe chief: adopts daniel boone, . bledsoe, anthony: , , , , , , , . bledsoe family: . bledsoe, isaac: ; discovers lick, . bledsoe's lick: discovery of, described, - . blevens: hunters named, . blevens, william: . blount, william: . blowing rock: . blue licks: . blue ridge: , , , . board of trade: johnston to, ; glen to, ; draft royal proclamation, . boiling spring: , . bonn, dr. jacob: . boone, anne: . boone, daniel: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ch. ix, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; personal appearance, ; at braddock's defeat, - ; meets richard henderson, ; explores tennessee for henderson & company, ; serves under waddell, ; explores kentucky for richard henderson, ch. x; clears transylvania trail, ; asks aid of judge henderson, - ; returns to boonesborough, ; rescues daughter, ; rescued by kenton, ; captured, ; adopted by black fish, ; deceived by indians, . boone family: settles in north carolina, , , . boone, george: , . boone, james: . boone, jemima: captured by indians, . boone, jesse: . boone, squire: , , , , , . boone, squire, jr.: , , - ; sent by transylvania company to aid daniel boone, . boone, william: . boonesborough: , , , ; henderson arrives at, ; transylvania convention at, - ; boone returns to, ; capture of girls at, - ; besieged by indians, , , - ; henderson returns to, ; corn sent to, from french lick, , . boone's caves: . boone's ford: . boston: , . botetourt; governor, of virginia: . boyd's creek: . braddock, gen. edward: , , , ; defeat of, described, - . brandmÃ�¼ller, john: pilgrimage of, - . british: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; crown, , . brobdignags: . brown, francis: . brown, jacob: , . brown, the widow: . bryan family: . bryan, james: . bryan, joseph: . bryan, martha: . bryan, morgan: , settled in pennsylvania, ; in virginia, ; in north carolina, , ; leads frontier rangers, - , ; in rowan, . bryan, morgan, jr.: . bryan, rebeckah: , . bryan, william: , . bryan's station: . "buffalo bill" (w. f. cody): ch. xv. bull, lieut. gov. william: . bullitt, capt. thomas: . bullock, leonard henley: member transylvania company, . bunker's hill: battle of, . burke, edmund: on charters, ch. xi. burnaby, andrew: describes life in backwoods, . byrd, col. william, rd.: , , , , , , , , . byrd, william: , , , ; describes yadkin region, . c calhoun, patrick: family attacked, ; commands provincial rangers, ; relatives of, . calk, william: ; with exploring party from virginia, . callaway, elizabeth: captured by indians, ; rescued, . callaway, flanders: . callaway, frances: capture by indians, ; rescued, . callaway, col. richard: ; commands in defence of transylvania fort, - . callaway, samuel: . camden: . camden, lord chancellor: . camden-yorke opinion: , , , . cameron, alexander: , . camp charlotte: . campbell, col. arthur: interested in kentucky lands, ; seeks partnership in transylvania company for patrick henry, ; leads force against cherokees, ; plans greater franklin, . campbell, colonel william: leads virginians, ; elected commander king's mountain expedition, ; at king's mountain, , , . campbell, david: , . campbell, john: . campbell, robert: scalped, . cape fear: , . captain will: . carlisle: . carolina: , . carolinas, the two: , , . carter, john: . carter's valley: , . carteret, lord: lands of, . caswell, gov. richard: , , , . catawba town: . catawba valley: , . catawbas: , , - , , , , , , , , ; towns of, ; country, . cession act: - , . charles the second: . charleston: , , , , , , , , , . charleville, charles: at french lick, . charlotte: , . cherokees: , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; fort promised to, by south carolina, ; treaty with, ; hunters, ; attack on long cane settlement, ; warriors, ; defeated, , ; boundary line, ; chiefs, , , ; country of, . chickamaugas: ; town of, ; bloody forage of, - ; quelled, . chickasaws: , , . chilhowee: . chillicothe: . chiswell's mine: , . choctaws: . christian, col. william: member of company to purchase cherokee lands, ; leads virginia forces against cherokees, . chronicle, major william: killed at king's mountain, . clark, george rogers: , , ; prospecting in kentucky, ; opinion of transylvania title, ; memoir of, cited as to henderson claim, - ; threatens virginia with revolt in kentucky, ; visited by james robertson, . clark, jonathan: . cleveland, col. benjamin: ; explores west, ; leads pioneers against indians, ; leads wilkes volunteers at king's mountain, ; addresses troops at king's mountain, , . "cleveland's bulldogs": , . clinch valley: . cocke, william: , , ; delegate from franklin to continental congress, ; appeals to benjamin franklin, . coldwater expedition: . columbus, christopher: , . committee of safety: . concord: . coghnawagas: . connolly, dr. john: , , , , . constitution: rejected by north carolina, , . continent, european: . continental congress: , , , , , , , , . cooley, william: explores kentucky, , . cooper, james fenimore: , . corbin, francis: . cornstalk, shawanoe chief: ; leads indians at the great kanawha, - . corn tassel, indian chief: . cornwallis, lord charles: , , , , , . cortez, hernando: . counties: albemarle, ; anson, , , , , , ; armagh, ; augusta, , ; berks, ; botetourt, ; brunswick, ; bucks, , , ; burke, ; chester, - ; culpeper, ; davidson, ; fincastle, ; floyd, ; frederick, ; granville, , , , , , , ; greene, , ; guilford, ; hampshire, ; hanover, ; jessamine, ; kentucky, ; lincoln, , , ; mecklenburg, , , , , ; miller, ; orange, north carolina, , - , , , ; orange, virginia, , ; philadelphia, ; prince william, ; roanoke, ; rowan, , , , , , , , ; rutherford, ; shenandoah, ; sullivan, , , , ; sumner, , ; surry, , , , , ; tennessee, ; washington, , , , , , , ; wayne, ; wilkes, ; york, pennsylvania, , ; york, south carolina, . couture, jean: . cowpens: . cox, charles: . coytomore, lieut.: murdered by indians, . craighead, rev. alexander: . crawford, william: washington to, on western lands, , . creeks: , , , , , , . creeks: bean island, ; bear, ; beaver, ; bledsoe's, ; crooked, ; cross, ; dutchman's, ; elk, ; fish, ; fourth, , ; line, ; linville, ; lulbegrud, , ; otter, , , ; sinking, , ; sugar tree, ; sugaw, ; swearing, ; station camp, , ; third, ; walden's, . cresap, col. thomas: . crockett, robert: . croghan, george: , . cross creek (fayetteville): . crozat, antoine: , . culloden: . cumberland: colony, , , , ; leaders, ; desire alliance with spain, , ; traders, , settlements, , , , , , , , ; settlers, , ; desire separation from north carolina, ; valley, ; region, ch. xvii, , , . cumberland: outlaw, . "cumberland compact": drafted by richard henderson, - . cumberland district: , , . cumberland, duke of: . cumberland gap: names, , ; traversed by traders, , , , , , , , , ; see ouasioto gap. cumberland mountains: , , , . cutbird, benjamin: . d darien: . dark and bloody ground: ; origin of name, - . dartmouth, earl of: , , . dean swift: . declaration of independence: ; read at boonesborough, . delaware: ; valley, . demere, capt. raymond: ; takes command of virginia fort, ; surrenders fort loudon, - . de peyster: , , . de soto, fernando: ch. xii. detroit: . devonshire, east: . dick, captain: cherokee hunter, . dinwiddie, gov. robert: , , , , ; , , . dividing line: running of the north carolina-virginia, ; william byrd's history of the, . doak, rev. samuel: . dobbs, gov. arthur: , , , , , ; sends commissioner to treat with indians, ; begins erection of catawba fort, , ; orders building discontinued, . dobbs, edwards brice: . doddridge, joseph: on conditions of pioneer life, . donelson, col, john: , , , ; runs boundary line, ; meets richard henderson, ; leads party by water route to french lick, ; diary of, quoted, , - . donelson's line: , , , . dragging canoe, the cherokee chief: , ; leads indians in battle, - . drake, enoch: . drake, joseph: . dunmore, john murray, earl of: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . dunmore's war: ch. xiii, , . dugger, julius cÃ�¦sar: tennessee pioneer, , . dutch, pennsylvania: , . dutchman's creek church: . e east india company: . eaton's station: defence of, . echota: , , . edwards, rev. morgan: on exodus of regulators for north carolina, . emery, will: . england: land-mad, ch. xi, , , , , . english: , , ; settlers, , ; revolution, ; parliament, ; colonies, ; troops, ; settlements, . es-kip-pa-ki-thi-ki: , . et-chow-ee: . f fagot: . falls of the ohio river (louisville): , . fanning, col. edmund: , , , , , , . fauquier, gov, francis: . fayetteville: . ferguson, col. patrick: , , , , , , , ; conduct at king's mountain, ; killed, . few, william: describes life in backwoods, . fields, jeremiah: , . filson, john: , . fincastle, committee of west: drafts protest against transylvania company, , . findlay, findley, finley: archibald, ; michael, . findlay, john: visits kentucky, - ; meets boone, ; visits boone on the yadkin, , , , , , , . fish, william: murdered by indians, . fleming, col. william: . florida: ; east, , ; west, . floyd, john: , , ; appointed surveyor general of transylvania, . fontaine, john: journal of, . fontainebleau: . forbes, gen. john: , , . forks of ohio river: . forts: bethabara, at, ; boone's, , ; chain of, ; carolina, , - ; catawba, , , ; cumberland, ; dobbs, , - , , - , , ; duquesne, , - , ; dutch, , , ;--at mouth of line creek, ; loudoun, , , - ; mcdowell's, , ; necessity, ; ninety-six, ; patrick henry, , - ; pitt, , ; prince george, - , - , , , ; robinson, ; stalnaker's, , ; stanwix, treaty of, , , , ;--on tellico river, ; transylvania, , , , , , , , , , ; vaux's, , ; virginia, , , , ; watauga, . fowey: . france: , , , . frankland: , , ; origin of name, , . franklin: . franklin, benjamin: , , , ; new state named for, , ; to cocke, ; to sevier, - . franklin, state of: , ch. xix, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ;--leaders of, , ; --legislature of, , - , , ;--greater, ; origin of name, , . freeland's station: . french: , , , , , , , , , ; coureurs de bois, ; huguenot, ; voyageurs, , ;--canadian, ; immigration of, ; settlers, ; traders, ; explorations, . french lick: ; treaty of peace at, , see french salt springs, great french lick, great salt springs. french and indian war: , , , . frohock, john: , . frohock, thomas: , . frontier: ch. vii. g galaspy, william: . galissoniÃ�¨re, roland michel barrin, marquis de la: . gammern: storekeeper on yadkin, . gardoqui, diego de: , , , , , , , , , . gee, joshua: . george i: . george iii: , . georgia: , , , , , ;--assembly of, ; tours into, . german: pioneers, - , ;--palatinate, ; immigration, , - , . gilbert town: . gillespie, robert: slain from ambush by indians, . gist, christopher: , , , , , , ; makes exploration for ohio company, - . gist, nathaniel: , . glen, governor james: - , ; describes south carolina's condition, - ; promises cherokees a fort, ; concludes treaty at saluda, . glumdelick: . gnadenhÃ�¼tten: . gordon, capt. harry: . grandfather mountain: . grant, col. james: ; leads expedition against indians, . granville, edward, earl of clarendon, lord: ; lands of, - , , . great bone licks: . great britain: , . great french lick: ; see great salt springs, french lick, french salt springs. great grant: . greathouse, daniel: . great meadows: , . great mogul: . great tellico: . great trading path: , , , . great treaty: . great salt springs, , , see french lick, french salt springs, great french lick. great warrior's path: , . green: . greeneville: . greer, andrew: . grube, rev. bernhard adam: heads settlers into north carolina, . gulf of mexico: , , . "gulliver's travels": . gutry, john: . h hackett: . hall, gen. william: , . hall, rev. james: . hambright, lt. col. frederick: at king's mountain, , . hamilton, gov. henry: , , . hampton, anthony: leads rowan rangers, . hampton, col. andrew: leads rutherford riflemen, . hampton, gen. wade: . hancock, john: . hanks: family, , ;--abraham, , . hard labor: treaty at, , . harman, outlaw: . harris, col.: . harris: elizabeth, ; john, . harris's ferry: . harrisburg: . harrison, richard: . harrod, james: , , , , , . harrodsburg: ; election held at, . harrodsburg remonstrance: . hart: david, , ;--nathaniel, , , , , , , ; --thomas, , , , . hartman, george: . hawkins, benjamin: . hayes: . haywood, john: . hempinstall, abraham: . henderson, kentucky: . henderson, col. samuel: chosen special envoy to franklin, - ; negotiates with john sevier, - . henderson, nathaniel: , , . henderson, richard: born in virginia, ; removes to north carolina, ; acquainted with boones, ; promotes western exploration, ; in law suits involving boone, ; promotes western exploration under boone's leadership, - ; sends supplies to boone, ; court broken up by regulators, - ; burned out by regulators, ; secures from english authorities sanction for purchase of indian lands, - ; reorganizes richard henderson & co. into louisa company, ; visits otari towns, - ; organizes transylvania company, - ; negotiates great treaty with cherokees, - ; despatches boone to clean transylvania trail, - ; receives urgent appeal from boone, - ; hastens to boone's rescue, - ; reaches fort boone, ; draws up plan of government for transylvania, - ; addresses legislature of transylvania, , ; elected delegate from transylvania to continental congress, ; prepares plan of government for powell's valley settlement, ; attends virginia convention, - ; purchases corn for cumberland settlement, ; runs north carolina-virginia dividing line, , ; presents memorial on transylvania purchase, ; plans colonization of cumberland region, - ; despatches robertson on prospecting tour, - ; sends corn to french lick, - ; organizes government on cumberland, ; author of "cumberland compact," - ; introduces recall of judges, - ; founder of nashville, personal appearance, - ; diary of, quoted, , ; mentioned, , , , , , , , , ch. xiv passim, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . henderson, richard & company: organized, ; despatch boone on western exploration, , , - ; granted , acres by virginia; see land companies. henderson, samuel: . henderson & company; ; see richard henderson & company. henley, chief justice peter: . henry, patrick: , , , , ; pronounces camden-yorke decision valid, ; endeavors to purchase lands from cherokees, - ; desires to become partner in transylvania company, ; considers transylvania title good, ; confiscates transylvania, ; correspondence of, with joseph martin, - . hewatt, rev. alexander: . heydt, jost: settles in virginia, . heygler, king, catawba chief: petitions for fort, ; prevents completion of fort, ; see oroloswa. hiawassee: . hicks, harry: heroic defence of home against indian attack, - . high shoals: . highlanders: . hill, william: , , . hillsborough: , , , , , , . hillsborough, earl of: . hingham: . hogg, james: ; partner in transylvania company, ; appointed delegate from transylvania to continental congress, . holder, john: rescues sweetheart, . holden, joseph: , . hollows, the: . holston: region, , ; settlement, ;--settlers, ; valley of, , , - , . honeycut: . hooper, william: , . hopewell: . horton, joshua: . houston, rev. samuel: , ; drafts constitution for frankland, ; features of constitution drafted by, - . howard, cornelius: , . howell, rednap: poet-laureate of the regulation, , . hubbardt, col. james: . hudson valley: . hunter, james: . hunter's trail: . husband, herman: author of "impartial relation," , , ; leader in insurrection at hillsborough, ; in correspondence with benjamin franklin, . i iberville, le moyne d': , . illinois company: see land companies. illinois country: , , . "impartial relation": , . indian: agent, ;--allies, ; chiefs, , , , ; --depredations, , , , ;--expeditions, ; governments, ; grant, ; hostages, ;--lands, , ;--outbreak, , ; --princes, ;--territories, ;--towns, , , , , , , ;--trade, - , ;--traders, , , , ;--trails, , ;--tribes, , , ;--war, ;--warfare, , - , ; --affairs, superintendent of, . indians: , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; --northern, , , , ;--southern, , , . indiana: . ingles: john, ;--mrs. mary, ;--william, ;--mrs. william, . innes, col. james: . ireland, , , ; character of inhabitants of north of, - . irish: immigration of, ;--pennsylvania, ; settlers, . iroquois: . j jack, col. samuel: . jackson, andrew: . jacobite uprising: . jamestown: . jay, john: - . jefferson, thomas: desires to join transylvania company, ; favors free government back of virginia, - ; attitude of, toward transylvania claim, . jenkins, leoline: on character of scotch-irish, . johnson, sir william: . johnston, gov. gabriel: on immigration into north carolina, . johnston, gov. samuel: , , , ; to robertson and bledsoe, . johnston, william: . jones, john gabriel: . jones, robert (robin): ; characterization of scotch-irish by, - . jonesborough: , , , , . joseph, miller: describes conditions of north carolina backwoods, , . judge's friend, cherokee chief: . k kenedy, william: agent for virginia gentlemen to purchase cherokee lands, . kenton, simon: rescues daniel boone, . kentucky (cantucky, cantuckey, cantuckie, cantuck): ch. xv, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; origin of name, ;--road, . keowee: ;--valley of, . king's mountain: , . king's mountain campaign: , . kipling, rudyard: . kirk: . kirtleys, the: pioneers, . knob lick: . l lacey, col. william: , . land: policy of selling large tracts of, . land companies: illinois, - , ; louisa, , ; loyal, , - , ; ohio, ; organized, ; sends out exploring expedition, - ; richard henderson & company, organized, ; transylvania company, , ; wabash (ouabache), , - . land of cockayne: . la salle, robert cavelier de: . laurel mountain: . "leatherstocking tales": , . leestown: . lewes: . lenoir (le noir), gen. william: describes costume of pioneer women, - ; marches against indians; at king's mountain, - . lÃ�©ry, chaussegros de: . lewis, major andrew: - , , , ; erects virginia fort, - ; leads sandy river expedition, ; commands at battle of great kanawha, , - . lexington: . lincoln: family, ;--abraham, , , ; john, ;--mordecai, - , ; samuel, ;--sarah, . lindsay, isaac, . linville: john, , ; capt. william, , , . linville falls: , . lochaber: , . locke, john: "fundamental constitutions" of, . loesch, brother: . logan, cayuga mingo chief: . logan, col. benjamin: , . logan, james: on character of squatters, - . london: . loudoun, lord: . long cane settlement: . long hunters: ch. xii, ch. viii, , , , , , . long island of holston river: , , , , , , . long, john: slain by indians, . long knives: . longueuil, charles de moyne, baron de: . lorbrulgrud: . louis quatorze: . louisa company: see land companies. louisiana: , . love, col.: . lower blue licks: . lower salt spring: . lower shawnee town: . lowry, james: . loyal company: see land companies. loyalists: , , , , . lucas, robert: . luhny, robert, mill of, on james river, . lulbegrud: . luttrell, col. john: ; joins transylvania company, . lyttelton, gov. william henry: - , , , , . m madison, thomas: . madrid: , . mansfield, low: . mansker, gasper, pioneer: , ; discovers lick, ; encounters boone, - . mansker's lick: , . margry, pierre: . martin, gov. alexander: , , , , ; attorney for daniel boone, ; appoints samuel henderson ambassador to franklin, ; issues manifesto against state of franklin, , ; sevier to, on franklin, - ; academy named for, . martin, col joseph: , , , , , , , , ; settles in powell's valley, ; driven out, ; appointed agent for transylvania company, ; richard henderson to, - ; letter of, to governor randolph, ; exonerated of treason by north carolina assembly, ; acts as spy on spaniards, - . martin, gov. josiah: , ; issues proclamation against transylvania company, . martin's station: , ; founded, - ; henderson draws up plan of government for, ; brave defence of, against indians, . maryland: , , , , ; price of lands in, . mason, george: opposed to transylvania claim, . maxwell, col. george: , . mcaden, rev. hugh: diary of, - , , . mcafees: ; exploring party, ; return home, ;--james, ; --robert, ; robert, jr., ; samuel, ; william, . mcbride, james: . mcculloch, major john: . mcculloh, henry eustace: . mcdowell, col.: . mcdowell, col. charles: , , . mcdowell, col. joseph: , , , . mcdowell, thomas: . mcfeters, jeremiah: . mcgillivray, alexander: , , , ; receives overtures from cumberland leaders, . mendenhall: john, ;--richard, . middle ground: . middle settlements: . middleton, col. thomas: . middle towns: . middle west: . millerstown: . mirÃ�³, district of: , . mirÃ�³, gov. estevan: , , , , , , , , ; reports on separatist movement in west, . mississippi bubble: . mohawk valley: . monbreun, timothÃ�© de: hunts on cumberland, . monongahela: . montagu, lord charles: - . montgomerie, col. archibald: abortive campaign of, against indians, - ; sails, . montreal: . mooney, james: explores kentucky, , . moore: . moravian: church, , , - , ;--community diary, ;--brotherhood, - ;--town, ; gemein haus, ;--store-keeper, . moravians: ; eleven killed, ; warned against indians, ; hospitable to indians, . morgan family: ;--edward, ; sarah, , ;--richard, . morganton: , . morris, gov. samuel: . morrison: . mount mitchell: . mulberry fields: , . mÃ�¼ller, adam: settles in virginia, . murray, william: , , , . n nantahala mountains: . nash, gen. francis: , . nashborough: . nashville: , , . nassau hall: , . natchez: , , . neely, alexander: , . neilson, archibald: . nelson, acting governor william: , . newcastle: . new england: , . new jersey: . "newlanders": . newman, hunter: . newman's ridge: . new orleans: , , . new river: region, , ;--settlement, ;--settlers, . "nolichucky jack of the border": . nolichucky: valley, . north america: , . north carolina: ch. xv, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; frontier conditions in, - ;--border, ;--back country, ; grants lands in tennessee to transylvania company, ; immigration into, , ; increase in population of, , ;--piedmont, , ;--hunters, ; pioneers, ; governor of, ; commissioners of, ; troops, , , , , , , , ; cedes western territory to united states, ; legislature of, passes second cession act, ; lands accepted by congress, . north carolina assembly: - , , , , , , , , . north carolina: provincial congress of, , ; provincial council of, , , . northwest: , , , . nottaway indians: . nuntewees: . o oconostota, cherokee chief: ; treacherously murders lieut. coytomore, - . ohio company: see land companies. ohio indians: . ohio valley: , . old abraham: . old chillicothe: . old southwest: , , , , , , , , , , ; pioneers of, ch. xv, , , , , - ; pioneer democracy of, - , - ;--planter aristocracy of, ;--mimic republics of, ; --colonizers of, . ormond, duke of: to leoline jenkins, . oroloswa, catawba chief: , see king heygler. osborne, captain alexander: leads rowan militia, . otari towns: . ouasioto gap: , , , , see cumberland gap. outassitus, cherokee chief: . overton, samuel: . owen, william: , , . oxford: . p pacific ocean: . page, john: . paintsville: . paris: . path deed: . paxtang: . pearis, capt. richard: . peck, john m.: . penn, william: , , . pennsylvania: , , , , , , , , , , , ; population of, ; lands, ; immigrants into, ;--synod, ;--settlers, ;--proprietaries of, ;--traders, , . pensacola: , . perkins, john: defeats indians by strategy, - . phifer, martin: leads frontier rangers, . philadelphia: , , , , , . pilot knob: , , . pilot mountain: . piomingo, chickasaw chief: . pioneer: farmer, ch. ix; promoter, ch. xi. pittsburgh: . "pocahontas of the west": ; see nancy ward. point pleasant: . polk, thomas: . ponce de leon: ch. xii. portwood, age: . post st. vincent: . pound gap: . powell's mountain: . powell's valley: , , , , , ; lands in, granted to transylvania company, - . presbyterians: in ireland, ;--scotch-irish, . preston, col. william: , , ; to lord dunmore on henderson's offers of land, ; to george washington on transylvania, - , - ;--supports judge henderson, . price, thomas, indian trader: guides henderson at hart to otari towns, ; testifies regarding great treaty, . price's meadow: . privy council: . "proposals for the encouragement of settling the lands, etc.": issued by transylvania company, , . puritan: . q quaker meadows: . quakers: - . quebec: . quindre, dagniaux de: commands at siege of transylvania fort, - . r rains, john: . randolph, col. peter: treaty commissioner, . recall of judges: early example, - . red lick fork: . regulation: , , , , , , . regulators: ch. xi, , , , , , , , , , , , . reid, capt. mayne: . revere, paul: . richard henderson & company: , , ; organized, ; despatch boone on exploring expedition, ; granted land by virginia, ; see land companies. richter: . rivers: big sandy, west fork of, ; broad, , ; catawba, , , , ;--south fork of, ; chattahoochee, ; cherokee, , ; clinch, ; cumberland, , , , , , , , , , , , , ; dick's, , ; great kanawha, , , , , ; green, , , , , ; hiwassee, ; holston, , , , , , ; illinois, ; james, , - ; kentucky, , , , , , , , ; licking, ; little tennessee, , ; louisa, , ; meho, ; miami, ; mississippi, , , , , , , , ; muskingum, ; new, ; nonachunheh, nolichucky, , ; ohio, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ;--falls of the, , ;--forks of the, ; opeckon, ; pacolet, ; potomac, ; red, , , ; reedy, , ; roanoke, ; rockcastle, , ; scioto, ; shenandoah, ; stone's, ; swannanoa, ; tellico, ; tennessee, , , , , , ; trinity, ; tugaloo, ; twelve mile, ; wabash, ; washita, ; watauga, , , , , . robertson, charles: . robertson, james: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; leads scouting party for transylvania company, - ; guides party to french lick, ; joined by donelson and party, ; names mirÃ�³ district, ; desires union with spain, ; seeks separation of cumberland from north carolina, ; to mirÃ�³ on separatist movement, . robinson, john: . rochelle: . rocky mountains: . rogers, sergt.: . rogersville: . roan mountain: . round-o, cherokee chief: . rowan, matthew: , . rowan rangers: ; described, - . rowan: settlers murdered, , . rucker, capt.: . rutherford, gen. griffith: leads rowan rangers, , ; leads rescuing force, , ; leads army against cherokees, . russell, capt. william: . s saint augustine: . saint lusson, daumont de: - . salem: . salisbury: , , , , , , , , , , . salling, john peter: . san salvador: . sandy creek association: , , , . sandy river expedition: . sapona town: . sault ste. marie: . savannah: . savannah indians: . scaggs, charles: . scaggs, henry: ; meets daniel boone, ; agent for richard henderson & co., - ; explores cumberland region, ; leads long hunters into kentucky, - . scaggs' ridge: . schnell, leonard: pilgrimage of, - . scotch lowlands: . scotch-irish: , , , , ; in pennsylvania, ;--immigration of, , ; settlers, . scotchman: . scotland: . scovil: . searcy: connection, ; reuben, ; valentine, . settiquo: , , . sevier, james: emissary of franklin to mirÃ�³, - . sevier, john: , , , , - , , , , , , , , ; early life, ; defends watauga fort, ; rescues bonny kate sherrill, ; with shelly plans king's mountain campaign, , ; defeats indians, - ; disavows revolutionary intent, ; elected governor of franklin, ; writes defiant letter to caswell, - ; appeals to benjamin franklin, ; besieges tipton, ; attacks indians, - ; writes gardoqui, offering to "deliver" franklin to spain, - ; arrested for high treason, imprisoned, ; rescued, ; restored to office by north carolina, ; elected first governor of tennessee, . shawanoes, shawnese: , , , , , , , , ;--chief of, . shelby, col. evan: leads force against chickamaugas, ; appointed brigadier-general, . shelby, isaac: , , ; at battle of great kanawha, - ; initiates king's mountain campaign, ; at king's mountain, ; elected first governor of kentucky, . shelby, capt. james: . shenandoah valley: , . sherrill, katherine: rescued by john sevier, . silonee, cherokee chief: ; checks montgomerie, ; see young warrior of estatoe. sims, george: writes a serious address, etc., , , . simms, william gilmore: . six nations: , . slaughter: . slaughter, col. thomas: . smith, capt. john: . smith, gen. daniel: , . smith, james: . smith, john, jr.: . smith, william bailey: ; carries corn to french lick, . smith's bridge: . smyth, j. f. d.: describes north carolina backwoodsmen, - . south carolina: ch. xv, , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; rangers, ; traders, . south fork of catawba river, , ;--boys, , . south sea: ch. xi, . south sea islands: . southwest: see old southwest. southwest territory: . southern department: , . spach: . spain: ch. xx, , , , , , , , , , . spangenberg, bishop augustus gottlieb: makes exploring tour, , , ; preaches at bethania, . spaniards: , , , . spanish: authorities, ; charged affairs, ;--conspiracy in kentucky, , ;--conspiracy in tennessee, ch. xx, ;--court, ;--domain, ;--government, ;--minister, ;--traders, . spotswood, gov. alexander: , . st. asaph's: . st. clair, sir john: . st. clair, gen. arthur: . stalnaker, samuel: , . stanford: . steep rock: . stephen, col. adam: , . stewart, john: , , , , , , . stone, uriah: , . stoner, michael: , , , . stuart, capt. john: - . stuart, john: , , , , . stuart, pioneer: . superintendent of indian affairs: , . swan, david l.: . switzerland: . sycamore shoals of watauga river: , , , . synge, archbishop: . t tate, samuel: . taylor: hancock, ;--richard, ; zachary, . tennessee: ch. xv, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; countries, ;--riflemen, ;--settlements, , , , ;--settlers, , , , . terre haute: . thompson: . thompson, james: . tiftoe, cherokee chief: . tipton, col. john: , , , . tipton, jonathan: . tonti, henry de: . tories: , . town fork: . trabue, daniel: diary of, . tracey, john: . trade: british, . traders: with indians, ch. vii-ch. ix, , , , , , , . trading ford: . trading house: british, . trans-alleghany: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . transylvania: , , ch. xv, , , , , , , ; colony of, ; president of, ; proprietors of, , , , , . transylvania company: , , ch. xii, , , , , , , , , , ; compact of, with cumberland settlers, - ; organized, ; permanent contribution of, to colonization of west, . transylvania legislature: , , . transylvania purchase: , , . transylvania trail: , . treaty: with indians, ; at charleston, ; at fort stanwix, ; at hard labor, , ; at lochaber, ; at sycamore shoals, - . trent, capt. william: . tryon, gov. william: , , , , . tryon mountain: , , . tryon's line: . tuckasegee: . tuscarora indians: . u ulster: - . ulster scots: characterization of, , . unakas: . union: , , , , , ; see american union. united states: , , , , , , . united states congress: , , , . untoola: . upper towns: , . utopia: . v valley of mexico: . vandalia: , . vasco nuÃ�±ez: . venango: . versailles: . villiers, coulon de: . virginia: pioneers of, , ;--traders, ;--troops, , , ; --frontier, ; gazette, , ;--backwoods, - ;--valley of, , , , , ;--convention, , ;--land office, ;--assembly, , ;--militia, ;--house of delegates, , ;--governor of, , ;--path, , ;--remonstrance, , ch. xv, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . virginians: , , , , , , . w wabash (ouabache) land company: see land companies. wachau: , . wachovia: ;--community diary, . wade, capt. robert: . waddell, gen. hugh: , - , , , ; appointed indian commissioner, ; begins erection of catawba fort, ; discontinues work on fort, ; in fort duquesne campaign, ; hastens to rowan's defence, ; marches to aid south carolina, ; report of, on defeat of indians at fort dobbs, - ; rescues captives, ; leads north carolina troops, , . walden, elisha: . walden's mountain: - . walker, dr. thomas: , , , , , ; makes exploration for loyal land company, - ; sells land to joseph martin, . walker, felix: , , ; describes kentucky, - . walpole, thomas, . ward, james: . ward, nancy: , . washington district: , , , . washington, george: , , , , , ; opinion of royal proclamation, ; purchases western lands, - ; makes charges against dunmore, - ; secures military grants for western lands, ; preston to, on henderson purchase and transylvania company, , - , - . watauga: ch. xii, , , , , - ;--commonwealth, ; valley of, , , , ;--country, , ; settlers, , , , , ;--articles of association, ;--association, ; settlement, , . "watauga plan": commission form of government, . waxhaws: . webster: . welsh: immigration of, ;--settlers, ;--stock, . west: , , , , , , , . west virginia: , . western: leaders, ;--people, ;--settlers, , ; territory, , ;--waters, , . wharton: samuel, ;--thomas, - . white, dr. james: , , , ; emissary of franklin, . whitehall: . wilderness trail: . wilkinson, general james: , . williams, brigadier-general james: , ; killed at king's mountain, . williams, col. john: , , , , , ; elected delegate from transylvania to continental congress, . williams, john: . williams and henderson, law firm: , . williamsborough: . williamsburg: . williamson, col. andrew: . williamson, dr. hugh: , - . wilmington: . winchester, kentucky: . winchester, virginia: . winston, major joseph: leads north carolina troops against cherokees, ; leads surry riflemen at king's mountain, , , - . wolf hills (abingdon): . wood, col. abraham: . wormley, ralph: . wytheville: . y yadkin: country, , , , , , , ;--forks of the, , , , ;--valley, , , , . york, pennsylvania: . yorke, charles: renders legal opinion, . young warrior of estatoe, cherokee chief: ; see silonee. z zinzendorf, count: . transcriber's notes introduction: we have retained the original punctuation and spelling in the book, but not in the index. obvious errors were corrected--and all of these changes can be found in the detailed notes section of these notes. the detailed notes section also includes issues that have come up during transcription. one common issue is that words are sometimes split into two lines for spacing purposes. these words are hyphenated in the physical book, but there is a question sometimes as to whether the hyphen should be retained in transcription. the reasons behind some of these decisions are itemized. there were numerous errors in the index. places like the ouasioto gap and the green river, which were spelled consistently and correctly throughout the text, ended up as "onasioto" and "guen" in the index. such errors detract from the index. therefore, corrections were made to the index and listed in the detailed notes section. detailed notes section: introduction ââ�¬Â¢ page viii: in his letter to the earl of dartmouth, lord dunmore wrote the clause "should for ever immagine the lands further off..." this is a direct quote; the spelling is correct. preface ââ�¬Â¢ page xvii: home-builder is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing purposes, giving us two choices on how to transcribe the word. the word was not used again in the book. however, "home-makers" was used on page , and the word included a hyphen and was in the middle of the line. we believe that the author's use of home-makers signals the author's intent to keep the hyphen in "home-builder." so we kept the hyphen. chapter iii ââ�¬Â¢ page : powder-horn is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing purposes, giving us two choices on how to transcribe the word. on page , powder-horns with the hyphen appears in the middle of a line. that was the only other occurrence of the word in the book. therefore, we kept the hyphen. chapter vi ââ�¬Â¢ page : the author used the original spelling of the fort on page in the clause "to this fort, named fort loudoun in honor of lord loudoun," but changed the spelling to modern usage (fort loudon) on pages , , and . we made no modifications and retained the spelling from the text. chapter vii ââ�¬Â¢ page : cÃ�©loron de bienville is spelled with a grave accent despite the correct spelling (according to wikipedia) of cÃ�©loron on page . the spelling in the book was retained. chapter viii ââ�¬Â¢ page : half-breed is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing purposes, giving us two choices on how to transcribe the word. on page , half-breed with the hyphen appears in the middle of a line. that was the only other occurrence of the word in the book. therefore, we kept the hyphen. chapter ix ââ�¬Â¢ page : life-time is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing purposes, giving us two choices on how to transcribe the word. there was no other occurrence of life-time or lifetime in the book. we kept the hyphen. chapter xii ââ�¬Â¢ page : court-room is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing in the clause "the regulators took possession of the court-room." on page , court-room is spelled with a hyphen in the middle of a sentence, so we retained the hyphen here. ââ�¬Â¢ page : there is a printer's mistake on page : the first line of page is actually the last line of page . the line "ston river, south and east of long island;" which is on the top line of page in the printed book, should be on the bottom line, below "however, to the settlement north of the hol-." we have transcribed the book making this adjustment to the text. ââ�¬Â¢ page : we have removed (see map for settlement and treaty lines.) because our transcription does not have images scanned. chapter xiv ââ�¬Â¢ page : (compare map.) after "including the nolichucky valley." was removed because maps and images have not been scanned and included in our transcription of the book. chapter xvi ââ�¬Â¢ page : rendez-voused was hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines in the clause "colonel william christian rendez-voused." rendezvous is written without the hyphen on pages , , , and . therefore, the hyphen was omitted in transcribing rendezvoused. chapter xvii ââ�¬Â¢ page : far-flung is hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines in the clause "along the farflung frontier of kentucky." there are no other occurrences of the word. far-away, far-visioned, and far-reaching were used in the book. far west, far north, and far faint were used in the book, but replacing the hyphen with a space is not an option in transcribing hyphenated words. there weren't any options with far being part of a conjoined word. the hyphen was retained in far-flung. ââ�¬Â¢ page : flat-boats is hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines in the clause: "about thirty flatboats, dugouts." on page , flatboats is not hyphenated, so the hyphen was not kept in transcribing the same word on page . ââ�¬Â¢ page : co-partners is hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines in the clause: "contract between the copartners." there were no other occurrences of the word. we did not use the hyphen here. ââ�¬Â¢ page : entry-taker is hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines in the clause: "the entry-taker being appointed by judge henderson." on page , "entry-taker" was used in a quote from joseph martin. there were no other occurrences of the word. we retained the hyphen. chapter xvii ââ�¬Â¢ page : over-mountain men is hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines in the clause: "the over-mountain men gathered on september th." this word was used other times in the book, on pages , , and . each time it was spelled with a hyphen, so we have kept the hyphen here, too. ââ�¬Â¢ page : battle-field is hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines in the clause: "his frenzied efforts on the battle-field ..." this word was used three other times, on pages , , and . each time it was spelled with a hyphen, so we have kept the hyphen here, too. chapter xix ââ�¬Â¢ page : in sevier's quote, "we shall pursue no furtheir measures as to a new state," the spelling of furtheir matches that of henderson's book. because this is a quote, no change was made, although sevier meant further. index ââ�¬Â¢ page : in the book, the clause "begins erection of catawba" is embedded between "see land companies" in the index entry for wabash land companies. that clause belongs before "fort, ;" in the entry under hugh waddell. we have made the correction. spelling errors in the index as described in the introduction to the transcriber notes, the book has numerous spelling errors in the index. here is a list of changes made only to the index, and only because a new, incorrect variation of the word was introduced in the index. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "bieville, jean baptiste le moyne, sieur de: ." to bienville. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "bathama" to bethania in preaches index under bishop spangenberg. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "corn sent from to french lick" to corn sent to, from french lick, in index entry under boonesborough. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "black fish, schawano chief" to shawanoe. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "celoron de blainville" to cÃ�©loron. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "charleville; charles" to charleville, charles. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "conewagoes" to coghnawagas. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "cullodan" to culloden. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "onasioto" to ouasioto in entry under cumberland gap. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "laudown" to loudon in entry under captain demere. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "dugger, julius caesar" to dugger, julius cÃ�¦sar. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "es-kippa-ki-thi-ki" to es-kip-pa-ki-thi-ki. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "etchowee" to et-chow-ee. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "gnadenhutten" to gnadenhÃ�¼tten. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "greathouse, darmel" to daniel. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "howell, rednup" to howell, rednap. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "onabache" to ouabache in the entry for land companies, under the subtopic wabash. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "lockaber" to lochaber. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "lorbulgrud" to lorbrulgrud. also added index entry for lulbegrud. lulbegrud is the name of the creek in kentucky; lorbrulgrud is the capital metropolis of brobdingnag in swift's gulliver's travels. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "miro, district of:" to mirÃ�³. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "monbrenn" to monbreun under timothÃ�© de montbreun. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "paxtong" to paxtang. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "guen" under rivers to green. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "nonachunbreh" and "nolichuetry" under rivers to nonachunheh and nolichucky. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "trabum, damie" to trabue, daniel. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "tascarora indians" to tuscarora indians. moved index entry from the top of the t's to the bottom to reflect the proper alphabetical order with the changed spelling. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "vasco nunez" to vasco nuÃ�±ez. ââ�¬Â¢ moved "begins erection of catawba," misplaced under index entry wabash land company to waddell, gen. hugh. the sub-entry is "begins erection of catawba fort, ;" which is after "indian commissioner, ." ââ�¬Â¢ changed "wachan" to wachau. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "wachonia" to wachovia. ââ�¬Â¢ changed "young warrior of estaloe" to estatoe. the south-west. by a yankee. where on my way i went; ------------a pilgrim from the north-- now more and more attracted, as i drew nearer and nearer. rogers' italy. in two volumes. vol. i. new-york: harper & brothers, cliff-st. . [entered, according to act of congress, in the year , by harper & brothers, in the clerk's office of the southern district of new-york.] to the hon. john a. quitman, ex-chancellor of mississippi, these volumes are respectfully dedicated by the author. introduction. the succeeding pages grew out of a private correspondence, which the author, at the solicitation of his friends, has been led to throw into the present form, modifying in a great measure the epistolary vein, and excluding, so far as possible, such portions of the original papers as were of too personal a nature to be intruded upon the majesty of the public;--while he has embodied, so far as was compatible with the new arrangement, every thing likely to interest the general reader. the author has not written exclusively as a traveller or journalist. his aim has been to present the result of his experience and observations during a residence of several years in the south-west. this extensive and important section of the united states is but little known. perhaps there is no region between the mississippi river and the atlantic shores, of which so little accurate information is before the public; a flying tourist only, having occasionally added a note to his diary, as he skirted its forest-lined borders. new-york, sept. . contents. i. a state of bliss--cabin passenger--honey-hunting--sea-life--its effects--green horns--reading--tempicide--monotony--wish for excitement--superlative misery--log--combustible materials--cook and bucket--contrary winds--all ready, good sirs--impatient passengers--signal for sailing--leave-takings--sheet home--under weigh. page ii. a tar's headway on land--a gentleman's at sea--an agreeable trio --musical sounds--helmsman--supper steward--a truism--helmsman's cry--effect--cases for bipeds--lullaby--sleep. iii. shakspeare--suicide or a 'foul' deed--a conscientious table-- fishing smacks--a pretty boy--old skipper, skipper junior, and little skipper--a young caliban--an alliterate man--fisherman-- nurseries--navy--the way to train up a child--gulf stream-- humboldt--crossing the gulf--ice ships--yellow fields--flying fish--a game at bowls--bermuda--a post of observation--men, dwellings, and women of bermuda--st. george--english society-- washing decks--mornings at sea--evenings at sea--a moonlight scene--the ocean on fire--its phosphorescence--hypotheses iv. land--abaco--fleet--hole in the wall--a wrecker's hut--bahama vampyres--light houses--conspiracy--wall of abaco--natural bridge--cause--night scene--speak a packet ship--a floating city--wrecker's lugger--signal of distress--a yankee lumber brig--portuguese man of war. v. a calm--a breeze on the water--the land of flowers--juan ponce de leon--the fountain of perpetual youth--an irremediable loss to single gentlemen--gulf stream--new-providence--cuba--pan of matanzas--blue hills of cuba--an armed cruiser--cape st. antonio --pirates--enter the mexican gulf--mobile--a southern winter--a farewell to the north and a welcome to the south--the close of the voyage--balize--fleet--west indiaman--portuguese polacre--land ho! --the land--its formation--pilot or "little brief authority"-- light house--revenue cutter--newspapers--"the meeting of the waters"--a singular appearance--a morning off the balize--the tow-boat vi. the mississippi--the whale--description of tow-boats--a package--a threatened storm--a beautiful brigantine--physiognomy of ships-- richly furnished cabin--an obliging captain--desert the ship-- getting under weigh--a chain of captives--towing--new-orleans--a mystery to be unraveled. vii. louisiana--arrival at new-orleans--land--pilot stations--pilots --anecdote--fort--forests--levée--crevasses--alarms--accident-- espionage--a louisianian palace--grounds--sugar-house--quarters --an african governess--sugar-cane--st. mary--"english turn"-- cavalcade--battle-ground--music sounds of the distant city--land in new-orleans--an _amateur_ sailor. viii. bachelor's comforts--a valuable valet--disembarked at the levée --a fair castilian--canaille--the crescent city--reminiscence of school days--french cabarets--cathedral--exchange--cornhill--a chain of light--a fracas--gens d'armes--an affair of honour-- arrive at our hotel ix. sensations on seeing a city for the first time--capt. kidd-- boston--fresh feelings--an appreciated luxury--a human medley --school for physiognomists--a morning scene in new-orleans-- canal street--levée--french and english stores--parisian and louisianian pronunciation--scenes in the market--shipping--a disguised rover--mississippi fleets--ohio river arks--slave laws. x. first impressions--a hero of the "three days"--children's ball-- life in new-orleans--a french supper--omnibuses--chartres street at twilight--calaboose--guard house--the vicinage of a theatre-- french cafés--scenes in the interior of a café--dominos--tobacco smokers--new-orleans society. xi. interior of a ball room--creole ladies--infantile dancers--french children--american children--a singular division--new-orleans ladies--northern and southern beauty--an agreeable custom--leave the assembly room--an olio of languages--the exchange--confusion of tongues--temples of fortune. xii. the goddess of fortune--billiard rooms--a professor--hells--a respectable banking company--"black-legs"--faro described-- dealers--bank--a novel mode of franking--roulette table--a supper in orcus--pockets to let--dimly lighted streets--some things not so bad as they are represented. xiii. a sleepy porter--cry of fire--noise in the streets--a wild scene at midnight--a splendid illumination--steamers wrapped in flames --a river on fire--firemen--a lively scene--floating cotton-- boatmen--an ancient portuguese charon--a boat race--pugilists--a hero xiv. canal-street--octagonal church--government house--future prospects of new-orleans--roman chapel--mass for the dead-- interior of the chapel--mourners--funeral--cemeteries--neglect of the dead--english and american grave yards--regard of european nations for their dead--roman catholic cemetery in new-orleans--funeral procession--tombs--burying in water-- protestant grave-yard. xv. an old friend--variety in the styles of building--love for flowers--the basin--congo square--the african bon-ton of new-orleans--city canals--effects of the cholera--barracks-- guard-houses--the ancient convent of the ursulines--the school for boys--a venerable edifice--principal--recitations--mode of instruction--primary department--infantry tactics--education in general in new-orleans. xvi. rail-road--a new avenue to commerce--advantages of the rail-way --ride to the lake--the forest--village at the lake--pier-- fishers--swimmers--mail-boat--cafés--return--an unfortunate cow --new-orleans streets. xvii. the legislature--senators and representatives--tenney--gurley --ripley--good feeling among members--translated speeches-- ludicrous situations--slave law--bishop's hotel--tower--view from its summit--bachelor establishments--peculiar state of society. xviii. saddle horses and accoutrements--banks--granite--church-members --french mode of dressing--quadroons--gay scene and groups in the streets--sabbath evening--duelling ground--an extensive cotton press--a literary germ--a mysterious institution--scenery in the suburbs--convent--catholic education. xix. battle-ground--scenery on the road--a peaceful scene--american and british quarters--view of the field of battle--breastworks --oaks--packenham--a tennessee rifleman--anecdote--a gallant british officer--grape-shot--young traders--a relic--leave the ground--a last view of it from the levée. xx. scene in a bar room--affaires d'honneur--a sabbath morning--host --public square--military parades--scenes in the interior of a cathedral--mass--a sanctified family--crucifix--different ways of doing the same thing--altar--paintings--the virgin--females devotees. xxi. sabbath in new-orleans--theatre--interior--a new-orleans audience --performance--checks--theatre d'orleans--interior--boxes-- audience--play--actors and actresses--institutions--m. poydras-- liberality of the orleanese--extracts from flint upon new-orleans. xxii. a drive into the country--pleasant road--charming villa--children at play--governess--diversities of society--education in louisiana--visit to a sugar-house--description of sugar-making, &c.--a plantation scene--a planter's grounds--children--trumpeter --pointer--return to the city. xxiii. leave new-orleans--the mississippi--scenery--evening on the water --scenes on the deck of a steamer--passengers--plantations-- farm-houses--catholic college--convent of the sacred heart--caged birds--donaldsonville--the first highland--baton rouge--its appearance--barracks--scenery--squatters--fort adams--way passengers--steamer. the south west. i. a state of bliss--cabin passenger--honey-hunting--sea-life --its effects--green horns--reading--tempicide--monotony-- wish for excitement--superlative misery--log--combustible materials--cook and bucket--contrary winds--all ready, good sirs--impatient passengers--signal for sailing--under weigh. to be a "cabin passenger" fifteen or twenty days _out_, in a yankee merchantman, is to be in a state as nearly resembling that of a half-assoilzied soul in purgatory, as flesh and blood can well be placed in. a meridian sun--a cloudless sky--a sea of glass, like a vast burning reflector, giving back a twin-heaven inverted--a dry, hot air, as though exhaled from a babylonian furnace, and a deck, with each plank heated to the foot like a plate of hot steel--with the "horse latitudes," for the scene, might, perhaps, heighten the resemblance. zimmerman, in his excellent essay upon solitude, has described man, in a "state of solitary indolence and inactivity, as sinking by degrees, like stagnant water, into impurity and corruption." had he intended to describe from experience, the state of man as "cabin passenger" after the novelty of his new situation upon the heaving bosom of the "dark blue sea," had given place to the tiresome monotony of never-varying, daily repeated scenes, he could not have illustrated it by a more striking figure. this is a state of which you are happily ignorant. herein, ignorance is the height of bliss, although, should a yankee propensity for peregrinating stimulate you to become wiser by experience, i will not say that your folly will be more apparent than your wisdom. but if you continue to vegetate in the lovely valley of your nativity, one of "new-england's yeomanry," as you are wont, not a little proudly, to term yourself--burying for that distinctive honour your collegiate laurels beneath the broad-brim of the farmer--exchanging your "gown" for his frock--"esq." for plain "squire," and the mantuan's georgics for those of the maine farmer's almanac--i will cheerfully travel for you; though, as i shall have the benefit of the wear and tear, rubs and bruises--it will be like honey-hunting in our school-boy days, when one fought the bees while the other secured the sweet plunder. this sea life, to one who is not a sailor, is a sad enough existence--if it may be termed such. the tomb-stone inscription "hic jacet," becomes prematurely his own, with the consolatory adjunct _et non resurgam_. a condition intermediate between life and death, but more assimilated to the latter than the former, it is passed, almost invariably, in that proverbial inactivity, mental and corporeal, which is the well-known and unavoidable consequence of a long passage. it is a state in which existence is burthensome and almost insupportable, destroying that healthy tone of mind and body, so necessary to the preservation of the economy of the frame of man.--nothing will so injure a good disposition, as a long voyage. seeds of impatience and of indolence are there sown, which will be for a long period painfully manifest. the sweetest tempered woman i ever knew, after a passage of sixty days, was converted into a querulous xantippe; and a gentleman of the most active habits, after a voyage of much longer duration, acquired such indolent ones, that his usefulness as a man of business was for a long time destroyed; and it was only by the strongest application of high, moral energy, emanating from a mind of no common order, that he was at length enabled wholly to be himself again. there is but one antidote for this disease, which should be nosologically classed as _melancholia oceana_, and that is employment. but on ship-board, this remedy, like many other good ones on shore, cannot always be found. a meddling, bustling passenger, whose sphere on land has been one of action, and who pants to move in his little circumscribed orbit at sea, is always a "lubberly green horn," or "clumsy marine," in every tar's way--in whose eye the "passenger" is only fit to thin hen-coops, bask in the sun, talk to the helmsman, or, now and then, desperately venture up through the "lubber's hole" to look for _land_ a hundred leagues in mid ocean, or, cry "sail ho!" as the snowy mane of a distant wave, or the silvery crest of a miniature cloud upon the horizon, flashes for an instant upon his unpractised vision. a well-selected library, which is a great luxury at sea, and like most luxuries very rare, does wonders toward lessening this evil; but it is still far from constituting a _panacea_. i know not how it is, unless the patient begins in reality to suspect that he is taking _reading_ as a prescription against the foe, and converting his volumes into pill boxes--which by and by gets to be too painfully the truth--but the appetite soon becomes sated, the mind wearied, and the most fascinating and favourite authors "pall upon the sense" with a tiresome familiarity. reading becomes hateful, for the very reason that it has become necessary. amusements are exhausted, invented, changed, varied, and again exhausted. every thing upon which the attention fixes itself, vainly wooing something novel, soon becomes insipid. chess, back-gammon, letter-writing, journalizing, smoking, eating, drinking, and sleeping, may at first contribute not a little to the discomfiture of old time, who walks the _sea_ shod with leaden sandals. the last three enumerated items, however, generally hold out to the last undisabled. but three wellingtons could not have won waterloo unsupported; nor, able and doughty as are these bold three--much as they prolong the combat--manfully as they fight, can they hold good their ground for ever; the obstinate, scythe-armed warrior, with his twenty-four body guards following him like his shadow, will still maintain the broadest portion of his diurnal territory, over which, manoeuvre as they may, these discomfited worthies cannot extend their front. few situations are less enviable, than that of the worn voyager, as day after day "drags its slow length along," presenting to his restless, listless eyes, as he stretches them wearily over the leaden waste around him--the same unbroken horizon, forming the periphery of a circle, of which his vessel seems to be the immovable and everlasting centre--the same blue, unmeaning skies above--the same blue sea beneath and around--the same gigantic tracery of ropes and spars, whose fortuitous combinations of strange geometrical figures he has demonstrated, till they are as familiar as the diagrams on a turtle's back to an alderman; and the same dull white sails, with whose patches he has become as familiar as with the excrescences and other innocent defects upon the visages of his fellow-sufferers. on leaving port, i commenced a journal, or rather, as i am in a nautical atmosphere, a "log," the choicest chips of which shall be hewn off, basketed in fools-cap, and duly transmitted to you. like other chips they may be useful to kindle the fire withal. "what may not warm the feelings may--the toes," is a truism of which you need not be reminded: and if you test it practically, it will not be the first time good has been elicited from evil. but the sameness of a sea-life will by no means afford me many combustible incidents. somebody has said "the will is equal to the deed, if the deed cannot be." now i have the will to pile a hecatomb, but if i can pile only a couple of straws, it will be, of course, the same thing in the abstract. mine, perchance, may be the fate of that poor journalist who, in a voyage across the atlantic, could obtain but one wretched item wherewith to fill his journal--which he should have published, by the way. what a rare sort of a book it would have been! so soon read too! in this age when type-blotted books are generative, it would immortalize the author. tenderly handed down from one generation to another, it would survive the "fall of empires, and the crash of worlds." "at three and a quarter p. m., ship going two and a half knots per hour, the cook lost his bucket over-board--jolly boat lowered, and jack and peter rowed after it." "half-past three, p. m.--cook has got his bucket again--and a broken head into the bargain." to one who has never "played with ocean's mane," nor, borne by his white-winged coursers, scoured his pathless fields, there may be, even in the common-place descriptions of sea-scenes, something, which wears the charm of novelty. if my hasty sketches can contribute to your entertainment "o' winter nights," or, to the gratification of your curiosity, they will possess an influence which i do not promise or predict for them. unfavourable winds had detained our ship several days, and all who had taken passage were on the "tiptoe of expectation" for the signal for sailing. trunks, boxes, chests, cases, carpet-bags, and all the paraphernalia of travelling equipage, had long been packed, locked, and shipped--and our eyes had hourly watched the fickle gyrations of a horizontal gilt figure, which surmounted the spire of a neighbouring church, till they ached again. had the image been eolus himself, it could not have commanded more devoted worshippers. a week elapsed--and patience, which hitherto had been admirably sustained, began to flag; murmurings proceeded from the lips of more than one of the impatient passengers, as by twos and threes, they would meet by a kind of sympathetic affinity at the corners of the streets, where an unobstructed view could be obtained of some church-vane, all of which, throughout our city of churches, had taken a most unaccommodating fancy to kick their golden-shod heels at the northern bear. at precisely twenty minutes before three of the clock, on the afternoon of the first of november instant, the phlegmatic personage in the gilt robe, very obligingly, after he had worn our patience to shreds by his obstinacy, let his head and heels exchange places. at the same moment, ere he had ceased vibrating and settled himself steadily in his new position, the welcome signal was made, and in less than half an hour afterward, we were all, with bag and baggage, on board the ship, which rode at her anchor two hundred fathoms from the shore. the top-sails, already loosed, were bellying and wildly collapsing with a loud noise, in the wind; but bounding to their posts at the command of their superior officer, the active seamen soon extended them upon the spars--immense fields of swelling canvass; and our vessel gracefully moved from her moorings, and glided through the water with the lightness of a swan. as we moved rapidly down the noble harbour, which, half a century since, bore upon its bosom the hostile fleet of the proud island of the north, the swelling ocean was sending in its evening tribute to the continent, in vast scrolls, which rolled silently, but irresistibly onward, and majestically unfolded upon the beach--or, with a hoarse roar, resounded along the cliffs, and surged among the rocky throats of the promontory, impressing the mind with emotions of sublimity and awe. ii. a tar's headway on land--a gentleman's at sea--an agreeable trio--musical sounds--helmsman--supper--steward--a truism-- helmsman's cry--effect--cases for bipeds--lullaby--sleep. the motion was just sufficiently lively to inspirit one--making the blood frolic through the veins, and the heart beat more proudly. the old tars, as they cruised about the decks, walked as steadily as on land. this proves nothing, you may say, if you have witnessed jack's pendulating, uncertain--"right and left oblique" advance on a shore cruise. our tyros of the sea, in their venturesome projections of their persons from one given point in their eye to another, in the hope of accomplishing a straight line, after vacillating most appallingly, would finally succeed "haud passibus æquis" in reaching the position aimed for, fortunate if a lee-lurch did not accommodate them with a dry bed in the "lee scuppers." of all laughter-exciting locomotives which most create sensations of the ludicrously serious, commend me to an old land-crab teaching its young one to "go _ahead_"--a drunkard, reeling homeward through a broad street on a saturday night--and a "gentleman passenger" three days at sea in his strange evolutions over the deck. stretched before me upon the weather hen-coop, enveloped in his cloak, lay one of our "goodlie companie." if his sensations were such as i imagined them to be, he must have felt that the simplest chicken under him wore the stoutest heart. on the lee hen-coop reposed another passenger in sympathy with his fellow, to whose feelings i felt a disposition to do equal justice. abaft the wheel, coiled up in the rigging, an agreeable substitute for a bed of down, lay half obscured within the shadow of the lofty stern, another overdone toper--a victim of neptune, not of the "jolly god"--but whose sensations have been experienced by many of the latter's pupils, who have never tasted other salt water than their own tears. it has been said or sung by some one, that the "ear is the road to the heart." that it was so to the stomach, i already began to feel, could not be disputed; and as certain "guttural sounds" began to multiply from various quarters, with startling emphasis, lest i should be induced to sympathize with the fallen novitiates around me, by some _overt_ act, i hastily glided by the helmsman, who stood alone like the sole survivor of a battle-field--his weather-beaten visage illuminated at the moment with a strange glare from the "binnacle-lamp" which, concealed within a case like a single-windowed pigeon house, and open in front of him, burned nightly at his feet. the next moment i was in the cabin, now lighted up by a single lamp suspended from the centre of the ceiling, casting rather shade than light upon a small table--studiously arranged for supper by the steward--that non-descript _locum tenens_ for valet--waiter--chambermaid--shoe-black--cook's-mate, and swearing-post for irascible captains to vent stray oaths upon, when the wind is ahead--with a flying commission for here, there, and nowhere! when most wanted. but the supper! ay, the supper. those for whom the inviting display was made, were, i am sorry to say it, most unhesitatingly "floored" and quite _hors du combat_. what a deal of melancholy truth there is in that aphorism, which teaches us that the "brave must yield to the braver!" as i stood beside the helmsman, i could feel the gallant vessel springing away from under me, quivering through every oaken nerve, like a high-mettled racer with his goal but a bound before him. as she encountered some more formidable wave, there would be a tremendous outlay of animal-like energy, a momentary struggle, a half recoil, a plunging, trembling--_onward_ rush--then a triumphant riding over the conquered foe, scattering the gems from its shivered crest in glittering showers over her bows. then gliding with velocity over the glassy concave beyond, swaying to its up-lifting impulse with a graceful inclination of her lofty masts, and almost sweeping the sea with her yards, she would majestically recover herself in time to gather power for a fresh victory. within an hour after clearing the last head-land, whose lights, level with the plain of the sea, gleamed afar off, twinkling and lessened like stars, with which they were almost undistinguishably mingled on the horizon--we had exchanged the abrupt, irregular "seas" of the bay, for the regular, majestically rolling billows of the ocean. i had been for some time pacing the deck, with the "officer of the watch" to recover my sea-legs, when the helmsman suddenly shouted in a wild startling cry, heard, mingling with the wind high above the booming of the sea, the passing hour of the night watch.--"four bells."--"four bells," repeated the only one awake on the forecastle, and the next moment the ship's bell rung out loud and clear--wildly swelling upon the gale, then mournfully dying away in the distance as the toll ceased, like the far-off strains of unearthly music-- "----died the solemn knell as a trumpet music dies, by the night wind borne away through the wild and stormy skies." there is something so awful in the loud voice of a man mingling with the deep tones of a bell, heard at night upon the sea, that familiar as my ear was with the sounds--the blood chilled at my heart as this "lonely watchman's cry" broke suddenly upon the night. when he again told the hour i was safely stowed away in a comfortable berth, not so large as that of goliah of gath by some cubits, yet admirably adapted to the sea, which serves most discourteously the children of somnus, unless they fit their berths like a modern m. d. his sulkey, lulled to sleep by the rattling of cordage, the measured tread of the watch directly over me, the moanings, _et cætera_, of sleepless neighbours, the roaring of the sea, the howling of the wind, and the gurgling and surging of the water, as the ship rushed through it, shaking the waves from her sides, as the lion scatters the dew from his mane, and the musical rippling of the eddies--like a glassichord, rapidly run over by light fingers--curling and singing under the keel. iii. shakspeare--suicide or a 'fowl' deed--a conscientious fable --fishing smacks--a pretty boy--old skipper, skipper junior, and little skipper--a young caliban--an alliterate man-- fishermen--nurseries--navy--the way to train up a child-- gulf stream--humboldt--crossing the gulf--ice-ships--yellow fields--flying fish--a game at bowls--bermuda--a post of observation--men, dwellings, and women of bermuda--st. george--english society--washing decks--mornings at sea-- evenings at sea--a moonlight scene--the ocean on fire--its phosphorescence--hypotheses. "let's whip these stragglers o'er the seas again," was the gentle oratory of the aspiring richard, in allusion to the invading bretagnes.-- "lash hence these overweening rags of france." the interpreter of the heart's natural language--shakspeare, above all men, was endowed with human inspiration. his words come ripe to our lips like the fruit of our own thoughts. we speak them naturally and unconsciously. they drop from us like the unpremeditated language of children--spring forth unbidden--the richest melody of the mind. strong passion, whether of grief or joy while seeking in the wild excitement of the moment her own words for utterance, unconsciously enunciates _his_, with a natural and irresistible energy. there is scarcely a human thought, great or simple, which shakspeare has not spoken for his fellow-men, as never man, uninspired, spake; which he has not embodied and clothed with a drapery of language, unsurpassable. so-- "let's whip _this_ straggler o'er the seas again," i have very good reason to fear, will flow all unconsciously from your lips, as most applicable to my barren letter; in penning which i shall be driven to extremity for any thing of an interesting character. if it must be so, i am, of all epistlers, the most innocent. ship, air, and ocean equally refuse to furnish me with a solitary incident. my wretched "log" now and then records an event: such as for instance, how one of "the doctor's" plumpest and most deliriously _embonpoint_ pullets, very rashly and unadvisedly perpetrated a summerset over-board, after she had been decapitated by that sable gentleman, in certainly the most approved and scientific style. none but a very silly chicken could have been dissatisfied with the unexceptionable manner in which the operation was performed. but, both feathered and plucked bipeds, it seems, it is equally hard to please. for the last fourteen days we have been foot-balls for the winds and waves. their game may last as many more; therefore, as we have as little free agency in our movements as foot-balls themselves, we have made up our minds to yield our fretted bodies as philosophically as may be, to their farther pastime. the sick have recovered, and bask the hours away on deck in the beams of the warm south sun, like so many luxurious crocodiles. to their good appetites let our table bear witness. should it be blessed with a conscience, it is doubly blessed by having it cleared thrice daily by the most rapacious father-confessors that ever shrived penitent; of which "gentlemen of the _cloth_" it boasts no less than eight. the first day we passed through a widely dispersed fleet of those short, stump-masted _non-descripts_, with swallow-tailed sterns, snubbed bows, and black hulls, sometimes denominated fishing smacks, but oftener and more euphoniously, "chebacco boats," which, from may to october, are scattered over our northern seas. while we dashed by them, one after another, in our lofty vessel, as, close-hauled on the wind, or "wing and wing," they flew over the foaming sea, i could not help smiling at the ludicrous scenes which some of their decks exhibited. one of them ran so close to us, that we could have tossed a potato into the "skipper's" dinner-pot, which was boiling on a rude hearth of bricks placed upon the open deck, under the _surveillance_ of, i think, the veriest mop-headed, snub-nosed bit of an urchin that i ever saw. "keep away a little, or you'll run that fellow down," suddenly shouted the captain to the helmsman; and the next moment the little fishing vessel shot swiftly under our stern, just barely clearing the spanker boom, whirling and bouncing about in the wild swirl of the ship's wake like a "massallah boat" in the surf of madras. there were on board of her four persons, including the steersman--a tall, gaunt old man, whose uncovered gray locks streamed in the wind as he stooped to his little rudder to luff up across our wake. the lower extremities of a loose pair of tar-coated duck trowsers, which he wore, were incased, including the best part of his legs, in a pair of fisherman's boots, made of leather which would flatten a rifle ball. his red flannel shirt left his hairy breast exposed to the icy winds, and a huge pea-jacket, thrown, spanish fashion, over his shoulders, was fastened at the throat by a single button. his tarpaulin--a little narrow-brimmed hat of the pot-lid tribe, secured by a ropeyarn--had probably been thrown off in the moment of danger, and now hung swinging by a lanyard from the lower button-hole of his jacket. as his little vessel struggled like a drowning man in the yawning concave made by the ship, he stood with one hand firmly grasping his low, crooked rudder, and with the other held the main sheet, which alone he tended. a short pipe protruded from his mouth, at which he puffed away incessantly; one eye was tightly closed, and the other was so contracted within a network of wrinkles, that i could just discern the twinkle of a gray pupil, as he cocked it up at our quarter-deck, and took in with it the noble size, bearing, and apparel of our fine ship. a duplicate of the old helmsman, though less battered by storms and time, wearing upon his chalky locks a red, woollen, conical cap, was "easing off" the foresheet as the little boat passed; and a third was stretching his neck up the companion ladder, to stare at the "big ship," while the little carroty-headed imp, who was just the old skipper _razeed_, was performing the culinary operations of his little kitchen under cover of the heavens. our long pale faces tickled the young fellow's fancy extremely. "dad," squalled the youthful reprobate, in the softest, hinge-squeaking soprano--"dad, i guess as how them ar' chaps up thar, ha'nt lived on salt grub long."--the rascal--we could have minced him with his own fish and potatoes. "hold your yaup, you youngster you," roared the old man in reply.--the rest of the beautiful alliteration was lost in the distance, as his smack bounded from us, carrying the young _sans-culotte_ out of reach of the consequences of his temerity. to mention _salt grub_ to men of our stomachs' capacity, at that moment! he merited impaling upon one of his own cod-hooks. in ten minutes after, we could just discern the glimmer of the little vessel's white sails on the verge of the distant horizon, in whose hazy hue the whole fleet soon disappeared. these vessels were on a tardy return from their newfoundland harvests, which, amid fogs and squalls, are gathered with great toil and privation between the months of may and october. the fishermen constitute a distinct and peculiar class--not of society, but of men. to you i need not describe them. they are to be seen at any time, and in great numbers, about the wharves of new-england sea-ports in the winter season--weather-browned, long-haired, coarsely garbed men, with honesty and good nature stamped upon their furrowed and strongly marked features. they are neither "seamen" nor "countrymen," in the usual signification of these words, but a compound of both; combining the careless, free-and-easy air of the one, with the awkwardness and simplicity of the other. free from the grosser vices which characterize the foreign-voyaged _sailor_, they seldom possess, however, that religious tone of feeling which distinguishes the ruder _countryman_. marblehead and cape cod are the parent nurseries of these hardy men. portland has, however, begun to foster them, thereby adding a new and vigorous sinew to her commercial strength. in conjunction with the whale fisheries, to which the cod are a sort of introductory school, these fisheries are the principal nurseries of american seamen. i have met with many american ships' crews, one-half or two-thirds of which were composed of men who had served their apprenticeship in the "fisheries." the youth and men whom they send forth are the bone and muscle of our navy. they have an instinctive love for salt water. every one who is a parent, takes his sons, one after another, as they doff their petticoats, if the freedom of their limbs was ever restrained by such unnecessary appendages, and places them on the deck of his fishing smack; teaches them to call the ropes by their names, bait, fling, and patiently watch the deceptive hook, and dart the harpoon, or plunge the grains--just as the indian is accustomed to lead his warrior-boys forth to the hunting grounds, and teach them to track the light-footed game, or heavier-heeled foe--wing, with unerring aim, the fatal arrow, or launch the deadly spear. the three succeeding days we were delayed by calms, or contending with gales and head winds. on the morning of the seventh day "out," there was a general exclamation of surprise from the passengers as they came on deck. "how warm!" "what a suffocating air!" "we must have sailed well last night to be so far south!" they might well have been surprised if this change in the temperature had been gained by regular "southing." but, alas, we had barely lessened our latitude twenty miles during the night. we had entered the gulf stream! that extraordinary natural phenomenon of the atlantic ocean. this immense circle of tepid water which revolves in the atlantic, enclosing within its periphery, the west india and western islands, is supposed by humboldt to be occasioned "by the current of rotation (trade winds) which strikes against the coasts of veraguas and honduras, and ascending toward the gulf of mexico, between cape caloche and cape st. antoine, issues between the bahamas and florida." from this point of projection, where it is but a few miles wide, it spreads away to the northeast in the shape of an elongated slightly curved fan, passing at the distance of about eighty miles from the coast of the southern states, with a velocity, opposite havana, of about four miles an hour, which decreases in proportion to its distance from this point. opposite nantucket, where it takes a broad, sweeping curve toward newfoundland, it moves generally only about two miles an hour. bending from newfoundland through the western islands, it loses much of its velocity at this distance from its radiating point, and in the eastern atlantic its motion is scarcely perceptible, except by a slight ripple upon the surface. this body of water is easily distinguishable from that of the surrounding blue ocean by its leaden hue--the vast quantity of pale-yellow gulf-weed, immense fields of which it wafts from clime to clime upon its ever-rolling bosom, and by the absence of that phosphorescence, which is peculiar to the waters of the ocean. the water of this singular stream is many degrees warmer than the sea through which it flows. near cuba the heat has been ascertained to be as great as °, and in its course northward from cuba, it loses ° of temperature for every ° of latitude. its warmth is easily accounted for as the production of very simple causes. it receives its original impulse in the warm tropical seas, which, pressed toward the south american shore by the wind, meet with resistance and are deflected along the coast northward, as stated above by humboldt, and injected into the northern atlantic ocean--the vast column of water having parted with very little of its original caloric in its rapid progress. we crossed the north-western verge of "the gulf" near the latitude of baltimore, where its breadth is about eighty miles. the atmosphere was sensibly warmer here than that of the ocean proper, and the water which we drew up in the ship's bucket raised the mercury a little more than °. not knowing how the mercury stood before entering the gulf, i could not determine accurately the change in the atmosphere; but it must have been very nearly as great as that in the denser fluid. veins of cool air circled through its atmosphere every few minutes, as welcome and refreshing to our bared foreheads as the sprinkling of the coolest water. when vessels in their winter voyages along our frigid coasts become coated with ice, so as to resemble almost precisely, though of a gigantic size, those miniature glass ships so often seen preserved in transparent cases, they seek the genial warmth of this region to "thaw out," as this dissolving process is termed by the sailors. we were nearly three days in crossing the gulf, at a very acute angle with its current, which period of time we passed very pleasantly, for voyagers; as we had no cold weather to complain of, and a variety of objects to entertain us. sea, or gulf-weed, constantly passed us in acres, resembling immense meadows of harvest wheat, waving and undulating with the breeze, tempting us to walk upon it. but for the ceaseless roll and pitching of our ship, reminding us of our where-about, we might, without much trouble, have been cheated into the conviction that it was real _terra firma_. flocks of flying fish suddenly breaking from a smooth, swelling billow, to escape the jaws of some voracious pursuer, whose dorsal fin would be seen protruding for an instant afterward from the surface, flitted swiftly, with a skimming motion, over the sea, glittering in the sun like a flight of silver-winged birds; and then as suddenly, with dried wings, dropped into the sea again. one morning we found the decks sprinkled with these finned aerial adventurers, which had flown on board during the night. spars, covered with barnacles--an empty barrel marked on the head n. e. rum, which we slightly altered our course _to speak_--a hotly contested _affaire d'honneur_, between two bantam-cocks in the weather-coop--a few lessons in splicing and braiding sennet, taken from a good-natured old sailor--a few more in the art of manufacturing "turks' heads," not, however, _à la grec_--and other matters and things equally important, also afforded subjects of speculation and chit-chat, and means of passing away the time with a tolerable degree of comfort, and, during the intervals of eating and sleeping, to keep us from the blues. a gallant ship--a limitless sea rolled out like a vast sheet of mottled silver--"goodlie companie"--a warm, reviving sun--a flowing sheet, and a courteous breeze, so gently breathing upon our sails, that surly boreas, in a gentler than his wonted mood, must have sent a bevy of zephyrs to waft us along--are combinations which both nautical amateurs and ignoramuses know duly how to appreciate. from the frequency of "squalls" and "blows" off hatteras, it were easy to imagine a telegraphic communication existing between that head-land and bermuda, carried on by flashes of lightning and tornadoes; or a game at bowls between neptune and boreas, stationed one on either spot, and hurling thunderbolts over the sea. this region, and that included between ° and ° north latitude termed by sailors the "horse latitudes," are two of the most unpleasant localities a voyager has to encounter on his passage from a new-england sea-port to new-orleans or havana. in one he is wearied by frequent calms, in the other, exposed to sea sickness, and terrified by almost continual storms. on the eighth day out, we passed bermuda--that island-sentinel and spy of britain upon our shores. the position of this post with regard to america, forcibly reminds me--i speak it with all due reverence for the "lion" of england--of a lap-dog sitting at a secure distance and keeping guard over an eagle _volant_. how like proud england thus to come and set herself down before america, and like a still beautiful mother, watch with a jealous eye the unfolding loveliness of her rival daughter--build up a battery d'espionage against her shores, and seek to hold the very key of her seas. the bermudas or "summer islands" so called from sir george summer, who was wrecked here two centuries since--are a cluster of small coral reefs lying nearly in the form of a crescent, and walled round and defended from the sea by craggy rocks, which rear their fronts on every side like battlements:--they are situated about two hundred and twenty leagues from the coast of south carolina, and nearly in the latitude of the city of charleston. the houses are constructed of porous limestone, not unlike lava in appearance. this material was probably ejected by some unseen and unhistoried volcanic eruption, by which the islands themselves were in all probability heaved up from the depths of the ocean. white-washed to resist the rain, their houses contrast beautifully with the green-mantled cedars and emerald carpets of the islands. the native bermudians follow the sea for a livelihood. they make good sailors while at sea; but are dissipated and indolent when they return to their native islands, indulging in drinking, gaming, and every species of extravagance. the females are rather pretty than otherwise; with good features and uncommonly fine eyes. like all their sex, they are addicted to dress, in which they display more finery than taste. dancing is the pastime of which they are most passionately fond. in affection and obedience to their "lords," and in tenderness to their children, it is said that they are patterns to all fair ones who may have taken those, seldom _audibly-spoken_, vows, "to love, honour, and obey"--oft times unuttered, i verily believe, from pure intention. st. george, the principal town in the islands, has become a fashionable military residence. the society, which is english and extremely agreeable, is varied by the constant arrival and departure of ships of war, whose officers, with those of the army, a sprinkling of distinguished civilians, and clusters of fair beings who have winged it over the sea, compose the most spirited and pleasant society in the world. enjoying a remarkably pure air, and climate similar to that of south carolina, with handsomely revenued clergymen of the church of england, and rich in various tropical luxuries, it is a desirable foreign residence and a convenient and pleasant haven for british vessels sailing in these seas. this morning we were all in a state of feverish excitement, impatient to place our eyes once more upon land. visions of green fields and swelling hills, pleasantly waving trees and cool fountains--groves, meadows, and rural cottages, had floated through our waking thoughts and mingled with our dreams. "is the land in sight, captain?" was the only question heard from the lips of one and another of the expectant passengers as they rubbed their sleepy eyes, poked their heads from their half-opened state-room doors, or peeped from their curtained berths. ascending to the deck, we beheld the sun just rising from the sea in the splendor of his oriental pomp, flinging his beams far along the sky and over the waters, enriching the ocean with his radiance till it resembled a sea of molten gold, gilding the dew-hung spars, and spreading a delicate blush of crimson over the white sails. it was a morning of unrivalled beauty. but thanks to nautical housewifery, its richness could not be enjoyed from the decks. at sea, the moment the sun rises, and when one feels in the humor of quitting his hot state-room and going on deck, the officer of the watch sings out in a voice that goes directly to the heart--"forard there--wash decks!" then commences an elemental war rivalling noah's deluge. _that_ was caused by the pouring down of rain in drops--_thié_ by the out-pouring of full buckets. from the moment this flood commences one may draw back into his narrow shell, like an affrighted snail, and take a morning's nap:--the deck, for an hour to come, is no place for animals that are not web-footed. fore and aft the unhappy passenger finds no way of escaping the infliction of this purifying ceremony. should he be driven aloft, there "to banquet on the morning," he were better reposing on a gridiron or sitting astride a handsaw. if below, there the steward has possession, sweeping, laying the breakfast table and making-up berths, and the air, a hundred times breathed over, rushes from the opening state-rooms threatening to suffocate him--he were better engulfed in the bosom of a stew-pan. to stand, cold, wet, and uncomfortable upon the damp decks till the sun has dried both them and him is the only alternative. if after all the "holy stone" should come in play, he may then quietly jump over-board. the evenings, however, amply compensate for the loss of the fine mornings. the air, free from the dust, floating particles and exhalations of the land, is perfectly transparent, and the sky of a richer blue. the stars seem nearer to you there; and the round moon pours her unclouded flood of light, down upon the sea, with an opulence and mellowness, of which those who have only seen moonlight, sleeping upon green hills, cities and forests, know nothing. on such nights, there cannot be a nobler, or prouder spectacle, as one stands upon the bows, than the lofty, shining pyramid of snow-white canvass which, rising majestically from the deck, lessens away, sail after sail, far into the sky--each sheet distended like a drum-head, yet finely rounded, and its towering summit, as the ship rises and falls upon the billows, waving like a tall poplar, swaying in the wind. in these hours of moonlit enchantment, while reclining at full length upon the deck, and gazing at the diminished point of the flag-staff, tracing devious labyrinths among the stars, the blood has danced quicker through my veins as i could feel the ship springing away beneath me like a fleet courser, and leaping from wave to wave over the sea. at such moments the mind cannot divest itself of the idea that the bounding ship is instinct with life--an animated creature, careering forward by its own volition. to this are united the musical sighing of the winds through the sails and rigging--the dashing of the sea and the sound of the rushing vessel through the water, which sparkles with phosphorescent light, as though sprinkled with silver dust. a dark night also affords a scene to gratify curiosity and charm the eye. a few nights since, an exclamation of surprise from one of the passengers called me from my writing to the deck. as, on emerging from the cabin, i mechanically cast my eyes over the sea, i observed that at first it had the appearance of reflecting the stars from its bosom in the most dazzling splendour, but on looking upward to gaze upon the original founts of this apparently reflected light, my eyes met only a gloomy vault of clouds unillumined by a solitary star. the "scud" flew wildly over its face and the heavens were growing black with a gathering tempest. yet beneath, the sea glittered like a "lake of fire." the crests of the vast billows as they burst high in the air, descended in showers of scintillations. the ship scattered broken light from her bows, as though a pavement of mirrors had been shivered in her pathway. her track was marked by a long luminous train, not unlike the tail of a comet, while gleams of light like lighted lamps floating upon the water, whirled and flashed here and there in the wild eddies of her wake. the spray which was flung over the bows glittered like a sprinkling of diamonds as it fell upon the decks, where, as it flowed around the feet, it sparkled for some seconds with innumerable shining specks. and so intense was the light shining from the sea that i was enabled to read with ease the fine print of a newspaper. a bucket plunged into the sea, which whitened like shivered ice, on its striking it, was drawn up full of glittering sea-water that sparkled for more than a minute, after being poured over the deck, and then gradually losing its lustre, finally disappeared in total darkness. many hypotheses have been suggested by scientific men to account for this natural phenomenon. "some have regarded it," says dr. coates, "as the effect of electricity, produced by the friction of the waves; others as the product of a species of fermentation in the water, occurring accidentally in certain places. many have attributed it to the well-known phosphorescence of putrid fish, or to the decomposition of their slime and exuviæ, and a few only to the real cause, the voluntary illumination of many distinct species of marine animals. "the purpose for which this phosphorescence is designed is lost in conjecture; but when we recollect that fish are attracted to the net by the lights of the fisherman, and that many of the marine shellfish are said to leave their native element to crawl around a fire built upon the beach, are we not warranted in supposing that the animals of which we have been speaking, are provided with these luminous properties, in order to entice their prey within their grasp?" iv. land--abaco--fleet--hole in the wall--a wrecker's hut-- bahama vampyres--light houses--conspiracy--wall of abaco-- natural bridge--cause--night scene--speak a packet ship--a floating city--wrecker's lugger--signal of distress--a yankee lumber brig--portuguese man-of-war. "land ho!" shouted a voice both loud and long, apparently from the clouds, just as we had comfortably laid ourselves out yesterday afternoon for our customary _siesta_. "where away?" shouted the captain, springing to the deck, but not so fast as to prevent our tumbling over him, in the head-and-heels projection of our bodies up the companion-way, in our eagerness to catch a glimpse, once more, of the grassy earth; of something at least stationary. "three points off the weather bow," replied the man aloft. "where is it?"--"which way?" "i see it"--"is that it captain--the little hump?" were the eager exclamations and inquiries of the enraptured passengers, who, half beside themselves, were peering, straining, and querying, to little purpose. it was abaco--the land first made by vessels bound to new orleans or cuba, from the north. with the naked eye, we could scarcely distinguish it from the small blue clouds, which, resting, apparently, on the sea, floated near the verge of the southern horizon. but with the spy glass, we could discern it more distinctly, and less obscured by that vail of blue haze, which always envelopes distant objects when seen from a great distance at sea, or on land. as we approached, its azure vail gradually faded away, and it appeared to our eyes in its autumnal gray coat, with all its irregularities of surface and outline clearly visible. slightly altering our course, in order to weather its southern extremity, we ran down nearly parallel with the shores of the island that rose apparently from the sea, as we neared it, stretching out upon the water like a huge alligator, which it resembled in shape. sail after sail hove in sight as we coasted pleasantly along with a fine breeze, till, an hour before the sun went down, a large wide-spreading fleet could be discerned from the deck, lying becalmed, near the extreme southern point of abaco, which, stretching out far into the sea, like a wall perforated with an arched gateway near the centre, is better known by the familiar appellation of "the hole in the wall." "there is a habitation of some sort," exclaimed one of the passengers, whose glass had long been hovering over the island. "where--where?" was the general cry, and closer inspection from a dozen eyes, detected a miserable hut, half hidden among the bushes, and so wild and wretched in appearance, that we unanimously refused it the honor of "----a local habitation and a name!" it was nevertheless the first dwelling of man we had seen for many a day; and notwithstanding our vote of non-acceptance, it was not devoid of interest in our eyes. it was evidently the abode of some one of those demi sea-monsters, called "wreckers," who, more destructive than the waves, prey upon the ship-wrecked mariner. the bahamas swarm with these wreckers who, in small lugger-sloops, continually prowl about among the islands, "when the demons of the tempest rave," like birds of ill omen, ready to seize upon the storm-tossed vessel, should it be driven among the rocks or shoals with which this region abounds. at midnight, when the lightning for a moment illumines the sky and ocean, the white sail of the wrecker's little bark, tossing amid the storm upon the foaming billows, will flash upon the eyes of the toiling seamen as they labour to preserve their vessel, striking their souls with dread and awakening their easily excited feelings of superstition. like evil spirits awaiting at the bed-side the release of an unannealed soul, they hover around the struggling ship through the night, and, flitting away at the break of morning, may be discovered in the subsiding of the tempest, just disappearing under the horizon with a sailor's hearty blessing sent after them. that light-houses have not been erected on the dangerous head-lands and reefs which line the bahama channel, is a strange oversight or neglect on the part of the governments of the united states and england, which of all maritime nations are most immediately concerned in the object. suitable light-houses on the most dangerous points, would annually save, from otherwise inevitable destruction, many vessels and preserve hundreds of valuable lives. the profession of these marauders would be, in such a case, but a sinecure; provided they would allow the lights to remain. but, unless each tower were converted into a well-manned gun-battery the piratical character of these men will preclude any hope of their permanent establishment. men of their buccaneering habits are not likely to lie quietly on their oars, and see their means of livelihood torn from them by the secure navigation of these waters. they will sound, from island to island, the tocsin for the gathering of their strength, and concentrate for the destruction of these enemies to their _honest calling_, before they have cast their cheering beams over these stormy seas a score of nights. as we approached the hole in the wall, the breeze which we had brought down the channel, stole in advance and set in motion the fleet of becalmed vessels, which rolled heavily on the long, ground-swell, about a league ahead of us. the spur or promontory of abaco, around which we were sailing, is a high, wall-like ridge of rock, whose surface gradually inclines from the main body of the island to its abrupt termination about a quarter of a league into the sea. as we sailed along its eastern side we could not detect the opening from which it derives its name. the eye met only a long black wall of rock, whose rugged projections were hung with festoons of dark purple sea-weed, and around whose base the waters surged, with a roar heard distinctly by us, three miles from the island. on rounding the extremity of the head-land, and bearing up a point or two, the arch in the cape gradually opened till it became wholly visible, apparently about half the altitude of, and very similar in appearance to the natural bridge in virginia. the chasm is irregularly arched, and broader at thirty feet from the sea than at its base. the water is of sufficient depth, and the arch lofty enough, to allow small fishing vessels to pass through the aperture, which is about one hundred feet in length through the solid rock. there is a gap which would indicate the former existence of a similar cavity, near the end of this head-land. a large, isolated mass of rock is here detached from the main wall, at its termination in the sea, which was undoubtedly, at some former period, joined to it by a natural arch, now fallen into the water, as, probably, will happen to this within a century. these cavities are caused by the undermining of the sea, which, dashing unceasingly against the foundations of the wall, shatters and crumbles it by its constant abrasion, opens through it immense fissures, and loosens large fragments of the rock, that easily yield and give way to its increased violence; while the upper stratum, high beyond the reach of the surge, remains firm, and, long after the base has crumbled into the sea, arches over like a bridge the chasm beneath. by and by this falls by its own weight, and is buried beneath the waves. as the shades of night fell over the sea, and veiled the land from our eyes, we had a fresh object of excitement in giving chase to the vessels which, as the sun went down among them, were scattered thickly along the western horizon far ahead of us--ships, brigs, and schooners, stretching away under all sail before the evening breeze to the south and west. we had lost sight of them after night had set in, but at about half past eight in the evening, as we all were peering through the darkness, upon the _qui vive_ for the strangers, a bright light flashed upon our eyes over the water, and at the same moment the lookout forward electrified us with the cry---- "a ship dead ahead, sir!" the captain seized his speaking-trumpet, and sprang to the bows; but we were there before him, and discovered a solitary light burning at the base of a dark pyramid, which towered gloomily in the obscurity of the night. the outline of the object was so confused and blended with the sky, that we could discern it but indistinctly. to our optics it appeared, as it loomed up in the night-haze, to be a ship of the largest class. the spy glass was in immediate requisition, but soon laid aside again. let me inform you that "day and night" marked upon the tube of a spy-glass, signifies that it may be used in the day, and kept in the beckets at night. we had been gathered upon the bowsprit and forecastle but a few seconds, watching in silence the dark moving tower on the water before us, as we approached it rapidly, when we were startled by the sudden hail of the stranger, who was now hauling up on our weather bow-- "ship-ahoy!" burst loudly over the water from the hoarse throat of a trumpet. "ahoy!" bellowed our captain, so gently back again through the ship's trumpet, that the best "bull of bashan" might have envied him his roar. "what ship's that?" "the plato of portland," with a second bellow which was a very manifest improvement upon the preceding. "where bound?" "new-orleans!" now came our turn to play the querist. "what ship's that?" "the j. l., eleven days from new-york, bound to new-orleans." "ay, ay--any news?" "no, nothing particular." we again moved on in silence; sailing in company, but not always in sight of each other, during the remainder of the night. a delightful prospect met our eyes, on coming on deck the morning after making the hole in the wall. the sea was crowded with vessels, bearing upon its silvery bosom a floating city. by some fortuitous circumstance, a fleet of vessels, bearing the flags of various nations, had arrived in the bahama channel at the same time, and now, were amicably sailing in company, borne by the same waves--wafted by the same breeze, and standing toward the same point. our new-york friend, for whom, on casting our eyes over the lively scene we first searched, we discovered nearly two leagues from us to the windward, stretching boldly across the most dangerous part of the bahama banks, instead of taking, with the rest of the fleet, the farther but less hazardous course down the "channel"--if a few inches more of water than the banks are elsewhere covered with, may with propriety be thus denominated. a little to the south of us, rocking upon the scarcely rising billows, was a rough clumsy looking craft, with one low, black mast, and amputated bowsprit, about four feet in length, sustaining a jib of no particular hue or dimensions. hoisted upon the mast, was extended a dark red painted mainsail, blackened by the smoke, which, issuing from a black wooden chimney amidships, curled gracefully upward and floated away on the breeze in thin blue clouds. a little triangular bit of red bunting fluttered at her mast head; and, towed by a long line at her stern, a little green whale-boat skipped and danced merrily over the waves. standing, or rather reclining at the helm--for men learn strangely indolent postures in the warm south--with a segar between his lips, and his eye fixed earnestly upon the j. l., was a black-whiskered fellow, whose head was enveloped in a tri-coloured, conical cap, terminated by a tassel, which dangled over his left ear. a blue flannel shirt, and white flowing trowsers, with which his body and limbs were covered, were secured to his person by a red sash tied around the waist, instead of suspenders. two others similarly dressed, and as bountifully bewhiskered, leaned listlessly over the side gazing at our ship, as she dashed proudly past their rude bark. a negro, whose charms would have been unquestionable in congo, was stretched, apparently asleep, along the main-boom, which one moment swung with him over the water, and the next suspended him over his chimney, whose azure incense ascended from his own altar, to this ebony deity, in clouds of grateful odour. "what craft do you call that?" inquired one of the passengers of the captain. "what? it's a wrecker's lugger.--watch him now!" at the moment he spoke, the lugger dropped astern of us, came to a few points--hauled close on the wind, and then gathering headway, bounded off with the speed of the wind in the direction of the new-york packet ship, which the wrecker's quicker and more practised eye had detected displaying signals of distress. turning our glasses in the direction of the ship, we could see that she had grounded on the bank, thereby affording very ample illustration of the truth of the proverb, "the more haste the less speed." about the middle of the forenoon the wind died away, and left us becalmed within half a mile of a brig loaded with lumber. the remaining vessels of the fleet were fast dispersing over the sea--this yankee "fruiterer" being the only one sailing within a league of us. these lumber vessels, which are usually loaded with shingles, masts, spars, and boards, have been long the floating mines of maine. but as her forests disappear, which are the veins from whence she draws the ore, her sons will have to plough the earth instead of the ocean. then, and not till then, will maine take a high rank as an agricultural state. the majority of men who sail in these lumber vessels are both farmers and sailors; who cultivate their farms at one season, fell its timber and sail away with it in the shape of boards and shingles to a west india mart at another. jonathan is the only man who knows how to carry on two trades at one time, and carry them on successfully. for their lumber, which they more frequently _barter_ away than sell, they generally obtain a return cargo of molasses, which is converted by our "sober and moral" fellow-countrymen into liquid gunpowder, in the vats of those numerous distilleries, which, like guide-posts to the regions of death, line the sea skirts of new-england! the smooth bottom, above which we were suspended, through the deceptive transparency of the water, appeared, though eighteen feet beneath us, within reach of the oar. but there were many objects floating by upon the surface, which afforded us more interest than all beneath it. among these was the little nautilus which, gaily dancing over the waves, like a lilliputian mariner, "spreads his thin oar and courts the rising gale." this beautiful animal sailed past us in fleets wafted by a breeze gentler than an infant's breathing. we endeavoured to secure one of them more beautiful than its fellows, but like a sensitive plant it instantly shrunk at the touch, and sunk beneath the surface; appearing beneath the water, like a little, animated globule tinged with the most delicate colours. this singular animal is termed by the sailors, "the portuguee' man-o'-war," from what imaginary resemblance to the war vessels of his most christian majesty i am at a loss to determine; unless we resort for a solution of the mystery to a jack-tar, whom i questioned upon the subject-- "it's cause as how they takes in all sail, or goes _chuck_ to bottom, when it 'gins to blow a spankin' breeze,"--truly a fine compliment to the navarchy of portugal! this animal is a genus of the mollusca tribe, which glitters in the night on the crest of every bursting wave. in the tropical seas it is found riding over the gently ruffled billows in great numbers, with its crystalline sail expanded to the light breeze--barks delicate and tiny enough for fairy "queen mab." termed by naturalists _pharsalia_, from its habit of inflating its transparent sail, this splendid animal is often confounded with the _nautilus pompilius_, a genus of marine animals of an entirely distinct species, and of a much ruder appearance, whose dead shells are found floating every where in the tropical seas, while the living animal is found swimming upon the ocean in every latitude. dr. coates, in describing the portuguese man-of-war (pharsalia) says, that "it is an oblong animated sack of air, elongated at one extremity into a conical neck, and surmounted by a membraneous expansion running nearly the whole length of the body, and rising above into a semi-circular sail, which can be expanded or contracted to a considerable extent at the pleasure of the animal. from beneath the body are suspended from ten to fifty, or more little tubes, from half an inch to an inch in length, open at their lower extremity, and formed like the flower of the blue bottle. these i cannot but consider as proper stomachs, from the centre of which depends a little cord, never exceeding the fourth of an inch in thickness, and often forty times as long as the body. "the group of stomachs is less transparent, and although the hue is the same as that of the back, they are on this account incomparably less elegant. by their weight and form they fill the double office of a keel and ballast, while the cord-like appendage, which floats out for yards behind, is called by seamen "the cable." with this organ, which is supposed by naturalists, from the extreme pain felt, when brought in contact with the back of the hand, to secrete a poisonous or acrid fluid, the animal secures his prey." but in the opinion of dr. c. naturalists in deciding upon this mere hypothesis have concluded too hastily. he says that the secret will be better explained by a more careful examination of the organ itself. "the cord is composed of a narrow layer of contractile fibres, scarcely visible when relaxed, on account of its transparency. if the animal be large, this layer of fibres will sometimes extend itself to the length of four or five yards. a spiral line of blue, bead-like bodies, less than the head of a pin, revolves around the cable from end to end, and under the microscope these beads appear covered with minute prickles so hard and sharp that they will readily enter the substance of wood, adhering with such pertinacity that the cord can rarely be detached without breaking. "it is to these prickles that the man-of-war owes its power of destroying animals much its superior in strength and activity. when any thing becomes impaled upon the cords, the contractile fibres are called into action, and rapidly shrink from many feet in length to less than the same number of inches, bringing the prey within reach of the little tubes, by one of which it is immediately swallowed. "its size varies from half an inch to six inches in length. when it is in motion the sail is accommodated to the force of the breeze, and the elongated neck is curved upward, giving to the animal a form strongly resembling the little glass swans which we sometimes see swimming in goblets. "it is not the form, however, which constitutes the chief beauty of this little navigator. the lower part of the body and the neck are devoid of all colours except a faint iridescence in reflected lights, and they are so perfectly transparent that the finest print is not obscured when viewed through them. the back becomes gradually tinged as we ascend, with the finest and most delicate hues that can be imagined; the base of the sail equals the purest sky in depth and beauty of tint; the summit is of the most splendid red, and the central part is shaded by the gradual intermixture of these colours through all the intermediate grades of purple. drawn as it were upon a ground-work of mist, the tints have an aerial softness far beyond the reach of art." v. a calm--a breeze on the water--the land of flowers--juan ponce de leon--the fountain of perpetual youth--an irremediable loss to single gentlemen--gulf stream--new- providence--cuba--pan of matanzas--blue hills of cuba--an armed cruiser--cape st. antonio--pirates--enter the mexican gulf--mobile--a southern winter--a farewell to the north and a welcome to the south--the close of the voyage--balize-- fleet--west indiaman--portuguese polacre--land ho!--the land --its formation--pilot or "little brief authority"--light- house--revenue cutter--newspapers--"the meeting of the waters"--a singular appearance--a morning off the balize-- the tow-boat. during the period we lay becalmed under a burning sun, which, though entering its winter solstice retained the fervour of summer fire, we passed the most of our time in the little cockle-shell of a yawl, (as though the limits of our ship were not confined enough) riding listlessly upon the long billows or rowing far out from the ship, which, with all her light sails furled, rolled heavily upon the crestless billows, suggesting the anomalous idea of power in a state of helplessness. an hour before sunset our long-idle sails were once more filled by a fine breeze, which, ruffling the surface of the ocean more than a league distant, we had discerned coming from the florida shore, some time before it reached us; and as it came slowly onward over the sea, we watched with no little anxiety the agitated line of waves which danced merrily before it, marking its approach. a faintly delineated gray bank lining the western horizon, marked the "land of flowers" of the romantic ponce de leon. can that be florida! the _pasqua de flores_ of the spaniards--the country of blossoms and living fountains, welling with perpetual youth! were our reflections as we gazed upon the low marshy shore. yet here the avaricious spaniard sought for a mine more precious than the diamonds and gold of the incas! a fountain whose waters were represented to have the wonderful property of rejuvenating old age and perpetuating youth! here every wrinkled castilian iolas expected to find a hebé to restore him to the bloom and vigour of adonis! but alas, for the bachelors of modern days, the seeker for fountains of eternal youth wandered only through inhospitable wilds, and encountered the warlike seminoles, who, unlike the timorous natives of the newly discovered indies, met his little band with bold and determined resolution. after a long and fruitless search, he returned to porto rico, wearied, disappointed, and no doubt with his brow more deeply furrowed than when he set out upon his singularly romantic expedition. while we glided along the florida shore, which was fast receding from the eye, a sudden boiling and commotion of the sea, which we had remarked some time before we were involved in it, assured us that we had again entered the gulf stream, where it rushes from the mexican sea, after having made a broad sweep of eighteen hundred miles, and in twenty days after emerging from it in higher latitudes. our course was now very sensibly retarded by the strong current against which we sailed, though impelled by a breeze which would have wafted us, over a currentless sea, nine or ten miles an hour. in the afternoon the blue hills of cuba, elevated above the undulating surface of the island, and stretching along its back like a serrated spine, reared themselves from the sea far to the south; and at sunset the twin hills of matanzas, for which sailors' imaginations have conjured up not the most pleasing appellation--could be just distinguished from the blue waves on the verge of the ocean; and receding from the sea, with an uneven surface, the vast island rose along the whole southern horizon, not more than four or five leagues distant. the florida shore had long before disappeared, though several vessels were standing toward it, bound apparently into key west, between which and havana we had seen an armed schooner, under american colours, hovering during the whole afternoon. cape st. antonio, the notorious rendezvous of that daring band of pirates, which, possessing the marauding without the chivalrous spirit of the old buccaneers, long infested these seas, just protruded above the rim of the horizon far to the south-east. we soon lost sight of it, and in the evening, altering our course a little to avoid the shoals which are scattered thickly off the southern and western extremity of florida, ran rapidly and safely past the tortugas--the scylla and charybdis of this southern latitude. we already begin to appreciate the genial influence of a southern climate. the sun, tempered by a pleasant wind, beams down upon us warm and cheerily--the air is balmy and laden with grateful fragrance from the unseen land--and though near the first of december, at which time you dwellers under the wintry skies of the north, are shivering over your grates, we have worn our summer garments and palm-leaf hats for some days past. if this is a specimen of a southern winter, where quietly to inhale the mellow air is an elysian enjoyment--henceforth sleighing and skating will have less charms for me. we are at last at the termination of our voyage upon the _sea_. in three days at the farthest we expect to land in new-orleans. but three days upon the waveless mississippi to those who have been riding a month upon the ocean, is but a trifle. after an uncommonly long, but unusually pleasant passage of thirty-one days, we anchored off the balize[ ] last evening at sun set. the tedious monotony of our passage since leaving cuba, was more than cancelled by the scenes and variety of yesterday. we had not seen a sail for four or five days, when, on ascending to the deck at sunrise yesterday morning, judge of my surprise and pleasure at beholding a fleet of nearly fifty vessels surrounding us on every side, all standing to one common centre; in the midst of which our own gallant ship dashed proudly on, like a high mettled courser contending for the victory. to one imprisoned in a companionless ship on the broad and lonely ocean so many days, this was a scene, from its vivid contrast, calculated to awaken in the bosom emotions of the liveliest gratification and pleasure. a point or two abaft our beam, within pistol shot distance, slowly and majestically moved a huge, british west indiaman, her black gloomy hull wholly unrelieved by brighter colours, with her red ensign heavily unfolding to the breeze in recognition of the stars and stripes, floating gracefully at our peak. farther astern, a taunt-rigged, rakish looking portuguese polacca (polaque) carrying even in so light a breeze a "bone in her teeth," glided swiftly along, every thing set from deck to truck. we could distinctly see the red woollen caps and dark red faces of her crew, peering over the bow, as they pointed to, and made remarks upon our ship. early in the morning, about a league ahead of us, we had observed a heavy sailing dutch ship, as indeed all dutch ships are; about eleven o'clock we came up with, and passed her, with the same facility as if she had been at anchor. on all sides of us vessels of nearly every maritime nation were in sight; and in conjectures respecting them, and in admiring their variety of construction and appearance, we passed most of the day, elated with the prospect of a speedy termination to our voyage. before we had completed dinner, the cry of "land ho!" was heard from the main-top, and in the course of half an hour we saw from the deck, not exactly _land_, but an apology for it, in the form and substance of an immense marsh of tall, wild grass, which stretched along the horizon from west to east _ad infinitum_. this soil, if you may term it such, is formed by the accumulation and deposition of ochreous matter discharged by the mississippi, whose turbid waters are more or less charged with terrene particles, so much so, that a glass filled with its water appears to deposit in a short time a sediment nearly equal to one-twelfth of its bulk. the matter discharged by the river, condensed and strengthened by logs, trees, grass, and other gross substances, is raised above the ordinary tide waters, upon which a soil is formed of mingled sand and marl, capable of producing the long grass, which not only lines the coast in the vicinity of this river, but extends many miles into the interior, where it unites with the cypress swamps which cover the greater part of the unreclaimed lowlands of louisiana. we coasted along this shore till about three in the afternoon, when the light-house at the south-east passage, the chief _embouchure_ of the mississippi, appeared in sight but a few miles ahead; passing this, we received a pilot from a fairy-like pilot-boat, which, on delivering him, bounded away from us like a swift-winged albatross. about four o'clock the light-house at the south-west passage lifted its solitary head above the horizon. the breeze freshening, we approached it rapidly, under the guidance of the pilot, who had taken command of our ship. when nearly abreast of the light-house, a fierce little warlike-looking revenue cutter ran alongside of us, and lowering her boat, sent her lieutenant on board, to see that "all was straight." he cracked a bottle of wine with the captain, and leaving some late new-orleans papers, took his departure. for the next half hour the quarter-deck appeared like a school-room--buzz, buzz, buzz! till the papers were read and re-read, advertisements and all, and all were satisfied. about six in the evening we cast anchor at the mouth of the south-west pass, in company not only with the fleet in which we had sailed during the day, but with a large fleet already at anchor, waiting for tide, pilots, wind, or tow-boats. in approaching the mouth of the river, we observed, to us, a novel and remarkable appearance--the meeting of the milky, turbid waters of the mississippi, with the pale green of the ocean. the waters of the former, being lighter than the latter, and not readily mingling with it, are thrown upon the surface, floating like oil to the depth of only two or three feet. a ship passing through this water, leaves a long, dark wake, which is slowly covered by the uniting of the parted waters. the line of demarkation between the yellowish-brown water of the river, and the clear green water of the sea, is so distinctly defined, that a cane could be laid along it. when we first discovered the long white line, about two miles distant, it presented the appearance of a low sand beach. as we reached it, i went aloft, and seating myself in the top-gallant cross-trees, beheld one of the most singular appearances of which i had ever formed any conception. when within a few fathoms of the discoloured water, we appeared to be rushing on to certain destruction, and when our sharp keel cut and turned up the sluggish surface, i involuntarily shuddered; the next instant we seemed suspended between two seas. another moment, and we had passed the line of division, ploughing the lazy and muddy waves, and leaving a dark transparent wake far astern. we are hourly expecting our tow-boat--the whale. when she arrives we shall immediately, in the company of some other ships, move up for new-orleans. the morning is delightful, and we have the prospect of a pleasant sail, or rather _tow_, up the river. a hundred snow-white sails are reflecting the rays of the morning sun, while the rapid dashing of the swift pilot-boats about us, and the slower movements of ships getting under weigh to cross the bar, and work their own way up to the city--together with the mingling sounds of stern commands, and the sonorous "heave-ho-yeo!" of the labouring seamen, borne upon the breeze, give an almost unparalleled charm and novelty to the scene. our whale is now in sight, spouting, not _jets d'eau_, but volumes of dense black smoke. we shall soon be under weigh, and every countenance is bright with anticipation. within an hour we shall be floating upon the great artery of north america, "prisoners of hope" and of _steam_, on our way to add our little number to the countless thousands who throng the streets of the key of the great valley through which it flows. footnotes: [ ] french balise, spanish, valiza, a _beacon_; once placed at the mouth of the river, but now superseded by a light-house. hence the term "balize" applied to the mouth of the mississippi. part ii. vi. the mississippi--the whale--description of tow-boats--a package--a threatened storm--a beautiful brigantine-- physiognomy of ships--richly furnished cabin--an obliging captain--desert the ship--getting under weigh--a chain of captives--towing--new-orleans--a mystery to be unraveled. upon the mighty bosom of the "father of waters", our gallant ship now proudly floats. the mississippi! that noble river, whose magnificent windings i have traced with my finger upon the map in my school-boy days, wishing, with all the adventurous longing of a boy, that i might, like the good fathers marquette and hennepin, leap into an indian's birch canoe, and launching from its source among the snows and untrodden wilds of the far north, float pleasantly away under every climate, down to the cis-atlantic mediterranean; where, bursting from its confined limits, it proudly shoots into that tideless sea through numerous passages, like radii from one common centre. my wishes are now, in a measure, about to be realized. the low, flat, and interminable marshes, through the heart of which we are rapidly advancing--the ocean-like horizon, unrelieved by the slightest prominence--the sullen, turbid waves around us, which yield but slowly and heavily to the irresistible power of steam--all familiar characteristics of this river--would alone assure me that i am on the mississippi. my last letter left us in the immediate expectation of being taken in tow by the "whale," then coming rapidly down the south-west passage, in obedience to the hundred signals flying at the "fore" of as many vessels on every side of us. in a few minutes, snorting and dashing over the long ground-swell, and flinging a cloud of foam from her bows, she ran alongside of us, and sent her boat on board. while the little skiff was leaping from wave to wave to our ship, we had time to observe more attentively than when in motion, the singular appearance of this _unique_ class of steamboats. her engine is of uncommon power, placed nearer the centre of the hull than in boats of the usual construction; her cabin is small, elevated, and placed near the engine in the centre of the boat. with the exception of the engine and cabin, she is "flush" from stem to stern; one quarter of her length abaft the cabin, and the same portion forward of the boilers being a broad platform, which extends quite around the boat, forming a very spacious guard on either side. the after part of this guard is latticed for the purpose of carrying off the water with facility when thrown back from the wheels. they seldom or never take passengers up to the city. the usual price for towing is, i think, about one dollar _per_ ton. hence the expense is very great for vessels of large burthen; and rather than incur it, many ships, after being towed over the bar, which, at this season, cannot be crossed otherwise, work their own way up to town, which, with a fair wind, may be effected in twenty-four hours, the distance being but one hundred and five miles; but it not unfrequently takes them ten or fifteen days. our captain informs me that he once lay thirty-six days in the river before he could reach new-orleans--but fortunately, owing to the state of the market, on his arrival, he realized two hundred per cent. more on his cargo than he would have done had he arrived a month earlier. the jolly-boat from the steamer was now along side, and the officer in the stern sheets tossed a small package on our quarter-deck; and then, with the velocity of an uncaged bird, his little green cockle-shell darted away from us like a dolphin. the next moment he stood upon the low deck of the steamer. "go ahead!" loudly was borne over the water, and with a plunge and a struggle, away she dashed from us with her loud, regular _boom_, _boom_, _boom_! throwing the spray around her head, like the huge gambolling monster from which she derives her name. with her went our hopes of speedy deliverance from our present durance. with faces whose complicated, whimsically-woful expression lavater himself could not have analyzed, and as though moved by one spirit, we turned simultaneously toward the captain, who leaned against the capstan, reading one of the letters from the package just received. there was a cloud upon his brow which portended no good to our hopes, and which, by a sympathetic feeling, was attracted to, and heavily settled upon our own. we turned simultaneously to the tow-boat: she was rapidly receding in the distance. we turned again to watch our probable fate in the captain's face. it spoke as plainly as face could speak, "gentlemen, _no_ tow-boat." we gazed upon each other like school-boys hatching a conspiracy. mutual glances of chagrin and dissatisfaction were bandied about the decks. after so long a passage, with our port almost in sight, and our voyage nearly ended, to be compelled to remain longer in our close prison, and creep like a "wounded snake, dragging its slow length along," winding, day after day, through the sinuosities of this sluggish mississippi, was enough to make us ship-wearied wretches verily, "to weep our spirits from our eyes." it was a consummation we had never wished. there was evidently a rebellion in embryo. the storm was rapidly gathering, and the thunders had already begun "to utter their voices." the whole scene was infinitely amusing. there could not have been more _feeling_ exhibited, had an order come down for the ship to ride a gibraltar quarantine. the captain, having quietly finished the perusal of his letters, now changed at once the complexion of affairs. "i have just received advices, gentlemen, from my consignees in the city, that the market will be more favourable for my cargo fifteen days hence, than now; therefore, as i have so much leisure before me, i shall decline taking the tow-boat, and sail up to new-orleans. i will, however, send my boat aboard the brig off our starboard quarter, which will take steam, and try to engage passage for those who wish to leave the ship." there was no alternative, and we cheerfully sacrificed our individual wishes to the interests of captain callighan, whose urbanity, kindness and gentlemanly deportment, during the whole passage out, had not only contributed to our comfort and happiness, but won for him our cordial esteem and good feelings.[ ] in a few minutes one of our quarter-boats was alongside, bobbing up and down on the short seas, with the buoyancy of a cork-float. the first officer, myself, and another passenger, leaped into her; and a few dozen long and nervous strokes from the muscular arms of our men, soon ran us aboard the brig, whose anchor was already "apeak," in readiness for the whale. as we approached her, i was struck with her admirable symmetry and fine proportions--she was a perfect model of naval architecture. though rather long for her breadth of beam, the sharp construction of her bows, and the easy, elliptical curve of her sides, gave her a peculiarly light and graceful appearance, which, united with her taunt, slightly raking taper masts, and the precision of her rigging, presented to our view a nautical _ensemble_, surpassing in elegance any thing of the kind i had ever before beheld. we were politely received at the gangway by the captain, a gentlemanly, sailor-like looking young man, with whom, after introducing ourselves, we descended into the cabin. i had time, however, to notice that the interior of this very handsome vessel corresponded with the exterior. the capstan, the quarter-rail stanchions, the edge of the companion-way, and the taffrail, were all ornamented and strengthened with massive brass plates, polished like a mirror. the binnacle case was of ebony, enriched with inlaying and carved work. a dazzling array of steel-headed boarding pikes formed a glittering crescent half around the main-mast. her decks evinced the free use of the "holy-stone," and in snowy whiteness, would have put to the blush the unsoiled floors of the most fastidious yankee housewife. her rigging was not hung on pins, but run and coiled "man-o'-war fashion," upon her decks. her long boat, amidships, was rather an ornament than an excrescence, as in most merchantmen. forward, the "men" were gathered around the windlass, which was abaft the foremast, all neatly dressed in white trousers and shirts, even to the sable "doctor" and his "sub," whose double banks of ivories were wonderingly illuminative, as they grinned at the strangers who had so unceremoniously boarded the brig. as i descended the mahogany stair-case, supported by a highly polished balustrade cast in brass, my curiosity began to be roused, and i found myself wondering into what pleasure-yacht i had intruded. she was evidently american; for the "stars and stripes" were floating over our heads. independent of this evidence of her nation, her bright, golden sides, and peculiar american _expression_ (for i contend that there is a national and an individual expression to every vessel, as strongly marked and as easily defined as the expression of every human countenance,) unhesitatingly indicated her country. my curiosity was increased on entering the roomy, richly wrought, and tastefully furnished cabin. the fairest lady in england's halls might have coveted it for her _boudoir_. here were every luxury and comfort, that wealth and taste combined could procure. a piano, on which lay music books, a flute, clarionet, and a guitar of curious workmanship, occupied one side of the cabin; on the other stood a sofa, most temptingly inviting a loll, and a centre table was strewed with pamphlets, novels, periodicals, poetry, and a hundred little unwritten elegancies. the transom was ingeniously constructed, so as to form a superb sideboard, richly covered with plate, but more richly _lined_, as we subsequently had an opportunity of knowing, to our hearts' content. three doors with mirrored panelling gave egress from the cabin, forward, to two state rooms and a dining-room, furnished in the same style of magnificence. my companions shared equally in my surprise, at the novelty of every thing around us. i felt a disposition to return to our ship, fearing that our proposition to take passage in the brig might be unacceptable. but before i had come to a decision, mr. f., our first officer, with true sailor-like bluntness, had communicated our situation and wishes. "certainly," replied the captain, "but i regret that my state-rooms will not accommodate more than five or six; the others will have to swing hammocks between decks; if they will do this, they are welcome." although this compliance with our request was given with the utmost cheerfulness and alacrity, i felt that our taking passage with him would be inconvenient and a gross intrusion; and would have declined saying, that some other vessel would answer our purpose equally well. he would not listen to me but in so urgent a manner requested us to take passage with him, that we reluctantly consented, and immediately returned to our ship to relate our success, and transfer our baggage to the brig. fortunately, but five of our party, including two ladies, were anxious to leave the ship; the remainder choosing rather to remain on board, and go up to town in her, as the captain flattered them with the promise of an early arrival should the wind hold fair. in less than ten minutes we had bidden farewell, and wished a speedy passage to our fellow-passengers, who had so rashly refused to "give up the ship" and were on our way with "bag and baggage" to the brig, which now and then rose proudly upon a long sea, and then slowly and gracefully settled into its yielding bosom. we had been on board but a short time when the whale, which had already towed four ships and a brig, one at a time, over the bar, leaving each half a league up the passage, came bearing down upon us. in an incredibly short time she brought to ahead of us, and in less than five minutes had our brig firmly secured to her by two hawsers, with about fifty fathoms play. in the course of half an hour, we arrived where the five other vessels, which were to accompany us in tow, were anchored. more than two hours were consumed in properly securing the vessels to the tow-boat. our brig was lashed to her larboard, and the huge british indiaman, mentioned in my last letter, to her starboard side. two ships sociably followed, about a cable's length astern, and a spanish brig and a french ship, about one hundred yards astern of these, brought up the rear. these arrangements completed, the command to "go ahead" was given, and slowly, one after the other, the captive fleet yielded to the immense power of the high-pressure engine. gradually our motion through the water became more and more rapid, till we moved along at the rate of seven knots an hour. the appearance our convoy presented, was novel and sublime. it was like a triumph! the wind though light, was fair, and every vessel was covered with clouds of snowy canvass. the loud, deep, incessant booming from the tow-boat--the black and dense masses of smoke rolling up and curling and wreathing around the lofty white sails, then shooting off horizontally through the air, leaving a long cloudy galaxy astern, contributed greatly to the novelty of this extraordinary scene. we are now within twenty miles of the city of frenchmen and garlic soups, steamboats and yellow fever, negroes and quadroons, hells and convents, soldiers and slaves, and things, and people of every language and kindred, nation and tribe upon the face of the earth. from this place you will receive my next letter, wherein perchance you may find a solution of the mystery thrown around our beautiful vessel. footnotes: [ ] our ship was not a line-packet: they never delay. vii. louisiana--arrival at new-orleans--land--pilot stations --pilots--anecdote--fort--forests--levée--crevasses--alarms --accident--espionage--a louisianian palace--grounds-- sugar-house--quarters--an african governess--sugar cane-- st. mary--"english turn"--cavalcade--battle ground--music --sounds of the distant city--land in new-orleans--an _amateur_ sailor. we are at last in new-orleans, the queen of the south-west--the american waterloo, whose wellington, "general jackson"--according to the elegant ballad i believe still extant in the "boston picture-books," ---- "quick did go with yankee(?) troops to meet the foe; we met them near to new-orleans and made their blood to flow in streams." new-orleans! the play-thing of monarchs. "swapped," as boys swap their penknives. discovered and lost by the french--possessed by the gold-hunting spaniard--again ceded to the french--exchanged for a kingdom with the man who traded in empires, and sold by him, for a "plum" to our government! we arrived between eight and nine last evening, after a very pleasant run of twenty-eight hours from the balize, charmed and delighted of course with every thing. if we had landed at the entrance of vulcan's smithy from so long a sea-passage, it would have been precisely the same--all would have appeared "_couleur de rose_." to be _on land_, even were it a sand bank, is all that is requisite to render it in the eyes of the new landed passenger, a paradise. during the first part of our sail up the river, there was nothing sufficiently interesting in the way of incident or variety of scenery, to merit the trouble either of narration or perusal. till we arrived within forty-five or fifty miles of new-orleans, the shores of the river presented the same flat, marshy appearance previously described. with the exception of two or three "pilot stations," near its mouth, i do not recollect that we passed any dwelling. these "stations" are situated within a few miles of the mouth of the river, and are the residences of the pilots. the one on the left bank of the river, which i had an opportunity of visiting, contained about sixteen or eighteen houses, built upon piles, in the midst of the morass, which is the only apology for land within twenty leagues. one third of these are dwelling houses, connected with each other for the purpose of intercourse, by raised walks or bridges, laid upon the surface of the mud, and constructed of timber, logs, and wrecks of vessels. were a hapless wight to lose his footing, he would descend as easily and gracefully into the bosom of the yielding loam, as into a barrel of soft soap. the intercourse with the shore, near which this miserable, isolated congregation of shanties is imbedded, is also kept up by a causeway of similar construction and materials. the pilots, of whom there are from twelve to twenty at each station, are a hardy, rugged class of men. most of them have been mates of merchantmen, or held some inferior official station in the navy. the majority of them, i believe, are english, though americans, frenchmen and spaniards, are not wanting among their number. the moral character of this class of men, generally, does not stand very high, though there are numerous instances of individuals among them, whose nautical skill and gentlemanly deportment reflect honour upon their profession. it is by no means an unusual circumstance for the commander of a ship, on entering a harbour, to resign, _pro tem._, the charge of his vessel to a pilot, whom a few years before, while a petty officer under his command, he may have publicly disgraced and dismissed from his ship for some misdemeanor. in eighteen hundred and twenty-seven, when off maldonado, ascending the la plata, a spanish pilot came on board a ship of war; and as he stalked aft from the gangway, with the assumed hauteur of littleness in power, the penetrating eye of one of the lieutenants was fixed upon his countenance with a close and scrutinizing gaze. the eye of the pilot fell beneath its stern expression for a moment; but he again raised it, and stealing a quick, furtive, and apparently recognising glance at the officer, his dark brown face changed suddenly to the hue of death, and with a fearful cry, he sprang with the activity of a cat into the mizen rigging; but before he could leap over the quarter, the officer had seized a musket from a marine, and fired: the ball struck him near the elbow the instant he had cleared the rigging. a heavy splash was heard in the water, and as those on deck flew to the stern, a dark spot of blood upon the water was the only evidence that a human being had sunk beneath. while they were engaged in looking upon the spot where he had plunged, and wondering, without knowing the cause, at this summary method of proceeding on the part of the lieutenant, a cry, "there he is," was heard and repeated by fifty voices, naval discipline to the contrary notwithstanding, and about twenty fathoms astern, the black head of the pilot was seen emerging from the waves--but the next instant, with a horrible spanish curse, he dived from their sight, and in a few minutes, appeared more than a hundred yards astern. it appeared that during the well-known piratical depredations, a few years previous, in the vicinity of key west and cape st. antonio, this officer had the command of a shore expedition against the pirates. during the excursion he attacked a large band of them in their retreats, and, after a long and warmly contested conflict, either slew or took the whole party prisoners. among those was the redoubtable pilot, who held the goodly office of second in command among those worthy gentlemen. but as they proceeded to their schooner, which lay half a league from the shore, the rover, not liking the prospect which his skill in "second sight" presented to his fancy, suddenly, with a powerful effort, threw off the two men between whom he was seated, and leaping, with both arms pinioned behind him, over the head of the astonished bow oarsman, disappeared "instanter;" and while a score of muskets and pistols were levelled in various directions, made his appearance, in a few minutes, about a furlong astern, and out of reach of shot. it was thought useless to pursue him in a heavy barge, and he effected his escape. this said swimmer was recognised by the lieutenant in the person of the pilot; and as the recognition was mutual, the scene i have narrated followed. at sunrise, the morning after leaving the balize, we passed the ruins, or rather the former location, (for the traces are scarcely perceptible) of the old spanish fort plaquemine, where, while this country was under spanish government, all vessels were obliged to heave to, and produce their passports for the inspection of the sage, big-whiskered dons, who were there whilom domesticated. toward noon, the perpetual sameness of the shores, (they cannot be termed _banks_) of the river, were relieved by clumps of cypress and other trees, which gradually, as we advanced, increased into forests, extending back to a level horizon, as viewed from the mast-head, and overhanging both sides of the river. though so late in the season, they still retained the green freshness of summer, and afforded an agreeable contrast to the dry and leafless forests which we had just left at the north. at a distance, we beheld the first plantation to be seen on ascending the river. as we approached it, we discovered from the deck the commencement of the embankment or "levée," which extends, on both sides of the river, to more than one hundred and fifty miles above new-orleans. this _levée_ is properly a dike, thrown up on the verge of the river, from twenty-five to thirty feet in breadth, and two feet higher than high-water mark; leaving a ditch, or fossé, on the inner side, of equal breadth, from which the earth to form the levée is taken. consequently, as the land bordering on the river is a dead level, and, without the security of the levée, overflowed at half tides, when the river is full, or within twenty inches, as it often is, of the top of the embankment, the surface of the river will be _four feet higher_ than the surface of the country; the altitude of the inner side of the levée being usually six feet above the general surface of the surrounding land. this is a startling truth; and at first leads to reflections by no means favorable in their results, to the safety, either of the lives or property of the inhabitants of the lowlands of louisiana. but closer observation affords the assurance that however threatening a mass of water four feet in height, two thousand five hundred in breadth, and of infinite length, may be in appearance, experience has not shown to any great extent, that the residents on the borders of this river have in reality, more to apprehend from an inundation, so firm and efficacious is their levée, than those who reside in more apparent security, upon the elevated banks of our flooding rivers of the north. it cannot be denied that there have been instances where "crevasses" as they are termed here, have been gradually worn through the levée, by the attrition of the waters, when, suddenly starting through in a wiry stream, they rapidly enlarge to torrents which, with the force, and noise, and rushing of a mill-race, shoot away over the plantations, inundating the sugar fields, and losing themselves in the boundless marshes in the rear. but on such occasions, which however are not frequent, the alarm is given and communicated by the plantation bells, and before half an hour elapses, several hundred negroes, with their masters, (who all turn out on these occasions, as at a fire,) will have gathered to the spot, and at the expiration of another half-hour, the breach will be stopped, the danger past, and the "monarch of rivers," subdued by the hand of man, will be seen again moving, submissively obedient, within his prescribed limits, sullenly, yet majestically to the ocean. during the afternoon, we passed successively many sugar plantations, in the highest state of cultivation. owing to the elevation of the levée, and the low situation of the lands, we could see from the deck only the upper story of the planters' residences upon the shore; but from the main top, we had an uninterrupted view of every plantation which we passed. as they very much resemble each other in their general features, a description of one of them will be with a little variation applicable to all. fortunately for me, a slight accident to our machinery, which delayed us fifteen or twenty minutes, in front of one of the finest plantations below new-orleans, enabled me to put in practice a short system of _espionage_ upon the premises, from the main top, with my spy-glass, that introduced me into the very _sanctum_ of the enchanting ornamental gardens, in which the palace-like edifice was half-embowered. the house was quadrangular, with a high steep dutch roof, immensely large, and two stories in height; the basement or lower story being constructed of brick, with a massive colonnade of the same materials on all sides of the building. this basement was raised to a level with the summit of the levée, and formed the ground-work or basis of the edifice, which was built of wood, painted white, with venetian blinds, and latticed verandas, supported by slender and graceful pillars, running round every side of the dwelling. along the whole western front, festooned in massive folds, hung a dark-green curtain, which is dropped along the whole length of the balcony in a summer's afternoon, not only excluding the burning rays of the sun, but inviting the inmates to a cool and refreshing _siesta_, in some one of the half dozen network hammocks, which we discovered suspended in the veranda. the basement seemed wholly unoccupied, and probably was no more than an over-ground cellar. at each extremity of the piazza was a broad and spacious flight of steps, descending into the garden which enclosed the dwelling on every side. situated about two hundred yards back from the river, the approach to it was by a lofty massive gateway which entered upon a wide gravelled walk, bordered by dark foliaged orange trees, loaded with their golden fruit. pomegranate, fig, and lemon trees, shrubs, plants and exotics of every clime and variety, were dispersed in profusion over this charming _parterre_. double palisades of lemon and orange trees surrounded the spot, forming one of the loveliest and most elegant rural retirements, that imagination could create or romantic ambition desire. about half a mile in the rear of the dwelling, i observed a large brick building with lofty chimneys resembling towers. this was the sugar-house, wherein the cane undergoes its several transmutations, till that state of _perfection_ is obtained, which renders it marketable. on the left and diagonally from the dwelling house we noticed a very neat, pretty village, containing about forty small snow-white cottages, all precisely alike, built around a pleasant square, in the centre of which, was a grove or cluster of magnificent sycamores. near by, suspended from a belfry, was the bell which called the slaves to and from their work and meals. this village was their residence, and under the shade of the trees in the centre of the square, we could discern troops of little ebony urchins from the age of eight years downward, all too young to work in the field, at their play--under the charge of an old, crippled _gouvernante_, who, being past "field service," was thus promoted in the "home department." this plantation was about one mile and a half in depth from the river, terminating, like all in lower louisiana, in an impenetrable cypress swamp; and about two miles in breadth by the levée. about one half was waving with the rich long-leafed cane, and agreeably variegated, exhibiting every delicate shade from the brightest yellow to the darkest green. a small portion of the remainder was in corn, which grows luxuriantly in this country, though but little cultivated; and the rest lay in fallow, into which a portion of every plantation is thrown, alternately, every two years. by the time i had completed my observations, spying the richness, rather than "the nakedness" of the land, the engineer had arranged the machinery and we were again in motion; passing rapidly by rich gardens, spacious avenues, tasteful villas, and extensive fields of cane, bending to the light breeze with the wavy motion of the sea. just before sunset we passed the site of the old fort st. mary, and in half an hour after, swept round into the magnificent curve denominated the "english turn."[ ] as we sailed along, gay parties, probably returning from and going to, the city, on horseback, in barouches and carriages, were passing along the level road within the levée; their heads and shoulders being only visible above it, gave to the whole cavalcade a singularly ludicrous appearance--a strange bobbing of heads, hats and feathers, suggesting the idea of a new genus of locomotives amusing themselves upon the green sward. much to our regret, we did not arrive opposite the "battle ground" till some time after sunset. but we were in some measure remunerated for our disappointment, by gazing down upon the scene of the conflict from aloft, while as bright and clear a moon as ever shed its mellow radiance over a southern landscape, poured its full flood of light upon the now quiet battle field. i could distinguish that it was under cultivation, and that princely dwellings were near and around it; and my ear told me as we sailed swiftly by, that where shouts of conflict and carnage once broke fiercely upon the air, now floated the lively notes of cheerful music, which were wafted over the waters to the ship, falling pleasantly upon the ear. the lights and habitations along the shore now became more frequent. luggers, manned by negroes, light skiffs, with a solitary occupant in each, and now and then a dark hulled vessel, her lofty sails, reflecting the bright moon light, appearing like snowy clouds in the clear blue sky, were rapidly and in increasing numbers, continually gliding by us. by these certain indications we knew that we were not far from the goal so long the object of our wishes. we had been anticipating during the morning an early arrival, when the panorama of the crescent city should burst upon our view enriched, by the mellow rays of a southern sun, with every variety of light and shade that could add to the beauty or novelty of the scene. but our sanguine anticipations were not to be realized. the shades of night had long fallen over the town, when, as we swiftly moved forward, anxiously trying to penetrate the obscurity, an interminable line of lights gradually opened in quick succession upon our view; and a low hum, like the far off roaring of the sea, with the heavy and irregular tolling of a deep mouthed bell, was borne over the waves upon the evening breeze, mingling at intervals with loud calls far away on the shore, and fainter replies still more distant. the fierce and incessant baying of dogs, and as we approached nearer, the sound of many voices, as in a tumult;--and anon, the wild, clear, startling notes of a bugle, waking the slumbering echoes on the opposite shore, succeeded by the solitary voice of some lonely singer, blended with the thrumming notes of a guitar, falling with melancholy cadence upon the ear--all gave indications that we were rapidly approaching the termination of our voyage. in a few minutes, as we still shot onward, we could trace a thousand masts, penciled distinctly with all their network rigging upon the clear evening sky. we moved swiftly in among them; and gradually checking her speed, the tow-boat soon came nearly to a full stop, and casting off the ship astern, rounded to and left us along side of a salem ship, which lay outside of a tier "six deep." when the bustle and confusion of making fast had subsided, we began our preparations to go on shore. so anxious were we once more to tread "terra firma," that we determined not to wait for a messenger to go half a mile for a carriage, but to walk through the gayly lighted streets to our hotel in canal-street, more than a mile distant. so after much trouble in laying planks, for the surer footing of the ladies, from gangway to gangway, we safely reached, after crossing half a dozen ships, the firm, immoveable levée. i will now briefly relate the little history of our truly elegant brig, as i partially promised to do in my last, and conclude this long, long letter. her commander was formerly an officer of the united states navy. he is a graduate of harvard university, and presents in his person the admirable union of the polished gentleman, finished scholar, and practical seaman. inheriting a princely fortune from a bachelor uncle, he returned to massachusetts, his native state, and built according to his own taste the beautiful vessel he now commands. he has made in her one voyage to india, and two up the mediterranean, and is now at this port to purchase a cargo of cotton for the european market. his officers are gentlemen of education and nautical science; his equals and companions in the cabin, though his subordinates on the deck. if the imagination of the lonely sailor, as he mechanically paces his midnight watch, creates an utopia in the wide ocean of futurity, if there be a limit to the enjoyment of a refined seaman's wishes, or a "ne plus ultra," to his ambition, they must all be realized and achieved, by the sole command and control of a vessel so correctly beautiful as the d----; so ably officered and manned, so opulent with every luxury, comfort, and convenience, and free as the winds to go and come over the "dark blue sea," obedient alone to the uncontrolled will and submissive to the lightest pleasure of her absolute commander. footnotes: [ ] tradition saith, that some british vessels of war pursuing some american vessels up the river, on arriving at this place gave up the pursuit as useless, and _turned_ back to the balize. another tradition saith that john bull chasing some american ships up the river, thought, in his wisdom, when he arrived at this bend, that this was but another of the numerous outlets of the hydra-headed mississippi, and supposing the yankee ships were taking advantage of it to escape to the sea--he _turned_ about and followed his way back; again, determined, as school boys say, to "head them!" viii. bachelor's comforts--a valuable valet--disembarked at the levée--a fair castilian--canaille--the crescent city-- reminiscence of school days--french cabarets--cathedral-- exchange--cornhill--a chain of light--a fracas--gens d'armes --an affair of honour--arrive at our hotel. how delightfully comfortable one feels, and how luxuriantly disposed to quiet,--after having been tossed, and bruised, and tumbled about, _sans ceremonie_, like a bale of goods, or a printer's devil, for many long weary days and nights upon the slumberless sea--to be once more cosily established in a smiling, elegant little parlour, carpeted, curtained, and furnished with every tasteful convenience that a comfort loving, home-made bachelor could covet. in such a pleasant sitting-room am i now most enviably domesticated, and every thing around me contributes to the happiness of my situation. a cheerful coal-fire burns in the grate--(for the day is cloudy, misty, drizzly, foggy, and chilly, which is the best definition i can give you, as yet, of a wet december's day in new-orleans,)--diffusing an agreeable temperature throughout the room, and adding, by contrast with the dark gloomy streets, seen indistinctly through the moist glass, to the enjoyment of my comforts. i am now seated by my writing-desk at a table, drawn at an agreeable distance from the fire-place--and fully convinced that a man never feels so comfortably, as when ensconced in a snug parlour on a rainy day. a statue of dazzling ebony, by name antoine, to which the slightest look or word will give instant animation, stands in the centre of the room, contrasting beautifully in colour with the buff paper-hangings and crimson curtains. he is a slave--about seventeen years of age, and a bright, intelligent, active boy, nevertheless--placed at my disposal as _valet_ while i remain here, by the kind attention of my obliging hostess, madame h----. he serves me in a thousand capacities, as post-boy, cicerone, &c. and is on the whole, an extremely useful and efficient attaché. our party having safely landed on the levée, nearly opposite rue marigny, we commenced our long, yet in anticipation, delightful walk to our hotel. we had disembarked about a quarter of a league below the cathedral, from the front of which, just after we landed, the loud report of the evening gun broke over the city, rattling and reverberating through the long massively built streets, like the echoing of distant thunder along mountain ravines. on a firm, smooth, gravelled walk elevated about four feet, by a gradual ascent from the street--one side open to the river, and the other lined with the "pride of china," or india tree, we pursued our way to chartres-street, the "broadway" of new-orleans. the moon shone with uncommon brilliancy, and thousands, even in this lower faubourg, were abroad, enjoying the beauty and richness of the scene. now, a trio of lively young frenchmen would pass us, laughing and conversing gayly upon some merry subject, followed by a slow moving and stately figure, whose haughty tread, and dark _roquelaure_ gathered with classic elegance around his form in graceful folds, yet so arranged as to conceal every feature beneath his slouched _sombrero_, except a burning, black, penetrating eye,--denoted the exiled spaniard. we passed on--and soon the lively sounds of the french language, uttered by soft voices, were heard nearer and nearer, and the next moment, two or three duenna-like old ladies, remarkable for their "embonpoint" dimensions, preceded a bevy of fair girls, without that most hideous of all excrescences, with which women see fit to disfigure their heads, denominated a "bonnet"--their brown, raven or auburn hair floating in ringlets behind them. there was one--a dark-locked girl--a superb creature, over whose head and shoulders, secured above her forehead by a brilliant which in the clear moon burned like a star, waved the folds of a snow-white veil in the gentle breeze, created by her motion as she glided gracefully along. she was a castilian; and the mellow tones of her native land gave richness to the light elegance of the french, as she breathed it like music from her lips. as we passed on, the number of promenaders increased, but scarcely a lady was now to be seen. every other gentleman we met was enveloped in a cloud, not of bacchanalian, but tobacconalian incense, which gave a peculiar atmosphere to the levée. every, or nearly every gentleman carried a sword cane, apparently, and occasionally the bright hilt of a spanish knife, or dirk, would gleam for an instant in the moon-beams from the open bosom of its possessor, as, with the lowering brow, and active tread of wary suspicion, he moved rapidly by us, his roundabout thrown over the left shoulder and secured by the sleeves in a knot under the arm, which was thrust into his breast, while the other arm was at liberty to attend to his segar, or engage in any mischief to which its owner might be inclined. this class of men are very numerous here. they are easily distinguished by their shabby appearance, language, and foreign way of wearing their apparel. in groups--promenading, lounging, and sleeping upon the seats along the levée--we passed several hundred of this _canaille_ of orleans, before we arrived at the "parade," the public square in front of the cathedral. they are mostly spaniards and portuguese, though there are among them representatives from all the unlucky families which, at the building of babel, were dispersed over the earth. as to their mode and means of existence, i have not as yet informed myself; but i venture to presume that they resort to no means beneath the dignity of "caballeros!" after passing the market on our right, a massive colonnade, about two hundred and fifty feet in length, we left the levée, and its endless tier of shipping which had bordered one side of our walk all the way, and passing under the china-trees, that still preserved their unbroken line along the river, we crossed levée-street, a broad, spacious esplanade, running along the front of the main body or block of the city, separating it from the levée, and forming a magnificent thoroughfare along the whole extensive river-line. from this high-way streets shoot off at right angles, till they terminate in the swamp somewhat less than a league back from the river. i have termed new-orleans the crescent city in one of my letters, from its being built around the segment of a circle formed by a graceful curve of the river at this place. though the water, or shore-line, is very nearly semi-circular, the levée-street, above mentioned, does not closely follow the shore, but is broken into two angles, from which the streets diverge as before mentioned. these streets are again intersected by others running parallel with the levée-street, dividing the city into squares, except where the perpendicular streets meet the angles, where necessarily the "squares" are lessened in breadth at the extremity nearest the river, and occasionally form pentagons and parallelograms, with _oblique_ sides, if i may so express it. after crossing levée-street, we entered rue st. pierre, which issues from it south of the grand square. this square is an open green, surrounded by a lofty iron railing, within which troops of boys, whose sports carried my thoughts away to "home, sweet home," were playing, shouting and merry making, precisely as we used to do in days long past, when the harvest-moon would invite us from our dwellings to the village green, where many and many a joyful night we have played till the magic voice of our good old scotch preceptor was heard from the door of his little cottage under the elms, "laads, laads, it's unco time ye were in bed, laads," warning us to our sleepy pillows. the front of this extensive square was open to the river, bordered with its dark line of ships; on each side were blocks of rusty looking brick buildings of spanish and french construction, with projecting balconies, heavy cornices, and lofty jalousies or barricaded windows. the lower stories of these buildings were occupied by retailers of fancy wares, vintners, segar manufacturers, dried fruit sellers, and all the other members of the innumerable occupations, to which the volatile, ever ready frenchman can always turn himself and a _sous_ into the bargain. as we passed along, these shops were all lighted up, and the happy faces, merry songs, and gay dances therein, occasionally contrasted with the shrill tone of feminine anger in a foreign tongue, and the loud, fierce, rapid voices of men mingling in dispute, added to the novelty and amusement of our walk. i enumerated ten, out of seventeen successive shops or _cabarets_, upon the shelves of which i could discover nothing but myriads of claret and madeira bottles, tier upon tier to the ceiling; and from this fact i came to the conclusion, that some of the worthy citizens of new-orleans must be most unconscionable "wine-bibbers," if not "publicans and sinners," as subsequent observation has led me to surmise. on the remaining side of this square stood the cathedral, its dark moorish-looking towers flinging their vast shadows far over the water. the whole front of the large edifice was thrown into deep shade, so that when we approached, it presented one black mingled mass, frowning in stern and majestic silence upon the surrounding scene. leaving this venerable building at the right, we turned into chartres-street, the second parallel with the levée, and the most fashionable, as well as greatest business street in the city. as we proceeded, _cafés_, confectioners, fancy stores, millineries, parfumeurs, &c. &c., were passed in rapid succession; each one of them presenting something new, and always something to strike the attention of strangers, like ourselves, for the first time in the only "foreign" city in the united states. at the corner of one of the streets intersecting chartres-street--rue st. louis i believe--we passed a large building, the lofty basement story of which was lighted with a glare brighter than that of noon. in the back ground, over the heads of two or three hundred loud-talking, noisy gentlemen, who were promenading and vehemently gesticulating, in all directions, through the spacious room--i discovered a bar, with its peculiar dazzling array of glasses and decanters containing "spirits"--not of "the vasty deep" certainly, but of whose potent spells many were apparently trying the power, by frequent libations. this building--of which and its uses more anon--i was informed, was the "french" or "new exchange." after passing rue toulouse, the streets began to assume a new character; the buildings were loftier and more modern--the signs over the doors bore english names, and the characteristic arrangements of a northern dry goods store were perceived, as we peered in at the now closing doors of many stores by which we passed. we had now attained the upper part of chartres-street, which is occupied almost exclusively by retail and wholesale dry goods dealers, jewellers, booksellers, &c., from the northern states, and i could almost realize that i was taking an evening promenade in cornhill, so great was the resemblance. as we successively crossed rues conti, bienville and douane, and looked down these long straight avenues, the endless row of lamps, suspended in the middle of these streets, as well as in all others in new-orleans, by chains or ropes, extended from house to house across, had a fine and brilliant effect, which we delayed for a moment on the flag-stone to admire, endeavouring to reach with our eyes the almost invisible extremity of this line of flame. just before we reached the head of chartres-street, near bienville, in the immediate vicinity of which is the boarding house of madame h----, where we intended to take rooms, our way was impeded by a party of gentlemen in violent altercation in english and french, who completely blocked up the "trottoir." "sir," said one of the party--a handsome, resolute-looking young man--in a calm deliberate voice, which was heard above every other, and listened to as well--"sir, you have grossly insulted me, and i shall expect from you, immediately--before we separate--an acknowledgment, adequate to the injury." "monsieur," replied a young frenchman whom he had addressed, in french, "monsieur, i never did insult you--a gentleman never insults! you have misunderstood me, and refuse to listen to a candid explanation." "the explanation you have given sir," reiterated the first speaker, "is not sufficient--it is a subterfuge;" here many voices mingled in loud confusion, and a renewed and more violent altercation ensued which prevented our hearing distinctly; and as we had already crossed to the opposite side of the street, having ladies under escort, we rapidly passed on our way, but had not gained half a square before the clamour increased to an uproar--steel struck steel--one, then another pistol was discharged in rapid succession--"guards!" "gens d'armes, _gens d'armes_," "guards! guards!" resounded along the streets, and we arrived at our hotel, just in time to escape being run down, or run through at their option probably, by half a dozen gens d'armes in plain blue uniforms, who were rushing with drawn swords in their hands to the scene of contest, perfectly well assured in our own minds, that we had most certainly arrived at new-orleans! though affairs of the kind just described are no uncommon thing here, and are seldom noticed in the papers of the day--yet the following allusion to the event of last evening may not be uninteresting to you, and i will therefore copy it, and terminate my letter with the extract. "an affray occurred last night in the vicinity of bienville-street, in which one young gentleman was severely wounded by the discharge of a pistol, and another slightly injured by a dirk. an "_affaire d'honneur_" originated from this, and the parties met this morning. dr. ---- of new-york, one of the principals, was mortally wounded by his antagonist m. le---- of this city." ix. sensations on seeing a city for the first time--capt. kidd --boston--fresh feelings--an appreciated luxury--a human medley--school for physiognomists--a morning scene in new- orleans--canal-street--levée--french and english stores-- parisian and louisianian pronunciation--scenes in the market --shipping--a disguised rover--mississippi fleets--ohio river arks--slave laws. i know of no sensation so truly delightful and exciting as that experienced by a traveller, when he makes his _debut_ in a strange and interesting city. these feelings have attended me before, in many other and more beautiful places; but when i sallied out the morning after my arrival, to survey this "key of the great valley," i enjoyed them again with almost as much zest, as when, a novice to cities and castellated piles, i first gazed in silent wonder upon the immense dome which crowns beacon hill, and lingered to survey with a fascinated eye the princely edifices that surround it. i shall ever remember, with the liveliest emotions, my first visit to boston--the first "city," (what a charm to a country lad in the appellation) i had ever seen. it was a delightful summer's morning, when, urged forward by a gentle wind, our little, green-painted, coasting packet entered the magnificent harbour, which, broken and diversified with its beautiful islands, lay outspread before us like a chain of lakes sleeping among hills. with what romantic and youthful associations did i then gaze upon the lonely sea-washed monument, as we sailed rapidly by it, where the famous pirate, "nick," murdered his mate; and a little farther on, upon a pleasant green island, where the bloody "robert kidd" buried treasures that no man could number, or find!--with what patriotism, almost kindled into a religion, did i gaze upon the noble heights of dorchester as they lifted their twin summits to the skies on our left, and upon the proud eminence far to the right, where warren expired and liberty was born! i well remember with what wild enthusiasm i bounded on shore ere the vessel had quite reached it, and with juvenile elasticity, ran, rather than walked, up through the hurry and bustle that always attend long wharf. with what veneration i looked upon the spot, in state-street, where the first american blood was shed by british soldiers! with what reverence i paced "old cornhill"--and with what deep respect i gazed upon the venerable "old south," the scene of many a revolutionary incident! the site of the "liberty tree"--the "king's" chapel, where lionel lincoln was married--the wharf, from which the tea was poured into the dock by the disguised citizens, and a hundred other scenes and places of interesting associations were visited, and gave me a pleasure that i fear can never so perfectly be felt again. for then, my feelings were young, fresh and buoyant, and my curiosity, as in after life, had never been glutted and satiated by the varieties and novelties of our variegated world. even the "cannon-ball" embedded in the tower of brattle-street church, was an object of curiosity; the building in which franklin worked when an apprentice, was not passed by, unvisited; and the ancient residence of "job pray" was gazed upon with a kind of superstitious reverence. i do not pretend to compare my present feelings with those of that happy period. although my curiosity may not be so eager as then, it is full as persevering; and though i may not experience the same lively gratification, in viewing strange and novel scenes, that i felt in boyhood, i certainly do as much rational and intellectual pleasure; and obtain more valuable and correct information than i could possibly gain, were i still guided by the more volatile curiosity of youth. in spite of our fatigue of the preceding evening, and the luxury of a soft, firm bed, wherein one could sleep without danger of being capsized by a lee-lurch--a blessing we had not enjoyed for many a long and weary night--we were up with the sun and prepared for a stroll about the city. our first place of destination was the market-house, a place which in almost every commercial city is always worthy the early notice of a stranger, as it is a kind of "house of representatives" of the city to which it belongs, where, during the morning, delegates from almost every family are found studying the interests of their constituents by judicious negotiations for comestibles. if the market at new-orleans represents that city, so truly does new-orleans represent every other city and nation upon earth. i know of none where is congregated so great a variety of the human species, of every language and colour. not only natives of the well known european and asiatic countries are here to be met with, but occasionally persians, turks, lascars, maltese, indian sailors from south america and the islands of the sea, hottentots, laplanders, and, for aught i know to the contrary, symmezonians. now should any philanthropic individual, anxious for the advancement of the noble science of physiognomy, wish to survey the motley countenances of these goodly personages, let him on some bright and sunny morning bend his steps toward the market-house; for there, in all their variety and shades of colouring they may be seen, and _heard_. if a painting could affect the sense of hearing as well as that of sight, this market multitude would afford the artist an inimitable original for the representation upon his canvass of the "confusion of tongues." as we sallied from our hotel to commence our first tour of sight seeing, the vast city was just waking into life. our sleepy servants were opening the shutters, and up and down the street a hundred of their drowsy brethren were at the same enlightening occupation. black women, with huge baskets of rusks, rolls and other appurtenances of the breakfast table, were crying, in loud shrill french, their "stock in trade," followed by milk-criers, and butter-criers and criers of every thing but tears: for they all seemed as merry as the morning, saluting each other gayly as they met, "bo' shoo mumdsal"--"moshoo! adieu," &c. &c., and shooting their rude shafts of african wit at each other with much vivacity and humor. we turned down canal-street--the broadest in new-orleans, and destined to be the most magnificent. its breadth i do not know, correctly, but it is certainly one half wider than broadway opposite the park.--through its centre runs a double row of young trees, which, when they arrive at maturity, will form the finest mall in the united states, unless the _esplanade_--a beautiful mall at the south part of the city, should excel it. from the head of canal-street we entered levée-street, leaving the custom house, a large, plain, yellow stuccoed building upon our right, near which is a huge, dark coloured, unshapely pile of brick, originally erected for a _bethel church_ for seamen, but never finished, and seldom occupied, except by itinerant showmen, with their wonders. levée-street had already begun to assume a bustling, commerce-like appearance. the horse-drays were trundling rapidly by, sometimes four abreast, racing to different parts of the levée for their loads--and upon each was mounted a ragged negro, who, as jehu-like he drove along, standing upright and unsupported, resembled "phaeton in the suds"--rather than "phaeton the god-like." the stores on our left were all open, and nearly every one of them, for the first two squares, was occupied as a clothing or hat store, and kept by americans; that is to say, anglo americans as distinguished from the louisianian french, who very properly, and proudly too, assume the national appellation, which we of the english tongue have so haughtily arrogated to ourselves. as we approached the market, french stores began to predominate, till one could readily imagine himself, aided by the sound of the french language, french faces and french goods on all sides, to be traversing a street in havre or marseilles. though i do not pretend to be a critical connoisseur in french, yet i could discover a marked and striking difference between the language i heard spoken every where and by all classes, in the streets, and the parisian, or trans-atlantic french. the principal difference seems to be in their method of contracting or clipping their words, and consequently varying, more or less, the pronunciation of every termination susceptible of change. the vowels _o_ and _e_ are more open, and the _a_ is flatter than in the genuine french, and often loses altogether its emphatic fulness; while _u_, corrupted from its difficult, but peculiarly soft sound, is almost universally pronounced as full and plain as _oo_ in moon. this difference is of course only in pronunciation; the same literature, and consequently the same words and orthography, being common both to the creole and european. the sun had already risen, when i arrived, after a delightful walk, at the "marché."--this is a fine building consisting of a long, lofty roof, supported by rows of columns on every side. it is constructed of brick, and stuccoed; and, either by intention or an effect of the humid atmosphere of this climate, is of a dingy cream colour. a broad passage runs through the whole length of the structure, each side of which is lined with stalls, where some one, of no particular colour, presides; and before every pillar, the shining face of a blackee may be seen glistening from among his vegetables. as i moved on through a dense mass of negroes, mulattoes, and non-descripts of every shade, from "sunny hue to sooty," all balancing their baskets skilfully upon their heads, my ears were assailed with sounds stranger and more complicated than i ever imagined could be rung upon that marvellous instrument the human tongue. the "langue des halles"--the true "billingsgate" was not only here perfected but improved upon; the gods and goddesses of the london mart might even take lessons from these daughters of afric, who, enthroned upon a keg, or three-legged stool, each morning hold their _levée_, and dispense their esculent blessings to the famishing citizens. during the half hour i remained in the market, i did not see one white person to fifty blacks. it appears that here servants do all the marketing, and that gentlemen and ladies do not, as in boston, philadelphia, and elsewhere, visit the market-places themselves, and select their own provision for their tables. the market-place in philadelphia is quite a general resort and promenade for early-rising gentlemen, and it is certainly well worth one's while to visit it more than once, not only for the gratification of the palate and the eye, by the inviting display of epicurean delicacies, but to become more particularly acquainted with the general habits and manners of the country people, who always constitute the greater portion of the multitude at a market. among them are individuals from every little hamlet and village for ten or fifteen miles around the city, and by studying these people, a tolerably good idea may be formed by a stranger of the manners and customs of the inhabitants, (that is, the farming class) of the vicinity. but here, there is no temptation of the kind to induce one to visit the market in the city more than once. he will see nothing to gratify the spirit of inquiry or observation, in the ignorant, careless-hearted slaves, whose character presents neither variety nor interest. however well they may represent their brethren in the city and on the neighbouring sugar plantations, they cannot be ranked among the class of their fellow-beings denominated citizens, and consequently, are not to be estimated by a stranger in judging of this community. so far as regards the intrinsic importance of this market, it is undoubtedly equal to any other in america. vegetables and fruits of all climates are displayed in bountiful profusion in the vegetable stalls, while the beef and fish-market is abundantly supplied, though necessarily without that endless variety to be found in atlantic cities. in front, upon the water, were double lines of market and fish-boats, secured to the levée, forming a small connecting link of the long chain of shipping and steamboats that extend for a league in front of the city. at the lower part of the town lie generally those ships, which having their cargoes on board, have dropped down the river to await their turn to be towed to sea. fronting this station are no stores, but several elegant private dwellings, constructed after the combined french and spanish style of architecture, almost embowered in dark, evergreen foliage, and surrounded by parterres. the next station above, and immediately adjoining this, is usually occupied by vessels, which, just arrived, have not yet obtained a berth where they can discharge their cargoes; though not unfrequently ships here discharge and receive their freight, stretching along some distance up the levée to the link of market-boats just mentioned. from the market to the vicinity of bienville-street, lies an extensive tier of shipping, often "six deep," discharging and receiving cargo, or waiting for freight. the next link of the huge chain is usually occupied by spanish and french coasting vessels,--traders to mexico, texas, florida, &c. these are usually polaccas, schooners, and other small craft--and particularly black, rakish craft, some of them are in appearance. it would require but little exercise of the imagination, while surveying these truculent looking clippers, to fancy any one of them, clothed in canvass and bounding away upon the broad sea, the "_black flag_" flying aloft, the now gunless deck bristling with five eighteens to a side; and her indolent, smoking, dark faced crew exchanging their jack-knives for sabres and pistols. there was an instance of recent occurrence, where a ship was boarded and plundered by a well-armed and strongly manned schooner, in company with which, under the peaceful guise of a merchantman she had been towed down the river six days previous. next to this station (for as you will perceive, the whole levée is divided into _stations_ appropriated to peculiar classes of shipping,) commences the range of steamboats, or steamers, as they are usually termed here, rivaling in magnitude the extensive line of ships below. the appearance of so large a collection of steamboats is truly novel, and must always strike a stranger with peculiar interest. the next station, though it presents a more humble appearance than the others, is not the least interesting. here are congregated the primitive navies of indiana, ohio, and the adjoining states, manned (i have not understood whether they are _officered_ or not) by "real kentucks"--"buck eyes"--"hooshers"--and "snorters." there were about two hundred of these craft without masts, consisting of "flat-boats," (which resemble, only being much shorter, the "down east" gundalow, (gondola) so common on the rivers of maine,) and "keel-boats," which are one remove from the flat-boat, having some pretensions to a keel; they somewhat resemble freighting canal-boats. besides these are "arks," most appropriately named, their _contents_ having probably some influence with their god-fathers in selecting an appellation, and other non-descript-craft. these are filled with produce of all kinds, brought from the "upper country," (as the north western states are termed here) by the very farmers themselves who have raised it;--also, horses, cattle, hogs, poultry, mules, and every other thing raiseable and saleable are piled into these huge flats, which an old farmer and half a dozen goliaths of sons can begin and complete in less than a week, from the felling of the first tree to the driving of the last pin. when one of these arks is completed, and "every beast that is good for food" by sevens and scores, male and female, and every fowl of the air by sevens and fifties, are entered into the ark,--then entereth in the old man with his family by "males" only, and the boat is committed to the current, and after the space of many days arriveth and resteth at this ararat of all "up country" noahs. these boats, on arriving here, are taken to pieces and sold as lumber, while their former owners with well-lined purses return home as deck passengers on board steamboats. an immense quantity of whiskey from pittsburg and cincinnati, besides, is brought down in these boats, and not unfrequently, they are crowded with slaves for the southern market. the late excellent laws relative to the introduction of slaves, however, have checked, in a great measure, this traffic here, and the mississippi market at natchez has consequently become inundated, by having poured into it, in addition to its usual stock, the louisianian supply. i understand that the legislature of this rich and enterprising state is about to pass a law similar to the one above mentioned, which certainly will be incalculably to her advantage. the line of flats may be considered the last link of the great chain of shipping in front of new-orleans, unless we consider as attached to it a kind of dock adjoining, where ships and steamers often lie, either worn out or undergoing repairs. from this place to the first station i have mentioned, runs along the levée, fronting the shipping, an uninterrupted block of stores, (except where they are intersected by streets,) some of which are lofty and elegant, while others are clumsy piles of french and spanish construction, browned and blackened by age. x. first impressions--a hero of the "three days"--children's ball--life in new-orleans--a french supper--omnibuses-- chartres-street at twilight--calaboose--guard-house--the vicinage of a theatre--french cafés--scenes in the interior of a café--dominos--tobacco-smokers--new-orleans society. the last three days i have spent in perambulating the city, hearing, seeing, and visiting every thing worthy the notice of a yankee, (and consequently an inquisitive) tourist. as i shall again have occasion to introduce you among the strange and motley groups, and interesting scenes of the levée, i will not now resume the thread of my narrative, broken by the conclusion of my last letter, but take you at once into the "terra incognita" of this city of contrarieties. the evening of my visit to the market, through the politeness of monsieur d., a young frenchman who distinguished himself in the great "three days" at paris, and to whom i had a letter of introduction, was passed amid the gayety and brilliancy of a french assembly-room. the building in which this ball was held, is adjacent to the theatre d'orleans, and devoted, i believe, exclusively to public parties, which are held here during the winter months, or more properly, "the season," almost every night. the occasion on which i attended, was one of peculiar interest. it was termed the "children's ball;" and it is given at regular intervals throughout the gay months. i have not learned the precise object of this ball, or how it is conducted; but these are unimportant. i merely wish to introduce to you the dazzling crowd gathered there, so that you may form some conception of the manner and appearance of the lively citizens of this lively city, who seem disposed to remunerate themselves for the funereal and appalling silence of the long and gloomy season, when "pestilence walketh abroad at noon-day," by giving way to the full current of life and spirits. adopting, literally, "dum vivimus vivamus," for their motto and their "rule of faith and practice," they manage during the winter not only to make up for the privations of summer, but to execute about as much dancing, music, laughing, and dissipation, as would serve any reasonably disposed, staid, and sober citizens, for three or four years, giving them withal from january to january for the perpetration thereof. after taking a light supper at _home_, as i already call my hotel, which consisted of claret, macaroni, cranberries, peaches, little plates of fresh grapes, several kinds of cakes and other bonbons, spread out upon a long polished mahogany table, resembling altogether more the display upon a confectioner's counter than the _table d'hote_ of a hotel, in company with monsieur d. i prepared to walk to the scene of the evening's amusement. but on gaining the street we observed the "omnibus" still at its stand at the intersection of canal and chartres streets. the driver, already upon his elevated station, with his bugle at his lips, was sounding his "signal to make sail," as we should say of a ship; and thereupon, being suddenly impressed with the advantages the sixteen legs of his team had over our four, in accomplishing the mile before us, we without farther reflection, sprang forthwith into the invitingly open door at the end of the vehicle, and the next instant found ourselves comfortably seated, with about a dozen others, "in omnibus." there are two of these carriages which run from canal-street through the whole length of chartres-street, by the public square, and along the noble esplanade between the levée and the main body of the city, as far as the rail-road; the whole distance being about two miles. the two vehicles start simultaneously from either place, every half-hour, and consequently change stands with each other alternately throughout the day. they commence running early in the morning, and are always on the move and crowded with passengers till sun-down. for a "bit" (twelve-and-a-half cents) as it is denominated here, one can ride the whole distance, or if he choose, but a hundred yards--it is all the same to the knight of the whip, who mounted on the box in front, guides his "four-in-hand" with the skill of a professor. as we drove through the long, narrow and dusky street, the wholesale mercantile houses were "being" closed, while the retail stores and fancy shops, were "being" brilliantly lighted up. carriages, horsemen, and noisy drays, with their noisier draymen, were rapidly moving in all directions, while every individual upon the "trottoirs" was hurrying, as though some important business of the day had been forgotten, or not yet completed. all around presented the peculiar noise and bustle which always prevail throughout the streets of a commercial city at the close of the day. leaving our omniferous vehicle with its omnifarious cargo--among whom, fore and aft, the chattering of half a dozen languages had all at once, as we rode along, unceasingly assailed our ears--at the head of rue st. pierre, we proceeded toward orleans-street. directly on quitting the omnibus we passed the famous calaboos, or calabozo, the city prison, so celebrated by all seamen who have made the voyage to new-orleans, and who, in their "long yarns" upon the forecastle, in their weary watches, fail not to clothe it with every horror of which the calcutta black hole, or the dartmoor prison--two horrible bugbears to sailors--could boast. its external appearance, however, did not strike me as very appealing. it is a long, plain, plastered, blackened building, with grated windows, looking gloomy enough, but not more so than a common country jail. it is built close upon the street, and had not my companion observed as we passed along, "that is the calaboos," i should not probably have remarked it. on the corner above, and fronting the "square," is the guard-house, or quarters of the gens d'armes. several of them in their plain blue uniforms and side arms, were lounging about the corner as we passed, mingling and conversing with persons in citizens' dress. a glance _en passant_ through an open door, disclosed an apparently well-filled armory. a few minutes walk through an obscure and miserably lighted part of rues st. pierre and royale, brought us into orleans-street, immediately in the vicinity of its theatre. this street for some distance on either side of the assembly-room, was lighted with the brightness of noon-day; not, indeed, by the solitary lamps which, "few and far between," were suspended across the streets, but by the glare of reflectors and chandeliers from coffee-houses, restaurateurs, confectionaries and fancy stores, which were clustered around that nucleus of pleasure, the french theatre. we were in the french part of the city; but there was no apparent indication that we were not really in france. not an american ("anglo") building was to be seen, in the vicinity, nor scarcely an american face or voice discoverable among the numerous, loud-talking, chattering crowd of every grade and colour, congregated before the doors of the ball-room and cafés adjoining. before ascending to the magnificent hall where the gay dancers were assembled, we repaired to an adjoining café, _à la mode_ new-orleans, with a pair of monsieur d.'s friends--whom we encountered in the lobby while negotiating for tickets--to overhaul the evening papers, and if need there should be, recruit our spirits. a french coffee-house is a place well worth visiting by a stranger, more especially a yankee stranger. i will therefore detain you a little longer from the brilliant congregation of beauty and gallantry in the assembly room, and introduce you for a moment into this café and to its inmates. as the coffee houses here do not differ materially from each other except in size and richness of decoration, though some of them certainly are more fashionable resorts than others, the description of one of them will enable you perhaps to form some idea of other similar establishments in this city. though their usual denomination is "coffee-house," they have no earthly, whatever may be their spiritual, right to such a distinction; it is merely a "_nomme de profession_," assumed, i know not for what object. we entered from the street, after passing round a large venetian screen within the door, into a spacious room, lighted by numerous lamps, at the extremity of which stood an extensive bar, arranged, in addition to the usual array of glass ware, with innumerable french decorations. there were several attendants, some of whom spoke english, as one of the requirements of their station. this is the case of all _employés_ throughout new-orleans; nearly every store and place of public resort being provided with individuals in attendance who speak both languages. around the room were suspended splendid engravings and fine paintings, most of them of the most licentious description, and though many of their subjects were classical, of a voluptuous and luxurious character. this is french taste however. there are suspended in the exchange in chartres-street--one of the most magnificent and public rooms in the city--paintings which, did they occupy an equally conspicuous situation in merchant's hall, in boston, would be instantly defaced by the populace. around the room, beneath the paintings, were arranged many small tables, at most of which three or four individuals were seated, some alternately sipping negus and puffing their segars, which are as indispensable necessaries to a creole at all times, as his right hand, eye-brows, and left shoulder in conversation. others were reading newspapers, and occasionally assisting their comprehension of abstruse paragraphs, by hot "coffee," alias warm punch and slings, with which, on little japanned salvers, the active attendants were flying in all directions through the spacious room, at the beck and call of customers. the large circular bar was surrounded by a score of noisy applicants for the liquid treasures which held out to them such strong temptations. trios, couples and units of gentlemen were promenading the well sanded floor, talking in loud tones, and gesticulating with the peculiar vehemence and rapidity of frenchmen. others, and by far the majority, were gathered by twos and by fours around the little tables, deeply engaged in playing that most intricate, scientific, and mathematical of games termed "domino." this is the most common game resorted to by the creoles. in every café and cabaret, from early in the morning, when the luxurious mint-julep has thawed out their intellects and expanded their organ of combativeness, till late at night, devotees to this childish amusement will be found clustered around the tables, with a tonic, often renewed and properly sangareed, at their elbows. enveloped in dense clouds of tobacco-smoke issuing from their eternal segars--those inspirers of pleasant thoughts,--to whose density, with commendable perseverance and apparent good will, all in the café contribute,--they manoeuvre their little dotted, black and white parallelograms with wonderful pertinacity and skill. the whole scene forcibly reminds one, if perchance their fame hath reached him, of a brace of couplets from a celebrated poem (a choral ode i believe) composed upon the ship-wreck of its author. the lines are strikingly applicable to the present subject by merely substituting "café" for "cabin," and negus-drinkers for "hogsheads and barrels." "the café filled with thickest smoke, threat'ning every soul to choke: negus-drinkers crowding in, make a most infernal din." there are certainly one hundred coffee-houses in this city--how many more, i know not,--and they have, throughout the day, a constant ingress and egress of thirsty, time-killing, news-seeking visiters. as custom authorises this frequenting of these popular places of resort, the citizens of new-orleans do not, like those of boston, attach any disapprobation to the houses or their visiters. and as there is, in new-orleans, from the renewal of one half of its inhabitants every few years, and the constant influx of strangers, strictly speaking no exclusive _clique_ or aristocracy, to give a tone to society and establish a standard of propriety and respectability, as among the worthy bostonians, one cannot say to another, "it is not genteel to resort here--it will injure your reputation to be seen entering this or that café." the inhabitants have no fixed criterion of what is and what is not "respectable," in the northern acceptation of the term. they are neither guided nor restrained from following their own inclinations, by any laws of long established society, regulating their movements, and saying "thus far shalt thou go, and no farther." consequently, every man minds his own affairs, pursues his own business or amusement, and lets his neighbours and fellow-citizens do the same; without the fear of the moral lash (not law) before his eyes, or expulsion from "caste" for doing that "in which his soul delighteth." thus you see that society here is a perfect democracy, presenting variety and novelty enough to a stranger, who chooses to mingle in it freely, and feels a disposition impartially to study character. but a truce to this subject for the present, as i wish to introduce you into the presence of the fair democrats, whose fame for beauty is so well established. forcing our way through the press around the door, we entered the lobby, from which a broad flight of steps conducted us to a first, and then a second platform, through piles of black servants in attendance upon their masters and mistresses in the ball-room. at the second landing our tickets were received, and we toiled on with difficulty toward the hall door, with our hats (which the regulations forbid our wearing even in the entrance) elevated in the air, for if placed under the arm they would have been flattened in the squeeze to the very respectable similitude of a platter, as one unlucky gentleman near me had an opportunity of testing, to his full conviction. we were soon drawn within the current setting into the ball-room, and were borne onward by the human stream over which a score or two of chapeaux waved aloft like signals of distress.--but i have already spun out my letter to a sufficient length, and lest you should cry "hold, macduff," i will defer your introduction to the _beau monde_ of new-orleans till my next. xi. interior of a ball-room--creole ladies--infantile dancers --french children--american children--a singular division-- new-orleans ladies--northern and southern beauty--an agreeable custom--leave the assembly-room--an olio of languages--the exchange--confusion of tongues--temples of fortune. i have endeavoured to give you, in my hastily written letters, some notion of this city--its streets, buildings, inhabitants and various novelties, as they first struck my eye; and i apprehend that i have expanded my descriptions, by minuteness of detail, to a greater length than was necessary or desirable. but the scenes, individuals, and circumstances i meet with in my erranting expeditions through the city, are such as would attract, from their novelty, the attention of a traveller from the north, and, consequently, a description of them is neither unworthy a place in his letters, nor too inconsiderable to detain the attention of an inquisitive northern reader, vegetating "at home." on entering, from the dimly lighted lobby, the spacious and brilliant hall, illuminated with glittering chandeliers, where the beauty, and fashion, and gallantry of this merry city were assembled, i was struck with the spirit, life, and splendour of the scene. from alcoves on every side of the vast hall, raised a few steps from the floor, and separated from the area for dancing by an estrade of slender columns which formed a broad promenade quite around the room, bright eyes were glancing over the lively scene, rivalling in brilliancy the glittering gems that sparkled on brow and bosom. there were at least five hundred persons in the hall, two-thirds of whom were spectators. on double rows of settees arranged around the room, and bordering the area, were about one hundred ladies, exclusive of half as many, seated in the alcoves. in addition to an almost impenetrable body of gentlemen standing in the vicinity of the grand entrance, the promenade above alluded to was filled with them, as they lounged along, gazing and remarking upon the beautiful faces of the dark-eyed creoles,[ ] as their expressive and lovely features were lighted up and instinct with the animation of the moment; while others, more enviable, were clustered around the alcoves--most of which were literally and truly "bowers of beauty,"--gayly conversing with their fair occupants, as they gracefully leaned over the balustrade. there were several cotillions upon the floor, and the dancers were young masters and misses--i beg their pardon--young gentlemen and ladies, from four years old and upward--who were bounding away to the lively music, as completely happy as innocence and enjoyment could make them. i never beheld a more pleasing sight. the carriage of the infantile gentlemen was graceful and easy: and they wound through the mazes of the dance with an air of manliness and elegance truly french. but the tiny demoiselles moved with the lightness and grace of fairies. their diminutive feet, as they glided through the figure, scarcely touched the floor, and as they sprang flying away to the livelier measures of the band, they were scarcely visible, fluttering indistinctly like humming birds' wings. they were dressed with great taste in white frocks, but their hair was so arranged as completely to disfigure their heads. some of them, not more than eight years of age, had it dressed in the extreme parisian fashion; and the little martyrs' natural deficiency of long hair was amply remedied by that sovereign mender of the defects of nature, monsieur le friseur. the young gentlemen were dressed also in the french mode; that is, in elaborately embroidered coatees, and richly wrought frills. their hair, however, was suffered to grow long, and fall in graceful waves or ringlets (french children always have beautiful hair) upon their shoulders; very much as boys are represented in old fashioned prints. this is certainly more becoming than the uncouth round-head custom now prevalent in the united states, of clipping the hair short, as though boys, like sheep, needed a periodical sheering; and it cannot be denied that they both--sheep and boys--are _equally_ improved in appearance by the operation. turning from the bright and happy faces of the children, we met on every side the delighted looks of their parents and guardians, or elder brothers and sisters, who formed a large portion of the spectators. as i promenaded arm in arm with monsieur d. through the room, i noticed that at one end of the hall many of the young misses (or their guardians) were so unpardonably unfashionable as to suffer their hair to float free in wild luxuriance over their necks, waving and undulating at every motion like clouds; and many of the cheerful joyous faces i gazed upon, forcibly reminded me of those which are to be met with, trudging to and from school, every day at home. "these are the american children," observed my companion; "one half of the hall is appropriated to them, the other to the french." "what!" i exclaimed, "is there such a spirit of rivalry, jealousy, or prejudice, existing between the french and american residents here, that they cannot meet even in a ball-room without resorting to so singular a method of expressing their uncongeniality of feeling, as that of separating themselves from each other by a line of demarcation?" "by no means," he replied; "far from it. there is, i believe, a universal unanimity of feeling among the parties. there is now no other distinction, whatever may have existed in former days, either known or admitted, than the irremediable one of language. this distinction necessarily exists, and i am of opinion ever will exist in this city in a greater or less degree. it is this which occasions the separation you behold; for, from their ignorance of each other's language,--an ignorance too prevalent here, and both inexcusable and remarkable, when we consider the advantages mutually enjoyed for their acquisition,--were they indiscriminately mingled, the result would be a confusion like that of babel, or a constrained stiffness and reserve, the natural consequence of mutual inability to converse,--instead of that regularity and cheerful harmony which now reign throughout the crowded hall." during our promenade through the room i had an opportunity of taking my first survey of the gay world of this city, and of viewing at my leisure the dark-eyed fascinating creoles, whose peculiar cast of beauty and superb figures are everywhere celebrated. of the large assembly of ladies present,--and there were nearly two hundred, "maid, wife, and widow,"--there were many very pretty, if coal-black hair, regular features, pale, clear complexions, intelligent faces, lighted up by "eyes that flash and burn beneath dark arched brows," and graceful figures, all of which are characteristic of the creole, come under this definition. there were others who would be called "handsome" anywhere, except in the green mountains, where a pretty face and a red apple, a homely face and a lily, are pretty much synonymous terms. a few were eminently beautiful; but there was one figure, which, as my eye wandered over the brilliant assembly, fixed it in a moment. i soon learned that she was the most celebrated belle of new-orleans. i have certainly beheld far more beauty among the same number of ladies in a northern ball-room, than i discovered here. almost every young lady in new-england appears pretty, with her rosy cheeks, intelligent face, and social manners. the style of beauty at the south is of a more passive kind, and excitement is requisite to make it speak to the eye; but when the possessor is animated, then the whole face, which but a few moments before was passionless and quiet, becomes radiant and illuminated with fire and intelligence; and the indolent repose of the features becomes broken by fascinating smiles, and brilliant flashes from fine dark eyes. till this change is produced, the face of the southern lady appears plain and unattractive; and the promenader through a new-orleans assembly-room, where there was no excitement, if such could be the case, would pronounce the majority of the ladies decidedly wanting in beauty; but let him approach and enter into conversation with one of them, and he would be delighted and surprised at the magical transformation, "from grave to gay, from apathy to fire." it is certain, that beauty of features and form is more general in new-england; though in grace and expression, the south has the superiority. the difference is usually attributed to climate; but this never has been demonstrated, and the cause is still inexplicable. you are probably aware that the human form, more particularly the female, is here matured three or four years sooner than at the north. at the age of thirteen or fourteen, before their minds are properly developed, their habits formed, or their passions modified, the features of young girls become regular, their complexions delicate, and their figures attain that _tournure_ and womanly grace, though "beautifully less" in their persons, found only in northern ladies, at the age of seventeen or eighteen. the beauty of the latter, though longer in coming to maturity, and less perfect, is more permanent and interesting than the infantile and bewitching loveliness of the former. in consequence of this early approach to womanhood, the duration of their personal loveliness is of proportional limitation. being young ladies at an age that would entitle them to the appellation of children in colder climates, they must naturally retire much sooner than these from the ranks of beauty. so when northern ladies are reigning in the full pride and loveliness of their sex--every feature expanding into grace and expression--southern ladies, of equal age, are changing their premature beauty for the faded hues of premature old age. the joyous troops of youthful dancers, before ten o'clock arrived, surrendered the floor to the gentlemen and ladies, who, till now, had been merely spectators of the scene, and being resigned into the hands of their nurses and servants in waiting, were carried home, while the assembly-room, now converted into a regular ball-room, rang till long past the "noon of night" with the enlivening music, confusion, and revelry of a complete and crowded rout. introductions for a partner in the dance were not the "order of the day," or rather of the night. a gentleman had only to single out some lady among the brilliant assemblage, and though a total stranger, solicit the honour of dancing with her. such self-introductions are of course merely _pro tem._, and, like fashionable intimacies formed at saratoga, never after recognised. still, to a stranger, such absence of all formality is peculiarly pleasant, and, though every face may be new to him, he has the grateful satisfaction of knowing that he can make himself perfectly at home, and form innumerable delightful acquaintances for the evening, provided he chooses to be sociable, and make the most of the enjoyments around him. we left the hall at an early hour on our return to the hotel. crowds of mulatto, french and english hack-drivers were besieging the door, shouting in bad french, worse spanish, and broken english-- "coachee, massas! jontilhomme ridee!" "caballeros, voulez vous tomer mé carriage?" "wooly woo querie to ride sir?" "fiacre messieurs!" "by st. patrick jintilmen--honie, mounseers, woulee voo my asy riding coach?"--et cetera, mingled with execrations, heavy blows, exchanged in the way of friendship, laughter, yells and indian whoops, composing a "concord of sweet sounds" to be fully appreciated only by those who have heard similar concerts. we, however, effected our escape from these pupils of jehu, who, ignorant of our country, in a city where all the nations of the earth are represented, wisely addressed us in a babelic medley of languages, till we were out of hearing. returning, as we came through rues royale and st. pierre, past the quarter of the "gens d'armes," we entered chartres-street, which was now nearly deserted. proceeding through this dark, narrow street on our way home, meeting now and then an individual pursuing his hasty and solitary way along the echoing pavé, we arrived at the new exchange alluded to in my first letter, which served the double purpose of gentlemen's public assembly-room and _café_. as we entered from the dimly lighted street, attracted by the lively crowd dispersed throughout the spacious room, our eyes were dazzled by the noon-day brightness shed from innumerable chandeliers. having lounged through the room, filled with smokers, newspaper-readers, promenaders, drinkers, &c. &c., till we were stunned by the noise of the multitude, who were talking in an endless variety of languages, clattering upon the ear at once, and making "confusion worse confounded," my polite friend suggested that we should ascend to "the rooms," as they are termed. as i wished to see every thing in new-orleans interesting or novel to a northerner, i readily embraced the opportunity of an introduction into the penetralium of one of the far-famed temples which the goddess of fortune has erected in this, her favourite city. we ascended a broad flight of steps, one side of which exhibited many lofty double doors, thrown wide open, discovering to our view an extensive hall, in which stood several billiard tables, surrounded by their "mace and cue" devotees. but as my letter is now of rather an uncharitable length, i will defer till my next, farther description of the deeds and mysteries and unhallowed sacrifices connected with these altars of dissipation. footnotes: [ ] there is at the north a general misconception of the term "creole." a friend of mine who had visited louisiana for his health, after a residence of a few months gained the affections of a very lovely girl, and married her. he wrote to his uncle in massachusetts, to whose large estate he was heir-expectant, communicating the event, saying that he "had just been united to an amiable _creole_, whom he anticipated the pleasure of introducing to him in the spring." the old gentleman, on receiving the letter, stamped, raved, and swore; and on the same evening replied to his nephew, saying, that as he had disgraced his family by marrying a _mulatto_, he might remain where he was, as he wished to have nothing to do with him, or any of his woolly-headed, yellow skinned brats, that might be, henceforward. my friend, however, ventured home, and when the old gentleman beheld his lovely bride, he exclaimed, "the d--l, nephew, if you call this little angel a _creole_, what likely chaps the real ebony congos must be in that country." the old gentleman is not alone in his conception of a _creole_. where there is one individual in new england correctly informed, there are one hundred who, like him, know no distinction between the terms _creole_ and _mulatto_. "creole" is simply a synonym for "native." it has, however, only a local, whereas "native" has a general application. to say "he is a _creole_ of louisiana," is to say "he is a _native_ of louisiana." contrary to the general opinion at the north, it is seldom applied to coloured persons, _creole_ is sometimes, though not frequently, applied to mississippians; but with the exception of the west-india islands, it is usually confined to louisiana. xii. the goddess of fortune--billiard-rooms--a professor-- hells--a respectable banking company--"black-legs"-- faro described--dealers--bank--a novel mode of franking --roulette-table--a supper in orcus--pockets to let-- dimly lighted streets--some things not so bad as they are represented. my last letter left me on my way up to "the rooms" over the exchange, where the goddess of fortune sits enthroned, with a "cue" for her sceptre, and a card pack for her "magna charta," dispensing alternate happiness and misery to the infatuated votaries who crowd in multitudes around her altars. proceeding along the corridor, we left the billiard-room on our left, in which no sound was heard (though every richly-carved, green-covered table was surrounded by players, while numerous spectators reclined on sofas or settees around the room) save the sharp _teck! teck!_ of the balls as they came in contact with each other, and the rattling occasioned by the "markers" as they noted the progress of the game on the large parti-coloured "rosaries" extended over the centre of the tables. lingering here but a moment, we turned an angle of the gallery, and at the farther extremity came to a glass door curtained on the inner side, so as effectually to prevent all observation of the interior. entering this,--for new-orleans,--so carefully guarded room, we beheld a scene, which, to an uninitiated, ultra city-bred northerner, would be both novel and interesting. the first noise which struck our ears on entering, was the clear ringing and clinking of silver, mingled with the technical cries of the gamblers, of "all set"--"seven red"--"few cards"--"ten black," &c.--the eager exclamations of joy or disappointment by the players, and the incessant clattering of the little ivory ball racing its endless round in the roulette-table. on one side of the room was a faro-table, and on the opposite side a roulette. we approached the former, which was thronged on three sides with players, while on the other, toward the wall, was seated the dealer of the game--the "gentleman professeur." he was a portly, respectable looking, jolly-faced frenchman, with so little of the "black-leg" character stamped upon his physiognomy, that one would be far from suspecting him to be a gambler by profession. this is a profession difficult to be conceived as the permanent and only pursuit of an individual. your conception of it has probably been taken, as in my own case, from the fashionable novels of the day; and perhaps you have regarded the character as merely the creation of an author's brain, and "the profession" _as_ a profession, existing nowhere in the various scenes and circumstances of life. there are in this city a very great number of these _infernos_, (_anglicè_ "hells") all of which--with the exception of a few private ones, resorted to by those gentlemen who may have some regard for appearances--are open from twelve at noon till two in the morning, and thronged by all classes, from the lowest blackguard upward. they are situated in the most public streets, and in the most conspicuous locations. each house has a bank, as the amount of funds owned by it is termed. some of the houses have on hand twenty thousand dollars in specie; and when likely to be hard run by heavy losses, can draw for three or four times that amount upon the directors of the "bank company." the establishing of one of these banks is effected much as that of any other. shares are sold, and many respectable moneyed men, i am informed, become stockholders; though not ambitious, i believe, to have their names made public. it is some of the best stock in the city, often returning an enormous dividend. they are regularly licensed, and pay into the state or city treasury, i forget which, annually more than sixty thousand dollars. from six to twelve well-dressed, genteel looking individuals, are always to be found in attendance, to whom salaries are regularly paid by the directors; and to this salary, and this occupation, they look for as permanent a support through life as do members of any other profession. it is this class of men who are emphatically denominated "gamblers and black legs." the majority of them are frenchmen, though they usually speak both french and english. individuals, allured by the hope of winning, are constantly passing in and out of these houses, in "broad noon," with the same indifference to what is termed "public opinion," as they would feel were they going into or out of a store. those places which are situated in the vicinity of canal-street and along the levée, are generally of a lower order, and thronged with the _canaille_ of the city, sailors, kentucky boatmen, crews of steamboats, and poor gallic gentlemen, in threadbare long-skirted coats and huge whiskers. the room we were now visiting was of a somewhat higher order, though not exclusively devoted to the more genteel adventurers, as, in the very nature of the thing, such an exclusion would be impossible. but if unruly persons intrude, and are disposed to be obstreperous, the conductors of the rooms, of course, have the power of expelling them at pleasure. being merely spectators of the game, we managed to obtain an advantageous position for viewing it, from a vacant settee placed by the side of the portly dealer, who occupied, as his exclusive right, one side of the large table. before him were placed in two rows thirteen cards; the odd thirteenth capping the double file, like a militia captain at the head of his company, when marching "two by two;" the files of cards, however, unlike these martial files of men, are _straight_. you will readily see by the number, that these cards represent every variety in a pack. the dealer, in addition, has a complete pack, fitting closely in a silver box, from which, by the action of a sliding lid, he adroitly and accurately turns off the cards in dealing. the players, or "betters," as they are termed, place their money in various positions as it respects the thirteen cards upon the table, putting it either on a single card or between two, as their skill, judgment, or fancy may dictate. as i took my station near the faro-board, the dealer was just shuffling the cards for a new game. there were eleven persons clustered around the table, and as the game was about to commence, arm after arm was reached forth to the prostrate cards, depositing one, five, ten, twenty, or fifty dollars, according to the faith or depth of purse of their owners. on, around, and between the cards, dollars were strewed singly or in piles, while the eyes of every better were fixed immoveably, and, as the game went on, with a painful intensity, upon his own deposit, perhaps his last stake. when the stakes were all laid, the dealer announced it by drawling out in bad english, "all saat." then, damping his forefinger and thumb, by a summary process--not quite so elegant as common--he began drawing off the cards in succession. the card taken off does not count in the game; the betters all looking to the one turned up in the box to read the fate of their stakes. as the cards are turned, the winners are paid, the money won by the bank swept off with a long wand into the reservoir by the side of the banker, and down go new stakes, doubled or lessened according to the success of the winners--again is drawled out the mechanical "all set," and the same routine is repeated until long past midnight, while the dealers are relieved every two or three hours by their fellow-partners in the house. at the right hand of the dealer, upon the table, is placed what is denominated "the bank," though it is merely its representative. this is a shallow, yet heavy metal box, about twenty inches long, half as many wide, and two deep, with a strong network of wire, so constructed as to cover the box like a lid, and be secured by a lock. casting my eye into this receptacle through its latticed top, i noticed several layers of u.s. bank notes, from five to five hundred dollars, which were kept down by pieces of gold laid upon each pile. about one-fifth of the case was parted off from the rest, in which were a very large number of gold ounces and rouleaus of guineas. the whole amount contained in it, so far as i could judge, was about six thousand dollars, while there was more than three thousand dollars in silver, piled openly and most temptingly upon the table around the case, in dollars, halves, and quarters, ready for immediate use. from policy, five franc pieces are substituted for dollars in playing; but the winner of any number of them can, when he ceases playing, immediately exchange them at the bank for an equal number of dollars. it often happens that players, either from ignorance or carelessness, leave the rooms with the five franc pieces; but should they, five minutes afterward, discover their neglect and return to exchange them, the dealer exclaims with an air of surprise-- "saar! it will be one mistake, saar. i nevair look you in de fas before, saar!" thousands of dollars are got off annually in this manner, and a very pretty interest the banks derive from their ingenious method of _franking_. having seen some thousands of dollars change hands in the course of an hour, and, with feelings somewhat allied to pity, marked the expression of despair, darkening the features of the unfortunate loser, as he rushed from the room with clenched hands and bent brow, muttering indistinctly within his teeth fierce curses upon his luck; and observed, with no sympathizing sensations of pleasure, the satisfaction with which the winners hugged within their arms their piles of silver, we turned from the faro, and crossed the room to the roulette table. these two tables are as inseparable as the shark and the pilot fish, being always found together in every gambling room, ready to make prey of all who come within their influence. at faro there is no betting less than a dollar; here, stakes as low as a quarter are permitted. the players were more numerous at this table than at the former, and generally less genteel in their appearance. the roulette table is a large, long, green-covered board or platform, in the centre of which, placed horizontally upon a pivot, is a richly plated round mahogany table, or wheel, often inlaid with ivory and pearl, and elaborately carved, about two feet in diameter, with the bottom closed like an inverted box cover. around this wheel, on the inner border, on alternate little black and red squares, are marked numbers as high as thirty-six, with two squares additional, in one a single cipher, in the other two ciphers; while on the green cloth-covered board, the same numbers are marked in squares. the dealer, who occupies one side of the table, with his metal, latticed case of bank notes and gold at his right hand, and piles of silver before him, sets the wheel revolving rapidly, and adroitly spins into it from the end of his thumb, as a boy would snap a marble, an ivory ball, one quarter the size of a billiard ball. the betters, at the same instant, place their money upon such one of the figures drawn upon the cloth as they fancy the most likely to favour them, and intently watch the ball as it races round within the revolving wheel. when the wheel stops, the ball necessarily rests upon some one of the figures in the wheel, and the fortunate player, whose stake is upon the corresponding number on the cloth, is immediately paid his winning, while the stakes of the losers are coolly transferred by the dealer to the constantly accumulating heap before him; again the wheel is set revolving, the little ball rattles around it, and purses are again made lighter and the bank increased. as we were about to depart, i noticed in an interior room a table spread for nearly a dozen persons, and loaded with all the substantials for a hearty supper. the dealers, or conductors of the bank, are almost all bachelors, i believe, or ought to be, and keep "hall" accordingly, in the same building where lies their theatre of action, in the most independent and uproarious style. after the rooms are closed, which is at about two in the morning, they retire to their supper table, inviting all the betters, both winners and losers, who are present when the playing breaks up, to partake with them. the invitations are generally accepted; and those poor devils who in the course of the evening have been so unfortunate as to have "pockets to let," have at least the satisfaction of enjoying a good repast, _gratis_, before they go home and hang themselves.[ ] having satisfied our curiosity with a visit to this notable place, we descended into the exchange, which was now nearly deserted; a few gentlemen only were taking their "night caps" at the bar, and here and there, through the vast room, a solitary individual was pacing backward and forward with echoing footsteps. leaving the now deserted hall, which at an earlier hour had resounded with the loud and confused murmur of a hundred tongues, and the tramping of a busy multitude, we proceeded to our hotel through the silent and dimly lighted streets,[ ] without being assassinated, robbed, seized by the "_gens d'armes_," and locked up in the guard-house, or meeting any other adventure or misadventure whatever; whereat we were almost tempted to be surprised, remembering the frightful descriptions given by veracious letter-writers, of this "terrible city" of new-orleans. footnotes: [ ] exertions have been made from time to time by the citizens of louisiana for the suppression of gambling, but their efforts have until recently, been unavailing. during the last session of the legislature of louisiana, however, a bill to suppress gambling-houses in new-orleans, passed both houses, and has become a law. one of the enactments provides that the owners or occupants of houses in which gambling is detected, are liable to the penalties of the law. for the first offence, a fine of from one to five thousand dollars; for the second, from ten to fifteen thousand, and confinement in the penitentiary from one to five years, at the discretion of the court. fines are also imposed for playing at any public gaming table, or any banking game. the owners of houses where gaming tables are kept, are liable for the penalty, if not collected of the keeper; unless they are able to show that the crime was committed so privately that the owner could not know of it. it also provides for the recovery of any sums of money lost by gaming. to make up the deficiency in the revenue arising from the abolition of gaming-houses, a bill has been introduced into the legislature providing for the imposition of a tax on all passengers arriving at, or leaving new-orleans, by ships or steamboats. [ ] since the above paragraph was penned, the huge swinging lamps have been superseded by gas lights, which now brilliantly illuminate all the principal streets of the city. xiii. a sleepy porter--cry of fire--noises in the streets--a wild scene at midnight--a splendid illumination--steamers wrapped in flames--a river on fire--firemen--a lively scene--floating cotton--boatmen--an ancient portuguese charon--a boat race-- pugilists--a hero. at the commendable hour of one in the morning, as was hinted in my last letter, we safely arrived at our hotel, and roused the slumbering porter from his elysian dreams by the tinkling of a little bell pendant over the private door for "single gentlemen,--_belated_;" and ascended through dark passages and darker stairways to our rooms, lighted by the glimmer of a solitary candle fluttering and flickering by his motion, in the fingers of the drowsy "guardian of doors," who preceded us. we had finished our late supper, and, toasting our bootless feet upon the burnished fender, were quietly enjoying the agreeable warmth of the glowing coals, and relishing, with that peculiar zest which none but a smoker knows, a real habana,--when we were suddenly startled from our enjoyment by the thrilling, fearful cry, of "fire! fire!" which, heard in the silence of midnight, makes a man's heart leap into his throat, while he springs from his couch, as if the cry "to arms--to arms!" had broken suddenly upon his slumbers. "fire! fire! fire!" rang in loud notes through the long halls and corridors of the spacious hotel, startling the affrighted sleepers from their beds, and at the same instant a fierce, red glare flashed through our curtained windows. the alarm was borne loudly and wildly along the streets--the rapid clattering of footsteps, as some individual hastened by to the scene of the disaster, followed by another, and another, was in a few seconds succeeded by the loud, confused, and hurried tramping of many men, as they rushed along shouting with hoarse voices the quick note of alarm. we had already sprung to the balcony upon which the window of our room opened. for a moment our eyes were dazzled by the fearful splendour of the scene which burst upon us. the whole street,--lofty buildings, towers, and cupolas--reflected a wild, red glare, flashed upon them from a stupendous body of flame, as it rushed and roared, and flung itself toward the skies, which, black, lowering, and gloomy, hung threateningly above. two of those mammoth steamers which float upon the mighty mississippi, were, with nearly two thousand bales of cotton on board, wrapped in sheets of fire. they lay directly at the foot of canal-street; and as the flames shot now and then high in the air, leaping from their decks as though instinct with life, this broad street to its remotest extremity in the distant forests, became lurid with a fitful reddish glare, which disclosed every object with the clearness of day. the balconies, galleries, and windows, were filled with interested spectators; and every street and avenue poured forth its hundreds, who thundered by toward the scene of conflagration. i have a mania for going to fires. i love their blood-stirring excitement; and, as in an engagement, the greater the tumult and danger, the greater is the enjoyment. i do not, however, carry my "incendiary passion" so far as to be vexed because an alarm that turns me out of a warm bed proves to be only a "false alarm," but when a fire does come in my way, i heartily enjoy the excitement necessarily attendant upon the exertions made to extinguish it. you will not be surprised, then, that although i had not had "sleep to my eyes, nor slumber to my eyelids," i should be unwilling to remain a passive and distant spectator of a scene so full of interest. our hotel was a quarter of a mile from the fire, and yet the heat was sensibly felt at that distance. leaving my companion to take his rest, i descended to the street, and falling into the tumultuous current setting toward the burning vessels, a few moments brought me to the spacious platform, or wharf, in front of the levée, which was crowded with human beings, gazing passively upon the fire; while the ruddy glare reflected from their faces, gave them the appearance, so far as complexion was concerned, of so many red men of the forest. as i elbowed my way through this dense mass of people, who were shivering, notwithstanding their proximity to the fire, in the chilly morning air, with one side half roasted, and the other half chilled--the ejaculations-- "sacré diable!" "carramba!" "marie, mon dieu!" "mine got vat a fire!" "by dad, an its mighty waarm"--"well now the way that ar' cotton goes, is a sin to crockett!"--fell upon the ear, with a hundred more, in almost every _patois_ and dialect, whereof the chronicles of grammar have made light or honourable mention. as i gained the front of this mass of human beings, that activity which most men possess, who are not modelled after "fat jack," enabled me to gain an elevation whence i had an unobstructed view of the whole scene of conflagration. the steamers were lying side by side at the levée, and one of them was enveloped in wreaths of flame, bursting from a thousand cotton bales, which were piled, tier above tier, upon her decks. the inside boat, though having no cotton on board, was rapidly consuming, as the huge streams of fire lapped and twined around her. the night was perfectly calm, but a strong whirlwind had been created by the action of the heat upon the atmosphere, and now and then it swept down in its invisible power, with the "noise of a rushing mighty wind," and as the huge serpentine flames darted upward, the solid cotton bales would be borne round the tremendous vortex like feathers, and then--hurled away into the air, blazing like giant meteors--would descend heavily and rapidly into the dark bosom of the river. the next moment they would rise and float upon the surface, black unshapely masses of tinder. as tier after tier, bursting with fire, fell in upon the burning decks, the sweltering flames, for a moment smothered, preceded by a volcanic discharge of ashes, which fell in showers upon the gaping spectators, would break from their confinement, and darting upward with multitudinous large wads of cotton, shoot them away through the air, filling the sky for a moment with a host of flaming balls. some of them were borne a great distance through the air, and falling lightly upon the surface of the water, floated, from their buoyancy, a long time unextinguished. the river became studded with fire, and as far as the eye could reach below the city, it presented one of the most magnificent, yet awful spectacles, i had ever beheld or imagined. literally spangled with flame, those burning fragments in the distance being diminished to specks of light, it had the appearance, though far more dazzling and brilliant, of the starry firmament. there were but two miserable engines to play with this gambolling monster, which, one moment lifting itself to a great height in the air, in huge spiral wreaths, like some immense snake, at the next would contract itself within its glowing furnace, or coil and dart along the decks like troops of fiery serpents, and with the roaring noise of a volcano. there are but few "fires" in new-orleans, compared with the great number that annually occur in northern cities. this is owing, not wholly to the universally prevalent style of building with brick, but in a great measure to the very few fires requisite for a dwelling house in a climate so warm as this. consequently there is much less interest taken by the citizens in providing against accidents of this kind, than would be felt were conflagrations more frequent. the miserably manned engines now acting at intervals upon the fire, presented a very true exemplification of the general apathy. to a new-yorker or bostonian, accustomed to the activity, energy, and military precision of their deservedly celebrated fire companies, the mob-like disorder of those who pretended to work the engines at this fire, would create a smile, and suggest something like the idea of a caricature. after an hour's toil by the undisciplined firemen, assisted by those who felt disposed to aid in extinguishing the flame, the fire was got under, but not before one of the boats was wholly consumed, with its valuable cargo. the inner boat was saved from total destruction by the great exertions of some few individuals, "who fought on their own hook." the next morning i visited the scene of the disaster. thousands were gathered around, looking as steadily and curiously upon the smouldering ruins as if they had possessed some very peculiar and interesting attraction. the river presented a most lively scene. a hundred skiffs, wherries, punts, dug-outs, and other non-descript craft, with equally euphonic denominations, were darting about in all directions, each propelled by one or two individuals, who were gathering up the half saturated masses of cotton, that whitened the surface of the river as far as the eye could reach. several unlucky wights, in their ambitious eagerness to obtain the largest piles of this "snow-drift," would lose their equilibrium, and tumble headlong with their wealth of cotton into the water. none of them, however, were drowned, their mishaps rather exciting the merriment of their companions and of the crowds of amused spectators on shore, than creating any apprehensions for their safety. the misfortune of one shrivelled-up old portuguese, who had been very active in securing a due proportion of the cotton, occasioned no little laughter among the crowd on the levée. after much fighting, quarreling, and snarling, he had filled his little boat so completely, that his thin, black, hatchet-face, could only be seen protruding above the snowy mass in which he was imbedded. seizing his oars in his long bony hands, he began to pull for the shore with his prize, when a light wreath of blue smoke rose from the cotton and curled very ominously over his head. all unconscious, he rowed on, and before he gained the shore, the fire burst in a dozen places at once from his combustible cargo, and instantly enveloped the little man and his boat in a bright sheet of flame; with a terrific yell he threw himself into the water, and in a few moments emerged close by the levée, where he was picked up, with no other personal detriment than the loss of the little forelock of gray hair which time had charitably spared him. in one instance, two skiffs, with a single individual in each, attracted attention by racing for a large tempting float of cotton, which drifted along at some distance in the stream. shouts of encouragement rose from the multitude as they watched the competitors, with the interest similar to that felt upon a race-course. the light boats flew over the water like arrows on the wing. they arrived at the same instant at the object of contest, one on either side, and the occupants, seizing it simultaneously, and without checking the speed of their boats, bore the mass of cotton through the water between them, ploughing and tossing the spray in showers over their heads. gradually the boats stopped, and a contest of another kind began. neither would resign his prize. after they had remained leaning over the sides of their boats for a moment, grasping it and fiercely eyeing each other, some words were apparently exchanged between them, for they mutually released their hold upon the cotton, brought their boats together and secured them; then, stripping off their roundabouts, placed themselves on the thwarts of their boats in a pugilistic attitude, and prepared to decide the ownership of the prize, by an appeal to the "law of _arms_." the other cotton-hunters desisted from their employment, and seizing their oars, pulled with shouts to the scene of contest. before they reached it, the case had been decided, and the foremost of the approaching boatmen had the merit of picking from the water the conquered hero, who, after gallantly giving and taking a dozen fine rounds, received an unlucky "settler" under the left ear, whereupon he tumbled over the side, and was fast sinking, when he was taken out, amid the shouts of the gratified spectators, with his hot blood effectually cooled, though not otherwise injured. the more fortunate victor deliberately lifted the prize into the boat, and fixing a portion on the extremity of an oar, set it upright, and rowed to shore amid the cheers and congratulations of his fellows, who now assembling in a fleet around him, escorted him in triumph. xiv. canal-street--octagonal church--government house--future prospects of new-orleans--roman chapel--mass for the dead --interior of the chapel--mourners--funeral--cemeteries-- neglect of the dead--english and american grave yards-- regard of european nations for their dead--roman catholic cemetery in new-orleans--funeral procession--tombs--burying in water--protestant grave-yard. canal-street, as i have in a former letter observed, with its triple row of young sycamores, extending throughout the whole length, is one of the most spacious, and destined at no distant period, to be one of the first and handsomest streets in the city. every building in the street is of modern construction, and some blocks of its brick edifices will vie in tasteful elegance with the boasted granite piles of boston. yesterday, after a late dinner, the afternoon being very fine, i left my hotel, and without any definite object in view, strolled up this street. the first object which struck me as worthy of notice was a small brick octagon church, enclosed by a white paling, on the corner of bourbon-street. the entrance was overgrown with long grass, and the footsteps of a worshipper seemed not to have pressed its threshold for many an unheeded sunday. in its lonely and neglected appearance, there was a silent but forcible comment upon that censurable neglect of the sabbath, which, it has been said, prevails too generally among the citizens of new-orleans. in front of this church, which is owned, i believe, by the episcopalians, stands a white marble monument, surmounted by an urn, erected in memory of the late governor claiborne. with this solitary exception, there are no public monuments in this city. for a city so ancient, (that is, with reference to cis-atlantic antiquity) as new-orleans, and so french in its tastes and habits, i am surprised at this; as the french themselves have as great a mania for triumphal arches, statues, and public monuments, as had the ancient romans. but this fancy they seem not to have imported among their other nationalities; or, perhaps, they have not found occasions for its frequent exercise. the government house, situated diagonally opposite to the church, and retired from the street, next attracted my attention. it was formerly a hospital, but its lofty and spacious rooms are now convened into public offices. its snow-white front, though plain, is very imposing; and the whole structure, with its handsome, detached wings, and large green, thickly covered with shrubbery in front, luxuriant with orange and lemon trees, presents, decidedly, one of the finest views to be met with in the city. these two buildings, with the exception of some elegant private residences, are all that are worth remarking in this street, which, less than a mile from the river, terminates in the swampy commons, every where surrounding new-orleans, except on the river side. not far beyond the government house, the mall, which ornaments the centre of canal-street, forms a right angle, and extends down rampart-street to esplanade-street, and there making another right angle, extends back again to the river, nearly surrounding the "city proper" with a triple row of sycamores, which, in the course of a quarter of a century, for grandeur, beauty, and convenience, will be without a parallel. the city of new-orleans is planned on a magnificent scale, happily and judiciously combining ornament and convenience. let the same spirit which foresaw and provided for its present greatness, animate those who will hereafter direct its public improvements, and new-orleans, in spite of its bug-bear character and its unhealthy location, will eventually be the handsomest, if not the largest city in the united states. following the turning of the mall, i entered rampart-street, which, with its french and spanish buildings, presented quite a contrast to the new-england-like appearance of that i had just quitted. there are some fine buildings at the entrance of this street, which is not less broad than the former. on the right i passed a small edifice, much resembling a methodist meeting-house, such as are seen in northern villages, which a passing frenchman, lank and tall, in answer to my inquiry, informed me was "l'eglise evangelique, monsieur," with a touch of his chapeau, and a wondrous evolution of his attenuated person. this little church was as neglected, and apparently unvisited as its episcopalian neighbour. a decayed, once-white paling surrounded it; but the narrow gate, in front of the edifice, probably constructed to be opened and shut by devout hands, was now secured by a nail, whose red coat of rust indicated long and peaceable possession of its present station over the latch. comment again, thought i, as i passed on down the street, to where i had observed, not far distant, a crowd gathered around the door of a large white-stuccoed building, burthened by a clumsy hunch-backed kind of tower, surmounted by a huge wooden cross. on approaching nearer, i discovered many carriages extended in a long line up the street, and a hearse with tall black plumes, before the door of the building, which, i was informed, was the catholic chapel. passing through the crowd around the entrance, i gained the portico, where i had a full view of the interior, and the ceremony then in progress. in the centre of the chapel, in which was neither pew nor seat, elevated upon a high frame or altar, over which was thrown a black velvet pall, was placed a coffin, covered also with black velvet. a dozen huge wax candles, nearly as long and as large as a ship's royal-mast, standing in candlesticks five feet high, burned around the corpse, mingled with innumerable candles of the ordinary size, which were thickly sprinkled among them, like lesser stars, amid the twilight gloom of the chapel. the mourners formed a lane from the altar to the door, each holding a long, unlighted, wax taper, tipped at the larger end with red, and ornamented with fanciful paper cuttings. around the door, and along the sides of the chapel, stood casual spectators, strangers, and negro servants without number. as i entered, several priests and singing-boys, in the black and white robes of their order, were chanting the service for the dead. the effect was solemn and impressive. in a few moments the ceremony was completed, and four gentlemen, dressed in deep mourning, each with a long white scarf, extending from one shoulder across the breast, and nearly to the feet, advanced, and taking the coffin from its station, bore it through the line of mourners, who fell in, two and two behind them, to the hearse, which immediately moved on to the grave-yard with its burthen, followed by the carriages, as in succession they drove up to the chapel, and received the mourners. the last carriage had not left the door, when a man, followed by two little girls, entered from the back of the chapel, and commenced extinguishing the lights:--he, with an extinguisher, much resembling in size and shape an ordinary funnel, affixed to the extremity of a rod ten feet long, attacking the larger ones, while his youthful coadjutors operated with the forefinger and thumb upon the others. in a few moments every light, except two or three, was extinguished, and the "chapel of the dead" became silent and deserted. to this chapel the roman catholic dead are usually brought before burial, to receive the last holy office, which, saving the rite of sepulture, the living can perform for the dead. these chapels are the last resting-places of their bodies, before they are consigned for ever to the repose of the grave. to every catholic then, among all temples of worship, these chapels--his _last home_ among the dwelling-places of men--must be objects of peculiar sanctity and veneration. burial-grounds, even in the humblest villages, are always interesting to a stranger. they are marble chronicles of the past; where, after studying the lively characters around him, he can retire, and over a page that knows no flattery, hold communion with the dead. the proposition that "care for the dead keeps pace with civilization" is, generally, true.--the more refined and cultivated are a people, the more attention they pay to the performance of the last offices for the departed. the citizens of the united states will not certainly acknowledge themselves second to any nation in point of refinement. but look at their cemeteries. most of them crown some bleak hill, or occupy the ill-fenced corners of some barren and treeless common, overrun by cattle, whose preference for the long luxuriant grass, suffered to grow there by a kind of prescriptive right, is matter of general observation. our neglect of the dead is both a reproach and a proverb. look at england; every village there has its rural burying-ground, which on sundays is filled with the well-dressed citizens and villagers, who walk among the green graves of parents, children, or friends, deriving from their reflections the most solemn and impressive lesson the human heart can learn. in america, on the contrary, the footsteps of a solitary individual, the slow and heavy tramp of a funeral procession, or the sacrilegious intrusion of idle school-boys--who approach a grave but to deface its marble--are the only disturbers of the graveyard's loneliness. but even england is behind france. there every tomb-stone is crowned with a chaplet of roses, and every grave is a variegated bed of flowers. spain, dark and gloomy spain! is behind all. whoever has rambled among her gloomy cemeteries, or gazed with feelings of disgust and horror, upon the pyramids of human sculls, bleaching in those golgothas, the _campos santos_ of monte video, buenos ayres, and south america generally, need not be reminded how little they venerate what once moved--the image of god! the italians singularly unite the indifference of the spaniards with the affection of the french in their respect for the dead. compare the "dead vaults" of italia's cities, with the pleasant cemeteries in her green vales! without individualising the european nations, i will advert to the turks, who, though not the most refined, are a sensitive and reflecting people, and pay great honours to their departed friends, as the mighty "city of the dead" which encompasses constantinople evinces. but the cause of this respect is to be traced, rather to their moslem creed, than to the intellectual character, or refinement of the people. to what is to be attributed the universal indifference of americans to honouring the dead, by those little mementos and marks of affection and respect which are interwoven with the very religion of other countries? there are not fifty burial-grounds throughout the whole extent of the union, which can be termed beautiful, rural, or even neat. the bostonians, in the possession of their lonely and romantic mount auburn, have redeemed their character from the almost universal charge of apathy and indifference manifested by their fellow countrymen upon this subject. next to mount auburn, the cemetery in new-haven is the most beautifully picturesque of any in this country. in maine there is but one, the burial-place in brunswick, deserving of notice. its snow-white monuments glance here and there in bold relief among the dark melancholy pines which overshadow it, casting a funereal gloom among its deep recesses, particularly appropriate to the sacred character of the spot. i intended to devote this letter to a description of my visit to the roman catholic burying-ground of this city, the contemplation of which has given occasion to the preceding remarks, and from which i have just returned; but i have rambled so far and so long in my digression, that i shall have scarcely time or room to express all i intended in this sheet. but that i need not encroach with the subject upon my next, i will complete my remarks here, even at the risk of subjecting myself to--with _me_--the unusual charge of _brevity_. leaving the chapel, i followed the procession which i have described, for at least three quarters of a mile down a long street or road at right angles with rampart-street, to the place of interment. the priests and boys, who in their black and white robes had performed the service for the dead, leaving the chapel by a private door in the rear of the building, made their appearance in the street leading to the cemetery, as the funeral train passed down, each with a black mitred cap upon his head, and there forming into a procession upon the side walk, they moved off in a course opposite to the one taken by the funeral train, and soon disappeared in the direction of the cathedral. two priests, however, remained with the procession, and with it, after passing on the left hand the "old catholic cemetery," which being full, to repletion is closed and sealed for the "great day," arrived at the new burial-place. here the mourners alighted from their carriages, and proceeded on foot to the tomb. the priests, bare-headed and solemn, were the last who entered, except myself and a few other strangers attracted by curiosity. this cemetery is quite out of the city; there being no dwelling or enclosure of any kind beyond it. on approaching it, the front on the street presents the appearance of a lofty brick wall of very great length, with a spacious gateway in the centre. this gateway is about ten feet deep; and one passing through it, would imagine the wall of the same solid thickness. this however is only apparent. the wall which surrounds, or is to surround the four sides of the burial-ground, (for it is yet uncompleted,) is about twelve feet in height, and ten in thickness. the external appearance on the street is similar to that of any other high wall, while to a beholder within, the cemetery exhibits three stories of oven-like tombs, constructed _in_ the wall, and extending on every side of the grave-yard. each of these tombs is designed to admit only a single coffin, which is enclosed in the vault with masonry, and designated by a small marble slab fastened in the face of the wall at the head of the coffin, stating the name, age, and sex of the deceased. by a casual estimate i judged there were about eighteen hundred apertures in this vast pile of tombs. this method, resorted to here from necessity, on account of the nature of the soil, might serve as a hint to city land-economists. when i entered the gateway, i was struck with surprise and admiration. though destitute of trees, the cemetery is certainly more deserving, from its peculiarly novel and unique appearance, of the attention of strangers, than (with the exception of that at new-haven, and mount auburn,) any other in the united states. from the entrance to the opposite side through the centre of the grave-yard, a broad avenue or street extends nearly an eighth of a mile in length; and on either side of this are innumerable isolated tombs, of all sizes, shapes, and descriptions, built above ground. the idea of a lilliputian city was at first suggested to my mind on looking down this extensive avenue. the tombs in their various and fantastic styles of architecture--if i may apply the term to these tiny edifices--resembled cathedrals with towers, moorish dwellings, temples, chapels, palaces, _mosques_--substituting the cross for the crescent--and structures of almost every kind. the idea was ludicrous enough; but as i passed down the avenue, i could not but indulge the fancy that i was striding down the broadway of the capital of the lilliputians. i mention this, not irreverently, but to give you the best idea i can of the cemetery, from my own impressions. many of the tombs were constructed like, and several were, indeed, miniature grecian temples; while others resembled french, or spanish edifices, like those found in "old castile." many of them, otherwise plain, were surmounted by a tower supporting a cross. all were perfectly white, arranged with the most perfect regularity, and distant little more than a foot from each other. at the distance of every ten rods the main avenue was intersected by others of less width, crossing it at right angles, down which tombs were ranged in the same novel and regular manner. the whole cemetery was divided into squares, formed by these narrow streets intersecting the principal avenue. it was in reality a "city of the dead." but it was a city composed of miniature palaces, and still more diminutive villas. the procession, after passing two-thirds of the way up the spacious walk, turned down one of the narrower alleys, where a new tomb, built on a line with the others, gaped wide to receive its destined inmate. the procession stopped. the coffin was let down from the shoulders of the bearers, and rolled on wooden cylinders into the tomb. the mourners silently gathered around; every head was bared; and amid the deep silence that succeeded, the calm, clear, melancholy voice of the priest suddenly swelled upon the still evening air, in the plaintive chant of the last service for the dead. "requiescat in pace!" was slowly chanted by the priest,--repeated in subdued voices by the mourners, and echoing among the tombs, died away in the remotest recesses of the cemetery. the dead was surrendered to the companionship of the dead--the priest and mourners moved slowly away from the spot, and the silence of the still evening was only broken by the clinking of the careless mason, as he proceeded to wall up the aperture in the tomb. as night was fast approaching, i hastened to leave the place; and, taking a shorter route than by the principal avenue, i came suddenly upon a desolate area, without a tomb to relieve its dank and muddy surface, dotted with countless mounds, where the bones of the moneyless, friendless stranger lay buried. there was no stone to record their names or country. fragments of coffins were scattered around, and new-made graves, half filled with water, yawned on every side awaiting their unknown occupants; who, perchance, may now be "laying up store for many years" of anticipated happiness. such is the nature of the soil here, that it is impossible to dig two feet below the surface without coming to water. the whole land seems to be only a thin crust of earth, of not more than three feet in thickness, floating upon the surface of the water. consequently, every grave will have two feet or more of water in it, and when a coffin is placed therein, some of the assistants have to stand upon it, and keep it down till the grave is re-filled with the mud which was originally thrown from it, or it would float. the citizens, therefore, having a very natural repugnance to being drowned, after having died a natural death upon their beds, choose to have their last resting-place a dry one; and hence the great number of tombs, and the peculiar features of this burial-place. returning, i glanced into the old catholic cemetery, in the rear of the chapel before alluded to. it was crowded with tombs, though without displaying the systematic arrangement observed in the one i had just left. there is another burying-place, in the upper faubourg, called the protestant cemetery. here, as its appellation indicates, are buried all who are not of "holy church." there are in it some fine monuments, and many familiar names are recorded upon the tomb-stones. here moulder the remains of thousands, who, leaving their distant homes, buoyant with all the hopes and visions of youth, have been suddenly cut down under a foreign sun, and in the spring time of life. when present enjoyment seemed prophetic of future happiness, they have found here--a stranger's unmarbled grave! a northerner cannot visit this cemetery, and read the familiar names of the multitudes who have ended their lives in this pestilential climate, without experiencing emotions of the most affecting nature. here the most promising of our northern young men have found an untimely grave: and, as she long has been, so new-orleans continues, and will long continue to be, the charnel-house of the pride and nobleness of new-england. xv. an old friend--variety in the styles of building--love for flowers--the basin--congo square--the african bon-ton of new-orleans--city canals--effects of the cholera--barracks --guard-houses--the ancient convent of the ursulines--the school for boys--a venerable edifice--principal--recitations --mode of instruction--primary department--infantry tactics --education in general in new-orleans. a quondam fellow-student, who has been some months a resident of this city, surprised and gratified me this morning with a call. with what strong--more than brotherly affection, we grasp the hand of an old friend and fellow-toiler in academic groves! no two men ever meet like old classmates a year from college! after exchanging congratulations, he kindly offered to devote the day to the gratification of my curiosity, and accompany me to all those places invested with interest and novelty in the eye of a stranger, which i had not yet visited. on my replying in the negative to his inquiry, "if i had visited the rail-way?" we decided on making that the first object of our attention. though more than a mile distant, we concluded, as the morning was uncommonly fine, to proceed thither on foot, that we might, on the way, visit the venerable convent of the ursulines, the old spanish barracks, and one or two other places of minor interest. sallying from our hotel, we crossed to the head of chartres-street, and threaded our way among the busy multitude, who, moving in all directions, on business or pleasure, thronged its well-paved side-walks. on both sides of the way, for several squares, the buildings were chiefly occupied by wholesale and retail dry goods dealers, who are mostly northerners; so that a yankee stranger feels himself quite at home among them; but before he reaches the end of the long, narrow street, he might imagine himself again a stranger, in a city of france. the variety of the streets, here, is almost as great as the diversity of character among the people. new-orleans seems to have been built by a universal subscription, to which every european nation has contributed a street, as it certainly has citizens. from one, which to a bostonian looks like an old acquaintance, you turn suddenly into another that reminds you of marseilles. here a street lined with long, narrow, grated windows, in dingy, massive buildings, surrounded by moorish turrets, urns, grotesque ornaments of grayish stone and motley arabesque, would bring back to the exiled castilian the memory of his beloved madrid. in traversing the next, a parisian might forget that the broad atlantic rolled between him and the boasted city of his nativity. here is one that seems to have been transplanted from the very midst of naples; while its interesting neighbour reminds one of the quaker-like plainness of philadelphia. there are not, it is true, many which possess decidedly an individual character; for some of them contain such a heterogeneous congregation of buildings, that one cannot but imagine their occupants, in emigrating from every land under heaven, to have brought their own houses with them. the most usual style of building at present, is after the boston school--if i may so term the fashion of the plain, solid, handsome brick and granite edifices, which are in progress here, as well as in every other city in the union; a style of architecture which owes its origin to the substantial good taste of the citizens of the goodly "city of notions." the majority of structures in the old, or french section of new-orleans, are after the spanish and french orders. this style of building is not only permanent and handsome, but peculiarly adapted, with its cool, paved courts, lofty ceilings, and spacious windows, to this sultry climate; and i regret that it is going rapidly out of fashion. dwellings of this construction have, running through their centre, a broad, high-arched passage, with huge folding-doors, or gates, leading from the street to a paved court in the rear, which is usually surrounded by the sleeping-rooms and offices, communicating with each other by galleries running down the whole square. in the centre of this court usually stands a cistern, and placed around it, in large vases, are flowers and plants of every description. in their love for flowers, the creoles are truly and especially french. the glimpses one has now and then, in passing through the streets, and by the ever-open doors of the creoles' residences, of brilliant flowers and luxuriantly blooming exotics, are delightfully refreshing, and almost sufficient to tempt one to a "petit larceny." you may know the residence of a creole here, even if he resides in a yankee building, by his mosaic-paved court-yard, filled with vases of flowers. on arriving at toulouse-street, which is the fifth intersecting chartres-street, we turned into it, and pursued our way to the basin, in the rear of the city, which i was anxious to visit. a spectator in this street, on looking toward either extremity, can discover shipping. to the east, the dense forest of masts, bristling on the mississippi, bounds his view; while, at the west, his eye falls upon the humbler craft, which traverse the sluggish waters of lake pontchartrain. this basin will contain about thirty small vessels. there were lying along the pier, when we arrived, five or six miserable-looking sloops and schooners, compared to which, our "down easters" are packet ships. these ply regularly between new-orleans and mobile, and by lading and discharging at this point, have given to this retired part of the city quite a business-like and sea-port air. the basin communicates with the lake, four miles distant, by means of a good canal. a mile below the basin, a rail-way has been lately constructed from the mississippi to the lake, and has already nearly superseded the canal; but of this more anon. leaving the basin, we passed a treeless green, which, we were informed by a passer-by, was dignified by the classical appellation of "congo square." here, our obliging informant gave us to understand, the coloured "ladies and gentlemen" are accustomed to assemble on gala and saints' days, and to the time of outlandish music, dance, not the "romaika," alas! but the "fandango;" or, wandering in pairs, tell their dusky loves, within the dark shadows, not of jungles or palm groves, but of their own sable countenances. as the congoese _élite_ had not yet left their kitchens, we, of course, had not the pleasure of seeing them move in the mystic dance, upon the "dark fantastic toe," to the dulcet melody of a congo _banjo_. from the centre of this square, a fine view of the rear of the cathedral is obtained, nearly a mile distant, at the head of orleans-street, which terminates opposite the square. in this part of the town the houses were less compact, most of them of but one story, with steep projecting roofs, and graced by _parterres_; while many of the dwellings were half embowered with the rich green foliage of the fragrant orange and lemon trees. at the corner of rues st. claude and st. anne, we passed a very pretty buff-coloured, stuccoed edifice, retired from the street, which we were informed was the masonic lodge. there are several others, i understand, in various parts of the city. a little farther, on rue st. claude, in a lonely field, is a small plain building, denominated the college of orleans, which has yet obtained no literary celebrity. opposite to this edifice is the foot of ursuline-street, up which we turned, in our ramble over the city, and proceeded toward the river. it may appear odd to you, that we should _ascend_ to the river; but such is the case here. you are aware, from the descriptions in one of my former letters, that the surface of the mississippi, at its highest tide, is several feet higher than the surrounding country; and that it is restrained from wholly inundating it, only by banks, or _levées_, constructed at low stages of the water. nowhere is this fact so evident as in new-orleans. for the purpose of cleansing the city, water is let in at the heads of all those streets which terminate upon the river, by aqueducts constructed through the base of the levée, and this artificial torrent rushes _from_ the river down the gutters, on each side of the streets, with as much velocity as, in other places, it would display in seeking to mingle with the stream. sometimes the impetus is sufficient to carry the dirty torrents quite across the city into the swamps beyond. but when this is not the case, it must remain in the deep drains and gutters along the side-walks, impregnated with the quintessence of all the filth encountered in its augean progress, exhaling its noisome effluvia, and poisoning the surrounding atmosphere. all the streets in the back part of the city are bordered on either side with a canal of an inky-coloured, filthy liquid, (water it cannot be termed) from which arises an odour or incense by no means acceptable to the olfactory sensibilities. the streets running parallel with the river, having no inclination either way, are, as a natural consequence of their situation, redolent of these stygian exhalations. why new-orleans is not depopulated to a man, when once the yellow fever breaks out in it, is a miracle. from the peculiarity of its location, and a combination of circumstances, it must always be more or less unhealthy. but were the police, which is at present rather of a military than a civil character, regulated more with a view to promote the comfort and health of the community, the evil might be in a great measure remedied, and many hundred lives annually preserved. on ascending ursuline-street, we remarked what i had previously noticed in several other streets, upon the doors of unoccupied dwellings, innumerable placards of "chambre garnie," "maison à louer," "appartement à louer," &c. on inquiry, i ascertained that their former occupants had been swept away by the cholera and yellow fever, which have but a few weeks ceased their ravages. four out of five houses, which we had seen advertised to let, in different parts of the city, were french, from which i should judge that the majority of the victims were creoles. the effects of the awful reign of the pestilence over this devoted city, have not yet disappeared. the terrific spirit has passed by, but his lingering shadow still casts a funereal gloom over the theatre of his power. the citizens generally are apparelled in mourning; and the public places of amusement have long been closed. the old ursuline convent stands between ursuline and hospital streets, and opposite to the barracks, usually denominated the "old spanish barracks." crossing rue royale, we first visited those on the south side of hospital-street. on inquiring of an old, gray-headed soldier, standing in front of a kind of guard-house, if the long, massive pile of brick, which extended from the street more than two hundred feet to the rear, "were the barracks?" he replied, with genuine irish brogue, "which barracks, jintlemen?" ignorant of more than one place of the kind, we repeated the question with emphasis. "why yes, yer 'onours, its thim same they are, an' bad luck to the likes o' them." we inquired "if the regiment was quartered here?" "the rigiment is it, jintlemen! och, but it's not here at all, at all; divil a rigiment has been in it (the city meaning) this many a month. the sogers, what's come back, is quarthered, ivery mother's son o' them, in the private hoose of a jintleman jist by." "why did they leave the city?" "for fear o' the cholery, sure. but there's a rigiment ixpicted soon, and they'll quarther here, jintlemen; and we're repeerin' the barracks to contain thim, till the new ones is ericted; 'cause these is not the illigant barracks what's goin' to be ericted, sure." finding our milesian so communicative, we questioned him farther, and obtained much interesting information. from the street, the barracks, which are now unoccupied, present the appearance of a huge arcade, formed by a colonnade of massive brick pillars, running along its whole length. some portion of the front was stuccoed, giving a handsome appearance to that part of the building. the whole is to be finished in the same manner, and when completed, the structure will be a striking ornament to new-orleans: probably a rival of the "splendid new edifice" about to be erected in a lower part of the city. though called the "spanish barracks," i am informed that they were erected by the duke of orleans, when he governed this portion of the french possessions. immediately opposite to the barracks, in the convent yard, are two very ancient wooden guard-houses, blackened and decayed with age, about thirty feet in height, looking very much like armless windmills, or mammoth pigeon-houses. the convent next invited our notice. it has, till within a few years, been very celebrated for its school for young ladies, who were sent here from all the southern part of the union, and even from europe. a few years since, a new convent was erected two miles below the city, whither the ursuline ladies have removed; and where they still keep a boarding-school for young ladies, which is highly and justly celebrated. the old building is now occupied by the public schools. desirous of visiting so fine a specimen of cis-atlantic antiquity, and at the same time to make some observation of the system of education pursued in this city, we proceeded toward the old gateway of the convent, to apply for admittance. we might have belaboured the rickety gate till doomsday, without gaining admittance, had not an unlucky, or rather, lucky stroke which we decided should be our last, brought the old wicket rattling about our ears, enveloping us in clouds of dust, as it fell with a tremendous crash upon the pavement. at this very alarming _contre temps_, we had not time to make up our minds whether to beat a retreat, or encounter the assault of an ominously sounding tongue, which thundered "mutterings dire," as with anger in her eye, and wonder in her mien, the owner rushed from a little porter's lodge, which stood on the right hand within the gate, "to see what could in nature be the matter, to crack her lugs with such a ponderous clatter." we succeeded in appeasing the ire of the offended janitress, and proceeded across a deserted court covered with short grass, to the principal entrance of the convent, which stands about seventy feet back from the street. this edifice presents nothing remarkable, except its size, it being about one hundred feet in front, by forty deep. its aspect is venerable, but extremely plain, the front being entirely destitute of ornament or architectural taste. it is stuccoed, and apparently was once white, but it is now gray with rust and age. it may be called either a french or spanish building, for it equally evinces both styles of architecture; presenting that anomaly, characteristic of those old structures which give a fine antiquated air to that part of the city. massive pilasters with heavy cornices, tall, deep windows, huge doorways, and flat roofs, are the distinguishing features of this style of building. never more than two, the dwellings are usually but one very lofty story in height, and covered with a light yellow stucco, in imitation of dingy-white, rough hewn marble. in internal arrangement and decorations, and external appearance, they differ but little from each other. as we passed under the old, sunken portal, the confused muttering of some hundred treble tongues, mingled, now and then, with a deep bass grumble of authority, burst upon our ears, and intimated our proximity to the place where "young ideas are taught to shoot." wishing to gratify our curiosity by rambling through the convent's deserted halls and galleries, before we entered the rooms whence the noise proceeded, we ascended a spacious winding stairway; but there was nothing to be seen in the second story, except deserted rooms, and we ascended yet another stair-case to a low room in the attic, formerly the dormitory of the nunnery. while on our return to the first floor, a gentleman, m. priever, who was, as we afterward ascertained, principal of the public schools of the city, encountered us on the stairs, and politely invited us to visit the different school-rooms within the building. we first accompanied him to the extremity of a long gallery, where he ushered us into a pleasant room, in which a dozen boys were sitting round a table, translating latin exercises into french. this class, he informed us, he had just taken from the primary school below stairs, to instruct in the elementary classics. from this gentleman we ascertained that there were in the city two primary schools, one within the convent walls, and the other a mile distant, in the northern faubourg. from these two schools, when properly qualified, the pupils are removed into the high, or classic school, kept within the convent. he observed that he had the supervision of these three schools--the high, and two primary--though each had its own particular teacher. the principals of the two convent schools are gentlemen distinguished both for urbanity and literary endowments. in the classical school, pupils can obtain almost every advantage which a collegiate course would confer upon them. the french and spanish languages form a necessary part of their education; and but few young men resort to northern colleges from new-orleans. it is the duty of the principal often to visit the primary schools--select from their most promising pupils, those qualified to enter the high school--form them into classes by daily recitations in his own room, (in which employment he was engaged when we entered,) and then pass them over to the teacher of the school they are prepared to enter. with mons. p. we visited the classical school, where fifty or sixty young gentlemen were pursuing the higher branches of study. the instructer was a frenchman, as are all the other teachers. in this, and the other departments, the greater portion of the students also are of french descent; and probably about one-third, in all the schools, are of american parentage. mons. p. informed me that the latter usually acquired, after being in the school six weeks, or two months, sufficient french for all colloquial purposes. he observed that the majority of the scholars, in all the departments, spoke both languages (french and english,) with great fluency. after hearing two or three classes translate greek and latin authors into french, and one or two embryo mathematicians demonstrate euclid, in the same tongue, we proceeded to the opposite wing of the building, and were ushered into the rattle, clangor, and confusion of the primary department. we were politely received by mons. bigot, a parisian, a fine scholar, and an estimable man. you have visited infant schools for boys, i believe; recall to mind the novel and amusing scenes you there beheld, and you will have an idea of this primary school. the only difference would be, that here the pupils are rough, tearing boys, from fifteen years of age to three. here, as in the former, they marched and counter-marched, clapped their hands, stamped hard upon the floor, and performed various evolutions for the purpose of circulating the blood, which by sitting too long is apt to stagnate, and render them, particularly in this climate, dull and sleepy. we listened to some of their recitations, which were in the lowest elementary branches, and took our leave under infinite obligations to the politeness and attention of the gentlemanly superintendents. besides these, there are private schools for both sexes. the majority of the young ladies are educated by the ursulines at the convent, in the lower faubourg. some of the public schools are exclusively for english, and others exclusively for french children. many pupils are also instructed by private tutors, particularly in the suburbs. xvi. rail-road--a new avenue to commerce--advantages of the rail-way--ride to the lake--the forest--village at the lake--pier--fishers--swimmers--mail-boat--cafés--return --an unfortunate cow--new-orleans streets. in a preceding letter, i have alluded to an intended visit to the rail-way; near which, on my way thither, my last letter left me, in company with b., after having paid a visit to the ursuline convent. on leaving ursuline-street, which terminates at the river, we proceeded a short distance, to the rail-road, along the levée, which was lined with ships, bearing the flags of nearly all the nations of the earth. the length of this rail-way is about five miles, terminating at lake pontchartrain. its advantages to new-orleans are incalculable. it has been to the city literally "an avenue of wealth" already. the trade carried on through this medium, bears no mean proportion to the river commerce. ports, heretofore unknown to orleans, as associated with traffic, carry on, now, a regular and important branch of trade with her. by it, a great trade is carried on with mobile and other places along the florida coast, and by the same means, the mails are transported with safety and rapidity. the country between new-orleans and the nearest shore of the lake, is low, flat, marshy, and covered with a half-drowned and stunted forest. the lake, though near the city, formerly was inaccessible. vessels laden with their valuable cargoes might arrive at the termination of the lake within sight of the city, but the broad marsh extending between them and the far-off towers of the wished-for mart, might as well have been the cloud-capped jura, for any means of communication it could afford. but the rail-way has overcome this obstacle: coasting vessels, which traverse the lake in great numbers, can now receive and discharge their cargoes at the foot of the rail-way, upon a long pier extending far out into the lake. the discharged cargoes are piled upon the cars and in twenty minutes are added to the thousand shiploads, heaped upon the levée; or, placed upon drays, are trundling to every part of the city. when we arrived at the rail-way, the cars for passengers, eight or ten in number, were standing in a line under a long roof, which covers the end of the rail-way. a long train of baggage or cargo-cars were in the rear of these, all heavily laden. the steam-car, puffing and blowing like a bustling little man in a crowd, seemed impatient to dart forward upon the track. we perceived that all was ready for a start; and barely had time to hasten to the ticket-office, throw down our six "bits" for two tickets, and spring into the only vacant seats in one of the cars, before the first bell rang out the signal for starting. all the cars were full; including two or three behind, appropriated to coloured gentlemen and ladies. again the bell gave the final signal; and obedient thereto, our fiery leader moved forward, smoking like a race-horse, slowly and steadily at first--then, faster and faster, till we flew along the track with breathless rapidity. the rail-road, commencing at the levée, runs for the first half mile through the centre of a broad street, with low detached houses on either side. a mile from the levée we had left the city and all dwellings behind us, and were flying through the fenceless, uninhabited marshes, where nothing meets the eye but dwarf trees, rank, luxuriant undergrowth, tall, coarse grass, and vines, twisting and winding their long, serpentine folds around the trunks of the trees like huge, loathsome water-snakes. by the watch, we passed a mile-stone every three minutes and a half; and in less than nineteen minutes, arrived at the lake. here, quite a village of handsome, white-painted hotels, cafés, dwellings, store-houses, and bathing rooms, burst at once upon our view; running past them, we gradually lessened our speed, and finally came to a full stop on the pier, where the rail-road terminates. here we left the cars, which came thumping against each other successively, as they stopped; but the points of contact being padded, prevented any very violent shock to the occupants. the pier, constructed of piles and firmly planked over, was lined with sloops and schooners, which were taking in and discharging cargo, giving quite a bustling, business-like air to this infant port. boys, ragged negroes, and gentlemen amateurs, were fishing in great numbers farther out in the lake; others were engaged in the delicate amusement of cray-fishing, while on the right the water was alive with bathers, who, disdaining the confined limits enclosed by the long white bathing-houses, which stretched along the south side of the pier, and yielding to the promptings of a watery ambition, were boldly striking out into the sluggish depths. to the east, the waters of the lake and sky met, presenting an ocean horizon to the untravelled citizens, who can have no other conception of the reality without taking a trip to the balize. light craft were skimming its waveless surface, under the influence of a gentle breeze, in all directions. a steamer, bearing the united states mail from mobile, was seen in the distance, rolling out clouds of black smoke, and ploughing and dashing on her rapid way to the pier. retracing our steps to the head of the pier, we entered a very handsome _café_, or hotel, crowded with men. the eternal dominos were rattling on every table, glasses were ringing against glasses, and voices were heard, in high-toned conversation, in all languages, with mingled oaths and laughter; the noise and confusion were sufficient, without a miracle, to make a deaf man hear. all these persons, probably, were from the city, and had come down to the lake to amuse themselves, or kill an hour. the opposite _café_ was equally crowded; while the billiard-rooms adjoining were filled with spectators and players. clouds of tobacco-smoke enveloped the multitude, and the rooms rung with "sacré bleu!" "mon dieu!" "diable!" and blunt english oaths of equal force and import. the first bell for the return had rung, and the passengers rushed to the cars, which were soon filled; the signal for starting was given, and the locomotive again led the van, with as much apparent importance as that with which the redoubtable and twice immortal major downing might be supposed to precede his gallant "rigiment of down easters." we had passed two-thirds of the distance when we were alarmed by a sudden and tremendous shouting from the forward car. the cry was echoed involuntarily along the whole train, and every head was instantly darted from the windows. the cause of the alarm was instantly perceptible. less than a quarter of a mile ahead, a cow was lying very quietly and composedly, directly in the track of the flying cars. the shouts of the frightened passengers on discovering her, either petrified her with utter fear--for such yellings and whoopings were never heard before on this side hades--or did not reach her, for she kept her position with the most complacent _nonchalance_. the engineer instantly stopped the locomotive, but though our momentum was diminished, it was too late to effect his object; in thirty seconds from the first discovery of the cow, the engine passed over the now terrified animal, with a jump--jump--and a grinding crash, and with so violent a shock as nearly to throw the car from the track; the next, and the next car followed--and the poor animal, the next instant, was left far behind, so completely severed, that the rear cars passed over her without any perceptible shock. in a few minutes afterward, we arrived at the city, having been one minute longer in returning than in going to the lake. the rail-way has become, if not a very fashionable, at least a very general resort, for a great portion of the inhabitants of new-orleans, particularly on sabbaths and holydays. lake pontchartrain, the destination of all who visit the rail road for an excursion of pleasure, is, to new-orleans, what gray's ferry was in the olden time to the good citizens of philadelphia; or jamaica pond is, at present, to the most worthy citizens of the emporium of notions; or what "broad's" is to the gay citizens of portland.[ ] when we alighted from the car, the omnibus was at its stand at the head of the rail-way; so, jumping into it, with twenty others, the horn was blown with an emphasis, the whip was cracked with a series of inimitable flourishes, and in fifteen minutes after leaving the car, we were safely deposited near our hotel. if our jolting ride home, through the rough, deep-guttered streets, did not increase our appetite for the good things awaiting us at the _table d'hote_, it at least demonstrated to us the superiority of rail-ways over unpaved streets, which every now and then are intersected, for the sake of variety, with a gutter of no particular width, and a foot and a half deep, more or less, by the "lead." footnotes: [ ] the following sketch of the scenery and resources of lake pontchartrain is extracted from one of the new-orleans papers, and is valuable for its general observations, and the correctness of its description of this theatre of summer amusement for the pleasure-seeking orleanese:-- "seven years ago there was but one steamboat plying the lakes in the vicinity of new-orleans. there are now nine constantly departing from, and arriving at, the foot of the rail-road. they are generally crowded with passengers going to, and returning from the numerous villages which have sprung up in the woods that skirt the shores of lake borgne and lake pontchartrain, happy in the enjoyment of such facilities of escape from the heat and insalubrity of the city, and the anxious cares of business. "this is the season for relaxation everywhere. it is, and should be, especially in new-orleans, where the business of a year, by circumstances, is forced to be crowded into a few months, and where the people, during the season of business, are distinguished beyond any other for a devoted and untiring application to their affairs. if we may not here set apart a little time, and a little money, for amusement in summer, we know not where a claim for recreation and refreshment may be put forth. the fare on board the steam packets is extremely moderate, the accommodations good and convenient, the passages very agreeable, and the accommodations at the various public houses which line the shores, though not equalling the luxury and sumptuousness of the city houses, are sufficient for health and comfort. the moderate sums demanded from the passengers, and low price of board at the houses, enable young men to spend a month of leisure, at little, if any more cost, than the expenses of a month's residence in the city. the treat which they provide, in fish, fresh from the water, and in oysters from their banks, more than compensates for any difference in the meats of the market. among the best houses on the borders of the lakes, are those, we believe, at madisonville and pascagoula, the first the nearest to, and the latter the farthest from the city; but in beauty of situation and scenery, all other spots are surpassed by that of the village at the bay of beloxi, where, as yet, no house of public accommodation has been established. the curve of the bay is the line of beauty, the waves of old ocean wash its margin, and his refreshing and invigorating airs whistle through the woods. there is a quiet and repose in the scene, not witnessed anywhere else along the voyage across the lakes. the neat, but scattering cottages lie seemingly imbedded among the rich and dark foliage of the back ground, and you fancy the inhabitants may be taking a rip van winkle nap, of twenty years, a nap filled with dreams of the sweetest and most agreeable nature. we understand that there is yet land, fronting on the bay, which may be entered at the minimum price affixed by the government. in addition to the poetical attractions of the bay of beloxi, we might add the substantial ones of--milk in abundance at a bit a quart--fish and wild fowl, (the latter just beginning to appear) plenty and cheap--and oysters at a bit a hundred. "we are informed that the citizens of mobile contemplate the erection of a splendid hotel on dauphin island, at the entrance of mobile bay, immediately by which the steamboats pass on their way between mobile bay and new-orleans; and as the mobilians seldom seriously contemplate any thing without carrying it into execution, we expect that in another year a common ground will be furnished, where the citizens of the two cities of the south-west may meet for their common amusement. the situation is healthful and agreeable, and we _hope_, as well as expect, that the project will be consummated." xvii. the legislature--senators and representatives--tenney-- gurley--ripley--good feeling among members--translated speeches--ludicrous situations--slave law--bishop's hotel --tower--view from its summit--bachelor establishments-- peculiar state of society. during my accustomed peregrinations around the city yesterday, i dropped into the hall of the legislature, which was in session in the government house,--that large, handsome edifice, erected on canal-street, alluded to in a former letter. the senate and house of representatives were literally _both_ upper houses, being convened on the second floor of the building. the rooms are large and sufficiently comfortable, though devoid of any architectural display. the number of senators is seventeen; of representatives, fifty. the majority, in both houses, are creoles: there being, as i was informed, nine, out of the seventeen senators, french, and a small french majority in the house. the residue are _citizenized_ northerners, and individuals from other states, who embody no mean portion of the political talents and statesman-like qualities of the legislature. among many, to whom i had the pleasure of an introduction, and whose public characters are well and honourably known, i will mention mr. tenney, a native of new-hampshire, and an alumnus of dartmouth college. he has, like many other able and enterprising sons of new-england, struggled with no little distinction through all the vicissitudes of a young lawyer's career, till the suffrages of his adopted fellow-citizens have elevated him to the honourable station of senator, in the legislature of the state which he has chosen for his home. there are other northerners also, who, though in different stations, have arrived at distinction here. their catalogue is not large, but it is brilliant with genius. the honourable career of the accomplished and lamented gurley is well known to you. he was a man eminently distinguished, both for his public and social virtues; and in his death his adopted state has lost one of the brightest stars of her political constellation. and ripley too, though shining in a southern sky, sheds a distinguished lustre over the "land of the north"--the country of his birth. there is generally a large amount of business brought before this legislature, and its sessions seldom terminate before march or april. in their transactions, as a legislative body, there is a total absence of those little, though natural prejudices, which might be presumed to exist among members, so different from each other in education, language, and peculiarity of thought. if a bill is introduced by an american, the french members do not feel a disposition to oppose its passage on that account; nor, when it is brought in by a frenchman, do they support it more eagerly or unanimously for that reason. a spirit of mutual cordiality, as great as can be looked for in a political assembly, pervades their whole body, to the entire exclusion of local prejudices. neither is there an exclusive language used in their legislative proceedings. it is not necessary that the american members should speak french, or _vice versa_, though it would be certainly more agreeable were it universally understood by them; as all speeches made by frenchmen, are immediately translated into english, while those made by the americans are repeated again, by the translator, to the french part of the house, in their own language. this method not only necessarily consumes a great deal of time, and becomes excessively tedious to all parties, but diminishes, as do all translations, the strength, eloquence, and force of a speech; and, of course, lessens the impression. it is not a little amusing, to study the whimsical contortions of a frenchman, while, with shrugging shoulders and restless eyes, he listens to, and watches the countenance of, some american party opponent, who may have the floor. the latter thunders out his torrent of eloquence, wherein the nicest epithets are not, perhaps, the most carefully chosen, in his zeal to express his political gall against his gallic opponent; while monsieur fidgets about in happy ignorance, till the honourable member concludes,--when he jumps up, runs his open hand, chin, and nose, almost in the face of the interpreter, "_arrectis auribus_," and chafing like a lion; and before the last sentence is hurriedly completed, flings down his gantlet,--throws his whole soul into a rush of warm eloquence, beneath the edifying sound of which, his american antagonist feels that it is now his time to look foolish, which he does with a most commendable expression of mock _sang froid_, upon his twitching, try-to-be philosophic features. the president of the senate and speaker of the house are frenchmen: it is expected, however, that gentlemen filling these stations will readily speak french and english. by an act of a former legislature, slaves from other states could not be sold in this state, nor even those belonging to louisiana, unless they were owned here previous to the passage of the law. the penalties for a violation of this law were fine and imprisonment to the vender, and the forfeiture of the slave, or his value. the law occasioned greater inconvenience to the citizens of the state, than its framers had foreseen. it again became a subject-matter for legislation, and a large portion of the members advocated its repeal. this was the subject of discussion when i was present, and the question of repeal was ably and warmly supported by mr. tenney, who is one of the state senators. though he is doubtful whether the repeal will be effected this session, he is sanguine that it will be carried during the next annual assembly of the legislature.[ ] leaving the government house, with its assembled wisdom, i repaired to my hotel, where i was to await the arrival of a friend, who had invited me to accompany him in a ride a few miles below the city on the banks of the river. i believe, in all my letters, i have yet been silent respecting this hotel; i will, however, while waiting for my equestrian friend, remedy that deficiency; for true to your wish, i will write of all and every thing worthy of notice; and i am half of your mind, that whatever is worthy the attention of a tourist, merits the passing record of his pen. "bishop's hotel," so designated from its landlord, has been recently constructed, and is one of the largest in the union. the tremont possesses more architectural elegance; and barnum's, the pride of baltimore, is a handsomer structure. in the appearance of bishop's, there is nothing imposing, but its height. it has two fronts, one on camp, the other on common-street. it is uniformly, with the exception of an angular tower, five stories in height; its bar-room is more than one hundred feet in length, and universally allowed to be the most splendid in america. the dining room, immediately over it, on the second floor, is of the same size; in which from two hundred and fifty to three hundred dine daily, of whom, probably, not twenty are french. the table is burthened with every luxury which can be procured in this luxurious climate. the servants are numerous, and with but two or three exceptions, slaves. they are willing, active, and intelligent. in this important point, bishop's hotel is every way superior to the tremont. there "pampered menials," whose every look and manner speak as plainly as anything but the tongue can speak, "if you desire anything of us, sir, be mighty civil, or you may whistle for it, for be assured, sir, that _we_ are every whit as good as _you_." the insolence of these servants is already proverbial. but white servants, any where, and under any circumstances, are far from agreeable. in this point, and it is by no means an unimportant one, bishop's is unequivocally superior to the boston palace. with the coloured servant it is in verity, "go, and he goeth--come, and he cometh--do this, and he doeth it." the sleeping apartments are elegantly furnished, and carpeted, and well ventilated. there are two spacious drawing-rooms, contiguous to the magnificent dining hall, where lounging gentlemen can feel quite at home; and one of these contains a piano for the musical. from the top of the tower, which is one of the most elevated stations in the city, there is, to repay the fatigue of climbing the "weary, winding way," to the summit--a fine panoramic view of the whole city, with its sombre towers, flat roofs, long, dark, narrow streets, distant marshes, and the majestic mississippi, sweeping proudly away to the north, and to the south, alive with dashing steamers, and glancing with white sails. the horizon, on every side, presents the same low, level, unrelieved line, that for ever meets the eye, which way soever it turns in the lower regions of the mississippi. a day or two after i arrived here, i ascended to the top of this tower. the morning was brilliant, and the atmosphere was so pure, that distant objects seemed to be viewed through the purest crystalline medium. i would recommend every stranger, on his arrival at new-orleans, to receive his first general impression of the city, from this eminence. he will regret, however, equally with others, that the pleasure he derives from the prospect cannot be enhanced by the aid of a good telescope, or even a common ship's spy-glass in either of which articles, the "lookout" is singularly deficient; but the enterprise, good taste, and obliging manner of mr. bishop have contributed in all else, throughout his extensive establishment, to the comfort, content, and amusement, of his numerous guests. a peculiarity in this hotel, and in one or two others here, is the exclusion of ladies from among the number of boarders; it is, properly, a bachelor establishment. there are, however, hotels of high rank in the city, where ladies and families are accommodated. they are kept by ladies, and often agreeably unite, with the public character of a hotel, the pleasures and advantages of social society. the boarding-house of madame wilkinson, widow of the late gen. wilkinson, a lady distinguished for her talents and accomplishments; that of madame herries, the widow of a titled foreigner, i believe, in canal-street, and one or two others kept in good style, in chartres-street, are the principal in the city. richardson's, a large hotel on conti-street, is a bachelor establishment, where the up-country merchants usually put up, when they arrive in the city to purchase goods; though many of them, from choice or economy, remain as boarders or lodgers on board the steamers which bring them to new-orleans, and on which, with their goods, they return to their homes. young unmarried men here, usually have single furnished rooms, where they lodge, breakfast, and sup, dining at some hotel. there are, in some of the streets, long blocks of one story houses, with but one or two rooms in each, built purposely to be let out to bachelors. indeed, there are neither hotels nor boarding-houses enough to accommodate one-tenth part of this class of forlorn bipeds. this independent way of living, in practice among so large a portion of the citizens and sojourners, in this city of anomalies, necessarily produces a peculiarity of character and habits among its observers, which has its natural and deteriorating effect upon the general state of society. footnotes: [ ] the law has recently been repealed. xviii. saddle horses and accoutrements--banks--granite--church- members--french mode of dressing--quadroons--gay scene and groups in the streets--sabbath evening--duelling ground--an extensive cotton-press--a literary germ--a mysterious institution--scenery in the suburbs--convent--catholic education. i intended in my last letter, to give you some account of an equestrian excursion along the banks of the river, and of a visit to the new ursuline convent, two miles below the city; but a long digression about hotels and bachelors brought me to the end of my letter before i could even mention the subject. i will now fulfil my intention, in this letter, which will probably be the last you will receive from me, dated at new-orleans. mounting our horses, at the door of the hotel, which were accoutred with clinking curbs, flashing martingales, and high-pummelled spanish saddles, covered with blue broadcloth, the covering and housings being of one piece, as is the fashion here, we proceeded by a circuitous route to avoid the crowded front streets, toward the lower faubourg. in our ride, we passed the banks of the city, most of which are in bienville-street or its vicinity. with but one exception, there is nothing in their external appearance to distinguish them from the other ordinary buildings, by which they are surrounded. the one referred to, whose denomination i do not recollect, is decidedly one of the handsomest structures in the south. it is lofty and extensive, with an imposing front and handsome columns, and stuccoed, so as to resemble the finest granite. and so perfect is the resemblance, that one can only assure himself that it is a deception, by reflecting that this beautiful material is used here little except in ornamental work; it being imported in small quantities from a great distance, by water, and its transportation being attended with too much expense to admit of its general adoption, as a material for building. the episcopal and presbyterian churches we also passed; both are plain buildings. under the latter, an infant school is kept, which has been but lately organized, and is already very flourishing. it is under the care of northerners, as are most schools in this place, which are not french. of the permanent population of this city--which does not exceed fifty-one or two thousand, of whom thirty thousand are coloured--between fifteen and sixteen thousand are catholics, and nearly six thousand protestants; among whom are about seven hundred communicants. the catholic communicants number about six thousand and five hundred. there are ten protestant churches, over which preside but seven or eight clergymen. though the number of the former so much exceeds that of the latter, there are in this city in all, but six churches and chapels of the catholic denomination, in which about twenty-five priests regularly officiate. there is here but one church to every three thousand and two hundred inhabitants, the estimate, for the most religious nations, being a church and clergyman for about every one thousand of the population. as we rode along, i was struck with the appearance of the peculiar dress worn by the french inhabitants. the gentlemen, almost without exception, wear pantaloons of blue cottonade, coarse and unsightly in its appearance, but which many exquisites have recently taken a fancy to adopt. their coats are seldom well fashioned; narrow, low collars, large flat buttons, hardly within hail of each other, and long, narrow skirts being the _bon-ton_. their hats are all oddly shaped, and between the extremity of their pantaloons and their ill-shaped shoes, half a yard of blue striped yarn stocking shocks the fastidious eye. the ladies dress with taste, but it is french taste; with too much of the gew-gaw to please the plain republican, and, "by the same token," correct taste of a northerner. many fine women, with brunette complexions, are to be seen walking the streets with the air of donnas. they wear no bonnets, but as a substitute, fasten a veil to the head; which, as they move, floats gracefully around them. these are termed "quadroons," one quarter of their blood being tinged with african. i have heard it remarked, that some of the finest looking women in new-orleans are "quadroons." i know not how true this may be, but they certainly have large fine eyes, good features, magnificent forms, and elegantly shaped feet. if a stranger should feel disposed to judge, whether the british watch-word, "beauty and booty," was based on a sufficient consideration, let him promenade the streets at twilight, and he will be convinced of the propriety of its first item. then, windows, balconies, and doors, are alive with bright eyes, glancing scarfs, gay, bonnetless girls, playing children, and happy groups of every age. street after street, square after square, will still present to him the same delightful scene of happy faces, and merry voices. the whole fair population seem to have abandoned their houses for the open air. how the bachelors of new-orleans thread their way at sunset, through these brilliant groups of dark, sparkling eyes, without being burned to a cinder, passeth my comprehension. every sunday evening there is an extra turn out, when the whole city may be found promenading the noble levée. this is an opportunity, which no stranger should omit, to observe the citizens under a new aspect. a ramble through the various streets, a few twilights successively, and a promenade on the levée, on a sabbath evening, will bring all the fair creoles of the city, in review before him, and if that will not repay him for his trouble, let him go play "dominos!" in our ride, we passed the commercial library. its collection is valuable but not large. by the politeness of monsieur d. i received a card for admittance during my stay; and i have found it an agreeable _oasis_ of rest, after rambling for hours about the city. its advantages in a place like this, where there are no circulating libraries, are very great. passing the rail-way, in the vicinity of which is the gentilly road, the famous duelling ground, we arrived at the "cotton press," a short distance below, on the left, fronting the river. it is a very extensive brick building with wings, having a yard in the rear, capable of containing fifty thousand bales of cotton. there is a rail-way, extending from the river to the press, on which the cotton is conveyed from the steamers, passing under a lofty arched way through the centre of the building, to the yard. all the cotton brought down the river, in addition to its original compression by hand, as it is baled up on the plantations, is again compressed by steam here, which diminishes the bale cubically, nearly one third. a ship can consequently take many more bales, than if the cotton were not thus compressed. there are, also, one or two more steam cotton-presses in the upper part of the city, which i have not had an opportunity of visiting. after passing this last building we overtook a cart loaded with negroes, proceeding to the country. to our inquiry, one of them answered,--while the others exhibited ivory enough to sheathe a ship's bottom, "we wirginny niggurs, massas: new massa, he juss buy us, and we be gwine to he plantation. plenty sugar dere, massa!" they all appeared contented and happy, and highly elated at their sweet anticipations. say not that the slavery of the louisiana negroes is a _bitter_ draught. an old, plain, unassuming, and apparently deserted building, a little retired from the road and half-hidden in shrubbery, next attracted our attention. over its front was a sign informing us that it was the "lyceum pour les jeunes gens." we could not learn whether it had teacher or pupil, but from appearances we inferred that it was minus both. a padre, in the awkward black gown peculiar to his order, which is seldom laid aside out of doors, passed just at this time; and to our inquiries respecting the lyceum, though framed, _me judice_, in very respectable _lingua franca_, he deigned us no other reply than a pleasant smile, and a low-toned, sonorous "benedicite." with others, we were equally unsuccessful. one, of whom we inquired, and who appeared as though he might find an amber-stone among a heap of pebbles, if he were previously informed that it was the colour of whiskey--replied, "why, i dont cozactly know, stranngers, seeing i aint used to readin', overmuch, but to my eye, it looks consarnedly like a tavern-sign." "why do you think so, my man?" "why, you see, i can't, somehow, make out the first part; but the last word spells gin, as slick as a tallow whistle--i say, strannger, ye haint got nothin o' no small-sized piccaiune about ye, have ye?"--we threw our intelligent informant, who was no doubt some stray prodigal son from old kentuck or down east--though his ignorance of the art of reading belied his country--the required fee for his information, and continued our ride. we were now quite out of the city; the noble mississippi rolled proudly toward the sea on our right, its banks unrelieved by a single vessel:--while on our left, embowered in shrubbery, public and private buildings lined the road, which wound pleasantly along the level borders of the river. shortly after leaving the lyceum, we noticed on our left, at some distance from the road, a large building, of more respectable appearance and dimensions than the last. a sign here too informed us, whatever our ingenious literary sign-reader might have rendered it, that _there_ was the "college washington." our information respecting this institution was in every respect as satisfactory as that which we had obtained concerning the lyceum. not an individual urchin, or grave instructer, was to be seen at the windows, or within the precincts. its halls were silent and deserted. i have made inquiries, since i returned, of old residents, respecting it. no one knows any thing of it. some may have heard there was such a college. some may even have seen the sign, in passing: but the majority learned for the first time, from my inquiries, that there was such an institution in existence. so we are all equally wise respecting it. passing beautiful cottages, partially hidden in foliage, tasteful villas, and deserted mansions, alternately, our attention was attracted by a pretty residence, far from the road, at the extremity of an extensive grass-plat, void of shrub or any token of horticultural taste. had the grounds been ornamented, like all others in the vicinity, with shrubbery, it would have been one of the loveliest residences on the road; but, as it was, its aspect was dreary. we were informed that it was the residence of the british consul; but he seems to have left his national passion for ornamental gardening, shrubbery walks, and park-like grounds, at home; denying himself their luxurious shade and agreeable beauty, in a climate where, alone, they are really necessary for comfort--where the cool covert of a thickly foliaged tree is as great a luxury to a northerner, as a welling fountain in the desert to the fainting arab. in a short ride from the residence of the consul, we arrived opposite to the ursuline convent, a very large and handsome two-story edifice, with a high spanish roof, heavy cornices, deep windows, half concealed by the foliage of orange and lemon trees, and stuccoed, in imitation of rough white marble. three other buildings, of the same size, extended at the rear of this main building, forming three sides of the court of the convent, of which area this formed the fourth, each building fronting within upon the court, as well as without. there are about seventy young ladies pursuing a course of education here--some as boarders, and others as day scholars. the boarders are kept very rigidly. they are permitted to leave the convent, to visit friends in the city, if by permission of parents, but once a month. none are allowed to see them, unless they first obtain written permission, from the parents or guardians of the young ladies. as my friend had an errand at the convent, we called. proceeding down a long avenue to the portal on the right side of the grounds, we entered, and applied our riding whips to the door for admission. we were questioned by an unseen querist, as to our business there, as are all visiters. the voice issued from a tin plate, perforated with innumerable little holes, and resembling a colander fixed in the wall, on one side of the entrance. if the visiters give a good account of themselves, and can show good cause why they should speak with any of the young ladies, they are told to open the door at the left; whereupon, they find themselves in a long, dimly-lighted apartment, without any article of furniture, except a backless form. three sides of this room are like any other--but, the fourth is open to the inner court, and latticed from the ceiling to the floor, like a summer-house. approaching the lattice, the visiter, by placing his eye to the apertures, has a full view of the interior, and the three inner fronts of the convent. a double cloister extends above and below, and around the whole court; where the young ladies may be seen walking, studying, or amusing themselves. she, for whom the visiter has inquired, now approaches the grate demurely by the side of one of the elderly ladies of the sisterhood; and the visiter, placing his lips to an aperture, as to the mouth of a speaking trumpet, must address her, and thus carry on his conversation; while the elder nun stands within earshot, that peradventure she may thereby be edified. the young ladies are here well and thoroughly educated;--even dancing is not prohibited, and is taught by a professor from the city. the religious exercises of the convent are of course roman catholic; but no farther than the daily routine of formal religious services, are the tenets of their faith inculcated upon the minds of the pupils. some protestant young ladies, allured by the romantic and imposing character of the catholic religion, embrace it: but a few years after leaving the convent, are generally sufficient to efface their new faith and bring them back to the religion of their childhood. but the instances are very rare in which a protestant becomes a _religieuse_, or leaves the convent a catholic: though a great portion of the young ladies under the charge of the ursuline sisterhood are of protestant parentage. the remainder of our ride was past orange gardens and french villas, so like all we had passed nearer the city, that they presented no variety; after riding a mile below the convent, we turned our horses' heads back to the city, and in less than an hour arrived at our hotel just in time to sit down to one of bishop's sumptuous dinners. xix. battle-ground--scenery on the road--a peaceful scene-- american and british quarters--view of the field of battle --breastworks--oaks--packenham--a tennessee rifleman-- anecdote--a gallant british officer--grape-shot--young traders--a relic--leave the ground--a last view of it from the levée. i have just returned from a visit to the scene of american resolution and individual renown--the battle-ground of new-orleans. the aceldama, where one warrior-chief drove his triumphal car over the grave of another--the field of "fame and of glory" from which the "hero of two wars" plucked the chaplet which encircles his brow, and the _éclat_ which has elevated him to a throne!-- the field of battle lies between five and six miles below the city, on the left bank, on the new-orleans side of the river. the road conducting us to it, wound pleasantly along the levée; its unvarying level relieved by delightful gardens, and pleasant country seats--(one of which, constructed like a chinese villa, struck me as eminently tasteful and picturesque)--skirting it upon one side, and by the noble, lake-like mississippi on the other, which, beating upon its waveless bosom a hundred white sails, and a solitary tow-boat leading, like a conqueror, a fleet in her train--rolled silently and majestically past to the ocean. when, in our own estimation, and, no doubt, in that of our horses, we had accomplished the prescribed two leagues, we reined up at a steam saw-mill, erected and in full operation on the road-side, and inquired for some directions to the spot--not discerning in the peaceful plantations before us, any indications of the scene of so fierce a struggle as that which took place, when england and america met in proud array, and the military standards of each gallantly waved to the "battle and the breeze." although, on ascending the river in the ship, i obtained a moonlight glance of the spot, i received no impression of its _locale_ sufficiently accurate to enable me to recognise it under different circumstances. an extensive, level field was spread out before us, apparently the peaceful domain of some planter, who probably resided in a little piazza-girted cottage which stood on the banks of the river. but this field, we at once decided, could not be the battle-field--so quiet and farm-like it reposed. "there," was our reflection, "armies can never have met! there, warriors can never have stalked in the pride of victory with "---- garments rolled in blood!" yet peaceful as it slumbered there, that domain had once rung with the clangor of war. it _was_ the battle-field! but silence now reigned "---- where the free blood gushed when england came arrayed-- so many a voice had there been hushed; so many a footstep stayed." in reply to our inquiries, made of one apparently superintending the steam-works, we received simply the tacit "follow me gentlemen!" we gladly accommodated the paces of our spirited horses to those of our obliging and very practical informant, who alertly preceded us, blessing the stars which had given us so unexpectedly a cicerone, who, from his vicinity to the spot must be _au fait_ in all the interesting minutiæ of so celebrated a place. following our guide a few hundred yards farther down the river-road, we passed on the left hand a one story wooden dwelling-house situated at a short distance back from the road, having a gallery, or portico in front, and elevated upon a basement story of brick, like most other houses built immediately on the river. this, our guide informed us, was "the house occupied by general jackson as head-quarters: and there," he continued, pointing to a planter's residence two or three miles farther down the river, "is the mansion-house of general, (late governor, villeré) which was occupied by sir edward packenham as the head-quarters of the british army." "but the battle-ground--where is that sir?" we inquired, as he silently continued his rapid walk in advance of us. "there it is," he replied after walking on a minute or two longer in silence, and turning the corner of a narrow, fenced lane which extended from the river to the forest-covered marshes--"there it is, gentlemen,"--and at the same time extended his arm in the direction of the peaceful plain, which we had before observed,--spread out like a carpet, it was so very level--till it terminated in the distant forests, by which and the river it was nearly enclosed. riding a quarter of a mile down the lane we dismounted, and leaving our horses in the road, sprang over a fence, and in a few seconds stood upon the american breast-works! "when," said a mercurial friend lately, in describing his feelings on first standing upon the same spot--"when i leaped upon the embankment, my first impulse was to give vent to my excited feelings by a shout that might have awakened the mailed sleepers from their sleep of death." our emotions--for strong and strange emotions will be irresistibly excited in the breast of every one, "to war's dark scenes unused," on first beholding the scene of a sanguinary conflict, between man and man, whether it be grisly with carnage, pleasantly waving with the yellow harvest, or carpeted with green--our emotions, though perhaps equally deep, exhibited themselves very differently. for some moments, after gaining our position, we stood wrapped in silence. the wild and terrible scenes of which the ground we trod had been the theatre, passed vividly before my mind with almost the distinctness of reality, impressing it with reflections of a deep and solemn character. i stood upon the graves of the fallen! every footfall disturbed human ashes! human dust gathered upon our shoes as the dust of the plain! my thoughts were too full for utterance. "on the very spot where i stand"--thought i, "some gallant fellow poured out the best blood of his heart! here, past me, and around me, flowed the sanguinary tide of death!--the fierce battle-cry--the bray of trumpets--the ringing of steel on steel--the roar of artillery hurling leaden and iron hail against human breasts--the rattling of musketry--the shouts of the victor, and the groans of the wounded, were here mingled--a whirlwind of noise and death!" "under those two oaks, which you see about half a mile over the field, sir edward was borne, by his retreating soldiers, to die"--said our guide, suddenly interrupting my momentary reverie. i looked in the direction indicated by his finger, and my eyes rested upon a venerable oak, towering in solitary grandeur over the field, and overshadowing the graves of the slain, who, in great numbers, had been sepultured beneath its shadow. how many eyes were fixed, with the fond recollection of their village homes amid clustering oaks in distant england, upon this noble tree--which, in a few moments, amid the howl of war, were closed for ever in the sleep of the dead! of how many last looks were its branches the repositories! how many manly sighs were wafted toward its waving summit from the breast of many a brave man, who was never more to behold the wave of a green tree upon the pleasant earth! it has been stated that sir edward packenham fell, and was buried under this oak, or these oaks, (for i believe there are two,) but i have been informed, since my return from the field, by a gentleman who was commander of a troop of horse in the action, that when the british retreated, he saw from the parapet the body of general packenham lying alone upon the ground, surrounded by the dead and wounded, readily distinguishable by its uniform; and, that during the armistice for the burial of the dead, he saw his body borne from the field by the british soldiers, who afterward conveyed it with them in their retreat to their fleet. the rampart of earth upon which we stood, presented very little the appearance of having ever been a defence for three thousand breasts; resembling rather one of the numerous dikes constructed on the plantations near the river, to drain the very marshy soil which abounds in this region, than the military defences of a field of battle. it was a grassy embankment, extending, with the exception of an angle near the forest--about a mile in a straight line from the river to the cypress swamps in the rear; four feet high, and five or six feet broad. at the time of the battle it was the height of a man, and somewhat broader than at present, and along the whole front ran a _fossé_, containing five feet of water, and of the same breadth as the parapet. this was now nearly filled with earth, and could easily be leaped over at any point. the embankment throughout the whole extent is much worn, indented and, occasionally, levelled with the surface of the plain. upon the top of it, before the battle, eight batteries were erected, with embrasures of cotton bales, piled transversely. under cover of this friendly embankment, the americans lay _perdus_, but not idle, during the greater portion of the battle. a daring tennessean, with a blanket tied round him, and a hat with a brim of enormous breadth, who seemed to be fighting "on his own hook," disdaining to raise his rifle over the bank of earth and fire, in safety to his person, like his more wary fellow soldiers, chose to spring, every time he fired, upon the breastwork, where, balancing himself, he would bring his rifle to his cheek, throw back his broad brim, take sight and fire, while the enemy were advancing to the attack, as deliberately as though shooting at a herd of deer; then leaping down on the inner side, he would reload, mount the works, cock his beaver, take aim, and crack again. "this he did," said an english officer, who was taken prisoner by him, and who laughingly related it as a good anecdote to captain d----, my informant above alluded to--"five times in rapid succession, as i advanced at the head of my company, and though the grape whistled through the air over our heads, for the life of me i could not help smiling at his grotesque demi-savage, demi-quaker figure, as he threw back the broad flap of his castor to obtain a fair sight--deliberately raised his rifle--shut his left eye, and blazed away at us. i verily believe he brought down one of my men at every shot." as the british resolutely advanced, though columns fell like the tall grain before the sickle at the fire of the americans, this same officer approached at the head of his brave grenadiers amid the rolling fire of musketry from the lines of his unseen foes, undaunted and untouched. "advance, my men!" he shouted as he reached the edge of the _fossé_--"follow me!" and sword in hand he leaped the ditch, and turning amidst the roar and flame of a hundred muskets to encourage his men, beheld to his surprise but a single man of his company upon his feet--more than fifty brave fellows, whom he had so gallantly led on to the attack, had been shot down. as he was about to leap back from his dangerous situation, his sword was shivered in his grasp by a rifle ball, and at the same instant the daring tennessean sprang upon the parapet and levelled his deadly weapon at his breast, calmly observing, "surrender, strannger--or, i may perforate ye!" "chagrined," said the officer, at the close of his recital, "i was compelled to deliver to the bold fellow my mutilated sword, and pass over into the american lines." "here," said our guide and cicerone, advancing a few paces up the embankment, and placing his foot emphatically upon the ground, "_here_ fell renie." this gallant man, with the calf of his leg shot away by a cannon-ball, leaped upon the breast-works with a shout of exultation, and was immediately shot through the heart, by an american private. packenham, the favourite _elêve_ of wellington, and the "beau ideal" of a british soldier, after receiving a second wound, while attempting to rally his broken columns, fell directly in front of our position, not far from where renie received his death-wound. in the disorder and panic of the first retreat of the british, he was left bleeding and forsaken among the dead and dying. not far from this melancholy spot, gibbes received his mortal wound; and near the place where this gallant officer fell, one of the staff of the english general was also shot down. the whole field was fruitful with scenes of thrilling interest. i should weary you by individualizing them. there was scarcely a spot on which i could cast my eyes, where a soldier had not poured out his life-blood. "as i stood upon the breast-works," said captain dunbar, "after the action, the field of battle before me was so thickly strewn with dead bodies, that i could have walked fifty yards over them without placing my foot upon the ground." how revolting the sight of a field thus sown must be to human nature! man must indeed be humbled at such a spectacle. we walked slowly over the ground, which annually waves with undulating harvests of the rich cane. our guide was intelligent and sufficiently communicative without being garrulous. he was familiar with every interesting fact associated with the spot, and by his correct information rendered our visit both more satisfactory and agreeable than it otherwise would have been. "here gentilhommes, j'ai findé some bullet for you to buy," shouted a little french mulatto at the top of his voice, who, among other boys of various hues, had followed us to the field, "me, j'ai trop--too much;" and on reaching us, this double-tongued urchin turned his pockets inside out and discharged upon the ground a load of rusty grape shot, bullets, and fragments of lead--his little stock in trade, some, if not all of which, i surmised, had been manufactured for the occasion. "did you find them on the battle-ground, garçon?" "iss--oui, messieurs, me did, de long-temps." i was about to charge him with having prepared his pockets before leaving home, when mr. c. exhibited a grape shot that he had picked from the dark soil in which it was half buried. i bought for a piccaiune,[ ] the smallest currency of the country, the "load of grape," and we pursued our walk over the field, listening with much interest to the communications of our guide, conjuring up the past scenes of strife and searching for balls; which by and by began to thicken upon us so fast, that we were disposed to attribute a generative principle to grape-shot. we were told by our cicerone that they were found in great numbers by the ploughmen, and disposed of to curious visiters. on inquiring of him if false ones were not imposed upon the unsuspecting, he replied "no--there is no need of that--there is an abundance of those which are genuine." "i'm got half a peck on um to hum, mysef, i'se found," exclaimed a little negro in a voice that sounded like the creaking of a shoe, bolting off at the same time for the treasure, like one of his own cannon-balls. what appalling evidence is this abundance of leaden and iron hail strewed over the field, of the terrible character of that war-storm which swept so fearfully over it. flattened and round balls, grape of various sizes, and non-descript bits of iron were the principal objects picked up in our stroll over the ground. the night was rapidly approaching--for we had lingered long on this interesting spot--and precluded our visit to the oaks, to which it had been our intention to extend our walk; and as we turned to retrace our steps with our pockets heavy with metal, something rang to the touch of my foot, which, on lifting and cleansing it from the loam, we discovered to be the butt-piece of a musket. as this was the most valuable relic which the field afforded, c. was invested with it, for the purpose of placing it in the museum or codman's amateur collection, for the benefit of the curious, when he returns to that land of curious bipeds, where such kind of mementos are duly estimated. twilight had already commenced, as, advancing over the same ground across which the gallant packenham led his veteran army, we fearlessly leaped the fossé and, unresisted, ascended the parapet. hastening to free our impatient horses from their thraldom, we mounted them, and--not forgetting a suitable douceur, by way of "a consideration" to our obliging cicerone--spurred for the city. as we arrived at the head of the lane and emerged again upon the high-way, i paused for an instant upon the summit of the levée to take a last view of the battle-ground which lay in calm repose under the gathering twilight--challenging the strongest exercise of the imagination to believe it ever to have borne other than its present rural character, or echoed to other sounds than the whistle of the careless slave as he cut the luxuriant cane, the gun of the sportsman, or the melancholy song of the plough-boy. footnotes: [ ] properly, _piccaillon_, but pronounced as in the text. called in new england a "four pence half penny," in new-york a "sixpence," and in philadelphia a "fip." xx. scenes in a bar-room--affaires d'honneur--a sabbath morning --host--public square--military parades--scenes in the interior of a cathedral--mass--a sanctified family--crucifix --different ways of doing the same thing--altar--paintings-- the virgin--female devotees. the spacious bar-room of our magnificent hotel, as i descended to it on sabbath morning, resounded to the footsteps of a hundred gentlemen, some promenading and in earnest conversation--some hastening to, or lounging about the bar, that magnet of attraction to thirsty spirits, on which was displayed a row of rapidly disappearing glasses, containing the tempting, green-leaved, mint-julep--while, along the sides of the large room, or clustered around the tall, black columns, which extended through the centre of the hall, were others, some _tête à tête_, and others again smoking, and sipping in quiet their morning potation. a few, with legs _à la trollope_, upon the tables, were reading stray papers, and at the farther extremity of the hall, standing around a lofty desk, were ranks of merchants similarly engaged. my northern friend, with whom i had planned a visit to the cathedral, met me at the door of the hotel, around which, upon the side-walk, was gathered a knot of fashionably dressed, cane-wearing young men, talking, all together, of a duel that had taken place, or was about to "come off," we could not ascertain exactly which, from the few words heard in passing to the street. this, by the by, is a frequent theme of conversation here, and too often based upon facts to be one of light moment.[ ] the morning was cloudless and beautiful. the air was mild, and for the city, elastic and exhilarating. the sun shone down warm and cheerfully, enlivening the spirits, and making all things glad with its brightness. the whole city had come forth into the streets to enjoy it; and as we passed from camp-street across canal, into chartres-street, all the gay inhabitants, one would verily believe, had turned out as to a gala. the long, narrow streets were thronged with moving multitudes, and flashing with scarfs, ribbons, and feathers. children, with large expressive eyes, and clustering locks, their heads surmounted with tasselled caps and fancy hats, arrayed in their "brightest and best," bounded along behind their more soberly arrayed, but not less gay parents, followed by gaudily dressed slaves, who chattered incessantly with half-suppressed laughter to their acquaintances on the opposite trottoir. clerks, just such looking young men as you will meet on sabbath mornings in broadway, or cornhill--released from their six days' confinement--lounged by us arm in arm, as fine as the tailor and hair-dresser could make them. crowds, or gangs of american and english sailors, mingling most companionably, on a cruise through the city, rolled jollily along--the same careless independent fellows that they are all the world over. i have observed that in foreign ports, the seamen of these once hostile nations link together like brothers. this is as it should be. the good feeling existing generally among all classes of americans toward the mother country, must be gratifying both to reflecting americans and to englishmen. these sons of neptune were all dressed nearly alike in blue jackets, and full white trowsers, with black silk handkerchiefs knotted carelessly around their necks, and confined by some nautical breast-pin, in the shape of a foul anchor, a ship under her three top-sails, or plain gold hearts, pierced by arrows. sailors are very sentimental fellows on shore! in direct contrast to these frank-looking, open-browed tars, who yawed along the side-walk, as a landsman would walk on a ship's deck at sea, we passed, near the head of bienville-street, a straggling crew of some spanish trader, clothed in tarry pantaloons and woollen shirts, and girt about with red and blue sashes, bucanier fashion, with filthy black whiskers, and stealthy glowing eyes, who glided warily along with lowering brows. the unsailor-like french sailor--the half horse and half alligator kentucky boatman--the gentlemanly, carelessly-dressed cotton planter--the pale valetudinarian, from the north, whose deep sunken eye told of suicidal vigils over the midnight lamp--a noble looking foreigner, and a wretched beggar--a troop of swiss emigrants, from the grand sire to the infant, and a gang of erin's toil-worn exiles--all mingled _en masse_--swept along in this living current; while, gazing down upon the moving multitude from lofty balconies, were clusters of bright eyes, and sunny faces flashed from every window. as we approached the cathedral, a dark-hued and finely moulded quadroon, with only a flowing veil upon her head, glided majestically past us. the elegant olive-browned louisianese--the rosy-cheeked maiden from _la belle riviere_--the parisian gentilhomme--a dignified, light-mustachoed palsgrave, and a portly sea-captain--the haughty englishman and prouder southerner--a blanketed choctaw, and a negro in uniform--slaves and freed-men of every shade, elbowed each other very familiarly as they traversed in various directions the crowded side-walks. crossing rue st. louis, we came in collision with a party of gens d'armes with drawn swords in their hands, which they used as walking canes, leading an unlucky culprit to the calaboose--that "black-hole" of the city. soldiers in splendid uniforms, with clashing and jingling accoutrements, were continually hurrying past us to parade. at the corner of toulouse-street we met a straggling procession of bare-headed, sturdy-looking priests, in soiled black surplices and fashionable boots, preceded by half a dozen white-robed boys, bare-legged and dirty. by this dignified procession, among which the crowd promiscuously mingled as they passed along, and whose august approach is usually notified by the jingling of the "sacring bell," was borne the sacred "host." they hastily passed us, shoved and jostled by the crowd, who scarcely gave way to them as they hastened on their ghostly message. these things are done differently in buenos ayres or rio janeiro, where such a procession is escorted by an armed guard, and a bayonet thrust, or a night in a spanish prison, is the penalty for neglecting to genuflect, or uncover the heretical head. as we issued from chartres-street--where all "nations and kingdoms and tongues" seemed to have united to form its pageant of life--upon the esplanade in front of the cathedral, we were surprised by the sound of martial music pealing clearly above the confusion of tongues, the tramp of feet, and the rattling of carriages. on and around the noble green, soldiers in various uniforms, some of them of a gorgeous and splendid description, were assembling for parade. members of the creole regiment--the finest body of military men i ever beheld, with the exception of a brazilian regiment of blacks--were rapidly marshalling in the square. and mounted hussars, with lofty caps and in glittering mail, were thundering in from the various streets, their spurs, chains and sabres, ringing and jingling warlike music, as they dashed up to the rendezvous. at the head of this noble square, so variegated and tumultuous with its dazzling mimicry of war, rose in solemn and imposing grandeur the venerable cathedral, lifting its heavy towers high above the emmet-crowd beneath. its doors, in front of which was extended a line of carriages, were thronged with a motley crowd, whose attention was equally divided between the religious ceremonies within the temple and the military display without. we forced our way through the mass, which was composed of strangers like ourselves--casual spectators--servants--hack-drivers --fruit sellers, and some few, who, like the publican, worshipped "afar off." it was the celebration of the eucharist. within, crowds were kneeling upon the pavement under the corridor and along the aisles--some in attitudes of the profoundest humility and awe. others were kneeling, as nominal protestants stand in prayer, without intention or feeling of humility; but merely assuming the posture as a matter of form. among these last were many young frenchmen, whose pantaloons were kept from soiling by white handkerchiefs as they kneeled, playing with their watch-guards, twirling their narrow-brimmed silk hats, or gazing idly about over the prostrate multitude. here and there kneeled a fine female figure; and dark eyes from artfully arranged veils wandered every where but over the missal, clasped in unconscious fingers. at the base of a massive column two fair girls, kneeling side by side, were laughingly whispering together. but there were also venerable sires with locks of snow, and aged matrons, and manly forms of men, and graceful women, maidens and children, who bowed with their faces to the ground in deep devotion. as we entered, the solemn peal of an organ, mingled with the deep toned voices of the priests chanting the imposing mass, rolled over the prostrate assembly; at the same moment the host was elevated and the multitude, bowing their foreheads to the pavement, profoundly adored this roman _schechinah_, or _visible_ presence of the saviour. having, with some difficulty, worked our way through the worshippers, who, after the solemn service of the consecration of the bread and wine was finished, arose from their knees, we gained an eligible situation by one of the pillars which support the vaulted roof, and there took our post of observation. a marble font of holy water stood near us on our right hand, into which all true catholics who entered or departed from the church, dipped the tip of a finger, with the greatest possible veneration; and therewith--the while moving their lips with a brief, indistinctly-heard prayer--crossed themselves upon both the forehead and the breast. this ceremony was also performed by proxy. a very handsome french lady entered the church, while we leaned against the column, and advancing directly to the font, dipped her ungloved finger into the consecrated laver, made the sign of the cross first upon her own fine forehead, and then turning, stooped down and crossed affectionately and prayerfully the pure, olive brows of two beautiful little girls who followed her, and the forehead of an infant borne in the arms of a slave; who, dipping her tawny fingers in the water, blessed her own black forehead; and then all passed up the aisle toward the altar--a sanctified family! how like infant baptism, this beautiful and affecting little scene of a mother thus blessing in the sincerity of her heart, her innocent offspring! white, black, and yellow--the rich and the poor, the freeman and slave, all dipped in the same font--were all blessed by the same water. a beautiful emblem of the undistinguishing blood of the saviour of the world! not far from this holy vessel, behind a table or temporary altar, sat a man with a scowling brow and a superstitious eye, coarsely dressed, without vest or cravat. before him lay a large salver strewed in great profusion with pieces of silver coin from a _bit_ to a dollar. on the centre, and only part of the waiter not piled with money, lay a silver crucifix. at the moment this display caught our eyes, and before we had time to form any conjectures as to its object, a mulatress gave us the desired explanation. crossing from the broad aisle of the church, she reverently approached the spot and kneeling before the altar, added a quarter of a dollar to the glittering pile, and bending over, kissed first the feet, then the knees, hands, and wounded side of the image, while real tears flowed down her saffron cheeks. elevating her prostrate form, she passed to the font, dipped her finger in the holy water and disappeared amid the crowd at the door. a gay demoiselle tripping lightly past us, bent on one knee before the waiter, threw down upon it a heavy piece of silver, and, less humble than the one who had preceded her, imprinted a kiss upon the metal lips of the image and glided from the cathedral. she was followed by a lame negro, darker than othello, uglier and more clumsy than caliban, who for a piccaiune, which tinkled upon the salver, had the privilege of saluting the senseless image from head to foot in the most devotional and lavish manner. a little child, led by its nurse, followed, and timidly, at the direction of its coloured governess, kissed the calm and expansive forehead of the sculptured idol. during the half hour we remained, there was a continual flow of the current of devotees to this spot, in their way to and from the high altar. but i observed that ten blacks approached the crucifix for every white! this altar with its enriched salver is merely a roman catholic "contribution-box,"--a new way of doing an old thing. some of the protestant churches resound with a sacred hymn, or the voice of the clergyman reading a portion of the liturgy or discipline, calculated to inspire charitable feelings, while the contribution-box or bag makes its begging tour among the pews. in the cathedral the same feelings are excited by an appeal to the senses through the silent exhibition of the sufferings of the redeemer. with one, the ear is the road to the heart, with the other, the eye; but if it is only reached, it were useless to quibble about the medium of application. i lingered long after the great body of the congregation had departed. here and there, before a favourite shrine--the tutelary guardian of the devotee--kneeled only a solitary individual. close by my side, before the pictured representation of a martyrdom, bent a female form enveloped in mourning robes, her features concealed in the folds of a rich black veil. far off, before the distant shrine of the virgin mother, knelt a very old man engaged in inaudible prayer, with his head pressed upon the cold stone pavement. slowly and reflectingly i paced the deserted aisles toward the high altar, which stood in the midst of a splendid and dazzling creation of gold and silver, rich colouring, architectural finery, and gorgeous decorations, burning tapers, and candlesticks like silver pillars; the whole extending from the pavement to the ceiling, and all so mingled and confused in the religious gloom of the church, that i was unable to analyse or form any distinct idea of it. but the _coup d'oeil_ was unrivalled by any display i had ever seen in an american temple. at the lower termination of the side aisles of the cathedral, stood dark mahogany confessionals, with blinds at the sides--reminding one of sentry boxes. these, however, were deserted and apparently seldom occupied. sins must be diminished here, or penitents have grown more discreet than in former times! in a little while the cathedral, save by a poor woman kneeling devoutly before a wretched picture, which i took to be a representation of the martyrdom of saint peter, became silent and deserted. while gazing upon the image of the virgin mary, arrayed like a prima donna, and profusely decorated with finery, standing pensively within an isolated niche, to the left of the grand altar, a slight noise, and the simultaneous agitation of a curtain, drew my attention to the entrance of a trio of young ladies, through a side door hitherto concealed behind the arras, preceded by an elderly brown-complexioned lady, of the most duenna-like physiognomy and bearing. without noticing the presence of a stranger and a heretic--for i was gazing most undevoutly and heretically upon the jewelled image before me as they entered--they dipped the tips of their fingers in a font of holy water which stood by the entrance--passed into the centre aisle in front of the great crucifix, and kneeling in a cluster upon a rich carpet, spread upon the pavement over the crypts of the distinguished dead, by a female slave who attended them, were at once engaged in the most absorbing devotion. after a short period they arose--bowed sweepingly to the crucifix, genuflected most gracefully with a sort of familiar nod of recognition before the shrine of the virgin, and moistening the ends of their fingers again in the marble basin, quietly disappeared. i was now alone in the vast building. though the current of human life flowed around its walls, with a great tumult of mingled sounds, yet only a noise, like the faintly heard murmuring of distant surf, penetrated its massive walls, and broke a silence like that of the grave which reigned within. the illustrious dead slept beneath the hollow pavement, which echoed to my footfall like a vaulted sepulchre. the ghastly images of slaughtered men looked down upon me from the walls, with agony depicted on their pale and unearthly countenances, seen indistinctly through the dim twilight of the place. the melancholy tapers burned faintly before the deserted shrines, increasing, rather than illuminating the gloom of the venerable temple. gradually, under the combined influence of these gloomy objects, i felt a solemnity stealing over me, awed and depressed by the tomb-like repose that reigned around. suddenly the clear light of noon-day flashed in through the drawn curtain, and another worshipper entered. turning to take a last glance at the interior of this imposing fabric, so well calculated to excite the religious feelings of even a descendant of the puritans, i drew aside the curtain, and the next moment was involved in the life, bustle, and tumult of the streets of a large city, whose noise, confusion, and bright sunshine contrasted strangely with the perfect stillness and "dim religious light" of the cathedral. footnotes: [ ] the rage for duelling is at such a pitch, that a jest or smart repartee is sufficient excuse for a challenge, in which powder and ball are the arguments. the court of honour has proved unsuccessful in its operation, and no person, it is said, has yet dared to stem the current of popular opinion. the accuracy of the creoles, with the pistol, is said to be astonishing, and no youngster springing into life, is considered entitled to the claims of manhood, until made the mark of an adversary's bullet. in their shooting galleries, the test of their aim is firing at a button at ten or twelve paces distance, suspended by a wire, which, when struck, touches a spring that discloses a flag. there are but few who miss more than once in three times. an appointment for a duel is talked of with the _nonchalance_ of an invitation to a dinner or supper party. xxi. sabbath in new-orleans--theatre--interior--a new-orleans audience--performance--checks--theatre d'orleans--interior --boxes--audience--play--actors and actresses--institutions --m. poydras--liberality of the orleanese--extracts from flint upon new-orleans. "do you attend the _theatre d'orleans_ to night?" inquired a young bostonian, forgetful of his orthodox habits--last sabbath evening, twirling while he spoke a ticket in his fingers--"you know the maxim--when one is in rome"-- "i have not been here quite long enough yet to apply the rule," said i; "is not the theatre open on other evenings of the week?" "very seldom," he replied, "unless in the gayest part of the season--though i believe there is to be a performance some night this week; i will ascertain when and accompany you." you are aware that the rituals, or established forms of the roman church, do not prohibit amusements on this sacred day. the sabbath, consequently, in a city, the majority of whose inhabitants are catholics, is not observed as in the estimation of new-englanders, or protestants it should be. the lively orleanese defend the custom of crowding their theatres, attending military parades, assembling in ball-rooms, and mingling in the dangerous masquerade on this day, by wielding the scriptural weapon--"the sabbath was made for man--not man for the sabbath;" and then making their own inductions, they argue that the sabbath is, literally, as the term imports, a day of rest, and not a day of religious labour. they farther argue, that religion was bestowed upon man, not to lessen, but to augment his happiness--and that it ought therefore to infuse a spirit of cheerfulness and hilarity into the mind--for cheerfulness is the twin-sister of religion. last evening, as i entered my room, after a visit to two noble packet ships just arrived from new-york, which as nearly resemble "floating palaces" as any thing not described in the arabian tales well can--i discovered, lying upon my table, a ticket for the american or camp-street theatre, folded in a narrow slip of a play-bill, which informed me that the laughable entertainment of the "three hunchbacks," with the interesting play of "cinderella," was to constitute the performance of the night: cinderella, that tale which, with blue beard, the forty thieves, and some others, has such charms for children, and which, represented on the stage, has the power to lead stern man, with softened feelings, back to infancy. in a few moments afterward my boston friend, who had left the ticket in my room, came in with another for the french theatre, giving me a choice between the two. i decided upon attending both, dividing the evening between them. after tea we sallied out, in company with half of those who were at the supper-table, on our way to the theatre. the street and adjacent buildings shone brilliantly, with the glare of many lamps suspended from the theatre and coffee houses in the vicinity. a noisy crowd was gathered around the ticket-office--the side-walks were filled with boys and negroes--and the curb-stone was lined with coloured females, each surrounded by bonbons, fruit, nuts, cakes, pies, gingerbread, and all the other et cetera of a "cake-woman's commodity." entering the theatre, which is a plain handsome edifice, with a stuccoed front, and ascending a broad flight of steps, we passed across the first lobby, down a narrow aisle, opened through the centre of the boxes into the pit or _parquette_, as it is here termed, which is considered the most eligible and fashionable part of the house. this is rather reversing the order of things as found with us at the north. the pews, or slips--for the internal arrangement, were precisely like those of a church--were cushioned with crimson materials, and filled with bonnetless ladies, with their heads dressed _à la madonna_. we seated ourselves near the orchestra. the large green curtain still concealed the mimic world behind it; and i embraced the few moments of delay previous to its rising, to gaze upon this thespian temple of the south, and a new orleans audience. the "parquette" was brilliant with bright eyes and pretty faces; and upon the bending galaxy of ladies which glittered in the front of the boxes around it, i seemed to gaze through the medium of a rainbow. there were, it must be confessed, some plain enough faces among them; but, at the first glance of the eye, one might verily have believed himself encircled by a gallery of houris. the general character of their faces was decidedly american; exactly such as one gazes upon at the tremont or park theatre; and i will henceforward eschew physiognomy, if "i guess" would not have dropped more naturally from the lips of one half who were before me, while conversing, than "i reckon." there were but few french faces among the females; but, with two or three exceptions, these were extremely pretty. most of the delicately-reared creoles, or louisianian ladies, are eminently beautiful. a psyche-like fascination slumbers in their dark, eloquent eyes, whose richly fringed lids droop timidly over them--softening but not diminishing their brilliance. their style of beauty is _unique_, and not easily classed. it is neither french nor english, but a combination of both, mellowed and enriched under a southern sky.--they are just such creatures as vesta and venus would have moulded, had they united to form a faultless woman. the interior of the house was richly decorated; and the panelling in the interior of the boxes was composed of massive mirror-plates, multiplying the audience with a fine effect. the stage was lofty, extensive, and so constructed, either intentionally or accidentally, as to reflect the voice with unusual precision and distinctness. the scenery was in general well executed: one of the forest scenes struck me as remarkably true to nature, both in colouring and design. while surveying the gaudy interior, variegated with gilding, colouring, and mirrors, the usual cry of "down, down?--hats off," warned us to be seated. the performance was good for the pieces represented. the company, with the indefatigable caldwell at its head, is strong and of a respectable character. when the second act was concluded we left the house; and passing through a parti-coloured mob, gathered around the entrance, and elbowing a gens d'armes or two, stationed in the lobby _in terrorem_ to the turbulent-- we gained the street, amidst a shouting of "your check, sir! your check! --give me your check--please give me your check!--check!--check!--check!" from a host of boys, who knocked one another about unmercifully in their exertions to secure the prizes, which, to escape a mobbing, we threw into the midst of them; and jumping into a carriage in waiting, drove off to the french theatre, leaving them embroiled in a _pêle mêle_, in which the sciences of phlebotomy and phrenology were "being" tested by very practical applications. after a drive of half a league or more through long and narrow streets, dimly lighted by swinging lamps, we were set down at the door of the theatre d'orleans, around which a crowd was assembled of as different a character, from that we had just escaped, as would have met our eyes had we been deposited before the _theatre royale_ in paris. the street was illuminated from the brilliantly lighted cafés and cabarets, clustered around this "nucleus" of gayety and amusement. as we crossed the broad _pavé_ into the vestibule of the theatre, the rapidly enunciated, nasal sounds of the french language assailed our ears from every side. ascending the stairs and entering the boxes, i was struck with the liveliness and brilliancy of the scene, which the interior exhibited to the eye. "magnificent!" was upon my lips--but a moment's observation convinced me that its brilliancy was an illusion, created by numerous lights, and an artful arrangement and lavish display of gilding and colouring. the whole of the interior, including the stage decorations and scenic effect, was much inferior to that of the house we had just quitted. the boxes--if caverns resembling the interior of a ship's long-boat, with one end elevated three feet, and equally convenient, can be so called--were cheerless and uncomfortable. there were but few females in the house, and none of these were in the pit, as at the other theatre. among them i saw but two or three pretty faces; and evidently none were of the first class of french society in this city. the house was thinly attended, presenting, wherever i turned my eyes, a "beggarly account of empty boxes." i found that i had chosen a night, of all others, the least calculated to give me a good idea of a french audience, in a cis-atlantic french theatre. after remaining half an hour, wearied with a tiresome _ritornello_ of a popular french air--listening with the devotion of a "polytechnique" to the blood-stirring marseillaise hymn--amused at the closing scene of a laughable comédie, and edified by the first of a pantomime, and observing, that with but one lovely exception, the mesdames _du scêne_ were very plain, and the messieurs very handsome, we left the theatre and returned to our hotel, whose deserted bar-room, containing here and there a straggler, presented a striking contrast to the noise and bustle of the multitude by which it was thronged at noon-day. in general, strangers consider the _tout ensemble_ of this theatre on sabbath evenings, and on others when the élite of the new-orleans society is collected there, decidedly superior to that of any other in the united states. beside the theatres there are other public buildings in this city, deserving the attention of a stranger, whose institution generally reflects the highest eulogium upon individuals, and the public. the effects of the benevolence of the generous m. poydras, will for ever remain monuments of his piety and of the nobleness of his nature. generation after generation will rise up from the bosom of this great city and "call him blessed." the charitable institutions of this city are lights which redeem the darker shades of its moral picture. regarded as originators of benevolence, carried out into efficient operation, the orleanese possess a moral beauty in their character as citizens and men, infinitely transcending that of many other cities ostensibly living under a higher code of morals. in the male and female orphan asylums, which are distinct institutions, endowed by the donations of m. poydras--in a library for the use of young men, and in her hospitals and various charitable institutions, mostly sustained by roman catholic influence and patronage, whose doors are ever open to the stranger and the moneyless--the poor and the lame--the halt and the blind--and unceasingly send forth, during the fearful scourges which lay waste this ill-fated city, angels of mercy in human forms to heal the sick--comfort the dying--bind up the broken-hearted--feed the hungry, and clothe the naked--in these institutions--the ever living monuments of her humanity--new-orleans, reviled as she has been abroad, holds a high rank among the cities of christendom. an original and able writer, with one or two extracts from whom i will conclude this letter, in allusion to this city says--"the french here, as elsewhere, display their characteristic urbanity and politeness, and are the same gay, dancing, spectacle-loving people, that they are found to be in every other place. there is, no doubt, much gambling and dissipation practised here, and different licensed gambling houses pay a large tax for their licenses. much has been said abroad about the profligacy of manners and morals here. amidst such a multitude, composed in a great measure of the low people of all nations, there must of course be much debauchery and low vice. but all the disgusting forms of vice, debauchery and drunkenness, are assorted together in their own place. each man has an elective attraction to men of his own standing and order. "this city necessarily exercises a very great influence over all the western country. there is no distinguished merchant, or planter, or farmer, in the mississippi valley, who has not made at least one trip to this place. here they see acting at the french and american theatres. here they go to see at least, if not to take a part in, the pursuits of the "roulette and temple of fortune." here they come from the remote and isolated points of the west to behold the "city lions," and learn the ways of men in great towns; and they necessarily carry back an impression, from what they have seen, and heard. it is of inconceivable importance to the western country, that new-orleans should be enlightened, moral, and religious. it has a numerous and respectable corps of professional men, and issues a considerable number of well edited papers. "the police of the city is at once mild and energetic. notwithstanding the multifarious character of the people, collected from every country and every climate, notwithstanding the multitude of boatmen and sailors, notwithstanding the mass of the people that rushes along the streets is of the most incongruous materials, there are fewer broils and quarrels here than in almost any other city. the municipal and the criminal courts are prompt in administering justice, and larcenies and broils are effectually punished without any just grounds of complaint about the "law's delay." on the whole we conclude, that the morals of those people, who profess to have any degree of self-respect, are not behind those of the other cities of the union. "much has been said abroad, in regard to the unhealthiness of this city; and the danger of a residence here for an unacclimated person has been exaggerated. this circumstance, more than all others, has retarded its increase. the chance of an unacclimated young man from the north, for surviving the first summer, is by some considered only as one to two. unhappily, when the dog-star is in the sky, there is but too much probability that the epidemic will sweep the place with the besom of destruction. hundreds of the unacclimated poor from the north, and more than half from ireland, fall victims to it. but the city is now furnished with noble water works; and is in this way supplied with the healthy and excellent water of the river. very great improvements have been recently made and are constantly making, in paving the city, in removing the wooden sewers, and replacing them by those of stone. the low places, where the waters used to stagnate, are drained, or filled up. tracts of swamp about the town are also draining, or filling up; and this work, constantly pursued, will probably contribute more to the salubrity of the city, than all the other efforts to this end united." xxii. a drive into the country--pleasant road--charming villa --children at play--governess--diversities of society-- education in louisiana--visit to a sugar-house--description of sugar-making, &c.--a plantation scene--a planter's grounds--children--trumpeter--pointer--return to the city. this is the last day of my sojourn in the great emporium of the south-west. to-morrow will find me threading the majestic sinuosities of the mississippi, the prisoner of one of its mammoth steamers, on my way to the state whose broad fields and undulating hills are annually whitened with the fleece-like cotton, and whose majestic forests glitter with the magnificent and silvery magnolia--where the men are chivalrous, generous, and social, and the women so lovely, ---- "that the same lips and eyes they wear on earth will serve in paradise." a gentleman to whom i brought a letter of introduction called yesterday--a strange thing for men so honoured to do--and invited me to ride with him to his plantation, a few miles from the city. he drove his own phaeton, which was drawn by two beautiful long-tailed bays. after a drive of a mile and a half, we cleared the limits of the straggling, and apparently interminable faubourgs, and, emerging through a long narrow street upon the river road, bounded swiftly over its level surface, which was as smooth as a bowling-green--saving a mud-hole now and then, where a crevasse had let in upon it a portion of the mississippi. an hour's drive, after clearing the suburbs, past a succession of isolated villas, encircled by slender columns and airy galleries, and surrounded by richly foliaged gardens, whose fences were bursting with the luxuriance which they could scarcely confine, brought us in front of a charming residence situated at the head of a broad, gravelled avenue, bordered by lemon and orange trees, forming in the heat of summer, by arching naturally overhead, a cool and shady promenade. we drew up at the massive gateway and alighted. as we entered the avenue, three or four children were playing at its farther extremity, with noise enough for christmas holidays; two of them were trundling hoops in a race, and a third sat astride of a non-locomotive wooden horse, waving a tin sword, and charging at half a dozen young slaves, who were testifying their bellicose feelings by dancing and shouting around him with the noisiest merriment. "pa! pa!" shouted the hoop-drivers as they discovered our approach--"oh, there's pa!" re-echoed the pantalette dragoon, dismounting from his dull steed, and making use of his own chubby legs as the most speedy way of advancing, "oh, my papa!"--and, sword and hoops in hand, down they all came upon the run to meet us, followed helter-skelter by their ebony troop, who scattered the gravel around them like hail as they raced, turning summersets over each other, without much diminution of their speed. they came down upon us altogether with such momentum, that we were like to be carried from our feet by this novel charge of _infantry_ and laid _hors du combat_, upon the ground. the playful and affectionate congratulations over between the noble little fellows and their parent, we walked toward the house, preceded by our trundlers, with the young soldier hand-in-hand between us, followed close behind by the little africans, whose round shining eyes glistened wishfully--speaking as plainly as eyes could speak the strong desire, with which their half-naked limbs evidently sympathized by their restless motions, to bound ahead, contrary to decorum, "wid de young massas!" around the semi-circular flight of steps, ascending to the piazza of the dwelling,--the columns of which were festooned with the golden jasmine and luxuriant multiflora,--stood, in large green vases, a variety of flowers, among which i observed the tiny flowerets of the diamond myrtle, sparkling like crystals of snow, scattered upon rich green leaves--the dark foliaged arabian jasmine silvered with its opulently-leaved flowers redolent of the sweetest perfume,--and the rose-geranium, breathing gales of fragrance upon the air. from this point the main avenue branches to the right and left, into narrower, yet not less beautiful walks, which, lined with evergreen and flowering shrubs, completely encircled the cottage. at the head of the flight of steps which led from this hesperean spot to the portico, we were met by a little golden-haired fairy, as light in her motion as a zephyr, and with a cheek--not alabaster, indeed, for that is an exotic in the south--but like a lily, shaded by a rose leaf, and an eye of the purest hue, melting in its own light. with an exclamation of delight she sprang into her father's arms. i was soon seated upon one of the settees in the piazza,--whose front and sides were festooned by the folds of a green curtain--in a high frolic with the trundlers, the dismounted dragoon and my little winged zephyr. you know my _penchant_ for children's society. i am seldom happier than when watching a group of intelligent and beautiful little ones at play. for those who can in after life enter _con amore_, into the sports of children, tumble with and be tumbled about by them, it is like living their childhood over again. every romp with them is death to a score of gray hairs. their games, moreover, present such a contrast to the rougher contests of bearded children in the game of life, where money, power, and ambition are the stake, that it is refreshing to look at them and mingle with them, even were it only to realize that human nature yet retains something of its divine original. the proprietor of the delightful spot which lay spread out around me--a lake of foliage--fringed by majestic forest trees, and diversified with labyrinthyne walks,--had, the preceding summer, consigned to the tomb the mother of his "beautiful ones." they were under the care of a dignified lady, his sister, and the widow of a gentleman formerly distinguished as a lawyer in new-england. but like many other northern ladies, whose names confer honour upon our literature, and whose talents elevate and enrich our female seminaries of education, she had independence enough to rise superior to her widowed indigence; and had prepared to open a boarding school at the north, when the death of his wife led her wealthier brother to invite her to supply a mother's place to his children, to whom she was now both mother and governess. the history of this lady is that of hundreds of her country-women. there are, i am informed, many instances in the south-west, of new-england's daughters having sought, with the genuine spirit of independence, thus to repair their broken fortunes. the intelligent and very agreeable lady of the late president h., of lexington, resides in the capacity of governess in a distinguished louisianian family, not far from the city. mrs. thayer, formerly an admired poet and an interesting writer of fiction, is at the head of a seminary in an adjoining state. and in the same, the widow of the late president of its college is a private instructress in the family of a planter. and these are instances, to which i can add many others, in a country where the occupation of instructing, whether invested in the president of a college or in the teacher of a country school, is degraded to a secondary rank. in new-england, on the contrary, the lady of a living collegiate president is of the élite, decidedly, if not at the head, of what is there termed "good society." here, the same lady, whether a visiter for the winter, or a settled resident, must yield in rank--as the laws of southern society have laid it down--to the lady of the planter. the southerners, however, when they can secure one of our well-educated northern ladies in their families, know well how to appreciate their good fortune. inmates of the family, they are treated with politeness and kindness; but in the soirée, dinner party, or levée, the governess is thrown more into the back-ground than she would be in a gentleman's family, even in aristocratic england; and her title to an equality with the gay, and fashionable, and wealthy circle by whom she is surrounded, and her challenge to the right of _caste_, is less readily admitted. but this illiberal jealousy is the natural consequence of the crude state of american society, where the line of demarcation between its rapidly forming classes is yet so uncertainly defined, that each individual who is anxious to be, or even to be thought, of the better file, has to walk circumspectly, lest he should inadvertently be found mingling with the _canaille_. the more uncertain any individual is of his own true standing, the more haughtily and suspiciously will he stand aloof, and measure with his eye every stranger who advances within the limits of the prescribed circle. education in this state has been and is still very much neglected. appropriations have been made for public schools; but, from the fund established for the purpose, not much has as yet been effected. many of the males, after leaving the city-schools, or the care of tutors, are sent, if destined for a professional career, to the northern colleges; others to the catholic institutions at st. louis and bardstown, and a few of the wealthier young gentlemen to france. the females are educated, either by governesses, at the convents, or at northern boarding-schools. many of them are sent to paris when very young, and there remain until they have completed their education. the majority of the higher classes of the french population are brought up there. this custom of foreign education--like that in the atlantic states, under the old regime, when, to be educated a gentleman, it was considered necessary for american youth to enter at eton, and graduate from oxford or cambridge--must have a very natural tendency to preserve and cherish an attachment for france, seriously detrimental to genuine patriotism.--but all this is a digression. after a kind of bachelor's dinner, in a hall open on two sides for ventilation, even at this season of the year--sumptuous enough for epicurus, and served by two or three young slaves, who were drilled to a glance of the eye--crowned by a luxurious dessert of fruits and sweet-meats, and graced with wine, not of the _chasse-cousin vintage_, so common in new england, but of the pure _outre-mer_--we proceeded to the sugar-house or _sucrérie_, through a lawn which nearly surrounded the ornamental grounds about the house, studded here and there with lofty trees, which the good taste of the original proprietor of the domain had left standing in their forest majesty. from this rich green sward, on which two or three fine saddle-horses were grazing, we passed through a turn-stile into a less lovely, but more domestic enclosure, alive with young negroes, sheep, turkeys, hogs, and every variety of domestic animal that could be attached to a plantation. from this diversified collection, which afforded a tolerable idea of the interior of noah's ark, we entered the long street of a village of white cottages, arranged on either side of it with great regularity. they were all exactly alike, and separated by equal spaces; and to every one was attached an enclosed piece of ground, apparently for a vegetable garden; around the doors decrepit and superannuated negroes were basking in the evening sun--mothers were nursing their naked babies, and one or two old and blind negresses were spinning in their doors. in the centre of the street, which was a hundred yards in width, rose to the height of fifty feet a framed belfry, from whose summit was suspended a bell, to regulate the hours of labour. at the foot of this tower, scattered over the grass, lay half a score of black children, _in puris naturalibus_, frolicking or sleeping in the warm sun, under the surveillance of an old african matron, who sat knitting upon a camp-stool in the midst of them. we soon arrived at the boiling-house, which was an extensive brick building with tower-like chimneys, numerous flues, and a high, steep roof, reminding me of a new england distillery. as we entered, after scaling a barrier of sugar-casks with which the building was surrounded, the slaves, who were dressed in coarse trowsers, some with and others without shirts, were engaged in the several departments of their sweet employment; whose fatigues some african orpheus was lightening with a loud chorus, which was instantly hushed, or rather modified, on our entrance, to a half-assured whistling. a white man, with a very unpleasing physiognomy, carelessly leaned against one of the brick pillars, who raised his hat very respectfully as we passed, but did not change his position. this was the overseer. he held in his hand a short-handled whip, loaded in the butt, which had a lash four or five times the length of the staff. without noticing us, except when addressed by his employer, he remained watching the motions of the toiling slaves, quickening the steps of a loiterer by a word, or threatening with his whip, those who, tempted by curiosity, turned to gaze after us, as we walked through the building. the process of sugar-making has been so often described by others, that i can offer nothing new or interesting upon the subject. but since my visit to this plantation, i have fallen in with an ultra-montane tourist or sketcher, a fellow-townsman and successful practitioner of medicine in louisiana, who has kindly presented me with the sheet of an unpublished ms. which i take pleasure in transcribing, for the very graphic and accurate description it conveys of this interesting process. "the season of sugar-making," says dr. p. "is termed, by the planters of the south, the 'rolling season;' and a merry and pleasant time it is too--for verily, as paulding says, the making of sugar and the making of love are two of the sweetest occupations in this world. it commences--the making of sugar i mean--about the middle or last of october, and continues from three weeks to as many months, according to the season and other circumstances; but more especially the force upon the plantation, and the amount of sugar to be made. as the season approaches, every thing assumes a new and more cheerful aspect. the negroes are more animated, as their winter clothing is distributed, their little crops are harvested, and their wood and other comforts secured for that season; which, to them, if not the freest, is certainly the gayest and happiest portion of the year. as soon as the corn crop and fodder are harvested, every thing is put in motion for the grinding. the horses and oxen are increased in number and better groomed; the carts and other necessary utensils are overhauled and repaired, and some hundred or thousand cords of wood are cut and ready piled for the manufacture of the sugar. the _sucrérie_, or boiling house, is swept and garnished--the mill and engine are polished--the kettles scoured--the coolers caulked, and the _purgerie_, or draining-house, cleaned and put in order, where the casks are arranged to receive the sugar. the first labour in anticipation of grinding, is that of providing plants for the coming year; and this is done by cutting the cane, and putting it in _matelas_, or mattressing it, as it is commonly called. the cane is cut and thrown into parcels in different parts of the field, in quantities sufficient to plant several acres, and so arranged that the tops of one layer may completely cover and protect the stalks of another. after the quantity required is thus secured, the whole plantation force, nearly, is employed in cutting cane, and conveying it to the mill. the cane is divested of its tops, which are thrown aside, unless they are needed for plants, which is often the case, when they are thrown together in rows, and carefully protected from the inclemencies of the weather. the stalks are then cut as near as may be to the ground, and thrown into separate parcels or rows, to be taken to the mill in carts, and expressed as soon as possible. the cane is sometimes bound together in bundles, in the field, which facilitates its transportation, and saves both time and trouble. as soon as it is harvested, it is placed upon a cane-carrier, so called, which conveys it to the mill, where it is twice expressed between iron rollers, and made perfectly dry. the juice passes into vats, or receivers, and the _baggasse_ or cane-trash, (called in the west indies _migass_,) is received into carts and conveyed to a distance from the sugar-house to be burnt as soon as may be. immediately after the juice is expressed, it is distributed to the boilers, generally four in succession, ranged in solid masonry along the sides of the boiling-room, where it is properly tempered, and its purification and evaporation are progressively advanced. the french have commonly five boilers, distinguished by the fanciful names of _grande_--_propre_--_flambeau_--_sirop_, and _battérie_. in the first an alkali is generally put to temper the juice; lime is commonly used, and the quantity is determined by the good judgment and experience of the sugar-maker. in the last kettle--the _teach_ as it is termed--the sugar is concentrated to the granulating point, and then conveyed into coolers, which hold from two to three hogsheads. after remaining here for twenty-four hours or more, it is removed to the _purgerie_, or draining-house, and placed in hogsheads, which is technically called _potting_. here it undergoes the process of draining for a few days or weeks, and is then ready for the market. the molasses is received beneath in cisterns, and when they become filled, it is taken out and conveyed into barrels or hogsheads and shipped. when all the molasses is removed from the cistern, an inferior kind of sugar is re-manufactured, which is called _cistern-sugar_, and sold at a lower price. when the grinding has once commenced, there is no cessation of labour till it is completed. from beginning to end, a busy and cheerful scene continues. the negroes "---- whose sore task does not divide the sunday from the week," work from eighteen to twenty hours, "and make the night joint-labourer with the day." though to lighten the burden as much as possible, the gang is divided into two watches, one taking the first, and the other the last part of the night; and notwithstanding this continued labour, the negroes improve in condition, and appear fat and flourishing. "they drink freely of cane-juice, and the sickly among them revive and become robust and healthy." after the grinding is finished, the negroes have several holidays, when they are quite at liberty to dance and frolic as much as they please; and the cane-song--which is improvised by one of the gang, the rest all joining in a prolonged and unintelligible chorus--now breaks night and day upon the ear, in notes "most musical, most melancholy." this over, planting recommences, and the same routine of labour is continued, with an intermission--except during the boiling season, as above stated--upon most, if not all plantations, of twelve hours in twenty-four, and of one day in seven throughout the year. leaving the sugar-house, after having examined some of the most interesting parts of the process so well described by dr. p., i returned with my polite entertainer to the house. lingering for a moment on the gallery in the rear of the dwelling-house, i dwelt with pleasure upon the scene which the domain presented. the lawn, terminated by a snow-white paling, and ornamented here and there by a venerable survivor of the aboriginal forest, was rolled out before me like a carpet, and dotted with sleek cows, and fine horses, peacefully grazing, or indolently reclining upon the thick grass, chewing the cud of contentment. beyond the lawn, and extending farther into the plantation, lay a pasture containing a great number of horses and cattle, playing together, reposing, feeding, or standing in social clusters around a shaded pool. beyond, the interminable cane-field, or plantation proper, spread away without fence or swell, till lost in the distant forests which bounded the horizon. on my left, a few hundred yards from the house, and adjoining the pasture, stood the stables and other plantation appurtenances, constituting a village in themselves--for planters always have a separate building for everything. to the right stood the humble yet picturesque village or "quarter" of the slaves, embowered in trees, beyond which, farther toward the interior of the plantation, arose the lofty walls and turreted chimneys of the sugar-house, which, combined with the bell-tower, presented the appearance of a country village with its church-tower and the walls of some public edifice, lifting themselves above the trees. some of the sugar-houses are very lofty and extensive, with noble wings and handsome fronts, resembling--aside from their lack of windows--college edifices. i have seen two which bore a striking resemblance, as seen from the river, to the insane hospital near boston. it requires almost a fortune to construct one. the whole scene before me was extremely animated. human figures were moving in all directions over the place. some labouring in the distant field, others driving the slow-moving oxen, with a long, drawling cry--half naked negro boys shouting and yelling, were galloping horses as wild as themselves--negresses of all sizes, from one able to carry a tub to the minikin who could "tote" but a pint-dipper, laughing and chattering as they went, were conveying water from a spring to the wash-house, in vessels adroitly balanced upon their heads. slaves sinking under pieces of machinery, and other burdens, were passing and repassing from the boiling-house and negro quarter. some were calling to others afar off, and the merry shouts of the black children at their sports in their village, reminding me of a school just let out, mingled with the lowing of cows, the cackling of geese, the bleating of lambs, the loud and unmusical clamour of the guinea-hen, agreeably varied by the barking of dogs, and the roaring of some young african rebel under maternal castigation. passing from this plantation scene through the airy hall of the dwelling, which opened from piazza to piazza through the house, to the front gallery, whose light columns were wreathed with the delicately leaved cape-jasmine, rambling woodbine and honeysuckle, a lovelier and more agreeable scene met my eye. i stood almost embowered in the foliage of exotics and native plants, which stood upon the gallery in handsome vases of marble and china-ware. the main avenue opened a vista to the river through a paradise of althea, orange, lemon, and olive trees, and groves and lawns extended on both sides of this lovely spot, "where flora's brightest broidery shone," terminating at the villas of adjoining plantations. the mississippi--always majestic and lake-like in its breadth--rolled past her turbid flood, dotted here and there by a market-lugger, with its black crew and clumsy sails. by the levée, on the opposite shore, lay a brig, taking in a cargo of sugar from the plantation, whose noble colonnaded mansion rose like a palace above its low, grove-lined margin, and an english argosy of great size, with black spars and hull, was moving under full sail down the middle of the river. as i was under the necessity of returning to the city the same evening, i took leave of the youthful family of my polite host, who clustered around us as we walked along the avenue to the gateway, endeavouring to detain us till the next morning. the young rogue of a dragoon, who was now metamorphosed into a trumpeter--what a singular propensity little chubby boys have for the weapons and apparel of war!--a most mischievous little cupidon of but two or three summers' growth, was very desirous of accompanying us to town, on seeing us seated in the carriage; but finding that his eloquent appeals were unheeded, he took a fancy to a noble pointer, spotted like a leopard, which accompanied me, and clinging around the neck of the majestic and docile creature, as we drove from the gate, said in a half playful, half pettish tone, "me ride dis pretty dog-horse, den." the sensible animal stood like a statue till the little fellow relaxed his embrace, when he darted after the carriage, then a quarter of a mile from the gate, bounding like a stag. the cries of "pa, bring me this," and "pa, bring me that," were soon lost in the distance, and rolling like the wind over the level road along the banks of the river, we arrived in the city and alighted at bishop's a few minutes after seven. xxiii. leave new-orleans--the mississippi--scenery--evening on the water--scenes on the deck of a steamer--passengers-- plantations--farm-houses--catholic college--convent of the sacred heart--caged birds--donaldsonville--the first highland--baton rouge--its appearance--barracks--scenery --squatters--fort adams--way passengers--steamer. once more i am floating upon the "father of rivers." new-orleans, with its crowd of "mingled nations", is seen indistinctly in the distance. we are now doubling a noble bend in the river, which will soon hide the city from our sight; but scenes of rural enchantment are opening before us as we advance, which will amply and delightfully repay us for its absence. what a splendid panorama of opulence and beauty is now spread out around us! sublimity is wanting to make the painting perfect--but its picturesque effect is unrivalled. below us a few miles, indistinctly seen through the haze, a dense forest of masts, and here and there a tower, designate the emporium of commerce--the key of the mighty west. the banks are lined and ornamented with elegant mansions, displaying, in their richly adorned grounds, the wealth and taste of their possessors; while the river, now moving onward like a golden flood, reflecting the mellow rays of the setting sun, is full of life. vessels of every size are gliding in all directions over its waveless bosom, while graceful skiffs dart merrily about like white-winged birds. huge steamers are dashing and thundering by, leaving long trains of wreathing smoke in their rear. carriages filled with ladies and attended by gallant horsemen, enliven the smooth road along the levée; while the green banks of the levée itself are covered with gay promenaders. a glimpse through the trees now and then, as we move rapidly past the numerous villas, detects the piazzas, filled with the young, beautiful, and aged of the family, enjoying the rich beauty of the evening, and of the objects upon which my own eyes rest with admiration. the scene has changed. the moon rides high in the east, while the western star hangs trembling in the path of the sun. innumerable lights twinkle along the shores, or flash out from some vessel as we glide rapidly past. how exhilarating to be upon the water by moonlight! but a snow-white sail, a graceful barque, and a woodland lake--with a calm, clear, moonlight, sleeping upon it like a blessing--must be marshalled for poetical effect. there is nothing of that here. quiet and romance are lost in sublimity, if not in grandeur. the great noise of rushing waters--the deep-toned booming of the steamer--the fearful rapidity with which we are borne past the half-obscured objects on shore and in the stream--the huge columns of black smoke rolling from the mouths of the gigantic chimneys, and spangled with showers of sparks, flying like trains of meteors shooting through the air; while a proud consciousness of the power of the dark hull beneath your feet, which plunges, thundering onward--a thing of majesty and life--adds to the majesty and wonder of the time. the passengers have descended to the cabin; some to turn in, a few to read, but more to play at the ever-ready card-table. the pilot (as the helmsman is here termed) stands in his lonely wheel-house, comfortably enveloped in his blanket-coat--the hurricane deck is deserted, and the hands are gathered in the bows, listening to the narration of some ludicrous adventure of recent transaction in the city of hair-breadth escapes. now and then a laugh from the merry auditors, or a loud roar from some ebony-cheeked fireman, as he pitches his wood into the gaping furnace, breaks upon the stillness of night, startling the echoes along the shores. what beings of habit we are! how readily do we accustom ourselves to circumstances! the deep trombone of the steam-pipe--the regular splash of the paddles--and the incessant rippling of the water eddying away astern, as our noble vessel flings it from her sides, no longer affect the senses, unless it may be to lull them into a repose well meant for contemplation. they are now no longer auxiliaries to the scene--habit has made them a part of it: and i can pace the deck with my mind as free and undisturbed as though i were in a lonely boat, upon "the dark blue sea", with no sound but the beating of my own heart, to break the silence. a few short hours have passed, and the grander characters of the scene are mellowed down, by their familiarity with my senses, into calm and quiet loneliness. having secured a berth in one corner of the spacious cabin, where i could draw the rich crimsoned curtains around me, and with book or pen pass my time somewhat removed from the bustle, and undisturbed by the constant passing of the restless passengers, i began this morning to look about me upon my fellow-travellers, seeking familiar faces, or scanning strange ones, by lavater's doubtful rules. our passengers are a strange medley, not only representing every state and territory washed by this great river, but nearly every atlantic and trans-atlantic state and nation. in the cabin are the merchants and planters of the "up country;" and on deck, emigrants, return-boatmen, &c. &c. i may say something more of them hereafter, but not at present, as the scenery through which we are passing is too attractive to keep me longer below. so, to the deck. we are now about sixty miles above new-orleans, and the shores have presented, the whole distance, one continued line of noble mansions, some of them princely and magnificent, intermingled, at intervals, with humbler farm-houses. i think i have remarked, in a former letter, that the plantations along the river extend from the levée to the swamps in the rear; the distance across the belt of land being, from the irregular encroachment of the marshes, from one to two or three miles. these plantations have been, for a very long period, under cultivation for the production of sugar crops. as the early possessor of large tracts of land had sons to settle, they portioned off parallelograms to each; which, to combine the advantages of exportation and wood, extended from the river to the flooded forest in the rear. these, in time, portioned off to their children, while every occupant of a tract erected his dwelling at the head of his domain, one or two hundred yards from the river. other plantations retain their original dimensions, crowned, on the borders of the river, with noble mansions, embowered in the evergreen foliage of the dark-leaved orange and lemon trees. the shores, consequently, present, from the lofty deck of a steamer,--from which can be had an extensive prospect of the level country--a very singular appearance. farm-houses thickly set, or now and then separated by a prouder structure, line the shores with tasteful parterres and shady trees around them; while parallel lines of fence, commencing at these cottages, frequently but a few rods apart, extend away into the distance, till the numerous lines dwindle apparently to a point, and present the appearance of radii diverging from one common centre. a planter thus may have a plantation a league in length, though not a furlong in breadth. the regularity of these lines, the flatness of the country, and the _fac simile_ farm-houses, render the scenery in general rather monotonous; though some charming spots, that might have been stolen from paradise, fully atone for the wearisome character of the rest. we have passed several catholic churches, prettily situated, surrounded by the white monuments of the dead. on our right, the lofty walls of a huge edifice, just completed, and intended for a university, rear themselves in the midst of a vast plain, once an extensive sugar plantation. this embryo institution is under state patronage. it is a noble brick building, advantageously situated for health, beauty, and convenience; and calculated, from its vast size, to accommodate a large number of students. it is to be of a sectarian character, devoted, i understand, to the interest of the roman church. a mile above, the towers and crosses of a pile of buildings, half hidden by a majestic grove of noble forest trees, attract the attention of the traveller. they are the convent du sacré coeur,--the nursery of the fair daughters of louisiana. there are two large buildings, exclusive of the chapel and the residence of the officiating priest. the site is eminently beautiful, and, compared with the general tameness of the scenery in this region, romantic. a padre, in his long black gown, is promenading the levée, and the windows of the convent are relieved by the presence of figures, which, the spy-glass informs us, are those of the fair prisoners; who, perhaps with many a sigh, are watching the rapid motion of our boat, with its busy, bustling scene on board, contrasting it with their incarcerated state, probably inducing reflections of a melancholy cast, with ardent aspirations for the "wings of a dove." the education of females is well attended to in this state; though the peculiar doctrines of the roman catholic church are inculcated with their tasks. the villages of plaquemine and donaldsonville, the latter formerly the seat of government, are pleasant, quiet, and rural. the latter is distinguished by a dilapidated state-house, which lifts itself above the humbler dwellings around it, and adds much to the importance and beauty of the town in the eye of the traveller as he sails past. but the streets of the village are solitary; and closed stores and deserted taverns add to their loneliness. between new-orleans and baton rouge, a distance of one hundred and seventeen miles, the few villages upon the river all partake, more or less, of this humble and dilapidated character. baton rouge is now in sight, a few miles above. as we approach it the character of the scene changes. hills once more relieve the eye, so long wearied with gazing upon a flat yet beautiful country. these are the first hills that gladden the sight of the traveller as he ascends the river. they are to the northerner like oases in a desert. how vividly and how agreeably does the sight of their green slopes, and graceful undulations, conjure up the loved and heart-cherished scenes of home! we are now nearly opposite the town, which is pleasantly situated upon the declivity of the hill, retreating over its brow and spreading out on a plain in the rear, where the private dwellings are placed, shaded and half embowered in the rich foliage of that loveliest of all shade-trees, "the pride of china." the stores and other places of business are upon the front street, which runs parallel with the river. the site of the town is about forty feet above the highest flood, and rises by an easy and gentle swell from the water. the barracks, a short distance from the village, are handsome and commodious, constructed around a pentagonal area--four noble buildings forming four sides, while the fifth is open, fronting upon the river. the buildings are brick, with lofty colonnades and double galleries running along the whole front. the columns are yellow-stuccoed, striking the eye with a more pleasing effect, than the red glare of brick. the view of these noble structures from the river, as we passed, was very fine. from the esplanade there is an extensive and commanding prospect of the inland country--the extended shores, stretching out north and south, dotted with elegant villas, and richly enamelled by their high state of cultivation. the officers are gentlemanly men, and form a valuable acquisition to the society of the neighbourhood. this station must be to them an agreeable sinecure. the town, from the hasty survey which i was enabled to make of it, must be a delightful residence. it is neat and well built; the french and spanish style of architecture prevails. the view of the town from the deck of the steamer is highly beautiful. the rich, green swells rising gradually from the water--its pleasant streets, bordered with the umbrageous china tree--its colonnaded dwellings--its mingled town and rural scenery, and its pleasant suburbs, give it an air of quiet and novel beauty, such as one loves to gaze upon in old landscapes which the imagination fills with ideal images of its own. the scenery now partakes of another character. the rich plantations, waving with green and golden crops of cane, are succeeded here and there by a cotton plantation, but more generally by untrodden forests, hanging over the banks, which are now for a hundred miles of one uniform character and height--being about twenty feet above the highest floods. now and then a "squatter's" hut, instead of relieving, adds to the wild and dreary character of the scene. this class of men with their families, are usually in a most wretched and squalid condition. as they live exposed to the fatal, poisonous miasma of the swamp, their complexions are cadaverous, and their persons wasted by disease. they sell wood to the steamboats for a means of subsistence--seldom cultivating what little cleared land there may be around them. there are exceptions to this, however. many become eventually purchasers of the tracts on which they are settled, and lay foundations for fine estates and future independence. loftus's height, a striking eminence crowned by fort adams, appears in the distance. it is a cluster of cliffs and hills nearly two hundred feet in height. the old fort can just be discerned with a glass, surmounting a natural platform, half way up the side of the most prominent hill. the works present the appearance of a few green mounds, and though defaced by time, still bear evidence of having been a military post. the position is highly commanding and romantic. the scenery around would be termed striking, even in maine, that romantic land of rocks, and cliffs, and mountains. a small village is at the base of the hills, containing a few stores. cotton is exported hence, and steamers are now at the landing taking it in. as we were passing the place on our way up the river, a white signal was displayed from a pole held by some one standing on the shore. in a few moments we came abreast of the fort, and in obedience to the fluttering signal, our steamer rounded gracefully to, and put her jolly boat off for the expected passengers. the boat had scarcely touched the bank, before the boatmen at one leap gained the baggage which lay piled upon the levée, and tumbling it helter-skelter into the bottom of the boat, as though for life and death, called out, so as to be heard far above the deafening noise of the rushing steam as it hissed from the pipe, "come gentlemen, come, the boat's a-waiting." the new passengers had barely time to pass into the boat and balance themselves erect upon the thwarts, before, impelled by the nervous arms of the boatmen, she was cutting her way through the turbid waves to the steamer, which had been kept in her position against the strong current of the river, by an occasional revolution of her wheels. the instant she struck her side the boat was cleared immediately of "bag and baggage," at the "risk of the owners" truly--and the hurrying passengers had hardly gained a footing upon the guard, before the loud, brief command, "go ahead," was heard, followed by the tinkling of the engineer's bell, the dull groaning of the ponderous, labouring engine, and the heavy dash of the water, as strongly beaten by the vast fins of this huge "river monster." appendix note a--_page ._ the following statistical tables, exhibiting louisiana in a variety of comparative views, have been compiled principally from the elaborate tables of that valuable periodical--the american almanac and repository of useful knowledge--for the year . louisiana. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- latitude of new-orleans, ° ' " north. longitude in degrees, west. _h. m. s._ " in time, . distance from washington, miles. -----------------------------------+---------------------------------- relative size of louisiana, . | extent in square miles, , . -----------------------------------+---------------------------------- number of inhabitants to a square mile. -----------------------+-----------------------+---------------------- in . | in . | in . -----------------------+-----------------------+---------------------- . | . | . -----------------------+-----------------------+---------------------- relative population. -----------------------+-----------------------+---------------------- in . | in . | in . -------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+------- free | slave | total | free | slave | total | free | slave | total -------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+------- | | | | | | | | -------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+------- rate of increase of free and slave population. -----------------------+-----------------------+---------------------- from to . | from to . | from to . -------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+------- free | slave | total | free | slave | total | free | slave | total -------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+------- | | | | |_p.ct._| | | | | | | . | | . | . | . -------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+-------+------- population of louisiana in . -------------+--------------+---------------------------+------------- free | slaves | no. of free to slave | total -------------+--------------+---------------------------+------------- , | , | . | , -------------+--------------+---------------------------+------------- in . -------------+--------------+---------------------------+------------- , | , | . | , -------------+--------------+---------------------------+------------- in . -------------+--------------+---------------------------+------------- , | , | . | , -------------+--------------+---------------------------+------------- value of imports in the year ending september , . -----------------------+-----------------------+---------------------- in american vessels | in foreign vessels | total -----------------------+-----------------------+---------------------- $ , , | $ , , | $ , , -----------------------+-----------------------+---------------------- value of exports in the same year. -----------------------+-----------------------+---------------------- | | total of domestic domestic produce | foreign produce | and foreign produce -----------------------+-----------------------+---------------------- $ , , | $ , , | $ , , -----------------------+-----------------------+---------------------- tonnage, st january, -- , tons. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- government. _salary._ edward d. white, governor (elect); jan. to jan. $ , george eustis, secretary of state , f. gardere, treasurer; per cent. on all moneys received. louis bringier, surveyor general claudius crozet, civil engineer , f. gaiennie, adjutant and inspector general , e. mazureau, attorney general , senate, members, elected for two years. c. derbigny, president. house of representatives, members, elected for two years. a. labranche, speaker. judiciary. judges of the supreme court.--george matthews, francis x. martin, and henry a. bullard. salary of each, $ , . judge of the criminal court of the city of new-orleans.--john f. canonge. judges of the district courts.--salary of each $ , . charles watts, st district. benjamin winchester, d do. charles bushnell, d do. r. n. ogden, th do. seth lewis, th do. j. h. johnson, th do. j. h. overton, th do. clark woodruff, th do. the supreme court sits in the city of new-orleans, for the eastern district of the state during the months of november, december, january, february, march, april, may, june, and july; and for the northern district, at opelousas and attakapas, during the months of august, september, and october; and at baton rouge, commencing the st monday in august. the district courts, with the exception of the courts in the first district, hold, in each parish, two sessions during the year, to try causes originally instituted before them, and appeals from the parish courts. the parish courts hold their regular sessions in each parish on the first monday in each month. the courts in the first district, composed of the district, parish, and criminal courts, and courts of probate, are in session during the whole year, excepting the months of july, august, september, and october, in which they hold special courts when necessary. banks. state of the banks, january , , as given in a document laid before congress, june , . -----------------------------+---------------+------------+------------- name. | capital | bills in | specie | stock paid |circulation.| and specie | in. | | funds. -----------------------------+---------------+------------+------------- canal and banking company | , , | , | , city bank | , , | , | , commercial bank | , | , | , union bank of louisiana | , , | , , | , louisiana state bank | , , | , | , consolidated association bank| , , | , | , | ----------- | --------- |------------ | $ , , | , , | , , estimated situation of the | | | following banks.--no returns.| | | bank of louisiana | , , } | | bank of orleans | , } | | citizens' bank of louisiana | , , } | , , | , mechanics' and traders' bank | , , } | | | ---------- | ---------- |------------ total | $ , , | , , | , , -----------------------------+---------------+------------+------------- the union bank of louisiana has branches at the following places, viz. thiboudeauville, covington, marshville, vermillionville, st. martinsville, plaquemine, natchitoches, and clinton. interest. "legal interest is per cent. conventional interest, as high as per cent., is legal. of our banks, none can charge higher than per cent., and some of them not higher than . but if i lend $ , and the borrower gives me his note for $ , $ , $ , $ , or even $ , or more, with per cent. interest from date, the law legalizes the transaction, and will not set aside any part of the claim on the plea of usury. in fact, money is considered here like any other article in the market, and the holder may ask what price he pleases for it." insurance companies. merchants' insurance company of new-orleans $ , , phoenix fire insurance co. of london--agent at new orleans , , louisiana slate marine and file insurance co. , western marine and fire insurance company , louisiana insurance company , mississippi marine and fire insurance company , new-orleans insurance company , pontchartrain rail-road company , orleans navigation company , barataria and lafourche canal company , newspapers. louisiana was originally settled by the french; in , it was ceded by france to spain; near the end of the th century it was restored to france; in , it was purchased by the united states; in , the country now forming the state of louisiana was formed into a territorial government under the name of the territory of orleans; and in , it was admitted into the union as a state. mr. thomas, in his "history of printing," remarks "that several printing-houses were opened at new-orleans, and several newspapers were immediately published there, after the country came under the government of the united states." the first paper published in new-orleans was the "moniteur de la louisiana," a french paper, and edited by m. fontaine. this was a government paper, issued at irregular intervals and at the discretion of the spanish government. it was rather a vehicle of ordinances and public documents than a newspaper. in the year an enterprising new-englander named lyons--a son of the celebrated mathew lyons--who had been sent to new-orleans with despatches from government, on arriving there, and ascertaining that there was no regular press in the city, applied to general wilkinson for patronage to establish a weekly paper. herein he was successful; but, except himself, there was not another printer in new-orleans, journeyman or "devil." by some means, however, he learned that there were three young men[ ] from the only printing office in natchez, then belonging to the army, quartered in the city. he obtained their furlough from general wilkinson--and obtaining the office of the "moniteur," in a few weeks issued the first number of a paper entitled the "union." to this in a few weeks succeeded the "louisiana courier," which, established in , now holds a high rank in the army of periodicals, and is the oldest paper in the state. the number of newspapers in the territory of orleans in , was , (two of them daily;) all in the city of new-orleans. the number in louisiana in , was only nine. new-orleans is the great centre of business and of publishing in this state. there are now published in new-orleans seven daily papers, and altogether in louisiana. summary. the governor of louisiana is elected by the people. term begins january, , and expires january . duration of the term, four years. salary $ , . senators, . term of years, four. representatives, . term of years, two. total--senators and representatives, . pay per day, $ . electors of president and vice president are chosen by general ticket. seat of government--new-orleans. time of holding elections--first monday in july. time of meeting of the legislature--first monday in january. louisiana admitted into the union in . note b--_page ._ "the state senators of louisiana are elected for four years, one fourth vacating their seats annually. they must possess an estate of a thousand dollars in the parish, for which they are chosen. the representatives have a biennial term, and must possess dollars' worth of property in the parish to be eligible. the governor is chosen for four years; and is ineligible for the succeeding term. his duties are the same, as in the other states, and his salary is , dollars a year. the judiciary powers are vested in a supreme and circuit court, together with a municipal court called the parish court.--the salaries are ample. the elective franchise belongs to every free white man of twenty-one years, and upward, who has had a residence of six months in the parish, and who has paid taxes. the code of laws, adopted by this state, is not what is called the "common law," which is the rule of judicial proceedings in all the other states, but the _civil law_, adopted, with some modifications, from the judicial canons of france and spain. so much of the common law is interwoven with it, as has been adopted by express deep stain upon the moral character to be generally reputed a cruel master. in many plantations no punishment is inflicted except after a trial by a jury, composed of the fellow-servants of the party accused. festivals, prizes, and rewards are instituted, as stimulants to exertion, and compensations for superior accomplishment of labour. they are generally well fed and clothed, and that not by an arbitrary award, which might vary with the feelings of the master; but by periodical apportionment, like the distributed rations of soldiers, of what has been ascertained to be amply sufficient to render them comfortable. nor are they destitute, as has been supposed, of any legal protection, coming between them and the possible cupidity and cruelty of the masters. the '_code noir_' of louisiana is a curious collection of statutes, drawn partly from french and spanish law and usage, and partly from the customs of the islands, and usages, which have grown out of the peculiar circumstances of louisiana while a colony. it has the aspect, it must be admitted, of being formed rather for the advantage of the master, than for the servant, for it prescribes an unlimited homage and obedience to the latter. but at the same time, it defines crimes, which the master can commit in relation to the slave, and prescribes the mode of trial, and the kind and degree of punishment. it constitutes unnecessary correction, maiming, and murder, punishable offences in a master. it is very minute in prescribing the number of hours, which the master may lawfully exact to be employed in labour, and the number of hours, which he must allow his slave for meal-time and for rest. it prescribes the time and extent of his holidays. in short, it settles with minuteness and detail the whole circle of relations between master and slave, defining, and prescribing what the former may, and may not exact from the latter. that the slave is, also, in the general circumstances of his condition, as happy as this relation will admit of his being, is an unquestionable fact. that he seldom performs as much labour, or performs it as well as a free man, says all upon the subject of the motives which freedom only can supply, that can be alleged. in all the better managed plantations, the mode of building the quarters is fixed. the arrangement of the little village has a fashion by which it is settled. interest, if not humanity, has defined the amount of food and rest, necessary for their health; and there is, in a large and respectable plantation, as much precision in the rules, as much exactness in the times of going to sleep, awaking, going to labour, and resting before and after meals, as in a garrison under military discipline, or in a ship of war. a bell gives all the signals; every slave, at the assigned hour in the morning, is forthcoming to his labour, or his case is reported, either as one of idleness, obstinacy, or sickness, in which case he is sent to the hospital, and there is attended by a physician, who, for the most part, has a yearly salary for attending to all the sick of the plantation. the union of physical force, directed by one will, is now well understood to have a much greater effect upon the amount of labour, which a number of hands, so managed, can bring about, than the same force directed by as many wills as there are hands. hence it happens that while one free man, circumstances being the same, will perform more labour than one slave, a hundred slaves will accomplish more on one plantation, than so many hired free men, acting at their own discretion. hence, too, it is, that such a prodigious quantity of cotton and sugar is made here, in proportion to the number of labouring hands. all the processes of agriculture are managed by system. everything goes straight forward. there is no pulling down to-day the scheme of yesterday, and the whole amount of force is directed by the teaching of experience to the best result. _flint's miss. val. art. louisiana_, vol. i. p. . note d.--_page ._ "the borderers universally took an active part in the war, and were eminently useful in repelling the incursions of the indians. not even the most lawless but was found ready to pour out his life-blood for the republic. a curious instance of the strange mixture of magnanimity and ferocity often found among the demi-savages of the borders was afforded by the louisianian lafitte. this desperado had placed himself at the head of a band of outlaws from all nations under heaven, and fixed his abode upon the top of an impregnable rock, to the south-west of the mouth of the mississippi. under the colours of the south american patriots, they pirated at pleasure every vessel that came in their way, and smuggled their booty up the secret creeks of the mississippi, with a dexterity that baffled all the efforts of justice. the depredations of these outlaws, or, as they styled themselves, _barritarians_, (from barrita, their island,) becoming at length intolerable, the united states' government despatched an armed force against their little tripoli. the establishment was broken up, and the pirates dispersed. but lafitte again collected his outlaws, and took possession of his rock. the attention of the congress being now diverted by the war, he scoured the gulf at his pleasure, and so tormented the coasting traders, that governor claiborne of louisiana set a price on his head. this daring outlaw, thus confronted with the american government, appeared likely to promote the designs of its enemies. he was known to possess the clue to all the secret windings and entrances of the many-mouthed mississippi; and in the projected attack upon new-orleans it was deemed expedient to secure his assistance. the british officer then heading the forces landed at pensacola for the invasion of louisiana, opened a treaty with the barritarian, to whom he offered such rewards as were best calculated to tempt his cupidity and flatter his ambition. the outlaw affected to relish the proposal; but having artfully drawn from colonel n---- the plan of his intended attack, he spurned his offers with the most contemptuous disdain, and instantly despatched one of his most trusty corsairs to the governor who had set a price for his life, advising him of the intentions of the enemy, and volunteering the aid of his little band, on the single condition that an amnesty should be granted for their past offences. governor claiborne, though touched by this proof of magnanimity, hesitated to close with the offer. the corsair kept himself in readiness for the expected summons, and continued to spy and report the motions of the enemy. as danger became more urgent, and the steady generosity of the outlaw more assured, governor claiborne granted to him and his followers life and pardon, and called them to the defence of the city. they obeyed with alacrity, and served with a valour, fidelity, and good conduct, not surpassed by the best volunteers of the republic." --_flint's miss. valley._ note e.--_page ._ the following extract from a narrative of the british attack on new-orleans by capt. cooke, late of the british army, will, perhaps, not be without interest to many of my readers. camp before new-orleans. "i do not remember ever looking for the first signs of day-break with more intense anxiety than on this eventful morning; every now and then i thought i heard the distant hum of voices, then again something like the doleful rustling of the wind before the coming storm, among the leaves of the foliage. but no; it was only the effect of the momentary buzzing in my ears; all was silent--the dew lay on the damp sod, and the soldiers were carefully putting aside their entrenching tools, and laying hold of their arms to be up and answer the first war-call at a moment's warning. how can i convey a thought of the intense anxiety of the mind, when a sombre silence is broken by the intonations of the cannon, and when the work of death begins? now the veil of night was less obscured, and its murky mantle dissolved on all sides, and the mist sweeping off the face of the earth; yet it was not day, and no object was very visible beyond the extent of a few yards. the morn was chilly--i augured not of victory, an evil foreboding crossed my mind, and i meditated in solitary reflection. all was tranquil as the grave, and no camp-fires glimmered from either friends or foes. soon after this, two light companies of the seventh and ninety-third regiments came up without knapsacks, the highlanders with their blankets rolled and slung around their backs, and merely wearing the shell of their bonnets, the sable plumes of real ostrich feathers brought by them from the cape of good hope, having been left in england. one company of the forty-third light infantry also followed, marching up rapidly. these three companies formed a compact little column of two hundred and forty soldiers, near the battery on the high road to new-orleans. they were to attack the crescent battery near the river, and if possible to silence its fire under the muzzles of twenty pieces of cannon; at a point, too, where the bulk of the british force had hesitated when first they landed, and had recoiled from its fire on the twenty-eighth of last december, and on the first of january. i asked lieut. duncan campbell where they were going, when he replied, "i'll be hanged if i know:" "then," said i, "you have got into what i call a good thing; a far-famed american battery is in front of you at a short range, and on the left of this spot is flanked, at yards, by their batteries on the opposite bank of the river." at this piece of information he laughed heartily, and i told him to take off his blue pelisse-coat to be like the rest of the men. "no," he said gayly, "i will never peel for an american--come, jack, embrace me." he was a fine young officer of twenty years of age, and had fought in many bloody encounters in spain and france, but this was to be his last, as well as that of many more brave men. the mist was slowly clearing off, but objects could only be discerned at two or three hundred yards distance, as the morning was rather hazy; we had only quitted the battery two minutes, when a congreve rocket was thrown up, whether from the enemy or not we could not tell; for some seconds it whizzed backward and forward in such a zigzag way, that we all looked up to see whether it was coming down upon our heads. the troops simultaneously halted, but all smiled at some sailors dragging a two-wheeled car a hundred yards to our left, which had brought up ammunition to the battery, who, by common consent, as it were, let go the shaft, and left it the instant the rocket was let off.--(this rocket, although we did not know it, proved to be the signal of attack.) all eyes were cast upward, like those of so many astronomers, to descry, if possible, what could be the upshot of this noisy harbinger, breaking in upon the solemn silence that reigned around. during all my military services i do not remember seeing a small body of troops thrown into such a strange configuration, having formed themselves into a circle, and halted, both officers and men, without any previous word of command, each man looking earnestly, as if by instinct of his imagination, to see in what particular quarter the anticipated firing would begin. the mississippi was not visible, its waters likewise being covered over with the fog; nor was there a single soldier, save our little phalanx, to be seen, or the tramp of a horse or a single footstep to be heard, by way of announcing that the battle-scene was about to begin, before the vapoury curtain was lifted or cleared away for the opposing forces to get a glimpse one of the other. so that we were completely lost, not knowing which way to bend our footsteps, and the only words which now escaped the officers were "steady, men," these precautionary warnings being quite unnecessary, as every soldier was, as it were, motionless like fox-hunters, waiting with breathless expectation, and casting significant looks one at the other before reynard breaks cover. all eyes seemed anxious to dive through the mist; and all ears attentive to the coming moment, as it was impossible to tell whether the blazing would begin from the troops who were supposed to have already crossed the river, or from the great battery of the americans on the right bank of the mississippi, or from the main lines. from all these points we were equidistant, and within point-blank range; and were left, besides, totally without orders, and without knowing how to act or where to find our own corps, just as if we had formed no part or parcel of the army. the rocket had fallen probably in the mississippi, all was silent, nor did a single officer or soldier attempt to shift his foot-hold, so anxiously were we all employed in listening for the first roar of the cannon to guide our footsteps, or as it were to pronounce with loud peals where was the point of our destination, well knowing that to go farther to the rear was not the way to find our regiment. this silence and suspense had not lasted more than two minutes, when the most vehement firing from the british artillery began opposite the left of the american lines, and before they could even see what objects they were firing at, or before the intended attacking column of the british were probably formed to go on to the assault. the american artillery soon responded, and thus it was that the gunners of the english and the americans were firing through the mist at random; or in the supposed direction whence came their respective balls through the fog. and the first objects we saw, enclosed as it were in this little world of mist, were the cannon-balls tearing up the ground and crossing one another, and bounding along like so many cricket-balls through the air, coming on our left flank from the american batteries on the right bank of the river, and also from their lines in front. at this momentous crisis a droll occurrence took place; a company of blacks emerged out of the mist, carrying ladders, which were intended for the three light companies for the left attack, but these ethiopians were so confounded at the multiplicity of noises, that without farther ado, they dropped the ladders and fell flat on their faces, and without doubt, had their claws been of sufficient length, they would have scratched holes and buried themselves from such an unpleasant admixture of sounds and concatenation of iron projectiles, which seemed at war with one another, coming from two opposite directions at one and the same time. if these blacks were only intended to carry the ladders to the three light companies on the left, they were too late. the great bulk of them were cut to pieces before the ladders were within reach of them; even if the best troops in the world had been carrying them, they would not have been up in time. this was very odd, and more than odd; it looked as if folly stalked abroad in the english camp. one or two officers went to the front in search of some responsible person to obtain orders _ad interim_; finding myself the senior officer, i at once, making a double as it were, or, as napoleon recommended, marched to the spot where the heaviest firing was going on; at a run we neared the american line. the mist was now rapidly clearing away, but, owing to the dense smoke, we could not at first distinguish the attacking columns of the british troops to our right. we now also caught a view of the seventh and the forty-third regiments in _echelon_ on our right, near the wood, the royal fusileers being within about yards of the enemy's lines, and the forty-third deploying into line yards in _echelon_ behind the fusileers. these two regiments were every now and then almost enveloped by the clouds of smoke that hung over their heads, and floated on their flanks, and the echo from the cannonade and musketry was so tremendous in the forests, that the vibration seemed as if the earth were cracking and tumbling to pieces, or as if the heavens were rent asunder by the most terrific peals of thunder that ever rumbled; it was the most awful and the grandest mixture of sounds to be conceived; the woods seemed to crack to an interminable distance, each cannon report was answered one hundred fold, and produced an intermingled roar surpassing strange. and this phenomenon can neither be fancied nor described, save by those who can bear evidence of the fact. and the flashes of fire looked as if coming out of the bowels of the earth, so little above its surface were the batteries of the americans. we had run the gauntlet, from the left to the centre in front of the american lines, under a cross fire, in hopes of joining in the assault, and had a fine view of the sparkling of the musketry, and the liquid flashes of the cannon. and melancholy to relate, all at once many soldiers were met wildly rushing out of the dense clouds of smoke, lighted up by a sparkling sheet of fire, which hovered over the ensanguined field. regiments were shattered and dispersed--all order was at an end. and the dismal spectacle was seen of the dark shadows of men, like skirmishers, breaking out of the clouds of smoke, which majestically rolled along the even surface of the field. and so astonished was i at such a panic, that i said to a retiring soldier, "have we or the americans attacked?" for i had never seen troops in such a hurry without being followed. "no," replied the man, with the countenance of despair, and out of breath, as he ran along, "we attacked, sir." for still the reverberation was so intense toward the great wood, that any one would have thought the great fighting was going on there instead of immediately in front. lieut. duncan campbell, of our regiment, was seen to our left running about in circles, first staggering one way, then another, and at length fell upon the sod helplessly on his face, and again tumbled, and when he was picked up, he was found to be blind from the effect of grape-shot, which had torn open his forehead, giving him a slight wound in the leg, and also ripped the scabbard from his side, and knocked the cap from his head. while being borne insensible to the rear, he still clenched the hilt of his sword with a convulsive grasp, the blade thereof being broken off close at the hilt with grape-shot, and in a state of delirium and suffering he lived for a few days. the first officer we met was lieutenant-colonel stovin, of the staff, who was unhorsed, without his hat, and bleeding down the left side of his face. he at first thought the two hundred were the whole regiment, and he said, "forty-third, for god's sake save the day!" lieutenant-colonel smith of the rifles, and one of packenham's staff, then rode up at full gallop from the right, (he had a few months before brought to england the despatches of the capture of washington) and said to me, "did you ever see such a scene?--there is nothing left but the seventh and forty third! just draw up here for a few minutes, to show front, that the repulsed troops may re-form." for the chances now were, as the greater portion of the actually attacking corps were stricken down, and the remainder dispersed, that the americans would become the assailants. the ill-fated rocket was discharged before the british troops moved on; the consequence was, that every american gun was warned by such a silly signal to be laid on the parapets, ready to be discharged with the fullest effect. the misty field of battle was now inundated with wounded officers and soldiers, who were going to the rear from the right, left, and centre; in fact, little more than one thousand soldiers were left unscathed out of the three thousand who attacked the american lines, and they fell like the very blades of grass beneath the scythe of the mower. packenham was killed; gibbes was mortally wounded; his brigade dispersed like the dust before the whirlwind, and keane was wounded. the command of his majesty's forces at this critical juncture now fell to major-general lambert, the only general left, and he was in reserve with his fine brigade. the rifle corps individually took post to resist any forward movements of the enemy, but the ground already named being under a cross fire of at least twenty pieces of artillery, the advantage was all on the side of the americans, who in a crowd might have completely run down a few scattered troops, exposed to such an overpowering force of artillery. the black troops behaved in the most shameful manner to a man, and, although hardly exposed to fire, were in abominable consternation, lying down in all directions. one broad beaver, with the ample folds of the coarse blanket, thrown across the shoulders of the americans, was as terrible in their eyes as a panther might be while springing among a timid multitude. these black corps, it is said, had behaved well at some west india islands, where the thermometer was more congenial to their feelings. lieut. hill (now capt. hill) said, in his shrewd manner, "look at the seventh and the forty-third, like seventy-fours becalmed!" as soon as the action was over, and some troops were formed in our rear, we then, under a smart fire of grape and round shot, moved to the right, and joined our own corps, which had been ordered to lie down at the edge of the ditch; and some of the old soldiers, with rage depicted on their countenances, were demanding why they were not led on to the assault. the fire of the americans, from behind their barricades, had been indeed so murderous, and had caused so sudden a repulse, that it was difficult to persuade ourselves that such an event had happened--the whole affair being more like a dream, or some scene of enchantment, than reality. and thus it was: on the left bank of the river, three generals, seven colonels, and seventy five officers, making a total of seventeen hundred and eighty-one officers and soldiers, had fallen in a few minutes. the royal fusileers and the monmouthshire light infantry, from the beginning to the end of the battle, were astounded at the ill success of the combat; and while formed within grape range, were lost in amazement at not being led on to the attack, being kept as quiet spectators of the onslaught. about an hour and a half after the principal attack had failed, we heard a rapid discharge of fire-arms, and a few hurried sounds of cannon on the right bank of the river, when all was again silent, until three distinct rounds of british cheers gladdened our ears from that direction, although at least one mile and a quarter from where we were stationed. they were colonel thornton's gallant troops, who were successful in the assault on the american works in that quarter, the details of which, for a brief space, i must postpone. for _five_ hours the enemy plied us with grape and round shot; some of the wounded lying in the mud or on wet grass, managed to crawl away; but every now and then some unfortunate man was lifted off the ground by round shot, and lay killed or mangled.--during the tedious hours we remained in front, it was necessary to lie on the ground, to cover ourselves from the projectiles. an officer of our regiment was in a reclining posture, when a grape-shot passed through both his knees; at first he sank back faintly, but at length opening his eyes, and looking at his wounds, he said, "carry me away. i am _chilled to death_;" and as he was hoisted on the men's shoulders, more round and grape shot passed his head; taking off his hat, he waved it; and after many narrow escapes, got out of range, suffered amputation of both legs, and died of his wounds on ship-board, after enduring all the pain of the surgical operation, and passing down the lake in an open boat. a wounded soldier, who was lying among the slain, two hundred yards behind us, continued, without any cessation, for two hours, to raise his arm up and down with a convulsive motion, which excited the most painful sensations among us; and as the enemy's balls now and then killed or maimed some soldiers, we could not help casting our eyes toward the moving arm, which really was a dreadful magnet of attraction; it even caught the attention of the enemy, who, without seeing the body, fired several round shot at it. a black soldier lay near us, who had received a blow from a cannon-ball, which had obliterated all his features; and although blind, and suffering the most terrible anguish, he was employing himself in scratching a hole to put his money into. a tree, about two feet in diameter and fifteen in height, with a few scattered branches at the top, was the only object to break the monotonous scene. this tree was near the right of our regiment; the americans, seeing some persons clustering around it, fired a thirty-two pound shot, which struck the tree exactly in the centre, and buried itself in the trunk with a loud concussion. curiosity prompted some of us to take a hasty inspection of it, and i could clearly see the rusty ball within the tree. i thrust my arm in a little above the elbow joint, and laid hold of it; it was truly amazing, between the intervals of firing the cannon, to see the risks continually run by the officers to take a peep at this good shot. owing to this circumstance, the vicinity of the tree became rather a hot berth; but the american gunners failed to hit it a second time, although some balls passed very near on each side, and for an hour it was a source of excessive jocularity to us. in the middle of the day a flag of truce was sent by gen. lambert to gen. jackson, to be allowed to bury the dead, which was acceded to by the latter on certain conditions." note f.--_page ._ to the politeness of dr. william dunbar, a planter of mississippi, the author is indebted for many important papers relating to this region, formerly in the possession of his father--a gentleman well known to the philosophic world as the author of several valuable scientific papers upon the natural history and meteorology of this country. among the manuscripts of this gentleman in the author's possession, is the following account of the manufacture of indigo, written by himself, then an extensive indigo planter, near new-orleans. "the reservoir water in or near the field where the indigo plant is cultivated, is prepared, in lower louisiana, by digging a canal from eighty to one hundred feet long, and or feet wide. the plant is in its strength when in full blossom: it is then cut down, and disposed regularly in a wooden or brick vault, about ten feet square, and three feet deep; water is then poured or pumped over it until the plant is covered; it is suffered to remain until it has undergone a fermentation, analogous to the vinous fermentation. if it stands too long, a second fermentation commences, bearing affinity to the acetous fermentation: your liquor is then spoiled, and will yield you but little matter of a bad quality--sometimes none at all. the great difficulty is to know this proper point of fermentation, which cannot sometimes be ascertained to any degree of certainty; when the plant is rich, and the weather warm, a tolerable judgment may be formed by the ascent or swelling of the liquor in the vat; at other times no alteration is observed. but to return; the liquor is at length drawn off into another vat, called the beater; it may remain in the first vat, called the steeper, from ten to fifteen hours, and even twenty-four hours, in the cool weather of autumn. the liquor is agitated in the beater in a manner similar to the churning of butter; when first drawn off, it is of a pale straw colour, but gradually turns to a pale green, from thence to a deeper green, and at length to a deep blue. this is occasioned by the grains of indigo, at first dissolved in the water, and afterward extricated by beating. the indigo is now ready to fall to the bottom by its superior specific gravity; but a precipitant is often used to cause a more hasty decomposition, and consequent precipitation. this is effected most powerfully by lime-water, but it may also be done by any mucilaginous substance, as the juice of the wild mallows, purslain, leaves of the elm-tree, and of many others indigenous in this country. the saliva produces the same effects. a few hours after the precipitation, the water standing above the indigo is drawn off by holes perforated for that purpose; the indigo matter is then swept out and farther drained, either by putting it in bags of russia duck, or more commodiously in wooden cases with a bottom of cloth; after which it is put in a wooden frame, with a loose osnaburg cloth between it and the frame, and subjected to a considerable press--light at first, but heavy at the last; and when solid enough, cut into squares, which shrink up in drying to half their first bulk. after it appears to be dry, it is put up in heaps to sweat and dry the second time; it is then fit for market. all that has not been injured by missing the true point of fermentation, sells here generally at a dollar a pound. the planter often, by mistake, makes his indigo of a superior quality, so as to be equal to the guatemala indigo, and be worth from one dollar and a quarter to two dollars. this happens from the indigo maker's drawing off his water from the steeper too soon, before it has arrived at its due point of fermentation. in this case the quantity is so much lessened, as by no means to render the planter compensated by the superior quality. the grand desideratum to bring the making of indigo to some degree of certainty, is the discovery of some chymical test, that shall demonstrate the passing of the liquor from the first to the second fermentation. this test will probably be discovered in some saline body, but which, or in what quantity, it is yet difficult to ascertain." note g.--_page ._ the following additional observations upon new-orleans, its parish, and neighbourhood, convey, at a glance, the general resources of this region of country, besides containing much information not embodied in the work:-- "the parish of orleans includes the city. chef menteur, rigolets, bayou bienvenu, bayou gentilly, and bayou st. johns, are all in this parish, and are famous in the history of the late war, lake pontchartrain, lake borgne, barataria bay, gulf of mexico, caminda bay, lake des islets, lake rond, little lake, and quacha lake, are in the limits of this parish. sugar, and after that, cotton, are the staples. along the coast there are groves of orange-trees, and the fig is extensively raised. in this parish are the greater part of the defences, that are intended to fortify the city of new-orleans against the attack of a foreign foe. the chief fortifications are on those points, by which the british approached toward the city during the late war. extensive fortifications of brick have been erected at petits coquilles, chef menteur, and bayou bienvenu, the two former guarding the passes of the rigolet, between lake borgne and lake pontchartrain, and the latter the approach from lake borgne toward new-orleans. a great work, to mount cannon, is erecting at placquemine on the mississippi. these works, when finished, will not fall far short of the expense , , dollars. fort st. johns, at the entrance of the bayou st. johns into lake pontchartrain, is well situated for the defence of the pass. it is an ancient establishment of the former regime. the guns are of vast calibre; but they appear to be sealed, and the walls have a ruinous aspect. these points of defence have been selected with great judgment, and have been fortified with so much care, that it is supposed no enemy could ever again approach the city by the same passes, through which it was approached by the british in the past war. new-orleans, the key of the mississippi valley, and the great depot of its agriculture and commerce, is already a city of immense importance, and is every year becoming more so. this city has strong natural defences, in its position and its climate. it is now strongly defended by artificial fortifications. but, after all, the best defence of this, and of all other cities, is the vigilant and patriotic energy of the battalions of free men, who can now, by steamboats, be brought down to its defence in a few days from the remotest points of the west. it is not to be forgotten, that by the same conveyance, an enemy might also be brought against it. of the other parishes, we may remark, in general, that as far up the mississippi as the parish of baton rouge, on the east side, and point coupee on the west, the cultivation of the sugar-cane is the chief pursuit of the inhabitants. the same may be said of placquemine, lafourche, and attakapas. the staple article of the western parishes beyond is cotton. the parishes north of lake pontchartrain, which formerly made a part of florida, with the exception of some few tracts, and the alluvions of pearl river and bogue chitte, have a sterile soil. the inhabitants raise large herds of cattle, and send great quantities of lumber to new-orleans, together with pitch, tar, turpentine and coal. they burn great quantities of lime from the beds of shells, which cover large tracts near the lakes; they also send sand from the beaches of the lakes, for covering the pavements of new-orleans. they have also, for some years past, manufactured brick to a great amount, and have transported them across the lake. they have a great number of schooners that ply on the lakes, in this and other employments. the people engaged in this extensive business, find the heavy tolls demanded on the canal a great impediment in the way of the profit of this trade.[ ] the country generally is covered with open pine woods, and has small tracts of second-rate land interspersed among these tracts. the country is valuable from its inexhaustible supplies of timber and wood for the new-orleans market. footnotes: [ ] these were george cooper--elijah w. brown, now a wealthy planter in monroe, washita, la. and i. k. cook, for many years post a leading editor in this state. [ ] the rail-road is now the medium of conveyance for these articles of produce to the city; the expense is thereby much lessened, and the facilities for this trade increased. end of vol. i. +------------------------------------------------------+ | transcriber's note: | | | | inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | | original document have been preserved. | | | | typographical errors corrected in the text: | | page vii phosporescence changed to phosphorescence | | page ix humam changed to human | | page supended changed to suspended | | page irridescence changed to iridescence | | page castillian changed to castilian | | page superceded changed to superseded | | page marquetti changed to marquette | | page mississipi changed to mississippi | | page pannelling changed to panelling | | page succssion changed to succession | | page goliahs changed to goliaths | | page arrarat changed to ararat | | page appaling changed to appalling | | page appaling changed to appealing | | page negociating changed to negotiating | | page faec changed to face | | page mphatically changed to emphatically | | page deposite changed to deposit | | page tunnel changed to funnel | | page apartement changed to appartement | | page cis-atlantic changed cis-atlantic | | page steet changed to street | | page callaboose changed to calaboose | | page huzzars changed to hussars | | page panneling changed to panelling | | page pantomine changed to pantomime | | page marseilloise changed to marseillaise | | page smoth changed to smooth | | page chimnies changed to chimneys | | page turkies changed to turkeys | | page freeest changed to freest | | page matressing changed to mattressing | | page ros changed to rose | | page meet changed to meant | | page circnmstance changed to circumstance | | page mucillaginous changed to mucilaginous | | page guatimala changed to guatemala | | page coup e changed to coupee | +------------------------------------------------------+ the south-west. by a yankee. where on my way i went; ----------a pilgrim from the north-- now more and more attracted, as i drew nearer and nearer. rogers' italy. in two volumes. vol. ii. new-york: harper & brothers, cliff-st. . [entered, according to act of congress, in the year , by harper & brothers, in the clerk's office of the southern district of new-york.] contents. xxiv. characteristic scenery of the mississippi--card playing--sabbath on board a steamboat--an old sinner--a fair virginian--inquisitiveness of yankee ladies--southern ladies--a general--ellis's cliffs--mines--atala --natchez in the distance--duelling ground--fort rosalie--forests--a traveller's remark. page xxv. land at the levée--african porters--first impression of passing travellers--"natchez under the hill"--a dizzy road--a rapid descent --view from the summit--fine scenery in the vicinity--reservoir--a tawny silenus--a young apollo--warriors "hors du combat"--indian females--mississippian backwoodsman--mansion house. xxvi. a northerner's idea of the south-west--natchez and health--"broadway" of natchez--street scenes--private carriages--auction store--sale of a slave--manner in which slaves view slavery--shopping--fashion-- southern gentlemen--merchants--planters--whip bearers--planters' families. xxvii first impressions--american want of taste in public buildings-- agricultural bank--masonic hall--natchez academy--education of mississippians--cemetery--theatre--presbyterian church--court-house --episcopal church--light-house--hotels--planters, houses and galleries--jefferson hotel--cotton square. xxviii. society of natchez--new-england adventurers--their prospects--the yankee sisterhood--southern bachelors--southern society--woman--her past and present condition--single combats--fireside pleasures unknown--a change--town and country--characteristic discrepancies. xxix. a sabbath morning in natchez--a ramble to the bluff--louisiana forests--natchez under the hill--slaves--holidays--negroes going to church--negro street coteries--market day--city hotel--description of the landing--rail-way--a rendezvous--neglected sabbath-bell. xxx. reminiscences--an aged pastor--streets of natchez on the sabbath-- interior of a church--church music--pulpit oratory--a new england scene--peculiar state of society--wealthy ministers--clerical planters--health of mississippi--episcopalian church--catholics-- the french language--catholic education--methodists--an alarm bell and slaves. xxxi. catholic burying-ground--evening in a grave yard--sounds of a busy city--night--disturbers of the dead--dishumation of human remains --mourning cards--a funeral--various modes of riding--yankee horsemanship--mississippian horsemen--pacers--a plantation road --residence--the grave--slaves weeping for their master!--new cemetery. xxxii. national diversities of character--diversities of language-- provincialisms--a plantation and negroes--natchez bar--a youthful judge--physicians--clergymen--merchants, &c. &c.--a southern mania--"washing"--tobacco--value of cotton planting and statistics --an easy "way to wealth." xxxiii. an excursion--a planter's gallery--neglect of grounds--taste and economy--mississippi forests--the st. catharine--cotton fields--worm fences--hedges--the pride of china--the magnolia tree and flower-- plantation roads--white cliffs--general view of a plantation. xxxiv. horticulture--chateaubriand--a mississippi garden and plants--a novel scene--sick slaves--care of masters for their sick--shamming --inertness of negroes--burial of slaves--negro mothers--a nursery --negro village on the sabbath--religious privileges of slaves-- marriages--negro "passes"--the advantages of this regulation-- anecdote of a runaway. xxxv. preparations for a deer hunt--a sailor, a planter, and an author--a deer driver--"stands" for deer--the hunting ground--the hunt-- ellis's cliff--silver mine--an hypothesis--alluvial formation of the lower valley of the mississippi--geological descriptions of the south-west. xxxvi. geography of mississippi--ridges and bottoms--the mississippi at its efflux--pine and table lands--general features of the state-- bayous--back-water of rivers--springs--st. catharine's harp-- bankston springs--mineral waters of this state--petrifactions-- quartz crystals--"thunderbolts"--rivers--the yazoo and pearl. xxxvii. topography--natchez--washington--seltzertown--greenville--port gibson--raymond--clinton--southern villages--vicksburg--yeomen of mississippi--jackson--vernon--satartia--benton--amsterdam--brandon and other towns--monticello--manchester--rankin--grand gulf--rodney --warrenton--woodville--pinckneyville--white apple village. xxxviii. coloured population of the south--mississippi saddle and horse caparisons--ride through the city--chain gang--lynch law--want of a penitentiary--difficulties in consequence--summary justice--boating on the mississippi--chain gang and the runaway--suburbs--orphan asylum--a past era. xxxix. slave mart--scene within--file of negroes--"trader"--negro feelings --george and his purchaser--george's old and new wife--female slaves--the intellect of the negro--a theory--an elderly lady and her slaves--views of slaves upon their condition--separation of kindred among slaves. xl. towns of mississippi--naming estates--the influence of towns on the social relations of the planters--southern refinement--colleges --oakland--clinton--jefferson--history of the latter--collegiate system of instruction--primary departments--quadrennial classes. xli. indian mounds--their origin and object--tumuli near natchez--skulls and other remains--visit to the fortifications or mounds at seltzertown--appearance and description of the mounds--their age-- reflections--history of the natchez. xlii. slavery in the south-west--southern feelings--increase of slaves --virginia--mode of buying slaves, and slave-traders--mode of transportation by sea--arrival at the mart--mode of life in the market--transportation by land--privileges of slaves--conduct of planters toward their negroes--anecdotes--negro traders--their origin. xliii. slaves--classes--anecdotes--negro instruction--police--natchez fencibles--habitual awe of the negro for the white man-- illustrations--religious slaves--negro preaching--general view of slavery and emancipation--conclusion. the south west. xxiv. characteristic scenery of the mississippi--card-playing-- sabbath on board a steamboat--an old sinner--a fair virginian--inquisitiveness of yankee ladies--southern ladies--a general--ellis's cliffs--mines--atala--natchez in the distance--duelling ground--fort rosalie--forests--a traveller's remark. the rich and luxuriant character of the scenery, which charms and attracts the eye of the traveller as he ascends the mississippi from new-orleans to baton rouge, is now changed. a broad, turbid flood, rolling through a land of vast forests, alone meets the eye, giving sublime yet wild and gloomy features to the scene. on looking from the cabin window, i see only a long, unbroken line of cotton trees, with their pale green foliage, as dull and void of interest as a fog-bank. the opposite shore presents the same appearance; and so it is, with the occasional relief of a plantation and a "landing place," comprising a few buildings, the whole distance to natchez. a wretched cabin, now and then, varies the wild appearance of the banks--the home of some solitary wood-cutter. therefore, as i cannot give you descriptions of things abroad, i must give you an account of persons on board. there are in the cabin about forty passengers, of both sexes. two of the most genteel-looking among them, so far as dress goes, i am told, are professed "black-legs;" or, as they more courteously style themselves, "sporting gentlemen."--there is an organized body of these _ci-devant_ gentry upon the river, who have local agents in every town, and travelling agents on board the principal steamboats. in the guise of gentlemen, they "take in" the unwary passenger and unskilful player, from whom they often obtain large sums of money. i might relate many anecdotes illustrative of their mode of operating upon their victims; but i defer them to some future occasion. as the same sportsmen do not go twice in the same boat, the captains do not become so familiar with their persons as to refuse them passage, were they so inclined. it is very seldom, however, when they are known, that they are denied a passage, as gambling is not only permitted but encouraged on most of the boats, by carrying a supply of cards in the bar, for the use of the passengers. even the sanctity of the sabbath is no check to this amusement: all day yesterday the tables were surrounded with players, at two of which they were dealing "faro;" at the third playing "brag." and this was on the sabbath! indeed the day was utterly disregarded by nearly every individual on board. travelling is a sad demoralizer. my fellow-passengers seemed to have adopted the sailors' maxim, "no sunday off soundings." their religion was laid by for shore use. one good, clever-looking old lady, was busily engaged all the morning hemming a handkerchief; when some one remarked near her, "this time last sunday we made the balize."--"sunday! to-day sunday!" she exclaimed, in the utmost consternation, "is to-day sunday, sir?" "it is indeed, madam." "oh, me! what a wicked sinner i am! o dear, that i should sew on sunday!"--and away she tottered to her state-room, amidst the pitiless laughter of the passengers, with both hands elevated in horror, and ejaculating, "oh me! what a wicked sinner! how _could_ i forget!" in a short time she returned with a bible; and i verily believe that she did not take her eyes from it the remainder of the day, unless it might be to wipe her spectacles.--good old soul! she was leaven to the whole lump of our ungodly company. there are several french gentlemen; one important looking personage, who bears the title of general, and seems amply to feel the dignity it confers; three or four mississippi cotton planters, in large, low-crowned, broad-brimmed, white fur hats, wearing their clothes in a careless, half sailor-like, half gentleman-like air, dashed with a small touch of the farmer, which style of dressing is peculiar to the mississippi country gentleman. they are talking about negroes, rail-roads, and towing shipping. there is also a travelling yankee lawyer, in a plain, stiff, black coat, closely buttoned up to his chin, strait trowsers, narrow hat, and gloves--the very antipodes, in appearance, to the _non chalant_, easy, care-for-nothing air of his southern neighbours. a methodist minister, in a bottle-green frock coat, fancy vest, black stock, white pantaloons and white hat, is sitting apart by the stove, deeply engaged upon the pages of a little volume, like a hymn-book. any other dress than uniform black for a minister, would, at the north, be deemed highly improper, custom having thus so decided; but here they wear just what providence sends them or their own taste dictates. there are two or three fat men, in gray and blue--a brace of bluff, manly-looking germans--a lynx-eyed, sharp-nosed new-york speculator--four old french jews, with those noble foreheads, arched brows, and strange-expressioned eyes, that look as though always weeping--the well-known and never to be mistaken characteristics of this remarkable people. the remainder of our passengers present no peculiarities worth remarking. so i throw them in, tall and short, little and big, and all sorts and sizes, to complete the motley "_ensemble_" of my fellow-travellers. among the ladies, besides the aged sinner of the pocket-handkerchief, are a beautiful, dark-eyed, dark-haired virginian, and an intelligent, young married lady from vermont, accompanied by her only child, a handsome, spirited boy, between four and five years of age. the little fellow and i soon became great friends; in testimony whereof, he is now teasing me to allow him to scrawl his enormous pot-hooks over my sheet, by way of assisting me in my letter. an apology for his rudeness, by his mother, opened the way for a conversation; during which i discovered that she possessed a highly cultivated mind, great curiosity, as a stranger in a strange land, and her full share of yankee inquisitiveness. she was always upon the "guard," resolved that nothing worthy of observation should escape her inquiring eye. she was a pure new-england interrogative. so far as it was in my power, it afforded me pleasure to reply to her questions, which, as a stranger to southern scenery, manners and customs, it was very natural she should put to any one. with a southerner i might have journeyed from montreal to mexico, without being questioned so often as i have been in this short passage from new-orleans. but unless we _can_ answer their innumerable questions, (which, by the way, are most usually of a strongly intelligent cast), travelling yankee ladies are certainly, unless young and pretty, a little annoying. i mean, always, the inquisitive ones; for there are some who are far from being so. when a northerner is not inquisitive, the fact may generally be ascribed to intellectual dullness, or an uncultivated mind: in a southerner, to constitutional indolence and love of quiet, which are enemies to one jot more corporeal or mental exertion than is absolutely requisite to enable them to glide through existence. i do not rank my fellow-traveller in the class of the troublesome inquisitives--though full of curiosity, compared with the "daughters of the sun,"--but she is no more so than any intelligent person should be in a strange, and by no means uninteresting country. "the general" is quite the lion on board. it would amuse you to observe the gaping mouths, fixed eyes, and attentive looks around, when the general speaks. he is the oracle--the _ne plus ultra_ of excellence--the phoenix of generals! by this time you must be wearied with my prosing about persons of whom you know nothing, and are probably waiting for more interesting subjects for description. thus far, with the exception of one bluff, with a few buildings perched upon its summit, there has been no variety in the monotony of the gloomy forests which overhang the river. ellis's cliffs, which present the wildest and most romantic scenery upon the mississippi below st. louis, are now in sight. they rise proudly from the river, and compared with the tame features of the country, are invested with the dignity of mountains. they exhibit a white perpendicular face to the river, and are about one hundred and fifty feet in height. gold and silver ore have been lately found in the strata of the cliffs; but not in sufficient purity and quantity to induce the proprietors to excavate in search of them. here are discovered the first stones--small pebbles of recent formation--that are seen on ascending the river. the surrounding country, which is nearly on a level with the summit of the cliffs, recedes pleasantly undulating from the river, rich with highly cultivated cotton plantations, and ornamented with the elegant residences of the planters. it is said that few countries in the world possess a more beautifully diversified surface--or one more pleasantly distributed in hills and valleys. in the vicinity also, of this romantic spot, chateaubriand has laid some of the scenes of his wild and splendid fiction "atala." we are now within twenty miles of natchez. the river is here very circuitous, making the distance much greater than by land. the shores continue to exhibit the peculiarly gloomy and inhospitable features which, with the occasional exception of a high bluff, plantation or village, they present nearly to the mouth of the ohio. the loud and startling report of a cannon in the bows of the boat, making her stagger and tremble through every beam, is the signal that our port is in sight--a pile of gray and white cliffs with here and there a church steeple, a roof elevated above its summit, and a light-house hanging on the verge! at the foot of the bluffs are long straggling lines of wooden buildings, principally stores and store-houses; the levée is fringed with flat boats and steamers, and above all, tower majestically the masts of two or three ships. the whole prospect from the deck presents an interesting scene of commercial life and bustle. but this is not natchez! the city proper is built upon the summit level, the tops of whose buildings and trees can be seen from the boat, rising higher than the cliff. the ascent from the lower town, or as it is commonly designated, "under the hill", is by an excavated road, of moderate elevation. the whole appearance of the place from the deck is highly romantic. on our left, opposite natchez, is vidalia, in louisiana, a pleasant village of a few houses, built on one street parallel with the river. here, in a pleasant grove above the town, is the "field of honour," where gentlemen from mississippi occasionally exchange leaden cards--all in the way of friendship. on our right, a few hundred yards below natchez, crowning a noble eminence, stand the ruins of fort rosalie, celebrated in the early history of this country. its garrison early in the last century was massacred, by the natchez tribe, to a single man, who escaped by leaping from the precipice. here is the principal scene of chateaubriand's celebrated romance. the position of the fort, in a military point of view, commanding, as it does, a great extent of river and country, is well chosen. beyond the fort, a peep at rich woods, green hills, and tasteful country-seats, is agreeably refreshing to the eye, so long accustomed to gaze upon melancholy forests, and dead flats covered with cane-brakes. indeed, the mournful character of the forests along the mississippi, is calculated to fill the mind with gloom. the long black moss, well known at the north as the "carolina moss", hangs in immense fringes from every limb, frequently enveloping the whole tree in its sombre garb. the forests thus clothed present a dismal yet majestic appearance. as the traveller gazes upon them his mind partakes of their funereal character, and the imagination is ready to assent to the strong and highly poetical remark of a gentleman on board, with whom i was promenading the "guard," who observed that it would seem that the deity was dead, and that nature had clothed herself in mourning. xxv. land at the levée--african porters--first impression of passing travellers--"natchez under the hill"--a dizzy road --a rapid descent--view from the summit--fine scenery in the vicinity--reservoir--a tawny silenus--a young apollo --warriors "hors du combat"--indian females--mississippian backwoodsmen--mansion house. since the date of my last letter, a period sufficiently long to enable me to make my observations with correctness has elapsed; and from memoranda collected during the interval, i shall prepare this and subsequent letters from this place. we landed last evening at the levée, amid the excitement, noise, and confusion which always attend the arrival or departure of a steamer in any place. but here the tumult was varied and increased by the incessant jabbering, hauling, pulling, kicking and thumping, of some score or two of ebony-cheeked men and urchins, who were tumbling over each other's heads to get the first trunk. "trunk, massa--trunk! i take you baggage". "you get out, for a nigger!" exclaimed a tall, strapping fellow, as black as night, to his brother ebony. "i'm the gemman, massa, what care de trunk." "dis nigger, him know noffing, massa--i'm what's always waits on um gentlemans from de boats!" roared another; and stooping to take one of the handles, the other was instantly grappled by a rival, and both giving a simultaneous jerk, the subject of the contest flew violently from their hands, and was instantly caught up by the first "gemman", and borne off in triumph. this little by-play was acted, with variations, in every part of the cabin, where there was either a gentleman or a trunk to form the subject. on landing, there was yet another trial of the tympanum. "carriage, massa--mighty bad hill to walk up!" was vociferated on all sides; and "no, no, no!" was no argument with them for a cessation of attack; denial only made them more obstinate; and, like true soldiers, they seemed to derive courage from defeat. forcing my way through the dingy crowd--for four out of five of them were black, and, "by the same token", as ragged as falstaff's regiment, of shirtless memory--i followed my athletic pioneer; who, with my heavy baggage poised accurately upon his head, moved as rapidly and carelessly along the thronged levée as though he carried no weight but his own thick cranium. on looking round me for a moment, on landing, i was far from agreeably impressed with the general appearance of the buildings. this part of the town is not properly natchez--and strangers passing up and down the river, who have had the opportunity of seeing only this place, have, without dreaming of the beautiful city over their heads, gone on their way, with impressions very inaccurate and unfavourable. these impressions, derived only, but justly, from this repulsive spot, have had a tendency to depreciate the city, and fasten upon it a bad name, which it is very far from meriting. like the celebrated "five points," in new-york, "natchez under the hill," as it has been aptly named, has extended its fame throughout the united states, in wretched rhyme and viler story. for many years it has been the nucleus of vice upon the mississippi. but, for two or three years past, the establishment of respectable mercantile houses, and an excellent hotel, combined with an efficient police, and a spirit of moral reform among the citizens, has, in a great measure, redeemed the place--changed its repulsive character and cancelled its disgraceful name. though now on the high way of reform, there is still enough of the cloven-hoof visible, to enable the stranger to recognise that its former reputation was well earned. the principal street, which terminates at the ascent of the hill, runs parallel with the river, and is lined on either side with a row of old wooden houses; which are alternately gambling-houses, brothels, and bar-rooms: a fair assemblage! as we passed through the street--which we gained with difficulty from the boat, picking our way to it as we could, through a filthy alley--the low, broken, half-sunken side-walks, were blocked up with fashionably-dressed young men, smoking or lounging, tawdrily arrayed, highly rouged females, sailors, kentucky boatmen, negroes, negresses, mulattoes, pigs, dogs, and dirty children. the sounds of profanity and bacchanalian revels, well harmonizing with the scene, assailed our ears as we passed hastily along, through an atmosphere of tobacco smoke and other equally fragrant odours. after a short walk we emerged into a purer air, and in front of a very neat and well-conducted hotel. from near this place, extending along the levée to the north, commences the mercantile part of the "landing," lined with stores and extensive warehouses, in which is transacted a very heavy business. the whole of this lower town is built upon a reclaimed flat, from one to two hundred yards broad, and half a mile in length; bounded upon one side by the river, and on the other by the cliff or bluff, upon which natchez stands, and which rises abruptly from the _batture_, to the height of one hundred and sixty feet. this bluff extends along the river, more or less varied and broken, for several miles; though at no point so abrupt and bold as here, where it bears the peculiar characteristics of the wild scenery of "dover cliffs." the face of the cliff at natchez is not a uniform precipice, but, apparently by the provident foresight of nature, broken by an oblique shelf or platform, gradually inclining from the summit to the base. with but a little excavation, a fine road has been constructed along this way, with an inclination sufficiently gentle to enable the heaviest teams to ascend with comparative ease. one side of the road is of course bounded by a perpendicular cliff; the other by empty air and a dizzy precipice: so that the unwary foot-traveller, involved amid the ascent and descent of drays, carriages, horsemen, and porters, enjoys a tolerably fair alternative of being squeezed uncomfortably close against the bluff, or pitched, with a summerset, into some of the yawning chimneys on the flats beneath. for the whole length of this ascent, which is nearly a quarter of a mile, there is no kind of guard for the protection of the passengers. yet, i have been told, no lives have ever been lost here. one poor fellow, a short time since, having taken a drop too much, and reeling too near the verge, lost his equilibrium, and over he went. but it is hard to kill a drunkard, except with the "pure spirit" itself; and the actor in this "drop scene" being "a gem of sweet erin," stuck to the sod, and slid comfortably, though rapidly, to the bottom. the next moment he was seen gathering himself up out of a sand-heap, with "by st. pathrick! but that was a jewel of a lape!--and it's my bright new baiver castor that's smashed by it to smitherins." on arriving at the summit of the hill, i delayed a moment, for the double purpose of taking breath and surveying the scene spread out around me. beneath lay the roofs of warehouses, stores, and dwellings, scattered over a flat, sandy surface, which was bordered, on the water side, by hundreds of up-country flat-boats, laden with the produce of the rich farming states bordering the ohio and "upper mississippi." lower down, steamers were taking in and discharging freight; while the mingled sounds of the busy multitude rose like the hum of a hive upon the ear. immediately opposite me lay two ships, which, with their towering masts, gay flags, and dark hulls, agreeably relieved the otherwise long and unbroken line of boats. to the north the river spreads its noble bosom till lost in the distance; while the continuous line of cliffs, extending along its shore like a giant wall, seem to speak in the language of power, "thus far shalt thou flow and no farther, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." to the south, the view is confined by the near projection of the obtruding cliffs. yet the river stretches boldly out many miles on its course toward the sea, till lost to sight within the bosom of the distant forests which bound the southern horizon. to the west, the eye travels over the majestic breadth of the river, here a mile wide, and rests for a moment upon level and richly cultivated fields beyond, a quiet village and noble forests, which spread away to the west like a vast sea of waving foliage, till they blend with the bending sky, forming a level and unbroken horizon. turning from this scene of grandeur and beauty to the east, natchez, mantled with rich green foliage like a garment, with its handsome structures and fine avenues, here a dome and there a tower, lies immediately before me. it is the very contrast to its straggling namesake below. the city proper consists of six streets, at right angles with the river, intersected by seven others of the same length, parallel with the stream. the front, or first parallel street, is laid out about one hundred yards back from the verge of the bluff, leaving a noble green esplanade along the front of the city, which not only adds to its beauty, but is highly useful as a promenade and parade ground. shade trees are planted along the border, near the verge of the precipice, beneath which are placed benches, for the comfort of the lounger. from this place the eye commands one of the most extensive prospects to be found on the mississippi. to a spectator, standing in the centre of this broad, natural terrace, the symmetrical arrangement of the artificial scenery around him is highly picturesque and pleasing. on his right, to the south, a noble colonnaded structure, whose heavy appearance is gracefully relieved by shrubbery, parterres, and a light latticed summer-house, crowning a gentle eminence in the rear, and half suspended over the precipice, strikes his eye with a fine effect. from this admirable foreground, gently sloping hills, with here and there a white dwelling, half concealed in foliage, spread away into the country. between this edifice and the forest back ground rise the romantic ruins of fort rosalie, now enamelled with a rich coating of verdure. on his left, at the northern extremity of the esplanade, upon the beautiful eminence, gradually yet roundly swelling away from the promenade, stands another private residence, nearly resembling and directly opposite to the other, its lofty colonnades glancing in the sun--a magnificent garden spreading out around it, luxuriant with foliage--diversified with avenues and terraces, and adorned with grottoes and summer-houses. imagine these handsome residences, flanking the city, and forming the extreme northern and southern terminations of the broad terrace before the town, with the mighty flood of the mississippi rolling some hundred feet beneath you--the dark forests of louisiana stretching away to infinity in the west, with natchez--its streets alive with promenaders, gay equipages and horsemen--immediately before you, and you will form some idea of this beautiful city and its environs from this point. but as the spot upon which the town is built, originally a cluster of green hills, has been, by levelling and filling, converted into a smooth surface, with a very slight inclination to the verge of the cliff, a small portion only of the city is visible. the buildings on the front street face the river, and, with the exception of one or two private houses, with galleries and shrubbery, reminding one of the neat and beautiful residences on the "coast,"[ ] possess no peculiar interest. the town is entered from the parade by rude bridges at the termination of each street, spanning a dry, dilapidated brick aqueduct of large dimensions, which has been constructed along the whole front of the city, but is now, from some unknown cause, suffered to fall to ruin. it was probably intended as a reservoir and conductor of the water which, after heavy rains, rushes violently down the several streets of the city. as i was crossing from the bluff to the entrance of one of the principal streets--a beautiful avenue bordered with the luxuriant china tree, whose dark rich foliage, nearly meeting above, formed a continued arcade as far as the eye could penetrate--my attention was arrested by an extraordinary group, reclining in various attitudes under the grateful shade of the ornamental trees which lined the way. with his back firmly planted against a tree, as though there existed a sympathetic affinity between the two, sat an athletic indian with the neck of a black bottle thrust down his throat, while the opposite extremity pointed to the heavens. between his left forefinger and thumb he held a corncob, as a substitute for a stopper. by his side, his blanket hanging in easy folds from his shoulders, stood a tall, fine-looking youth, probably his son, his raven hair falling in masses over his back, with his black eyes fixed upon the elder indian, as a faithful dog will watch each movement of his intemperate master. one hand supported a rifle, while another was carelessly suspended over his shoulder. there was no change in this group while i remained in sight; they were as immoveable as statues. a little in the rear, lay several "warriors" fast locked in the arms of bacchus or somnus, (probably both,) their rifles lying beside them. near them a knot of embryo chiefs were gamboling in all the glorious freedom of "_sans culottes_". at a little distance, half concealed by huge baskets apparently just unstrapped from their backs, filled with the motley paraphernalia of an indian lady's wardrobe, sat, cross-legged, a score of dark-eyed, brown-skinned girls and women, laughing and talking in their soft, childish language, as merrily as any ladies would have done, whose "lords" lay thus supine at their feet. half a score of miserable, starved wretches, "mongrel, whelp and hound," which it were an insult to the noble species to term dogs, wandering about like unburied ghosts "seeking what they might devour," completed the novel and picturesque _ensemble_ of the scene. on the opposite side of the way was another of a different character, but not less interesting. seated in a circle around their bread and cheese, were half a dozen as rough, rude, honest-looking countrymen from the back part of the state, as you could find in the nursery of new-england's yeomanry. they are small farmers--own a few negroes--cultivate a small tract of land, and raise a few bales of cotton, which they bring to market themselves. their carts are drawn around them forming a barricade to their camp, for here, as is customary among them, instead of putting up at taverns, they have encamped since their arrival. between them and their carts are their negroes, who assume a "cheek by jowl" familiarity with their masters, while jokes, to season their homely fare, accompanied by astounding horse-laughs, from ivory-lined mouths that might convey a very tolerable idea of the crater of etna, pass from one group to the other, with perfect good will and a mutual contempt for the nicer distinctions of colour. crossing the narrow bridge, i entered at once into the body of the city, which is built as compactly within itself and aloof from the suburbs as though it were separated from them by a wall; and in a few moments, after traversing two sides of a well-built square on fine side walks, i arrived at the "mansion house," an extensive and commodious brick edifice said to be one of the best hotels in the south west--except bishop's--agreeably impressed with this, my first _coup d'oeil_ of a city, so extensively celebrated for the opulence, taste and hospitality of its inhabitants. footnotes: [ ] the banks of the mississippi are termed "_the coast_," as far up the river as baton rouge. it is usual to say one lives on the _coast_, if he lives on the river shore. xxvi. a northerner's idea of the south-west--natchez and health --"broadway" of natchez--street scenes--private carriages --auction store--sale of a slave--manner in which slaves view slavery--shopping--fashion--southern gentlemen-- merchants--planters--whip bearers--planters' families. to the northerner, to whom every verdant hill is a magazine of health, every mountain torrent and limpid river are leaping and flowing with life, who receives a new existence as the rays of the summer's sun fall upon his brow, and whose lungs expand more freely and whose pulse beats more strongly under the influence of every breeze, natchez has been, till within a very short period, associated with miasma and marshes over which the yellow fever, like a demon king, held undisputed sway. this idea is not without foundation. like new-orleans, this city has been the grave of many young and ambitious adventurers. pestilence has here literally "walked at noonday." the sun, the source and preserver of life and health, in its path over this devoted city, has "become black as sackcloth," and "the moon that walketh in brightness," shedding her calm and gentle light upon the earth, has been "turned into blood," poisoning the atmosphere with exhalations of death, and converting the green earth into a sepulchre. but this is a record of the past. the angel of vengeance has gone by, leaving health and peace to exercise their gentle dominion over this late theatre of his terrible power. no city in our happy country is more blessed with health than is now, this so often depopulated place. for several years past its catalogue of mortality has been very much smaller than that of many towns in vermont and maine, containing the same number of inhabitants. even that insatiable destroyer, the asiatic cholera, which has strewn both hemispheres with the bones of its victims, has passed over this city without leaving a trace of his progress, except among the blacks and a few imprudent strangers. not a citizen fell a victim to it. if any place demanded a dispensation of mercy it was this--if past misfortunes can challenge an exemption from farther infliction. main-street is the "broadway" of natchez. it extends from the river to the eastern extremity of the city, about half a mile in length, dividing the town into nearly equal portions, north and south. this street is to natchez what chartres-street is to new-orleans, though on a much smaller scale. here are all the banks and most of the dry goods and fancy stores. here, consequently, is the centre of business, and, to the ladies, that of attraction; although the stores are not turned inside out every morning, to adorn their fronts and create zigzags on the side-walks, to the great edification of the shopmen, who are the operators, and the little comfort of gouty or hurrying pedestrians. in passing up this street, which is compactly built with handsome brick blocks, generally but two stories in height, the stranger is struck with the extraordinary number of private carriages, clustered before the doors of the most fashionable stores, or millineries, rolling through the street, or crossing and recrossing it from those by which it is intersected, nearly every moment, from eleven till two on each fair day. but few of these equipages are of the city: they are from the plantations in the neighbourhood, which spread out from the town over richly cultivated "hill and dale,"--a pleasant and fertile landscape--far into the interior. walk with me into this street about noon on a pleasant day in december. it is the only one nearly destitute of shade trees; but the few it boasts are shedding their yellow leaves, which sprinkle the broad, regular, and well-constructed side-walks, and the warm sun shines down cheerily and pleasantly upon the promenaders.--here, at the corner, surrounded by a crowd, is an auction store. upon a box by the door stands a tall, fine-looking man. but he is _black_; ebony cannot be blacker. of the congregation of human beings there, he is the most unconcerned. yet he has a deeper interest in the transactions of the moment than all the rest--for a brief space will determine whom, among the multitude, he is to call master! the auctioneer descants at large upon his merits and capabilities.--"acclimated, gentlemen! a first-rate carriage-driver--raised by col. ----. six hundred dollars is bid. examine him, gentlemen--a strong and athletic fellow--but twenty-seven years of age." he is knocked off at seven hundred dollars; and with "there's your master," by the seller, who points to the purchaser, springs from his elevation to follow his new owner; while his place is supplied by another subject. these scenes are every-day matters here, and attract no attention after beholding them a few times; so powerful is habit, even in subduing our strongest prejudices. but the following dialogue, overheard by me, between two well-dressed, smart-looking blacks near by, one seated listlessly upon his coach-box, the other holding the bridle of his master's horse--though brief, contains a volume of meaning, in illustrating the opinions and views of the blacks upon the state of their degraded race. "you know dat nigger, they gwine to sell, george?" "no, he field nigger; i nebber has no 'quaintance wid dat class." "well, nor no oder gentlemens would. but he's a likely chap. how much you tink he go for?"--"i a'n't much 'quainted wid de price of such kind o' peoples. my master paid seven hundred dollar for me, when i come out from ole wirginney--dat nigger fetch five hun'red dollar i reckon." "you sell for only seben hun'red dollars!" exclaimed the gentleman upon the coach-seat, drawing himself up with pride, and casting a contemptuous glance down upon his companion: "my massa give eight hundred and fifty silver dollars for me. gom! i tink dat you was more 'spectable nigger nor dat." at this turn of the conversation the negro was struck off at seven hundred, at which the colloquist of the same price became highly chagrined; but, stepping upon the stirrup, and raising himself above the crowd, that he might see "the fool massa what give so much for a miserable good-for-nothing nigger, not wort' his corn," consoled himself with the reflection that the buyer was "a man what made no more dan tirty bale cotton; while my master make tree hun'red, and one of de firs' gemmans too!" thus, though denied the privileges of his desired "caste," by the estimation of his personal value, he aspired to it by a conclusive argument, in the eye of a negro, viz. his master's wealth and rank in society. can individuals, who are thus affected at the sale of their fellow-men, and who view their state of bondage in this light, feel deeply their own condition, or be very sensitive upon the subject of equal rights? yet thus do negroes view slavery. thus do they converse upon it; and are as tenacious of the limited privileges, (yet to them unlimited, because they know, and can therefore aspire to no other) which, like flowers, are entwined among the links of their moral bondage. there is one, proud that his chain weighs down a few more gold pieces than that of his fellow, while the latter is in no less degree mortified at the deficiency in weight of his own. do such men "pine in bondage" and "sigh for freedom?" freedom, of which they know nothing, and cannot, therefore, feel the deprivation; a freedom of which they have heard only, as the orientals of their fabled genii, but to which generally they no more think of aspiring than the subjects of the caliph to the immortality and winged freedom of these imaginary beings. these two negroes i have seen repeatedly since, and am assured that they are as intelligent, well informed, and "respectable," as any of their class; none of whom, allowing a very few exceptions, entertain higher or different views of their state as slaves, or of their rank in the scale of human beings. do not mistake me: i am no advocate for slavery; but neither am i a believer in that wild garrisonian theory, which, like a magician's wand, is at once to dissolve every link that binds the slave to his master, and demolish at one blow a system that has existed, still gaining in extent and stability, for centuries. the familiar french proverb, "imagination gallops while the judgment advances only on a walk," is most applicable to these visionary theorists who would build rome in a day. opposite to the auction store are a cluster of gay carriages, to and from which fair beings, not quite angels, are "ascending and descending," to look over all the "pretty things" in the richly lined stores. was there ever a fancy store that ladies were not hovering near? "a new store"--"new goods,"--"less than cost!" what magic words! what visions of silks and satins, gros de swiss and gros de naples, challys and shawls, grecian laces and paris gloves, with a thousand other charming etceteras, float before their delighted fancies, in every form of grace and ornament that the imagination can picture or a refined taste invent. ladies are ladies all the world over; and where is the place in which they do not love "to shop?" in this far corner of the south and west, you are prepared to give fashion credit for but few devotees, and those only partial and half-souled worshippers. but you must not forget that these are southerners; and the southerner is never found unfashionable or deficient in taste. the moving galaxy of grace and beauty that floats down chestnut-street, cannot at any time present more fashionable and elegantly-dressed promenaders than now enliven the street, or than that fair bevy of young ladies clustered round yonder carriage door, all chattering together, with their sweet pleasant voices, to a pale, beautiful, and interesting girl within, apparently an invalid. so far as i can judge, as much of "the ton," in dress and society, prevails here as in philadelphia, where many residents of the city and country spend a portion of every summer--certainly more than at new-orleans, which is by far the most unfashionable city in the united states. the gentlemen of natchez are less particular in their dress, though much more punctilious than they were five or six years since, when there was not to be found what would be termed a "fashionable man," (according to the acceptation of the term in new-york) among the residents of this city. and where is the southern gentleman that ever dressed _fashionably_? they dress well and richly, but seldom fashionably. their garments hang upon them loosely, as though made for larger men; and they wear them with a sort of free and easy air, enviable but inimitable by the stiffer and more formal northerner. the southerner, particularly the planter, would wear with a native and matchless grace the flowing toga of imperial rome. though destitute of that fashionable exterior which the tailor supplies, and for which, in general, they have a most sovereign indifference and contempt, they possess--i mean the genuine, native-born, well-educated southerner--an "_air distingué_," and in the highest degree aristocratic, which is every where the most striking feature of their appearance. that knot of gentlemen issuing from a plain brick building--one of the banks--is composed of bank directors. their decisions have elevated or depressed the mercury in many an anxious breast. two or three faces resemble those one often sees in wall-street, or on change, in boston. the resemblance is so striking that one is quite sure at the first glance that he has seen them there. but no; they are merchants of this city--thorough-going commercial men. the resemblance is only that of a species. merchants resemble each other everywhere. their features are strongly marked and characteristic. it has been said that a boston merchant may be known all the world over. it has been proved that a sea-faring life, especially when commenced in early years, has a tendency to produce a physical change in the organ of vision. that a mercantile life, long and intently pursued, has a tendency to stamp a peculiar character upon the features, is equally certain, in the opinion of those whose habits of observation may have led them to such physiognomical investigations. among the remainder, are two or three in white blanket coats, broad-brimmed white hats, with slender riding-whips in their hands, who will be readily designated as planters. a circumstance that very soon arrests the attention of the stranger, is the number of gentlemen with riding-whips in their hands to be met with in all parts of the city, particularly on days when any public meeting is held. every third or fourth person is thus, to a northerner, singularly armed. at the north few ride except in gigs. but here all are horsemen; and it is unusual to see a gentleman in a gig or carriage. if his wife rides out, he attends her _à cheval_. instead of gigs, therefore, which would fill the streets of a northern town, saddle-horses, usually with high pummelled spanish saddles, and numerous private carriages, in which are the ladies of the family, drawn by long-tailed horses, throng the streets and line the outside of the pave. at least a third of the persons who fill the streets are planters and their families from the country, which every day pours forth its hundreds from many miles around the city, that like a magnet attracts all within its influence. there are several public buildings in this street of which i shall make more particular mention hereafter. my object now is merely to give you some idea of things as, when presented to it in the novel hues of "first impressions," they strike the eye of a stranger. xxvii. first impressions--american want of taste in public buildings --agricultural bank--masonic hall--natchez academy--education of mississippians--cemetery--theatre--presbyterian church-- court-house--episcopal church--light-house--hotels--planters' houses and galleries--jefferson hotel--cotton square. first impressions, if preserved, before the magnifying medium of novelty through which they are seen becomes dissipated, are far more lively and striking than the half-faded scenes which memory slowly and imperfectly brings up from the past. yet, if immediately recorded, while the colours are fresh and glowing, there is danger of drawing too much upon the imagination in the description, and exaggerating the picture. on the other hand, if the impressions are suffered to become old and faint, invention is too apt to be called in unconsciously, to fill up and complete the half-forgotten and defective sketch. the medium is safer and more accurate. a period of time sufficiently long should be suffered to elapse, that the mind, by subsequent observation, may be enabled to correct and digest its early impressions, exercise its judgment without a bias, and from more matured experience, be prepared to form its opinions, and make its comparisons with certainty. how far i have attained this desirable medium, the general character and justice of my descriptions must alone determine. the deficient perception of architectural beauty, in the composition of american minds, has frequently, and with some truth, been a subject upon which foreign tourists love to exercise their castigating pens--weapons always wielded fearlessly and pitilessly against every thing on this side of the atlantic. the very small number of handsome public buildings in the united states, and the total contempt for order or style which, (with but here and there an honourable exception,) they evince, would give a very plausible foundation for this animadversion, did not americans redeem their reputation in this point, by the pure and correct taste they universally exhibit in the construction of their private residences. herein, they are not surpassed by any other nation. natchez, like most of the minor cities of this country, cannot boast of any public buildings remarkable for harmonious conformity to the rules or orders of architecture. they are, nevertheless, well deserving of notice, highly ornamental to the city, and reflect honour upon the public spirit of its citizens. the agricultural bank is unquestionably the finest structure in the city. it has been erected very recently on the south side of main-street, presenting a noble colonnaded front, of the modernized grecian style; being built somewhat after the model of the united states bank at philadelphia; though brick and stucco are here substituted for marble, and heavy pillars for the graceful column. it is entered from the street by a broad and spacious flight of steps, leading to its lofty portico, from which three large doors give admission into its vast hall, decidedly the finest room south or west of washington. the whole structure is a chaste and beautiful specimen of architecture. it is partially enclosed by a light, iron railing. to a stranger this edifice is a striking object, and, contrasted with the buildings of less pretension around it, will call forth his warmest admiration. the other banks, of which there are, in all, three, including a branch of the united states bank, are plain brick buildings, undistinguished from the adjoining stores, except by a colder and more unfurnished appearance, and the absence of signs. a short distance above this fine building is the masonic hall; a large square edifice, two lofty stories in height. its front is beautifully stuccoed, and ornamented with white pilasters. the hall is in the second story; a large, plain, vaulted apartment, almost entirely destitute of the splendid furniture and rich decorations which characterise such places at the north. here masonry, with its imposing forms, ceremonies, and honours, is yet preserved in all its pristine glory. the first story of the building is used as an academy--the only one in this state. it is a well-conducted institution, and its pupils are thoroughly instructed by competent officers, who are graduates of northern colleges, as are most of the public and private instructors of this state. the number of students is generally large. those who are destined for professional life, after completing their preparatory course here, usually enter some one of the colleges at the north. yale, princeton, and harvard annually receive several from this state; either from this academy or from under the hands of the private tutors, who are dispersed throughout the state, and from whom a great majority of the planters' sons receive their preparatory education. but on the subject of education in this country, i shall speak more fully hereafter. i could not pass by this institution, which reflects so much honour upon the city, without expressing my gratification at its flourishing condition and high character. it is the more gratifying from being unexpected at the south, which, till very lately, has been wholly dependent upon the northern seminaries or private institutions for the education of her sons. to see here an institution that cannot be surpassed by any of the same rank in other states, must not only be pleasing to the friends of education, but particularly so to the citizens of this state, to whom it is ably demonstrated, by the success of this academy, that literature is not an exotic, though its germs may heretofore have been transplanted from another soil. there is a female seminary also in the city, which, though of a very respectable character, is not so celebrated and flourishing as many others in the state. on the south side of the next square is an old "burying-ground," crowning an eminence whose surface is covered with fragments of grave-stones and dismantled tombs. the street is excavated through it to its base, leaving a wall or bank of earth nearly thirty feet in height; upon the verge of which crumbling tombs are suspended, threatening to fall upon the passenger beneath. it has not been used for many years as a place of burial; the present cemetery being about a mile above the city, in a delightful spot among the green hills which cluster along the banks of the river. this old cemetery is a striking but disagreeable feature in the midst of so fair a city. adjoining it, on the eastern side, and nearly at the extremity of the street and also of the city, stands the theatre; a large, commodious building, constructed of brick, with arched entrances and perfectly plain exterior. the citizens of natchez are not a play-going community; consequently they take little pride in the possession of a fine theatre. its interior, however, is well arranged, convenient, and handsomely painted and decorated. its boards are supplied, for two or three months during every season, by performers from new-orleans or new-york. just beyond the theatre is the termination of main-street, here intersected by another, from which, to the right and left, fine roads extend into the country--one to washington, a pleasant village six miles distant, formerly the seat of government of the territory and the location of the public offices; but now a retired, unassuming and rural spot, boasting of a well-endowed college and female seminary--of which, more hereafter. of the other public buildings of natchez, the presbyterian church is the finest and most imposing. it stands on a commanding site, overlooking the public square, a pleasant green flat, in the centre of which is the court-house. it is constructed of bricks, which are allowed to retain their original colour; and surrounded by buff-coloured pilasters of stucco work, which is here generally substituted for granite in facings. it is surmounted, at the west end, by a fine tower of successive stories; on one side of which is a clock, conspicuous from the most distant parts of the city and suburbs.--you are aware, probably, that there are in this country no congregationalists, so called; presbyterians supply the place of this denomination in the ecclesiastical society of all the south and west. the prevailing denomination, however, in this state, as in all this section of the united states, is that of the methodists, which embraces men of all classes, including a large proportion of planters. i now merely allude to this and other subjects of the kind, as i intend, in subsequent letters, to treat of them more at large. the court-house is a fine, large, square building, opposite to the church, surmounted by a cupola. it is surrounded by a beautiful, though not spacious, green. on the streets which bound the four sides of it are situated the lawyers' and public offices, which are generally plain, neat, wooden buildings, from one to two stories in height. should they be denominated from the state of those who occupy them, they would be correctly designated "bachelors' halls." shade trees half embower them and the court-house in their rich foliage. opposite to the south side of the square is the county prison; a handsome two story brick building, resembling, save in its grated tier of windows in the upper story, a gentleman's private dwelling. there is a fine episcopalian church in the south-east part of the town, adding much to its beauty. it is built of brick, and surmounted by a vast dome, which has a rather heavy, overgrown appearance, and is evidently too large for the building. it has a neat front, adorned with a portico of the usual brick pillars. there are not many episcopalians here; but the few who are of this denomination are, as every where else in the united states, generally of the wealthy and educated class. there is also a methodist church adjoining the masonic hall; a plain, neat building, remarkable only for its unassuming simplicity, like all others of this denomination in america. the light-house upon the bluff, at the north-west corner of the city, is well deserving of notice, though not properly ranked under the public buildings of natchez. it is a simple tower, about forty feet in height, commanding a section of the river, north and south, of about twelve miles. but the natural inquiry of the stranger is, "what is its use?" a light-house on a river bank, three hundred miles from the sea, has certainly no place in the theory of the utilitarian. the use of it its projectors must determine. were a good telescope placed in its lantern it would make a fine observatory, and become a source of amusement as well as of improvement to the citizens, to whom it is now merely a standing monument, in proof of the proverb, that "wisdom dwelleth not in all men." the hotels are very fine. parker's, on one of the front squares, near the bluff, is a handsome, costly, and very extensive building, three stories in height, with a stuccoed front, in imitation of granite, and decidedly the largest edifice in the city. its rooms are large, spacious, and elegantly furnished; suited rather for gentlemen and their families, who choose a temporary residence in town, than for transient travellers and single men, who more frequently resort to the "mansion-house." this is not so large a structure as the former, though its proprietor is enlarging it, on an extensive scale. it has long been celebrated as an excellent house. its accommodations for ladies are also very good, their rooms opening into ventilated piazzas, or galleries, as they are termed here, which are as necessary to every house in this country as fire-places to a northern dwelling. these galleries, or more properly verandas, are constructed--not like the new-england piazza, raised on columns half the height of the building, with a flat roof, and surrounded by a railing--but by extending a sloping roof beyond the main building, supported at its verge by slender columns; as the houses are usually of but one story in this country, southerners having a singular aversion to mounting stairs. such porticoes are easily constructed. no house, particularly a planter's, is complete without this gallery, usually at both the back and front; which furnishes a fine promenade and dining-room in the warm season, and adds much to the lightness and beauty of the edifice. there is another very good hotel here, equivalent to richardson's, in new-orleans, or the elm-street house in boston, where the country people usually put up when they come in from the distant counties to dispose of their cotton. it fronts on "cotton-square," as a triangular area, formed by clipping off a corner of one of the city squares, is termed; which is filled every day, during the months of november, december, and january, with huge teams loaded with cotton bales, for which this is the peculiar market place. the "city hotel," lately enlarged and refurnished, is now becoming quite a place of fashionable resort. xxviii. society of natchez--new-england adventurers--their prospects --the yankee sisterhood--southern bachelors--southern society --woman--her past and present condition--single combats-- fireside pleasures unknown--a change--town and country-- characteristic discrepancies. until within a very short period, the society of natchez has exhibited one peculiar characteristic, in the estimation of a northerner, in whose migrating land "seven women," literally fulfilling the prediction, "take hold of one man;" a prediction which has, moreover, been fulfilled, according to the redoubtable and most classical crockett, in the west; but by no means in this place, or in any of the embryo cities, which are springing up like jonah's gourd, along the banks of the great "father of waters." the predominance of male population in the countless villages that are dotting the great western valley, rising up amidst the forests, one after another, as stars come out at evening, and almost in as rapid succession, is a necessary consequence of the natural laws of migration. in the old atlantic and new-england states, the sons, as they successively grow up to manhood, take the paternal blessing and their little patrimony, often all easily packed and carried in a knapsack, but oftener in their heads, and bend their way to the "great west," to seek their fortunes, with them no nursery tale, but a stern and hardly earned reality:--there to struggle--prosper or fail--with blighted hopes go down to early graves, or, building a fire-side of their own, gather around it sons, who, in their declining years, shall, in their turn, go forth from the paternal roof to seek beyond the mountains of the pacific shore a name, a fire-side, and a home of their own. and such is human life! to this migratory propensity is to be attributed the recent peculiar state of society in this city, and throughout the whole western country. the sons are the founders of these infant emporiums, but the daughters stay at home in a state of single blessedness--blessings (?) to the maternal roof, till some bold aspirants for the yoke of hymen return, after spying out the land, take them under their migratory wings and bear them to their new home. but unluckily for six out of every seven of the fair daughters of the east, the pioneers of the west feel disposed to pass their lives in all the solitary dignity of the bachelor state. wrapped up in their speculations, their segars and their "clubs," not even a second sabine device could move them to bend their reluctant necks to the noose. those, however, who do take to themselves "helpmeets," are more gallant and chivalrous than their roman predecessors in their mode of obtaining them, not demurring to travel, like coelebs, many hundred leagues to the land of steady habits, to secure the possession of some one of its lovely flowers. the concentrating of a great number of young gentlemen for a permanent residence in one spot, without a suitable proportion of the gentler sex to enliven and relieve the rougher shades of such an assemblage, must produce a state of society, varying essentially from that in communities where the division is more equal. hotels, or offices of professional business must be their residences--their leisure hours must be spent in lounging at each other's rooms like college students, (to whose mode of life their's is not dissimilar,) or in the public rooms of the hotels, cafés, or gambling houses. habits difficult to eradicate are contracted, of dark and fatal consequences to many; and a rude, cavalier bearing is thereby imperceptibly acquired, more congenial with the wild, free spirit of the middle ages, than the refinement of modern times. the bold and rugged outlines natural to the sterner character of man, can only be softened by that refining influence which the cultivated female mind irresistibly exerts upon society. wherever woman-- "blessing and blest, where'er she moves," has exercised this gentle sway, the ruder attributes of man have been subdued and blended with the soft and lovely virtues so eminently her own. second to christianity, of which it is a striking effect, the exalted rank to which man has elevated woman, from that degrading and tyrannical subjugation to which she has in pagan nations, in all ages, from the pride and ignorance of her _soi disant_ "lords," been subjected, has contributed more to the mental and personal refinement, dignity and moral excellence of men, than any other agency that has operated with a moral tendency directly upon the human mind. to the absence of this purifying influence, is to be attributed in a very great degree, that loose, immoral, and reckless state of society, peculiar to all border settlements and new towns, originating generally from communities of men. in such places that mysterious, yet indisputable power, exercised by the other sex upon society, is unknown; and men, throwing the reins upon the necks of their passions, plunge into vice and dissipation, unchecked and unrestrained. in such a state the duello had its origin--that blessed relic of that blessed age, when our thick-skulled ancestors broke each other's heads with mace and battle axe, for "faire ladye's love," or mere pleasant pastime--and a similar state of things will always preserve and encourage it. hence the prevalence of this practice in the newly settled south and west, where the healthful restraint of female society has been till within a few years unknown. but as communities gain refinement through its influence, this mode of "healing honour's wounds," so unwise, unsatisfactory and sinful, gradually becomes less and less popular--till finally it is but a "theme of the past." to this state of disuse and oblivion it is rapidly advancing in this portion of the south-west, which, according to the theory before advanced, is an indication of the growing refinement, and moral and intellectual improvement of the community. natchez has been, you are well aware, celebrated for the frequency and sanguinary character of its single combats; and this reputation it has once justly merited. till within a few years, duels were alarmingly frequent. but more recently public opinion has changed, and the practice is now almost abandoned. the society has emerged from its peculiar bachelor cast, to that social and refined character, which constitutes the charm of well organized and cultivated communities. but a short time since, there were not three married men to ten unmarried. the latter predominating, gave the tone to society, which was, as i have before observed, that of a university, so far as habits and manners were concerned. and the resemblance was still greater, as a large majority of the young men were graduates of northern seminaries, or well informed young merchants. the social or domestic circle, so dear to every new-englander, in which he delights to mingle wherever he reposes after his wanderings, was neglected or unvalued; and the young ladies, of whom there was found here and there one, (for their appearance in this desert of men was with the unfrequency of "angel's visits,") were compelled to pine neglected, and "to bloom unseen around their lonely hearths, and waste their sweetness on the desert air." such was the state of society here formerly, varied only, at long intervals, by a public ball at some one of the hotels, got up to kill _ennui_, a plant which, in such a soil, flourishes vigorously. but now "a change has come o'er the spirit of the town." a refined, intellectual, and highly educated class of females, both exotic and natural plants, enrich and diversify the moral features of the former lonely and monotonous scene: and as the vine entwining around the oak relieves with lines of grace and beauty its harsh, rugged outlines, so woman here, as every where, has assumed her brilliant sceptre, waved it over the heterogeneous mass, and "bidden it to live." the society of natchez, now, is not surpassed by any in america. originally, and therein differing from most western cities, composed of intelligent and well-educated young men, assembled from every atlantic state, but principally from new-england and virginia, it has advanced in a degree proportionate to its native powers. english and irish gentlemen of family and fortune have here sought and found a home--while the _gentilhomme_ of sunny france, and the dark-browed don of "old castile," dwell upon the green hills that recede gently undulating from the city; or find, in their vallies, a stranger's unmarbled and unhonoured grave. the citizens of natchez are, however, so inseparably connected with the neighbouring planters, that these last are necessarily included in the general term "society of natchez." the two bodies united may successfully challenge any other community to produce a more intelligent, wealthy, and, i may say, _aristocratic_ whole. but i do not much like the term applied to americans; though no other word will express so clearly that refinement and elegance to which i allude, and which everywhere indicate the opulence and high breeding of their possessors. this is not so manifest, however, in the external appearance of their dwellings, as it is in their mode or style of living. to this their houses, especially the residences of those who have _made_ their wealth, and who yet occupy the same cabins, but little improved, which they originally erected, present a sad contrast. many of the wealthiest planters are lodged wretchedly; a splendid sideboard not unfrequently concealing a white-washed beam--a gorgeous brussels carpet laid over a rough-planked floor--while uncouth rafters, in ludicrous contrast to the splendour they look down upon, stretch in coarse relief across the ceiling.--these discrepancies, however, always characteristic of a new country, are rapidly disappearing; and another generation will be lodged, if not like princes, at least, like independent american gentlemen.--many of these combinations of the old and new systems still exist, however, of a highly grotesque nature; some of the most characteristic of which i may mention more particularly hereafter. xxix. a sabbath morning in natchez--a ramble to the bluff-- louisiana forests--natchez under the hill--slaves-- holidays--negroes going to church--negro street coteries --market-day--city hotel--description of the landing-- rail-way--a rendezvous--neglected sabbath-bell. yesterday was the sabbath; one of those still, bright, and sunny days which poetry and religion have loved to challenge as peculiar to that sacred time. to this beautiful conception, fact, aided somewhat by fancy, does not, however, refuse its sanction. a serene and awful majesty has ever appeared to me as peculiarly belonging to the day of rest. it seems blessed with a holier power than is given to the common days of earth: a more hallowed silence then reigns in the air and over nature--a spirit of sanctity, like a "still small voice," breathes eloquently over the heart, from which better feelings and purer thoughts ascend and hold communion with the unseen world. a spell, like a mantle of heavenly texture, seems thrown over all; to break which, by the light notes of merry music, or the sounds of gay discourse, would seem like profanation. such was this sabbath morning. the sun arose in the glory of his southern power, "rejoicing to run his race." bathed in a sea of his own created light, he poured, with lavish opulence, floods of radiance over nature--illuminating, beautifying, and enriching all on which he shone. i had early rambled to the cliff, to get away from the noise and bustle of the hotel, and to enjoy the luxuriant beauty of the morning. the windows of the dwellings, and the roofs and spires of the town, reflected back the rising sun, whose beams glittered from myriads of dew-drops that spangled the green earth, converting its soft verdure into a carpet, studded with innumerable gems. the city itself reposed, as in a deep sleep, on the quiet hills upon which it rested. the majestic mississippi was spread out before me like a vast sheet of liquid steel--its unruffled bosom, dotted and relieved here and there by a light skiff, or a huge steamer, booming and puffing far away in the distance; while the lofty, mural precipices which frowned menacingly over its eastern shore, were reflected from its depth with the accuracy and distinctness of a sub-marine creation. the louisianian forests, clothing the interminable plains which stretch away to the west, with an almost perennial green, were crested with golden sun-light, and flashing as they waved in the morning breeze, like a phosphorescent sea of mingled green and light. nature wore her richest garb, and her every feature was eminently beautiful. there was nothing to impair her loveliness, but that fallen, guilty being, who should be a diadem of glory for her brow, and the brightest ornament of her bosom--man! proud and sinful man, desecrating all that is fair and pure wherever he treads--he alone defaced the calm and hallowed character of the scene. from a row of dilapidated yet inhabited dwellings beneath me, at the base of the cliff, sounds of rude merriment, mingled with the tones of loud dispute and blasphemy, rose with appalling distinctness upon the still air, breaking the sabbath silence of the hour, in harsh discord with its sacredness. the streets of the lower town were alive with boatmen, draymen, buyers and sellers, horsemen and hacks, and scores of negroes, some wrestling, some fighting, others running foot-races, playing quoits or marbles, selling the products of their little gardens, or, with greater probability, their predatory excursions; while from all combined, a confused murmur, not unlike the harmony which floated around babel, rolled upward to the skies--an incense far from acceptable to him, who has promulgated amid the thunders of sinai, "remember the sabbath day to keep it holy." in "natchez under the hill," the sabbath, as a day of rest and public worship, is not observed according to the strictest letter of the old "blue laws." on that day the stores are kept open and generally filled with boatmen and negroes. with the latter this day is a short jubilee, and, with the peculiar skill of their race, they make the most of it--condensing the occupation and the jollity of seven days into one. it is customary for planters in the neighbourhood to give their slaves a small piece of land to cultivate for their own use, by which, those who are industrious, generally make enough to keep themselves and their wives in extra finery and spending money throughout the year. they have the sabbath given them as a holiday, when they are permitted to leave their plantations and come into town to dispose of their produce, and lay in their own little luxuries and private stores. the various avenues to the city are consequently on that day filled with crowds of chatting, laughing negroes, arrayed in their sunday's best, and adroitly balancing heavily loaded baskets on their heads, which, from long practice in this mode of conveyance, often become indurated, like a petrification, and as flat as the palm of the hand, distending at the sides, and elongating in proportion to the depression, causing a peculiar conformation of the skull, which would set phrenology at defiance. others mounted on mules or miserable-looking plough-horses, in whose presence rosinante himself would have looked sleek and respectable--burthened with their marketable commodities, jog on side by side, with their dames or sweethearts riding "double-jaded"--as the yankees term the mode--behind them; while here and there market carts returning from the city, (as this is also market morning) or from the intersecting roads, pour in upon the highway to increase the life, variety, and motley character of its crowd. but this unpleasing picture of a sabbath morning, has brighter tints to redeem the graver character of its moral shades. of all that picturesque multitude of holiday slaves, two-thirds, the majority of whom are women, are on their way to church, into whose galleries they congregate at the hour of divine service in great numbers, and worship with an apparent devoutness and attention, which beings who boast intellects of a higher order might not disdain to imitate. the female slaves very generally attend church in this country; but, whether to display their tawdry finery, of which they are fond to a proverb, or for a better purpose, i will not undertake to determine. the males prefer collecting in little knots in the streets, where, imitating the manners, bearing, and language of their masters, they converse with grave faces and in pompous language, selecting hard, high-sounding words, which are almost universally misapplied, and distorted, from their original sound as well as sense to a most ridiculous degree--astounding their gaping auditors "ob de field nigger class," who cannot boast such enviable accomplishments--parading through the streets from mere listlessness, or gathering around and filling the whiskey shops, spending their little all for the means of intoxication. though negroes are proverbially lovers of whiskey, but few are to be found among them who get drunk, unless on christmas holidays, when the sober ones are most easily numbered; this is owing to the discipline of plantations, the little means they have wherewith to purchase, and last, though not least, the fear of punishment--that "_argumentum ad corporem_," which leaves a stinging conviction behind it, of the painful effects of "old rye" in the abstract upon the body. that a market should be held upon the sabbath in this city, is a "bend sinister" upon its escutcheon. but this custom is defended, even by those who admit its evil tendency, upon the plea "that meats in this climate will not keep over night."--this is no doubt the case during a great part of the year. a different system of things, in this respect, is desirable; but the reason just mentioned, combined with others, peculiar to a southern state of society, renders any change at present very difficult. there is, on the whole, with the exception alluded to, very little difference between the observance of the sabbath here, and that in places of the same size in new-england; and the quiet regularity of its sabbaths, if he could overlook the vast preponderance of coloured population in the streets just before church hour, would forcibly remind the northerner of his own native town. but in the lower town the face of things very sensibly changes, though the difference is less perceptible now than formerly. a few years since, its reputation was every way so exceptionable, that, in a very witty argument, a lawyer of this city demonstrated, that, so far from being a part and portion of the city proper, it was not even a part or portion of the state! where he ultimately consigned it i did not learn.--it is true the city was not very tenacious of its rights _quoad_ its reprobate neighbour. but more recently, its superior advantages for heavy grocery business have induced many merchants, of high respectability, to remove from the city to this spot, whose presence has given it a better character.--so much has it changed from its former reputation, that where it was once considered disreputable to reside, there are now extensive stores, kept by gentlemen of excellent character, and a fine hotel, lately erected, for the convenience of these merchants, (most of whom, like the society which formerly characterised the city, are bachelors) and for passengers landing from, or waiting for, the steamboats. there is also, i should have remarked in a former letter, a commodious brick hotel on main-street, in the city, under the superintendence of a young northerner, which, from its location in the very centre of the city, independent of other qualifications, is a convenient and agreeable temporary residence for strangers, with the majority of whom it is a general place of resort. few towns, whose inhabitants quadruple those of natchez, can boast such fine, commodious, and well-ordered hotels as this, or a more luxurious _table d'hote_ than is daily spread, between one and two o'clock, in the long dining-halls of most of them. the "landing," which more popular term has of late superseded the old notorious cognomination, "natchez under the hill," properly consists of three dissimilar divisions. the northern is composed mostly of wretched dwellings, low taverns, and drinking shops, where are congregated free negroes, more wretched than their brother bondmen, and poor whites. at the termination of this division are an excellent steam saw-mill and an oil-mill, where oil of a superior quality for lamps is extracted from cotton seed, heretofore a useless article, except for manure, but now disposed of with considerable profit. about the centre of this northern division is suspended a strangely-constructed rail-way, springing from the levée to the summit of the cliff. it was laid down, or rather built up, a short time since, for the more convenient carriage of cotton to the landing; but has failed in its object, and is now disused and neglected. viewed from the levée, it is a striking feature, rising boldly from the feet of the observer, a mammoth pile of frame-work, at an angle of degrees, and terminating at the height of one hundred and sixty feet, upon the verge of the bluff. the sides are closed up, and a portion is occupied by stores or dwellings, while another part is appropriated for a bowling alley. the noise of the iron-wheeled cars rolling down the steep track, with the roar of thunder, over the heads of the players, must have been a novel accompaniment to the sound of their own balls. the southern division of the landing consists of one short street, parallel with the river, over which it hangs on one side, while the houses on the other are overhung by a spur of the cliff, which, like an avalanche, threatens every moment to slide and overwhelm it. this street is lined with dancing-houses, tippling-shops, houses of ill-fame, and gambling-rooms.--here may always be heard the sound of the violin, the clink of silver upon the roulette and faro-tables, and the language of profanity and lewdness: and the revellers, so far from being interrupted by the intervention of the sabbath, actually distinguish it by a closer and more persevering devotion to their unhallowed pursuits and amusements. the remaining division of the landing, which lies between the other two, is a short street, extending from the base of the cliff to the levée, a great part of which it comprises, and along an intersecting street, which skirts the foot of the bluff as far as the rail-way: here are congregated store-houses, boarding-houses, and bachelors' halls--which many of the merchants keep over their own stores, hiring or buying some old black woman to officiate as the representative of monsieur ude--the commodious hotel before alluded to, conducted by a "green mountain boy," and wholesale and retail grocery and dry goods stores. neither of these kinds of goods is made, by itself, the sole stock of a dealer, either here or on the hill; but with the various articles in every kind of commercial dealing they pile their shelves and fill their warehouses; the whole forming a mixed assortment, appropriately adapted to the peculiar wants of their country, town, and steamboat customers. these stores are all kept open upon the sabbath, on which day there is often more business done than on any other. the blacks, who have no other opportunity of making their little purchases, crowd around the counters--the boatmen trade off their cargoes, and the purchasers store them--steamers are constantly arriving and departing, lading and unlading--and the steam ferry-boat makes its oft-repeated trip from shore to shore--all giving a life, bustle, and variety to the scene, of a very unsabbath-like character. the merchants plead the necessity of supplying steamers. this is readily admitted; but it has given rise to a train of unforeseen evils, which have little relation to this basis of the custom. the numerous drinking shops in the other parts of the landing are, on that day, as much at least, if not more than on other days, filled with a motley assemblage of black, white, and yellow, drinking and carousing. nearly two hundred feet below me, as i stood upon the bluff, and within the huge shadow of the cliff, stretched a long, low building, over which proudly waved the star-spangled banner, and to whose inhabitants the sun, already high in the heavens, had not yet risen. from this building issued the sound of bestial revelry, drowning the hum of business and the shouts of boyish merriment. the coarse gray clothing (a shame to our army) of most of those lounging about the door, designated it, in conjunction with the flag over their heads, as a rendezvous--even had not the martial eloquence of a little, half-tipsy, dapper man in a gray doublet, whose voice now and then reached my ear in the intervals of the uproarious proceedings--expatiating to a gaping crowd of grinning africans--nightcapped or bare-headed white females, in slattern apparel and uncombed locks--two or three straight, blanketed, silent indians--noisy boys and ragged boatmen--upon the glories of a soldier's life, sufficiently indicated its character. "the sound of the church-going bell" pealed idly over their heads, unheard, or if heard, disregarded; and to the crowds which the eye of an observer could take in from his elevation upon the bluff, the divine institution of the sabbath is invalid. xxx. reminiscences--an aged pastor--streets of natchez on the sabbath--interior of a church--church music--pulpit oratory --a new-england scene--peculiar state of society--wealthy ministers--clerical planters--health of mississippi-- episcopalian church--catholics--the french language-- catholic education--methodists--an alarm bell and slaves. after a long voyage, the sound of a sabbath bell, borne over the waves from a white tower, far inland among the green hills of my native land, awed, like a voice from heaven, every spirit on board of our ship, from the commander to the rudest mariner, striking a chord long untouched in many hearts, and awakening associations of innocence and childhood, of home and heaven. as one after another, each clear-toned peal rolled solemnly over the sea, every footfall was involuntarily hushed, the half uttered jest or oath was arrested on the tongue--the turbulent spirit was quieted and subdued--every rough weather-beaten visage was softened, and for the remainder of that day--long, long after its dying notes had floated like spiritual music over our ship, and died away in the distant "fields of the ocean,"--each one on board felt himself a better man. sensations nearly allied to these were awakened in my breast, as i stood upon the cliff, the sabbath morning preceding the date of my last letter, contrasting the calm rich beauty of nature, with the dark scenes of vice, misery and impiety beneath me, by the sudden pealing of the church bell, ringing out its loud melody over the city, awakening the slumbering echoes from "tomb and tower, cliff and forest glade," and calling man to the worship of his maker. my thoughts, by a natural association, went backward many a long year, and dwelt upon a sweet sequestered valley, far away among the northern hills, with its chaste temple, whose snow-white slender spire, like the finger of undying hope, pointed man to his home in heaven, where, in early boyhood, we were first taught to worship the great being who made us; to the venerable figure of that silver-headed man of god, whose eloquence, at one time sublime, and full of majesty and power, would strike his hearers with holy dread--at another, soft, persuasive, and artless as the language of a child, diffuse a holy devotion throughout their bosoms, or melt them into tears; whose audience listened with their hearts, rather than with their ears--so masterly was the intellect, made god-like by religion, which could ring what changes it would, upon the susceptible chords of human sensibility. my reverie of the past, however, was soon interrupted by the rattling of carriages, as they rolled over the noble esplanade between me and the city, from the roads which extend north and south along the banks of the river, on their way to church. i prepared to follow their example. from my position i could look into one of the principal streets of the town, now rapidly filling with well-dressed people, numerous private equipages, and horsemen in great numbers. i soon fell in with the living current, and in a few minutes arrived at the presbyterian church, situated in the centre and highest part of the city. the approach was literally blockaded by carriages from the suburbs and neighbouring plantations. the congregation was large, attentive, and so far as i could judge, as exteriorly fashionable as in boston or new-york. the interior of the building is plain, and vaulted. a handsome pulpit stands opposite the entrance, over which is a gallery for the coloured people. the pulpit is deficient in a sounding-board, that admirable contrivance for condensing the voice, which, in an apartment of vast dimensions, has too great expansion. there was neither organ nor any other instrumental aid to the church music, which, though exclusively vocal, was uncommonly fine--the clergyman himself leading. but the effect was much lessened by the want of that volume and power, which it would gain, were the singers, who are now dispersed over the house in their respective pews, collected into a choir, and placed in the gallery, as is generally customary elsewhere. the discourse was unexceptionable; possessing more originality than is usually found at the present day in compositions of that nature, embellished with considerable beauties of language, and pronounced in a forcible, unimpassioned, yet impressive style of oratory, which i should like to see more adopted in the sacred desk, as eminently fitter for the solemnity of the house of god, than that haranguing declamatory style of headlong eloquence so often displayed in the pulpit. as i delayed for a minute under the portico of the church, after the services were over, watching, with a stranger's eye, the members of the congregation as they issued from the church and filed off through the several streets to their residences, i felt that i had not, since leaving new-england, beheld a scene which reminded me so forcibly and pleasantly of home. i have, in a former letter, alluded to the prevalence of the presbyterian church government in mississippi, to the preclusion of congregationalists. there is not a resident minister of the latter denomination in this state or in louisiana. there are only about twenty-four presbyterian churches in the state, comprising between eight and nine hundred communicants in all; a less number than now composes the late dr. payson's church in portland. the church in natchez includes about one hundred members, which is the largest number in any one church in the whole state, with two exceptions; one of which is, a scotch community, about fifty miles in the country east from this city; most of whom, or their fathers before them, emigrating from the land of primitive manners, still retain their national characteristics of simplicity and piety; and that stern, unyielding spirit and christian devotedness which distinguished the scottish presbyterians of "olden time," of whom, though planted in the bosom of an american forest, they are worthy and original representatives. they are a plain, moderately independent, farming community, and sincerely and rigidly devoted to the duties of christian worship. they have an aged pastor over them, to whom they are devotedly attached; and who is to them, who regard him with the affection of children, indeed a "shepherd and father in israel." they live like a little band of exiled waldenses, unsophisticated in their manners, pure and severe in their religion. the gaelic is spoken among them, and also by many of the other settlers in that portion of the state, who reside in the vicinity of pearl river; by them also the old popular gaelic songs are sung, in their original purity and spirit. in the vicinity of this settlement the presbyterians annually hold a camp meeting. a presbyterian camp meeting is at least a novelty at the north. the majority of the ministers of this state are graduates of princeton college. they form, as do the educated clergy every where, a class of well-informed, intelligent men; though too few in number, and generally placed over congregations too much scattered throughout a large and thinly inhabited extent of country, to command or exercise that peculiar influence upon society which, in more densely populated countries, is so universally possessed by them; and whose elevating, purifying, and moral effect is so readily acknowledged by all classes. so long as this state of society, now peculiar to the south, continues, ministerial influence, in its unadulterated and evangelical power, can hold but limited sway over the heart of the community. divines are too often looked upon, not as representatives of the saviour, but merely as intelligent, clever gentlemen, popular and esteemed as they make themselves more or less agreeable and social. a distinguished clergyman in england--where, as you know, the surplice is too often assumed, without any other qualification for the sacred office than the talisman "interest," was termed "a clever, noble fellow," by the neighbouring gentry, for his skill in hunting, and the other lordly sports of english country gentlemen. the manners, customs, amusements, and way of life, of the native born, wealthy, educated planters, have struck me as very similar to those of english gentlemen of wealth and leisure: and it is certain that, generally, many of them would be very apt, like them, to appreciate a clergyman as much for his social qualifications, as for those naturally associated with, and with which he is invested by, his clerical honours. here, the presbyterian clergy, unlike those in the northern states, are generally wealthy. with but a few exceptions, they have, after a short residence in this country, become planters, some of whom have noble annual incomes. after retiring to their plantations they do not--and i mention it with pleasure--altogether resign their ministerial duties. some of them preach in destitute churches, from time to time; while others regularly officiate to congregations of their own slaves. one of these clerical planters has erected a neat church upon his plantation, in which he officiates to an assembly of his slaves three sabbaths in every month; where the worship is conducted with the same regularity, decorum, and dignity, as in other congregations. some leave the entire management of their estates to overseers, and regularly perform their official duties. but it is difficult for a clergyman to own a rich plantation, without becoming a thorough-going cotton planter. the occupation, with all its ramifications, if not incompatible with his holy office, must necessarily be more or less injurious to the individual, and present a broad target for the shafts of the confessed worshipper of mammon. the bugbear reputation of this country for mortality, has long deterred young ministers from filling the places occasionally deserted by their former occupants; many of whom, if they do not resign their office, pass the long summers at the north.--but as no country can well be healthier than this has been, for the last six or seven years, this "health plea" can no longer be offered as an excuse. indeed, so singularly healthy is this portion of the south-west, that were i required to give it a name, with reference to some one striking characteristic, i should at once call it "buenos ayres."[ ] such, briefly, is the state and condition of the presbyterian church in this state; which, aside from its form of government, in its formula of faith, and in the rank in society of its members, is equivalent to the congregational churches in the north. the peculiar structure of southern society is neither prepared for, nor will it admit of, the exercise of that ecclesiastical influence to which i have above alluded. it is composed, primarily, of wealthy individuals, living aloof from each other on their respective plantations, isolated like feudal chieftains, who, of old, with the spirit of ascetics, frowned defiance at each other, from their castellated rocks: though, do not understand me that planters partake of their belligerent spirit. on the contrary, the reverse is most true of them--for "hospitality" and "southern planter" are synonymous terms. though there are not more hospitable men in the world than southern gentlemen--though no men can render their houses more agreeable to the stranger--though none are more fascinating in their manners, or more generous in heart--yet they are deficient in that social, domestic feeling, which is the life, excellence, and charm of new-england society, which renders it so dear to every wanderer's heart, and casts around the affections a spell that no power but death can injure or destroy. the episcopalian church comprises an infinitely smaller body of members: the few who are of this church, however, are generally opulent planters, merchants, and professional men, with their families. there is but one church of this denomination in the state, which is in this city. i attended worship here the last sabbath. the house was fashionably but thinly filled. the interior of the house is plain, though relieved, near the termination of the southern aisle, by a black marble slab, fixed in the wall, to the memory of the rev. dr. porter, late pastor of the church. the pulpit, which is a miniature forum, is chaste and elegant, and its drapery rich and tastefully arranged. the choir was full and powerful, whose effect was increased by a fine-toned organ, the only one in the state; but whose rich and striking melody must be a powerful pleader, to the ears of amateurs of good church music, for their more general introduction. the eloquence of the speaker was engaging, mild, and gentlemanly. the latter term is very expressive of his manner, and conciliating pulpit address.--though not striking as an orator, his thoughts were just and pertinent. he "mysterious secrets of a high concern and weighty truths-- explained by unaffected eloquence." contrary to the prevalent opinion at the north, roman catholic influence in this state is entirely unknown. formerly there was a romish church in this city, ill endowed and seldom supplied with an officiating priest. this was accidentally destroyed by fire a year or two since; and there is now no church of that denomination in the state, and hardly a sufficient number of catholics to organize one, did they possess either the spirit or inclination. such is the peculiar turn of mind of mississippians, that they never can be catholicised. the contiguity of this state to louisiana, with its french-roman population, has probably given rise to the opinion above stated, which is as erroneous and unfounded in fact, as is one also very current among northerners, and originating from the same local relation. obtaining their knowledge of this, among other countries, from morse's or cumming's geography, or other imperfect sources, they have the impression that the french and spanish languages are much spoken here; whereas they are probably less used here, in mere colloquial intercourse, than in many of the atlantic states. maine adjoins canada; yet who gives major downing's fellow-countrymen the credit of speaking french in their daily transactions? it is true that many planters and citizens of mississippi send their sons to the catholic seminary at st. louis, or bardstown, in kentucky, and their daughters to the french convents in louisiana; but this cannot be advanced as any proof of the prevalence of the religion of rome here, as the same thing is done in new-england, where stand the very pillars of the orthodox faith; and it is done much less frequently now than in former years. the prevailing christian denomination, as i have before remarked, is that of the methodists. the excess of their numbers over that of the two other denominations, presbyterians and episcopalians, is very great; but having no table of ecclesiastical statistics by me, to which i can refer for greater accuracy, i cannot state correctly the proportions which they bear to each other.--this denomination embraces all ranks of society, including many of the affluent and a majority of the merely independent planters, throughout the state.--some of the assemblages here, in the methodist churches, would remind the stranger rather of a fashionable new-york audience, than a congregation of plain people, soberly arrayed, such as he is accustomed to behold in a methodist church in new-england. indeed, the methodists here are generally a widely different class of people from those which compose a northern congregation of the same denomination. i will conclude my remarks upon the sabbath, as observed in this city, which was the subject of my last letter, and from which i have so long digressed, by an allusion to a precautionary and wise municipal regulation for freeing the city, before sunset on the sabbath, of its army of holiday negroes. at the hour of four the court-house bell rings out an alarum, long and loud, warning all strange slaves to leave the city. then commences a ludicrous scene of hurrying and scampering, from the four corners of the town; for wo be to the unlucky straggler, who is found after a limited period within the forbidden bounds! the penalty of forty stripes, save one, is speedily inflicted, by way of a lesson in the science of discretion. for a lesson, thus administered, few have little relish; and the subjects thereof, with their heads--the negro's _omnibus_--loaded with their little articles--a pound of this and a pound of that--are, all and singular, soon seen following their noses, with all commendable speed, along the diverging highways, keeping quick time to the tune of "over the hills and far away," to their respective plantations. footnotes: [ ] see a meteorological table and medical report in the appendix--note c. xxxi. catholic burying-ground--evening in a grave-yard--sounds of a busy city--night--disturbers of the dead--dishumation of human remains--mourning cards--a funeral--various modes of riding--yankee horsemanship--mississippian horsemen--pacers --a plantation road--residence--the grave--slaves weeping for their master!--new cemetery. in a former letter i have alluded to the old cemetery in the centre of this city, strewed with dismantled tombs, monuments and fragments of grave-stones, fenceless and shadeless; a play-ground for the young academicians, from the adjacent seminary, and a common for the epicurean cow, it stands covering the sides and summit of a pleasantly rounded hill, a monument and a testimony of the characteristic negligence and indifference of americans for the repositories of their dead. a few evenings since, as the sun was sinking beneath the level horizon, which was delineated by a line of green foliage, accurately traced along the impurpled western sky, i ascended the slight eminence, upon whose verdant bosom reposes this "city of the dead." every step through this repository of human ashes, over sunken graves and shattered marble, once reared by the hand of affection or ostentation, forcibly recalled the littleness and vanity of man. the dead slumbered beneath my feet in a marble sleep--cold, silent, and forgotten! from the streets of the city, which on every side closed in this future resting place of its living, the clear laugh, and ringing shout of troops of merry children at their sports, the playful prattle of a group of loitering school girls, the rattling of whirling carriages, from whose windows glanced bright and happy faces, the clattering of horses, the loud conversation of their riders, the tramp of pedestrians along the brick _trottoirs_, the monotonous song of the carman, the prolonged call of the teamster, and the sharp reiterated ringing of his long whip, all mingled confusedly, struck harshly in the clear evening air upon the ear, breaking the silence that should repose over such a scene, and dissipating at once those reflections, which a ramble among the lonely dwellings of the dead is calculated to engender. as i lingered upon the hill, the gradually deepening shadows of evening fell over the town, and subsiding with the day, these sounds, by no means a "concord of enchanting ones," ceased one after the other, and the subdued hum of a reposing city floated over the spot, a strange requiem for its sepultured and unconscious inhabitants. the full moon now rose above the tops of the majestic forest trees, which tower along the eastern suburbs of the city, and poured a flood of mellow light from a southern sky, upon the mouldering ruins encircling the brow of the solitary hill, and glanced brightly upon the roof and towers of the now nearly silent city, which reflected her soft radiance with the mild lustre of polished silver. as i stood contemplating the scene, and yielding to its associations, my attention was drawn to a couple of men ascending the hill from the street. as they approached the crest of the hill, i observed that one of them was equipped with a spade and mattock, and that the other--whose black face glistened in the moonlight like japan, betraying him as a son of afric--had his head surmounted by a small box. "resurrectionists," thought i. they stopped not far from me, and the black setting down his box, immediately commenced digging. after observing them for a few minutes i advanced to the spot, and on an inquiry learned that they were disinterring the remains of a gentleman, and those of several members of his family, who had lain buried there for more than thirty years, for the purpose of removing them for re-interment in the new burying-ground north of the town. this cemetery is now wholly disused, and a great number of the dead have been taken up and removed to the new one, but the greater portion still rest, where they were first laid, fresh from among the living; for in all probability the majority who lie there, have neither existing name or friends to preserve their bones from desecration. i was gratified to see that there existed, after so long a period, some remaining affection for the dead displayed in the scene before me. but it is an isolated instance, and does not palliate the neglect which is manifested toward the "unknown, unhonoured, and forgotten," whose bones still moulder there, to be "levelled over," when the increase of the city shall compel the living to construct their habitations over those of the dead. as i watched the progress of exhumation, as the grave was emptied by the brawny arms of the muscular slave, of load after load of the dark loam, my eye was attracted by a white object glistening upon the thrown-up heap by the side of the grave. i raised it from the damp soil--it was a finger-bone! the next shovel full glittered with the slender, brittle fragments of what once was _man_! not a trace of the coffin remained, or of the snow-white, scolloped shroud. the black now threw aside his spade, and stooping down into the grave, lifted to his companion a round, glaring, white shell, which was once the temple of the immortal intellect--the tenement of mind! a few corroded bones and the half-decayed skull--all that remained of the "human form divine"--were hastily heaped into the box, the grave was refilled, and the desecrators of the repose of the dead departed, as they came, soon to forget the solemn lesson, which their transient occupation may have taught them. as i turned away from the humiliating scene i had just beheld, with a melancholy heart, and a gloom of sorrow drawn over my feelings, i could not but forcibly recall the words of the preacher--"that which befalleth the sons of men, befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them; as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that man hath no preeminence above the beast; for all is _vanity_. all go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again." the spanish and roman catholic custom of sending printed mourning cards to the relatives and friends of the deceased, is adopted in this country. on the death of an individual these tickets are immediately issued and sent throughout the city and neighbourhood--left indiscriminately, by the carriers, with friends and strangers, at private houses or in hotels and bar-rooms. while standing yesterday at the door of the hotel, one of these cards was placed in my hands by a mulatto slave, who, with his hands full of them, was distributing them about the town. it was a beautifully watered sheet, surrounded with a deep mourning body; in the centre of which were two or three lines of invitation, "to assist, (_aider_, as the french say) in the funeral ceremony;" and worded like those often seen inserted in the daily papers of a large city. the use of these cards is an established custom, and seldom if ever deviated from. it is at least a feeling one, and not unworthy of general imitation. in company with some gentlemen from the hotel, i attended this funeral, actuated wholly by a stranger's curiosity; for, as well as others of the party, i was a total stranger to the family of the deceased, who resided a few miles in the country. our cavalcade (for we were all mounted upon those long-tailed, ambling ponies, to which southerners are so partial) consisted of six--two yankees, three southerners, and an englishman. the first rode, as most yankees do, awkwardly; for yankees, at home, are gig-drivers, not horsemen. giving too much heed to the poising of their very erect bodies, they left their legs to take care of themselves; but when their attention was drawn, for a moment, to these members, they would rock upon their saddles, the very images of "tottering equilibriums," as capt. hall would term them; and fortunate were they in recovering their nearly forfeited seats again.--these horses, which advance by first lifting two legs on one side and then changing to the other, do not suit brother jonathan's notions of a riding horse. so he applies whip and spur, and breaks away into a long gallop. then indeed he is in his element. an arabian, on being asked what was the best seat in the world, replied, "the back of a fleet courser." if the querist had applied to jonathan, he would have said, "a galloping nag." whenever you see a stranger galloping at the south, you will seldom err in guessing him to be a yankee. our english friend rode cockney fashion; that is, not much unlike a clothes-pin, or a pair of compasses, astride a line. stiff and erect as a hungarian hussar, he curvetted along the smooth roads, till he had worked his slight-framed, spirited animal into a fever of excitement, which flung the foam over his rider, as he tossed his head, swelled his curved neck, and champed his bit in rage, in vain efforts to spring away, free from his thraldom; but the rider fingered the slight bridle-rein with the ease and skill of a master. the southerners of the party rode like all southerners, admirably, inimitably. they appeared as much at home and at ease in their saddles, as in a well-stuffed arm-chair after dining generously. the mississippian sits his horse gracefully, yet not, as the riding-master would say, scientifically. he never seems to think of himself, or the position of his limbs. they yield, as does his whole body, pliantly and naturally to the motions of the animal beneath him, with which his own harmonize so perfectly and with such flexibility, that there seems to be but one principle actuating both. he glides easily along upon his pacer, with the bridle thrown upon its neck, or over the high pummel of his handsome spanish saddle; talking as unconcernedly with his companions, as though lounging, arm in arm with them, along the streets. he seldom goes out of a pace. if he is in haste, he only paces the faster. of every variety of gaited animals which i have seen, the mississippian pacer is the most desirable. i shall, however, have occasion to allude hereafter to southern equestrianism more particularly, and will return from my digression to the funeral. we arrived at the entrance gate of the plantation after a delightful ride of half an hour, along a fine though dusty road, (for with this impalpable soil it is either paste or powder) bordered with noble forests of oak, black gum, the hoary-coated sycamore, and the rich-leaved, evergreen magnolia, among and around which the grape vine entwined and hung in graceful festoons. through natural vistas in the wood occasional glimpses could be obtained of white villas, not unfrequently large and elegant, half hidden in the centre of plantations, or among the thick woods which crowned the swelling hills on every side. the road was, like most of the roads here, a succession of gentle ascents and descents, being laid out so as to intersect transversely parallel ridges, themselves composed of isolated hills, gently blending and linking into each other. the country was luxuriant, undulating, and picturesque. the general character of the scenery struck me as remarkably english. the resemblance would be still more striking, did not the taste or convenience of the planters lead them to select the site of their dwellings in the centre of their plantations, or in the depths of their forests, without any reference to the public road, (from which they are most universally concealed) which is always the northern farmer's guide in such a case, thereby giving a solitary character to the road scenery, and detracting much from the general beauty of the country. the residence to which we were riding was invisible from the road. we passed through a large gateway, the gate of which, one of our yankee brethren, who had galloped forward, tried in vain to open, nearly tumbling from his horse in the attempt, but which one of our southern friends paced up to, and scarcely checking his horse, opened with the merest effort in the world. winding our way rapidly along a circuitous carriage-way, at one time threading the mazes of the forest, at another, coursing through a cotton field, whitened as though snow had fallen in large flakes and thickly sprinkled its green surface--now following the pebbly bed of a deep bayou, with overhanging, precipitous banks, and now skirting the borders of some brawling rivulet, we arrived in sight of the "house of mourning." the dwelling, like most in mississippi, was a long, wooden, cottage-like edifice, with a long piazza, or gallery, projecting from the roof, and extending along the front and rear of the building. this gallery is in all country-houses, in the summer, the lounging room, reception room, promenade and dining room. the kitchen, "gin," stables, out-houses, and negro-quarters, extended some distance in the rear, the whole forming quite a village--but more african than american in its features. we were rather too late, as the funeral procession was already proceeding to the grave-yard, which was, as on most plantations, a secluded spot not far from the dwelling, set apart as a family burying-ground. i was struck with the appearance of the procession. six mounted gentlemen in black, preceded the hearse as bearers. a broad band of white cambric encircled their hats, and streamed away behind in two pennons nearly a yard in length. a broad white sash of similar materials was passed over the right shoulder, from which a pennon of black ribbon fluttered, and was knotted under the left side, while the ends were allowed to hang nearly to the feet. the hearse was a huge black chest, opening at the end for the admission of the coffin, which, as i discovered at the grave, was richly covered with black silk velvet, and studded with a border of gilt nails. its top was not horizontal, as you are accustomed to see them, but raised in the middle like a roof. the hearse was followed by several private carriages, gigs, of which a northern procession would consist, being not much used in this country. an irregular procession, or rather crowd of slaves in the rear of all, followed with sorrowful countenances the remains of their master, to his last, long home. when the heavy clods rattled upon the hollow sounding coffin, these poor wretches, who had anxiously crowded around the grave, burst into one simultaneous flood of tears, mingled with expressions of regret, sorrow and affection. a group of slaves lamenting over the grave of their master! will not our sceptical countrymen regard this as an anomaly in philanthropy? half a dozen slaves then shovelled for a few moments from the fresh pile of earth upon the coffin, and a mound soon rose, where, but a few moments before, yawned a grave! an appropriate prayer was offered over the dead, and the procession dispersed at the burial-place. such is a plantation-burial! in this manner are consigned to the narrow house, four fifths of the population of this state. the city and town cemeteries are but little resorted to, for a large proportion of those who breathe their last in town, unless they are friendless, or strangers, are borne to some solitary family burial-place in the country for sepulture: there are few families in the towns of mississippi who have not relatives residing on plantations in the country. the grave-yard of natchez, situated as i have formerly observed, a little less than a mile north from the town, on the river road, covers an irregular surface among several small wooded hills, and is surrounded by cotton fields, from which it has been redeemed for its present use. it evinces neither beauty of location, nor taste in the arrangement of its tombs, of which there are but two or three remarkable for elegance or neatness. its avenues are overgrown with the rank, luxuriant grass, peculiar to grave-yards, varied only here and there by clusters of thorns and briars. the wild and naked features of the spot are occasionally relieved by a shade tree planted by some kindly hand over the grave of a friend; but this occasional testimony of respect will not redeem the cemetery from that negligence and want of taste in this matter with which americans have been, with too much justice, universally charged by foreigners. in observing the names upon the various head-stones, i noticed that the majority of those who slept beneath, were strangers, mostly from new-england, but many from europe. many of them were young. it is thus that the scourge of the south has ever reaped rich, teeming harvests from the north. but those days of terror, it is to be hoped, are for ever past, and that henceforth health will smile over the green hills of this pleasant land, which pestilence has so long blasted with her frowns. xxxii. national diversities of character--diversities of language-- provincialisms--a plantation and negroes--natchez bar--a youthful judge--physicians--clergymen--merchants, &c. &c.--a southern mania--"washing"--tobacco--value of cotton planting and statistics--an easy "way to wealth." there are many causes, both moral and physical, which concur to render the inhabitants of the south dissimilar to those of the north. some of these may be traced to climate, more to education and local relations, and yet more to that peculiar state of things which necessarily prevails in a planting country and all newly organized states. the difference is clearly distinguishable through all its grades and ramifications, and so strongly marked as to stamp the southern character with traits sufficiently distinctive to be dignified with the term national. a plantation well stocked with hands, is the _ne plus ultra_ of every man's ambition who resides at the south. young men who come to this country, "to make money," soon catch the mania, and nothing less than a broad plantation, waving with the snow white cotton bolls, can fill their mental vision, as they anticipate by a few years in their dreams of the future, the result of their plans and labours. hence, the great number of planters and the few professional men of long or eminent standing in their several professions. in such a state of things no men grow old or gray in their profession if at all successful. as soon as the young lawyer acquires sufficient to purchase a few hundred acres of the rich alluvial lands, and a few slaves, he quits his profession at once, though perhaps just rising into eminence, and turns cotton planter. the bar at natchez is composed, with but few exceptions, entirely of young men. ten years hence, probably not four out of five of these, if living, will remain in their profession. to the prevalence of this custom of retiring so early from the bar, and not to want of talent, is to be attributed its deficiency of distinguished names. there is much talent now concentrated at this bar, and throughout the state. but its possessors are young men; and this mania for planting will soon deprive the state of any benefit from it in a professional point of view. as the lawyers are young, the judges cannot of course be much stricken in years. the northerner, naturally associates with the title of "judge," a venerable, dignified personage, with locks of snow, a suit of sober black, and powdered queue, shoe-buckles, and black silk stockings. judge my surprise at hearing at the public table a few days since, a young gentleman, apparently not more than four or five and twenty, addressed as "judge!" i at first thought it applied as a mere "_soubriquet_," till subsequently assured that he was really on the bench. physicians make money much more rapidly than lawyers, and sooner retire from practice and assume the planter. they, however, retain their titles, so that medico-planters are now numerous, far out-numbering the regular practitioners, who have not yet climbed high enough up the wall to leap down into a cotton field on the other side. ministers, who constitute the third item of the diplomaed triad, are not free from the universal mania, and as writing sermons is not coining money, the plantations are like the vocative in latin pronouns. they, however, by observing the command in gen. ix. , contrive ultimately to reach the same goal. the merchant moves onward floundering through invoices, ledgers, packages, and boxes. the gin-wright and overseer, also have an eye upon this ultima thule, while the more wealthy mechanics begin to form visions of cotton fields, and talk knowingly upon the "staple." even editors have an eye that way! cotton and negroes are the constant theme--the ever harped upon, never worn out subject of conversation among all classes. but a small portion of the broad rich lands of this thriving state is yet appropriated. not till every acre is purchased and cultivated--not till mississippi becomes one vast cotton field, will this mania, which has entered into the very marrow, bone and sinew of a mississippian's system, pass away. and not then, till the lands become exhausted and wholly unfit for farther cultivation. the rich loam which forms the upland soil of this state is of a very slight depth--and after a few years is worn away by constant culture and the action of the winds and rain. the fields are then "thrown out" as useless. every plough-furrow becomes the bed of a rivulet after heavy rains--these uniting are increased into torrents, before which the impalpable soil dissolves like ice under a summer's sun. by degrees, acre after acre, of what was a few years previous beautifully undulating ground, waving with the dark green, snow-crested cotton, presents a wild scene of frightful precipices, and yawning chasms, which are increased in depth and destructively enlarged after every rain. there are many thousand acres within twenty miles of the city of natchez, being the earliest cultivated portions of the country, which are now lying in this condition, presenting an appearance of wild desolation, and not unfrequently, of sublimity. this peculiar feature of the country intrudes itself into every rural prospect, painfully marring the loveliest country that ever came from the hand of nature. natchez itself is nearly isolated by a deep ravine, which forms a natural moat around the town. it has been formed by "washing," and though serpentine and irregular in its depth, it is cut with the accuracy of a canal. it is spanned by bridges along the several roads that issue from the town. from the loose and friable nature of this soil, which renders it so liable to "wash," as is the expressive technical term here, the south-west portion of this state must within a century become waste, barren, and wild, unless peradventure, some inventing yankee, or other patentee may devise a way of remedying the evil and making the wilderness to "blossom like the rose." a thick bluish green grass, termed bermuda grass, is used with great success to check the progress of a _wash_ when it has first commenced.[ ] it is very tenacious of the soil, takes firm and wide root, grows and spreads rapidly, and soon forms a compact matted surface, which effectually checks any farther increase of the ravines, or "bayous," as these deep chasms are usually termed; though bayou in its original signification is applied to creeks, and deep glens, with or without running water. when this state was first settled, tobacco was exclusively cultivated as the grand staple. but this plant was found to be a great exhauster of the soil; cotton rapidly superseded its culture, and it was shortly banished from the state, and found a home in tennessee, where it is at present extensively cultivated. it has not for many years been cultivated here. planters have no room for any thing but their cotton, and corn, on their plantations, and scarcely are they willing to make room even for the latter, as they buy a great part of their corn, annually, from the kentucky and indiana flat boats at the "landing." among northerners, southern planters are reputed wealthy. this idea is not far from correct--as a class they are so; perhaps more so than any other body of men in america. like our yankee farmers they are tillers of the soil. "but why" you may ask, "do they who are engaged in the same pursuits as the new-england farmer, so infinitely surpass him in the reward of his labours?" the northern farmer cannot at the most make more than three per cent. on his farm. he labours himself, or pays for labour. he _must_ do the first or he cannot live. if he does the latter, he can make nothing. if by hard labour and frugal economy, the common independent yankee farmer, such as the traveller meets with any where in new-england, lays up annually from four to seven hundred dollars, he is a thriving man and "getting rich." his daughters are attractive, and his sons will have something "handsome" to begin the world with. but the southern farmer can make from fifteen to thirty per cent. by his farm. he works on his plantation a certain number of slaves, say thirty, which are to him what the sinewy arms of the yankee farmer are to himself. each slave ought to average from seven to eight bales of cotton during the season, especially on the new lands. an acre will generally average from one to two bales. each bale averages four hundred pounds, at from twelve to fifteen cents a pound. this may not be an exact estimate, but it is not far from the true one. deducting two thousand and five hundred dollars for the expenses of the plantation, there will remain the net income of eleven thousand dollars. now suppose this plantation and slaves to have been purchased on a credit, paying at the rate of six hundred dollars apiece for his negroes, the planter would be able to pay for nearly two-thirds of them the first year. the second year, he would pay for the remainder, and purchase ten or twelve more; and the third year, if he had obtained his plantation on a credit of that length of time, he would pay for that also, and commence his fourth year with a valuable plantation, and thirty-five or forty slaves, all his own property, with an increased income for the ensuing year of some thousands of dollars. henceforward, if prudent, he will rank as an opulent planter. success is not however always in proportion to the outlay or expectations of the aspirant for wealth. it is modified and varied by the wear and tear, sickness and death, fluctuations of the market, and many other ills to which all who adventure in the great lottery of life are heirs. in the way above alluded to, numerous plantations in this state have been commenced, and thus the wealth of a great number of the opulent planters of this region has originated. incomes of twenty thousand dollars are common here. several individuals possess incomes of from forty to fifty thousand dollars, and live in a style commensurate with their wealth. the amount is generally expressed by the number of their negroes, and the number of "bales" they make at a crop. to know the number of either is to know accurately their incomes. and as this is easily ascertained, it is not difficult to form a prompt estimate of individual wealth. to sell cotton in order to buy negroes--to make more cotton to buy more negroes, "ad infinitum," is the aim and direct tendency of all the operations of the thorough-going cotton planter; his whole soul is wrapped up in the pursuit. it is, apparently, the principle by which he "lives, moves, and has his being." there are some who "work" three and four hundred negroes, though the average number is from thirty to one hundred. "this is all very fine," you say, "but the slaves!--there's the rub." true; but without slaves there could be no planters, for whites will not and cannot work cotton plantations, beneath a broiling southern sun.--without planters there could be no cotton; without cotton no wealth. without them mississippi would be a wilderness, and revert to the aboriginal possessors. annihilate them to-morrow, and this state and every southern state might be bought for a song. i am not advocating this system; but destroy it--and the southern states become at once comparative ciphers in the union. northerners, particularly yankees, are at first a little compunctious on the subject of holding slaves. they soon, however, illustrate the truth contained in the following lines, but slightly changed from their original application. with half-averted eyes they at first view slavery as "a monster of such horrid mien, that to be hated needs but to be seen: but seen too oft, familiar with her face, they soon endure--and in the end embrace." many of the planters are northerners. when they have conquered their prejudices, they become thorough, driving planters, generally giving themselves up to the pursuit more devotedly than the regular-bred planter. their treatment of their slaves is also far more rigid. northerners are entirely unaccustomed to their habits, which are perfectly understood and appreciated by southerners, who have been familiar with africans from childhood; whom they have had for their nurses, play-fellows, and "bearers," and between whom and themselves a reciprocal and very natural attachment exists, which, on the gentleman's part, involuntarily extends to the whole dingy race, exhibited in a kindly feeling and condescending familiarity, for which he receives gratitude in return. on the part of the slave, this attachment is manifested by an affection and faithfulness which only cease with life. of this state of feeling, which a southern life and education can only give, the northerner knows nothing. inexperience leads him to hold the reins of government over his novel subjects with an unsparing severity, which the native ruler of these domestic colonies finds wholly unnecessary. the slave always prefers a southern master, because he knows that he will be understood by him. his kindly feelings toward, and sympathies with slaves, as such, are as honourable to his heart as gratifying to the subjects of them. he treats with suitable allowance those peculiarities of their race, which the unpractised northerner will construe into idleness, obstinacy, laziness, revenge, or hatred. there is another cause for their difference of treatment to their slaves. the southerner, habituated to their presence, never fears them, and laughs at the idea. it is the reverse with the northerner: he fears them, and hopes to intimidate them by severity. the system of credit in this country is peculiar. from new-year's to new-year's is the customary extension of this accommodation, and the first of january, as planters have then usually disposed of their crops, is a season for a general settlement throughout every branch of business. the planters have their commission merchants in new-orleans and natchez, who receive and ship their cotton for them, and make advances, if required, upon succeeding crops. some planters export direct to liverpool and other ports, though generally they sell or consign to the commission merchants in natchez, who turn cotton into gold so readily, that one verily would be inclined to think that the philosopher's stone might be concealed within the bales. a planter often commences with nothing, or merely an endorser--buys land and negroes, and, in the strong phraseology of crockett, "goes ahead." in a few years he becomes opulent. others, however, (as was the case with the old settlers especially) and young men at the present time, with little means, commence with a piece of wild land, and five or six, or perhaps not more than two negroes--and go on strengthening and increasing, adding acre to acre, negro to negro, bale to bale, till wealth crowns their labours. many of the oldest and wealthiest planters began in this manner, when they had to dispute possession of the soil with the spaniard, the wild beast of the forest, or wilder indian. they are now reaping the rewards of their youthful toil, in the possession of sons and daughters, lands and influence, and all the luxuries and enjoyments which wealth commands. their sons, more fortunate in their youth than their sires, receive, from the paternal bounty, plantations and negroes, and at once, without previous toil or care, assume the condition of the refined and luxurious planter. so you perceive that a yankee farmer and a southern planter are birds of a very different feather.[ ] now in this sad, idolatrous world, where mammon is worshipped on millions of altars, the swelling hills and noble forests of the south must certainly be "where men ought to worship." if the satirical maxim, "man was made to make money," is true, of which there can be no question--the mint of his operations lies most temptingly between the "father of waters" and the arrowy pearl. and men seem to feel the truth of it--or of the maxim of bacon, that "territory newly acquired and not settled, is a matter of burthen rather than of strength;" for they are spreading over it like a cloud, and occupying the vast tracts called "the purchase," recently obtained from the indians, previous to their removal to the west. the tide of emigration is rapidly setting to the north and east portions of the state. planters, who have exhausted their old lands in this vicinity, are settling and removing to these new lands, which will soon become the richest cotton growing part of mississippi. parents do not now think of settling their children on plantations near natchez, but purchase for them in the upper part of the state. small towns, with "mighty names," plucked from the ruins of some long since mouldered city of classic fame and memory, are springing up here and there, like mushrooms, amidst the affrighted forests. sixteen new counties have lately been created in this portion of the state, where so recently the indian tracked his game and shrieked his war-whoop; and as an agricultural state, the strength and sinew of mississippi must be hereafter concentrated in this fresher and younger portion of her territory. footnotes: [ ] the necessary properties of grasses suited to this climate differ from those required in higher latitudes. they should have deep running roots if erect, to withstand the scorching heat of the sun, or their stems should lie prostrate and cover the ground. this is the peculiarity of grasses in the west indies and egypt. the grass peculiar to them, and well adapted to this country--the cynosurus Ægyptus--grows in south carolina and georgia, and is highly esteemed. among the small variety of grasses cultivated here, is the washita winter grass, perennial, and the natchez winter grass, an annual. the latter is a phalaris, not known at the north. it is a rich grass and very succulent. there is a variety of this grass termed striped grass, cultivated in yards at the north, which is unknown here, and which from its peculiar properties is excellent to bind banks, and would be of great service on plantations where there are bayous. the bermuda grass has large succulent leaves and runners, and is better adapted to this climate than any other. lucerne and esparcette have the same properties, but have never been tried. the white clover of kentucky, known by the name of buffalo clover, is also admirably adapted, upon the above principles, to this soil and climate. hay as an article of culture is unknown here. white clover is abundant upon the commons. there are several grasses peculiar to this country unknown at the north; but they are never transplanted from the fields and woods, and are scarcely known and never cultivated. there is properly but _one plant_ in the south, if planters are to draw up the botanical catalogue, and that is the _cotton plant_! [ ] i have lying before me a letter, bearing date july , , from a distinguished german botanist; in which, at the close of an article upon the plants of this country, he inquires of wm. dunbar, esq. to whom the letter is addressed, "if the cotton plant has ever been tried in mississippi? _it seems to promise much!_" mississippi planters of the present day will certainly coincide with this gentleman in his opinion. xxxiii. an excursion--a planter's gallery--neglect of grounds--taste and economy--mississippi forests--the st. catherine--cotton fields--worm fences--hedges--the pride of china--the magnolia tree and flower--plantation roads--white cliffs--general view of a plantation. a few days since, in company with a northern friend, i made an excursion to an extensive plantation two hours' ride from the city. we left the hotel at an early hour, exchanging our mattresses--the universal southern bed--for more luxurious seats in elastic spanish saddles, upon delightfully cradling pacers, and proceeded through one of the principal streets, already alive with pedestrians and horsemen; for, in a southern climate, evening and morning constitute the day--the day itself being a "noon of indolence," where ice and shade are the only blessings to be devoutly wished. ambling along at an easy gait toward the great southern road, leading to new-orleans, we passed, just on the confines of the country, the residence of the presbyterian clergyman, and one of the most charming retreats i have yet seen in the vicinity of natchez, whose suburbs are peculiarly rich in tasteful country seats. our eyes lingered over the luxuriant shrubbery clustering about the edifice, entwining around its columns and peeping in at the windows. clumps of foliage, of the deepest green, were enamelled with flowers of the brightest hues; and every tree was an aviary, from which burst the sweetest melody. what a spot for the student! among flowers and vines and singing birds! what a freshness must they fling around his heart! what a richness must clothe even the language of sermons composed in such pleasant shades--the cool wind loaded with fragrance, leaping from among the trees upon the brow, and playing refreshingly among the hair! leaving, to the right, the romantic fort rosalie, rearing its green parapets in strong relief against the sky--a prominent object amid the slightly elevated surface of the surrounding country--we turned into one of those pleasant roads which wind in all directions through the rich scenery of this state. the first mile we passed several neat dwellings, of the cottage order; one of which, with a gallery in front, and surrounded by a smooth, green slope, was the residence of the episcopalian clergyman. it was a chaste and pretty mansion, though not so luxuriantly embowered as the abode of the clergyman above alluded to. a huge colonnaded structure, crowning an abrupt eminence near the road, struck our eyes with an imposing effect. it was the abode of one of the wealthiest planters of this state; who, like the majority of those whose families now roll in their splendid equipages, has been the maker of his fortune. the grounds about this edifice were neglected; horses were grazing around the piazzas, over which were strewed saddles, whips, horse blankets, and the motley paraphernalia with which planters love to lumber their galleries. on nearly every piazza in mississippi may be found a wash-stand, bowl, pitcher, towel, and water-bucket, for general accommodation. but the southern gallery is not constructed, like those at the north, for ornament or ostentation, but for use. here they wash, lounge, often sleep, and take their meals.--here will the stranger or visiter be invited to take a chair, or recline upon a sofa, settee, or form, as the taste and ability of the host may have furnished this important portion of a planter's house. i once called on a planter within an hour's ride of natchez, whose income would constitute a fortune for five or six modest yankees. i entered the front yard--a green level, shaded with the relics of a forest--the live oak, sycamore, and gum trees--through a narrow wicket in a white-washed paling, the most common fence around southern dwellings. in the front yard were several sheep, colts, calves, two or three saddle and a fine pair of carriage-horses, negro children, and every variety of domestic fowl. the planter was sitting upon the gallery, divested of coat, vest, and shoes, with his feet on the railing, playing, in high glee, with a little dark-eyed boy and two young negroes, who were chasing each other under the bridge formed by his extended limbs. three or four noble dogs, which his voice and the presence of his servant, who accompanied me to the house, kept submissive, were crouching like leopards around his chair. a litter of young bull-headed pups lay upon a blanket under a window opening into a bed-room, white with curtains and valances; while a domestic tabby sat upon the window-sill, gazing musingly down upon the rising generation of her hereditary foes, perhaps with reflections not of the most pleasing cast. a hammock, suspended between an iron hook driven into the side of the house and one of the slender columns which supported the sloping roof of the gallery, contained a youth of fourteen, a nephew of the planter, fast locked in the embraces of morpheus; whose _aid-de-camp_, in the shape of a strapping negress, stood by the hammock, waving over the sleeper a long plume of gorgeous feathers of the pea-fowl--that magnificent bird of the south, which struts about the ground of the planter, gratifying the eye with the glorious emblazonry upon his plumage by day, and torturing the ear with his loud clamours by night. a pair of noble antlers was secured to one of the pillars, from whose branches hung broad-brimmed hats, bridles, a sheep-skin covering to a saddle, which reposed in one corner of the piazza, a riding whip, a blanket coat or capote, spurs, surcingle, and part of a coach harness. a rifle and a shot-gun with an incredibly large bore, were suspended in beckets near the hall entrance; while a couple of shot-pouches, a game-bag, and other sporting apparatus, hung beside them. slippers, brogans, a pillow, indented as though recently deserted, a gourd, and a broken "cotton slate," filled up the picture, whose original, in some one or other of its features, may be found in nearly every planter's dwelling in this state. there are many private residences, in the vicinity of natchez, of an equally expensive character with the one which furnished the above description, whose elegant interiors, contrasting with the neglected grounds about them, suggest the idea of a handsome city residence, accidentally dropped upon a bleak hill, or into the midst of a partially cleared forest, and there remaining, with its noble roof grasped by the arms of an oak, and its windows and columns festooned by the drooping moss, heavily waving in the wind. thus are situated many of the planters' dwellings, separated from the adjacent forests by a rude, white-washed picket, enclosing around the house an unornamented green, or grazing lot, for the saddle and carriage-horses, which can regale their eyes at pleasure, by walking up to the parlour windows and gazing in upon handsome carpets, elegant furniture, costly mantel ornaments, and side-boards loaded with massive plate; and, no doubt, ruminate philosophically upon the reflection of their figures at full-length in long, richly-framed mirrors. very few of the planters' villas, even within a few miles of natchez, are adorned with surrounding ornamental shrubbery walks, or any other artificial auxiliaries to the natural scenery, except a few shade trees and a narrow, gravelled avenue from the gate to the house. a long avenue of trees, ornamenting and sheltering the approach to a dwelling, is a rare sight in this state, though very frequently seen in louisiana. yet, in no region of the south can fine avenues of beautiful trees be made with such facility as in mississippi. no state surpasses this in the beauty, variety, and rapid growth of its ornamental shade trees; the laurel, sycamore, locust, oak, elm, and white bay, with the "pride of china,"--the universal shade tree in the south-west--arrive here at the most perfect maturity and beauty. every plantation residence is approached by an avenue, often nearly a mile in length; yet so little attention is paid to this species of ornament and comfort, in a climate where shade is a synonym for luxury, that scarcely one of them is shaded, except where, in their course through a forest, nature has flung the broad arms of majestic trees across the path. the peculiarity of the dwellings of planters, evinced in hiding the prettiest cottage imaginable under the wild, gnarled limbs of forest trees, fringed with long black moss, like mourning weeds, which hangs over the doors and windows in melancholy grandeur, may be traced, very naturally, to the original mode of life of most of the occupants, who, though now opulent, have arisen, with but few exceptions, from comparative obscurity in the world of dollars. originally occupying log huts in the wilderness, their whole time and attention were engaged in the culture of cotton; and embellishment, either of their cabins or grounds, was wholly disregarded. when they became the lords of a domain and a hundred slaves; for many retain their cabins even till then--ostentation, as they saw the elegancies of refined society displayed around them--necessity, for fear of being entombed in the ruins of their venerable log palaces--or a desire for greater comfort--razed the humble cabin, and reared upon its site the walls of an expensive and beautiful fabric. here the planter stops. the same causes which originally influenced him to neglect the improvement of his grounds, still continue to exist; and though he may inhabit a building that would grace an english park, the grounds and scenery about it, with the exception of a paling enclosing a green yard, are suffered to remain in their pristine rudeness. thus far, and with few exceptions, no farther, have the wealthiest planters advanced. here they have taken a stand; and a motive cause, equal to that which led to the first step from the cabin to the more elegant mansion, must again operate, or the finest villas in mississippi will, for many years to come, be surrounded, on one or more sides, with the native forests, or stand in unpicturesque contiguity with ploughed fields, cattle-pens, and the several interesting divisions of a farm-yard. you will judge, from this state of things, that the mississippi planters are not a showy and stylish class, but a plain, practical body of men, who, in general, regard comfort, and conformity to old habits, rather than display and fashionable innovations; and who would gaze with more complacency upon an acre of their domain, whitened, like a newly-washed flock, with cotton, than were it spread out before them magnificent with horticulture, or beautifully velveted with green. still planters are not destitute of taste; it is their principle to make it yield to interest. "what a fine park you might have around your house," once remarked an english gentleman to a planter in this state, as he surveyed the finely undulating fields here and there sprinkled with an oak, extending on every side around the dwelling. "very true," replied the southron, "but these few acres yield me annually from ten to twelve bales of cotton: this would be too great a sacrifice for the mere gratification of the eye." "still very true," replied the englishman, "but this sense could be gratified without any sacrifice. your plantation consists of eight or nine hundred acres, and not one half is under cultivation; a portion of that now uncultivated might be substituted for this." to this the planter answered, that the soil about his house would produce more to the acre than the other, by at least one bale in every ten, having been long under cultivation; and that merely as a matter of taste, though no one admired a fine park or lawn more than himself, he could not devote it to this object. this principle of the land economist, so devoutly reverenced, will long preclude that desirable union of taste and interest, which is the combined result of wealth attained and enjoyed. the last state men cannot be said to be in, who, however wealthy, never relax their exertions in adding to their incomes; which is, and ever will be the case with the planter, and indeed every other man, so long as he can, by his efforts, annually increase his revenue ten or twenty thousand dollars. to the immense profit which every acre and the labour of every slave yield the planter, and to no other cause, is to be referred the anomalous result manifested in neglecting to improve their estates: for an acre, that will yield them sixty dollars per annum, and a slave, whose annual labour will yield from two to five hundred dollars, are, by the laws which regulate the empire of money, to be appropriated to the service of interest, to the entire exclusion of the claims of taste. about a mile from natchez, we passed, close by the road-side, a family cemetery, whose white paling was bursting with shrubbery. no mausoleum gratefully relieving the eye, rose amid the luxuriant foliage, enshrining the affection of the living or the memory of the dead. on the opposite side of the road stood a handsome mansion, though without that noble expanse of lawn which is the finest feature in the grounds of an english country residence. instead of a lawn, a small unimproved court-yard intervened between the house and the road. winding round an extensive vegetable garden, attached to the house, which is the only dwelling for more than ten miles immediately on the road, we travelled for an hour, either over a pleasantly rolling country, with extensive cotton fields, spreading away on either hand; or beneath forest trees, which, in height and majesty, might vie with the "cedars of lebanon." there is a grandeur in the vast forests of the south, of which a northerner can form no adequate conception. the trees spring from the ground into the air, noble columns, from fifty to a hundred feet in height, and, expanding like the cocoa, fling abroad their limbs, which, interlocking, present a canopy almost impervious to the sun, and beneath which wind arcades of the most magnificent dimensions. the nakedness of the tall shafts is relieved by the luxuriant tendrils of the muscadine and woodbine twining about them, in spiral wreaths, quite to their summit, or hanging in immense festoons from tree to tree. in these woods horsemen can advance without obstruction, so spacious are the intervals between the trees, so high the branches above them, and so free from underwood is the sward. of such forest-riding the northerner knows nothing, unless his lore in tales of italian banditti may have enabled him to form some idea of scenes with which his own country refuses to gratify him. so much do the northern and southern forests differ, that a fleet rider will traverse the latter with more ease than the woodman can the former. cut from the shaft of a southern forest tree, a section forty or fifty feet in length, and plant the mutilated summit in the earth, and its stunted appearance would convey to a mississippian a tolerably correct idea of a forest tree in new-england; or add to the low trunk of a wide spreading northern oak, the column abstracted from its southern rival, and northerners would form from its towering altitude, a tolerable idea of a forest tree in mississippi. hang from its heavy branches huge tassels of black carolina moss, from two to six feet in length--suspend from limb to limb gigantic festoons of vines, themselves but lesser trees in size, and clothe its trunk with a spiral vestment of leaves, as though a green serpent were coiled about it, and you will have created a southern tree in its native majesty. imagine a forest of them lifting their tops to heaven and yourself bounding away upon a fleet horse beneath its sublime domes, with a noble stag, flying down its glades like a winged creature, while the shouts of hunters, the tramp of horses, and the baying of hounds echo through its solemn corridors, and then you will have some faint idea of the glory of a southern forest and the noble character of its enjoyments.[ ] between three and four miles from natchez we crossed the st. catharine, a deeply bedded and narrow stream, winding through a fertile tract of country in a very serpentine course, for nearly thirty leagues before it empties into the mississippi, twenty miles below natchez. this stream is celebrated in the early history of this state, and still possesses interest from the indian traditions with which it is associated. in numerous villages, formerly scattered along its banks, and spread over the beautiful hills among which it meanders, but not a vestige of which now remains, it is supposed, on the authority both of oral and written history, that more than two hundred thousand indians but a few degrees removed from the refinements of civilized life, dwelt peaceably under their own vine and fig-tree. but where are they now? "echo answers--where!" between five and six miles from town the road passed through the centre of one of the most extensive plantations in the county. for more than a mile on either side, an immense cotton field spread away to the distant forests. not a fence, except that which confined the road, (always degraded, in the parlance of the country, when running between two fences, to a "lane,") was to be seen over the whole cultivated surface of a mile square. the absence of fences is a peculiarity of southern farms. as their proprietors cultivate but one article as a staple, there is no necessity of intersecting their lands by fences, as at the north, where every farm is cut up into many portions, appropriated to a variety of productions. to a northern eye, a large extent of cultivated country, without a fence, or scarcely a dwelling, would present a singular appearance; but a short residence in the south will soon render one familiar with such scenery where no other meets the eye. the few fences, however, that exist on plantations, for defining boundaries, confining public roads, and fencing in the pasture lands--which, instead of broad green fields as in new-england, are the woods and cane-brakes--are of the most unsightly kind. with a gently undulating surface and a diversity of vale and wood scenery unrivalled, the natural loveliness of this state is disfigured by zigzag, or virginia fences, which stretch along the sides of the most charming roads, surround the loveliest cottages, or rudely encroach upon the snowy palings that enclose them, and intersect the finest eminences and fairest champaigns. the yankee farmer's stone and rail fences are bad enough, but they are in character with the ruder features of his country; but the worm fences and arcadian scenery of the south are combinations undreamed of in my philosophy. these crooked lines of deformity obtruding upon the eye in every scene--the numerous red banks and chasms caused by the "wash," and congo and mandingo nymphs and swains, loitering around every fountain, rambling through the groves, or reclining in the shades, are in themselves sufficient to unruralise even "araby the blest." yet with all these harsh artificial features, there is a picturesqueness--a quiet beauty in the general aspect of the scenery, not unfrequently strengthened into majesty, so indelibly stamped upon it by nature that nothing less than a rail-road can wholly deface it. on the plantation alluded to above, through which lay our road, i noticed within the fence a young hedge, which, with an unparalleled innovation upon the prescriptive right of twisted fences, had recently been planted to supersede them. in a country where the "chickasaw rose," which is a beautiful hedge thorn, grows so luxuriantly, it is worthy of remark that the culture of the hedge, so ornamental and useful as a field-fence, is altogether neglected. planters would certainly find it eventually for their interest, and if generally adopted, the scenery of this state would rival the loveliest sections of rural england. delaware, without any striking natural beauties, by clustering green hedges around her wheat-fields and farm-houses, has created an artificial feature in her scenery which renders her naturally tame aspect extremely rural, if not beautiful. the hedge, however, will not be introduced into this state to the exclusion of the rail-fence, until the pine woods, dwindled here and there to a solitary tree, refuse longer to deform in the shape of rails, a country they were originally intended to beautify. the "quarters" of the plantation were pleasantly situated upon an eminence a third of a mile from the road, each dwelling neatly white-washed and embowered in the china tree, which yields in beauty to no other. this, as i have before remarked, is the universal shade tree for cabin and villa in this state. it is in leaf about seven months in the year, and bears early in the spring a delicate and beautiful flower, of a pale pink ground slightly tinged with purple. in appearance and fragrance it resembles the lilac, though the cluster of flowers is larger and more irregularly formed. these after loading the air with their fragrance for some days, fall off, leaving green berries thickly clustering on every branch. these berries become yellow in autumn, and long after the seared leaf falls, hang in clusters from the boughs, nor finally drop from them until forced from their position by the young branches and leaves in the succeeding spring. the chief beauty of this tree consists in the richness and arrangement of its foliage. from a trunk eight or ten feel in height, the limbs, in the perfect tree, branch irregularly upward at an angle of about ° or °. from these, which are of various lengths, slender shoots extend laterally, bearing at their extremities a thick tuft of leaves. these slender branches radiate in all directions, each also terminating in fine feathery tufts, which, being laid one over the other like scales on armour, present an almost impenetrable shield to the rays of the sun. these young shoots throughout the season are constantly expanding their bright parasols of leaves, and as they are of a paler hue than the older leaves, which are of a dark purple green, the variegated effect, combined with the singularly beautiful arrangement of the whole, is very fine. the rapid growth of this tree is remarkable. a severed limb placed in the ground, in the winter, will burst forth into a fine luxuriant head of foliage in the spring. from a berry slightly covered with soil, a weed, not unlike the common pig-weed, in the rapidity of its growth and the greenness of its stalk, shoots up during the summer four or five feet in height. during the winter its stalks harden, and in the spring, in a brown coat, and with the dignity of a young tree, it proudly displays its tufts of pale, tapering leaves. in three or four summers more it will fling its limbs over the planter's cottage--and cast upon the ground a broad and delightful shade. divest a tree of the largest size of its top, and in the spring the naked stump will burst forth into a cloud of foliage. such is the tree which surrounds the dwellings and borders the streets in the villages of the south-west--the "vine" and the "fig tree" under which every man dwells. about two leagues from natchez the road entered an extensive forest, winding along upon a ridge thickly covered with the polished leaved magnolia tree (m. grandiflora)--the pride of southern forests. this tree is an evergreen, and rises from the ground often to the height of seventy feet, presenting an exterior of evergreen leaves, and large white flowers. its leaves appearing like "two single laurel-leaves rolled into one," are five or six inches in length, of a dark green colour, the under side of a rich brown, and the upper beautifully glazed, and thick like shoe leather. the flower is magnificent. in june it unfolds itself upon the green surface of the immoveable cone in fine relief. when full blown it is of a great size; some of them cannot be placed in a hat without crushing them. its petals are a pure white, shaped and curved precisely like a quarter-section of the rind of an orange, and nearly as thick, and perfectly smooth and elastic. they are frequently used by boarding-school misses to serve as _billets doux_, for which, from their fragrance and unsullied purity, they are admirably fitted. they are so large that i have written upon one of them with a lead pencil in ordinary handwriting, a stanza from childe harold. it must be confessed that the writing as well as the material is of a very ephemeral kind; but for this reason the material is perhaps the more valuable when pressed into the service of don cupid. they are so fragrant that a single flower will fill a house with the most agreeable perfume; and the atmosphere for many rods in the vicinity of a tree in full flower is so heavily impregnated, that a sensation of faintness will affect one long remaining within its influence. the remainder of our ride was through a fine forest, occasionally opening into broad cotton fields. once on ascending a hill we caught, through a vista in the woods over broad fields, a glimpse of the cypress forests of louisiana, spread out like a dark sea to the level horizon. the mississippi rolled through the midst unseen. as we rode on we passed roads diverging to the right and left from the highway, leading to the hidden dwellings of the planters. a large gate set into a rail fence usually indicates the vicinity of a planter's residence in the south--but the plantation roads here turned into the forests, through which they romantically wound till lost in their depths. any of these roads would have conducted us to the villa of some wealthy planter. there can be little ostentation in a people who thus hide their dwellings from the public road. jonathan, on the other hand, would plant his house so near the highway as to have a word from his door with every passenger. deprive him of a view of the public road, and you deprive him of his greatest enjoyment--the indulgence of curiosity. about nine miles from town the forest retreated from the road, and from the brow of a hill, the brown face of a cliff rose above the tops of the trees about a league before us. to the eye so long accustomed to the unvarying green hue of the scenery--the rough face of this cliff was an agreeable relief. it was one of the white cliffs alluded to in a former letter. shortly after losing sight of this prominent object, we turned into a road winding through the woods, which conducted us for a quarter of an hour down and up several precipitous hills, across two deep bayous, through an extensive cotton field in which the negroes were industriously at work without a "driver" or an "overseer," and after winding a short distance bordered by young poplars round the side of a hill, passed through a first, then a second gateway, and finally brought us in front of the dwelling house of our host, and the termination of our interesting ride. footnotes: [ ] the forests of mississippi consist of oak, ash, maple, hickory, sweet gum, cypress, (in the bottoms) yellow poplar, holly, black and white flowering locusts, pecan, and pine on the ridges, with a countless variety of underwood, ivy, grape vines, (vitis silvestris) papaw, spice-wood, and innumerable creepers whose flexile tendrils twine around every tree. xxxiv. horticulture--chateaubriand--a mississippi garden and plants --a novel scene--sick slaves--care of masters for their sick --shamming--inertness of negroes--burial of slaves--negro mothers--a nursery--negro village on the sabbath--religious privileges of slaves--marriages--negro "passes"--the advantages of this regulation--anecdote of a runaway. in america, where vegetation is on a scale of magnificence commensurate with her continental extent--it is remarkable that a taste for horticulture should be so little cultivated. in the southern united states, nature enamels with a richness of colouring and a diversity of materials which she has but sparingly employed in decorating the hills and valleys of other lands. the grandeur of the forests in the south, and the luxuriance of the shrubs and plants, have no parallel. but southerners tread the avenues, breathe the air, and recline under the trees and in the arbours of their paradise, thankfully accepting and enjoying their luxurious boon, but seldom insinuating, through the cultivation of flowers, that nature has left her work imperfect. there are, it is true, individual exceptions. one of the finest private gardens in the united states, which has suggested these remarks, is in the south, and within two hours ride of natchez. but as a general rule, southerners, with the exception of the cultivation of a few plants in a front yard, pay little regard to horticulture. so in new-england, a lilac tree between the windows, a few rose bushes and indigenous plants lining the walk, and five or six boxes or vases containing exotics standing upon the granite steps on either side of the front door, constitute the sum of their flower plants and the extent to which this delightful science is carried. the severity of northern winters and the shortness of the summers, may perhaps preclude perfection in this pleasing study, but not excuse the present neglect of it. the english, inhabiting a climate but a little milder, possess a strong and decided horticultural taste--england itself is one vast garden made up of innumerable smaller ones, each, from the cluster of shrubbery around the humblest cottage to the magnificent park, that spreads around her palaces, displaying the prevailing national passion. though southerners do not often pursue horticulture as a science, yet they are passionately fond of flowers. at the south, gentlemen, without the charge of coxcombry or effeminacy, wear them in the button-holes of their vests--fair girls wreathe them in their hair, and children trudge to school loaded with bouquets. the south is emphatically the land of flowers; nature seems to have turned this region from her hand as the _chef d'oeuvre_ of her skill. here, in the glowing language of chateaubriand, are seen "floating islands of pistia and nenuphar, whose yellow roses spring up like pavilions; here magnificent savanas unfold their green mantles, which seem in the distance to blend their verdure with the azure of the skies. suspended on the floods of the mississippi, grouped on rocks and mountains and dispersed in valleys, trees of every odour, every shape, every hue, entwine their variegated heads, and ascend to an immeasurable height; bignonias, vines, and colocynths, wind their slender roots around their trunks, creep to the summit of their branches, and passing from the maple to the tulip tree and alcea, form a thousand bowers and verdant arcades; stretching from tree to tree they often throw their fibrous arms across rivers and erect on them arches of foliage and flowers. amidst these fragrant clusters, the proud magnolia raises its immoveable cone, adorned with snowy roses, and commanding the whole forest, meets with no other rival than the palm-tree, whose green leaves are softly fanned by refreshing gales." the race here now is for wealth; in good time the passion will change, and men, tired of contesting for the prize in the game of life, which they have won over and over again, will seek a theatre on which to display their golden laurels; and where are men more fond of displaying their wealth than on their persons, equipage, and dwellings? horticulture, the taste in such cases earliest cultivated, will then shed its genial influence over the valley of the south-west, and noble mansions and tasteful cottages, around which forests now gloomily frown, or rude fields spread their ploughed surfaces, will be surrounded by noble grounds enriched by the hand of taste from the lavish opulence of the forests and savanas. the garden alluded to at the commencement of this letter, is situated upon the plantation, an excursion to which was the subject of my last. as this is said to be the finest garden in mississippi, to which all others more or less approximate, in the character of their plants, style, and general arrangement, i would describe it, could my pen do adequate justice to the taste of its proprietor, or the variety and beauty of the plants and flowers. among them--for i will mention a few--which represented every clime, were the cape myrtle, with its pure and delicately formed flower, the oak geranium, the classical ivy, and the fragrant snow-drop. the broad walks were, as usual in southern gardens, bordered by the varnished lauria mundi, occasionally relieved by the cape jessamine, slender althea, and dark green arbor vitæ. the splendidly attired amaryllis, the purple magnolia, the arabian and night-blooming jessamines, the verbenum, or lemon-scented geranium, with the majestic aloe, that hoary monarch of the garden, which blooms but once in a century, the broad-leaved yarra, or caco, the fragrant snow-drop, and the sweet-scented shrub and oleander, with countless other shrubs and flowers, breathing forth the sweetest fragrance, gratified the senses, and pleased the eye wherever it was turned. there spread the cassia, a creeping plant, bearing a pink flower, and admirably adapted to bind the soil of this region, to prevent its "washing," by the texture of its thickly matted shoots, its tenacity to the soil, and the density of its foliage, all which combined, render it a secure shield laid over the surface of the ground; box-trees, in luxuriant, dark green cones, two or three feet high, were interspersed among the loftier shrubs at the angles of the several avenues, which were lined with diminutive hedges of this thickly-leaved plant. in the centre of the main avenue, which, on account of the inclination of the garden, was a terraced walk, terminating in an artificial pond, was a large diamond-shaped bed of violets enamelled with blue and green, from which arose a cloud of fragrance that floated over the whole garden, gathering rich tributes from a hundred flowers of the sweetest perfume and loveliest hues. around this pond, were crescents of shrubs and trees, among which the melancholy weeping willow drooped its graceful tendrils over the water.[ ] beyond this little lake, the primeval forests, which on every side bounded the prospect, rose majestically on the summit of a high hill, in front, affording a striking contrast to the hesperian elegancies spread around the observer. arbours of the lauria mundi, and pleasant alcoves invited to repose or meditation; and thickly shaded walks, wound on either side of the principal walk which they occasionally intersected, in graceful serpentine lines, bordered by the eglantine, or scotch rose, the monthly rose--the flower-pot plant of the north--which here grows in luxuriant hedges, from six to ten feet high. the moss, and wild rose, the last a native, in which the creative power of horticulture annually unfolds new beauties, the dwarf cape jessamine, the washita willow, with its pretty flower, the laurustina, hypiscus, and citronelle, or fragrant lemon grass, the tea-tree, three feet high, with orange and lemon trees, bending under their golden fruit, and a guava tree, the only one in fruit in the state, clustering with its delicious apple, presented on every side the most delightful offerings to the senses. but i must beg your indulgence for intruding upon you a botanical catalogue of plants in a southern garden, which pomona, envying the fair divinity presiding there, might sigh to make her empire. besides this exception to my general philippic in the former part of this letter, against the practical floral taste of mississippians, there are a few others sufficiently beautiful to atone for the prevailing deficiency of which i have spoken. clifton, an elegant villa near natchez, and one of the finest residences in the state, for the beauty of its grounds, and the extent of the prospect from its lofty galleries, boasts a garden of almost unrivalled beauty, and rich in the number and variety of its shrubs and plants. there are three or four other gardens, buried like gems in the centre of old plantations, which, in horticultural wealth and display, nearly rival those above mentioned. i record these instances with pleasure, as indicating the existence of that fine taste, in the germ at least, which refinement, opulence, and leisure, will in time unfold and ripen into maturity. while standing upon the gallery in the evening, enjoying the various busy scenes and confused sounds peculiar to a plantation at the close of day, my attention was drawn to a lugubrious procession, consisting of seven or eight negroes approaching the house from the "quarters," some with blankets thrown like cloaks over their shoulders, their heads bandaged, and moving with a listless gait of inimitable helplessness. one after another they crawled up and presented themselves, before the open passage in the gallery. seeing such a sad assembly i approached them with curiosity, while their master, notified of their arrival, came out to examine into the state of this his walking hospital. of all modifications of the "human face divine," that of the sick negro is the most dolorous. their miserable, abject, hollow-eyed look has no parallel. the negro is not an adonis in his best estate. but he increases his natural ugliness by a laxity of the muscles, a rolling of the eye and a dropping of the under jaw, when ill, which give his face a most ludicrously wo-begone appearance. the transparent jet-black hue of his skin altogether disappears, leaving the complexion a dingy brown or sallow, which in no slight degree increases the sadness of his physiognomy. those who are actually ill generally receive every attention that humanity--not "interest"--dictates. it has been said that interest is the only friend of the slave; that without this lever applied to the feelings of the master, he would never be influenced to care for his slaves either in health or in sickness. however true this may be in individual instances, a vast number of cases have come within my knowledge, which have convinced me that as a general censure this charge is unmerited. planters, particularly native planters, have a kind of affection for their negroes, incredible to those who have not observed its effects. if rebellious they punish them--if well behaved they not unfrequently reward them. in health they treat them with uniform kindness, in sickness with attention and sympathy. i once called on a native planter--a young bachelor, like many of his class, who had graduated at cambridge and travelled in europe--yet northern education and foreign habits did not destroy the mississippian. i found him by the bed side of a dying slave--nursing him with a kindness of voice and manner, and displaying a manly sympathy with his sufferings honorable to himself and to humanity. on large plantations hospitals are erected for the reception of the sick, and the best medical attendance is provided for them. the physicians of natchez derive a large proportion of their incomes from attending plantations. on some estates a physician permanently resides, whose time may be supposed sufficiently taken up in attending to the health of from one to two hundred persons. often, several plantations, if the "force" on each is small, unite and employ one physician for the whole. every plantation is supplied with suitable medicines, and generally to such an extent, that some room or part of a room in the planter's house is converted into a small apothecary's shop. these, in the absence of the physician in any sudden emergency, are administered by the planter. hence, the health of the slaves, so far as medical skill is concerned, is well provided for. they are well fed and warmly clothed in the winter, in warm jackets and trowsers, and blanket coats enveloping the whole person, with hats or woolen caps and brogans. in summer they have clothing suitable to the season, and a ragged negro is less frequently to be met with than in northern cities. the attendance which the sick receive is a great temptation for the slaves to "sham" illness. i was dining not long since in the country where the lady--a planter's daughter, and the wife and mother of a planter--sent from the table some plates of rich soup and boiled fowl to "poor sick jane and her husband," as she observed in her reply to one who inquired if any of her "people" were unwell. a portion of the dessert was also sent to another who was convalescent. those who are not considered ill enough to be sent to the hospital, are permitted to remain in their houses or cabins, reporting themselves every evening at the "great hus," as they term the family mansion. the sombre procession alluded to above, which led to these remarks, consisted of a few of these invalids, who had appeared at the gallery to make their evening report. on being questioned as to their respective conditions, a scene ensues that to be appreciated, must be observed. "what ails you, peter?" "mighty sick, master."[ ] "show me your tongue:" and out, inch by inch, projects a long tongue, not unlike the sole of his shoe in size and colour, accompanied by a groan from the very pit of the stomach. if the negro is actually ill, suitable medicine is prescribed, which his master or the physician compels him to swallow in his presence. for, sick or well, and very fond of complaining, they will never take "doctor's stuff," as they term it, but, throwing it away as soon as they are out of sight, either go without any medicine, or take some concoction in repute among the old african beldames in the "quarters," by which they are sickened if well, and made worse if ill, and present themselves for inspection the next evening, by no means improved in health. they are fond of shamming, or "skulking," as sailors term it, and will often voluntarily expose themselves to sickness, in order to obtain exemption from labour. there is no animal so averse to labour, even to the most necessary locomotion, as the african. his greatest enjoyment seems to be a state of animal inactivity. inquire of any ordinary field negro why he would like to be free, if he ever happened to indulge the wish, and he will reply, "because me no work all day long." it is well known that the "lazzaroni" of italy, the gauchos who infest buenos ayres, and the half-bloods swarming in the streets of all south american cities, will never labour, unless absolutely obliged to do so for the purpose of sustaining existence, and then only for the temporary supply. i once applied to a half-naked gaucho, who, with his red _capote_ wound about his head, was dozing in the sun on the _plaza_, to carry a portmanteau. slowly raising the heavy lids of his large glittering eyes, he took two pieces of money, of small value, from the folds of his red sash, and held them up to my view, murmuring, with a negative inclination of his head--"tengo dos reales, señor:" thereby implying, "i will take mine ease while my money lasts--no more work till this is gone." by such a feeling is this class of men invariably governed. individuals of them i have known to work with great industry for a day or two, and earn a few dollars, when they would cease from their usual labour, and, until their last penny was expended, no remuneration would prevail on them to carry a trunk across the square. from my knowledge of negro character at the south, however elevated it may be at the north, i am convinced that slaves, in their present moral condition, if emancipated, would be lazzaroni in every thing but colour. sometimes a sham patient will be detected; although, to make their complaints the more specious, they frequently discolour the tongue. this species of culprit is often punished by ridicule and exposure to his fellows, whose taunts on such occasions embody the purest specimens of african wit. not unfrequently these cheats are punished by a dose from the medicine chest, that effectually cures them of such indispositions. latterly, since steaming has been fashionable, a good steaming has been known to be an equally effective prescription. when a negro dies, his remains are placed in a coffin and decently interred. labour is often entirely suspended on the plantation, and the slaves are assembled in their sunday clothes to attend the funeral. divine service is sometimes performed in the little chapel on the plantation, at which not only the slaves but the members of the white family are present. a presbyterian clergyman recently informed me that he had been sent for by a native planter, to attend the funeral of one of his slaves and preach his funeral sermon. he went, though twelve miles distant from his residence, and remarked that he was never present on a more interesting occasion. on most plantations females are allowed a month's cessation from field labour, before and after confinement. but it cannot be denied that on some plantations nothing but actual confinement releases them from the field; to which the mother soon after returns, leaving an infant a few days old at the "quarters," which she is permitted to visit three or four times in the day. sometimes, when a little older, infants are brought into the field, under the care of an old nurse, to save the time which the mothers would otherwise consume in walking to and from the "quarters." once, on riding through a plantation, i noticed, under a china tree, which shaded the shelter-house--a rude building, in the centre of extensive cotton fields, in which negroes seek shelter on the approach of a storm--a group of infants and children, whose parents i discovered at work more than half a mile distant. several little fellows, not two years old, and as naked as young frogs, were amusing themselves in rolling over the grass, heedless of the occasional warning of their _gouvernante_, "take care de snake."--slung from a limb in a blanket reposed two others, very snugly, side by side, mumbling corn bread; while, suspended from the tree, in a rude cradle, were three or four more of this band of nurslings, all in a pile, and fast asleep. i am indebted to this scene for a correct application of the nursery song, which i had never before been able exactly to understand, commencing-- "rock a bye, baby, upon the tree top, when the wind blows the cradle will rock; when the bough breaks the cradle will fall, and down tumbles baby, cradle and all." these little candidates for "field honours," are useless articles on a plantation during the first five or six years of their existence. they are then made to take the first lessons in the elementary part of their education. when they have learned their manual alphabet tolerably well, they are placed in the field to take a spell at cotton-picking. the first day in the field is their proudest day. the young negroes look forward to it, with as much restlessness and impatience as school-boys to a vacation. black children are not put to work so young as many children of poor parents at the north. it is often the case that the children of the domestic servants become pets in the house, and the playmates of the white children of the family. no scene can be livelier or more interesting to a northerner, than that which the negro quarters of a well regulated plantation present, on a sabbath morning, just before church hour. in every cabin the men are shaving and dressing--the women, arrayed in their gay muslins, are arranging their frizzly hair, in which they take no little pride, or investigating the condition of their children's heads--the old people neatly clothed are quietly conversing or smoking about their doors, and those of the younger portion, who are not undergoing the infliction of the wash-tub, are enjoying themselves in the shade of the trees or around some little pond, with as much zest as though "slavery" and "freedom" were synonymous terms. when all are dressed and the hour arrives for worship, they lock up their cabins, and the whole population of the little village proceeds to the chapel, where divine worship is performed, sometimes by an officiating clergyman, and often by the planter himself, if a church member. the whole plantation is also frequently formed into a sabbath class, which is instructed by the planter or some member of his family; and often such is the anxiety of masters that they should perfectly understand what they are taught--a hard matter in the present state of african intellect--that no means calculated to advance their progress are left untried. i was not long since shown a manuscript catechism, drawn up with great care and judgment by a distinguished planter, on a plan admirably adapted to the comprehension of negroes. the same gentleman, in conjunction with two or three neighbouring planters, employs a presbyterian clergyman, formerly a missionary among the choctaws at the elliott station before their dispersion, to preach to the slaves, paying him a salary for his services. on those plantations which have no chapel, and no regular worship on the sabbath, negroes are permitted to go to the nearest town to church; a privilege they seldom know how to appreciate, and prefer converting their liberty into an opportunity for marketing or visiting. experience, however, has convinced planters that no indulgence to their slaves is so detrimental as this, both to the moral condition of the slave, and the good order of the plantation, for there is no vice in which many of them will not become adepts, if allowed a temporary freedom from restraint, one day in seven. hence this liberty, except in particular instances, is denied them on some estates; to which they are confined under easy discipline during the day, passing the time in strolling through the woods, sleeping, eating, and idling about the quarters. the evenings of the sabbath are passed in little gossipping circles in some of the cabins, or beneath the shade of some tree in front of their dwellings, or at weddings. the negroes are usually married by the planter, who reads the service from the gallery--the couple with their attendants standing upon the steps or on the green in front. these marriages, in the eye of the slave, are binding. clergymen are sometimes invited to officiate by those planters who feel that respect for the marriage covenant, which leads them to desire its strict observance, where human legislation has not provided for it. on nuptial occasions the negroes partake of fine suppers, to which the ladies add many little delicacies, and handsome presents of wearing apparel to the married pair. when the negroes desire a clergyman to perform the ceremony for them, planters seldom refuse to comply with their request. when negroes leave the plantation, for whatever purpose, whether to attend church, class meeting or market, visit their husbands, wives, or sweethearts, or are sent on errands, they must carry with them a written permission of absence from their master, stating the object for which his slave leaves his plantation, the place or places to which he is going, and the time to which his absence is limited. this written authority is called a "pass," and is usually written somewhat after this form: "oakland--june-- -- "pass j---- to natchez and back again by sunset," or "e---- has permission to visit his wife on mr. c----'s plantation, to be absent till o'clock." in such fluctuating property as slaves, it often happens that husband, wife, and children may all belong to different owners; and as negroes belonging to different plantations intermarry, such a provision, which is a state law, is necessary to preserve discipline, and embrace within the eye or knowledge of the master, every movement of his slave. were slaves allowed to leave the estates without the knowledge of their masters, during a certain portion of every week, an immense body of men in the aggregate, consisting of a few from every plantation in the state, would be moving among the plantations, at liberty to plan and execute any mischief they might choose to set on foot. if negroes leave the plantation without a "pass," they are liable to be taken up by any white person who suspects them to be runaways, and punishment is the consequence. the law allows every white man in town or country this kind of supervision over negroes; and as there are always men who are on the lookout for runaways, for the purpose of obtaining the reward of several dollars for each they can bring back to his master, the slave, should he leave the plantation without his "pass"--the want of which generally denotes the runaway--is soon apprehended. you will see that this regulation is a wise legal provision for the preservation both of private and public security. an anecdote connected with this subject was recently related to me by a planter whose slave was the hero. "a gentleman," said he, "met one of my negroes mounted on horseback, with a jug in his hand, riding toward natchez." suspecting him from appearances to be a runaway, he stopped him and asked for his "pass." the slave unrolled first one old rag--an old rag is a negro's substitute for a pocket--and then another without success. "i 'spec' me loss me pass, master." "whom do you belong to?" "mr. ----," giving the wrong person. "where are you going?" "to natchez, get whiskey, master." at the moment, my brand upon the horse struck the eye of the gentleman; "you are a runaway, boy--you belong to mr. d----." instantly the negro leaped from his horse, cleared the fence, and fled through the woods like a deer toward home. the gentleman on arriving at his own house, sent a servant to me with the horse which the runaway had deserted. i immediately assembled the whole force of the plantation and not one of the negroes was missing; the culprit having managed to arrive at the plantation before i could receive any intimation of his absence. i tried a long time to make the guilty one confess, but in vain. so at last, i tried the effect of a _ruse_. "well, boys, i know it is one of you, and though i am not able to point out the rogue, my friend who detected him will recognize him at once. so you must walk over to his house. fall in there--march!" "they proceeded a short distance, when i ordered a halt. "mind, boys, the guilty one shall not only be punished by me, but i will give every 'hand' on the plantation the liberty of taking personal satisfaction, for compelling them to take a walk of three miles.--so, march!" they moved on again for about a quarter of a mile, when they came to a full stop--deliberated a few moments and then retraced their steps. "hie! what now?" "why, master, bob say he de one." bob, who it seems had confessed to his fellow-slaves as the best policy, now stepped forward, and acknowledged himself to be the runaway." footnotes: [ ] the weeping willow is less luxuriant in this climate than in latitude °. it is not however cultivated in this state as it is in pennsylvania, where it arrives at the greatest perfection. there is a willow which grows on the banks of the mississippi, whose roots become as dry as tinder, after the periodical swell has subsided, but which vegetates afresh as soon as it is watered by the next inundation. this property of dying and returning again to vegetative existence, is not peculiar to this willow; other plants possess the same singular property, though this exceeds all others in magnitude. the plants of that description known to botanists, are all water mosses except two species of ducksmeat--the "lemna minor" and the "lemna gibba." these are but minute vegetables floating on the surface of stagnant water, without taking root in the pond. they may be dried in the hot sun and then kept in a deal box for two or three years, after which they will revive, if placed in spring, river or rain water. there is at the north a kind of natural paper, resembling the coats or strata of a wasp's nest in colour and consistency, which is formed of the sediment of ponds, that become dry in hot weather. if a piece of this paper-like substance be put in a glass of fresh water and exposed to light, it loses its dirty-white colour in a few minutes and assumes a lively green. this sudden and unexpected change is occasioned by a number of aquatic mosses, constituting a part of the materials of the paper or sediment in question, and belonging to the genus "conferra;" for these minute vegetables may be said to be in the state of suspended animation, while they remain dry; but the presence of water restores them to their natural functions by its animating virtue. so long retaining the principle of life, these curious plants, as well as the two species above mentioned, may be transported to any distant country in a torpid condition, where they might again be animated. the same remark will apply to the mississippi willow which suggested these observations. [ ] the negro seldom is heard to say "massa;" they generally say _master_, distinctly. xxxv. preparation for a deer hunt--a sailor, a planter, and an author--a deer driver--"stands" for deer--the hunting ground --the hunt--ellis's cliff--silver mine--an hypothesis-- alluvial formation of the lower valley of the mississippi-- geological descriptions of the south-west. the morning after my arrival at the plantation, which suggested the subject of my last letter, two gentlemen, with their guns and dogs, arrived at the house, to proceed from thence, according to a previous arrangement, on a deer hunt. this noble and attractive game abounds in the "bottoms" and river hills in this region; though the planters, who are in general passionately fond of hunting, are fast thinning their numbers. the branching antlers of a stag, as in the old oaken halls of england, are found fixed, in some conspicuous station, in almost every planter's habitation--trophies of his skill, and testimonials of his attachment to the chase. having prepared our hunting apparatus, and assembled the dogs, which, from their impatient movements, evidently needed no intimation of our design, we mounted our horses, and, winding through the cotton fields, entered a forest to the south, and proceeded, in fine spirits, toward the "drive," four or five miles below, as the hunting station is technically termed by deer hunters. there were, exclusive of a servant, four in our party. one of them, my host, formerly an officer in the navy, having, some years since, left the service, and settled himself down as a cotton planter, presented in his person the anomalous union, in mississippi, of the sailor and farmer: for in this state, which has little intercourse directly with the sea, sailors are rare birds. till recently a ship could not be seen by a mississippian without going to new-orleans, or elsewhere out of the state: but since natchez became a port of entry, and ships have ascended here, the citizens who flocked in from all the country round, to gaze upon them, are a little more _au fait_ to this branch of nautical knowledge. it would be difficult to say which predominates in this gentleman, the bluff and frank bearing of the sailor, or the easy and independent manner of the planter. in the management of his plantation, the result of his peculiar economy has shown, that the discipline with which he was familiar in the navy, with suitable modifications, has not been applied unsuccessfully to the government of his slaves. what a strange inclination sailors have for farming! inquire of any new-england sea-captain the ultimatum of his wishes, after leaving the sea--for sailors in general follow the sea as the means of securing them a snug berth on shore--and he will almost invariably reply--"a farm." another of our party was a planter, a native of mississippi, and the son of a gentleman whose philosophic researches have greatly contributed to the advancement of science. he was a model of a southern planter--gentlemanly, companionable, and a keen hunter. the government of his plantation, which is one of the finest in the state, is of a parental rather than an imperious character. he rules rather by kindness than severity, and his slaves obey from the principle of a desire to please, rather than from fear. and the result of his discipline has fully overthrown the sweeping assertion, which it is the fashion to repeat and believe, that "the more kindly slaves are treated the worse they are." a favourite theory of philanthropists, in relation to master and slave, is more practically illustrated on the estate of this gentleman, than the most sanguine of its framers could have anticipated. as i have, in a former letter, alluded to that branch of the domestic economy of this plantation, relating to the religious privileges of the slaves, and shall again have occasion to refer to its discipline, i will pursue the subject here no farther. the third individual of our party was a gentleman originally from new-jersey; a state which has contributed many valuable citizens to mississippi. but he had been too long in the south to preserve his identity as a jersey man. the son of a distinguished barrister, he had been a lawyer himself; but, like all professional men, who have remained here a short time, he had taken his third degree as a cotton planter. he is a gentleman of fine taste and a chastened imagination; and besides some beautiful tales, contributed to the periodicals, he is the author of that delightful story, the "fawn's leap," published in the atlantic souvenir of . the literary world will have reason to feel regret, in which the subject of my remark will, no doubt, be far from sympathising, that fortune has placed him among her _protegés_. he possesses an independent property, and resides on an estate called "woodbourne," eight or nine miles from natchez. with true mississippi taste, he has placed his handsome villa in the midst of a forest; but the majestic beauty of the lofty trees, as surveyed from the gallery, and the solemn grandeur of the primeval forests which inclose his dwelling on all sides, struck me, at the moment, as far superior to any display of art in ornamental grounds, and nearly unhinged my predilection for artificial scenery. in this charming retirement, and in the quiet enjoyment of private life, he has laid aside the gown of the author to assume the capote of the planter, and become an indefatigable devotee to the lordly pleasures of the chase. few men, who hunt merely _en amateur_, and especially, few literary men, can boast that they have killed twenty-seven deer, and been at the death of fifty-two--yet this gentleman can do so with truth: and a row of notches, cut in his hunting-horn, which i found suspended from an antler in the gallery of the house we had just left, recorded the fact. besides this gentleman, there are but few individuals who are known out of this state as cultivators of literature. mississippi is yet too young to boast of her authors, although she is not deficient in men of talent and learning. but the members of the learned professions are too much involved in schemes of wealth to have leisure or inclination for the cultivation of general literature. half way through the forest into which we entered on leaving the plantation, we came to a rude dwelling, inhabited by a ruder old hunter, who was to officiate as "driver." he accompanied us with his dogs for a while, and then turned aside into the woods to surround the deer in their place of resort and drive them toward the river, between which and them we were to take our "stands," for the purpose of intercepting them, as they dashed by to the water. for if alarmed while feeding upon the high grounds back front the mississippi, they at once bound off to the shelter of the swamps or bottoms near the river--and the skilful hunter, whose experience teaches him by what paths they will seek to gain the lowlands where the hounds cannot follow them, takes his stand with his rifle behind some tree by which he is tolerably sure the deer will pass, and as the noble and terrified animal bounds past him, he levels the deadly rifle with unerring aim, and buries a bullet in his heart. emerging from the forest a mile or two above our hunting ground, we came suddenly upon an amphitheatre of naked hills nearly surrounded by forests of dark pine. winding through romantic defiles thickly bordered with cedars, we gradually ascended to the summit of the highest of this cluster of treeless hills, when all at once the mississippi, rolling onward to the sea, burst upon our sight in all its majesty. there is a grand and desolate character in those naked cliffs which hang in huge terraces over the river, to the perpendicular height of three hundred feet. the view from their summits is one of the most sublime and extensive in the south-west. to the north and south the broad river spreads away like a long serpentine lake, its western shore presenting a plain, clothed even to the horizon with a boundless forest, with a plantation here and there breaking the uniformity of its outlines, near the water's edge. after a farther ride of a mile, over a hilly road through woods alternately exposing and hiding the river, we arrived at the "deer-stand,"--a long ridge nearly parallel with the river, and covered with a very open forest with a low "bottom," between the ridge and the water, and an extensive "drive," or forest frequented by deer, extending two miles inland. our "driver" with the whole pack, had turned off into the "drive" some time before, and having examined the ground, we took our "stands" about a hundred yards apart, each behind a large tree commanding an opening, or avenue, through which the deer were expected to pass. several of these "stands," and many more than we could occupy, were on the ridge, all of which should have been occupied to insure a successful issue to our sport. a few moments after we had taken our stands, and while listening for the least token of the "driver's" presence in the depths of the forest--the distant baying of dogs, in that peculiar note with which they open when they have roused their game, fell faintly upon our ears. the chorus of canine voices, however, soon grew louder and more violent--and as they awoke the echoes of the forests, and came down upon us like a storm--my heart leaped and the blood coursed merrily in my veins. all at once the deep voices of the hounds ceased as though they were at fault; but after a few moments' pause, a staunch old hunter opened again far to the right, and again the whole pack were in pursuit in full cry, and the crashing of trees and underbrush directly in front of us about a quarter of a mile in the wood, with the increased roar of the pack, warned us to be ready. the next moment the noise moved away to the right, and all at once, with a crash and a bound, a noble stag, with his head laid back upon his shoulders, crossed our line at the remotest stand, and disappeared in the thick woods along the river. the dogs followed like meteors. away to the left another crashing was heard, and a beautiful doe leaped across the open space on the ridge, and was lost in the thicket. the sounds of affrighted deer, passing through the forest at a great distance, were occasionally heard, but these soon died away and we only heard the wild clamour of the dogs, which the driver, who was close at their heels, in vain essayed to recall by sounding his horn long and loud, and sending its hoarse notes into the deepest recesses of the wood. after a great deal of trouble, by whipping, coaxing, and driving, nearly all the dogs were again collected, as it was in vain to pursue the deer to their retreats. some of the old hunters slowly coming in at the last, laid themselves down by us panting and half dead with fatigue. by and by the driver again started into the "drive" with the dogs; but an engagement for the evening, precluding my participation in a renewal of the spirit-stirring scene, i reluctantly left my agreeable party who were out for the day, and proceeded homeward. they returned late at night with, i believe, a single deer as the reward of their patience and unwearied spirits, two most important virtues in a thorough-bred deer hunter. uncommon nerve and great presence of mind are also indispensable qualifications. "once," remarked a hunting gentleman to me, "while waiting at my stand the approach of a buck, which some time before seeing him i had heard leaping along in immense bounds through the thicket--his sudden appearance in an open space about a hundred yards in front, bearing down directly toward me at fearful speed, so awed and unnerved me for the moment, that although my rifle was levelled at his broad breast, i had not the power to pull the trigger, and before i could recover myself the noble creature passed me like the wind." yet this gentleman was a tried hunter, and on other occasions had brought down deer as they came toward him at full speed, at the distance of from sixty to a hundred yards. on my return from the hunting ground, i lingered on the romantic cliff we had crossed in the morning, delighted at once more beholding scenery that reminded me of the rude features of my native state. dismounting from my horse, which i secured to the only tree upon the cliff, i descended, after many hair-breadth escapes a ravine nearly two hundred feet in depth, which conducted me to the water side and near the mouth of the beautiful st. catharine, which, after a winding course of more than eighty miles, empties itself into the mississippi through an embouchure ten yards wide, and as accurately defined as the mouth of a canal. near this spot is a silver mine lately re-discovered, after the lapse of a third of a century. its history, i believe, is this. some thirty or forty years ago, a spaniard who had been a miner in mexico, passing down the mississippi, discovered ore which he supposed to be silver. he took a quantity of it into his pirogue, and on arriving at a planter's house on the banks of the river in louisiana, tested it as correctly as circumstances would admit, and was satisfied that it was pure silver. he communicated the discovery to his host, gave him a few ingots of the metal and took his departure. what became of him is not known. the host from year to year resolved to visit the spot, but neglected it, or was prevented by the intrusion of more pressing employments, till four or five years since. he then communicated the discovery to a mexican miner, an american or an englishman, who stopped at his house, and to whom, on hearing him speak of mines, he showed the masses he had received so many years before from the spaniard. the man on examining them and ascertaining the metal to be pure silver, became at once interested in the discovery, obtained the necessary information to enable him to find the spot, and immediately ascended the river. on arriving at the cliffs he commenced his search, and after a few days discovered the vein, in one of the lowest strata of the cliffs. he found it difficult, however, to engage the neighbouring planters in his scheme of working it, for what planter would exchange his cotton fields for a silver mine? yet they treated him with attention, and seconded his efforts by lending him slaves. more than a hundred weight of the ore was obtained, and sent on to philadelphia to undergo the process of fusion. it probably is not rich enough for amalgamation, as it contains a superior bulk of iron pyrites, blende, lead and earthy matter. the amount of pure silver procured from the ore has not been ascertained, the result of the process not having yet been made known. i obtained several pieces, which make a very pretty show in a cabinet, and this is probably the highest honour to which it will be exalted, at least till the surface of the earth refuses longer to bear ingots of silver, in the shape of the snowy cotton boll. the peculiar features of these cliffs are a series of vast concavities, or inverted hollow cones, connected with each other by narrow gorges, whose bottoms are level with the river, and surrounded by perpendicular and overhanging walls of earth, often detached, like huge pyramids, and nearly three hundred feet in height. there are five clusters of these cliffs in this state, all situated on the eastern shore of the mississippi, from forty to one hundred miles apart, of which this is the most important in height and magnitude, as well as in grandeur and variety of scenery. they are properly the heads or terminations of the high grounds of the united states--the _antennæ_ of the alleghanies.[ ] the hypothesis that they were promontories in past ages, with the waves of the mexican gulf breaking at their bases, has had the support of many scientific men. this opinion carries with it great probability, when the peculiar qualities of the mississippi are considered in relation to its "forming effects." these effects are a consequence of the general truth of the proposition, that every mechanical destruction will be followed by a mechanical formation; hence the masses separated by the waters of the mississippi, will be again deposited on the surface of the land, or its shores, about its mouth, and on the bottom of the sea. you are aware that one twelfth of the bulk of this vast volume of water is earth, as ascertained by its depositing that proportion in the bottom of a glass filled with the water. during the flood the proportion is greater, and the earthy particles are as dense as the water can hold in suspension. the average velocity of the current below the missouri, is between one and two miles an hour, and it is calculated that it would require four months to discharge the column of water embraced between this point and its delta. bearing constantly within its flood a mass of earth equal to one twelfth of its whole bulk, it follows that it must bear toward the sea, every four years, more than its cubical bulk of solid earth. now where is this great column of earth deposited? has it been rolling onward for centuries, without any visible effects? this will not be affirmed, and experience proves the contrary in the hourly mechanical depositions of the ochreous particles of this river, in its noble convexities, its extensive bottoms, and the growing capes at its mouth. but a small portion of the turbid mixture has been deposited in the bed of the river, particularly in its southern section, as moving water will not deposit at any great depth.[ ] now when the general appearance and geological features of the south-west, including the south part of mississippi and nearly the whole of louisiana, are observed with reference to the preceding statements, the irresistible conviction of the observer is, that the immense plain now rich with sugar and cotton fields, a great emporium, numerous villages and a thousand villas, was formed by the mechanical deposits of the mississippi upon the bed of the ocean, precisely as they are now building up fields into the mexican gulf. do not understand me that the present fertile surface of this region was the original bed of the ocean, but that it rose out of it, as the coral islands come up out of the sea, by the gradual accumulation of deposits. the appearance of these inland promontories or cliffs, which suggested these remarks, and the fact that the highlands of the south-west, all terminate along the southern border of this region, from fifty to one hundred miles from the sea, leaving a broad alluvial tract between, and presenting a well defined _inland_ sea-board, go far to strengthen the opinion i have adopted. the chain of cliffs along the eastern shore of the mississippi, have a parallel chain opposite to them on the other side of the great savana, skirted by the mississippi, about forty miles distant. this savana or valley gradually widens to the south until near the mouth of the river, where it is increased to one hundred and forty or fifty miles in breadth. it is this great valley which is of mechanical formation, and its present site was in all probability covered by the waters of a bay similar to the chesapeake, extending many leagues above natchez to the nearest approximation of the cliffs on either side, where alone must have been an original mouth of this great river. where the spectator, in looking westward from these bluffs; now beholds an extensive and level forest, in ages past rolled the waters of the mexican sea--and where he now gazes upon a broad and placid river flowing onward to mingle with the distant ocean, the very waves of that ocean rolled in loud surges, dashed against the lofty cliffs, and kissed the pebbles at his feet. footnotes: [ ] there are five more cliffs above this state, between it and the mouth of the ohio; and one on the western shore of the mississippi at helena, arkansas. [ ] the following extract from a private letter in the author's possession, bearing date new orleans th april, , contains some interesting facts, relative to the depth of the lower mississippi, and other characteristics of this river, which were obtained by the writer from actual observation. "in nov. , when there was scarcely any perceptible current, in company with mr. benj. morgan and capt. roger crane, i set off from just above the upper gate of this city and sounded the river, at every three or four boats' length, until we landed opposite to m. bernody's house on the right bank of the river. the depth of water increased pretty regularly; viz. , , , , , , and fathoms. the greatest depth was found at about yards from bernody's shore. this operation was accurately performed; and as the river rises about twelve feet on an average at this place, the depth at high water will be twenty two fathoms. a m. dervengé, whose father was chief pilot in the time of the french, informed me that his father often told him that a little way below the english turn there was fifty fathoms of water; and m. laveau trudo said that about the upper plaquemine, there was sixty fathoms, or three hundred and sixty feet. in the year , during five days that i lay at the balize, i learned from m. demaron trudo, who was then commandant of that place, that there was about three feet difference between the high and low waters. from the best information i have been able to collect, there is a declension of eight or nine feet from the natural banks of the river at this city, to the banks upon which is the site of the house where the spanish commandant lived before they removed up to plaquemine, at the distance of about three leagues from the sea. there is a gradual slope or descent of the whole southern region of the mississippi river, from the river yazoo, in lat. ° ' n. to the ocean or gulf of mexico. the elevation of the bluff at natchez is about feet; at st. francisville, seventy miles lower, it is a little more than feet; at baton rouge, about thirty miles lower, it is less than feet, at new orleans, according to the above statement eight feet, and at the balize less than two feet. this vast glacis, at a similar angle of inclination, extends for some leagues into the gulf of mexico, till lost in the natural bed of the ocean. the river, whose current is said to be the most rapid at the period when it is about to overflow its banks, runs in its swiftest vein or portion about five miles an hour. i allude to the line of upper current, and not to the mass, which moves much slower than the surface. the average velocity of the river when not in flood is not above two miles an hour. this is easily ascertained, by the progression and regular motion of its swells, and not by its apparent motion. in november, , as before observed, the motion of the stream was so sluggish as to be scarcely perceptible. a vessel that then lay opposite the government house, advanced against it with a light breeze. i was told by a respectable lady, mdme. robin, who lives about six leagues below the city, that the water of the river was so brackish that she was obliged to drink other water, and that there were an abundance of porpoises, sharks, mullet, and other sea-fish, even above her plantation, nearly one hundred miles from the gulf. the citizens thought the water brackish opposite the town. it looked quite green like sea-water, and when held to the light was quite clear. although i did not think it brackish, i found it vapid and disagreeable. this is a phenomenon of rare occurrence, and not satisfactorily accounted for." xxxvi. geography of mississippi--ridges and bottoms--the mississippi at its efflux--pine and table lands--general features of the state--bayous--back-water of rivers--springs--st. catharine's harp--bankston springs--mineral waters of this state-- petrifactions--quartz crystals--"thunderbolts"--rivers--the yazoo and pearl. though not much given to theorising, i have been drawn into some undigested remarks in my last letter, upon a theory, which is beginning to command the attention of scientific men, to which the result of geological researches daily adds weight, and to which time, with correct observations and farther discoveries, must add the truth of demonstration. this letter i will devote to a subject, naturally arising from the preceding, perhaps not entirely without interest--i mean the physical geography and geology of this state. in the limits of a letter it is impossible to treat this subject as the nature of it demands, yet i will endeavour to go so far into its detail, as to give you a tolerable idea of the general features of the region. besides the cliffs, or great head-lands, alluded to in my last letter, frowning, at long intervals, over the mississippi, serrated ridges, formed of continuous hills projecting from these points, extend in various directions over the state. these again branch into lower ridges, which often terminate near the river, between the great bluffs, leaving a flat space from their base to the water, from a third of a mile to a league in breadth. these flats, or "bottoms," as they are termed in western phraseology, are inundated at the periodical floods, increasing, at those places, the breadth of the river to the dimensions of a lake. the forest-covered savana, nearly forty miles across, through which the mississippi flows, and which is bordered by the mural high lands or cliffs alluded to in my last letter, is also overflowed at such seasons; so that the river then becomes, in reality, the breadth of its valley. the grandeur of such a spectacle as a river, forty miles in breadth, descending to the ocean between banks of lofty cliffs, too far distant to be within each other's horizon, challenges a parallel. but, as this vast plain is covered with a forest, the lower half of which only is inundated, the width of the river remains as usual to the eye of the spectator on the cliffs, who will have to call in the aid of his imagination to realize, that in the bosom of the vast forest outspread beneath him rolls a river, to which, in breadth, the noble stream before him is but a rivulet. the interior hills, or ridges, mentioned above, are usually covered with pine; which is found only on such eminences, and in no other section of the south or west, except an isolated wood in missouri, for more than fifteen hundred miles. the surface of the whole state is thus diversified with hills, with the exception of an occasional interval on the borders of a stream, or a few leagues of prairie in the north part of the state, covered with thin forests of stunted oaks. these hills rise and fall in regular undulations, clothed with forests of inconceivable majesty, springing from a rich, black loam, peculiarly fitted to the production of cotton; though, according to a late writer on this plant, "it flourishes with equal luxuriance in the black alluvial soil of alatamaha and in the glowing sands of st. simon's."[ ] the general features of this state have suggested the idea of an immense ploughed field, whose gigantic furrows intersect each other at various angles.--imagine the hills, formed by these intersections, clothed with verdure, whitened with cotton fields, or covered with noble woods, with streams winding along in the deep ravines, repeatedly turning back upon their course, in their serpentine windings, before they disembogue into the mississippi on the west, or the pearl on the east, and you will have a rude though generally correct idea of the bolder features of this state. a "plain," or extensive level expanse, which is not a marsh, forms, consequently, no part of its scenery, hill and hollow being its stronger characteristics. for a hilly country it presents one striking peculiarity. the surface of the forests, viewed from the bluffs, or from some superior elevation in the interior, presents one uniform horizontal level, with scarcely an undulation in the line to break the perspective. particularly is this observable about a mile from natchez, from the summit of a hill on the road to the village of washington. here an extensive forest scene lies east of the observer, to appearance a perfect level. but as he travels over hill and through ravine, anticipating a delightful prairie to lie before him, over which he may pace, (or _canter_, if he be a northerner) at his ease, he will find that the promised plain, like the _mirage_ before the fainting arabian, for ever eludes his path. there is another remarkable feature in this country, peculiar to the whole region through which the lower mississippi flows which i can illustrate no better than by resorting to the idea of a ploughed field. as many of these intersecting furrows, or ravines, terminate with the ridges that confine them, near the river, with whose medium tides they are nearly level, they are inundated by the periodical effluxes, which, flowing up into the land, find a passage through other furrows, and discharge into some stream, that suddenly overflows its banks; or winding sluggishly through the glens, cut deep channels for themselves in the argillaceous soil, and through a chain of ravines again unite with the mississippi, after having created, by their surplus waters, numerous marshes along their borders, and leaving around their course innumerable pools of stagnant water, which become the home of the lazy alligator,[ ] and the countless water-fowls which inhabit these regions. these inlets are properly bayous. they radiate from the mississippi, in the state of louisiana, in countless numbers, forming a net-work of inlets along its banks for fifty miles on either side, increasing in numbers and size near its mouth; so that, for many leagues above it, an inextricable tissue of lakes and inlets, or bayous, form communications and passes from the river to the gulf,[ ] "accessible," says flint, "by small vessels and bay-craft, and impossible to be navigated, except by pilots perfectly acquainted with the waters." the entrance of some of these bayous, which are in the vicinity of natchez, is fortified against the effluxes of the river by _levées_, constructed from one highland to another; and by this means the bottom lands in the rear are protected from the overflow, and, when cultivated, produce fine crops of cotton. inundations are also caused when the mississippi is high, by its waters flowing up into the small rivers and creeks, whose natural level is many feet below the high water mark, till they find a level.--the water of these streams is consequently forced back upon itself, and, rising above its banks, overflows all the adjacent country. this "back-water," as it is termed, is more difficult to be resisted by levées than the effluxes of the bayous; and for the want of some successful means of opposing its force, some of the finest "bottom lands" in the state remain uncultivated, and covered with water and forest. the smaller rivers and streams in this state are wild and narrow torrents, wholly unlike those placid streams which flow through new-england, lined with grassy or rocky banks, and rolling over a stony bottom, which can be discerned from many feet above it, through the transparent fluid. here the banks of the streams are precipices, and entirely of clay or sand, and cave in after every rain, which suddenly raises these torrents many feet in a few minutes; and such often is their impetuosity, that if their banks are too high to be inundated, they cut out new channels for themselves; and a planter may, not improbably, in the morning after a heavy rain, find an acre or more added to his fields from an adjoining estate; to be repaid, in kind, after another rain. in the dry season the water of these streams--which, with the exception of three or four of the large ones, are more properly conduits for the rain water that falls upon the hills, than permanent streams--is tolerably clear, though a transparent sheet of water larger than a spring, whether in motion or at rest, i have not seen in this state. after a rain they become turbid, like the mississippi, impetuous in their course, and dangerous to travellers. few of these streams are covered with bridges, as their banks dissolve, during a rain, almost as rapidly as banks of snow--so light is the earth of which they are composed--and the points from which bridges would spring are soon washed away. the streams are therefore usually forded; and as their beds are of the finest sand, and abound in quicksands, carriages and horses are often swallowed up in fording them, and lives are not unfrequently lost. the roads throughout the state, with the exception of these fords, are very good, winding through fine natural scenery, past cultivated fields, and pleasant villages. in the neighbourhood of these streams, on the hills, and in the vales throughout the state, springs of clear cold water abound. there is a deep spring on the grounds attached to jefferson college in this state, whose water is so transparent, that to the eye, the bottom appears to be reflected through no other medium than the air. the water is of a very mild temperature in the winter, and of an icy coolness in the summer. the spring is in a deep glen, surrounded by lofty trees, one of which, from its shape, branching from the root into two trunks, and uniting again in an extraordinary manner by a transverse limb, thirty feet from the ground, is called "st. catharine's harp," and is one among the natural curiosities of that vicinity. in the interior of the state are several mineral springs, which of late years have become very fashionable resorts for those who do not choose, like the majority of mississippians, to spend their summers and money at the kentucky, virginian, or new-york springs. the waters of most of these springs are chalybeate, with a large proportion of sulphuric acid combined with the iron. the most celebrated are the brandywine, romantically situated in a deep glen in the interior of the state, and the bankston springs, two hour's ride from the capital. the constituent qualities of the waters, as ascertained by a recent chemical analysis, are sulphate of magnesia, sulphate of soda and sulphur, which exist in such a state of combination as to render the waters not disagreeable to the taste, yet sufficiently beneficial to the patient. they are said to act favourably upon most of the diseases of the climate, such as affections of the liver, bowels, cutaneous and chronic diseases, congestive and bilious fevers, debility, and numerous other ills "that flesh is heir to." the location is highly romantic and healthy. in the words of another--"the circumjacent country is for several miles covered with forests, of which pine is the principal growth; its surface is elevated and undulating, entirely free from stagnant waters, and other local causes of disease. the site of the springs is not inferior in beauty to any spot in the southern country. they are situated in a narrow plane, surrounded, on one side by an almost perpendicular bluff from which they flow, on the other, by a gentle declivity, dividing itself into two twin ridges; which, after describing a graceful curve, unite again at a point on which stands the principal building, one hundred feet in length, and on either of these ridges, is built a row of new and comfortable apartments. through the centre of the grove, a path leads from the principal building to the spring, forming at all hours of the day, a delightful promenade. the water at the fountain, is exceedingly cool and exhilarating. a dome supported by neat columns, rises above the fountain, which, with the aid of the surrounding hills and overhanging forest, renders it at all times impervious to the sun. the roads, which during the summer season are always good, communicate in various directions with port gibson, vicksburg, jackson, clinton, and raymond, affording at all times good society. the forest abounds with deer and other game, the chase of which will afford a healthy amusement to those who may be tempted to join in it." the mineral waters in the state are chiefly sulphurous and chalybeate, with the exception, i believe, of one or two of the saline class. in the vicinity of these springs, and also on most of the water courses in the state, and, with but an exception or two, in these places alone, are found the only stones in the state. rock is almost unknown. i have not seen even a stone, within fifteen miles of natchez, larger than the third part of a brick, and those that i have seen were found in the pebbly bed of some stream. there is a stratum of pebbles from one to three feet thick extending through this state. it is variously waved, sometimes in a plane, and at others forming various angles of inclination, and at an irregular depth from the surface, according to the thickness of the superimposed masses of earth which are composed of clay, loam, and sand. this stratum is penetrated and torn up by the torrents, which strew their beds with the pebbles. there is no rock except a species of soft sand-stone south of latitude ° north, in this state, except in bayou pierre, (the stony bayou) and a cliff at grand gulf, forty miles above natchez. this last is composed of common carbonate of lime and silex, but the quantity of each has not been accurately determined. the sand-stone alluded to above, is in the intermediate state between clay and stone, in which the process of petrifaction is still in progress. in the north-east portion of the state, this species of stone, whose basis is clay, is found in a more matured state of petrifaction. perfect gravel is seldom met with here, even in the stratum of pebbles before mentioned. these resemble in properties and colour, the clay so abundant in this region; a great proportion of the gravel is composed of a petrifaction of clay and minute shells, of the mollusca tribe. i have found in the dry bed of the st. catharine's, pebbles, entirely composed of thousands of the most delicately formed shells, some of which, of singularly beautiful figures, i have not before met with. concave spiral cones, the regular discoid volute, cylinders, a circular shell, a tenth of an inch in diameter, formed by several concentric circles, and a delicate shell formed by spiral whorls, with fragments of various other minute shells, principally compose them. the variety of shells in this state is very limited. all that have been found here have their surfaces covered with the smooth olive-green epidermis, characteristic of fresh water shells, and are all very much eroded. agates of singular beauty have also been discovered, and minute quartz crystals are found imbedded in the cavities of pebbles composed of alumina and grains of quartz. mica and feldspar i have not met with. about two years ago, on the plantation of robert field, esq. in the vicinity of the white cliffs, a gentleman picked up from the ground a large colourless rock crystal, with six sided prisms and a pyramidal termination of three faces. curiosity led him to examine the spot, and after digging a few minutes beneath the surface, he found three more, of different sizes, two of them nearly perfect crystals, but the third was an irregular mass of colourless transparent quartz. this is the only instance of the discovery of this mineral in the state, and how these came to be on that spot, which is entirely argillaceous and at a great distance from any rocks or pebbles, is a problem. pure flint is not found in this state, yet the plough-share turns up on some plantations, numerous arrow-heads, formed of this material, and there is also a species of stone, artificially formed, in size and shape precisely resembling the common wedge for cleaving wood, with the angles smoothly rounded. they are found all over the south-western country, and the negroes term them "thunder bolts;" but wiser heads have sagely determined their origin from the moon. planters call them spear-heads, for which they were probably constructed by the aborigines. the stone of which they are made is not found in this country. some of them i believe are composed of mica and quartz. many of them are a variety of the mica and of a brown colour, sometimes inclining to green, and highly polished. i have seen some on a plantation near natchez, of an iron black colour resembling polished pieces of black marble. the several strata which compose this state are an upper layer of rich black loam from one to three feet thick, the accumulation of centuries, and a second stratum of clay several feet in thickness, beneath which are various substrata of loam and sand, similar to that which constitutes the islands and "bottoms" of the mississippi. with the exception of the yazoo, which flows through a delightful country rich in soil and magnificent with forests, along whose banks the mississippians are opening a new theatre for the accumulation of wealth, and where villages spring up annually with the yearly harvest--and the pearl--a turbid and rapid torrent whose banks are lined with fine plantations and beautiful villages--this state boasts no rivers of any magnitude; and these, when compared with the great mississippi, are but streams; and in their chief characteristics they nearly resemble it. but i have gone as far into geology as the limits of a letter writer will permit. a volume might be written upon the physical features of this country, without exhausting a subject prolific in uncommon interest, or half surveying a field, scarcely yet examined by the geologist.[ ] footnotes: [ ] it has been said that cotton will thrive as well in a sandy soil, with a _sea_ exposure, as in a rich loam in the interior. [ ] the alligator is found on the shores of the lower mississippi, in bayous and at the mouths of creeks. it is seldom seen far above ° north latitude. there has been much dispute as to the identity of the crocodile and alligator, nor are naturalists yet united in their opinions upon this point. the opinion that they belong to the same species is supported by the systema natura, as it came from the hand of linneus, but it is positively contradicted in the last edition of this work, published by professor gmelin. [ ] "the experienced savage or solitary voyager, descending the mississippi for a thousand miles, paddles his canoe through the deep forests from one bluff to the other. he moves, perhaps, along the inundated forests of the vast interval through which the mississippi flows, into the mouth of white river. he ascends that river a few miles, and by the grand cut-off moves down the flooded forest into arkansas. from that river he finds many _bayous_, which communicate readily with washita and red river; and from that river, by some one of its hundred bayous, he finds his way into the atchafalaya and the teche; and by this stream to the gulf of mexico, reaching it more than twenty leagues west of the mississippi. at that time this is a river from thirty to a hundred miles wide, all overshaded with forests, except an interior strip of little more than a mile in width, where the eye reposes upon the open expanse of waters visible between the forests, which is the mississippi proper." [ ] a bed of lime-stone has been recently discovered on the shore at natchez below high water mark, two hundred feet lower than the summit level of the state of mississippi. there are some extraordinary petrifactions in the north part of this state, among which is the fallen trunk of a tree twenty feet in length, converted into solid rock. the outer surface of the bark, which is in contact with the soil, is covered as thickly as they can be set, with brilliant brown crystals resembling garnets in size and beauty. thin flakes of the purest enamel, the size of a guinea and irregularly shaded, have been found in the ravines near natchez. in the same ravines mammoth bones are found in great numbers, on the caving in of the sides after a heavy rain. xxxvii. topography--natchez--washington--seltzertown--greenville--port gibson--raymond--clinton--southern villages--vicksburg--yeomen of mississippi--jackson--vernon--satartia--benton--amsterdam-- brandon and other towns--monticello--manchester--rankin--grand gulf--rodney--warrenton--woodville--pinckneyville--white apple village. in my last letter i alluded to the geological features of mississippi, the peculiarities of its soil and rivers, or streams, and the characteristics of its scenery. in this i will give you a brief topographical description of the state, embracing its principal towns and villages. were i confined to the details of the tourist, in my sketches, you might follow me step by step over hill and dale, through forest and "bottom," to the several places which may form the subject of the first part of this letter. but a short view of them, only, comes within my limits as a letter-writer. for the more minute information i possess upon this subject i am indebted to a gentleman,[ ] whose scientific and historical researches have greatly contributed to the slender stock of information upon this state--its resources, statistics, and general peculiarities. although i have said a great deal of natchez, under this head something may be communicated upon which i have not touched in my remarks upon that city. natchez is one hundred and fifty-five miles from new-orleans by land, and two hundred and ninety-two by water. it contains a population of about three thousand, the majority of whom are coloured. the influx of strangers--young merchants from the north, who have within the last four years, bought out nearly all the old standing merchants--numerous mechanics, and foreign emigrants--is rapidly increasing the number, and in five years, if the rail-road already surveyed from this city to the capital, a distance of one hundred and nine miles, is brought into operation, it will probably contain twice the present number of souls. under the spanish government vessels came up to natchez; and in there was, as appears by a publication of col. andrew marschalk, of mississippi, a brisk trade kept up between this and foreign and american ports which suddenly ceased, after a few years' continuance, on account of the obstacles interposed by the spaniards. in , this trade was revived by some enterprising gentlemen of natchez, and cotton is now shipped directly to the northern states and europe, from this port, instead of being conveyed by steamboats to new-orleans and there reshipped. there are two oil mills in this city worked by steam. the oil is manufactured from cotton-seed, which heretofore was used as manure. this oil is said to be superior to sperm oil, and the finest paint oil. similar manufactories are established in new-orleans, and i think, also, in mobile. the material of which this oil is made is so abundant that it will in all probability in a very few years supersede the other oils almost entirely. the "cake" is in consistency very much like that of flax-seed. it is used, in equal parts with coal, for fuel, and burns with a clear flame, and a fire so made is equally warm as one entirely of coal. a bethel church is to be erected this year under the hill, the erection of which on this noted spot, will be the boldest and most important step christianity has taken in the valley of the mississippi. there are four occasionally officiating methodist ministers here, one of the presbyterian, and one of the episcopalian denominations. there are eighteen physicians and surgeons, and sixteen lawyers, the majority of whom are young men. there is a weekly paper, with extensive circulation, and three others are about to be established. there are five schools or seminaries of learning--three private, and two public--a flourishing academy for males, and a boarding-school for young ladies, under the care of very able teachers. there are also a hospital and poor-house, and a highly useful orphan asylum. there are no circulating libraries in the city, nor i believe in the state. there are three banks one of which--the planter's bank--has branches in seven different towns in the state. steamboats were first known at natchez in - . washington, six miles north-east from natchez, with a charming country between, through which winds one of the worst carriage-roads in the west, not even excepting the delightful rail-roads from sandusky to columbus, in ohio, is a corporation one mile square, containing about four hundred inhabitants, of all sizes and colours. it contains a fine brick hospital and poor-house in one building, two brick churches, one of the baptist, and the other of the methodist denomination. the first has recently settled a preacher, the other has long had a stationed minister, who regularly officiates in the desk. there is a presbyterian clergyman residing in the place, whose church is five miles distant in the country, in a fine grove on one of the highest elevations in the state. the inhabitants of the village are principally methodists, a majority of which sect will be found in nearly every village in the south-west. jefferson college, the oldest and best endowed collegiate institution in the state, is pleasantly situated at the head of a green on the borders of the village. it is now flourishing; but has for several years been labouring under pecuniary embarrassments, which are now, by a generous provision of congress, entirely removed, and with a fund of nearly two hundred thousand dollars, it bids fair to become a useful and distinguished institution. there is also a female seminary in a retired part of this village, which was handsomely endowed by miss elizabeth greenfield, of philadelphia, a member of the society of friends, from whom it is denominated the elizabeth academy. it is one of the first female institutions in this state, and under the patronage of the methodist society. washington is one of the oldest towns in the state, was formerly the seat of government, under the territorial administration, and once contained many more inhabitants than any other place except natchez, in the territory. it was nearly depopulated by the yellow fever in , from the effects of which it has never recovered. the public offices, with the exception of the register's and receiver's offices, are removed to jackson. the town possesses no resources, and is now only remarkable for its quiet beauty, the sabbath-like repose of its streets, and its pure water, and healthy location, upon the plane of an elevated table land, rising abruptly from the st. catharine's, which winds pleasantly along by one side of the village with many romantic haunts for the student and "walks" for the villagers, upon its banks. there is a post office in the village, through which a triweekly mail passes to and from natchez. the route of the rail-road will be through this place, when it will again lift its head among the thriving villages of the great valley. seltzertown, containing a tavern and a blacksmith's shop (which always form the nucleus of an american village) is six miles from washington and twelve from natchez. it is remarkable only for the extensive scenery around it, and the remarkable indian fortifications or temples in its vicinity. these will form the subject of another letter. greenville, on the road from natchez, passing through the two former places, is twenty-one miles from that city. it is delightfully situated in a little green vale, through which winds a small stream. the plain is crossed by the rail-road, which here becomes a street, bordered by two rows of dilapidated houses, overgrown with grass and half buried in venerable shade trees. from the prison with its dungeons fallen in, and its walls lifting themselves sullenly above the ruins by which they are enclosed, to the tavern with its sunken galleries, and the cobbler's shop with its doorless threshold, all were in ruins, a picture of rural desolation exhibiting the beau ideal of the "deserted village." greenville was formerly a place of some importance, but other towns have grown up in more eligible spots, for which this has been deserted by its inhabitants. one does not meet with a lovelier prospect in this state, than that presented to the eye on descending from the hill south and west of the valley, into the quiet little vale beneath, just before the going down of the sun. the air of peace and quiet which reigns around the traveller, will perhaps remind him of the valley whose description has so delighted him while lingering over the elegant pages of rasselas. forty-two miles from natchez is port gibson, one of the most flourishing and beautiful towns in the south. it is only second to natchez in the beauty of its location, the regularity of its streets, the neatness of its dwellings, and the number and excellence of its public buildings. it is but seven miles by land from the mississippi, with which it communicates by a stream, called bayou pierre, navigable for keel and flat boats, and, in high floods, for steamboats, quite to the village. it is very healthy, and has seldom been visited by epidemics. it contains about one thousand souls. the citizens were once distinguished for their dissipation, if not profligacy; but they are now more distinguished for their intelligence and morality as a community. there is no town in the south which possesses so high a standard of morals as port gibson. this reformation is the result of the evangelical labours of the presbyterian clergyman of that place; who, with untiring industry and uncommon energy, combined with sterling piety, in a very few years performed the work and produced the effect of an age. there are a presbyterian and a methodist church in the town, with their respective clergymen. it contains also a branch bank, court-house, gaol, post-office, and one of the finest hotels in the state. a weekly paper, called the "correspondent," and very ably edited, is published here. the society of the village and neighbourhood is not surpassed by any in the state. there are some very pretty country seats in the vicinity, the abodes of planters of intelligence and wealth; and the country around is thickly wooded, with fine plantations interspersed; and the general features of the scenery, though tame, are beautiful. the road from natchez to port gibson is through a rich planting country, pleasantly undulating, with alternate forest and field scenery on either hand. but beyond port gibson the country assumes a more rugged aspect, and is less beautiful. the road, for the first few miles, winds among woods and cotton fields; but, after crossing bayou pierre, at a ford, called "grindstone ford," where the first rock is seen, in coming north from the mexican gulf, the forest is for many miles unbroken. i cannot express the strange delight i experienced as the iron heels of my horse first rung upon the broad rocky pavement, when ascending the bank of this stream from the water. no one but a northerner, the bases and crests of whose native hills are of granite, and who has passed two years or more in the stoneless soil of this region, can duly appreciate such emotions from such a cause. for forty-seven miles from port gibson, the road winds through a "rolling" country, two-thirds of which is enveloped in the gloom of the primeval forests, and then enters the little village of raymond, situated in an open space among the lofty forest trees which enclose it on all sides. raymond has been planted and matured to a handsome village, with a fine court-house, several hotels, and neat private dwellings, within five years. the society, like that of most new towns in this state, is composed of young men, merchants, lawyers, and physicians, the majority of whom are bachelors. the village is built around a pleasant square, in the centre of which is the court-house, one of the finest public buildings in this part of the state. it contains about four hundred inhabitants, not one fifth of whom are females. beyond raymond the country is less hilly, spreading more into table lands, which in many places are marshy. a ride of eight miles through a rudely cultivated country, in whose deep forests the persecuted deer finds a home, often bounding across the path of the traveller, will terminate at clinton, formerly mount salus, one of the prettiest and most flourishing villages in the state. it is situated upon a cluster of precipitous hills, contains some good buildings, and is a place of much business, which a rail-road, now in projection to the mississippi, will have a tendency greatly to increase. there is a methodist church in the village, and a small society of presbyterians. the most flourishing female seminary in the state is located in the immediate vicinity, under the superintendence of a lady, formerly well known in the literary world of new-york, as the authoress of one or two works, and a contributor to the columns of the "mirror" when in its infancy. there is also a college in this place, but it is not of long standing or very flourishing. the system adopted in this country, of combining an academy with a college, though the state of education may require some such method, will always be a clog to the advancement of the latter. there is a spanish proverb, "manacle a giant to a dwarf and he must stoop," which may have yet a more extensive application, and the truth of which this system is daily demonstrating. here are a land office and a printing office, which issues a weekly paper. there are many enterprising professional men and merchants in the village from almost every state in the union, but they are generally bachelors, and congregate at the hotels, so that for the number of inhabitants the proportion of families and dwellings is very small. when a number of high-spirited young men thus assemble in a little village, a code of honour, woven of the finest texture and of the most sensitive materials, will naturally be established. this code will have for its basis--feeling. it will be constantly appealed to, and its adjudications sacredly observed. to the decisions of such a tribunal, may be traced the numerous _affaires d'honneur_ which have occurred in the south during the last twenty years, most of which originated in villages composed principally of young gentlemen. there is something striking to the eye of a northerner, on entering one of these south-western villages. he will find every third building occupied by a lawyer or a doctor, around whose open doors will be congregated knots of young men, _en deshabille_, smoking and conversing, sometimes with animation, but more commonly with an air of indifference. he will pass by the stores and see them sitting upon the counters or lounging about the doors. in the streets and bar-rooms of the hotels, they will cluster around him, fashionably dressed, with sword canes dangling from their fingers. wherever he turns his eyes he sees nothing but young fellows. whole classes from medical and law schools, or whole counting-houses from new-york or boston, seem to have been transported _en masse_ into the little village through which he is passing. an old man, or a gray hair, scarcely relieves his vision. he will be reminded, as he gazes about him upon the youthful faces, of the fabled village, whose inhabitants had drunk at the fountain of rejuvenescence. women he will find to resemble angels, more than he had believed; for "few and far between," are their forms seen gliding through the streets, blockaded by young gentlemen, and "few" are the bright eyes that beam upon him from galleries and windows. if he stays during the evening, he may pass it in the noisy bar-room, the billiard-room, or at a wine-party. if he remains a "season," he may attend several public balls in the hotel, where he will meet with beautiful females, for whom the whole country, with its villages and plantations for twenty miles round, has been put under contribution. one of the most fashionable assemblies i have attended in the south-west, i was present at, one or two winters since, in the village of clinton. this village contains about four hundred inhabitants, and is thirty-five miles from vicksburg, its port, on the mississippi. vicksburg is about two miles below the walnut hills, one of the bluffs of the mississippi, and five hundred from the balize. it contains nearly two thousand inhabitants. thirty thousand bales of cotton, about one eighth of the whole quantity shipped by the state at large, are annually shipped from this place. in this respect it is inferior only to natchez and grand gulf, the first of which ships fifty thousand. there is a weekly paper published here, of a very respectable character, and well edited, and another is in contemplation. there are also a bank, with two or three churches, and a handsome brick court-house, erected on an eminence from which there is an extensive view of the mississippi, with its majestic steamers, and humbler flat boats, "keels" and "arks," and of the vast forests of the louisiana shore, which every where, when viewed from the mississippi side of the river, exhibits the appearance of an ocean whose surface, even to the level horizon, is thickly covered with the tops of trees in full foliage, like the golden isles of sea weed floating in the southern seas. there is no town in the south-west more flourishing than vicksburg. it is surrounded by rich plantations, and contains many public-spirited individuals; whose co-operation in public enterprises is opening new avenues of wealth for the citizens, and laying a broad and secure foundation for the future importance of the town. it is already a powerful rival of natchez: but the two places are so distant from each other, that their interests will always revolve in different circles. the situation of this town, on the shelving declivity of a cluster of precipitous hills, which rise abruptly from the river, is highly romantic. the houses are scattered in picturesque groups on natural terraces along the river, the balcony or portico of one often overhanging the roof of another. merchandise destined for clinton is landed here, and hauled over a hilly country to that place, a distance of thirty-five miles. cotton is often conveyed to vicksburg, and other shipping places, from a distance of one hundred miles in the interior. the cotton teams, containing usually ten bales, are drawn by six or eight yoke of oxen, which accomplish about twenty miles a day in good weather. the teamsters camp every night, in an enclosure formed by their waggons and cattle, with a bright fire burning; and occasionally their bivouacs present striking groups for the pencil. the majority of these teamsters are slaves; but there are many small farmers who drive their own oxen, often conveying their whole crop on one waggon. these small farmers form a peculiar class, and include the majority of the inhabitants in the east part of this state. with the awkwardness of the yankee countryman, they are destitute of his morals, education, and reverence for religion. with the rude and bold qualities of the chivalrous kentuckian, they are destitute of his intelligence, and the humour which tempers and renders amusing his very vices. they are in general uneducated, and their apparel consists of a coarse linsey-woolsey, of a dingy yellow or blue, with broad-brimmed hats; though they usually follow their teams bare-footed and bare-headed, with their long locks hanging over their eyes and shoulders, giving them a wild appearance. accost them as they pass you, one after another, in long lines, cracking their whips, which they use instead of the goad--perhaps the turn-out of a whole district, from the old, gray-headed hunter, to the youngest boy that can wield the whip, often fifteen and twenty feet in length, including the staff--and their replies will generally be sullen or insulting. there is in them a total absence of that courtesy which the country people of new-england manifest for strangers. they will seldom allow carriages to pass them, unless attended by gentlemen, who often have to do battle for the highway. ladies, in carriages or on horseback, if unattended by gentlemen, are most usually insulted by them. they have a decided aversion to a broad-cloth coat, and this antipathy is transferred to the wearer. there is a species of warfare kept up between them and the citizens of the shipping ports, mutually evinced by the jokes and tricks played upon them by the latter when they come into market; and their retaliation, when their hour of advantage comes, by an encounter in the back woods, which they claim as their domain. at home they live in log-houses on partially cleared lands, labour hard in their fields, sometimes owning a few slaves, but more generally with but one or none.--they are good hunters, and expert with the rifle, which is an important article of furniture in their houses. whiskey is their favourite beverage, which they present to the stranger with one hand, while they give him a chair with the other. they are uneducated, and destitute of the regular administration of the gospel. as there is no common school system of education adopted in this state, their children grow up as rude and ignorant as themselves; some of whom, looking as wild as young orsons, i have caught in the cotton market at natchez, and questioned upon the simple principles of religion and education which every child is supposed to know, and have found them wholly uninformed. this class of men is valuable to the state, and legislative policy, at least, should recommend such measures as would secure religious instruction to the adults, and the advantages of a common education to the children, who, in thirty years, will form a large proportion of the native inhabitants of mississippi. about three miles from clinton, on the main road to the capital, is situated "new forest," a cotton plantation, owned and recently improved by two enterprising young gentlemen from hallowell, in maine. they are the sons of one of the most eminent and estimable medical gentlemen in new-england; whose pre-eminent success in the management of an appalling and desolating epidemic, a few years since, acquired for him a proud and distinguished name, both at home and abroad.--new forest is spread out upon the elevated ridges which separate the waters of the chitalusa, or big black, and pearl rivers; and pleasantly situated in one of the richest and healthiest counties, on a line with the projected rail-road, and in the immediate neighbourhood of the capital of the state--it will soon become one of the most valuable and beautiful "homesteads" to be seen in the south. besides the proprietors of this estate, there are several other young gentlemen from maine, residing in mississippi, who, with the characteristic energy and perseverance of northerners, are steadily advancing to wealth and distinction. jackson, the capital of the state, is in latitude ° ', and in longitude ° ' west of washington. it is one hundred and eight miles north-east of natchez, and forty-five miles east of vicksburg, on the mississippi. it lies on the right bank of pearl river; which, after a southerly course, and dividing the state into two nearly equal parts, empties into lake borgne, in the gulf of mexico. this river is navigable two hundred miles from its mouth, and steamboats have been as far as jackson. but the torrent is rapid, and the obstructions to navigation are very numerous. there are many pleasant and thriving villages on its banks, and a rich country of plantations spreads away on either side. the great rail-road from new-orleans to nashville will run near and parallel with this river for a great distance, and will monopolize, for the former market, all that branch of the cotton trade which is now attached to the ports on the mississippi above mentioned. jackson was but recently selected as the seat of government of this state. its site was chosen for its central position alone, without any reference to its resources, or any other aids to future importance, than it might derive from being the state capital. it is built upon a level area, half a mile square, cut out from the depth of the forest which surrounds it. it is a quarter of a mile from the pearl, which is concealed by the forests; a steep, winding path through which leads to the water side, where the turbid current darts by, a miniature resemblance of the great river rolling to the west of it. there are a branch bank in this place, and a plain, two-storied brick edifice, occupied by the legislature and courts of justice. three newspapers are published here, which, like all others in this state, are of a warmly political character. a handsome state house is now in the progress of erection, and many private and public buildings are going up in various parts of the town. there is a steam saw-mill near the village, for water privileges are unknown in this region of impetuous streams; and several other avenues of wealth and public benefit are opening by the enterprising citizens.--during the intervals of the sessions of the legislature and supreme court, jackson is a very uninteresting village; but during the sessions of these bodies, there is no town in the state which, for the time, presents so lively and stirring a scene. vernon is a pleasant village situated on a rapid and navigable stream, which often winds through wild and romantic scenery. steamboats ascend to this place during part of the year. it is rapidly improving and filling with many young men, some of whom, possessing both talent and industry, are natives of this state. it is worthy of remark that those communities composed principally of young mississippians, are distinguished by much less dissipation and adherence to the code of honour formerly alluded to, than such as are formed of young men principally from the northern and atlantic southern states. the young mississippian is not the irascible, hot-headed, and quarrelsome being he has been represented, although naturally warm-hearted and full of generous feelings, and governed by a high sense of honour. he is seldom a beau or a buck in the city--acceptation of those terms, but dresses plainly--as often in pantaloons of kentucky jean, a broad brimmed white hat, brogans and a blanket coat, as in any other style of vesture. nevertheless he knows how to be well-dressed, and the public assemblies of the south-west boast more richly attired young gentlemen than are often found in the assembly-rooms of the atlantic cities. he is educated to become a farmer--an occupation which requires and originates plainness of manners--and not to shine in the circles of a city. he prefers riding over his own, or his father's estate, wrapped in his blanket coat, to a morning lounge in broadway enveloped in a fashionable cloak. he would rather walk booted and spurred upon the "turf," the "exchange" of southern planters, than move, shod in delicate slippers, over the noiseless carpet of the drawing-room. his short handled riding-whip serves him better than the slender rattan--his blanketed saddle is his cabriolet--the road between his plantation and a cotton market, his "drive"--and the noble forests on his domain--the home of the stag and deer--he finds when he moves through their deep glades, with his rifle in his hand, better suited to his tastes than the "mall," or hyde park, and he will be ready to bet a bale of cotton that the sport which they afford him is at least an equivalent to shooting cock-sparrows from a thorn bush on a moor. satartia is on the left side of the river yazoo, fourteen miles from vernon and thirty-five by land from vicksburg. the village is pleasantly situated near the water, contains ten or fifteen stores, a tavern, and several dwelling houses, with a post-office. from ten to twelve thousand bales of cotton are annually shipped here. it promises to be one of the largest shipping ports in north mississippi. benton, on the yazoo, twenty-two miles to the north of vernon, is a growing place, and issues a weekly newspaper. the rich country around is rapidly settling, and in the course of twenty years it will be one of the wealthiest portions of this state. amsterdam, within steamboat navigation, on a deep creek, sixteen miles from vicksburg, is a thriving town. columbia, on the east bank of the pearl, is accessible by steamboats, and columbus, on the tombeckbee, some hundred miles above mobile, is a flourishing town. there is here a printing press which issues a weekly paper. steamboats occasionally ascend to this place from mobile. there are besides, east of the pearl river, brandon, so called in honour of the ex-governor; winchester, westville, pearlington, and shieldsborough--the latter in the southern extremity of the state on lake borgne, within forty miles of new-orleans--most of which are thriving villages. one of the most flourishing towns on the pearl is monticello, about ninety miles east of natchez. manchester, on the yazoo, has been but recently settled. it is very flourishing, contains many stores and dwellings, and ships from twelve to fifteen thousand bales of cotton annually. it is seventy-six miles from the mouth of the yazoo, on the mississippi. twenty-five miles from this village is rankin, within three miles of steamboat navigation, and rapidly rising into importance. there are many other villages in this new region yet in embryo, but which must grow with the country into wealth and distinction. grand gulf, about forty-five miles above natchez, on the mississippi, situated on a natural terrace, receding to a wooded crescent of hills on the north and east, and just above a dangerous eddy which gives the name to the town, is the third town of commercial importance in the state. it was settled five years ago, and the present year about forty-five thousand bales of cotton were shipped from this port. it contains about nine hundred inhabitants. a rail-road is projected to port gibson eight miles back from the river, and to the interior, which will benefit both places. within sight of the village, and a short distance above it, is the only cliff of rocks in this region. mississippians and louisianians should do pilgrimage there. in the vicinity of this town aaron burr surrendered to general mead, and the detachment ordered out to arrest him. rodney is a pleasant town twenty miles above natchez, on the river. it is a place of commercial importance, and ships annually many thousand bales of cotton. its inhabitants are enterprising and intelligent. warrenton, nine miles below vicksburg, is the only other village between natchez and the latter place. the most important settlement south of natchez is woodville, a beautiful village, built around a square, in the centre of which is a handsome court-house. various streets diverge from this public square, and are soon lost in the forests, which enclose the village. there are some eminent lawyers who reside here, and the neighbourhood is one of the wealthiest and most polished in the state. governor poindexter resided till recently at a neat country seat a short ride from woodville, striking only for its quiet cottage-like beauty. dr. carmichael, president of the board of medical censors of this state, and formerly a surgeon in the revolutionary army, and the late governor brandon, reside also in the neighbourhood, but still more distant in the country. one of the most eminent lawyers of this place is a native of portland, who has also distinguished himself as an occasional contributor to the annuals. one of the first lawyers in vicksburg, if not in the state, is a native of maine, and a graduate of bowdoin. he is this year a candidate for congress; though with that juvenility, which characterises southern athlete in every intellectual arena, he scarcely yet numbers thirty summers. there are three churches in woodville; a methodist, episcopalian, and baptist. a weekly paper is published here, conducted with talent and editorial skill. the court-house, which is a substantial and handsome structure of brick, contains a superior clock. a market-house and a gaol are also numbered among the public buildings. there is a branch of the planters' bank here, and an academy for boys and another for girls, established within a mile of the village, are excellent schools. woodville is about eighteen miles from the mississippi. its port is fort adams, formerly mentioned. a rail-road is in contemplation, between woodville and st. francisville, la. twenty-nine miles distant, on the river, which will render the communication easy and rapid to new-orleans. this village contains about eight hundred inhabitants, and is one of the healthiest in mississippi. during a period of eighteen months--according to mr. vose, to whose accurate and elaborate researches i am indebted for much of my information upon the topography of this state--out of one hundred and forty-four men, of whom he kept an account for that length of time, only three died, and two of these were killed. fayette, a very neat and pleasant village, containing a handsome court-house and church, is twenty-five miles east of natchez. it is the most rural and new-england like village, except port gibson, in the state. meadville, to the south, is a small retired place, containing a post-office. kingston, on the road from natchez to woodville, originally settled by a colony from new-jersey, is a small village, containing a church, post-office, two or three stores, and several dwelling-houses. this and pinckneyville, a few miles south of woodville, the latter merely a short street, lined by a few dwelling-houses and stores, are the only places south of natchez, besides those already mentioned, of any importance. the site of white apple village, the capital of the natchez tribe, and the residence of "great sun," chief of the chiefs of that interesting nation, is pointed out to the traveller, on the river road to woodville from natchez. a few mounds, with the usual remains of spear and arrow heads, beads, and broken pottery only exist, to mark the spot. fragments of gold lace and spanish weapons have been found in the neighbourhood, with many other traces of the march of the spanish army through this country. i will conclude my long letter with an allusion to the only remaining place of any importance.--about eighteen miles to the east of woodville are the "elysian fields!" "shade of achilles," you exclaim, "are the elysü campi of thy ghostly wanderings discovered in a mississippian forest?" nevertheless they are here, and the great problem is solved. some have placed these regions in the sun, some in the moon, and others in the middle region of the air; and others again in the centre of the earth, in the vicinity of tartarus, and probably in the neighbourhood of the "incognita terra" of capt. symmes. by many, and this was the vulgar opinion, they were supposed to lie among the canary isles: but, march of mind! more modern and wiser heads have discovered their position nearly on the confines of louisiana and mississippi. here the traveller will behold beautiful birds with gorgeous plumage--for splendidly enamelled birds enrich, with their brilliant dyes, the forests of the south--and his ear will drink in the sweetest melody from the feathered myriads--such as would have tempted even "pius Æneas" to linger on his way: but this, alas! is all that his imagination will recognize of elysium. trojan chiefs he will find metamorphosed into mandingo negroes, who, in lieu of managing "war-horses," and handling arms, are guiding, with loud clamour, the philosophic mule, or wielding the useful hoe. nymphs gathering flowers, "themselves the fairer," he will find changed into congo sylphs, whose zoneless waists plainly demonstrate the possibility of the quadrature, who with skilful fingers gather the milk-white cotton from the teeming stalks. a few buildings, of an ordinary kind, and a post-office, surrounded by cotton fields and woods, make up the sum of this celestial abode for departed heroes. footnotes: [ ] henry vose, esq., of woodville. xxxviii. coloured population of the south--mississippi saddle and horse caparisons--ride through the city--chain gang--lynch law--want of a penitentiary--difficulties in consequence-- summary justice--boating on the mississippi--chain gang and the runaway--suburbs--orphan asylum--a past era. for the tourist to give sketches of the south without adverting to the slave population, would be as difficult, as for the historian to write of the early settlement of america without alluding to the aborigines. i shall, therefore, in this and two or three subsequent letters, discursively, as the subject is suggested to me, introduce such notices of the relative and actual condition of the slaves in this state, as may have a tendency to correct any prejudices, which as a new-englander you may have imbibed, and set you right upon a subject, which has been singularly misrepresented. with slavery in the abstract, my remarks have nothing to do. southerners and northerners think alike here--but i wish to present the subject before you precisely, as during a long residence in mississippi it has constantly been presented to me--not to give you _ex parte_ facts, and those from the darkest side of the picture--recording the moan here, and omitting the smile there--remembering the sound of the lash, and forgetting that of the violin--painting the ragged slave, and passing by his gayly-dressed fellow--but to state facts impartially and fearlessly, leaving you to draw your own conclusions. aware of the nature of the ground, upon which i am about to venture, i trust that i shall approach a subject upon which the sons of the chivalresque south are naturally so sensitive--involving as it does, a right so sacred as that of property--without those prejudices with which a northerner might be supposed fore-armed. among the numerous important subjects with which the public mind within a few years past has been agitated, no one has been so obscured by error, and altogether so little understood as this. in my letters from new-orleans, there was but little allusion to this subject, as i then possessed very slight and imperfect knowledge of it. but the broad peculiarities of slavery, and the general traits of african character differ not materially, whether exhibited on the extensive sugar fields of louisiana, or on the cotton plantations of mississippi. the relative situations, also, of the slaves are so much alike, that a dissertation upon slavery as it exists in one state, can with almost equal precision be applied to it as existing in the other. all my remarks upon this subject, however, are the result only of my observations in the state of mississippi. "will you ride with me into the country?" said a young planter as we rose from the _table d'hote_ of the mansion house. "i am about purchasing a few negroes, and a peep into a slave-mart may not be uninteresting to you." i readily embraced the opportunity thus presented of visiting a southern slave market; and in a few minutes our horses were at the door--long-tailed pacers with flowing manes and slender limbs. one of them was caparisoned with the deep concave spanish saddle i have so often mentioned, with a high pummel terminating in a round flat head--and covered with blue broad-cloth, which hung nearly to the stirrup, and, extending in one piece far behind, formed ample housings. the other horse bore an ordinary saddle, over which was thrown a light blue merino blanket several times folded, and secured to the saddle by a gayly-woven surcingle. southerners usually ride with a thick blanket, oftener white than coloured, thus bound over their saddles, forming a comfortable cushion, and another placed between the saddle and the back of the horse. these blankets are considered indispensable in this climate. they are not always of the purest white, and the negroes, whose taste in this as well as in many other things might be improved, usually put them on awry, with a ragged corner hanging down in fine contrast with the handsome saddle, and in pleasant companionship with the cloth skirts of the rider. these little matters, however, the southerner seldom notices. if well mounted, which he is always sure to be, the "keeping" of the _ensemble_ is but a secondary affair. the saddle blankets are often unstrapped by the rider, in case of rain, and folded about him after the manner of the choctaws. this custom of wearing blankets over the saddle originated with the old pioneers, who carried them to sleep on, as they camped in the woods. crossing cotton square--the chief market place for cotton in the city--we in a few minutes entered upon the great northern road leading to jackson, the capital of this state, and thence to washington, the seat of the general government. near the intersection of this road with the city streets, a sudden clanking of chains, startled our horses, and the next instant a gang of negroes, in straggling procession, followed by an ordinary looking white man armed with a whip, emerged from one of the streets. each negro carried slung over his shoulder a polished iron ball, apparently a twenty-four pounder, suspended by a heavy ox chain five or six feet in length and secured to the right ancle by a massive ring. they moved along under their burthen as though it were any thing but comfortable--some with idealess faces, looking the mere animal, others with sullen and dogged looks, and others again talking and laughing as though "hymen's chains had bound them." this galley-looking procession, whose tattered wardrobe seemed to have been stolen from a chimney-sweep, was what is very appropriately termed the "chain gang," a fraternity well known in new-orleans and natchez, and valued for its services in cleaning and repairing the streets. in the former city however there is one for whites as well as blacks, who may be known by their parti-coloured clothing. these gangs are merely moving penitentiaries, appropriating that amount of labour, which at the north is expended within four walls, to the broader limits of the city. in natchez, negro criminals only are thus honoured--a "coat of tar and feathers" being applied to those white men who may require some kind of discipline not provided by the courts of justice. this last summary process of popular justice, or more properly excitement, termed "lynch's law," i believe from its originator, is too much in vogue in this state. in the resentment of public as well as private wrongs, individuals have long been in the habit of forestalling and improving upon the decisions of the courts, by taking the execution of the laws into their own hands. the consequence is, that the dignity of the bench is degraded, and justice is set aside for the exhibition of wild outbreaks of popular feeling. but this summary mode of procedure is now, to the honour of the south, rapidly falling into disuse, and men feel willing to yield to the dignity of the law and acquiesce in its decisions, even to the sacrifice of individual prejudices. that "border" state of society from which the custom originated no longer exists here--and the causes having ceased which at first, in the absence of proper tribunals, may have rendered it perhaps necessary thus to administer justice, the effect will naturally cease also--and men will surrender the sword of justice to the public tribunals, erected by themselves. the want of a penitentiary has had a tendency to keep this custom alive in this state longer than it would otherwise have existed. when an individual is guilty of any offence, which renders him amenable to the laws, he must either be acquitted altogether or suffer death. there is no intermediate mode of punishment, except the stocks, whipping, branding and cropping--the last two are seldom resorted to now as legal punishments, and the others are regarded as too light an expiation for an offence which merited a seven years' imprisonment. therefore when a criminal is acquitted, because his guilt is not quite sufficient to demand the sacrifice of his life, but enough to confine him to many years' hard labour in a state's prison--popular vengeance, if the nature of his guilt has enlisted the feelings of the multitude--immediately seizes upon him, and the poor wretch expiates his crime, by one of the most cruel systems of justice that human ingenuity has ever invented. when a criminal is here condemned to death, whose sentence in other states would have been confinement for a limited period, there is in public feeling sometimes a reaction, as singularly in the other extreme. petitions for his pardon are circulated, and, with columns of names appended, presented to the governor, for here there can be no commutation of a sentence of death.--there must be a free, unconditional pardon or the scaffold. sometimes a criminal under sentence of death is pardoned by the governor, thinking his crime not sufficiently aggravated to be atoned for by his life, which may often be the case in a state where eleven crimes are punishable with death.[ ] in such instances the criminal, unless escorted beyond the reach of popular resentment, receives from the multitude a commutation of his sentence, which, through the tender mercies of his judges, is more dreadful than death itself. death indeed has in two or three instances terminated the sufferings of these victims of public feeling; sometimes they have been placed upright in a skiff with their arms pinioned behind them, and a jug of whiskey placed at their feet, and thus thrown upon the mercy of the mississippi, down which under a burning sun, naked and bare-headed they are borne, till rescued by some steamer, cast upon the inhospitable shores, or buried beneath the waves. this act, inhuman as it may appear, does not indicate a more barbarous or inhuman state of society than elsewhere. it is the consequence of a deficiency in the mode and means of punishment. was there but one sentence passed upon all criminals in sober new-england, and that sentence, death, humanity would lead to numerous acquittals and pardons, while popular feeling, when it felt itself injured, refusing to acquiesce in the total escape of the guilty, would take upon itself to inflict that punishment which the code had neglected to provide. a penitentiary in this state would at once do away this custom, which however necessary it may appear in the opinion of those who adhere to it, can never be defended. the "chain gang," which led to this digression, consists of insubordinate negroes and slaves, who, having run away from their masters, have been taken up and confined in jail, to await the reclamation of their owners; during the interval elapsing between their arrest and the time of their liberation by their masters, they are daily led forth from the prison to work on the streets, under the charge of an overseer. this punishment is considered very degrading, and merely the threat of the calaboose, or the "ball and chain," will often intimidate and render submissive the most incorrigible. "hi! bill--dat you in ball and chain?" said, as we passed by, a young slave well dressed and mounted on his master's fine saddle-horse; "i no tink you eber runaway--you is a disgrace to we black gentlemen--i neber 'sociate wid you 'gain." bill, who was a tall, good-looking mulatto, the coachman of a gentleman near town, and of course, high in the scale of african society--seemed to feel the reproof, and be sensible of his degradation; for he hung his head moodily and in silence. the other prisoners, however, began to vituperate the young horseman, who was glad to escape from their billingsgate missiles, by quickening his speed. when a runaway is apprehended he is committed to jail, and an advertisement describing his person and wearing apparel, is inserted in the newspaper for six months, if he is not claimed in the interim; at the expiration of which period he may be sold at auction, and the proceeds, after deducting all expenses, go to the use of the county. should the owner subsequently claim and prove his property, the amount paid into the treasury, on account of the sale, is refunded to him. an owner, making his claim before the six months have expired, and proving his property before a justice of the peace, is allowed to take him away on producing a certificate to that effect from the justice, and paying the expenses incurred in the apprehension and securing of his slave. all runaways, or suspected runaways, may lawfully be apprehended, and carried before a justice of the peace, who at his discretion may either commit them to jail, or send them to the owner, and the person by whom the arrest was made, is entitled to six dollars for each, on delivering him to his master. the road, for the first mile after leaving town, passed through a charming country, seen at intervals, and between long lines of unpainted, wretched looking dwellings, occupied as "groggeries," by free negroes, or poor emigrants. the contrast between the miserable buildings and their squalid occupants, and the rich woodlands beyond them on either side, among whose noble trees rose the white columns and lofty roofs of elegant villas, was certainly very great, but far from agreeable. on a hill a short distance from the road the "orphan asylum" was pointed out to me, by my companion, as a monument of the benevolence and public spirit of the ladies of natchez. shortly after the prevalence of a great epidemic in this city, seventeen years ago, which left many children orphans, and destitute, a few distinguished ladies formed themselves into a society for their aid, obtained bountiful subscriptions, for on such occasions hearts and purses are freely opened, gathered the parentless children scattered throughout the city, and placed them in this asylum, where all destitute orphans have since found a home. the institution is now in a flourishing state, and is under the patronage of several ladies of great respectability. some distance beyond the asylum, to the left, a fine view of groves and green hills, presenting a prospect strikingly resembling english park scenery, terminated in the roofs and columns of a "southern palace" rising above rich woods and evergreen foliage--the residence of the family of a late distinguished officer under the spanish _regime_. these massive structures, with double colonnades and spacious galleries, peculiar to the opulent southern planter, are numerous in the neighbourhood of natchez, but they date back to the great cotton era, when fortunes were made almost in a single season. magnificence was then the prevailing taste, and the walls of costly dwellings rose, as the most available means of displaying to the public eye the rapidly acquired wealth of successful speculators. but times are now somewhat changed. the rage for these noble and expensive structures has passed away, and those which are now seen, rear themselves among magnificent groves--monuments only of the past, when the good old customs of virginia characterized the inhabitants. these were for the most part gentlemen of education, or officers of the army--for those were military times. this was the day of dinner parties and courtly balls--an era to which the gentlemen, who participated in them, now look back with a sigh. perhaps no state--not even virginia herself, which mississippi claims as her mother country--could present a more hospitable, chivalrous, and high-minded class of men, or more cultivated females than this, during the first few years, subsequent to its accession to the union. footnotes: [ ] the capital crimes of this state are, murder, arson, robbery, rape, burglary, stealing a slave, stealing or selling a free person for a slave, forgery, manslaughter, second offence--horse stealing, second offence--accessories, before the fact, to rape, arson, robbery and burglary. xxxix. slave mart--scene within--file of negroes--"trader"--negro feelings--george and his purchaser--george's old and new wife--female slaves--the intellect of the negro--a theory-- an elderly lady and her slaves--views of slaves upon their condition--separation of kindred among slaves. having terminated my last letter with one of my usual digressions, before entering upon the subject with which i had intended to fill its pages, i will now pursue my original design, and introduce you into one of the great slave-marts of the south-west. a mile from natchez we came to a cluster of rough wooden buildings, in the angle of two roads, in front of which several saddle-horses, either tied or held by servants, indicated a place of popular resort. "this is the slave market," said my companion, pointing to a building in the rear; and alighting, we left our horses in charge of a neatly dressed yellow boy belonging to the establishment. entering through a wide gate into a narrow court-yard, partially enclosed by low buildings, a scene of a novel character was at once presented. a line of negroes, commencing at the entrance with the tallest, who was not more than five feet eight or nine inches in height--for negroes are a low rather than a tall race of men--down to a little fellow about ten years of age, extended in a semicircle around the right side of the yard. there were in all about forty. each was dressed in the usual uniform of slaves, when in market, consisting of a fashionably shaped, black fur hat, roundabout and trowsers of coarse corduroy velvet, precisely such as are worn by irish labourers, when they first "come over the water;" good vests, strong shoes, and white cotton shirts, completed their equipment. this dress they lay aside after they are sold, or wear out as soon as may be; for the negro dislikes to retain the indication of his having recently been in the market. with their hats in their hands, which hung down by their sides, they stood perfectly still, and in close order, while some gentlemen were passing from one to another examining for the purpose of buying. with the exception of displaying their teeth when addressed, and rolling their great white eyes about the court--they were so many statues of the most glossy ebony. as we entered the mart, one of the slave merchants--for a "lot" of slaves is usually accompanied, if not owned, by two or three individuals--approached us, saying "good morning, gentlemen! would you like to examine my lot of boys?[ ] i have as fine a lot as ever came into market."--we approached them, one of us as a curious spectator, the other as a purchaser; and as my friend passed along the line, with a scrutinizing eye--giving that singular look, peculiar to the buyer of slaves as he glances from head to foot over each individual--the passive subjects of his observations betrayed no other signs of curiosity than that evinced by an occasional glance. the entrance of a stranger into a mart is by no means an unimportant event to the slave, for every stranger may soon become his master and command his future destinies. but negroes are seldom strongly affected by any circumstances, and their reflections never give them much uneasiness. to the generality of them, life is mere animal existence, passed in physical exertion or enjoyment. this is the case with the field hands in particular, and more so with the females than the males, who through a long life seldom see any other white person than their master or overseer, or any other gentleman's dwelling than the "great hus," the "white house" of these little domestic empires in which they are the subjects. to this class a change of masters is a matter of indifference;--they are handed from one to another with the passiveness of a purchased horse. these constitute the lowest rank of slaves, and lowest grade in the scale of the human species. domestic and city slaves form classes of a superior order, though each constitutes a distinct class by itself. i shall speak of these more fully hereafter. "for what service in particular did you want to buy?" inquired the "trader" of my friend, "a coachman." "there is one i think may suit you, sir," said he; "george, step out here." forthwith a light-coloured negro, with a fine figure and good face, bating an enormous pair of lips, advanced a step from the line, and looked with some degree of intelligence, though with an air of indifference, upon his intended purchaser. "how old are you, george?" he inquired. "i don't recollect, sir, 'zactly--b'lieve i'm somewere 'bout twenty-dree." "where were you raised?" "on master r----'s farm in wirginny." "then you are a virginia negro." "yes, master, me full blood wirginny." "did you drive your master's carriage?" "yes, master, i drove ole missus' carage, more dan four year." "have you a wife?" "yes, master, i lef' young wife in richmond, but i got new wife here in de lot. i wishy you buy her, master, if you gwine to buy me." then came a series of the usual questions from the intended purchaser. "let me see your teeth--your tongue--open your hands--roll up your sleeves--have you a good appetite? are you good tempered?" "me get mad sometime," replied george to the last query, "but neber wid my horses." "what do you ask for this boy, sir?" inquired the planter, after putting a few more questions to the unusually loquacious slave. "i have held him at one thousand dollars, but i will take nine hundred and seventy-five cash." the bargain was in a few minutes concluded, and my companion took the negro at nine hundred and fifty, giving negotiable paper--the customary way of paying for slaves--at four months. it is, however, generally understood, that if servants prove unqualified for the particular service for which they are bought, the sale is dissolved. so there is in general perfect safety in purchasing servants untried, and merely on the warrant of the seller. george, in the meanwhile, stood by, with his hat in his hand, apparently unconcerned in the negotiations going on, and when the trader said to him, "george, the gentleman has bought you; get ready to go with him," he appeared gratified at the tidings, and smiled upon his companions apparently quite pleased, and then bounded off to the buildings for his little bundle. in a few minutes he returned and took leave of several of his companions, who, having been drawn up into line only to be shown to purchasers, were now once more at liberty, and moving about the court, all the visiters having left except my friend and myself. "you mighty lucky, george" said one, congratulating him, "to get sol so quick." oh, you neber min', charly," replied the delighted george; "your turn come soon too." "you know who you' master be--whar he live?" said another. "no, not zactly; he lib on plantation some whar here 'bout." after taking leave of his companions, george came, hat in hand, very respectfully, to his purchaser, and said, "young master, you never be sorry for buy george; i make you a good servant. but--beg pardon, master--but--if master would be so good as buy jane--" "who is jane?"--"my wife, since i come from wirginny. she good wife and a good girl--she good seamstress an' good nurse--make de nice shirts and ebery ting." "where is she, george?" "here she be, master," said he, pointing to a bright mulatto girl, about eighteen, with a genteel figure and a lively countenance, who was waiting with anxiety the reply of the planter. opposite to the line of males was also a line of females, extended along the left side of the court. they were about twenty in number, dressed in neat calico frocks, white aprons and capes, and fancy kerchiefs, tied in a mode peculiar to the negress, upon their heads. their whole appearance was extremely neat and "tidy." they could not be disciplined to the grave silence observed by the males, but were constantly laughing and chattering with each other in suppressed voices, and appeared to take, generally, a livelier interest in the transactions in which all were equally concerned. the planter approached this line of female slaves, and inquired of the girl her capabilities as seamstress, nurse, and ironer. her price was seven hundred and fifty dollars. he said he would take her to his family; and if the ladies were pleased with her, he would purchase her. the poor girl was as much delighted as though already purchased; and, at the command of the trader, went to prepare herself to leave the mart. some other negroes were purchased, several of whom appeared merely powerful combinations of bone and muscle, and the only idea suggested to the mind, in gazing upon them, was of remarkable physical energy. in the dull eye and fleshy mouth there was no expression indicative of intellect. it is the popular opinion, both at the north and south, that the negro is inferior in intellect to the white man. this opinion is not, however, founded upon just experience. the african intellect has never been developed. individuals, indeed, have been educated, whose acquirements certainly reflect honour upon the race. uneducated negroes have also exhibited indications of strong intellectual vigour. and because, in both instances, the negro has shown himself still inferior to the white man, he is unhesitatingly pronounced an inferior being, irremediably so, in the estimation of his judges, by the operation of organic laws. that the african intellect, in its present state, is inferior to that of the european, is undeniable: but that, by any peculiarity in his organized system, a necessary inferiority ensues, will not so readily be admitted. physiologists have agreed, that physical peculiarities may be communicated from generation to generation; and it is no less certain that mental talents may thus be transmitted also. dr. king, in speaking of the fatality which attended the house of stuart, says, "if i were to ascribe their calamities to another cause" (than evil fate), "or endeavour to account for them by any natural means, i should think they were chiefly owing to a certain obstinacy of temper, which appears to have been hereditary, and inherent in all the stuarts, except charles the second." the brahmins are much superior in intellect to all the other castes in hindostan; and it is mentioned, says combe, by the missionaries, as an ascertained fact, that the children of the brahmins are naturally more acute, intelligent, and docile, than those of the inferior castes, age and other circumstances being equal. "parents," says dr. gregory, "frequently live again in their offspring. it is certain that children resemble their parents, not only in countenance and in the form of the body, but in mental dispositions and in their virtues and vices. the haughty "gens claudia" transmitted the peculiar mental character of its founder through six centuries, and in the tyrannical nero again lived the imperious appius claudius." if this theory be correct, there is something more to be done before african intellect can be fairly developed. if culture will expand the intellect of the untutored negro--take one of the present generation for instance--according to this theory, which experience proves to be true, it is certain that he will transmit to his offspring an intellectual organization, so to speak, superior to that which was transmitted to himself by his parent; the mind of the offspring will be a less rude soil for mental cultivation than was his father's; and when his education is commenced, he will be one step in the scale of intellect in advance of his parents at the same period. when he arrives at maturity, he will, under equal circumstances, be mentally superior to his progenitors at the same period of their lives. his offspring will be superior to himself, and their offspring yet a grade higher in the scale of intelligence, and standing, perhaps, upon the very line drawn between human and angelic intellect. his mind will bear comparison with that of the white man; and, morally and intellectually, he will stand beside him as his equal. this is mere theory, but it is theory based upon the operation of laws whose general principles cannot be controverted: and when the negro, by the emancipation of his species, has opportunity for the culture of his own mind--which, if he is disposed to neglect, the philanthropist will not be--a few generations will leave no traces of those mental shackles, which, like chains loaded upon the body, have so long borne him down to a level with the brute. till time proves this original equi-mental organization of the white man and the negro, which opinion fact has been strengthening for two or three generations in individual instances, it is due, both to philanthropy and justice, to suspend the sentence which condemns him as a being less than man. shortly before leaving the slave mart--a handsome carriage drove up, from which alighted an elderly lady, who, leaning on the arm of a youth, entered the court. after looking at and questioning in a kind tone several of the female slaves, she purchased two, a young mother and her child, and in a few minutes afterward, at the solicitation of the youth, purchased the husband of the girl, and all three, with happy faces--happier, that they were not to be separated--flew to get their little parcels, and rode away with their mistress,--the wife and child sitting within the carriage on the front seat--and the man on the coach-box beside the coachman. we soon after mounted our horses, and with george and his wife walking on before us with elastic steps, returned to town. the slave market, which is the subject of this letter, i have since frequently visited, as well as four or five others in the vicinity of natchez, where several hundred slaves of all ages, colours, and conditions, of both sexes, were exposed for sale. i have conversed with a great number of them, from the liveliest to the most sullen, and my impression, which is daily strengthened by a more intimate knowledge of their species, is, that the negro is not dissatisfied with his condition--that it is seldom or never the subject of his thoughts--that he regards it as his destiny, as much as a home about the poles is the laplander's; nor does he pine after freedom more than the other after the green hills and sunny skies of italy. they find themselves first existing in this state, and pass through life without questioning the justice of their allotment, which, if they think at all, they suppose a natural one. had the american slave once enjoyed freedom, these circumstances would be changed. but there is probably not one among them, except some venerable african, who has realized what it is to be free. so long as he has had any consciousness, he is conscious of having been a slave, and he fulfils his duties as such, without stopping from time to time to put the question to himself, "is this my original destiny? was my first ancestor created a slave?" with as much propriety might the haughty white man query if more exalted physical beauty and perfection were not once his, and whether man was not originally winged! there are, of course, individual exceptions to this general remark, but in the present darkened state of negro intellect, these exceptions are very few. during the time they remain in the mart for sale, few men pass their time with more apparent contentment. there are two extensive markets for slaves, opposite to each other, on the road to washington, three miles from natchez. these i have passed at least once a week for more than a year, and i have always seen the slaves either dancing to the sound of the violin, played by one of their number, playing at marbles, quoits, practising gymnastics, lounging, sleeping in the sun, or idling about the door, while their masters, the "slave traders," regardless of them, were playing at cards or backgammon, smoking or sitting about the door conversing together, or with a buyer; their presence not producing the least restraint upon the noisy merriment around them. but when a purchaser stops and desires to look at the "lot," the slaves at once leave their several amusements, and draw up into a line, for inspection and purchase; and when the stranger leaves, taking with him one or more of their number, to whom they bid a cheerful good-bye, they return to their former pursuits wholly unimpressed by the event that has just taken place. negroes, when brought into market, are always anxious to be sold; and to be sold first is a great desideratum, for in their estimation it is an evidence of their superiority. "none but poor nigger stay for be sol' last." hence, when a purchaser enters, they strive to appear before him to the best advantage, and by their manner assiduously invite attention to themselves. there are but two things which at all depress the mind of the slave in market; these are, the possibility of obtaining a bad master, and that of being separated from their relations. the first, however, seldom troubles them, and the degree in which they are governed by this apprehension depends wholly upon their former treatment. with individuals who have been blessed with a partial master it may weigh much, but with the generality of slaves it is a light consideration. the latter apprehension is in a great measure lessened by a certainty of being sold together to the same individual, if possible. it is a rule seldom deviated from, to sell families and relations together, if practicable, and if not, at least to masters residing in the neighbourhood of each other. a negro trader, in my presence, refused to sell a negro girl, for whom a planter offered a high price, because he would not also purchase her sister--"for," said the trader, "they are much attached to each other, and when their mother died i promised her i would not part them." relatives, except husband and wife, often prefer being sold to different masters in the same neighbourhood. this is to be attributed to the roving propensity of their race, which induces them to prefer a separation of this nature, for a pretence to visit from one plantation to another on sabbaths and christmas holydays, at which season the slaves have a temporary freedom for several days. then the highways, lanes, and streets, in town and country, are filled with gay parties on foot or on plough-horses, caparisoned for the occasion, as happy as the total absence of care, thoughtlessness of to-morrow, plenty of whiskey, and a cessation of all labour, can make them. footnotes: [ ] male slaves of any age under forty are always denominated boys. xl. towns of mississippi--naming estates--the influence of towns on the social relations of the planters--southern refinement --colleges--oakland--clinton--jefferson--history of the latter --collegiate system of instruction--primary departments-- quadrennial classes. the towns and villages of mississippi, as in european states, are located perfectly independent of each other, isolated among its forests, and often many leagues apart, leaving in the intervals large tracts of country covered with plantations, and claiming no minuter subdivision than that of "county." natchez, for instance, is a corporation one mile square, but from the boundaries of the city to woodville, the next incorporated town south, there is an interval of thirty-eight miles. it is necessary for the planters who reside between towns so far asunder, to have some more particular address, than the indefinite one arising from their vicinity to one or other of these towns. hence has originated the pleasing custom of naming estates, as in england; and names so given are always regarded by the planters themselves, and by the community, as an inseparable part of their address. these names are generally selected with taste, such as "monmouth," "laurel-hill," "grange," "magnolia grove," "the forest," "cottage," "briars," "fatherland," and "anchorage"--the last given by a retired navy officer to his plantation. the name is sometimes adopted with reference to some characteristic of the domain, as "the oaks," "china grove," "new forest," &c., but more frequently it is a mere matter of fancy. towns in this state have usually originated from the location of a county seat, after the formation of a new county. here the court-house is placed, and forms the centre of an area which is soon filled with edifices and inhabitants. if the county lies on the river, another town may arise, for a shipping port, but here the accumulation of towns usually ceases. a county seat, and a cotton mart, are all that an agricultural country requires. the towns in this state are thus dispersed two or three to each county, nor so long as this is a planting country, will there be any great increase to their number, although in wealth and importance they may rival, particularly the shipping ports, the most populous places in the valley of the west. in these towns are the banks, the merchants, the post offices, and the several places of resort for business or pleasure that draw the planter and his family from his estate. each town is the centre of a circle which extends many miles around it into the country, and daily attracts all within its influence. the ladies come in their carriages "to shop," the gentlemen, on horseback, to do business with their commission merchants, visit the banks, hear the news, dine together at the hotels, and ride back in the evening. the southern town is properly the "exchange" for the neighbouring planters, and the "broadway" for their wives and daughters. and as no plantation is without a private carriage, the number of these gay vehicles, filling the streets of the larger towns on pleasant mornings in the winter, is surprising. i have counted between thirty and forty private carriages in the streets of natchez in one morning. in a small country village, i once numbered seventeen, standing around a methodist chapel. showy carriages and saddle horses are the peculiar characteristics of the "moving spectacle" in the streets of south-western towns. every village is a nucleus of southern society, to which the least portion is generally contributed by itself. when a public ball is given by the bachelors, in one of these towns--for private parties are scarcely known--the tickets of invitation fly into the retirement of the plantations, within the prescribed circle, often to the distance of thirty miles. thus families, who reside several leagues apart, on opposite sides of the town, and who might otherwise never associate, unless on "change," or in "shopping," meet together, like the inhabitants of one city. this state of things unites, in a social bond, the intelligent inhabitants of a large extent of country, who are nearly equally wealthy, and creates a state of society in the highest degree favourable to hospitality and social feeling. these social "circles" often revolve within one another, and sometimes enlarge, until they embrace several towns. the mississippians are remarkable for their "locomotivity;" an organ which they have plainly developed, if we reason, as phrenologists sometimes do, from effect to cause--and whose existence is manifest from their propensity annually to depopulate their state, by taking northern tours during the summer months. during the season of gayety, in the winter months, the public assemblies and private coteries of natchez are unsurpassed by those of any other city, in the elegance, refinement, or loveliness of the individuals who compose them. if you will bear in mind, that the southern females of wealth are usually educated in the most finished style, at the first female seminaries in the north, and, until recently, not seldom in europe; and recollect the personal beauty, sprightliness, and extreme refinement of the southern lady, you will not be surprised that elegant women grace the private circles, and shine in the gay assemblies of southern cities. but fashion and refinement are not confined to natchez. in nearly every county reside opulent planters, whose children enjoy precisely the same advantages as are afforded in the city. drawn from the seclusion of their plantations, their daughters are sent to the north; whence they return, in the course of time, with cultivated minds and elegant manners. hence every village can draw around it a polished circle of its own; for refinement and wealth do not always diminish here, as in new-england, in the inverse ratio of distance from a metropolis--and elegant women may often be found blooming in the depths of forests far in the interior. less attention is paid to the mental or personal cultivation of the male youth of this state, than to that of the females. many of them are partially educated at home; and, by the time they attain the age at which northern boys enter college, become assistants on the plantation, which they expect one day to inherit; or, at the age of nineteen or twenty, receive from their parents land and negroes, and commence planting for themselves. at the age of twenty-one or two they frequently marry. many planters are opposed to giving their sons, whom they destine to succeed them as farmers, a classical education. a common practical education they consider sufficient for young gentlemen who are to bury themselves for life in the retirement of a plantation. but mississippi, in this age and at this juncture, from the peculiar construction of her political and social laws, demands an educated youth.--the majority of the planters are able to educate their children in a superior manner; and if they do this, they will elevate the rising generation high in the scale of society, and give mississippi an honourable rank among the republics of america. although education is not indigenous, and is too frequently a secondary consideration in the minds of many, children in the towns are probably as well educated as they would be at the north, under similar circumstances, for no village is without private schools. but the education of young children on plantations is much neglected. many boys and girls, whose parents reside five or ten miles from any town or academy, and do not employ tutors, grow up to the age of eight or ten, unable either to read or write. some planters, who have but one or two children, and do not think it worth while to employ a tutor for so small a number, thoughtless of the injury their children may sustain, suffer them to grow up at home, almost ignorant even of the alphabet, till of an age to be sent away to a boarding-school, or an academy, where they first learn to read. in such a state of things, it is not uncommon to meet with very interesting and intelligent children wholly ignorant of those childish studies, and that story-book information, which throw such a charm over their little society, invigorating the intellectual faculties, and laying a foundation for a superstructure of mind. often several families will unite and employ a tutor; constructing, for the purpose, a school-house, in a central position among their plantations. but those who look forward to a high rank in american and european society for their children, employ private tutors in their own houses, even if they have but one child. some gentlemen send their children, when quite young, to the north, and visit them every summer. two-thirds of the planters' children of this state are educated out of it. there is annually a larger sum carried out of the state, for the education of children at the north, and in the expenses of parents in making them yearly visits there, than would be sufficient to endow an institution at intervals of four or five years. there are three colleges in mississippi; but mississippians have so long been in the habit of sending their children away, when it was necessary, that they still adhere to the custom, when there is no farther occasion for it; and the consequence is, that their own institutions are neglected, and soon fall into decay, while the money which they send for the support of northern colleges, would elevate their own to high literary distinction and usefulness. oakland college, twenty-five miles from natchez, near rodney, is a flourishing institution under presbyterian patronage. it is of recent foundation, and has yet no permanent buildings; but handsome college edifices are about to be erected for the accommodation of the students. its situation is rural and very healthy. its funds are respectable, and under the presidency of the rev. j. chamberlin, a gentleman of learning and piety, it is rapidly rising into eminence. it already has about one hundred students, and its professors are men of talent and industry, one of whom is a son of the late dr. payson of portland. it is thus that young northerners work their way to distinction in the south and west. there is another college at clinton, of which i have before spoken, and also an academy at natchez, ranking as high as a south-western college, under the superintendence of j. h. b. black, esq. of new-jersey. jefferson college, in the village of washington, six miles from natchez, is the oldest and best endowed institution in the state. it was founded by private subscription in , and subsequently received a grant of a township of unsaleable land from congress, exchanged two years since for a more eligible tract, which sold for a very large sum. the income of the college is now about eight thousand dollars, arising from a fund of more than one hundred and fifty thousand. the building is a large, three-story brick edifice, handsomely finished, and capable of containing one hundred students. the location is highly beautiful, in a grove of majestic oaks, and at the head of a fine green parade, which lies, with a magnificent oak in its centre, between it and the village. a primary department is connected with it; and a pleasant brick building, half surrounded with galleries, on the opposite side of the "green," is appropriated to this branch of the institution. the primary department, which includes a moiety of the students, is under the able superintendence of professor crane, a native of new-jersey, and recently from west point. the history of this institution will confirm what i have stated in my remarks upon education. since its organization until very recently, it has laboured under pecuniary difficulties, with which it was unable to contend; for a great part of the time it has been without pupils or teachers; and its halls have occasionally been used for private schools. it obtained no celebrity as a college until - , when mr. williston, the author of "eloquence in the united states," and "williston's tacitus," was chosen its president, and the institution was placed under military organization, after the plan adopted by capt. alden partridge. the novelty of this mode drew a great number of pupils within its walls. the following year ill health compelled president williston to resign, and he was succeeded by major holbrook, formerly principal of the seminary in georgetown, d. c. during his presidency there were above one hundred and fifty cadets connected with the institution, and it was more flourishing in every respect than any other in the south-west. but the new president, seized with the mania for cotton-planting, which infects all who reside here for any length of time, devoted a portion of his attention to agricultural pursuits, and the patrons of the college, perhaps regarding this additional vocation as incompatible with that of instructing, withdrew their sons, one after another, the novelty of a military education having worn off, and fell into the old mode of keeping them at home on their plantations, or sending them to kentucky, the great academy for mississippi youth, to complete their education. during the summer the president died, and the institution again became disorganized. in , capt. alden partridge was invited by the board of trustees to assume the presidency, but after remaining a few months, returned to the north, unable to restore it to its former flourishing condition. the college halls became again, and for the sixth time since their foundation, nearly deserted. in the spring of , the board invited two professors to take charge of the college until they could decide upon the choice of a president. the present year, c. b. dubuisson, esq. of philadelphia, one of these professors, was unanimously elected president, and was inaugurated on the th of july, . under the new president, who is a finished scholar and a very amiable and energetic man, the college has become very flourishing, and is rapidly advancing to permanent literary distinction. professor symmes, a graduate of the university of virginia, and an able scholar, is professor of mathematics. under these two gentlemen, and the professor in the primary department, planters may now have their sons as well educated as at the north. they are beginning to think so. but if they would more generally adopt the opinion, that their sons can be educated at the south by northern professors as well as at the north, the literary institutions of this country would not have to struggle for existence, scarcely able to rise above the rank of an academy. in connexion with the disinclination which southerners have to educating their sons at home, and their disposition to depreciate their native institutions, there exists another cause, with a direct tendency to check their advancement. it is the system of education pursued in their colleges, which, in a great degree, is the result of necessity. until within a few years, there have been no good preparatory schools in this state, where youth could fit themselves for admission into college. now, to form the lowest class in a college, it is necessary that those who are to compose it--however large or small their number--should have gone through a prescribed series of preparatory studies. but where there has been no opportunity for pursuing this preparatory course, as here in the south-west, the college must open its doors to unprepared youth, to the great injury of its classes, or, in the absence of other means, provide measures for fitting them for admission. these measures all colleges here are at present taking, by the establishment of primary departments; until the pupils of these departments are qualified for promotion, the college classes remain vacant; and thus, though nominally a college, the institution is, for the time being, an academy, or preparatory school for _itself_. this is the present state of the colleges here, and none of them have advanced so far as to open the junior class. jefferson college indeed has been, with the exception of its condition under military discipline a few years since, no more than a preparatory department since its organization. it is now rising into the dignity of a college, although the quadrennial course, which in our notions is inseparable from a collegiate education, is not intended by the board to form a part of their system. the method adopted in the university of virginia, in relation to the routine of studies and succession of classes, will be partially pursued. in the present state of things, this is no doubt the preferable course to follow; but it is to be feared that the college will never be eminent or very permanent, until established on the good old basis of our northern institutions. if this system were adopted, and a professor appointed to fill the chair in each department of science, whether there were students or not--and the freshman class opened, even by the admission of a single scholar--the institution, with its immense fund, would stand upon an immovable foundation. the classes would increase every year in size, and at the end of the fifth series, or in twenty years, a class of seniors would receive their degrees, whom even aristocratic harvard would not disdain to acknowledge as her foster children. xli. indian mounds--their origin and object--tumuli near natchez --skulls and other remains--visit to the fortifications or mounds at seltzertown--appearance and description of the mounds--their age--reflections--history of the natchez. the indian mounds, those gigantic mausolea of unhistoried nations, will ever present a subject of absorbing interest to the reflecting mind. elevating their green summits amid the great forests of the west--mysterious links of the unknown past--they will stand imperishable through time, encircled by the cities and palaces of men, silent but impressive monitors of their grasping ambition. these sepulchres are scattered every where throughout the valley of the mississippi--itself a mighty cemetery of mighty tombs. in the pathless forests, and on the banks of the rivers of the south-west, they are still more thickly strewed than in the north valley, indicating a denser population. it was recently suggested to me, by a gentleman of antiquarian tastes, that the indians of the southern valley, by whom these mounds were constructed, and who were a mild and inoffensive people, far advanced in civilization, were, in remote ages, invaded by a horde of northern tribes from the atlantic shores--as were the effeminate states of southern europe by the goths and vandals--who drove out the original possessors, and took possession of their delightful country; while the fugitive inhabitants crossed the mississippi, and, moving to the west and south, laid the foundation of the empire of mexico. this theory is not improbable, and it is supported by many established facts. it is certain that the rude tribes found in this country, by de soto and his followers, remnants of which still exist, cannot be identified with those by whom these tumuli were erected. among them there exists not even a tradition of the formation of these mounds. there have been many curious hypotheses advanced in reference to their object. some have supposed that they were constructed, after a great battle, of the numerous bodies of the slain; others, that they were the customary burial-places of the indians, gradually accumulating in a series of years, until, terminating in a cone, they were covered with earth, and deserted for new cemeteries, to be in like manner abandoned in their turn. others, by a train of analogous reasoning, founded upon the prevailing custom of other aboriginal tribes, have supposed them to be fortifications; and others again believe them temples; or, like the pyramids of egypt, structures connected with the mysteries of the religion of their builders. but their true origin, like that of their grander prototypes on the plains of memphis, must for ever be lost in conjecture. in the vicinity of natchez, and within three hours' ride of the city, in various directions, are twelve or fifteen of these mounds. some of them have been partially excavated; and besides many vessels, weapons of war, and ordinary human remains, skeletons of men of a large size have been found in them. on the estate of a gentleman two miles from natchez, and in the loveliest vale in this region, there are three, situated equidistant from each other, along the bank of the st. catharine. one of these was recently excavated by dr. powell, a distinguished phrenologist of the west; from which he obtained several earthen vessels, neatly made, various fragments, and besides other bones, three perfect skulls--one the most beautiful head i ever beheld, of a young choctaw girl; another, the skull of a man of the same tribe; and the third, a massive and remarkably formed skull of a natchez. i have since examined two of these mounds, but was not able to add any thing important to the discoveries of dr. powell. the perfect decomposition which has taken place in one of them, would indicate a much greater age than is generally attributed to them. i laid bare a perpendicular face of this mound, ten feet square, and the spade struck but one hard substance, which proved to be the lower jaw, containing seven or eight teeth, of some wild animal, and a few splinters of corroded human bones that crumbled between the fingers. i could easily discern several strata, in this exposed surface, alternately of common earth and a black friable loam, resembling powder to the eye, but soft like paste in the fingers. these black strata were veined with light brown or dingy white streaks, of a firmer consistence. the location of this mound, its height, not exceeding twenty feet, the uniform decomposition, and the regular series of strata, lead to the conclusion, that it was constructed at one time, probably after a battle, of the bodies of men whose deaths took place at the same period, laid in layers, one above another, as the modern slain are buried, by only reversing the process, in deep pits. the skulls found by dr. powell in the mound opened by him, were very perfect specimens. the head of the choctaw differs not materially from those of europeans, when considered phrenologically, although its developements of the organs of animal feelings are more prominent than those of the intellectual faculties. the head is generally smaller than that of the european, but the general contour is nearly the same. the skull of the natchez is remarkable in every respect. it is large, like the german head, very angular, with bold developements. it is shaped artificially in infancy,--a peculiarity only of the skulls of the males--so that the top of the forehead forms the apex of a cone. the compressure necessary to produce this shape has entirely destroyed the organs of veneration, of benevolence, and of the reasoning powers. my examination of this skull was for a moment only, and very superficial, so that i did not ascertain the particular deficiency or developement of any special organ. the heads of the females of this extinct tribe, i am informed by those who have examined them, are very fine, displaying in their graceful, undulating outline, the _beau ideal_ of the human cranium. there is a mound about five miles from natchez, upon the plantation of a gentleman, whose taste or ambition has influenced him to erect his dwelling upon its summit. a strange dwelling-place for the living, over the sepulchres of the dead! eleven miles from the city there is another mound, or a collection of mounds, which, in the beauty of its location, the elevation of its summit, and the ingenuity displayed in its construction, either as a fortress or a temple, is entitled to an important rank among these mysterious structures of the western valley. a few days since i left natchez with a northern gentleman, for the purpose of visiting this mound. three miles from town we passed the race-course, situated in a delightful intervale. this is the finest "course" in the south, passing round a perfectly level plain in a circle of one mile, whose centre is slightly convex, so that the spectators can obtain a full view of the horses while running. ladies, on extraordinary occasions, attend the races, although it is not customary. but to south-western gentlemen the race-course is a place of resort of the most alluring character. on the st. catharine race-course, now alluded to, on great race days, the chivalry of mississippi will be found assembled in high spirits, and full of the peculiar excitement incident to the occasion. home is, perhaps, the proper scene for studying the planter's character; but it will never be perfectly understood until he is seen, booted and spurred, with his pocket-book in one hand, and bank bills fluttering in the other, moving about upon the turf. three miles from the race-ground, about which is gathered a little village, sometimes called st. catharinesville, we entered the pretty and rural town of washington. the whole village was embowered in the foliage of china trees, which thickly lined both sides of the main street. turning down a street to the left, which led to the college, we alighted there after a short ride over the green, as it was the intention of the president and one or two of the professors to accompany us to the mound. we were shown the college library, comprised in a few shelves filled with volumes of the statutes; and the cabinet, where, besides a few interesting geological specimens, were some bones of a mammoth, or mastodon, found in the neighbourhood. in the course of an hour we all mounted our horses, and, entering the village, rode down its quiet and shaded streets, and emerged on the brow of the hill or ridge on which the town is built; and shortly after crossed the pebbly bed of the st. catharine's, which, in its serpentine windings, crosses nearly every road in the neighbourhood of natchez. beyond this stream, from an eminence over which the road wound, we had a fine view of the village on the opposite hill, with its college, lifting its roof among the towering oaks; its dwellings, with their light galleries and balconies, half hidden among the shade trees; the female academy, with its green lawn, a high colonnaded private edifice, overtopping the trees, and its neat unassuming churches. after a pleasant ride of five miles, through forest and plantation scenery, over a country pleasantly undulating, we arrived at the summit of a hill, just after passing a neat brick cottage, surrounded by a parterre, and half hidden in the woods; so that it would not have been observed, but for the wide gate on the road-side--often the only indication, as i have before remarked, of the vicinage of a planter's residence. from this hill we were gratified with an extensive prospect of a richly wooded and partially cultivated extent of country, occasionally rising into precipitous hills, crowned with forest trees. about a mile to the north, on our left, in the centre of a large cotton plantation, surrounded by an amphitheatre of hills, stood a singular cluster of eminences, isolated from those encircling them, whose summits were destitute of verdure or trees. these were the goal of our excursion--the celebrated tumuli of mississippi. descending the hill, we passed through a gate, opening into a narrow lane, bordered on either side with thick clumps of trees, and the luxuriant wild shrubbery which grows by the streams and along the roads throughout the south; and after winding through ravines and crossing bayous, we arrived at the "gin" of the plantation; a large building resembling a northern hay-press, where some negroes were at work; one of whom, with a readiness always characteristic of the negro slave, immediately came out to take charge of our horses. declining his aid, as we had no authority for appropriating his services--a liberty as to which some planters are very punctilious--we hitched our horses to the rail fence. had the proprietor of the estate been present, we should have solicited the aid of some of his slaves in excavating: but since then i have met with the venerable planter, who, with great politeness, has offered me every facility for making whatever researches or excavations curiosity might suggest. we ascended the steep sides of the mound with some difficulty, as they were inclined but a few degrees from the perpendicular. on gaining the summit, thirty-five feet from the base, we saw, extended before us, an elliptical area, whose plane was three or four feet lower than the verge of the mound. to the right, at the eastern extremity of the area, rose a super-mound, fifteen feet high; and on the opposite extremity, to the east, stood another, rising thirty feet from the floor of the area or summit of the great mound we had just ascended, and sixty feet from the level of the surrounding plantation. from the summit of this second mound the eye embraced an irregular amphitheatre, confined by elevated forests, half a league in diameter, whose centre was the mound, from which, on nearly every side, the ground descended, almost imperceptibly, with a few obstructions, to the foot of the surrounding hills. this peculiarity of its location, so favourable for a military position, would indicate such to have been the object of its constructors. the whole structure, so far as an opinion can be formed from a careful survey of its general features, was originally a conical hill, now changed to its present shape by human labour; which nature, in a wayward mood, placed, like joseph's sheaf, conspicuous, and aloof from the hills that surround it on every side. from its present aspect, the mound, if originally a natural hill, must have been forty or fifty feet high, of an oblong form, its greatest diameter being from east to west, with very precipitous sides. it consists now of a single conspicuous elevation, oval in shape, and presenting, on every side, indentations and projections, not unlike the salient angles of military works, serving to strengthen the opinion that it was a fortification. its summit is perfectly flat, comprising an area of four acres, surrounded by a kind of balustrade, formed by the projection of the sides of the mound two or three feet higher than the area. the two super-mounds before mentioned stand at either extremity of the summit, in a direction east and west; a position indicating design, and confirming the views of those who believe the structure to be a temple. the indians, by whom the mound is supposed to have been erected, were, like the peruvians, worshippers of the sun and of fire, and maintained a perpetual sacrifice of the latter upon their altars. if this was a temple, the two super-mounds were its altars; on one of which, toward the east, burned the sacrifice of fire, to welcome the rising sun, of which it was a pure and beautiful emblem; while the bright flame upon the altar toward the west, mingled with his last expiring beams. between these two superior mounds are four others of inferior height, two of which border the northern verge of the area, and two the southern, although not exactly opposite to the former. thus the area upon the summit is surrounded by six tumuli, of various elevations. the largest of them, to the west, before mentioned, is flat on the top, which contains about one-fourth of an acre. its external sides slope, as do the outside surfaces of the other five, gradually down to the base of the great mound upon which it is constructed. the whole work is surrounded by the remains of a ditch; from which, and from the sides of the chief mound, the earth must have been taken to form those upon the summit. the material of which the whole is constructed, is the same alluvial earth as that composing the sides of the ditch and the surrounding plain. neither stone nor brick forms any portion of the material of the work, nor is the former found any where in the vicinity. in the centre of the elevated area is the mouth of a subterranean passage, leading, with an easy inclination, to a spring without the mound, on the north side of the plain. it is now fallen in, and choked with briers, vines, and young trees. there are traces also of another avenue, conducting to the south side, and opening into the country. against the two eastern angles of the mound, at its base, are two smaller mounds, ten feet high, which might be taken for bastions by one who regarded the work as a fortification. in the early settlement of this country, the mound was covered with fruit-trees of a large size, whose age indicated uninterrupted possession of their places for centuries. it is now divested of its trees, and under cultivation. it is to be regretted that the axe or plough should ever have desecrated a monument so sacred to the antiquary. there is every evidence that formerly this position was one of great importance. remains of excavated roads, passing through the adjacent forests, and converging to this mound as their common centre, still exist, in which large trees are growing, whose age--more than two hundred years--gives an approximation to the date when these roads were disused, and when, probably, the spot to which they centred, ceased to be regarded either as a shrine for the indian pilgrim--a national temple--or the centre of their military strength. human remains of very large size have been discovered in its vicinity, and also fragments of pottery, weapons, pipes, and mortar-shaped vessels, covered with ornamental tracery and hieroglyphics, evincing a high degree of advancement in the arts. if their dwellings and apparel were made with the same skill which is displayed in the utensils and weapons discovered in these mounds, their fabricators will be regarded, so far as this criterion extends, as having possessed a high degree of civilization. in surveying this mound from the plain, the mind is impressed with the idea of the vast amount of human labour expended in thus piling it up--mound upon mound--like pelion upon ossa. thousands of human emmets have toiled to rear this hill--their busy hum filled the air, and every spot around us was trodden by their nimble feet. the question is naturally suggested to the mind, while gazing upon the huge pile, "for what was it constructed?"--and imagination, surveying the sad history of the departed nations, who once inhabited this pleasant land, might answer that a prophetic warning of their total annihilation influenced these people to erect a national tomb. and are they not their tombs? are not these the only evidences that they ever have been--and are they not the receptacles of their national remains? the footstep of the labourer is now stayed for ever! his voice is hushed in death! the shout of the hunter--the cry of the warrior--the voice of love, are heard no more. "the natchez tribe of indians," says a beautiful writer, to whom i have before alluded, and who involves in his historical sketch a touching narrative, "who inhabited the luxuriant soil of mississippi, were a mild, generous, and hospitable people. the offspring of a serene climate, their character was marked by nothing ferocious; and beyond the necessity of self-defence, or the unavoidable collisions with neighbouring tribes, by nothing martial. their government, it is true, was most despotic; and, perhaps, the history of no other nation north of the equator presents a parallel; and yet no charge of an unnecessary, or unwarrantable exercise of this great power, is made against them, even by their historians, who were also the countrymen of their oppressors. their king, or chief, was called "the sun," and the exalted station which he held, was designated by a representation of that luminary worn upon his breast. he united also with his civic function, the priestly power and supremacy--and thus entrenched behind the ramparts of physical force, and wielding the terrors of superstition, he was absolute master of the lives and property of his subjects. his equal, in dignity and power, was his queen, under the title of "the wife of the sun." thus, then, living in undisturbed repose, and in the innocent enjoyment of the bounties of nature, there came in an evil hour to their peaceful shores, a party of french emigrants, who, about the end of the seventeenth or beginning of the eighteenth century, navigated the mississippi in quest of wealth and territory. they were received with all the cordiality and affection that these guiltless and inoffensive beings could bestow. the choicest gifts of the beneficent creator had been showered upon them with a lavish hand, and with a spirit, somewhat allied to his who had conferred them, they cheerfully tendered to the houseless wanderers a participation in the blessings they themselves enjoyed. these substantial pledges of amity and good feeling were received with apparent gratitude by the emigrants; but their immediate wants supplied, they were again thrown back upon their evil passions, that for a moment had been quelled by misfortune, and perpetrated acts of injustice and cruelty which excited the indignation of their benefactors. driven almost to frenzy, by repeated acts of aggression, they attempted a re-establishment of their rights, but were eventually subdued, and basely massacred. the french, upon their arrival, affected to treat upon terms of reciprocity for the products of the soil; perceiving, however, the unsuspicious temper of these generous indians, they threw off the mask, and urged novel and extravagant demands; even extending to the fields which supported their wives and children--and not until they were driven in ignominy from them into the depth of the wilderness, were their shameless oppressors satisfied. at this period commenced the league against the french, which embraced all the tribes lying on the east, and to the failure of which, through the unmerited compassion of their queen, they owed their defeat and extermination. messengers were despatched to different quarters, and a general massacre of the common enemy was agreed upon. a day was appointed, but being unacquainted with the art of writing, or the use of numbers, the period was designated by a bundle of sticks, every stick representing a day; each of the confederated chiefs prepared a bundle corresponding in number with those of his associates, one of which was to be burned daily; and the committing of the last to the flames, was to be the signal for the attack. "the wife of the sun," still attached to the french by many recollections, being the strangers whom she had protected and loved--trembling at the torrents of blood which must flow, and forgetting the wrongs which had been heaped upon her country, determined to preserve them, and intimated to their commander the necessity of caution; by some singular incredulity he despised and neglected the counsel thus tendered to him. frustrated in her purpose of saving those within the limits of her own tribe, she determined, by the anticipation of their fate, to preserve the majority scattered throughout other tribes. having free access to the temple, she removed several of the sticks there deposited, and the warriors, on repairing thither, finding but one symbol remaining, prepared for the dreadful business on which they had resolved. they then consigned the last stick to the fire, and supposing that the united nations were all engaged in the same bloody work, fell upon the french, and cut them off almost to a man.[ ] perrein, the commander, with a few more, escaped, and collecting a few of his countrymen, prevailed upon the neighbouring tribes, by threats or promises, to abandon and betray the devoted natchez; and in one day consigned them to the sword, sparing neither age, sex, nor condition; he burnt their houses, laid waste their fields, and desolation soon marked the spot, once the retreat of an unoffending, peaceful, and happy people. the few who escaped, fled for protection to a neighbouring tribe, then, and now, known as the chickasaws; a brave, warlike, and independent nation. their conduct toward these wretched outcasts should be remembered to their immortal honour; they received them with open arms, and resisted with unshaken firmness, the earnest and repeated demands of the french for their delivery; and to such an extent did they carry their magnanimity, that they preferred hazarding a doubtful contest, when their own existence was at stake, to a violation of the pledges of hospitality and protection, which they had made to a few persecuted strangers. three times, with souls bent upon vengeance against the remnant of their ancient foes, and with no less bloody purposes against their defenders, did the french carry war to the chickasaw boundary, and three times were they driven back with ignominy and loss--nor did they ever obtain their object. the poor natchez shared the hospitality of their protectors until their necessities and sorrows were alike relieved by death; their bones repose in a land unknown to their fathers; their spirits may be again mingled in the beautiful regions which they believe to be prepared by the great spirit for the fearless warrior, the successful hunter, and the faithful and hospitable indian, beyond the great lakes. such is the story of the natchez--such their melancholy end--such the kindness and benevolence extended to the white man in distress--and such the ingratitude, perfidy, and cruelty, with which these favours were repaid. of the distinguished female, whose humanity and mercy proved so unexpectedly fatal to her race, we hear no more--but it is highly probable, that in the indiscriminate massacre which took place, neither her strong claims to the gratitude of the french, nor her merciful and forbearing disposition, nor her honours, titles, and dignities, nor even her sex, could protect her; but that she fell an undistinguished victim, among her slaughtered people." footnotes: [ ] the attack was made on fort rosalie, at natchez, in , the head quarters of the french. xlii. slavery in the south-west--southern feelings--increase of slaves--virginia--mode of buying slaves, and slave-traders --mode of transportation by sea--arrival at the mart--mode of life in the market--transportation by land--privileges of slaves--conduct of planters toward their negroes--anecdotes --negro traders--their origin. in my desultory sketches of the white and negro population of the south-west, my intention has not been to detail minutely their social relations and domestic economy. to convey a general idea of their condition alone enters into my present plan. having enlarged upon that of the white population, i will devote a portion of the following pages to a brief sketch of a variety of the human species, which has ever presented an interesting field for the efforts of the philanthropist. the origin of slavery is lost: but there is no doubt that it prevailed, in the early post-diluvian ages, among all the infant nations of the earth.[ ] sacred history assures us of its existence shortly after the flood; and divine economy, in regulating the political and domestic state of the jews, permitted its existence. but jewish, and all ancient slavery, was a species of warlike retribution against enemies taken in battle. civilization and christianity had not then established the modern treatment and disposal of prisoners. then they were held in bondage by their conquerors during life; now their detention is but for a limited time; then, they were individual, now they are national, property. christianity, in this enlightened age, has taught conquerors to mitigate their severity toward the conquered; and national policy has found it most expedient to make other disposition of them than holding them in bondage. but the establishment and preservation of slavery in the south-west, are more immediately the objects of my remarks. if any people can repudiate with justice the charge of originating it, the mississippians can do so. the spaniards introduced it here; the first american settlers of this state found slaves attached to its soil, after the spaniards resigned the country to the government of the united states, and they received them as a portion of the possessions, which fell into their hands by treaty or purchase. finding them here they retained them--for the slavery question, like many others in those days of innocence, had not been agitated--or they might have sent them after their spanish masters. there was, of course, nothing more natural and easy than the increase of this property. the process of generation was too slow, however, and men commenced purchasing, not free men from slave ships, but africans who were already slaves. virginia, where the lands were worn out, and slaves were numerous, and almost useless, afforded them facilities for purchasing; emigrants from that and other slave-holding states also brought great numbers with them, and in a few years this species of property had accumulated to a great extent. planters' sons, and all new planters, must be supplied from the same fountain--losses by death and elopement must be made up, till, almost imperceptibly, slavery became firmly established here, and is now a state institution; and virginia, with the carolinas and georgia, and recently kentucky, has become the great mart for slave purchasers from the south-west. the increased demand for slaves led many farmers in virginia, whose lands were unavailable, to turn their attention to raising slaves, if i may so term it, for the south-western market. hence a nursery for slaves has been imperceptibly forming in that state, till now, by a sort of necessity, a vast amount of its capital is involved in this trade, the discontinuance of which would be as injurious in a pecuniary point of view, to those who raise them, as the want of the facilities which the trade affords, would be to the planter. thus virginia has become the field for the purchaser, and the phrase--"he is gone to virginia to buy negroes," or "niggers," as is the elegant and equally common phraseology, is as often applied to a temporarily absent planter, as "he is gone to boston to buy goods," to a new-england country merchant. negroes are transported here both by sea and land. alexandria and norfolk are the principal depots of slaves, previous to their being shipped. to these cities they are brought from the surrounding country, and sold to the slave-trader, who purchases them for about one-half or one-third less than he expects to obtain for them in the southern market. after the resident slave-dealer has collected a sufficient number, he places them under the care of an agent. they are then shipped for new-orleans, with as comfortable accommodations as can be expected, where one or two hundred are congregated in a single merchant vessel. i have seen more than one hundred landing from a brig, on the levée, in new-orleans, in fine condition, looking as lively and hearty as though a sea voyage agreed well with them. they are transferred, if destined for the mississippi market, to a steamboat, and landed at natchez. the debarkation of a hundred slaves, of both sexes and all ages, is a novel spectacle to a northerner. landing on the levée, they proceed, each with his bundle, under the charge of their temporary master or conductor, toward the city, in a long straggling line, or sometimes in double files, in well-ordered procession, gazing about them with curiosity and wonder upon the new scenes opening before them, as they advance into the city, and speculating upon the advantages afforded as their home, by the beautiful country to which they find themselves transplanted. nothing seems to escape their attention, and every few steps offer subjects for remark or laughter; for the risible muscles of the negro are uncommonly excitable. on arriving on the "hill," in view of the city, and obtaining a glimpse of the fine country spread out around them, their delight is very great. full of the impression, which they early imbibe, that the south is emphatically the grave of their race, and daily having it held up before their imaginations at home, _in terrorem_, to keep them in the line of duty, if insubordinate, they leave home, as they proudly and affectionately term virginia, with something of the feelings of the soldier, allotted to a "forlorn hope." it cannot be denied that many have died shortly after being brought into this country; but this was owing to indiscretion, in transporting them at the wrong season of the year--in the spring, after a winter spent at the north; or in autumn, during the prevalence, in former years, of the epidemics, which once were almost annual visitants of this country. experience has taught those who introduce slaves, in late years, to bring them quite late in autumn. hence, the two great causes of mortality being removed, the effects have, in a great measure, ceased; and slaves, when they arrive here, and gaze with surprise upon the athletic figures and gray heads of their fellows, who meet them at every step, as they advance into the city--find that they can live even in the south, and grow old on other plantations than those in "ol' wirginny." "i see no dead nigger yet, jef."--"no--nor no coffin pile up neider in de street,"--said another of a gang of negroes passing through the streets, peering on all sides for these ominous signs of this "fatal" climate, as they trudged along to their quarters in the slave-market. this too common opinion of master and slave must soon be exploded, for it has now no foundation in fact. passing through the city in procession, sometimes dressed in a new uniform, purchased for them in new-orleans, but often in the brown rags in which they left virginia, preceded by a large wagon, carrying the surplus baggage; they are marched beyond the city limits, within which, till recently, they were publicly sold, the marts being on nearly every street. arriving at their quarters, which are usually old unoccupied buildings, and often tents or booths, pitched upon the common, beside some stream of water, and under the shade of trees, they resort, in the first place, to a general ablution, preparatory to being exposed for sale. the toilet arrangements of one hundred negroes, just from a long voyage, are a formidable affair. both the rivers, alpheus and peneus, would hardly suffice for the process. two or three days are consumed in it; after which, all appear in new, comfortable, uniform dresses, with shining faces, and refreshed after the fatigue of travel. they are now ready for inspection and sale. to this important period, the day of sale, they cheerfully look forward, manifesting not a little emulation to be "sol' fust." the interim between their arrival and sale--for they are not sold at auction, or all at once, but singly, or in parties, as purchasers may be inclined to buy--is passed in an _otium cum dignitate_ of a peculiarly african character, involving eating, drinking, playing, and sleeping. the interval of ease enjoyed in the slave-market is an oasis of luxury in their existence, which they seldom know how to appreciate, if we may judge from the wishful manner in which they gaze upon gentlemen who enter the mart, as though anxious to put a period to this kind of enjoyment, so congenial to their feelings and temperament. probably two-thirds of the first slaves came into this state from virginia; and nearly all now introduced, of whom there are several thousands annually, are brought from that state. kentucky contributes a small number, which is yearly increasing; and since the late passage of the slave law in missouri, a new market is there opened for this trade. it is computed that more than two hundred thousand dollars' worth of slaves will be purchased in missouri this season, for the natchez market. a single individual has recently left natchez with one hundred thousand dollars, for the purpose of buying up negroes in that state to sell in mississippi. the usual way of transporting slaves is by land, although they are frequently brought round by sea; but the last is the most expensive method, and therefore, to "bring them through," is accounted preferable. this is done by forming them into a caravan at the place where they are purchased, and conducting them by land through the indian nations to this state. the route is for the most part through a continuous forest, and is usually performed by the negroes, on foot, in seven or eight weeks. their personal appearance, when they arrive at natchez, is by no means improved, although they are usually stouter and in better condition than when they leave home, for they are generally well fed, and their health is otherwise carefully attended to, while on the route. arrived within two or three miles of natchez, they encamp in some romantic spot near a rivulet, and like their brethren transported by sea, commence polishing their skins, and arraying themselves in the coarse but neat uniform, which their master has purchased for them in natchez. a few sabbaths ago, while standing before a village church in the country, my attention was drawn to a long procession at the extremity of the street, slowly approaching like a troop of wearied pilgrims. there were several gentlemen in company, some of them planters, who gazed upon the singular spectacle with unusual interest. one sooty brown hue was cast over the whole horde, by the sombre colour of their tattered garments, which, combined with the slow pace and fatigued air of most of those who composed it, gave to the whole train a sad and funereal appearance. first came half a dozen boys and girls, with fragments of blankets and ragged pantaloons and frocks, hanging upon, but not covering their glossy limbs. they passed along in high spirits, glad to be once more in a village, after their weary way through the wilderness; capering and practising jokes upon each other, while their even rows of teeth, and the whites of their eyes--the most expressive features in the african physiognomy--were displayed in striking contrast to their ebony skins. these were followed by a tall mulatto, with high cheek-bones, and lean and hungry looks, making rapid inroads into a huge loaf of bread, whose twin brother was secured under his left arm. a woman, very black, very short, and very pursy, who breathed like a porpoise, and whose capacity for rapid movement was equal to that of a puncheon, trudged along behind, evidently endeavouring to come up with the mulatto, as her eye was fixed very resolutely on the spare loaf; but its owner strode forward deliberately and with perfect impunity. she was followed by another female, bearing an infant in her arms, probably born in the wilderness. close behind her came a covered wagon, from which she had just descended to walk, drawn by two fine horses, and loaded with young negroes, who were permitted to ride and walk alternately on the journey. behind the wagon, at a long distance, came an old patriarch, at least eighty years of age, bent nearly double with the weight of years and infirmity. by his side moved an old negress, nearly coeval with him, who supported her decrepit form by a staff. they were the venerable progenitors of the children and grandchildren who preceded them. this aged couple, who were at liberty to ride when they chose, in a covered wagon behind them, were followed by a mixed crowd of negroes of all ages, and of both sexes, with and without staff, hatless and bare-footed. the office of the negro's hat is a mere sinecure--they love the warm sun upon their heads--but they like to be well shod, and that with boots, for the lower region of their limbs about the ancles is very sensitive. behind these came a wretched cart, covered with torn, red-painted canvass, and drawn by a mule and a horse;--sancho panza's mule and rosinante--i mean no insult to the worthy knight or his squire--if coupled together, would have made precisely such a pair. this vehicle contained several invalids, two of whom were reclining on a matrass laid along the bottom. around it were many young slaves of both sexes, talking and marching along in gleeful mood. two or three old people followed, one of whom, who walked with both hands grasping a long staff, stopped as he passed us, and with an air of affecting humility, and with his venerable forehead bowed to the earth, addressed us, "hab massas got piece 'bacca' for ol' nigger?" an old gentleman standing by, whose locks were whitened with the snows of sixty winters, having first obtained leave to do so from the owner of the drove, who, mounted on a fine blooded horse, rode carelessly along behind them, gave the old slave all he had about him, which, fortunately for the petitioner, happened to be a large quantity, and for which he appeared extremely grateful. several other negroes, walking along with vigorous steps, and another white conductor, with a couple of delicately limbed race-horses, enveloped in broidered mantles, and ridden by bright-eyed little mulatto boys, and two or three leashes of hounds, led by a slave, completed the train. they had been seven weeks on the road, through the "nation," as the southern wilderness is here termed--travelling by easy stages, and encamping at night. old people are seldom seen in these "droves." the young and athletic usually compose them. but as in this instance, the old people are sometimes allowed to come with the younger portion of their families, as a favour; and if sold at all, they are sold with their children, who can take care of them in their old age, which they well do--for negroes have a peculiarly strong affection for the old people of their own colour. veneration for the aged is one of their strongest characteristics. nor are planters indifferent to the comfort of their gray-headed slaves. i have been much affected at beholding many exhibitions of their kindly feeling toward them. they always address them in a mild and pleasant manner--as "uncle," or "aunty"--titles as peculiar to the old negro and negress, as "boy" and "girl," to all under forty years of age. some old africans are allowed to spend their last years in their houses, without doing any kind of labour; these, if not too infirm, cultivate little patches of ground, on which they raise a few vegetables--for vegetables grow nearly all the year round in this climate--and make a little money to purchase a few extra comforts. they are also always receiving presents from their masters and mistresses, and the negroes on the estate, the latter of whom are extremely desirous of seeing the old people comfortable. a relation of the extra comforts, which some planters allow their slaves, would hardly obtain credit at the north. but you must recollect that southern planters are men--and men of feeling--generous and high minded, and possessing as much of the "milk of human kindness," as the sons of colder climes--although they may have been educated to regard that as right, which a different education has led northerners to consider wrong. "what can you do with so much tobacco?" said a gentleman--who related the circumstance to me--on hearing a planter, whom he was visiting, give an order to his teamster to bring two hogsheads of tobacco out to the estate from the "landing." "i purchase it for my negroes; it is a harmless indulgence, which it gives me pleasure to afford them." "why are you at the trouble and expense of having high-post bedsteads for your negroes?" said a gentleman from the north, while walking through the handsome "quarters," or village for the slaves, then in progress on a plantation near natchez--addressing the proprietor. "to suspend their "bars" from, that they may not be troubled with musquitoes." "master, me would like, if you please, a little bit gallery, front my house." "for what, peter?" "cause, master, de sun too hot" (an odd reason for a negro to give,) "dat side, and when he rain we no able to keep de door open." "well, well, when the carpenter gets a little leisure you shall have one." a few weeks after i was at the plantation, and riding past the quarters one sabbath morning, beheld peter, his wife, and children, with his old father, all sunning themselves in their new gallery. "missus, you promise me a chrismus gif'." "well, jane, there is a new calico frock for you." "it werry pretty, missus," said jane, eyeing it at a distance without touching it, "but me prefer muslin, if you please; muslin de fashion dis chrismus." "very well, jane, call to-morrow and you shall have a muslin." these little anecdotes are unimportant in themselves, but they serve to illustrate what i have stated above, of the kindness and indulgence of masters to their slaves. i could add many others, of frequent occurrence; but these are sufficiently numerous for my purpose. probably of the two ways of bringing slaves here, that by land is preferable; not only because attended with less expense, but by gradually advancing them into the climate, it in a measure precludes the effect which a sudden transition from one state to the other might produce. all slaves, however, are not brought here by negro traders. many of the planters prefer going on and purchasing for themselves, for which purpose it is not unusual for them to take on from twenty to forty and fifty thousand dollars, lay the whole out in slaves, and either accompany them through the wilderness themselves on horseback, or engage a conductor. by adopting this method they purchase them at a much greater advantage, than at second-hand from the professional trader, as slaves can be bought for fifty per cent. less there, than after they are once brought into this market. the number of slaves introduced into the south-western market is annually increasing. last year more than four thousand were brought into the state, one-third of whom were sold in the natchez market. the prices of slaves vary with the prices of cotton and sugar. at this time, when cotton brings a good price, a good "field hand" cannot be bought for less than eight hundred dollars, if a male; if a female, for six hundred. "body servants" sell much higher, one thousand dollars being a common price for them. good mechanics sometimes sell for two thousand dollars, and seldom for less than nine hundred. coachmen are high, and house servants are worth at all times, from ten to thirty per cent. more than field negroes. the usual price for a good seamstress, or nurse, is from seven hundred to one thousand dollars. children are valued in proportion to their ages. an infant adds one hundred dollars to the price of the mother; and from infancy the children of the slaves increase in value about one hundred dollars for every three years, until they arrive at mature age. all domestic slaves, or "house servants," which class includes coachmen, nurses, hostlers, gardeners, footmen, cooks, waiting-maids, &c., &c.--all indispensable to the _menage_ of a wealthy planter--are always in great demand, and often sell at the most extravagant prices. some of these, born and raised in this climate, (acclimated as they are termed,) often sell for eighteen hundred and two thousand dollars apiece, of either sex. but these are exceptions, where the slave possesses some peculiarly valuable trait as a domestic. negro traders soon accumulate great wealth, from the immense profit they make on their merchandise. certainly such a trade demands no trifling consideration. if any of the worshippers of mammon earn their gold, it is the slave-dealer. one of their number, who is the great southern slave-merchant, and who, for the last fifteen years, has supplied this country with two-thirds of the slaves brought into it, has amassed a fortune of more than a million of dollars by this traffic alone. he is a bachelor, and a man of gentlemanly address, as are many of these merchants, and not the ferocious, captain kidd looking fellows, we yankees have been apt to imagine them. their admission into society, however, is not recognised. planters associate with them freely enough, in the way of business, but notice them no farther. a slave trader is, nevertheless, very much like other men. he is to-day a plain farmer, with twenty or thirty slaves, endeavouring to earn a few dollars from worn-out land, in some old "homestead" among the alleghanies; which, with his slaves, he has inherited from his father. he is in debt, and hears that he can sell his slaves in mississippi for twice their value in his own state. if there is no harm in selling them to his next neighbour, and coming to mississippi without them, he feels that there can be no harm--nay, justice to his creditors requires that he should place them in the highest market--in bringing them into this state, and selling them here. he rises in the morning, gathers his slaves, prepares his wagons and horses, takes one or two of his sons, or hires a neighbour, who may add a few of his own to the stock, to accompany him; and, by and by, the caravan moves slowly off toward the south and west. seven or eight weeks afterward, a drove of negroes, weary and worn, from a long journey, are seen within two or three miles of natchez, turning from the high road, to pitch their tents upon the green sward, beneath some wide-spreading tree. it is the caravan from the alleghanies. the ensuing morning a bright array of white tents, and busy men moving among them, excites the attention of the passer-by. the figure of the old virginia farmer, mingling among his slaves, attracts the notice of a stranger. "who is that old gentleman?" he inquires of the southerner with whom he is riding in company. "a negro trader," is the reply. this is the first step of the trader. he finds it profitable; and if his inclinations prompt him, he will return home, after selling his slaves, and buy, with ready money, from his neighbours, a few here and a few there, until he has a sufficient number to make another caravan, with which he proceeds a second time to the south-western market. he follows this trade from season to season, and does it conscientiously. he reasons as i have above stated; and if there is no harm in selling the first, there is none in selling the last. this is the metal of which a slave trader is moulded. the humane characteristics of the trade will be, of course, regulated by the tempers and dispositions of the individuals who engage in it. footnotes: [ ] "slavery, at a very early period after the flood, prevailed, perhaps in every region of the globe. in asia it is practised to this day. the savage nations of africa have at no period been exempted from it. in germany, and other countries of europe, slaves were generally attached to the soil, as in russia and poland at the present day. they were generally employed in tending cattle, and in conducting the business of agriculture."--_tacitus de moribus germanorum._ "among the ancient germans, according to the same author, it was not uncommon for an ardent gamester to stake his personal liberty on a throw of the dice. the latter species of slaves were alone considered as materials of commerce. in england, now so tenacious of the rights of man, a species of slavery, similar to that among the ancient germans, subsisted even to the end of the sixteenth century, as appears from a commission issued by queen elizabeth in . colliers and salters were not totally emancipated from every vestige of slavery till about the year . before that period the sons of colliers could follow no business but that of their fathers, nor could they seek employment in any other mines than in those to which they were attached by birth." _encyclopedia britan._ xliii. slaves--classes--anecdotes--negro instruction--police--natchez fencibles--habitual awe of the negro for the white man-- illustrations--religious slaves--negro preaching--general view of slavery and emancipation--conclusion. there are properly three distinct classes of slaves in the south. the first, and most intelligent class, is composed of the domestic slaves, or "servants," as they are properly termed, of the planters. some of these both read and write, and possess a great degree of intelligence: and as the negro, of all the varieties of the human species, is the most imitative, they soon learn the language, and readily adopt the manners, of the family to which they are attached. it is true, they frequently burlesque the latter, and select the high-sounding words of the former for practice--for the negro has an ear for euphony--which they usually misapply, or mis-pronounce. "ben, how did you like the sermon to-day?" i once inquired of one, who, for pompous language and high-sounding epithets, was the johnson of negroes.--"mighty obligated wid it, master, de 'clusive 'flections werry distructive to de ignorum." in the more fashionable families, negroes feel it their duty--to show their aristocratic breeding--to ape manners, and to use language, to which the common herd cannot aspire. an aristocratic negro, full of his master's wealth and importance, which he feels to be reflected upon himself, is the most aristocratic personage in existence. he supports his own dignity, and that of his own master, or "_family_," as he phrases it, which he deems inseparable, by a course of conduct befitting coloured gentlemen. always about the persons of their masters or mistresses, the domestic slaves obtain a better knowledge of the modes of civilized life than they could do in the field, where negroes can rise but little above their original african state. so identified are they with the families in which they have been "raised," and so accurate, but rough, are the copies which they individually present, of their masters, that were all the domestic slaves of several planters' families transferred to liberia, or hayti, they would there constitute a by no means inferior state of african society, whose model would be found in mississippi. each family would be a faithful copy of that with which it was once connected: and should their former owners visit them in their new home, they would smile at its resemblance to the original. it is from this class that the friends of wisely-regulated emancipation are to seek material for carrying their plans into effect. the second class is composed of town slaves; which not only includes domestic slaves, in the families of the citizens, but also all negro mechanics, draymen, hostlers, labourers, hucksters, and washwomen, and the heterogeneous multitude of every other occupation, who fill the streets of a busy city--for slaves are trained to every kind of manual labour. the blacksmith, cabinet-maker, carpenter, builder, wheelwright,--all have one or more slaves labouring at their trades. the negro is a third arm to every working man, who can possibly save money enough to purchase one. he is emphatically the "right-hand man" of every man. even free negroes cannot do without them: some of them own several, to whom they are the severest masters. "to whom do you belong?" i once inquired of a negro whom i had employed. "there's my master," he replied; pointing to a steady old negro, who had purchased himself, then his wife, and subsequently his three children, by his own manual exertions and persevering industry. he was now the owner of a comfortable house, a piece of land, and two or three slaves, to whom he could add one every three years. it is worthy of remark, and serves to illustrate one of the many singularities characteristic of the race, that the free negro, who "buys his wife's freedom," as they term it, from her master, by paying him her full value, ever afterward considers her in the light of property. "thomas, you are a free man," i remarked to one who had purchased himself and wife from his master, by the profits of a poultry yard and vegetable garden, industriously attended to for many years, in his leisure hours and on sundays. "you are a free man; i suppose you will soon have negroes of your own." "hi! hab one now, master." "who, tom?"--"ol' sarah, master." "old sarah! she is your wife." "she my nigger too; i pay master five hun'red dollar for her." many of the negroes who swarm in the cities are what are called "hired servants." they belong to planters, or others, who, finding them qualified for some occupation in which they cannot afford to employ them, hire them to citizens, as mechanics, cooks, waiters, nurses, &c., and receive the monthly wages for their services. some steady slaves are permitted to "hire their own time;" that is, to go into town and earn what they can, as porters, labourers, gardeners, or in other ways, and pay a stipulated sum weekly to their owners, which will be regulated according to the supposed value of the slave's labour. masters, however, who are sufficiently indulgent to allow them to "hire their time," are seldom rigorous in rating their labour very high. but whether the slave earn less or more than the specified sum, he must always pay that, and neither more nor less than that to his master at the close of each week, as the condition of this privilege. few fail in making up the sum; and generally they earn more, if industrious, which is expended in little luxuries, or laid by in an old rag among the rafters of their houses, till a sufficient sum is thus accumulated to purchase their freedom. this they are seldom refused, and if a small amount is wanting to reach their value, the master makes it up out of his own purse, or rather, takes no notice of the deficiency. i have never known a planter refuse to aid, by peculiar indulgences, any of his steady and well-disposed slaves, who desired to purchase their freedom. on the contrary, they often endeavour to excite emulation in them to the attainment of this end. this custom of allowing slaves to "hire their time," ensuring the master a certain sum weekly, and the slave a small surplus, is mutually advantageous to both. the majority of town servants are those who are hired to families by planters, or by those living in town who own more than they have employment for, or who can make more by hiring them out than by keeping them at home. some families, who possess not an acre of land, but own many slaves, hire them out to different individuals; the wages constituting their only income, which is often very large. there are indeed few families, however wealthy, whose incomes are not increased by the wages of hired slaves, and there are many poor people, who own one or two slaves, whose hire enables them to live comfortably. from three to five dollars a week is the hire of a female, and seventy-five cents or a dollar a day for a male. thus, contrary to the opinion at the north, families may have good servants, and yet not own one, if they are unable to buy, or are conscientious upon that ground, though there is not a shade of difference between hiring a slave, where prejudices are concerned, and owning one. those who think otherwise, and thus compound with conscience, are only making a distinction without a difference. northern people, when they come to this country, who dislike either to hire or purchase, often bring free coloured, or white servants (helps) with them. the first soon marry with the free blacks, or become too lofty in their conceptions of things, in contrasting the situation of their fellows around them, with their own, to be retained. the latter, if they are young and pretty, or even old and ugly, assume the fine lady at once, disdaining to be servants among slaves, and hymen, in the person of some spruce overseer, soon fulfils their expectations. i have seen but one white servant, or domestic, of either sex, in this country, and this was the body servant of an englishman who remained a few days in natchez, during which time, john sturdily refused to perform a single duty of his station. the expense of a domestic establishment at the south, would appear very great in the estimation of a new-englander. a gardener, coachman, nurse, cook, seamstress, and a house-maid, are indispensable. some of the more fashionable families add footmen, chamber-maids, hostler, an additional nurse, if there be many children, and another seamstress. to each of these officials is generally attached a young neophyte, while one constantly stumbles over useless little negroes scattered all about the house and court-yard. necessary as custom has made so great a number of servants, there seems to be much less domestic labour performed in a family of five, such perfect "eye-servants" are they, than in a northern family, with only one "maid of all work." there are some yankee "kitchen girls"--i beg their ladyships' pardon for so styling them--who can do more house-work, and do it better, than three or four negro servants, unless the eye of their mistress is upon them. as nearly all manual labour is performed by slaves, there must be one to each department, and hence originates a state of domestic manners and individual character, which affords an interesting field of contemplation to the severer northerner. the city slaves are distinguished as a class, by superior intelligence, acuteness, and deeper moral degradation. a great proportion of them are hired, and, free from restraint in a great degree, compared with their situations under their own masters, or in the country, they soon become corrupted by the vices of the city, and in associating indiscriminately with each other, and the refuse of the white population. soon the vices of the city, divested of their refinement, become their own unmasked. although they may once have ranked under the first class, and possessed the characteristics which designate the decent, well-behaved domestic of the planter, they soon lose their identity. there are of course exceptions to these characteristics, as also in the other classes. some of these exceptions have come within my knowledge, of a highly meritorious character. the third and lowest class consists of those slaves, who are termed "field hands."[ ] many of them rank but little higher than the brutes that perish, in the scale of intellect, and they are in general, as a class, the last and lowest link in the chain of the human species. secluded in the solitude of an extensive plantation, which is their world, beyond whose horizon they know nothing--their walks limited by the "quarters" and the field--their knowledge and information derived from the rude gossip of their fellows, straggling runaways, or house servants, and without seeing a white person except their master or overseer, as they ride over the estate, with whom they seldom hold any conversation--they present the singular feature of african savages, disciplined to subordination, and placed in the heart of a civilized community. mere change of place will not change the savage. moral and intellectual culture alone, will elevate him to an equality with his civilized brethren. the african transplanted from the arid soil of ebo, sene-gambia, or guinea, to the green fields of america, without mental culture, will remain still the wild african, though he may wield his ox-whip, whistle after his plough, and lift his hat, when addressed, like his more civilized fellows. his children, born on the plantation to which he is attached, and suffered to grow up as ignorant as himself, will not be one degree higher in the scale of civilization, than they would have been had they been born in africa. the next generation will be no higher advanced; and though they may have thrown away the idols of their country, and been taught some vague notions of god and the christian religion, they are in almost every sense of the word africans, as rude, and barbarous, but not so artless, as their untamed brethren beyond the atlantic. this has been, till within a few years, the general condition of "field hands" in this country, though there have been exceptions on some plantations highly honourable to their proprietors. within a few years, gentlemen of intelligence, humanity, and wealth, themselves the owners of great numbers of slaves, have exerted themselves and used their influence in mitigating the condition of this class. they commenced a reformation of the old system, whose chief foundation was unyielding rigour, first upon their own plantations. the influence of their example was manifest by the general change which gradually took place on other estates. this reformation is still in progress, and the condition of the plantation slave is now meliorated, so far as policy will admit, while they remain in their present relation. but still they are, and by necessity, always will be, an inferior class to the two former. it is now popular to treat slaves with kindness; and those planters who are known to be inhumanly rigorous to their slaves, are scarcely countenanced by the more intelligent and humane portion of the community. such instances, however, are very rare; but there are unprincipled men everywhere, who will give vent to their ill feelings, and bad passions, not with less good-will upon the back of an indented apprentice, than upon that of a purchased slave. private chapels are now introduced upon most of the plantations of the more wealthy, which are far from any church; sabbath-schools are instituted for the black children, and bible-classes for the parents, which are superintended by the planter, a chaplain, or some of the female members of the family. but with all these aids they are still, as i have remarked, the most degraded class of slaves; and they are not only regarded as such by the whites, but by the two other classes, who look upon them as infinitely beneath themselves. it is a difficult matter to impress upon their minds moral or religious truths. they generally get hold of some undefined ideas, but they can go no farther. their minds seem to want the capacity to receive intellectual impressions, nor are they capable of reasoning from the simplest principles, or of associating ideas. a native planter, who has had the management of between two and three hundred slaves, since he commenced planting, recently informed me, that if he conveyed an order to any of his "field hands," which contained two ideas, he was sure it would not be followed correctly. "dick," said he to one of them, "go to the carriage-house, and you will find a side-saddle and a man's saddle there. put one of them on the roan horse; but don't put on the ladies' saddle, mind you." "yes, master," said dick, lifting his cap very respectfully, and then posted off to the carriage-house; whence he returned in a few minutes with the roan caparisoned for a lady. the last idea seems to thrust out the first. i have frequently tried experiments to ascertain how far this was true of them in general, and have convinced myself, that it is very hard for the uneducated, rude field negro to retain more than a single impression at a time. a gentleman, who has been a leading planter for the last twenty years, and who has nearly one hundred slaves, of all ages, told me, that, finding the established catechism too hard for his slaves, he drew one up in manuscript himself, as simply as he thought it could be done. but a few lessons convinced him that he must make another effort, on a plan still more simple: and he accordingly drew up a series of questions, each containing one idea, and no more; for every question involving two had always puzzled them. every question he also made a _leading_ one: this he found to be absolutely necessary. "yet," he observed, "after all my efforts, for many years past, to imbue the minds--not of the children only, but of the parents, who were all included in my list of catechumens--with the plainest rudiments of christianity, i do not think that i have one on my estate, who comprehends the simplest principle connected with the atonement." one of these negroes, after a long course of drilling, was asked, "in whose image were you made?" "in de image ob de debil, master," was his prompt reply. the restrictions upon slaves are very rigorous in law, but not in fact. they are forbidden to leave their estates without a written "pass," or some letter or token, whereby it may appear that they are proceeding by authority. this is a wise regulation, to which i have before alluded; and if its spirit was properly entered into by the community, it would be the best means for public security that could be adopted. patrols are organized in the several counties and towns, whose duty it is to preserve order, and apprehend all negroes without passes. this body of men consists of four or five citizens, unarmed, unless with riding whips, headed by one of their number as captain. they are appointed monthly by a justice of the peace, and authorized to visit negro cabins, "quarters," and all places suspected to contain negroes, or unlawful assemblies of slaves; and all whom they may find strolling about, without a "pass," they are empowered to punish upon the spot, with "any number of lashes not exceeding fifteen," or take them to prison. they go out on duty once a week in the towns and villages; but it is considered a bore, and performed reluctantly. but there is no deficiency of energy and activity in case of any actual alarm. soon after the south-hampton tragedy, during the christmas holydays, the public mind was excited by a vague rumour that this drama was to be reacted here, as it was known that some of the negroes, supposed to be engaged in it, had been brought out and sold in this state. during this excitement the patrols were very vigilant. on the high roads they were increased to one hundred armed and mounted men. but this alarm was groundless, and very soon subsided. the fencibles--a volunteer military corps in natchez, composed of the first young gentlemen of the city, and now commanded by the late chancellor of the state--the best disciplined and finest looking body of men west of the alleghanies, constitute the military police of that city. they are also the "firemen;" and a more efficient phalanx to battle with a conflagration, cannot be found, even in new-york or boston. patrols go out merely to preserve the peace of the neighbourhood from any disturbance from drunken negroes, rather than to guard against insurrectionary movements. though the south has little to apprehend from her coloured population, yet many bold plans, indicating great genius in their originators, have been formed by slaves for effecting their freedom. but farther than mere plans, or violent acts, of short continuance, they will hardly be able to advance. the negro is wholly destitute of courage. he possesses an animal instinct, which impels him, when roused, to the performance of the most savage acts. he is a being of impulse, and cowardice is a principle of his soul, as instinctive as courage in the white man. this may be caused by their condition, and without doubt it is. but whatever may be the cause, the effect exists, and will ever preclude any apprehension of serious evil from any insurrectionary combination of their number. the spirit of insubordination will die as soon as the momentary excitement which produced it has subsided; and negroes never can accomplish any thing of a tragic nature, unless under the influence of extraordinary temporary excitement. the negro has a habitual fear of the white man, which has become a second nature; and this, combined with the fearless contempt of the white man for him, in his belligerent attitude, will operate to prevent any very serious evil resulting from their plans. a northerner looks upon a band of negroes, as upon so many _men_. but the planter, or southerner, views them in a very different light; and armed only with a hunting whip or walking-cane, he will fearlessly throw himself among a score of them, armed as they may be, and they will instantly flee with terror. there is a peculiar tone of authority, in which an angry master speaks to his slaves, which, while they are subordinate, cowers them, and when they are insubordinate, so strong is the force of habit, it does not lose its effects. the very same cause which enables him to keep in subjection fifty or a hundred negroes on his estate, through the instrumentality of his voice, or mere presence, operates so soon as the momentary intoxication of insurrectionary excitement is over--if it does not check its first exhibition--to bring them into subjection. nor do i speak unadvisedly or lightly, when i say that a band of insurgent slaves will be more easily intimidated and defeated by half the number of planters, with whips or canes, and their peculiarly authoritative voices, than by an equal number of northern soldiers armed _cap à pie_. fear, awe, and obedience in relation to his master, are interwoven into the very nature of the slave. they are the main-spring of all his actions; a part and portion of himself, and no extraneous circumstances can enable him to rise superior to their influence. i could relate many facts illustrative of what i have stated above, respecting the influence of habitual or natural obedience upon the negro. the runaway will sometimes suffer himself to be taken by a white boy not a third of his size. recently, about midnight, a lady saw, by the light of the moon, a tall negro enter her gallery. she immediately arose, observed him through the window more distinctly as he was peering about with a light step, and satisfied that he was a negro, she threw up the window, and cried "stop, sir! stop!" in the tone of authority peculiar to all who have had any thing to do with negroes. he at first started, and made a motion to run, but on a repetition of the command he submissively obeyed, and suffered himself to be taken by the lady's coachman, whom she called up--the runaway, as he proved to be, standing till he came and bound him, without moving a limb. this conduct betrayed no uncommon nerve or resolution in the lady, for southern ladies would laugh at the idea of being afraid of a negro. the readiness of the black coachman to arrest his fellow slave, goes far also toward illustrating the views which the slaves themselves entertain of their condition. but this is illustrated still more forcibly by the following incident. i was sitting, not long since, on the portico of a house in the country, engaged in conversation, when an old negro entered the front gate, leading by the arm a negro boy about sixteen years of age. "ah," said the gentleman with whom i was talking, "there is my runaway!" the old man approached the steps, which led to the portico, and removing his hat, as usual with slaves on addressing a white person, said, "master, i done bring john home. i cotch him skulkin 'bout in natchy: i wish master sell him where ol' nigger nebber see him more, if he runaway 'gain: he disgrace he family; his ol' mammy cry 'nough 'bout it when she hearn it." this couple were father and son. a "good negro," in the usual acceptation of the term, feels that there is a kind of disgrace attached to himself and family, if any one of them becomes a runaway. a negro lad, who had absconded for a few days' play, was apprehended and led by his overseer through the streets on his way home, not long ago, when an old negro wash-woman standing by, exclaimed on seeing him, "la, me! who 'tink he 'gin so young to act bad!" i will relate an instance of their readiness to arrest each other. "missus, dere's a runaway back de garden," said hastily a young negress, as a party were sitting down to the tea table of a lady at whose house i was visiting. "let me go catch him," "let me go missus," said the waiters, and they could hardly be kept in the hall. permission was given for one to go, who in a few minutes returned, leading up to the hall-door a stout half-naked negro whom he had caught prowling about the premises. "here de nigger, missus," said he exultingly, as though he himself belonged to another race and colour. negroes are very sensitive. they are easily excited, and upon no subject so much so perhaps, as religion. they are, particularly the females, of a very religious temperament, strongly inclining to superstition. unable to command their feelings, they give vent to the least emotion in the loudest clamours. they are thereby persuaded that they are converted, and apply for admission into the church in great numbers. many of them are perhaps truly pious. but the religion of most of them is made up of shouting, which is an incontrovertible argument or proof, with them, of conversion. this shouting is not produced generally by the sermon, for few are able to understand a very plain discourse, of which every sentence will contain words wholly incomprehensible to them. but they always listen with great attention, and so they would do were the sermon delivered in any other tongue. a few of the more intelligent and pious negroes, who can understand most of the sermon, perhaps become affected, and unable, like their better disciplined masters, to control their feelings, give vent to them in groans and shouts. those about them catch the infection, and spread it, till the whole negro portion of the audience in the gallery, becomes affected ostensibly by religious feeling, but really by a kind of animal magnetism, inexplicable and uncontrollable. the majority of the religious slaves are of the methodist denomination, some of which sect may be found on every plantation in the country, but few of them are practical christians. they are apt to consider the name as the thing. but i have met with individual exceptions, which reflect honour upon their race, and which i now recall with pleasure. one of the most touching and eloquent prayers i have ever heard, i recently listened to from the lips of an old negro, (who sometimes preached to his fellow slaves,) as he kneeled by the pallet of a dying african, and commended in an appeal,--which for beautiful simplicity and pathos, is seldom equalled--his departing spirit to his god. i have observed that they are seldom influenced by the principles of religion in their individual conduct. many, who are regarded by their brother africans as "shining lights," drink ardent spirits freely and without compunction. "ben, why do you drink whiskey?" i inquired of an old "member," who was very fond of indulging in this favourite southern potation for all classes.--"it no sin master--don't de bible say, what enter into de mouth no defile de man?" this was unanswerable. i asked another, "why he swore?" "cause, master, nigger no keep de debil down he throat, when oxen so bad." negro preaching has obtained here formerly, but the injudicious course taken at the north by those who are friendly to the cause of emancipation, but who do not evince their good feelings in the wisest manner, has led planters to keep a tighter rein upon their slaves. and negro preaching, among the removal of other privileges which they once enjoyed, is now interdicted. it is certainly to be regretted that the steps taken by those who desire to do away slavery, should have militated against their views, through their own unadvised measures, and placed the subject of their philanthropic efforts in a less desirable state than formerly. the more i see of slavery, the more firmly i am convinced that the interference of our northern friends, in the present state of their information upon the subject, will be more injurious than beneficial to the cause. the physician, like prince hohenloe, might as reasonably be expected to heal, with the atlantic between himself and his patient's pulse, or to use a juster figure, an individual, wholly ignorant of a disease, might as well attempt its cure, as for northerners, however sincere their exertions, or however pure their intentions may be, under existing circumstances, to meliorate the condition of the coloured population of the south. when the chains of the slave are broken in pieces, it must be by a southern hand--and thousands of southern gentlemen are already extending their arms, ready to strike the blow. and when experience shall tell them the time is at hand, then, "thy chains are broken, africa, be free!" shall be shouted from the south to the north; and wind waves shall waft the tidings to the land of slaves, proclaim on guinea's coast, by gambia's side, as far as niger rolls his eastern tide, "thy chains are broken, africa, be free!" i will conclude my remarks upon this interesting subject, with some valuable reflections from another pen. "it avails but little to deprecate now," says the able writer whom i quote, "and even to denounce with holy zeal, the iniquity of those who first established the relations of master and slave in the then colonies of great britain, but now united states of america. these relations have been sanctioned by law and long usage, and interwoven with the institutions of the two countries: they cannot be cancelled at once by any law, founded on justice and equity, which should place at once either or both of the parties in a less advantageous position, than the one which they held when connected by the tie of master and slave. however opposed to slavery in the abstract, and alive to its numerous evils in practice; and with whatever zeal we may advocate emancipation, we ought ever, in this, as in all other kinds of reform, political as well as moral, to act with that wise discretion, which should make the present work a means of future and permanent good. it should be steadily borne in mind, therefore, that immediate, unconditional emancipation, while it is detrimental to the master, does no immediate good to the manumitted slave. it is not the boon, so much as a beginning, a hope, and a promise of future good to the african; it is simply one of the means, a most important and paramount one, indeed, for acquiring the blessings of rational liberty; but it is not the blessing itself. it becomes, therefore, the bounden duty, on every principle of equity and religion, of those who, either of their own free will, or by menaces to the master, give emancipation to the slave, to carry out what they have begun, to realize what they have promised, to fulfil the hopes which they have raised. failing to do this, and simply content with severing the relations between master and slave, they become, themselves, the most cruel tyrants, the most unjust men. they have hurried on, by their blind zeal, a crisis, which they are either unable, or unwilling, or know not how, to turn to the best account, for the cause of humanity, civilization, and religion. previous--and essential preliminaries, to any attempt at emancipation, either by direct advocacy of the measure in particular quarters, or by legislative enactments, where such are constitutional and legal--a full inquiry ought to be instituted under the following heads:-- i. the actual condition of the slaves, which will include the kind and amount of labour which they are bound to perform, the treatment which they experience when at work, and the degree of attention paid to their physical wants and moral nature, as to lodging, clothing, food, amusements, and instruction. ii. the immediate effects of unconditional emancipation, on the coloured freeman. under this head should be investigated his capability, under the circumstances, of providing for himself and family; and of his acting the part of a good neighbour, and a useful, productive citizen. iii. the compatibility of the whites and blacks, the former masters and slaves, and their descendants respectively, living together after emancipation in the same community, with due regard to the feelings, interests, dispositions, and wants of each class. iv. the measures to be adopted for the interests of each, in case of such incompatibility being evident and impossible to be overcome. the first branch of inquiry results favourably to the cause of humanity, as far as the west indies are concerned. the state of the slave population in the united states is even still more favourable in the main: and if the comparisons instituted between the slaves in the islands and the operatives in england, have resulted in favour of the superior comforts of the former, i feel very sure that, when made between the latter and the american slaves, they will exhibit these in a still more advantageous position. all this, however, while it diminishes the fears of the philanthropist, ought not to relax his efforts for a future and gradual melioration. it simply illustrates things as they are, and does not positively show how they should be. the facts hitherto collected under the second branch of inquiry, are not encouraging. the third head presents a very unsatisfactory aspect to the friends of emancipation, and of the negro race. the problem has not been solved; or if partially so, it goes to show, that there is an incompatibility between the two races, and that both are sufferers by their sojourn in the same land, even though both should be free nominally, and, in the eye of the law, equal. a glance at the condition of the free states of the union, as they are called, in this respect, exhibits the proofs of this condition of things. and so long as these startling anomalies exist--freedom without its enjoyments, equality without its social privileges--we really do not see how the people of the free states can pretend, with any show of propriety or justice, even had they the power by law and constitution, to meddle with the relations between master and slave, in the slave-holding states. they have the right, which all men ought to have, of discussing freely any and every important question in ethics, jurisprudence, and political economy, but not to give their conclusion a direct and offensive application to those portions of their fellow-citizens or fellow-men, to whom they have not yet furnished a clear and satisfactory example, and rule of conduct in the case specially adverted to. still more do the difficulties of the subject increase, if the last branch of inquiry has not been satisfactorily carried out--if the necessity of separation of the two races, be denied; or, if admitted, the means of accomplishing it be opposed and reviled, as either impracticable or unjust. i am myself in favour of emancipation; but this is a conclusion which it seems to us ought to be carried into effect, only after a due consideration of the premises, and with a full knowledge of the remoter consequences, and ability to make these consequences correspond with the claims of justice and peace in the beginning; and the best and permanent interests of the two races, ultimately. have those who advocate immediate and unconditional emancipation weighed well these several branches of inquiry on this momentous subject? it is to be feared, indeed, by their language and conduct, that they have not. they should beware, while they are denouncing the slave-holder, that they do not themselves incur a still more fearful responsibility, and make themselves answerable for jeoparding, if not actually dissolving, the union, and encouraging civil, perhaps servile war, with all its horrors and atrocities." footnotes: [ ] "field hands"--"force"--"hands"--"people," and "niggers," are terms applied to the purchased labourers of a plantation; but "slaves"--never. "boys" is the general term for the men, and "women," for females. it is common to address a negro forty years of age as "boy." if much older he is called "daddy," or "uncle;" but "mister," or "man"--never. the females, in old age, become "aunty," "granny," or "old lady." appendix. note a.--_title-page--mississippi._ desirous of embodying in the appendix to this work, whatever of an interesting nature relates to the south-west, the author has compiled, principally from the american almanac for , the following statistical tables of mississippi, presenting that growing state in a variety of interesting views:-- mississippi. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- latitude of natchez, ° ' north. longitude in degrees ' " west. _h._ _m._ _s._ longitude in time, . distance from washington, miles. -----------------------------------+----------------------------------- relative size of mississippi, . | extent in square miles, , . -----------------------------------+----------------------------------- number of inhabitants to a square mile. -----------------------+-----------------------+----------------------- in . | in . | in . -----------------------+-----------------------+----------------------- . | . | -----------------------+-----------------------+----------------------- relative population. -----------------------+-----------------------+----------------------- in . | in . | in . -------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------- free | slave | total | free | slave | total | free | slave | total -------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------- | | | | | | | | -------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------- rate of increase of free and slave population. -----------------------+-----------------------+----------------------- from to . | from to . | from to . -------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------- free | slave | total | free | slave | total | free | slave | total -------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------- | . | | | | | . | | -------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------- population in . -------------+-------------+---------------------------+--------------- free | slaves | no. of free to slave | total -------------+-------------+---------------------------+--------------- , | , | . | , -------------+-------------+---------------------------+--------------- in . -------------+-------------+---------------------------+--------------- , | , | . | , -------------+-------------+---------------------------+--------------- in . -------------+-------------+---------------------------+--------------- , | , | . | , -------------+-------------+---------------------------+--------------- imports and exports in the year ending -----------------------------------+----------------------------------- value of imports | value of exports -----------------------------------+----------------------------------- | -----------------------------------+----------------------------------- tonnage, tons. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- government. _salary._ hiram g. runnels, governor; (term of office expires nov. .) $ , david dickson, secretary of state, , james phillips, state treasurer, , john h. mallory, auditor of public accounts, , gen. briscoe, president of the senate:--adamam l. birgaman, speaker of the house of representatives. the legislature meets, once in two years, on the th monday in november. judiciary. _high court of errors and appeals._ _salary._ william l. sharkey, presiding judge, $ , cotesworth p. smith, judge, , david w. wright, judge, , matthew d. patton, attorney general, , this court, which has no jurisdiction, except what properly belongs to a court of errors and appeals, holds two sessions annually, at jackson, commencing on the first monday in january and july. _superior court of chancery._ edward turner, chancellor, _salary_ $ , this court, which has jurisdiction over all matters, pleas, and complaints whatsoever, belonging to or cognizable in a court of equity, holds two sessions annually, beginning on the first monday in january and july. _circuit court._ st district, alexander montgomery, judge, d district, james scott, judge, d district, a. m. keegar, judge, th district, judge, th district, j. j. h. morris, judge, th district, james f. trotter, judge. the state is divided into six districts or circuits, and one judge, and a district attorney are chosen by the electors of each district; and a circuit court is held in each county twice every year. it has original jurisdiction in civil cases in which the sum in controversy exceeds $ . banks. exhibition of their state on the th of january, , as laid before congress, june , . ----------------------------+--------------+--------------+----------- | capital | bills | name. | stock paid | in | specie. | in. | circulation. | ----------------------------+--------------+--------------+----------- planters' bank, natchez, |$ , , | , , | , estimated situation of b'ks | | | from which no returns | | | were received. | | | agricultural bank of } | | | miss. natchez. } | , , | , | , state bank of mississippi,} | | | natchez. } | | | |------------- |------------- |----------- total |$ , , | , , | , ----------------------------+--------------+--------------+----------- statement of the banks, as given by a correspondent, under date of august , . -------------+----------+------------+----------------------------- name. | place. | capital. | branches of planters' bank. -------------+----------+------------+----------------------------- | | | { vicksburg, $ , | | | { port gibson, , planters' } | | | { woodville, , bank, } | natchez, | $ , , | { manchester, , | | | { monticello, , | | | { columbus, , | | | { jackson, , | | | | | | total of brn's, $ , , | | | agricultural}| | | bank. }| natchez, | $ , , | | | --------- | | total | , , | -------------+----------+------------+----------------------------- the capitals of the branches constitute a part of the ($ , , ) capital of the planters' bank. a rail-road is being surveyed this summer from natchez to jackson, for which a charter will be granted at the next meeting of the legislature. summary. the governor of mississippi is elected by the people. term begins november, --expires november, . duration of the term two years. salary $ , . senators, . term of years, three. representatives . term of years, one. total, senators and representatives, . pay per day, $ . electors of president and vice-president are chosen by general ticket. seat of government, jackson. time of holding elections, in may. time of meeting of the legislature, fourth monday in november, biennially. mississippi admitted into the union in . note b. _page ._ for the following meteorological table, the author is indebted to the politeness of henry tooley esq. a scientific gentleman who has been a resident of natchez the third of a century, and who has during the greater part of his life kept a daily register of the weather. the exposure of his thermometer was unexceptionable, and always the same. the tables in the author's possession from various other sources, date back to the year , affording an uninterrupted series of meteorological observations in this climate, down to the present period. an abstract from these tables would be too elaborate for a work of this nature, and would not, indeed, convey any farther important information upon this climate, than is contained in the accompanying abstract from the tables of dr. tooley, for the past ten years. the general temperature, though varying much from day to day, is so regular, one year with another, that a meteorological table for any one period of ten years will answer, with slight variations, for almost any other term of the same duration. the thermometer was examined at a. m. and at p. m. for the extremes. annual results of meteorological observations made at natchez in n. lat. ° ' long. ° ' " w. ----+-------------+-------+------+-------+-------+----------------------------- | | a.m. | p.m.| a.m. | p.m. | number of days | +-------+------+-------+-------+-----+------+-----+----+----- year| mean temp | warmest | coldest |clear|cloudy|rainy|snow|sleet ====+======+======+=======+======+=======+=======+=====+======+=====+====+===== | | - / | - / | - / | - / | - / | | | | | ----+------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+-----+------+-----+----+----- | - / | | - / | - / | - / | - / | | | | | ----+------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+-----+------+-----+----+----- | - / | | - / | - / | - / | - / | | | | | ----+------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+-----+------+-----+----+----- | | | - / | - / | - / | - / | | | | | ----+------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+-----+------+-----+----+----- | | | - / | - / | - / | - / | | | | | ----+------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+-----+------+-----+----+----- | - / | | - / | - / | - / | - / | | | | | ----+------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+-----+------+-----+----+----- | | - / | - / | - / | - / | - / | | | | | ----+------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+-----+------+-----+----+----- | - / | - / | - / | - / | | - / | | | | | ----+------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+-----+------+-----+----+----- | - / | | - / | - / | - / | | | | | | ----+------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+-----+------+-----+----+----- | - / | - / | - / | - / | | | | | | | ----+------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+-----+------+-----+----+----- to | | | | | | | | | | | june| | | | | | | | | | | | - / | - / | - / | - / | | - / | | | | | ----+------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+-----+------+-----+----+----- . ------+-------------+---------------+----------------+----+----+----+----+----- | mean | | | | | | | months| temp | warm | cold |cl'r|cl'y|rain|snow|sleet ------+-------------+---------------+----------------+----+----+----+----+----- jan. | - / | | | | | | | | | | feb. | - / | | | | | | | | | | mar. | | - / | | | | | | | | | april,| - / | | | | | | | | | | may, | - / | - / | | | | | | | | | june, | | | | | | | | | | | |------|------|-------|-------|-------|--------|----|----|----|----|----- | - / | - / | - / | - / | | - / | | | | | ------+------+------+-------+-------+-------+--------+----+----+----+----+----- mean temp. obtained by adding mean of months together, and then dividing by the number of months. . ------+-------------+---------------+----------------+----+----+----+----+----- jan. | - / | | | | | | | | | | feb. | - / | | | | | | | | | | mar. | | | | | | | | | | | april,| | | | | | | | | | | may, | | - / | | | | | | | | | june, | - / | | | | | | | | | | july, | | - / | | | | | | | | | aug. | - / | - / | | | | | | | | | sept. | - / | | | | | | | | | | oct. | - / | - / | | | | | | | | | nov. | - / | - / | | | | | | | | | dec. | - / | - / | | | | | | | | | |------|------|-------|-------|-------|--------|----|----|----|----|----- | - / | - / | - / | - / | - / | - / | | | | | ------+------+------+-------+-------+-------+--------+----+----+----+----+----- . ------+-------------+---------------+----------------+----+----+----+----+----- jan. | - / | - / | | | | | | | | | feb. | - / | | | | | | | | | | mar. | | | | | | | | | | | april,| | | | | | | | | | | may, | | | | | | | | | | | june, | | | | | | | | | | | july, | - / | - / | | | | | | | | | aug. | | - / | | | | | | | | | sept. | | - / | | | | | | | | | oct. | | - / | | | | | | | | | nov. | | | | | | | | | | | dec. | - / | | | | | | | | | | |------|------|-------|-------|-------|--------|----|----|----|----|----- | - / | | - / | - / | - / | - / | | | | | ------+------+------+-------+-------+-------+--------+----+----+----+----+----- the author has been favoured with the following medical report drawn up by a physician of natchez, who has had long experience in the diseases of this climate. medical report. return of deaths within the city of natchez, from st june , to first june --including thirteen years: the population of natchez is ordinarily between three and four thousand--lessened, probably, in the summer season, from to . with this number of residents, the mortality cannot be regarded as very large. on the contrary, few places of equal magnitude, either north or south, can boast a greater degree of general health than this city. since the year , it will be perceived, it has been growing gradually healthier--with the exception of the last two or three years,--when, owing in a great measure to the severity of the winter season, a great proportion of the sickness and mortality has occurred in the winter and spring months. indeed take a period of seven years--from to , and we challenge any southern or western city, with the same amount of population, to show a less number of deaths--especially in the summer season, than the city of natchez. the bill of mortality has been considerably augmented of late, by that appalling and sweeping epidemic, which increased in strength, and doubled its roll of victims in proportion as it travelled south--together with small pox and intemperance--for both of which nature has provided specific remedies--but which certain classes continue still to avoid, and will hence continue to suffer and die in spite of jenner and the temperance societies, as long as incredulity shall exist, and distilleries pour forth their floods of poison in the land. most of those with the last mentioned diseases, it would seem, have been inmates of the public hospital. on an average, about / to / of the deaths annually occur from bilious remittent, congestive and typhus fever. the yellow fever, be it known, has not appeared here as an epidemic for the last five or six years, and may be regarded as quite extinct in the city. owing to the careless and imperfect manner in which the returns have generally been made--and this we are sorry to say, is too often the case--a large portion of the deaths are from unknown diseases--as to which in regard to the age of the subjects, and the colour, which in this country is somewhat important, we are left generally in the dark. by giving the subject some considerable attention, however, we have been enabled to preserve a degree of accuracy in the proportion, and the general result, we believe, is nearly, if not specifically correct. the whole number of deaths by fever, during years, is ; cholera , consumption , intemperance , small pox , infantile , dysentery , delirium tremens , drowned , murder , old age , suicide , unknown . the remainder, which we purposely omit, are by ordinary diseases, which are not peculiar to any clime or season. we have examined a meteorological table, kept with a considerable degree of accuracy for the last years: but it presents nothing peculiar--and its details are too minute and comprehensive for our present object. we notice, however, a greater proportion of "cloudy and rainy" days than could be expected in this "sunny clime," while the average degree of heat is by no means greater than in latitudes somewhat farther north. the greatest range of heat is , and the greatest cold °.--this we are inclined to believe, is not strictly correct, as we have twice, within a few years, seen the thermometer as low as ° in the neighbourhood of new orleans. deaths in each month. months and years, | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | january, | | | | | | | | | | | | | february, | | | | | | | | | | | | | march, | | | | | | | | | | | | | april, | | | | | | | | | | | | | may, | | | | | | | | | | | | | june, | | | | | | | | | | | | | july, | | | | | | | | | | | | | august, | | | | | | | | | | | | | september, | | | | | | | | | | | | | october, | | | | | | | | | | | | | november, | | | | | | | | | | | | | december, | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- total, | | | | | | | | | | | | | - | | | | | | | | | | | | | males, | | | | | | | | | | | | | - | | | | | | | | | | | | | females, | | | | | | | | | | | | | - | | | | | | | | | | | | | note c--_page _. for the following valuable paper upon the cultivation of cotton, the author is indebted to the kindness of dr. j. w. monett, of mississippi, already well known to the medical world by his treatises published at the north upon the prevailing epidemics of this climate. the cotton crop. "having finished or relinquished the miscellaneous business of winter, such as clearing, building, ditching, and splitting rails, the hands are actively employed in making preparation for another crop. the first thing to be attended to, is the repairing of all the fences, with the light force, such as boys and women; while the strong hands are employed in chopping, and log-rolling in the new grounds. these operations are commenced generally about the middle of february, and continued two or three weeks, unless the farm is mostly new; in which case the clearing of the new ground continues four or five weeks until it is time to plant corn, generally from the first to the twentieth of march. during all this time several ploughs, in a well opened place, are kept constantly running (unless prevented by rain), in "listing up" corn and cotton ground. the distance between the ridges for cotton varies according to the strength of the soil, and the consequent size to which the plant grows. in the rich bottoms the distance between the middle or tops of the ridges must be from five to seven feet; while in the thin upland soil, a space of three or four feet is amply sufficient. in the latter soil, the cotton plant attains the height of three or four feet, and branches laterally about half that distance. but in the rich alluvial lands, the stalk not unfrequently shoots up to six and eight feet, and branches so as to interlock with the other rows six or eight feet apart. early in april, and sometimes even in the last days of march, the cotton-planting commences. to open the ridges, a narrow plough is run by one horse along the middle of the ridge, so as to open a narrow shallow furrow, in the mellow ground first ploughed. immediately behind the opening plough, follows the sower, with his sack of cotton-seed suspended from his neck, walking at the same pace with the plough-man before. at every step or two he throws the seed so as to strew it four or five feet ahead in the furrow, at each dash of the hand. the quantity sown is often unnecessarily large, being frequently twenty times more numerous than the stalks permitted to remain growing. this profusion of seed is sown for the purpose of obtaining a "good stand," after allowing for defective seeds as well as some which may not be covered, and others that may be covered too deep, and also for many plants that may sicken and die after they have vegetated and come above the ground. this latter circumstance frequently occurs: a stand may be amply sufficient when first up, but from drought, excessive rain, or chilling winds, one half in the rows, and sometimes whole acres together, die with the "rust," "sore skin," or "yellow fever." after the sower another hand follows closely with a light horse harrow, drawn over the furrow, for the purpose of covering the seed. this throws in the loose earth over the seed, and covers them so lightly that often one-third of them are still visible, yet this covering is sufficient, for no seeds require less covering than cotton-seed. they will sprout and take root, when left on the surface of the ground, if a slight shower follows. on a large plantation where there are, say, fifty effective hands, there will probably be three or four sets of hands engaged at the same time in planting; each set, however, not in any way interfering with the other; but all pushing on with a constant brisk motion. as a medium task, each set, of three hands, will very easily plant ten acres, but oftener fifteen in old well broken land. during the planting season, or between the first of april and the middle of may, there are always from one to three wet or rainy spells, continuing from one to four days each, so that the planting is necessarily interrupted. this, however, is an advantage which none complain of, as it facilitates and expedites the vegetation of the seed already planted; while it causes the several portions of the crop to vary eight or ten days in age, and thereby renders the working more convenient. twenty planting days are sufficient to put in the whole cotton crop, or at least as much as can be properly tended and secured. on the rich bottom lands, when the growth of the cotton is very luxuriant, it is desirable to finish planting always before the first of may; but in the hills, especially where the soil is thin, and the cotton plant attains but a small comparative size, it is preferable to plant between the fifteenth of april and the twentieth of may. cotton thus planted in thin soil, will mature and open as soon as that which has been planted three weeks sooner in bottom lands. when the earth is moist and warm, cotton-seed will sprout, and be up in about five or six days; but if the soil be dry it takes much longer--or until there is rain sufficient to saturate the loose earth: for the seed, being covered with a thick coat of coarse wool, is not so readily, as some other seeds, acted upon by slight moisture. as the plant first comes out of the ground, it has somewhat the appearance of a young bean, or of the okra plant, being composed at first of two lobate leaflets, which continue, gradually enlarging, until about the end of the first week, when a leaf or two begins to put out between the lobules. the young cotton-plant is extremely tender, and sensible to the most moderate degrees of cold: the slightest frost cuts it off--while it withers and dies from the effects of a few hours of chilling winds. from the profusion of seed planted, the cotton plant of course comes up very thick and crowded in the row; in which condition it is allowed to remain a week or ten days, and often of necessity much longer, when it is thinned out, or as it is called, "scraped." during scraping time there is one constant rush, and every hand that can use a hoe is brought into the field. the process of scraping commences by running a light furrow close on each side of the row of young cotton, with the share of the plough next it, so as to throw the dirt from the cotton and trim off the scattering plants: the space left unbroken between these two furrows is about eight or ten inches wide, ready for the hoes. if there are many hoe-hands there are several ploughs "barring off" as it is called. the hoe hands follow close upon the ploughs, each hand upon a separate row, and with hoes sharp, and set particularly for "scraping." experienced cotton hands run over the rows with great rapidity, and evince great dexterity in striking out all to a single stalk, which is left at the distance, from its next neighbour, of at least the width of the hoe; and in bottom land, at double that distance. thus, in thin land, the stalks are desired to be ten or twelve inches apart, and in the rich lands about eighteen or twenty inches, in the row. the cotton plant thus thinned out, continues to grow slowly until the hot weather of june sets in, when it begins to grow rapidly, putting out a blossom at each new joint formed on the branches. this successive florescence continues until frost puts a stop to the growth of the plant, which is generally in october. the pericarp or boll of cotton, from the first bloom, is generally matured in eight or ten weeks, when it begins to crack at the four seams in the bolls, until the four valves spread wide open, remaining attached only at the base or extremity next the _stem_. when the valves are thus open, the cotton with the seed, to which it adheres in a kind of cluster, hangs down from one to four inches. from june until october, the cotton exhibits a successive and continued florescence, while the plant is loading itself with green bolls, from the size of a young peach, having just dropped its blossom, to that of a small hen's egg. about the last of august the matured bolls begin to burst or open their valves and suspend their cotton; and from that time the plant exhibits at the same time, blossoms, and bolls of every size, and every stage of maturity. toward fall, when the heat of the sun is constant and intense, the bolls will mature and open in six weeks from the blossom. after the first "scraping out," the cultivation is carried on much in the same manner as in the cultivation of corn, until about the first of august, when it ceases, and the crop is laid by. the same kind of cultivation that would make good corn would make good cotton. in this however there is a difference of opinion: some will hill, or heap the earth up in high ridges with both corn and cotton, while others will keep the soil loose and level about both; the latter is decidedly the proper mode for either. when the blossom is first unfolded, which generally occurs in the night, in form it resembles the white hollyhock, but is smaller, and is of a faint yellowish white colour, which it retains until about noon; the heat of the sun then being intense, the corolla partially closes, not unlike the four-o'clock-flower, and at the same time its hue is changed to a delicate rose, or lilac. on the following day the flowers become more deeply tinged; toward the close of the second evening they are of a deep crimson, or violet hue. during the succeeding night, and morning, that is, about forty-eight hours after they first open, they always drop off while of a deep violet colour, leaving the young capsule or boll. the blossoms generally open, as well as fall off, during the night, and early in the morning. thus a cotton field in july, august, september, and october, exhibits the singular appearance of a continued crop of opening, closing, and falling blossoms, with an almost equal mixture of white, lilac, and purple flowers; while each morning the ground is seen covered with the latter, and the branches replenished with the white. as the ploughing generally ceases and the crop is "laid by" about the last of july, when the plant is large and brittle, there is but little done in the field during the first three weeks in august, except that a few light hands are kept employed in cutting, or pulling up the "tie-vines" which are sometimes very troublesome: the tie-vine is nothing more or less than the morning-glory, so carefully cultivated in gardens at the north, for the purpose of shading arbours and summer houses. toward the last of august, or as soon as there is sufficient open cotton for a hand to pick fifteen or twenty pounds during the day, the light force, consisting of women and children, is put to picking for a week or ten days; when there being sufficient cotton opened, to make a full day's work, all hands are engaged without exception. then begins another push, which continues until the whole crop is gathered and housed. during "picking time" which continues where full crops are made until the first of december, and in river lands, until the first of january, the hands are regularly roused, by a large bell or horn, about the first dawn of day, or earlier so that they are ready to enter the field as soon as there is sufficient light to distinguish the bolls. as the dews are extremely heavy and cool, each hand is provided with a blanket coat or wrapper, which is kept close around him until the dew is partially evaporated by the sun. without this protection they would be completely wet from head to feet, in a very short time; and as they would be in the field at least two hours before the sun's rays would be felt, they would be perfectly chilled, if no worse consequence attended. the hands remain in the field until it is too dark to distinguish the cotton, having brought their meals with them. for the purpose of collecting the cotton, each hand is furnished with a large basket, and two coarse cotton bags about the size of a pillow case, with a strong strap to suspend them from the neck or shoulders. the basket is left at the end of a row, and both bags taken along: when one bag is as full as it can well be crammed, it is laid down in the row, and the hand begins to fill the second in the same way. as soon as the second is full, he returns to the basket, taking the other bag as he passes it, and empties both into the basket, treading it down well, to make it contain his whole day's work. the same process is repeated until night; when the basket is taken upon his head and carried to the scaffold-yard, to be weighed. there the overseer meets all hands at the scales, with the lamp, slate, and whip. on the left hand margin of the slate is pasted a strip of paper, with the name of each written in fair large hand. as soon as their baskets are set upon the ground, the weighing commences. each basket is carefully weighed, and the nett weight of cotton set down upon the slate, opposite the name of the picker. the negroes stand round, to remove and replace the baskets as they are weighed; and occasionally the countenance of an idler may be seen to fall. then is the time for the overseer to watch close or he may be greatly imposed upon by the cunning and lazy, who are apt, in the crowd, to prevent their baskets from being weighed, by substituting a heavier one which has been passed, or they may fill up their baskets from one already weighed. sometimes a negro, known to be lazy, will have heavy weight and will probably extort from the overseer expressions of praise and encouragement, unless he examines the basket, when perchance he may find one of his sacks full of moist earth snugly covered up at the bottom; such tricks as these will be continually practised upon an overseer, who is careless or "soft;" a quality or character, which none can more readily and properly appreciate than the negro. it is not an uncommon occurrence for an overseer, who is even vigilant, amid the crowd of negroes and baskets, with only one lamp, held close to the scales and slate, to weigh some of the heavier baskets several times, their exact weight being changed by taking out, or putting in a few pounds; while the lighter ones pass entirely unnoticed. no inconvenience arises to any one from such incidents, except that the crop is not gathered in as good time as it might otherwise have been, and a portion consequently is wasted. after the weighing is over, and the baskets are emptied, or turned bottom upward, upon the scaffolds, the overseer takes the slate, and examines the weights attached to each name. those who are found to have brought in less than their usual quantity, unless for good reasons, are called in the order of their names: the individual advances, and if his reasons are insufficient, he is ordered to lie down upon his face, with his back exposed; when he receives ten, twenty, or fifty stripes with the whip, according to his deserts. in this way the overseer goes over the list, punishing only those who have idled away their time. no one knows that he is to be punished until his name is called, when he has an opportunity of giving his reasons for his imperfect day's work. as to the quantity which a hand can pick in a day, there is a great difference; some will pick only from to lbs., others from to lbs., while some extraordinary pickers can pick as high as or lbs. in one day. but to pick these last weights requires such brisk and incessant motion, that it could not be done two days in succession without danger of life or health; and is only attempted for a wager, or such like reason. the average weight picked by all the hands on a place, will seldom exceed or lbs., in good picking. children from ten to fifteen years of age generally pick nearly as much as grown hands. the scaffolds for drying cotton are mostly temporary, being made anew every summer, of common boards or plank. upon these the cotton is suffered to lie spread out to the sun, at least one day to dry; while some old or decrepit hand stays at the scaffold, to turn and spread it, as well as to pick out leaves and trash. it may not be improper to make a remark or two relative to whipping. this is generally performed with as much care and humanity as the nature of the case will admit. a person standing at the distance of two hundred yards, being unacquainted with the mode, and hearing the loud sharp crack of the whip upon the naked skin, would almost tremble for the life of the poor sufferer. but what would be his surprise, after hearing fifty or one hundred stripes thus laid on, to go up and examine the poor fellow, and find the skin not broken, and not a drop of blood drawn from him! yet this is the way in which the whip is generally used here upon slaves: very few planters would permit them to be whipped on the bare back with a raw-hide, or cow-skin, as it is called. though, as in every thing else, there is a great difference in the degree of severity exercised by different masters: yet we must take the general rule, as applicable to the great class of planters. the common overseer's whip consists of a stout flexible stalk, large at the handle, tapering rapidly to the distance of about eighteen inches, and thence continued with cord or leather; the whole is covered with a leather plat, which continues tapering into, and forms the lash--the whole together being about three feet and a half long. to the end of the lash is attached a soft, dry, buckskin cracker, about three eighths of an inch wide and ten or twelve inches long, which is the only part allowed to strike, in whipping on the bare skin. so soft is the cracker, that a person who has not the sleight of using the whip, could scarcely hurt a child with it. when it is used by an experienced hand it makes a very loud report, and stings, or "burns" the skin smartly, but does not bruise it. one hundred lashes well laid on with it, would not injure the skin as much as ten moderate stripes with a cow-skin. but to return from this digression:--every day, when the weather will admit, beholds a repetition of the ceremony of picking, weighing, and drying, as before detailed. those who have gins, as all planters should have, generally keep the stand running during the picking season, so as to gin out the cotton as fast as it is picked. if there are forty or fifty good pickers, it requires one stand to be kept running constantly to keep up with them. in such cases, during wet weather, when the hands cannot pick cotton, the ablest of them are kept baling the cotton which has been ginned since the last rain, or within the last eight or ten days. when there are not more than twenty, or twenty-five, the gin will be able to keep up, by ginning the last three days in the week, in addition to all rainy weather; and the able-bodied hands will be able to do all the pressing and baling during the wet days. gin, in the common acceptation, signifies the house and all the machinery required to separate the _lint_ from the seed, and to press it into large bales, weighing generally from to pounds. the house is a large enclosed roof, resting upon blocks or posts, which support it at about eight or nine feet from the ground. the common area covered is about forty by sixty feet, the rafters resting upon plates, and the plates upon flooring beams, or joists, upon which the floor is laid. about the distance of one-third the length of the house, two gearing beams are laid across, for supporting the machinery. these rest upon the top of the blocks, or on posts framed into them. on the ground floor is the horse-path for drawing the main wheel and counter wheel; the last of which carries a broad band, which passes over and turns the cylinder and brush of the gin-stand alone. the large plantations are adopting steam engines, and erect for the purpose very large and expensive buildings, in which are placed two, three, or four stands. a gin-stand is a frame, in which runs a wooden cylinder with an iron shaft running through it; this cylinder is encircled at every inch by a very thin circular saw, with sharp hooked teeth, upon which the seed cotton is thrown, running through parallel grates. the teeth of the saws catch and carry through the lint from the seed. just behind the cylinder is a fly-wheel brush--that is, a fan, with a brush on its extreme circumference; this brush, running considerably faster than the cylinder, takes off the cotton from the teeth, and blows it back. the space or room above is divided into two apartments; one for the stand and seed cotton, and the other for ginned cotton; the latter of which will contain cotton for twenty or thirty bales. a good gin-stand, with sixty or sixty-five saws, running constantly from daybreak in the morning until eight or nine o'clock at night, will gin out as much as will make three or four bales. at the other end of the house, and immediately under the room containing ginned cotton, is the press. it consists of two large wooden screws, twelve or sixteen inches in diameter, with reversed threads cut on each end to within eighteen inches or two feet of the middle, through which there is a mortice for the lever. these screws stand perpendicularly, and about ten feet apart, and work into a large heavy beam above, and into another firmly secured below. the upper moves up or down (when the screws are turned), between four strong upright posts, framed together, two on each side, so as to come down strait and steady when pressing. the lower sides of the press are composed of very strong batten doors; when the beam is brought sufficiently low, a spring is struck, and they fly open; when they are removed, leaving the naked bale standing on its edge under the press. a piece of bagging, cut to the proper size and shape, was put in the bottom of the press-box, before filling in the cotton, and another on top, immediately under the follower. these two pieces are brought together in such manner as to cover the cotton neatly, and there sewed with twine. the rope passed under and over it, through the grooves left in the bed-sill and in the follower, by means of a windlass, is drawn extremely tight and tied with double loop knots. when all is finished, the screws are turned backward, the beam rises, and the bale is rolled out. notwithstanding there are seven bands of strong rope around it, the bale will swell and stretch the rope, until its breadth is at least two or three inches more than when in the press. to press and bale expeditiously requires at least four or five hands and one horse. when the box has been sufficiently filled, generally eight or nine feet deep, the men bring down the beam by turning the screws with hand levers as long as they can turn them; then a large lever is placed in the screw, with a strong horse attached to one end, and a few turns of the screws by the horse bring the beam down to the proper point, within thirty or thirty-four inches of the sill. the requisite number of hands will put up and bale with a common press about ten or twelve bales a day, by pushing. after the bales are properly put up, the next thing is to mark and number them on one end. for this purpose a plate of copper, with the initials, or such mark as is fancied, cut in it, is applied to the end of the bale and the letters and figures painted through it with black marking ink. the next trouble is to haul them to market, or the nearest landing for boats; sometimes this is a very troublesome and difficult task, especially in wet weather, when the roads, from the immense quantity of heavy hauling, in getting the crops to market, are much cut up, and often almost impassable. the planter who is careful to take all proper advantages of season and weather, will have his cotton hauled early in the fall, as fast as it is ginned, when the roads are almost certainly good. the quantity of cotton produced to the acre, varies with the quality of the soil and the season. the best kind of river and alluvial lands, when in a complete state of cultivation, and with a good season, will produce on an average from to lbs. of cotton in the seed per acre; while new land of the same quality will not yield more than or lbs. per acre. the highlands, where the soil is fertile, will yield under the most favourable circumstances about lbs., while those lands which have been many years in cultivation, where the soil is thin, will not yield more than from to lbs. per acre; and some not more than lbs. as a general rule or lbs. of seed cotton, will, when ginned out, make a bale of lbs. or more. this is according to the correct weight of the daily picking in the cotton book; although after being weighed, it must lose some weight by drying. the quantity of cotton raised and secured by good management most commonly averages about five or six bales to the hand: and the quantity, among the mass of planters, more frequently falls below, than rises above this estimate. some, with a few choice hands, may sometimes average nine or ten bales to the hand by picking until january. when the crop is all secured, which, as we observed before, varies from the first of december until some time in january, according to the season, hands, and extent of the crop, the hands are employed during the winter in clearing, chopping logs in the field, splitting rails, or ditching, if necessary. about the middle of february they resume preparations for "another crop." note d.--_page ._ a recent writer, in speculating upon the possible result of an insurrectionary movement in the south, says, in the course of his remarks,-- "here, where the whites so far outnumber the blacks, as to render such a struggle hopeless on their part, there is little or nothing to apprehend; but in the south, where the case is reversed, the consequences will probably be what they were in st. domingo--the extermination or expatriation of the whites, the loss of tens of hundreds of thousands of lives, and hundreds or perhaps of millions of property." in reply, and in confutation of this opinion, gen. houston of natchez, addressed a very sensible and well-written paper to the editor of the new-york courier and enquirer, in which he says-- "there are but two states in the union where the slaves are equal in numbers to the whites, and in these they have a bare majority; in other states they have but a third and in others a fourth or fifth. now is there any man who supposes that an equal number of negroes, unacquainted with arms, undisciplined, without combination, without officers, without a rifle or a musket, or a single cartridge, can in any way be formidable to an equal number of whites, well armed and equipped, well supplied with all the necessaries of war, well organized, and well officered? the notion is absurd. i will go farther; take a body of negroes, furnish them with arms, equipments, and every thing necessary for war; let them have twelve months to combine, to train, and to acquire a knowledge of the use of arms, and my life on it, they would be nothing more at the end of the time than an ignorant disorderly rabble, who could not form a line of battle, a thousand of them would not stand the charge of a single volunteer corps, they would disperse at the first volley of musketry, and a body of white men would feel debased to compete with such foes. "there is no southern state that apprehends any injury from its slaves--that seeks protection from any power on earth--not one of them values the union one particle as the means of guarding them on that score. "there are no people on earth better supplied with arms, more accustomed to their daily use, and i may say more ready to use them, than the people of the south. go into any house in mississippi, alabama, south carolina, kentucky, virginia, tennessee, or any other southern state, and you will generally see a good rifle and fowling-piece; and every neighbourhood has its men who can throw a deer running at full speed at the distance of one hundred yards. do such men seek protection or apprehend danger from an inferior number of unarmed, ignorant and enslaved negroes? most assuredly not. "experience has shown that the militia of the united states are frequently able to combat successfully with the regular troops of europe. and many a well-fought field has shown that the militia of the southern states are equal to any in the union, i will not be invidious and say superior. if such is the case, what lessons do the wars and experience of europe teach us? there it is a received maxim that ten thousand disciplined troops are superior to an army of forty thousand undisciplined peasantry, even when they are equally supplied with arms. and to this maxim history shows but few exceptions, as in switzerland and the tyrolese mountains, where the peasantry are much favoured by the mountains and defiles, are inured to hardships, trained in the chase and in the use of arms. "have not the peasantry of europe more acquaintance with arms, more means of acquiring them and other necessaries for war, more military information, more means of combination, and more intelligence, than the negroes of the south? most assuredly they have, and yet they are generally held in subjection by a comparatively small body of men. i merely glance at this, but could, if time and space permitted, give many striking illustrations. "if the south are so safe, it may be asked why are they so sensitive on this subject? i will answer:--they are sensitive from motives of interest and humanity. "he who makes my negroes dissatisfied with their situation, makes them less useful to me, and puts me under the necessity of dealing more rigorously with them. "throughout the whole south it is considered disgraceful not to clothe and feed negroes well, or to treat them cruelly, and there are very few who have the hardihood to brave public sentiment. and on many plantations, when they are orderly and obedient, they have many indulgences and privileges, such as to raise and sell poultry, &c.: to cultivate a small piece of ground and sell the products; and time is allowed them for such purposes. but if negroes become disorderly, discontented, and disobedient, the necessity requires that they should either be set at large at once, or their privileges curtailed, and discipline made more rigorous till they are brought into complete subjection; there is no middle course. again--if negroes become dissatisfied, disobedient and rebellious, there is a possibility that they may do damage in a single neighbourhood, and destroy the lives of a few women and children--the consequence of which would be that then whites would be under the necessity of putting great numbers of the misguided wretches to death. such was the case at southampton. this we would avoid, both from motives of interest and humanity, not that we apprehend any more serious injury, and you may rest assured that if the negroes were to rebel and do any considerable injury, the havoc and destruction made amongst them would be dreadful; and it would be difficult to prevent its extending to those who were innocent. "those, therefore, who are instrumental in making the negro dissatisfied with his condition, make it much worse, for they constrain his owner to be more rigorous in his treatment, and they tempt him to rebellion, which must lead to death and extermination." the end. +---------------------------------------------------+ | transcriber's note: | | | | inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | | original document have been preserved. | | | | typographical errors corrected in the text: | | | | page ix eflux changed to efflux | | page vii tawney changed to tawny | | page ix vickburg changed to vicksburg | | page journied changed to journeyed | | page phenix changed to phoenix | | page northener's changed to northerner's | | page chesnut changed to chestnut | | page mississipian changed to mississippian | | page atttempt changed to attempt | | page diploma'd changed to diplomaed | | page couching changed to crouching | | page ther changed to their | | page suspened changed to suspended | | page medidine changed to medicine | | page enterprizing changed to enterprising | | page huses changed to houses | | page appaling changed to appalling | | page handome changed to handsome | | page athletæ changed to athlete | | page vickburg changed to vicksburg | | page labor changed to labour | | page necesssary changed to necessary | | page ballustrade changed to balustrade | | page xxxix. changed to xliii. | | page elibeth changed to elizabeth | | page controul changed to control | | page meterological changed to meteorological | | page somwhat changed to somewhat | | page meterological changed to meteorological | | page decrepid changed to decrepit | +---------------------------------------------------+ akman, doris ringbloom, david widger, and robert j. homa pioneers of the old southwest by constance lindsay skinner a chronicle of the dark and bloody ground volume of the chronicles of america series allen johnson, editor assistant editors gerhard r. lomer charles w. jefferys _textbook edition_ new haven: yale university press toronto: glasgow, brook & co. london: humphrey milford oxford university press copyright, by yale university press printed in the u.s.a. vii acknowledgment this narrative is founded largely on original sources--on the writings and journals of pioneers and contemporary observers, such as doddridge and adair, and on the public documents of the period as printed in the colonial records and in the american archives. but the author is, nevertheless, greatly indebted to the researches of other writers, whose works are cited in the bibliographical note. the author's thanks are due, also, to dr. archibald henderson, of the university of north carolina, for his kindness in reading the proofs of this book for comparison with his own extended collection of unpublished manuscripts relating to the period. c. l. s. april, . ix contents chapter i. the tread of pioneers chapter ii. folkways chapter iii. the trader chapter iv. the passing of the french peril chapter v. boone, the wanderer chapter vi. the fight for kentucky chapter vii. the dark and bloody ground chapter viii. tennessee chapter ix. king's mountain chapter x. sevier, the statemaker chapter xi. boone's last days bibliographical note pioneers of the old southwest chapter i the tread of pioneers the ulster presbyterians, or scotch-irish, to whom history has ascribed the dominant rôle among the pioneer folk of the old southwest, began their migrations to america in the latter years of the seventeenth century. it is not known with certainty precisely when or where the first immigrants of their race arrived in this country, but soon after they were to be found in several of the colonies. it was not long, indeed, before they were entering in numbers at the port of philadelphia and were making pennsylvania the chief center of their activities in the new world. by they had established settlements in several counties behind philadelphia. ten years later they had begun their great trek southward through the shenandoah valley of virginia and on to the yadkin valley of north carolina. there they met others of their own race--bold men like themselves, hungry after land--who were coming in through charleston and pushing their way up the rivers from the seacoast to the back country, in search of homes. these ulstermen did not come to the new world as novices in the shaping of society; they had already made history. their ostensible object in america was to obtain land, but, like most external aims, it was secondary to a deeper purpose. what had sent the ulstermen to america was a passion for a whole freedom. they were lusty men, shrewd and courageous, zealous to the death for an ideal and withal so practical to the moment in business that it soon came to be commonly reported of them that they kept the sabbath and everything else they could lay their hands on, though it is but fair to them to add that this phrase is current wherever scots dwell. they had contested in parliament and with arms for their own form of worship and for their civil rights. they were already frontiersmen, trained in the hardihood and craft of border warfare through years of guerrilla fighting with the irish celts. they had pitted and proved their strength against a wilderness; they had reclaimed the north of ireland from desolation. for the time, many of them were educated men; under the regulations of the presbyterian church every child was taught to read at an early age, since no person could be admitted to the privileges of the church who did not both understand and approve the presbyterian constitution and discipline. they were brought up on the bible and on the writings of their famous pastors, one of whom, as early as , had given utterance to the democratic doctrine that "men are called to the magistracy by the suffrage of the people whom they govern, and for men to assume unto themselves power is mere tyranny and unjust usurpation." in subscribing to this doctrine and in resisting to the hilt all efforts of successive english kings to interfere in the election of their pastors, the scots of ulster had already declared for democracy. it was shortly after james vi of scotland became james i of england and while the english were founding jamestown that the scots had first occupied ulster; but the true origin of the ulster plantation lies further back, in the reign of henry viii, in the days of the english reformation. in henry's irish realm the reformation, though proclaimed by royal authority, had never been accomplished; and henry's more famous daughter, elizabeth, had conceived the plan, later to be carried out by james, of planting colonies of protestants in ireland to promote loyalty in that rebellious land. six counties, comprising half a million acres, formed the ulster plantation. the great majority of the colonists sent thither by james were scotch lowlanders, but among them were many english and a smaller number of highlanders. these three peoples from the island of britain brought forth, through intermarriage, the ulster scots. the reign of charles i had inaugurated for the ulstermen an era of persecution. charles practically suppressed the presbyterian religion in ireland. his son, charles ii, struck at ireland in through its cattle trade, by prohibiting the exportation of beef to england and scotland. the navigation acts, excluding ireland from direct trade with the colonies, ruined irish commerce, while corporation acts and test acts requiring conformity with the practices of the church of england bore heavily on the ulster presbyterians. it was largely by refugees from religious persecution that america in the beginning was colonized. but religious persecution was only one of the influences which shaped the course and formed the character of the ulster scots. in ulster, whither they had originally been transplanted by james to found a loyal province in the midst of the king's enemies, they had done their work too well and had waxed too powerful for the comfort of later monarchs. the first attacks upon them struck at their religion; but the subsequent legislative acts which successively ruined the woolen trade, barred nonconformists from public office, stifled irish commerce, pronounced non-episcopal marriages irregular, and instituted heavy taxation and high rentals for the land their fathers had made productive--these were blows dealt chiefly for the political and commercial ends of favored classes in england. these attacks, aimed through his religious conscience at the sources of his livelihood, made the ulster scot perforce what he was--a zealot as a citizen and a zealot as a merchant no less than as a presbyterian. thanks to his persecutors, he made a religion of everything he undertook and regarded his civil rights as divine rights. thus out of persecution emerged a type of man who was high-principled and narrow, strong and violent, as tenacious of his own rights as he was blind often to the rights of others, acquisitive yet self-sacrificing, but most of all fearless, confident of his own power, determined to have and to hold. twenty thousand ulstermen, it is estimated, left ireland for america in the first three decades of the eighteenth century. more than six thousand of them are known to have entered pennsylvania in alone, and twenty years later they numbered one-quarter of that colony's population. during the five years preceding the revolutionary war more than thirty thousand ulstermen crossed the ocean and arrived in america just in time and in just the right frame of mind to return king george's compliment in kind, by helping to deprive him of his american estates, a domain very much larger than the acres of ulster. they fully justified the fears of the good bishop who wrote lord dartmouth, secretary for the colonies, that he trembled for the peace of the king's overseas realm, since these thousands of phanatical and hungry republicans had sailed for america. the ulstermen who entered by charleston were known to the inhabitants of the tidewater regions as the scotch-irish. those who came from the north, lured southward by the offer of cheap lands, were called the pennsylvania irish. both were, however, of the same race--a race twice expatriated, first from scotland and then from ireland, and stripped of all that it had won throughout more than a century of persecution. to these exiles the back country of north carolina, with its cheap and even free tracts lying far from the seat of government, must have seemed not only the land of promise but the land of last chance. here they must strike their roots into the sod with such interlocking strength that no cataclysm of tyranny should ever dislodge them--or they must accept the fate dealt out to them by their former persecutors and become a tribe of nomads and serfs. but to these ulster immigrants such a choice was no choice at all. they knew themselves strong men, who had made the most of opportunity despite almost superhuman obstacles. the drumming of their feet along the banks of the shenandoah, or up the rivers from charleston, and on through the broad sweep of the yadkin valley, was a conquering people's challenge to the wilderness which lay sleeping like an unready sentinel at the gates of their future. it is maintained still by many, however often disputed, that the ulstermen were the first to declare for american independence, as in the old country they were the first to demand the separation of church and state. a declaration of independence is said to have been drawn up and signed in mecklenburg county, north carolina, on may , .¹ however that may be, it is certain that these mecklenburg protestants had received special schooling in the doctrine of independence. they had in their midst for eight years ( - ) the reverend alexander craighead, a presbyterian minister who, for his republican doctrines expressed in a pamphlet, had been disowned by the pennsylvania synod acting on the governor's protest, and so persecuted in virginia that he had at last fled to the north carolina back country. there, during the remaining years of his life, as the sole preacher and teacher in the settlements between the yadkin and the catawba rivers he found willing soil in which to sow the seeds of liberty. ¹ see hoyt, _the mecklenburg declaration of independence_; and _american archives,_ fourth series. vol. ii, p. . there was another branch of the scottish race which helped to people the back country. the highlanders, whose loyalty to their oath made them fight on the king's side in the revolutionary war, have been somewhat overlooked in history. tradition, handed down among the transplanted clans--who, for the most part, spoke only gaelic for a generation and wrote nothing--and latterly recorded by one or two of their descendants, supplies us with all we are now able to learn of the early coming of the gaels to carolina. it would seem that their first immigration to america in small bands took place after the suppression of the jacobite rising in --when highlanders fled in numbers also to france--for by there was a settlement of them on the cape fear river. we know, too, that in it was charged against gabriel johnston, governor of north carolina from to , that he had shown no joy over the king's glorious victory of culloden and that he had appointed one william mcgregor, who had been in the rebellion in the year a justice of the peace during the last rebellion [ ] and was not himself without suspicion of disaffection to his majesty's government. it is indeed possible that gabriel johnston, formerly a professor at st. andrew's university, had himself not always been a stranger to the kilt. he induced large numbers of highlanders to come to america and probably influenced the second george to moderate his treatment of the vanquished gaels in the old country and permit their emigration to the new world. in contrast with the ulstermen, whose secular ideals were dictated by the forms of their church, these scots adhered still to the tribal or clan system, although they, too, in the majority, were presbyterians, with a minority of roman catholics and episcopalians. in the scotch highlands they had occupied small holdings on the land under the sway of their chief, or head of the clan, to whom they were bound by blood and fealty but to whom they paid no rentals. the position of the head of the clan was hereditary, but no heir was bold enough to step forward into that position until he had performed some deed of worth. they were principally herders, their chief stock being the famous small black cattle of the highlands. their wars with each other were cattle raids. only in war, however, did the gael lay hands on his neighbor's goods. there were no highwaymen and housebreakers in the highlands. no highland mansion, cot, or barn was ever locked. theft and the breaking of an oath, sins against man's honor, were held in such abhorrence that no one guilty of them could remain among his clansmen in the beloved glens. these highlanders were a race of tall, robust men, who lived simply and frugally and slept on the heath among their flocks in all weathers, with no other covering from rain and snow than their plaidies. it is reported of the laird of keppoch, who was leading his clan to war in winter time, that his men were divided as to the propriety of following him further because he rolled a snowball to rest his head upon when he lay down. now we despair of victory, they said, since our leader has become so effeminate he cannot sleep without a pillow!¹ ¹ maclean, _an historical account of the settlement of scotch highlanders in america._ the king's glorious victory of culloden was followed by a policy of extermination carried on by the orders and under the personal direction of the duke of cumberland. when king george at last restrained his son from his orgy of blood, he offered the gaels their lives and exile to america on condition of their taking the full oath of allegiance. the majority accepted his terms, for not only were their lives forfeit but their crops and cattle had been destroyed and the holdings on which their ancestors had lived for many centuries taken from them. the descriptions of the scenes attending their leave-taking of the hills and glens they loved with such passionate fervor are among the most pathetic in history. strong men who had met the ravage of a brutal sword without weakening abandoned themselves to the agony of sorrow. they kissed the walls of their houses. they flung themselves on the ground and embraced the sod upon which they had walked in freedom. they called their broken farewells to the peaks and lochs of the land they were never again to see; and, as they turned their backs and filed down through the passes, their pipers played the dirge for the dead. such was the character, such the deep feeling, of the race which entered north carolina from the coast and pushed up into the wilderness about the headwaters of cape fear river. tradition indicates that these hillsmen sought the interior because the grass and pea vine which overgrew the inner country stretching towards the mountains provided excellent fodder for the cattle which some of the chiefs are said to have brought with them. these gaelic herders, perhaps in negligible numbers, were in the yadkin valley before , possibly even ten years earlier. in neil macneill of kintyre brought over a shipload of gaels to rejoin his kinsman, hector macneill, called bluff hector from his residence near the bluffs at cross creek, now fayetteville. some of these immigrants went on to the yadkin, we are told, to unite with others of their clan who had been for some time in that district. the exact time of the first highlander on the yadkin cannot be ascertained, as there were no court records and the offices of the land companies were not then open for the sale of these remote regions. but by there were not less than four thousand gaels in cumberland county, where they occupied the chief magisterial posts; and they were already spreading over the lands now comprised within moore, anson, richmond, robeson, bladen, and sampson counties. in these counties gaelic was as commonly heard as english. in the years immediately preceding the revolution and even in itself they came in increasing numbers. they knew nothing of the smoldering fire just about to break into flames in the country of their choice, but the royal governor, josiah martin, knew that highland arms would soon be needed by his majesty. he knew something of highland honor, too; for he would not let the gaels proceed after their landing until they had bound themselves by oath to support the government of king george. so it was that the unfortunate highlanders found themselves, according to their strict code of honor, forced to wield arms against the very americans who had received and befriended them--and for the crowned brother of a prince whose name is execrated to this day in highland song and story! they were led by allan macdonald of kingsborough; and tradition gives us a stirring picture of allan's wife--the famous flora macdonald, who in scotland had protected the young pretender in his flight--making an impassioned address in gaelic to the highland soldiers and urging them on to die for honor's sake. when this highland force was conquered by the americans, the large majority willingly bound themselves not to fight further against the american cause and were set at liberty. many of them felt that, by offering their lives to the swords of the americans, they had canceled their obligation to king george and were now free to draw their swords again and, this time, in accordance with their sympathies; so they went over to the american side and fought gallantly for independence. although the brave glory of this pioneer age shines so brightly on the lion rampant of caledonia, not to scots alone does that whole glory belong. the second largest racial stream which flowed into the back country of virginia and north carolina was german. most of these germans went down from pennsylvania and were generally called pennsylvania dutch, an incorrect rendering of _pennsylvänische deutsche_. the upper shenandoah valley was settled almost entirely by germans. they were members of the lutheran, german reformed, and moravian churches. the cause which sent vast numbers of this sturdy people across the ocean, during the first years of the eighteenth century, was religious persecution. by statute and by sword the roman catholic powers of austria sought to wipe out the salzburg lutherans and the moravian followers of john huss. in that region of the rhine country known in those days as the german palatinate, now a part of bavaria, protestants were being massacred by the troops of louis of france, then engaged in the war of the spanish succession ( - ) and in the zealous effort to extirpate heretics from the soil of europe. in , by proclamation, good queen anne offered protection to the persecuted palatines and invited them to her dominions. twelve thousand of them went to england, where they were warmly received by the english. but it was no slight task to settle twelve thousand immigrants of an alien speech in england and enable them to become independent and self-supporting. a better solution of their problem lay in the western world. the germans needed homes and the queen's overseas dominions needed colonists. they were settled at first along the hudson, and eventually many of them took up lands in the fertile valley of the mohawk. for fifty years or more german and austrian protestants poured into america. in pennsylvania their influx averaged about fifteen hundred a year, and that colony became the distributing center for the german race in america. by , adam müller and his little company had established the first white settlement in the valley of virginia. in joist heydt went south from york, pennsylvania, and settled on the opequan creek at or near the site of the present city of winchester. the life of count zinzendorf, called the apostle, one of the leaders of the moravian immigrants, glows like a star out of those dark and troublous times. of high birth and gentle nurture, he forsook whatever of ease his station promised him and fitted himself for evangelical work. in he visited the wyoming valley to bring his religion to the delawares and shawanoes. he was not of those picturesque captains of the lord who bore their muskets on their shoulders when they went forth to preach. armored only with the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, his feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, he went out into the country of these bloodthirsty tribes and told them that he had come to them in their darkness to teach the love of the christ which lighteth the world. the indians received him suspiciously. one day while he sat in his tent writing, some delawares drew near to slay him and were about to strike when they saw two deadly snakes crawl in from the opposite side of the tent, move directly towards the apostle, and pass harmlessly over his body. thereafter they regarded him as under spiritual protection. indeed so widespread was his good fame among the tribes that for some years all moravian settlements along the borders were unmolested. painted savages passed through on their way to war with enemy bands or to raid the border, but for the sake of one consecrated spirit, whom they had seen death avoid, they spared the lives and goods of his fellow believers. when zinzendorf departed a year later, his mantle fell on david zeisberger, who lived the love he taught for over fifty years and converted many savages. zeisberger was taken before the governor and army heads at philadelphia, who had only too good reason to be suspicious of priestly counsels in the tents of shem: but he was able to impress white men no less than simple savages with the nobility of the doctrine he had learned from the apostle. in the moravian brotherhood purchased one hundred thousand acres in north carolina from lord granville. bishop spangenburg was commissioned to survey this large acreage, which was situated in the present county of forsyth east of the yadkin, and which is historically listed as the wachovia tract. in , twelve brethren left the moravian settlements of bethlehem and nazareth, in pennsylvania, and journeyed southward to begin the founding of a colony on their new land. brother adam grube, one of the twelve, kept a diary of the events of this expedition.¹ ¹ this diary is printed in full in _travels in the american colonies_ edited by n. d. mereness. honor to whom honor is due. we have paid it, in some measure, to the primitive gaels of the highlands for their warrior strength and their fealty, and to the enlightened scots of ulster for their enterprise and for their sacrifice unto blood that free conscience and just laws might promote the progress and safeguard the intercourse of their kind. now let us take up for a moment brother grube's _journal_ even as we welcome, perhaps the more gratefully, the mild light of evening after the flooding sun, or as our hearts, when too strongly stirred by the deeds of men, turn for rest to the serene faith and the naïve speech of little children. the twelve, we learn, were under the leadership of one of their number, brother gottlob. their earliest alarms on the march were not caused, as we might expect, by anticipations of the painted cherokee, but by encounters with the strenuous irish. one of these came and laid himself to sleep beside the brethren's camp fire on their first night out, after they had sung their evening hymn and eleven had stretched themselves on the earth for slumber, while brother gottlob, their leader, hanging his hammock between two trees, ascended--not only in spirit--a little higher than his charges, and rested well in it. though the alarming irishman did not disturb them, the brethren's doubts of that race continued, for brother grube wrote on the th of october: about four in the morning we set up our tent, going four miles beyond carl isles [carlisle, seventeen miles southwest of harrisburg] so as not to be too near the irish presbyterians. after breakfast the brethren shaved and then we rested under our tent.… people who were staying at the tavern came to see what kind of folk we were.… br gottlob held the evening service and then we lay down around our cheerful fire, and br gottlob in his hammock. two other jottings give us a racial kaleidoscope of the settlers and wayfarers of that time. on one day the brethren bought some hay from a swiss, later some kraut from a german which tasted very good to us; and presently an englishman came by and drank a cup of tea with us and was very grateful for it. frequently the little band paused while some of the brethren went off to the farms along the route to help cut hay. these kindly acts were usually repaid with gifts of food or produce. one day while on the march they halted at a tavern and farm in shenandoah valley kept by a man whose name brother grube wrote down as severe. since we know that brother grube's spelling of names other than german requires editing, we venture to hazard a guess that the name he attempted to set down as it sounded to him was sevier. and we wonder if, in his brief sojourn, he saw a lad of eight years, slim, tall, and blond, with daring and mischievous blue eyes, and a certain curve of the lips that threatened havoc in the hearts of both sexes when he should be a man and reach out with swift hands and reckless will for his desires. if he saw this lad, he beheld john sevier, later to become one of the most picturesque and beloved heroes of the old southwest. hardships abounded on the brethren's journey, but faith and the christian's joy, which no man taketh from him, met and surmounted them. three and a half miles beyond, the road forked.… we took the right hand road but found no water for ten miles. it grew late and we had to drive five miles into the night to find a stoppingplace. two of the brethren went ahead to seek out the road through the darkened wilderness. there were rough hills in the way; and, the horses being exhausted, brethren had to help push. but, in due season, br nathanael held evening prayer and then we slept in the care of jesus, with brother gottlob as usual in his hammock. three days later the record runs: toward evening we saw jeams river, the road to it ran down so very steep a hill that we fastened a small tree to the back of our wagon, locked the wheels, and the brethren held back by the tree with all their might. even then the wagon went down so fast that most of the brethren lost their footing and rolled and tumbled pell-mell. but faith makes little of such mishaps: no harm was done and we thanked the lord that he had so graciously protected us, for it looked dangerous and we thought at times that it could not possibly be done without accident but we got down safely… we were all very tired and sleepy and let the angels be our guard during the night. rains fell in torrents, making streams almost impassable and drenching the little band to the skin. the hammock was empty one night, for they had to spend the dark hours trench-digging about their tent to keep it from being washed away. two days later (the th of november) the weather cleared and we spent most of the day drying our blankets and mending and darning our stockings. they also bought supplies from settlers who, as brother grube observed without irony, are glad we have to remain here so long and that it means money for them. in the afternoon we held a little lovefeast and rested our souls in the loving sacrifice of jesus, wishing for beloved brethren in bethlehem and that they and we might live ever close to him.… nov. . we rose early to ford the river. the bank was so steep that we hung a tree behind the wagon, fastening it in such a way that we could quickly release it when the wagon reached the water. the current was very swift and the lead horses were carried down a bit with it. the water just missed running into the wagon but we came safely to the other bank, which however we could not climb but had to take half the things out of the wagon, tie ropes to the axle on which we could pull, help our horses which were quite stiff, and so we brought our ark again to dry land. on the evening of the th of november the twelve arrived safely on their land on the etkin (yadkin), having been six weeks on the march. they found with joy that, as ever, the lord had provided for them. this time the gift was a deserted cabin, large enough that we could all lie down around the walls. we at once made preparation for a little lovefeast and rejoiced heartily with one another. in the deserted log cabin, which, to their faith, seemed as one of those mansions not built with hands and descended miraculously from the heavens, they held their lovefeast, while wolves padded and howled about the walls; and in that pentacostal hour the tongue of fire descended upon brother gottlob, so that he made a new song unto the lord. who shall venture to say it is not better worth preserving than many a classic? we hold arrival lovefeast here in carolina land, a company of brethren true, a little pilgrim-band, called by the lord to be of those who through the whole world go, to bear him witness everywhere and nought but jesus know. then, we are told, the brethren lay down to rest and br gottlob hung his hammock above our heads--as was most fitting on this of all nights; for is not the poet's place always just a little nearer to the stars? the pioneers did not always travel in groups. there were families who set off alone. one of these now claims our attention, for there was a lad in this family whose name and deeds were to sound like a ballad of romance from out the dusty pages of history. this family's name was boone. neither scots nor germans can claim daniel boone; he was in blood a blend of english and welsh; in character wholly english. his grandfather george boone was born in in the hamlet of stoak, near exeter in devonshire. george boone was a weaver by trade and a quaker by religion. in england in his time the quakers were oppressed, and george boone therefore sought information of william penn, his coreligionist, regarding the colony which penn had established in america. in he sent his three elder children, george, sarah, and squire, to spy out the land. sarah and squire remained in pennsylvania, while their brother returned to england with glowing reports. on august , , george boone, his wife, and the rest of his children journeyed to bristol and sailed for philadelphia, arriving there on the th of october. the boones went first to abingdon, the quaker farmers' community. later they moved to the northwestern frontier hamlet of north wales, a welsh community which, a few years previously, had turned quaker. sarah boone married a german named jacob stover, who had settled in oley township, berks county. in george boone took up four hundred acres in oley, or, to be exact, in the subdivision later called exeter, and there he lived in his log cabin until , when he died at the age of seventy-eight. he left eight children, fifty-two grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren, seventy descendants in all--english, german, welsh, and scotch-irish blended into one family of americans.¹ ¹ r. g. thwaites, _daniel boone_, p. . among the welsh quakers was a family of morgans. in squire boone married sarah morgan. ten years later he obtained acres in oley on owatin creek, eight miles southeast of the present city of reading; and here, in , daniel boone was born, the fourth son and sixth child of squire and sarah morgan boone. daniel boone therefore was a son of the frontier. in his childhood he became familiar with hunters and with indians, for even the red men came often in friendly fashion to his grandfather's house. squire boone enlarged his farm by thrift. he continued at his trade of weaving and kept five or six looms going, making homespun cloth for the market and his neighbors. daniel's father owned grazing grounds several miles north of the homestead and each season he sent his stock to the range. sarah boone and her little daniel drove the cows. from early spring till late autumn, mother and son lived in a rustic cabin alone on the frontier. a rude dairy house stood over a cool spring, and here sarah boone made her butter and cheese. daniel, aged ten at this time, watched the herds; at sunset he drove them to the cabin for milking, and locked them in the cowpens at night. he was not allowed firearms at that age, so he shaped for himself a weapon that served him well. this was a slender smoothly shaved sapling with a small bunch of gnarled roots at one end. so expert was he in the launching of this primitive spear that he easily brought down birds and small game. when he reached his twelfth year, his father bought him a rifle; and he soon became a crack shot. a year later we find him setting off on the autumn hunt--after driving the cattle in for the winter--with all the keenness and courage of a man twice his thirteen years. his rifle enabled him to return with meat for the family and skins to be traded in philadelphia. when he was fourteen his brother sam married sarah day, an intelligent young quakeress who took a special interest in her young brother-in-law and taught him the rudiments of three r's. the boones were prosperous and happy in oley and it may be wondered why they left their farms and their looms, both of which were profitable, and set their faces towards the unknown. it is recorded that, though the boones were quakers, they were of a high mettle and were not infrequently dealt with by the meeting. two of squire boone's children married worldlings--non-quakers--and were in consequence disowned by the society. in defiance of his sect, which strove to make him sever all connection with his unruly offspring, squire boone refused to shut his doors on the son and the daughter who had scandalized local quakerdom. the society of friends thereupon expelled him. this occurred apparently during the winter of - . in the spring of we see the whole boone family (save two sons) with their wives and children, their household goods and their stock, on the great highway, bound for a land where the hot heart and the belligerent spirit shall not be held amiss. southward through the shenandoah goes the boone caravan. the women and children usually sit in the wagons. the men march ahead or alongside, keeping a keen eye open for indian or other enemy in the wild, their rifles under arm or over the shoulder. squire boone, who has done with quakerdom and is leading all that he holds dear out to larger horizons, is ahead of the line, as we picture him, ready to meet first whatever danger may assail his tribe. he is a strong wiry man of rather small stature, with ruddy complexion, red hair, and gray eyes. somewhere in the line, together, we think, are the mother and son who have herded cattle and companioned each other through long months in the cabin on the frontier. we do not think of this woman as riding in the wagon, though she may have done so, but prefer to picture her, with her tall robust body, her black hair, and her black eyes--with the sudden welsh snap in them--walking as sturdily as any of her sons. if daniel be beside her, what does she see when she looks at him? a lad well set up but not overtall for his sixteen years, perhaps--for eye-witnesses differ in their estimates of daniel boone's height--or possibly taller than he looks, because his figure has the forest hunter's natural slant forward and the droop of the neck of one who must watch his path sometimes in order to tread silently. it is squire boone's blood which shows in his ruddy face--which would be fair but for its tan--and in the english cut of feature, the straw-colored eyebrows, and the blue eyes. but his welsh mother's legacy is seen in the black hair that hangs long and loose in the hunter's fashion to his shoulders. we can think of daniel boone only as exhilarated by this plunge into the wild. he sees ahead--the days of his great explorations and warfare, the discovery of kentucky? not at all. this is a boy of sixteen in love with his rifle. he looks ahead to vistas of forest filled with deer and to skies clouded with flocks of wild turkeys. in that dream there is happiness enough for daniel boone. indeed, for himself, even in later life, he asked little, if any more. he trudges on blithely, whistling. chapter ii folkways these migrations into the inland valleys of the old south mark the first great westward thrust of the american frontier. thus the beginnings of the westward movement disclose to us a feature characteristic also of the later migrations which flung the frontier over the appalachians, across the mississippi, and finally to the shores of the pacific. the pioneers, instead of moving westward by slow degrees, subduing the wilderness as they went, overleaped great spaces and planted themselves beyond, out of contact with the life they had left behind. thus separated by hundreds of miles of intervening wilderness from the more civilized communities, the conquerors of the first american west, prototypes of the conquerors of succeeding wests, inevitably struck out their own ways of life and developed their own customs. it would be difficult, indeed, to find anywhere a more remarkable contrast in contemporary folkways than that presented by the two great community groups of the south--the inland or piedmont settlements, called the back country, and the lowland towns and plantations along the seaboard. the older society of the seaboard towns, as events were soon to prove, was not less independent in its ideals than the frontier society of the back country; but it was aristocratic in tone and feeling. its leaders were the landed gentry--men of elegance, and not far behind their european contemporaries in the culture of the day. they were rich, without effort, both from their plantations, where black slaves and indentured servants labored, and from their coastwise and overseas trade. their battles with forest and red man were long past. they had leisure for diversions such as the chase, the breeding and racing of thoroughbred horses, the dance, high play with dice and card, cockfighting, the gallantry of love, and the skill of the rapier. law and politics drew their soberer minds. very different were the conditions which confronted the pioneers in the first american west. there every jewel of promise was ringed round with hostility. the cheap land the pioneer had purchased at a nominal price, or the free land he had taken by tomahawk claim--that is by cutting his name into the bark of a deadened tree, usually beside a spring--supported a forest of tall trunks and interlacing leafage. the long grass and weeds which covered the ground in a wealth of natural pasturage harbored the poisonous copperhead and the rattlesnake and, being shaded by the overhead foliage, they held the heavy dews and bred swarms of mosquitoes, gnats, and big flies which tortured both men and cattle. to protect the cattle and horses from the attacks of these pests the settlers were obliged to build large "smudges"--fires of green timber--against the wind. the animals soon learned to back up into the dense smoke and to move from one grazing spot to another as the wind changed. but useful as were the green timber fires that rolled their smoke on the wind to save the stock, they were at the same time a menace to the pioneer, for they proclaimed to roving bands of cherokees that a further encroachment on their territory had been made by their most hated enemies--the men who felled the hunter's forest. many an outpost pioneer who had made the long hard journey by sea and land from the old world of persecution to this new country of freedom, dropped from the red man's shot ere he had hewn the threshold of his home, leaving his wife and children to the unrecorded mercy of his slayer. those more fortunate pioneers who settled in groups won the first heat in the battle with the wilderness through massed effort under wariness. they made their clearings in the forest, built their cabins and stockades, and planted their cornfields, while lookouts kept watch and rifles were stacked within easy reach. every special task, such as a raising, as cabin building was called, was undertaken by the community chiefly because the indian danger necessitated swift building and made group action imperative. but the stanch heart is ever the glad heart. nothing in this frontier history impresses us more than the joy of the pioneer at his labors. his determined optimism turned danger's dictation into an occasion for jollity. on the appointed day for the raising, the neighbors would come, riding or afoot, to the newcomer's holding--the men with their rifles and axes, the women with their pots and kettles. every child toddled along, too, helping to carry the wooden dishes and spoons. these free givers of labor had something of the oriental's notion of the sacred ratification of friendship by a feast. the usual dimensions of a cabin were sixteen by twenty feet. the timber for the building, having been already cut, lay at hand--logs of hickory, oak, young pine, walnut, or persimmon. to make the foundations, the men seized four of the thickest logs, laid them in place, and notched and grooved and hammered them into as close a clinch as if they had grown so. the wood must grip by its own substance alone to hold up the pioneer's dwelling, for there was not an iron nail to be had in the whole of the back country. logs laid upon the foundation logs and notched into each other at the four corners formed the walls; and, when these stood at seven feet, the builders laid parallel timbers and puncheons to make both flooring and ceiling. the ridgepole of the roof was supported by two crotched trees and the roofing was made of logs and wooden slabs. the crevices of the walls were packed close with red clay and moss. lastly, spaces for a door and windows were cut out. the door was made thick and heavy to withstand the indian's rush. and the windowpanes? they were of paper treated with hog's fat or bear's grease. when the sun stood overhead, the women would give the welcome call of dinner! their morning had not been less busy than the men's. they had baked corn cakes on hot stones, roasted bear or pork, or broiled venison steaks; and--above all and first of all--they had concocted the great stew pie without which a raising could hardly take place. this was a disputatious mixture of deer, hog, and bear--animals which, in life, would surely have companioned each other as ill! it was made in sufficient quantity to last over for supper when the day's labor was done. at supper the men took their ease on the ground, but with their rifles always in reach. if the cabin just raised by their efforts stood in the yadkin, within sight of the great mountains the pioneers were one day to cross, perhaps a sudden bird note warning from the lookout, hidden in the brush, would bring the builders with a leap to their feet. it might be only a hunting band of friendly catawbas that passed, or a lone cherokee who knew that this was not his hour. if the latter, we can, in imagination, see him look once at the new house on his hunting pasture, slacken rein for a moment in front of the group of families, lift his hand in sign of peace, and silently go his way hillward. as he vanishes into the shadows, the crimson sun, sinking into the unknown wilderness beyond the mountains, pours its last glow on the roof of the cabin and on the group near its walls. with unfelt fingers, subtly, it puts the red touch of the west in the faces of the men--who have just declared, through the building of a cabin, that here is journey's end and their abiding place. there were community holidays among these pioneers as well as labor days, especially in the fruit season; and there were flower-picking excursions in the warm spring days. early in april the service berry bush gleamed starrily along the watercourses, its hardy white blooms defying winter's lingering look. this bush--or tree, indeed, since it is not afraid to rear its slender trunk as high as cherry or crab apple--might well be considered emblematic of the frontier spirit in those regions where the white silence covers the earth for several months and shuts the lonely homesteader in upon himself. from the pioneer time of the old southwest to the last frontier of the far north today, the service berry is cherished alike by white men and indians; and the red men have woven about it some of their prettiest legends. when june had ripened the tree's blue-black berries, the back country folk went out in parties to gather them. though the service berry was a food staple on the frontier and its gathering a matter of household economy, the folk made their berry-picking jaunt a gala occasion. the women and children with pots and baskets--the young girls vying with each other, under the eyes of the youths, as to who could strip boughs the fastest--plucked gayly while the men, rifles in hand, kept guard. for these happy summer days were also the red man's scalping days and, at any moment, the chatter of the picnickers might be interrupted by the chilling war whoop. when that sound was heard, the berry pickers raced for the fort. the wild fruits--strawberries, service berries, cherries, plums, crab apples--were, however, too necessary a part of the pioneer's meager diet to be left unplucked out of fear of an indian attack. another day would see the same group out again. the children would keep closer to their mothers, no doubt; and the laughter of the young girls would be more subdued, even if their coquetry lacked nothing of its former effectiveness. early marriages were the rule in the back country and betrothals were frequently plighted at these berry pickings. as we consider the descriptions of the frontiersman left for us by travelers of his own day, we are not more interested in his battles with wilderness and indian than in the visible effects of both wilderness and indian upon him. his countenance and bearing still show the european, but the european greatly altered by savage contact. the red peril, indeed, influenced every side of frontier life. the bands of women and children at the harvestings, the log rollings, and the house raisings, were not there merely to lighten the men's work by their laughter and love-making. it was not safe for them to remain in the cabins, for, to the indian, the cabin thus boldly thrust upon his immemorial hunting grounds was only a secondary evil; the greater evil was the white man's family, bespeaking the increase of the dreaded palefaces. the indian peril trained the pioneers to alertness, shaped them as warriors and hunters, suggested the fashion of their dress, knit their families into clans and the clans into a tribe wherein all were of one spirit in the protection of each and all and a unit of hate against their common enemy. too often the fields which the pioneer planted with corn were harvested by the indian with fire. the hardest privations suffered by farmers and stock were due to the settlers having to flee to the forts, leaving to indian devastation the crops on which their sustenance mainly depended. sometimes, fortunately, the warning came in time for the frontiersman to collect his goods and chattels in his wagon and to round up his live stock and drive them safely into the common fortified enclosure. at others, the tap of the express--as the herald of indian danger was called--at night on the windowpane and the low word whispered hastily, ere the express ran on to the next abode, meant that the indians had surprised the outlying cabins of the settlement. the forts were built as centrally as possible in the scattered settlements. they consisted of cabins, blockhouses, and stockades. a range of cabins often formed one side of a fort. the walls on the outside were ten or twelve feet high with roofs sloping inward. the blockhouses built at the angles of the fort projected two feet or so beyond the outer walls of the cabins and stockades, and were fitted with portholes for the watchers and the marksmen. the entrance to the fort was a large folding gate of thick slabs. it was always on the side nearest the spring. the whole structure of the fort was bullet-proof and was erected without an iron nail or spike. in the border wars these forts withstood all attacks. the savages, having proved that they could not storm them, generally laid siege and waited for thirst to compel a sortie. but the crafty besieger was as often outwitted by the equally cunning defender. some daring soul, with silent feet and perhaps with naked body painted in indian fashion, would drop from the wall under cover of the night, pass among the foemen to the spring, and return to the fort with water. into the pioneer's phrase-making the indian influence penetrated so that he named seasons for his foe. so thoroughly has the term indian summer, now to us redolent of charm, become disassociated from its origins that it gives us a shock to be reminded that to these back country folk the balmy days following on the cold snap meant the season when the red men would come back for a last murderous raid on the settlements before winter should seal up the land. the powwowing days were the mellow days in the latter part of february, when the red men in council made their medicine and learned of their redder gods whether or no they should take the warpath when the sap pulsed the trees into leaf. even the children at their play acknowledged the red-skinned schoolmaster, for their chief games were a training in his woodcraft and in the use of his weapons. tomahawk-throwing was a favorite sport because of its gruesome practical purposes. the boys must learn to gauge the tomahawk's revolutions by the distance of the throw so as to bury the blade in its objective. swift running and high jumping through the brush and fallen timber were sports that taught agility in escape. the boys learned to shoot accurately the long rifles of their time, with a log or a forked stick for a rest, and a moss pad under the barrel to keep it from jerking and spoiling the aim. they wrestled with each other, mastered the tricks of throwing an opponent, and learned the scalp hold instead of the toe hold. it was part of their education to imitate the noises of every bird and beast of the forest. so they learned to lure the turkey within range, or by the bleat of a fawn to bring her dam to the rifle. a well-simulated wolf's howl would call forth a response and so inform the lone hunter of the vicinity of the pack. this forest speech was not only the language of diplomacy in the hunting season; it was the borderer's secret code in war. stray indians put themselves in touch again with the band by turkey calls in the daytime and by owl or wolf notes at night. the frontiersmen used the same means to trick the indian band into betraying the place of its ambuscade, or to lure the strays, unwitting, within reach of the knife. in that age, before the forests had given place to farms and cities and when the sun had but slight acquaintance with the sod, the summers were cool and the winters long and cold in the back country. sometimes in september severe frosts destroyed the corn. the first light powdering called hunting snows fell in october, and then the men of the back country set out on the chase. their object was meat--buffalo, deer, elk, bear--for the winter larder, and skins to send out in the spring by pack-horses to the coast in trade for iron, steel, and salt. the rainfall in north carolina was much heavier than in virginia and, from autumn into early winter, the yadkin forests were sheeted with rain; but wet weather, so far from deterring the hunter, aided him to the kill. in blowing rain, he knew he would find the deer herding in the sheltered places on the hillsides. in windless rain, he knew that his quarry ranged the open woods and the high places. the fair play of the pioneer held it a great disgrace to kill a deer in winter when the heavy frost had crusted the deep snow. on the crust men and wolves could travel with ease, but the deer's sharp hoofs pierced through and made him defenseless. wolves and dogs destroyed great quantities of deer caught in this way; and men who shot deer under these conditions were considered no huntsmen. there was, indeed, a practical side to this chivalry of the chase, for meat and pelt were both poor at this season; but the true hunter also obeyed the finer tenet of his code, for he would go to the rescue of deer caught in the crusts--and he killed many a wolf sliding over the ice to an easy meal. the community moral code of the frontier was brief and rigorous. what it lacked of the whereas and inasmuch of legal ink it made up in sound hickory. in fact, when we review the activities of this solid yet elastic wood in the moral, social, and economic phases of back country life, we are moved to wonder if the pioneers would have been the same race of men had they been nurtured beneath a less strenuous and adaptable vegetation! the hickory gave the frontiersman wood for all implements and furnishings where the demand was equally for lightness, strength, and elasticity. it provided his straight logs for building, his block mortars--hollowed by fire and stone--for corn-grinding, his solid plain furniture, his axles, rifle butts, ax handles, and so forth. it supplied his magic wand for the searching out of iniquity in the junior members of his household, and his most cogent argument, as a citizen, in convincing the slothful, the blasphemous, or the dishonest adult whose errors disturbed communal harmony. its nuts fed his hogs. before he raised stock, the unripe hickory nuts, crushed for their white liquid, supplied him with butter for his corn bread and helped out his store of bear's fat. both the name and the knowledge of the uses of this tree came to the earliest pioneers through contact with the red man, whose hunting bow and fishing spear and the hobbles for his horses were fashioned of the pohickory tree. the indian women first made pohickory butter, and the wise old men of the cherokee towns, so we are told, first applied the pohickory rod to the vanity of youth! a glance at the interior of a log cabin in the back country of virginia or north carolina would show, in primitive design, what is, perhaps, after all the perfect home--a place where the personal life and the work life are united and where nothing futile finds space. every object in the cabin was practical and had been made by hand on the spot to answer a need. besides the chairs hewn from hickory blocks, there were others made of slabs set on three legs. a large slab or two with four legs served as a movable table; the permanent table was built against the wall, its outer edge held up by two sticks. the low bed was built into the wall in the same way and softened for slumber by a mattress of pine needles, chaff, or dried moss. in the best light from the greased paper windowpanes stood the spinning wheel and loom, on which the housewife made cloth for the family's garments. over the fireplace or beside the doorway, and suspended usually on stags' antlers, hung the firearms and the yellow powderhorns, the latter often carved in indian fashion with scenes of the hunt or war. on a shelf or on pegs were the wooden spoons, plates, bowls, and noggins. also near the fireplace, which was made of large flat stones with a mud-plastered log chimney, stood the grinding block for making hominy. if it were an evening in early spring, the men of the household would be tanning and dressing deerskins to be sent out with the trade caravan, while the women sewed, made moccasins or mended them, in the light of pine knots or candles of bear's grease. the larger children might be weaving cradles for the babies, indian fashion, out of hickory twigs; and there would surely be a sound of whetting steel, for scalping knives and tomahawks must be kept keen-tempered now that the days have come when the red gods whisper their chant of war through the young leafage. the back country folk, as they came from several countries, generally settled in national groups, each preserving its own speech and its own religion, each approaching frontier life through its own native temperament. and the frontier met each and all alike, with the same need and the same menace, and molded them after one general pattern. if the cabin stood in a typical virginian settlement where the folk were of english stock, it may be that the dulcimer and some old love song of the homeland enlivened the work--or perhaps chairs were pushed back and young people danced the country dances of the homeland and the virginia reel, for these virginian english were merry folk, and their religion did not frown upon the dance. in a cabin on the shenandoah or the upper yadkin the german tongue clicked away over the evening dish of kraut or sounded more sedately in a lutheran hymn; while from some herder's hut on the lower yadkin the wild note of the bagpipes or of the ancient four-stringed harp mingled with the gaelic speech. among the homes in the shenandoah where old england's ways prevailed, none was gayer than the tavern kept by the man whom the good moravian brother called severe. there perhaps the feasting celebrated the nuptials of john sevier, who was barely past his seventeenth birthday when he took to himself a wife. or perhaps the dancing, in moccasined feet on the puncheon flooring, was a ceremonial to usher into back country life the new municipality john had just organized, for john at nineteen had taken his earliest step towards his larger career, which we shall follow later on, as the architect of the first little governments beyond the mountains. in the boone home on the yadkin, we may guess that the talk was solely of the hunt, unless young daniel had already become possessed of his first compass and was studying its ways. on such an evening, while the red afterglow lingered, he might be mending a passing trader's firearms by the fires of the primitive forge his father had set up near the trading path running from hillsborough to the catawba towns. it was said by the local nimrods that none could doctor a sick rifle better than young daniel boone, already the master huntsman of them all. and perhaps some trader's tale, told when the caravan halted for the night, kindled the youth's first desire to penetrate the mountain-guarded wilderness, for the tales of these romanies of commerce were as the very badge of their free-masonry, and entry money at the doors of strangers. out on the border's edge, heedless of the shadow of the mountains looming between the newly built cabin and that western land where they and their kind were to write the fame of the ulster scot in a shining script that time cannot dull, there might sit a group of stern-faced men, all deep in discussion of some point of spiritual doctrine or of the temporal rights of men. yet, in every cabin, whatever the national differences, the setting was the same. the spirit of the frontier was modeling out of old clay a new adam to answer the needs of a new earth. it would be far less than just to leave the back country folk without further reference to the devoted labors of their clergy. in the earliest days the settlers were cut off from their church systems; the pious had to maintain their piety unaided, except in the rare cases where a pastor accompanied a group of settlers of his denomination into the wilds. one of the first ministers who fared into the back country to remind the ulster presbyterians of their spiritual duties was the reverend hugh mcaden of philadelphia. he made long itineraries under the greatest hardships, in constant danger from indians and wild beasts, carrying the counsel of godliness to the far scattered flock. among the highland settlements the reverend james campbell for thirty years traveled about, preaching each sunday at some gathering point a sermon in both english and gaelic. a little later, in the yadkin valley, after craighead's day there arose a small school of presbyterian ministers whose zeal and fearlessness in the cause of religion and of just government had an influence on the frontiersmen that can hardly be overestimated. but, in the beginning, the pioneer encountered the savagery of border life, grappled with it, and reacted to it without guidance from other mentor than his own instincts. his need was still the primal threefold need--family, sustenance, and safe sleep when the day's work was done. we who look back with thoughtful eyes upon the frontiersman--all links of contact with his racial past severed, at grips with destruction in the contenting of his needs--see something more, something larger, than he saw in the log cabin raised by his hands, its structure held together solely by his close grooving and fitting of its own strength. though the walls he built for himself have gone with his own dust back to the earth, the symbol he erected for us stands. chapter iii the trader the trader was the first pathfinder. his caravans began the change of purpose that was to come to the indian warrior's route, turning it slowly into the beaten track of communication and commerce. the settlers, the rangers, the surveyors, went westward over the trails which he had blazed for them years before. their enduring works are commemorated in the cities and farms which today lie along every ancient border line; but of their forerunner's hazardous indian trade nothing remains. let us therefore pay a moment's homage here to the trader, who first--to borrow a phrase from indian speech--made white for peace the red trails of war. he was the first cattleman of the old southwest. fifty years before john findlay¹, one of this class of pioneers, led daniel boone through cumberland gap, the trader's bands of horses roamed the western slopes of the appalachian mountains and his cattle grazed among the deer on the green banks of the old cherokee (tennessee) river. he was the pioneer settler beyond the high hills; for he built, in the center of the indian towns, the first white man's cabin--with its larger annex, the trading house--and dwelt there during the greater part of the year. he was america's first magnate of international commerce. his furs--for which he paid in guns, knives, ammunition, vermilion paint, mirrors, and cloth--lined kings' mantles, and hatted the lords of trade as they strode to their council chamber in london to discuss his business and to pass those regulations which might have seriously hampered him but for his resourcefulness in circumventing them! ¹ the name is spelled in various ways: findlay, finlay, findley. he was the first frontier warrior, for he either fought off or fell before small parties of hostile indians who, in the interest of the spanish or french, raided his pack-horse caravans on the march. often, too, side by side with the red brothers of his adoption, he fought in the intertribal wars. his was the first educative and civilizing influence in the indian towns. he endeavored to cure the indians of their favorite midsummer madness, war, by inducing them to raise stock and poultry and improve their corn, squash, and pea gardens. it is not necessary to impute to him philanthropic motives. he was a practical man and he saw that war hurt his trade: it endangered his summer caravans and hampered the autumn hunt for deerskins. in the earliest days of the eighteenth century, when the colonists of virginia and the carolinas were only a handful, it was the trader who defeated each successive attempt of french and spanish agents to weld the tribes into a confederacy for the annihilation of the english settlements. the english trader did his share to prevent what is now the united states from becoming a part of a latin empire and to save it for a race having the anglo-saxon ideal and speaking the english tongue. the colonial records of the period contain items which, taken singly, make small impression on the casual reader but which, listed together, throw a strong light on the past and bring that mercenary figure, the trader, into so bold a relief that the design verges on the heroic. if we wonder, for instance, why the scotch highlanders who settled in the wilds at the headwaters of the cape fear river, about , and were later followed by welsh and huguenots, met with no opposition from the indians, the mystery is solved when we discover, almost by accident, a few printed lines which record that, in , the hostile natives on the cape fear were subdued to the english and brought into friendly alliance with them by colonel william bull, a trader. we read further and learn that the spaniards in florida had long endeavored to unite the tribes in spanish and french territory against the english and that the influence of traders prevented the consummation. the spaniards, in , had prepared to invade english territory with nine hundred indians. the plot was discovered by creek indians and disclosed to their friends, the traders, who immediately gathered together five hundred warriors, marched swiftly to meet the invaders, and utterly routed them. again, when the indians, incited by the spanish at st. augustine, rose against the english in , and the yamasi massacre occurred in south carolina, it was due to the traders that some of the settlements at least were not wholly unprepared to defend themselves. the early english trader was generally an intelligent man; sometimes educated, nearly always fearless and resourceful. he knew the one sure basis on which men of alien blood and far separated stages of moral and intellectual development can meet in understanding--namely, the truth of the spoken word. he recognized honor as the bond of trade and the warp and woof of human intercourse. the uncorrupted savage also had his plain interpretation of the true word in the mouths of men, and a name for it. he called it the old beloved speech; and he gave his confidence to the man who spoke this speech even in the close barter for furs. we shall find it worth while to refer to the map of america as it was in the early days of the colonial fur trade, about the beginning of the eighteenth century. a narrow strip of loosely strung english settlements stretched from the north border of new england to the florida line. north florida was spanish territory. on the far distant southwestern borders of the english colonies were the southern possessions of france. the french sphere of influence extended up the mississippi, and thence by way of rivers and the great lakes to its base in canada on the borders of new england and new york. in south carolina dwelt the yamasi tribe of about three thousand warriors, their chief towns only sixty or eighty miles distant from the spanish town of st. augustine. on the west, about the same distance northeast of new orleans, in what is now alabama and georgia, lay the creek nation. there french garrisons held mobile and fort alabama. the creeks at this time numbered over four thousand warriors. the lands of the choctaws, a tribe of even larger fighting strength, began two hundred miles north of new orleans and extended along the mississippi. a hundred and sixty miles northeast of the choctaw towns were the chickasaws, the bravest and most successful warriors of all the tribes south of the iroquois. the cherokees, in part seated within the carolinas, on the upper courses of the savannah river, mustered over six thousand men at arms. east of them were the catawba towns. north of them were the shawanoes and delawares, in easy communication with the tribes of canada. still farther north, along the mohawk and other rivers joining with the hudson and lake ontario stood the long houses of the fiercest and most warlike of all the savages, the iroquois or six nations. the indians along the english borders outnumbered the colonists perhaps ten to one. if the spanish and the french had succeeded in the conspiracy to unite on their side all the tribes, a red billow of tomahawk wielders would have engulfed and extinguished the english settlements. the french, it is true, made allies of the shawanoes, the delawares, the choctaws, and a strong faction of the creeks; and they finally won over the cherokees after courting them for more than twenty years. but the creeks in part, the powerful chickasaws, and the iroquois confederacy, or six nations, remained loyal to the english. in both north and south it was the influence of the traders that kept these red tribes on the english side. the iroquois were held loyal by sir william johnson and his deputy, george croghan, the king of traders. the chickasaws followed their best-beloved trader, james adair; and among the creeks another trader, lachlan mcgillivray, wielded a potent influence. lachlan mcgillivray was a highlander. he landed in charleston in at the age of sixteen and presently joined a trader's caravan as pack-horse boy. a few years later he married a woman of the creeks. on many occasions he defeated french and spanish plots with the creeks for the extermination of the colonists in georgia and south carolina. his action in the final war with the french ( ), when the indian terror was raging, is typical. news came that four thousand creek warriors, reinforced by french choctaws, were about to fall on the southern settlements. at the risk of their lives, mcgillivray and another trader named galphin hurried from charleston to their trading house on the georgia frontier. thither they invited several hundred creek warriors, feasted and housed them for several days, and finally won them from their purpose. mcgillivray had a brilliant son, alexander, who about this time became a chief in his mother's nation--perhaps on this very occasion, as it was an indian custom, in making a brotherhood pact, to send a son to dwell in the brother's house. we shall meet that son again as the chief of the creeks and the terrible scourge of georgia and tennessee in the dark days of the revolutionary war. the bold deeds of the early traders, if all were to be told, would require a book as long as the huge volume written by james adair, the english chickasaw. adair was an englishman who entered the indian trade in and launched upon the long and dangerous trail from charleston to the upper towns of the cherokees, situated in the present monroe county, tennessee. thus he was one of the earliest pioneers of the old southwest; and he was tennessee's first author. i am well acquainted, he says, with near two thousand miles of the american continent--a statement which gives one some idea of an early trader's enterprise, hardihood, and peril. adair's two thousand miles were twisting indian trails and paths he slashed out for himself through uninhabited wilds, for when not engaged in trade, hunting, literature, or war, it pleased him to make solitary trips of exploration. these seem to have led him chiefly northward through the appalachians, of which he must have been one of the first white explorers. a many-sided man was james adair--cultured, for his style suffers not by comparison with other writers of his day, no stranger to latin and greek, and not ignorant of hebrew, which he studied to assist him in setting forth his ethnological theory that the american indians were the descendants of the ten lost tribes of israel. before we dismiss his theory with a smile, let us remember that he had not at his disposal the data now available which reveal points of likeness in custom, language formation, and symbolism among almost all primitive peoples. the formidable title-page of his book in itself suggests an author keenly observant, accurate as to detail, and possessed of a versatile and substantial mind. most of the pages were written in the towns of the chickasaws, with whom he lived as a friend and brother, but from whose natural jealousy and prying disposition he was obliged to conceal his papers. never, he assures us, was a literary work begun and carried on with more disadvantages! despite these disabilities the author wrote a book of absorbing interest. his intimate sympathetic pictures of indian life as it was before the tribes had been conquered are richly valuable to the lover of native lore and to the student of the history of white settlement. the author believes, as he must, in the supremacy of his own race, but he nevertheless presents the indians' side of the argument as no man could who had not made himself one of them. he thereby adds interest to those fierce struggles which took place along the border; for he shows us the red warrior not as a mere brute with a tomahawk but as a human creature with an ideal of his own, albeit an ideal that must give place to a better. even in view of the red man's hideous methods of battle and inhuman treatment of captives, we cannot ponder unmoved adair's description of his preparations for war--the fasting, the abstention from all family intercourse, and the purification rites and prayers for three days in the house set apart, while the women, who might not come close to their men in this fateful hour, stood throughout the night till dawn chanting before the door. another poetic touch the author gives us, from the cherokee--or cheerake as he spells it--explaining that the root, chee-ra, means fire. a cherokee never extinguished fire save on the occasion of a death, when he thrust a burning torch into the water and said, _neetah intahah_--the days appointed him were finished. the warrior slain in battle was held to have been balanced by death and it was said of him that he was weighed on the path and made light. adair writes that the cherokees, until corrupted by french agents and by the later class of traders who poured rum among them like water, were honest, industrious, and friendly. they were ready to meet the white man with their customary phrase of good will: i shall firmly shake hands with your speech. he was intimately associated with this tribe from to , when he diverted his activities to the chickasaws. it was from the cherokees' chief town, great telliko, in the appalachians, that adair explored the mountains. he describes the pass through the chain which was used by the indians and which, from his outline of it, was probably the cumberland gap. he relates many incidents of the struggle with the french--manifestations even in this remote wilderness of the vast conflict that was being waged for the new world by two imperial nations of the old. adair undertook, at the solicitation of governor glen of south carolina, the dangerous task of opening up trade with the choctaws, a tribe mustering upwards of five thousand warriors who were wholly in the french interest. their country lay in what is now the state of mississippi along the great river, some seven hundred miles west and southwest of charleston. after passing the friendly creek towns the trail led on for miles through what was practically the enemy's country. adair, owing to what he likes to term his usual good fortune, reached the choctaw country safely and by his adroitness and substantial presents won the friendship of the influential chief, red shoe, whom he found in a receptive mood, owing to a french agent's breach of hospitality involving red shoe's favorite wife. adair thus created a large pro-english faction among the choctaws, and his success seriously impaired french prestige with all the southwestern tribes. several times french choctaws bribed to murder him, waylaid adair on the trail--twice when he was alone--only to be baffled by the imperturbable self-possession and alert wit which never failed him in emergencies. winning a choctaw trade cost adair, besides attacks on his life, £ , for which he was never reimbursed, notwithstanding governor glen's agreement with him. and, on his return to charleston, while the governor was detaining him on one pretext or another, he found that a new expedition, which the governor was favoring for reasons of his own, had set out to capture his chickasaw trade and gather in the expected great crop of deerskins and beaver… before i could possibly return to the chikkasah country. nothing daunted, however, the hardy trader set out alone. in the severity of winter, frost, snow, hail and heavy rains succeed each other in these climes, so that i partly rode and partly swam to the chikkasah country; for not expecting to stay long below [in charleston] i took no leathern canoe. many of the broad, deep creeks… had now overflowed their banks, ran at a rapid rate and were unpassable to any but desperate people:… the rivers and swamps were dreadful by rafts of timber driving down the former and the great fallen trees floating in the latter.… being forced to wade deep through cane swamps or woody thickets, it proved very troublesome to keep my firearms dry on which, as a second means, my life depended. nevertheless adair defeated the governor's attempt to steal his trade, and later on published the whole story in the charleston press and sent in a statement of his claims to the assembly, with frank observations on his excellency himself. we gather that his bold disregard of high personages set all charleston in an uproar! adair is tantalizingly modest about his own deeds. he devotes pages to prove that an indian rite agrees with the book of leviticus but only a paragraph to an exploit of courage and endurance such as that ride and swim for the indian trade. we have to read between the lines to find the man; but he well repays the search. briefly, incidentally, he mentions that on one trip he was captured by the french, who were so, well acquainted with the great damages i had done to them and feared others i might occasion, as to confine me a close prisoner… in the alebahma garrison. they were fully resolved to have sent me down to mobile or new orleans as a capital criminal to be hanged… but i doubted not of being able to extricate myself some way or other. they appointed double centries over me for some days before i was to be sent down in the french king's large boat. they were strongly charged against laying down their weapons or suffering any hostile thing to be in the place where i was kept, as they deemed me capable of any mischief.… about an hour before we were to set off by water i escaped from them by land.… i took through the middle of the low land covered with briers at full speed. i heard the french clattering on horseback along the path… and the howling savages pursuing…, but my usual good fortune enabled me to leave them far enough behind.… one feels that a few of the pages given up to leviticus might well have been devoted to a detailed account of this escape from double centries and a fortified garrison, and the plunge through the tangled wilds, by a man without gun or knife or supplies, and who for days dared not show himself upon the trail. there is too much of my usual good fortune in adair's narrative; such luck as his argues for extraordinary resources in the man. sometimes we discover only through one phrase on a page that he must himself have been the hero of an event he relates in the third person. this seems to be the case in the affair of priber, which was the worst of those damages adair did to the french. priber was a gentleman of curious and speculative temper sent by the french in to great telliko to win the cherokees to their interest. at this time adair was trading with the cherokees. he relates that priber, more effectually to answer the design of his commission… ate, drank, slept, danced, dressed, and painted himself with the indians, so that it was not easy to distinguish him from the natives,--he married also with them, and being endued with a strong understanding and retentive memory he soon learned their dialect, and by gradual advances impressed them with a very ill opinion of the english, representing them as fraudulent, avaritious and encroaching people; he at the same time inflated the artless savages with a prodigious high opinion of their own importance in the american scale of power.… having thus infected them… he easily formed them into a nominal republican government--crowned their old archi-magus emperor after a pleasing new savage form, and invented a variety of high-sounding titles for all the members of his imperial majesty's red court. priber cemented the cherokee empire by slow but sure degrees to the very great danger of our southern colonies. his position was that of secretary of state and as such, with a studiedly provocative arrogance, he carried on correspondence with the british authorities. the colonial government seems, on this occasion, to have listened to the traders and to have realized that priber was a danger, for soldiers were sent to take him prisoner. the cherokees, however, had so firmly shaked hands with their secretary's admired discourse that they threatened to take the warpath if their beloved man were annoyed, and the soldiers went home without him--to the great hurt of english prestige. the cherokee empire had now endured for five years and was about to rise into a far greater state of puissance by the acquisition of the muskohge, chocktaw and the western mississippi indians, when fortunately for the history of british colonization in america, an accident befell the secretary. it is in connection with this accident that the reader suspects the modest but resourceful adair of conniving with fate. since the military had failed and the government dared not again employ force, other means must be found; the trader provided them. the secretary with his cherokee bodyguard journeyed south on his mission to the creeks. secure, as he supposed, he lodged overnight in an indian town. but there a company of english traders took him into custody, along with his bundle of manuscripts presumably intended for the french commandant at fort alabama, and handed him over to the governor of georgia, who imprisoned him and kept him out of mischief till he died. as a briton, adair contributed to priber's fate; and as such he approves it. as a scholar with philosophical and ethnological leanings, however, he deplores it, and hopes that priber's valuable manuscripts may escape the despoiling hands of military power. priber had spent his leisure in compiling a cherokee dictionary; adair's occupation, while domiciled in his winter house in great telliko, was the writing of his indian appendix to the pentateuch. as became brothers in science, they had exchanged notes, so we gather from adair's references to conversations and correspondence. adair's difficulties as an author, however, had been increased by a treacherous lapse from professional etiquette on the part of the secretary: he told them [the indians] that in the very same manner as he was their great secretary, i was the devil's clerk, or an accursed one who marked on paper the bad speech of the evil ones of darkness. on his own part adair admits that his object in this correspondence was to trap the secretary into something more serious than literary errata. that is, he admits it by implication; he says the secretary feared it. during the years of their duel, adair apparently knew that the scholarly compiler of the cherokee dictionary was secretly inciting members of this particular lost tribe to tomahawk the discoverer of their biblical origin; and priber, it would seem, knew that he knew! adair shows, inferentially, that land encroachment was not the sole cause of those indian wars with which we shall deal in a later chapter. the earliest causes were the instigations of the french and the rewards which they offered for english scalps. but equally provocative of indian rancor were the acts of sometimes merely stupid, sometimes dishonest, officials; the worst of these, adair considered, was the cheapening of the trade through the granting of general licenses. formerly each trader had a license for two [indian] towns.… at my first setting out among them, a number of traders… journeyed through our various nations in different companies and were generally men of worth; of course they would have a living price for their goods, which they carried on horseback to the remote indian countries at very great expences.… [the indians] were kept under proper restraint, were easy in their minds and peaceable on account of the plain, honest lessons daily inculcated on them… but according to the present unwise plan, two and even three arablike peddlars sculk about in one of those villages… who are generally the dregs and offs-courings of our climes… by inebriating the indians with their nominally prohibited and poisoning spirits, they purchase the necessaries of life at four and five hundred per cent cheaper than the orderly traders.… instead of showing good examples of moral conduct, beside the other part of life, they instruct the unknowing and imitating savages in many diabolical lessons of obscenity and blasphemy. in these statements, contemporary records bear him out. there is no sadder reading than the many pleas addressed by the indian chiefs to various officials to stop the importation of liquor into their country, alleging the debauchment of their young men and warning the white man, with whom they desired to be friends, that in an indian drink and blood lust quickly combined. adair's book was published in london in . he wrote it to be read by englishmen as well as americans; and some of his reflections on liberty, justice, and anglo-saxon unity would not sound unworthily today. his sympathies were with the principles of our magna charta americana; but he thought the threatened division of the english-speaking peoples the greatest evil that could befall civilization. his voluminous work discloses a man not only of wide mental outlook but a practical man with a sense of commercial values. yet, instead of making a career for himself among his own caste, he made his home for over thirty years in the chickasaw towns; and it is plain that, with the exception of some of his older brother traders, he preferred the chickasaw to any other society. the complete explanation of such men as adair we need not expect to find stated anywhere--not even in and between the lines of his book. the conventionalist would seek it in moral obliquity; the radical, in a temperament that is irked by the superficialities that comprise so large a part of conventional standards. the reason for his being what he was is almost the only thing adair did not analyze in his book. perhaps, to him, it was self evident. we may let it be so to us, and see it most clearly presented in a picture composed from some of his brief sketches: a land of grass and green shade inset with bright waters, where deer and domestic cattle herded together along the banks; a circling group of houses, their white-clayed walls sparkling under the sun's rays, and, within and without, the movement of a friendly and sagacious people, who kindly treated and watchfully guarded their white brother in peace and war, and who conversed daily with him in the old beloved speech learned first of nature. like towers in cities beyond the common size of those of the indians rose the winter and summer houses and the huge trading house which the tribe had built for their best beloved friend in the town's center, because there he would be safest from attack. on the rafters hung the smoked and barbecued delicacies taken in the hunt and prepared for him by his red servants, who were also his comrades at home and on the dangerous trail. beloved old women kept an eye on his small sons, put to drowse on panther skins so that they might grow up brave warriors. nothing was there of artifice or pretense, only the needful things to make a reasonable life happy. all was as primitive, naive, and contented as the woman whose outline is given once in a few strokes, proudly and gayly penciled: i have the pleasure of writing this by the side of a chikkasah female, as great a princess as ever lived among the ancient peruvians or mexicans, and she bids me be sure not to mark the paper wrong after the manner of most of the traders; otherwise it will spoil the making good bread or homony! his final chapter is the last news of james adair, type of the earliest trader. did his bold attacks on corrupt officials and rum peddlers--made publicly before assemblies and in print--raise for him a dense cloud of enmity that dropped oblivion on his memory? perhaps. but, in truth, his own book is all the history of him we need. it is the record of a man. he lived a full life and served his day; and it matters not that a mist envelops the place where unafraid he met the last enemy, was weighed on the path and made light. chapter iv the passing of the french peril the great pile of the appalachian peaks was not the only barrier which held back the settler with his plough and his rifle from following the trader's tinkling caravans into the valleys beyond. over the hills the french were lords of the land. the frontiersman had already felt their enmity through the torch and tomahawk of their savage allies. by his own strength alone he could not cope with the power entrenched beyond the hills; so he halted. but that power, by its unachievable desire to be overlord of two hemispheres, was itself to precipitate events which would open the westward road. the recurring hour in the cycle of history, when the issue of autocracy against democracy cleaves the world, struck for the men of the eighteenth century as the second half of that century dawned. in our own day, happily, that issue has been perceived by the rank and file of the people. in those darker days, as france and england grappled in that conflict of systems which culminated in the seven years' war, the fundamental principles at stake were clear to only a handful of thinking men. but abstractions, whether clear or obscure, do not cause ambassadors to demand their passports. the declaration of war awaits the overt act. behold, then, how great a matter is kindled by a little fire! the _casus belli_ between france and england in the seven years' war--the war which humbled france in europe and lost her india and canada--had to do with a small log fort built by a few virginians in at the forks of the ohio river and wrested from them in the same year by a company of frenchmen from canada. the french claimed the valley of the ohio as their territory; the english claimed it as theirs. the dispute was of long standing. the french claim was based on discovery; the english claim, on the sea-to-sea charters of virginia and other colonies and on treaties with the six nations. the french refused to admit the right of the six nations to dispose of the territory. the english were inclined to maintain the validity of their treaties with the indians. especially was virginia so inclined, for a large share of the ohio lay within her chartered domain. the quarrel had entered its acute phase in , when both the rival claimants took action to assert their sovereignty. the governor of canada sent an envoy, céloron de blainville, with soldiers, to take formal possession of the ohio for the king of france. in the same year the english organized in virginia the ohio company for the colonization of the same country; and summoned christopher gist, explorer, trader, and guide, from his home on the yadkin and dispatched him to survey the land. then appeared on the scene that extraordinary man, robert dinwiddie, lieutenant governor of virginia, erstwhile citizen of glasgow. his correspondence from virginia during his seven years' tenure of office ( - ) depicts the man with a vividness surpassing paint. he was as honest as the day--as honest as he was fearless and fussy. but he had no patience; he wanted things done and done at once, and his way was the way to do them. people who did not think as he thought didn't think at all. on this drastic premise he went to work. there was of course continuous friction between him and the house of burgesses. dinwiddie had all a scot's native talent for sarcasm. his letters, his addresses, perhaps in particular his addresses to the house, bristled with satirical thrusts at his opponents. if he had spelled out in full all the words he was so eager to write, he would have been obliged to lessen his output; so he used a shorthand system of his own, peculiar enough to be remarkable even though abbreviations were the rule in that day. even the dignity of kings he sacrificed to speed, and we find his majesty abbreviated to h m'y; yet a smaller luminary known as his honor fares better, losing only the last letter--his hono. ho. stands for house and yt for that, what, it, and anything else, as convenient. many of his letters wind up with i am ve'y much fatig'd. we know that he must have been! it was a formidable task that confronted dinwiddie--to possess and defend the ohio. christopher gist returned in , having surveyed the valley for the ohio company as far as the scioto and miami rivers, and in the following year the survey was ratified by the indians. the company's men were busy blazing trails through the territory and building fortified posts. but the french dominated the territory. they had built and occupied with troops fort le bœuf on french creek, a stream flowing into the allegheny. we may imagine dinwiddie's rage at this violation of british soil by french soldiers and how he must have sputtered to the young george washington, when he summoned that officer and made him the bearer of a letter to the french commander at fort le bœuf, to demand that french troops be at once withdrawn from the ohio. washington made the journey to fort le bœuf in december, , but the mission of course proved fruitless. dinwiddie then wrote to london urging that a force be sent over to help the colonies maintain their rights and, under orders from the crown, suggested by himself, he wrote to the governors of all the other colonies to join with virginia in raising troops to settle the ownership of the disputed territory. from governor dobbs of north carolina he received an immediate response. by means of logic, sarcasm, and the entire force of his prerogatives, dinwiddie secured from his own balking assembly £ , with which to raise troops. from maryland he obtained nothing. there were three prominent marylanders in the ohio company, but--or because of this--the maryland assembly voted down the measure for a military appropriation. on june , , dinwiddie wrote, with unusually full spelling for him: i am perswaded had his majesty's com'ds to the other colonies been duely obey'd, and the necessary assistance given by them, the fr. wou'd have long ago have been oblig'd entirely to have evacuated their usurp'd possession of the king's lands, instead of w'ch they are daily becoming more formidable, whilst every gov't except no. caro. has amus'd me with expectations that have proved fruitless, and at length refuse to give any supply, unless in such a manner as must render it ineffectual. this saddened mood with its deliberate penmanship did not last long. presently dinwiddie was making a round robin of himself in another series of letters to governors, councilors, and assemblymen, frantically beseeching them for h. m'y's hono. and their own, and, if not, for post'r'ty, to rise against the cruel french whose indians were harrying the borders again and basely, like virmin, stealing and carrying off the helpless infant--as nice a simile, by the way, as any sheridan ever put into the mouth of mrs. malaprop. dinwiddie saw his desires thwarted on every hand by the selfish spirit of localism and jealousy which was more rife in america in those days than it is today. though the phrase capitalistic war had not yet been coined, the great issues of english civilization on this continent were befogged, for the majority in the colonies, by the trivial fact that the shareholders in the ohio company stood to win by a vigorous prosecution of the war and to lose if it were not prosecuted at all. the irascible governor, however, proceeded with such men and means as he could obtain. and now in the summer of came the overt act which precipitated the inevitable war. the key to the valley of the ohio was the tongue of land at the forks, where the allegheny and the monongahela join their waters in the beautiful river. this site--today pittsburgh--if occupied and held by either nation would give that nation the command of the ohio. occupied it was for a brief hour by a small party of virginians, under captain william trent; but no sooner had they erected on the spot a crude fort than the french descended upon them. what happened then all the world knows: how the french built on the captured site their great fort duquesne; how george washington with an armed force, sent by dinwiddie to recapture the place, encountered french and indians at great meadows and built fort necessity, which he was compelled to surrender; how in the next year ( ) general braddock arrived from across the sea and set out to take fort duquesne, only to meet on the way the disaster called braddock's defeat; and how, before another year had passed, the seven years' war was raging in europe, and england was allied with the enemies of france. from the midst of the debacle of braddock's defeat rises the figure of the young washington. twenty-three he was then, tall and spare and hardbodied from a life spent largely in the open. when braddock fell, this washington appeared. reckless of the enemy's bullets, which spanged about him and pierced his clothes, he dashed up and down the lines in an effort to rally the panic-stricken redcoats. he was too late to save the day, but not to save a remnant of the army and bring out his own virginians in good order. whether among the stay-at-homes and voters of credits there were some who would have ascribed washington's conduct on that day to the fact that his brothers were large shareholders in the ohio company and that fort duquesne was their personal property or "private interest," history does not say. we may suppose so. north carolina, the one colony which had not amus'd the governor of virginia with expectations that proved fruitless, had voted £ , for the war and had raised two companies of troops. one of these, under edward brice dobbs, son of governor dobbs, marched with braddock; and in that company as wagoner went daniel boone, then in his twenty-second year. of boone's part in braddock's campaign nothing more is recorded save that on the march he made friends with john findlay, the trader, his future guide into kentucky; and that, on the day of the defeat, when his wagons were surrounded, he escaped by slashing the harness, leaping on the back of one of his horses, and dashing into the forest. meanwhile the southern tribes along the border were comparatively quiet. that they well knew a colossal struggle between the two white races was pending and were predisposed to ally themselves with the stronger is not to be doubted. french influence had long been sifting through the formidable cherokee nation, which still, however, held true in the main to its treaties with the english. it was the policy of the governors of virginia and north carolina to induce the cherokees to enter strongly into the war as allies of the english. their efforts came to nothing chiefly because of the purely local and suicidal indian policy of governor glen of south carolina. there had been some dispute between glen and dinwiddie as to the right of virginia to trade with the cherokees; and glen had sent to the tribes letters calculated to sow distrust of all other aspirants for indian favor, even promising that certain settlers in the back country of north carolina should be removed and their holdings restored to the indians. these letters caused great indignation in north carolina, when they came to light, and had the worst possible effect upon indian relations. the indians now inclined their ear to the french who, though fewer than the english, were at least united in purpose. governor glen took this inauspicious moment to hold high festival with the cherokees. it was the last year of his administration and apparently he hoped to win promotion to some higher post by showing his achievements for the fur trade and in the matter of new land acquired. he plied the cherokees with drink and induced them to make formal submission and to cede all their lands to the crown. when the chiefs recovered their sobriety, they were filled with rage at what had been done, and they remembered how the french had told them that the english intended to make slaves of all the indians and to steal their lands. the situation was complicated by another incident. several cherokee warriors returning from the ohio, whither they had gone to fight for the british, were slain by frontiersmen. the tribe, in accordance with existing agreements, applied to virginia for redress--but received none. there was thus plenty of powder for an explosion. governor lyttleton, glen's successor, at last flung the torch into the magazine. he seized, as hostages, a number of friendly chiefs who were coming to charleston to offer tokens of good will and forced them to march under guard on a military tour which the governor was making ( ) with intent to overawe the savages. when this expedition reached prince george, on the upper waters of the savannah, the indian hostages were confined within the fort; and the governor, satisfied with the result of his maneuver departed south for charleston. then followed a tragedy. some indian friends of the imprisoned chiefs attacked the fort, and the commander, a popular young officer, was treacherously killed during a parley. the infuriated frontiersmen within the fort fell upon the hostages and slew them all--twenty-six chiefs--and the indian war was on. if all were to be told of the struggle which followed in the back country, the story could not be contained in this book. many brave and resourceful men went out against the savages. we can afford only a passing glance at one of them. hugh waddell of north carolina was the most brilliant of all the frontier fighters in that war. he was a young ulsterman from county down, a born soldier, with a special genius for fighting indians, although he did not grow up on the border, for he arrived in north carolina in , at the age of nineteen. he was appointed by governor dobbs to command the second company which north carolina had raised for the war, a force of rangers to protect the border counties; and he presently became the most conspicuous military figure in the colony. as to his personality, we have only a few meager details, with a portrait that suggests plainly enough those qualities of boldness and craft which characterized his tactics. governor dobbs appears to have had a special love towards hugh, whose family he had known in ireland, for an undercurrent of almost fatherly pride is to be found in the old governor's reports to the assembly concerning waddell's exploits. the terror raged for nearly three years. cabins and fields were burned, and women and children were slaughtered or dragged away captives. not only did immigration cease but many hardy settlers fled from the country. at length, after horrors indescribable and great toll of life, the cherokees gave up the struggle. their towns were invaded and laid waste by imperial and colonial troops, and they could do nothing but make peace. in they signed a treaty with the english to hold while rivers flow and grasses grow and sun and moon endure. in the previous year ( ) the imperial war had run its course in america. new france lay prostrate, and the english were supreme not only on the ohio but on the st. lawrence and the great lakes. louisbourg, quebec, montreal, oswego, niagara, duquesne, detroit--all were in english hands. hugh waddell and his rangers, besides serving with distinction in the indian war, had taken part in the capture of fort duquesne. this feat had been accomplished in by an expedition under general forbes. the troops made a terrible march over a new route, cutting a road as they went. it was november when they approached their objective. the wastes of snow and their diminished supplies caused such depression among the men that the officers called a halt to discuss whether or not to proceed toward fort duquesne, where they believed the french to be concentrated in force. extravagant sums in guineas were named as suitable reward for any man who would stalk and catch a french indian and learn from him the real conditions inside the fort. the honor, if not the guineas, fell to john rogers, one of waddell's rangers. from the indian it was learned that the french had already gone, leaving behind only a few of their number. as the english drew near, they found that the garrison had blown up the magazine, set fire to the fort, and made off. thus, while new france was already tottering, but nearly two years before the final capitulation at montreal, the english again became masters of the ohio company's land--masters of the forks of the ohio. this time they were there to stay. where the walls of fort duquesne had crumbled in the fire fort pitt was to rise, proudly bearing the name of england's great commoner who had directed english arms to victory on three continents. with france expelled and the indians deprived of their white allies, the westward path lay open to the pioneers, even though the red man himself would rise again and again in vain endeavor to bar the way. so a new era begins, the era of exploration for definite purpose, the era of commonwealth building. in entering on it, we part with the earliest pioneer--the trader, who first opened the road for both the lone home seeker and the great land company. he dwindles now to the mere barterer and so--save for a few chance glimpses--slips out of sight, for his brave days as imperial scout are done. chapter v boone, the wanderer what thoughts filled daniel boone's mind as he was returning from braddock's disastrous campaign in we may only conjecture. perhaps he was planning a career of soldiering, for in later years he was to distinguish himself as a frontier commander in both defense and attack. or it may be that his heart was full of the wondrous tales told him by the trader, john findlay, of that hunter's canaan, kentucky, where buffalo and deer roamed in thousands. perhaps he meant to set out ere long in search of the great adventure of his dreams, despite the terrible dangers of trail making across the zones of war into the unknown. however that may be, boone straightway followed neither of these possible plans on his return to the yadkin but halted for a different adventure. there, a rifle shot's distance from his threshold, was offered him the oldest and sweetest of all hazards to the daring. he was twenty-two, strong and comely and a whole man; and therefore he was in no mind to refuse what life held out to him in the person of rebecca bryan. rebecca was the daughter of joseph bryan, who had come to the yadkin from pennsylvania some time before the boones; and she was in her seventeenth year. writers of an earlier and more sentimental period than ours have endeavored to supply, from the saccharine stores of their fancy, the romantic episodes connected with boone's wooing which history has omitted to record. hence the tale that the young hunter, walking abroad in the spring gloaming, saw mistress rebecca's large dark eyes shining in the dusk of the forest, mistook them for a deer's eyes and shot--his aim on this occasion fortunately being bad! but if boone's rifle was missing its mark at ten paces, cupid's dart was speeding home. so runs the story concocted a hundred years later by some gentle scribe ignorant alike of game seasons, the habits of hunters, and the way of a man with a maid in a primitive world. daniel and rebecca were married in the spring of . squire boone, in his capacity as justice of the peace, tied the knot; and in a small cabin built upon his spacious lands the young couple set up housekeeping. here daniel's first two sons were born. in the third year of his marriage, when the second child was a babe in arms, daniel removed with his wife and their young and precious family to culpeper county in eastern virginia, for the border was going through its darkest days of the french and indian war. during the next two or three years we find him in virginia engaged as a wagoner, hauling tobacco in season; but back on the border with his rifle, after the harvest, aiding in defense against the indians. in he purchased from his father a lot on sugar tree creek, a tributary of dutchman's creek (davie county, north carolina) and built thereon a cabin for himself. the date when he brought his wife and children to live in their new abode on the border is not recorded. it was probably some time after the close of the indian war. of boone himself during these years we have but scant information. we hear of him again in virginia and also as a member of the pack-horse caravan which brought into the back country the various necessaries for the settlers. we know, too, that in the fall of he was on a lone hunting trip in the mountains west of the yadkin; for until a few years ago there might be seen, still standing on the banks of boone's creek (a small tributary of the watauga) in eastern tennessee, a tree bearing the legend, d boon cilled a bar on this tree . boone was always fond of carving his exploits on trees, and his wanderings have been traced largely by his arboreal publications. in the next year ( ) he went with waddell's rangers when they marched with the army to the final subjugation of the cherokee. that boone and his family were back on the border in the new cabin shortly after the end of the war, we gather from the fact that in he took his little son james, aged seven, on one of his long hunting excursions. from this time dates the intimate comradeship of father and son through all the perils of the wilderness, a comradeship to come to its tragic end ten years later when, as we shall see, the seventeen-year-old lad fell under the red man's tomahawk as his father was leading the first settlers towards kentucky. in the cold nights of the open camp, as daniel and james lay under the frosty stars, the father kept the boy warm snuggled to his breast under the broad flap of his hunting shirt. sometimes the two were away from home for months together, and daniel declared little james to be as good a woodsman as his father. meanwhile fascinating accounts of the new land of florida, ceded to britain by the treaty of paris in , had leaked into the back country; and in the winter of boone set off southward on horseback with seven companions. colonel james grant, with whose army boone had fought in , had been appointed governor of the new colony and was offering generous inducements to settlers. the party traveled along the borders of south carolina and georgia. no doubt they made the greater part of their way over the old traders' trace, the whitened warpath; and they suffered severe hardships. game became scarcer as they proceeded. once they were nigh to perishing of starvation and were saved from that fate only through chance meeting with a band of indians who, seeing their plight, made camp and shared their food with them--according to the indian code in time of peace. boone's party explored florida from st. augustine to pensacola, and daniel became sufficiently enamored of the tropical south to purchase there land and a house. his wife, however, was unwilling to go to florida, and she was not long in convincing the hunter that he would soon tire of a gameless country. a gameless country! perhaps this was the very thought which turned the wanderer's desires again towards the land of kentucky.¹ the silencing of the enemy's whisper in the cherokee camps had opened the border forests once more to the nomadic rifleman. boone was not alone in the desire to seek out what lay beyond. his brother-in-law, john stewart, and a nephew by marriage, benjamin cutbirth, or cutbird, with two other young men, john baker and james ward, in crossed the appalachian mountains, probably by stumbling upon the indian trail winding from base to summit and from peak to base again over this part of the great hill barrier. they eventually reached the mississippi river and, having taken a good quantity of peltry on the way, they launched upon the stream and came in time to new orleans, where they made a satisfactory trade of their furs. ¹ kentucky, from ken-ta-ke, an iroquois word meaning the place of old fields. adair calls the territory the old fields. the indians apparently used the word old, as we do, in a sense of endearment and possession as well as relative to age. boone was fired anew by descriptions of this successful feat, in which two of his kinsmen had participated. he could no longer be held back. he must find the magic door that led through the vast mountain wall into kentucky--kentucky, with its green prairies where the buffalo and deer were as ten thousand thousand cattle feeding in the wilds, and where the balmy air vibrated with the music of innumerable wings. accordingly, in the autumn of , boone began his quest of the delectable country in the company of his friend, william hill, who had been with him in florida. autumn was the season of departure on all forest excursions, because by that time the summer crops had been gathered in and the day of the deer had come. by hunting, the explorers must feed themselves on their travels and with deerskins and furs they must on their return recompense those who had supplied their outfit. boone, the incessant but not always lucky wanderer, was in these years ever in debt for an outfit. boone and hill made their way over the blue ridge and the alleghanies and crossed the holston and clinch rivers. then they came upon the west fork of the big sandy and, believing that it would lead them to the ohio, they continued for at least a hundred miles to the westward. here they found a buffalo trace, one of the many beaten out by the herds in their passage to the salt springs, and they followed it into what is now floyd county in eastern kentucky. but this was not the prairie land described by findlay; it was rough and hilly and so overgrown with laurel as to be almost impenetrable. they therefore wended their way back towards the river, doubtless erected the usual hunter's camp of skins or blankets and branches, and spent the winter in hunting and trapping. spring found them returning to their homes on the yadkin with a fair winter's haul. such urgent desire as boone's, however, was not to be defeated. the next year brought him his great opportunity. john findlay came to the yadkin with a horse pack of needles and linen and peddler's wares to tempt the slim purses of the back country folk. the two erstwhile comrades in arms were overjoyed to encounter each other again, and findlay spent the winter of - in boone's cabin. while the snow lay deep outside and good-smelling logs crackled on the hearth, they planned an expedition into kentucky through the gap where virginia, tennessee, and kentucky touch one another, which findlay felt confident he could find. findlay had learned of this route from cross-mountain traders in , when he had descended the ohio to the site of louisville, whence he had gone with some shawanoes as a prisoner to their town of es-kip-pa-ki-thi-ki or blue licks.¹ ¹ hanna, _the wilderness trail,_ vol. ii, pp. - . on the first day of may, , boone and findlay, accompanied by john stewart and three other venturesome spirits, joseph holden, james mooney, and william cooley, took horse for the fabled land. passing through the cumberland gap, they built their first camp in kentucky on the red lick fork of station camp creek. this camp was their base of operations. from it, usually in couples, we infer, the explorers branched out to hunt and to take their observations of the country. here also they prepared the deer and buffalo meat for the winter, dried or smoked the geese they shot in superabundance, made the tallow and oil needed to keep their weapons in trim, their leather soft, and their kits waterproof. their first ill luck befell them in december when boone and stewart were captured by a band of shawanoes who were returning from their autumn hunt on green river. the indians compelled the two white men to show them the location of their camp, took possession of all it contained in skins and furs and also helped themselves to the horses. they left the explorers with just enough meat and ammunition to provide for their journey homeward, and told them to depart and not to intrude again on the red men's hunting grounds. having given this pointed warning, the shawanoes rode on northward towards their towns beyond the ohio. on foot, swiftly and craftily, boone and his brother-in-law trailed the band for two days. they came upon the camp in dead of night, recaptured their horses, and fled. but this was a game in which the indians themselves excelled, and at this date the shawanoes had an advantage over boone in their thorough knowledge of the territory; so that within forty-eight hours the white men were once more prisoners. after they had amused themselves by making boone caper about with a horse bell on his neck, while they jeered at him in broken english, steal horse, eh? the shawanoes turned north again, this time taking the two unfortunate hunters with them. boone and stewart escaped, one day on the march, by a plunge into the thick tall canebrake. though the indians did not attempt to follow them through the mazes of the cane, the situation of the two hunters, without weapons or food, was serious enough. when they found station camp deserted and realized that their four companions had given them up for dead or lost and had set off on the trail for home, even such intrepid souls as theirs may have felt fear. they raced on in pursuit and fortunately fell in not only with their party but with squire boone, daniel's brother, and alexander neely, who had brought in fresh supplies of rifles, ammunition, flour, and horses. after this lucky encounter the group separated. findlay was ill, and holden, mooney, and cooley had had their fill of kentucky; but squire, neely, stewart, and daniel were ready for more adventures. daniel, too, felt under the positive necessity of putting in another year at hunting and trapping in order to discharge his debts and provide for his family. near the mouth of red river the new party built their station camp. here, in idle hours, neely read aloud from a copy of _gulliver's travels_ to entertain the hunters while they dressed their deerskins or tinkered their weapons. in honor of the lorbrulgrud of the book, though with a pronunciation all their own, they christened the nearest creek; and as lulbegrud creek it is still known. before the end of the winter the two boones were alone in the wilderness. their brother-in-law, stewart, had disappeared; and neely, discouraged by this tragic event, had returned to the yadkin. in may, squire boone fared forth, taking with him the season's catch of beaver, otter, and deerskins to exchange in the north carolinian trading houses for more supplies; and daniel was left solitary in kentucky. now followed those lonely explorations which gave daniel boone his special fame above all kentucky's pioneers. he was by no means the first white man to enter kentucky; and when he did enter, it was as one of a party, under another man's guidance--if we except his former disappointing journey into the laurel thickets of floyd county. but these others, barring stewart, who fell there, turned back when they met with loss and hardship and measured the certain risks against the possible gains. boone, the man of imagination, turned to wild earth as to his kin. his genius lay in the sense of oneness he felt with his wilderness environment. an instinct he had which these other men, as courageous perhaps as he, did not possess. never in all the times when he was alone in the woods and had no other man's safety or counsel to consider, did he suffer ill fortune. the nearest approach to trouble that befell him when alone occurred one day during this summer when some indians emerged from their green shelter and found him, off guard for the moment, standing on a cliff gazing with rapture over the vast rolling stretches of kentucky. he was apparently cut off from escape, for the savages were on three sides, advancing without haste to take him, meanwhile greeting him with mock amity. over the cliff leaped boone and into the outspread arms of a friendly maple, whose top bloomed green about sixty feet below the cliff's rim, and left his would-be captors on the height above, grunting their amazement. during this summer boone journeyed through the valleys of the kentucky and the licking. he followed the buffalo traces to the two blue licks and saw the enormous herds licking up the salt earth, a darkly ruddy moving mass of beasts whose numbers could not be counted. for many miles he wound along the ohio, as far as the falls. he also found the big bone lick with its mammoth fossils. in july, , daniel returned to the red river camp and there met squire boone with another pack of supplies. the two brothers continued their hunting and exploration together for some months, chiefly in jessamine county, where two caves still bear boone's name. in that winter they even braved the green river ground, whence had come the hunting shawanoes who had taken daniel's first fruits a year before. in the same year ( ) there had come into kentucky from the yadkin another party of hunters, called, from their lengthy sojourn in the twilight zone, the long hunters. one of these, gasper mansker, afterwards related how the long hunters were startled one day by hearing sounds such as no buffalo or turkey ever made, and how mansker himself stole silently under cover of the trees towards the place whence the strange noises came, and descried daniel boone prone on his back with a deerskin under him, his famous tall black hat beside him and his mouth opened wide in joyous but apparently none too tuneful song. this incident gives a true character touch. it is not recorded of any of the men who turned back that they sang alone in the wilderness. in march, , the two boones started homeward, their horses bearing the rich harvest of furs and deerskins which was to clear daniel of debt and to insure the comfort of the family he had not seen for two years. but again evil fortune met them, this time in the very gates--for in the cumberland gap they were suddenly surrounded by indians who took everything from them, leaving them neither guns nor horses. chapter vi the fight for kentucky when boone returned home he found the back country of north carolina in the throes of the regulation movement. this movement, which had arisen first from the colonists' need to police their settlements, had more recently assumed a political character. the regulators were now in conflict with the authorities, because the frontier folk were suffering through excessive taxes, extortionate fees, dishonest land titles, and the corruption of the courts. in may, , the conflict lost its quasi-civil nature. the regulators resorted to arms and were defeated by the forces under governor tryon in the battle of the alamance. the regulation movement, which we shall follow in more detail further on, was a culmination of those causes of unrest which turned men westward. to escape from oppression and to acquire land beyond the bounds of tyranny became the earnest desire of independent spirits throughout the back country. but there was another and more potent reason why the country east of the mountains no longer contented boone. hunting and trapping were boone's chief means of livelihood. in those days, deerskins sold for a dollar a skin to the traders at the forks or in hillsborough; beaver at about two dollars and a half, and otter at from three to five dollars. a pack-horse could carry a load of one hundred dressed deerskins, and, as currency was scarce, a hundred dollars was wealth. game was fast disappearing from the yadkin. to boone above all men, then, kentucky beckoned. when he returned in the spring of from his explorations, it was with the resolve to take his family at once into the great game country and to persuade some of his friends to join in this hazard of new fortunes. the perils of such a venture, only conjectural to us at this distance, he knew well; but in him there was nothing that shrank from danger, though he did not court it after the rash manner of many of his compeers. neither reckless nor riotous, boone was never found among those who opposed violence to authority, even unjust authority; nor was he ever guilty of the savagery which characterized much of the retaliatory warfare of that period when frenzied white men bettered the red man's instruction. in him, courage was illumined with tenderness and made equable by self-control. yet, though he was no fiery zealot like the ulstermen who were to follow him along the path he had made and who loved and revered him perhaps because he was so different from themselves, boone nevertheless had his own religion. it was a simple faith best summed up perhaps by himself in his old age when he said that he had been only an instrument in the hand of god to open the wilderness to settlement. two years passed before boone could muster a company of colonists for the dangerous and delectable land. the dishonesty practiced by lord granville's agents in the matter of deeds had made it difficult for daniel and his friends to dispose of their acreage. when at last in the spring of the wanderer was prepared to depart, he was again delayed; this time by the arrival of a little son to whom was given the name of john. by september, however, even this latest addition to the party was ready for travel; and that month saw the boones with a small caravan of families journeying towards powell's valley, whence the warrior's path took its way through cumberland gap. at this point on the march they were to be joined by william russell, a famous pioneer, from the clinch river, with his family and a few neighbors, and by some of rebecca boone's kinsmen, the bryans, from the lower yadkin, with a company of forty men. of rebecca boone history tells us too little--only that she was born a bryan, was of low stature and dark eyed, that she bore her husband ten children, and lived beside him to old age. except on his hunts and explorations, she went with him from one cabined home to another, always deeper into the wilds. there are no portraits of her. we can see her only as a shadowy figure moving along the wilderness trails beside the man who accepted his destiny of god to be a way-shower for those of lesser faith. he tires not forever on his leagues of march because her feet are set to his footprints, and the gleam of her bare hand slants across his shoulder. boone halted his company on walden mountain over powell's valley to await the bryan contingent and dispatched two young men under the leadership of his son james, then in his seventeenth year, to notify russell of the party's arrival. as the boys were returning with russell's son, also a stripling, two of his slaves, and some white laborers, they missed the path and went into camp for the night. when dawn broke, disclosing the sleepers, a small war band of shawanoes, who had been spying on boone and his party, fell upon them and slaughtered them. only one of russell's slaves and a laborer escaped. the tragedy seems augmented by the fact that the point where the boys lost the trail and made their night quarters was hardly three miles from the main camp--to which an hour later came the two survivors with their gloomy tidings. terror now took hold of the little band of emigrants, and there were loud outcries for turning back. the bryans, who had arrived meanwhile, also advised retreat, saying that the signs about the scene of blood indicated an indian uprising. daniel carried the scalped body of his son, the boy-comrade of his happy hunts, to the camp and buried it there at the beginning of the trail. his voice alone urged that they go on. fortunately indeed, as events turned out, boone was overruled, and the expedition was abandoned. the bryan party and the others from north carolina went back to the yadkin. boone himself with his family accompanied russell to the clinch settlement, where he erected a temporary cabin on the farm of one of the settlers, and then set out alone on the chase to earn provision for his wife and children through the winter. those who prophesied an indian war were not mistaken. when the snowy hunting season had passed and the powwowing days were come, the indian war drum rattled in the medicine house from the borders of pennsylvania to those of carolina. the causes of the strife for which the red men were making ready must be briefly noted to help us form a just opinion of the deeds that followed. early writers have usually represented the frontiersmen as saints in buckskin and the indians as fiends without the shadow of a claim on either the land or humanity. many later writers have merely reversed the shield. the truth is that the indians and the borderers reacted upon each other to the hurt of both. paradoxically, they grew like enough to hate one another with a savage hatred--and both wanted the land. land! land! was the slogan of all sorts and conditions of men. tidewater officials held solemn powwows with the chiefs, gave wampum strings, and forthwith incorporated.¹ chiefs blessed their white brothers who had forever brightened the chain of friendship, departed home, and proceeded to brighten the blades of their tomahawks and to await, not long, the opportunity to use them on casual hunters who carried in their kits the compass, the land-stealer. usually the surveying hunter was a borderer; and on him the tomahawk descended with an accelerated gusto. private citizens also formed land companies and sent out surveyors, regardless of treaties. bold frontiersmen went into no man's land and staked out their claims. in the very year when disaster turned the boone party back, james harrod had entered kentucky from pennsylvania and had marked the site of a settlement. ¹ the activities of the great land companies are described in alvord's exhaustive work, _the mississippi valley in british politics._ ten years earlier ( ), the king had issued the famous and much misunderstood proclamation restricting his loving subjects from the lands west of the mountains. the colonists interpreted this document as a tyrannous curtailment of their liberties for the benefit of the fur trade. we know now that the portion of this proclamation relating to western settlement was a wise provision designed to protect the settlers on the frontier by allaying the suspicions of the indians, who viewed with apprehension the triumphal occupation of that vast territory from canada to the gulf of mexico by the colonizing english. by seeking to compel all land purchase to be made through the crown, it was designed likewise to protect the indians from whisky purchase, and to make impossible the transfer of their lands except with consent of the indian council, or full quota of headmen, whose joint action alone conveyed what the tribes considered to be legal title. sales made according to this form, sir william johnson declared to the lords of trade, he had never known to be repudiated by the indians. this paragraph of the proclamation was in substance an embodiment of johnson's suggestions to the lords of trade. its purpose was square dealing and pacification; and shrewd men such as washington recognized that it was not intended as a final check to expansion. a temporary expedient to quiet the minds of the indians, washington called it, and then himself went out along the great kanawha and into kentucky, surveying land. it will be asked what had become of the ohio company of virginia and that fort at the forks of the ohio, once a bone of contention between france and england. fort pitt, as it was now called, had fallen foul of another dispute, this time between virginia and pennsylvania. virginia claimed that the far western corner of her boundary ascended just far enough north to take in fort pitt. pennsylvania asserted that it did nothing of the sort. the ohio company had meanwhile been merged into the walpole company. george croghan, at fort pitt, was the company's agent and as such was accused by pennsylvania of favoring from ulterior motives the claims of virginia. hotheads in both colonies asseverated that the indians were secretly being stirred up in connection with the boundary disputes. if it does not very clearly appear how an indian rising would have settled the ownership of fort pitt, it is evident enough where the interests of virginia and pennsylvania clashed. virginia wanted land for settlement and speculation; pennsylvania wanted the indians left in possession for the benefit of the fur trade. so far from stirring up the indians, as his enemies declared, croghan was as usual giving away all his substance to keep them quiet.¹ indeed, during this summer of , eleven hundred indians were encamped about fort pitt visiting him. ¹ the suspicion that croghan and lord dunmore, the governor of virginia, were instigating the war appears to have arisen out of the conduct of dr. john connolly, dunmore's agent and croghan's nephew. croghan had induced the shawanoes to bring under escort to fort pitt certain english traders resident in the indian towns. the escort was fired on by militiamen under command of connolly, who also issued a proclamation declaring a state of war to exist. connolly, however, probably acted on his own initiative. he was interested in land on his own behalf and was by no means the only man at that time who was ready to commit outrages on indians in order to obtain it. as croghan lamented, there was too great a spirit in the frontier people for killing indians. two hundred thousand acres in the west--kentucky and west virginia--had been promised to the colonial officers and soldiers who fought in the seven years' war. but after making the proclamation the british government had delayed issuing the patents. washington interested himself in trying to secure them; and lord dunmore, who also had caught the land-fever,² prodded the british authorities but won only rebuke for his inconvenient activities. insistent, however, dunmore sent out parties of surveyors to fix the bounds of the soldiers' claims. james harrod, captain thomas bullitt, hancock taylor, and three mcafee brothers entered kentucky, by the ohio, under dunmore's orders. john floyd went in by the kanawha as washington's agent. a bird's-eye view of that period would disclose to us very few indeed of his majesty's loving subjects who were paying any attention to his proclamation. early in , harrod began the building of cabins and a fort, and planted corn on the site of harrodsburg. thus to him and not to boone fell the honor of founding the first permanent white settlement in kentucky. ² see alvord, _the mississippi valley in british politics,_ vol. ii, pp. - . when summer came, its thick verdure proffering ambuscade, the air hung tense along the border. traders had sent in word that shawanoes, delawares, mingos, wyandots, and cherokees were refusing all other exchange than rifles, ammunition, knives, and hatchets. white men were shot down in their fields from ambush. dead indians lay among their own young corn, their scalp locks taken. there were men of both races who wanted war and meant to have it--and with it the land. lord dunmore, the governor, resolved that, if war were inevitable, it should be fought out in the indian country. with this intent, he wrote to colonel andrew lewis of botetourt county, commander of the southwest militia, instructing him to raise a respectable body of troops and join me either at the mouth of the great kanawha or wheeling, or such other part of the ohio as may be most convenient for you to meet me. the governor himself with a force of twelve hundred proceeded to fort pitt, where croghan, as we have seen, was extending his hospitality to eleven hundred warriors from the disaffected tribes. on receipt of the governor's letter, andrew lewis sent out expresses to his brother colonel charles lewis, county lieutenant of augusta, and to colonel william preston, county lieutenant of fincastle, to raise men and bring them with all speed to the rendezvous at camp union (lewisburg) on the big levels of the greenbrier (west virginia). andrew lewis summoned these officers to an expedition for reducing our inveterate enemies to reason. preston called for volunteers to take advantage of the opportunity we have so long wished for… this useless people may now at last be oblidged to abandon their country. these men were among not only the bravest but the best of their time; but this was their view of the indian and his alleged rights. to eliminate this useless people, inveterate enemies of the white race, was, as they saw it, a political necessity and a religious duty. and we today who profit by their deeds dare not condemn them. fervor less solemn was aroused in other quarters by dunmore's call to arms. at wheeling, some eighty or ninety young adventurers, in charge of captain michael cresap of maryland, were waiting for the freshets to sweep them down the ohio into kentucky. when the news reached them, they greeted it with the wild monotone chant and the ceremonies preliminary to indian warfare. they planted the war pole, stripped and painted themselves, and starting the war dance called on cresap to be their white leader. the captain, however, declined; but in that wild circling line was one who was a white leader indeed. he was a sandy-haired boy of twenty--one of the bold race of english virginians, rugged and of fiery countenance, with blue eyes intense of glance and deep set under a high brow that, while modeled for power, seemed threatened in its promise by the too sensitive chiseling of his lips. with every nerve straining for the fray, with thudding of feet and crooning of the blood song, he wheeled with those other mad spirits round the war pole till the set of sun closed the rites. that evening two scalps were brought into camp, so a letter of his reads. does the bold savage color of this picture affright us? would we veil it? then we should lose something of the true lineaments of george rogers clark, who, within four short years, was to lead a tiny army of tattered and starving backwoodsmen, ashamed to quail where he never flinched, through barrens and icy floods to the conquest of illinois for the united states. though cresap had rejected the rôle of white leader, he did not escape the touch of infamy. cresap's war was the name the indians gave to the bloody encounters between small parties of whites and indians, which followed on that war dance and scalping, during the summer months. one of these encounters must be detailed here because history has assigned it as the immediate cause of dunmore's war. greathouse, sapperton, and king, three traders who had a post on yellow creek, a tributary of the ohio fifty miles below pittsburgh, invited several indians from across the stream to come and drink with them and their friends. among the indians were two or three men of importance in the mingo tribe. there were also some women, one of whom was the indian wife of colonel john gibson, an educated man who had distinguished himself as a soldier with forbes in . that the indians came in amity and apprehended no treachery was proved by the presence of the women. gibson's wife carried her half-caste baby in her shawl. the disreputable traders plied their guests with drink to the point of intoxication and then murdered them. king shot the first man and, when he fell, cut his throat, saying that he had served many a deer in that fashion. gibson's indian wife fled and was shot down in the clearing. a man followed to dispatch her and her baby. she held the child up to him pleading, with her last breath, that he would spare it because it was not indian but one of yours. the mother dead, the child was later sent to gibson. twelve indians in all were killed. meanwhile croghan had persuaded the iroquois to peace. with the help of david zeisberger, the moravian missionary, and white eyes, a delaware chief, he and dunmore had won over the delaware warriors. in the cherokee councils, oconostota demanded that the treaty of peace signed in be kept. the shawanoes, however, led by cornstalk, were implacable; and they had as allies the ottawas and mingos, who had entered the council with them. a famous chief of the day and one of great influence over the indians, and also among the white officials who dealt with indian affairs, was tach-nech-dor-us, or branching oak of the forest, a mingo who had taken the name of logan out of compliment to james logan of pennsylvania. chief logan had recently met with so much reproach from his red brothers for his loyalty to the whites that he had departed from the mingo town at yellow creek. but, learning that his tribe had determined to assist the shawanoes and had already taken some white scalps, he repaired to the place where the mingos were holding their war council to exert his powers for peace. there, in presence of the warriors, after swaying them from their purpose by those oratorical gifts which gave him his influence and his renown, he took the war hatchet that had already killed, and buried it in proof that vengeance was appeased. upon this scene there entered a mingo from yellow creek with the news of the murders committed there by the three traders. the indian whose throat had been slit as king had served deer was logan's brother. another man slain was his kinsman. the woman with the baby was his sister. logan tore up from the earth the bloody tomahawk and, raising it above his head, swore that he would not rest till he had taken ten white lives to pay for each one of his kin. again the mingo warriors declared for war and this time were not dissuaded. but logan did not join this red army. he went out alone to wreak his vengeance, slaying and scalping. meanwhile dunmore prepared to push the war with the utmost vigor. his first concern was to recall the surveying parties from kentucky, and for so hazardous an errand he needed the services of a man whose endurance, speed, and woodcraft were equal to those of any indian scout afoot. through colonel preston, his orders were conveyed to daniel boone, for boone's fame had now spread from the border to the tidewater regions. it was stated that boone would lose no time, and if they are alive, it is indisputable but boone must find them. so boone set out in company with michael stoner, another expert woodsman. his general instructions were to go down the kentucky river to preston's salt lick and across country to the falls of the ohio, and thence home by gaspar's lick on the cumberland river. indian war parties were moving under cover across the dark and bloody ground to surround the various groups of surveyors still at large and to exterminate them. boone made his journey successfully. he found john floyd, who was surveying for washington; he sped up to where harrod and his band were building cabins and sent them out, just in time as it happened; he reached all the outposts of thomas bullitt's party, only one of whom fell a victim to the foe¹; and, undetected by the indians, he brought himself and stoner home in safety, after covering eight hundred miles in sixty-one days. ¹ hancock taylor, who delayed in getting out of the country and was cut off. harrod and his homesteaders immediately enlisted in the army. how eager boone was to go with the forces under lewis is seen in the official correspondence relative to dunmore's war. floyd wanted boone's help in raising a company: captain bledsoe says that boone has more [influence] than any man now disengaged; and you know what boone has done for me… for which reason i love the man. even the border, it would seem, had its species of pacifists who were willing to let others take risks for them, for men hung back from recruiting, and desertions were the order of the day. major arthur campbell hit upon a solution of the difficulties in west fincastle. he was convinced that boone could raise a company and hold the men loyal. and boone did. for some reason, however, daniel's desire to march with the army was denied. perhaps it was because just such a man as he--and, indeed, there was no other--was needed to guard the settlement. presently he was put in command of moore's fort in clinch valley, and his diligence received official approbation. a little later the inhabitants of the valley sent out a petition to have boone made a captain and given supreme command of the lower forts. the settlers demanded boone's promotion for their own security. the land it is good, it is just to our mind, each will have his part if his lordship be kind, the ohio once ours, we'll live at our ease, with a bottle and glass to drink when we please. so sang the army poet, thus giving voice, as bards should ever do, to the theme nearest the hearts of his hearers--in this case, land! presumably his ditty was composed on the eve of the march from lewisburg, for it is found in a soldier's diary. on the evening of october , , andrew lewis with his force of eleven hundred frontiersmen was encamped on point pleasant at the junction of the great kanawha with the ohio. dunmore in the meantime had led his forces into ohio and had erected fort gower at the mouth of the hockhocking river, where he waited for word from andrew lewis.¹ ¹ it has been customary to ascribe to lord dunmore motives of treachery in failing to make connections with lewis; but no real evidence has been advanced to support any of the charges made against him by local historians. the charges were, as theodore roosevelt says, an afterthought. dunmore was a king's man in the revolution; and yet in march, , the convention of the colony of virginia, assembled in opposition to the royal party, resolved: the most cordial thanks of the people of this colony are a tribute justly due to our worthy governor, lord dunmore, for his truly noble, wise, and spirited conduct which at once evinces his excellency's attention to the true interests of this colony, and a zeal in the executive department which no dangers can divert, or difficulties hinder, from achieving the most important services to the people who have the happiness to live under his administration. (see _american archives,_ fourth series, vol. ii, p. .) similar resolutions were passed by his officers on the march home from ohio; at the same time, the officers passed resolutions in sympathy with the american cause. yet it was andrew lewis who later drove dunmore from virginia. well might dunmore exclaim, that it should ever come to this! the movements of the two armies were being observed by scouts from the force of red warriors gathered in ohio under the great leader of the shawanoes. cornstalk purposed to isolate the two armies of his enemy and to crush them in turn before they could come together. his first move was to launch an attack on lewis at point pleasant. in the dark of night, cornstalk's indians crossed the ohio on rafts, intending to surprise the white man's camp at dawn. they would have succeeded but for the chance that three or four of the frontiersmen, who had risen before daybreak to hunt, came upon the indians creeping towards the camp. shots were exchanged. an indian and a white man dropped. the firing roused the camp. three hundred men in two lines under charles lewis and william fleming sallied forth expecting to engage the vanguard of the enemy but encountered almost the whole force of from eight hundred to a thousand indians before the rest of the army could come into action. both officers were wounded, charles lewis fatally. the battle, which continued from dawn until an hour before sunset, was the bloodiest in virginia's long series of indian wars. the frontiersmen fought as such men ever fought--with the daring, bravery, swiftness of attack, and skill in taking cover which were the tactics of their day, even as at a later time many of these same men fought at king's mountain and in illinois the battles that did so much to turn the tide in the revolution.² ² with andrew lewis on this day were isaac shelby and william campbell, the victorious leaders at king's mountain, james robertson, the father of tennessee, valentine sevier, daniel morgan, hero of the cowpens, major arthur campbell, benjamin logan, anthony bledsoe, and simon kenton. with dunmore's force were adam stephen, who distinguished himself at the brandywine, george rogers clark, john stuart, already noted through the cherokee wars, and john montgomery, later one of clark's four captains in illinois. the two last mentioned were highlanders. clark's illinois force was largely recruited from the troops who fought at point pleasant. colonel preston wrote to patrick henry that the enemy behaved with inconceivable bravery, the head men walking about in the time of action exhorting their men to lie close, shoot well, be strong, and fight. the shawanoes ran up to the muzzles of the english guns, disputing every foot of ground. both sides knew well what they were fighting for--the rich land held in a semicircle by the beautiful river. shortly before sundown the indians, mistaking a flank movement by shelby's contingent for the arrival of reinforcements, retreated across the ohio. many of their most noted warriors had fallen and among them the shawano chief, puck-e-shin-wa, father of a famous son, tecumseh.¹ yet they were unwilling to accept defeat. when they heard that dunmore was now marching overland to cut them off from their towns, their fury blazed anew. shall we first kill all our women and children and then fight till we ourselves are slain? cornstalk, in irony, demanded of them; no? then i will go and make peace. ¹ thwaites, _documentary history of dunmore's war._ by the treaty compacted between the chiefs and lord dunmore, the indians gave up all claim to the lands south of the ohio, even for hunting, and agreed to allow boats to pass unmolested. in this treaty the mingos refused to join, and a detachment of dunmore's troops made a punitive expedition to their towns. some discord arose between dunmore and lewis's frontier forces because, since the shawanoes had made peace, the governor would not allow the frontiersmen to destroy the shawano towns. of all the chiefs, logan alone still held aloof. major gibson undertook to fetch him, but logan refused to come to the treaty grounds. he sent by gibson the short speech which has lived as an example of the best indian oratory: i appeal to any white man to say if ever he entered logan's cabin hungry and he gave him not meat: if ever he came cold and naked and he clothed him not. during the course of the last long and bloody war, logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. such was my love for the whites that my countrymen pointed as they passed and said, logan is the friend of the white men. i had even thought to have lived with you but for the injuries of one man. colonel cresap, the last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of logan, not even sparing my women and children. there remains not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. this called on me for revenge. i have sought it; i have killed many; i have fully glutted my vengeance: for my country i rejoice at the beams of peace. but do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear. logan never felt fear. he will not turn on his heel to save his life. who is there to mourn for logan? not one.¹ ¹ some writers have questioned the authenticity of logan's speech, inclining to think that gibson himself composed it, partly because of the biblical suggestion in the first few lines. that gibson gave biblical phraseology to these lines is apparent, though, as adair points out there are many examples of similitude in indian and biblical expression. but the thought is indian and relates to the first article of the indian's creed, namely, to share his food with the needy. there remains not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature is a truly indian lament. evidently the final four lines of the speech are the most literally translated, for they have the form and the primitive rhythmic beat which a student of indian poetry quickly recognizes. the authenticity of the speech, as well as the innocence of cresap, whom logan mistakenly accused, was vouched for by george rogers clark in a letter to dr. samuel brown dated june , . see jefferson papers, series , quoted by english, _conquest of the country northwest of the river ohio,_ vol. ii. p. . by rivers and trails, in large and small companies, started home the army that had won the land. the west fincastle troops, from the lower settlements of the clinch and holston valleys, were to return by the kentucky river, while those from the upper valley would take the shorter way up sandy creek. to keep them in provisions during the journey it was ordered that hunters be sent out along these routes to kill and barbecue meat and place it on scaffolds at appropriate spots. the way home by the kentucky was a long road for weary and wounded men with hunger gnawing under their belts. we know who swung out along the trail to provide for that little band, dressed in deerskins colored black, and his hair plaited and bobbed up. it was daniel boone--now, by popular demand, captain boone--just discharged from service, since the valley forts needed him no longer. once more only a hunter, he went his way over walden mountain--past his son's grave marking the place where he had been turned back--to serve the men who had opened the gates. chapter vii the dark and bloody ground with the coming of spring daniel boone's desire, so long cherished and deferred, to make a way for his neighbors through the wilderness was to be fulfilled at last. but ere his ax could slash the thickets from the homeseekers' path, more than two hundred settlers had entered kentucky by the northern waterways. eighty or more of these settled at harrodsburg, where harrod was laying out his town on a generous plan, with in-lots of half an acre and out-lots of larger size. among those associated with harrod was george rogers clark, who had surveyed claims for himself during the year before the war. while over two hundred colonists were picking out home sites wherever their pleasure or prudence dictated, a gigantic land promotion scheme--involving the very tracts where they were sowing their first corn--was being set afoot in north carolina by a body of men who figure in the early history of kentucky as the transylvania company. the leader of this organization was judge richard henderson.¹ judge henderson dreamed a big dream. his castle in the air had imperial proportions. he resolved, in short, to purchase from the cherokee indians the larger part of kentucky and to establish there a colony after the manner and the economic form of the english lords proprietors, whose day in america was so nearly done. though in the light of history the plan loses none of its dramatic features, it shows the practical defects that must surely have prevented its realization. like many another cæsar hungering for empire and staking all to win it, the prospective lord of kentucky, as we shall see, had left the human equation out of his calculations. ¹ richard henderson ( - ) was the son of the high sheriff of granville county. at first an assistant to his father, he studied law and soon achieved a reputation by the brilliance of his mind and the magnetism of his personality. as presiding judge at hillsborough he had come into conflict with the violent element among the regulators, who had driven him from the court and burned his house and barns. for some time prior to his elevation to the bench, he had been engaged in land speculations. one of boone's biographers suggests that boone may have been secretly acting as henderson's agent during his first lonely explorations of kentucky. however this may be, it does not appear that boone and his yadkin neighbors were acting with henderson when in september, , they made their first attempt to enter kentucky as settlers. richard henderson had known daniel boone on the yadkin; and it was boone's detailed reports of the marvelous richness and beauty of kentucky which had inspired him to formulate his gigantic scheme and had enabled him also to win to his support several men of prominence in the back country. to sound the cherokees regarding the purchase and to arrange, if possible, for a conference, henderson dispatched boone to the indian towns in the early days of . since we have just learned that dunmore's war compelled the shawanoes and their allies to relinquish their right to kentucky, that, both before and after that event, government surveyors were in the territory surveying for the soldiers' claims, and that private individuals had already laid out town sites and staked holdings, it may be asked what right of ownership the cherokees possessed in kentucky, that henderson desired to purchase it of them. the indian title to kentucky seems to have been hardly less vague to the red men than it was to the whites. several of the nations had laid claim to the territory. as late as , it will be remembered, the shawanoes had occupied a town at blue licks, for john findlay had been taken there by some of them. but, before findlay guided boone through the gap in , the shawanoes had been driven out by the iroquois, who claimed suzerainty over them as well as over the cherokees. in , the iroquois had ceded kentucky to the british crown by the treaty of fort stanwix; whereupon the cherokees had protested so vociferously that the crown's indian agent, to quiet them, had signed a collateral agreement with them. though claimed by many, kentucky was by common consent not inhabited by any of the tribes. it was the great middle ground where the indians hunted. it was the warriors' path over which they rode from north and south to slaughter and where many of their fiercest encounters took place. however shadowy the title which henderson purposed to buy, there was one all-sufficing reason why he must come to terms with the cherokees: their northernmost towns in tennessee lay only fifty or sixty miles below cumberland gap and hence commanded the route over which he must lead colonists into his empire beyond the hills. the conference took place early in march, , at the sycamore shoals of the watauga river. twelve hundred indians, led by their town chiefs--among whom were the old warrior and the old statesman of their nation, oconostota and attakullakulla--came to the treaty grounds and were received by henderson and his associates and several hundred white men who were eager for a chance to settle on new lands. though boone was now on his way into kentucky for the transylvania company, other border leaders of renown or with their fame still to win were present, and among them james robertson, of serious mien, and that blond gay knight in buckskin, john sevier. it is a dramatic picture we evolve for ourselves from the meager narratives of this event--a mass of painted indians moving through the sycamores by the bright water, to come presently into a tense, immobile semicircle before the large group of armed frontiersmen seated or standing about richard henderson, the man with the imperial dream, the ready speaker whose flashing eyes and glowing oratory won the hearts of all who came under their sway. what though the cherokee title be a flimsy one at best and the price offered for it a bagatelle! the spirit of forward march! is there in that great canvas framed by forest and sky. the somber note that tones its lustrous color, as by a sweep of the brush, is the figure of the chickamaugan chief, dragging canoe, warrior and seer and hater of white men, who urges his tribesmen against the sale and, when they will not hearken, springs from their midst into the clear space before henderson and his band of pioneers and, pointing with uplifted arm, warns them that a dark cloud hangs over the land the white man covets which to the red man has long been a bloody ground.¹ ¹ this utterance of dragging canoe's is generally supposed to be the origin of the descriptive phrase applied to kentucky--the dark and bloody ground. see roosevelt, _the winning of the west,_ vol. i, p. . the purchase, finally consummated, included the country lying between the kentucky and cumberland rivers--almost all the present state of kentucky, with the adjacent land watered by the cumberland river and its tributaries, except certain lands previously leased by the indians to the watauga colony. the tract comprised about twenty million acres and extended into tennessee. daniel boone's work was to cut out a road for the wagons of the transylvania company's colonists to pass over. this was to be done by slashing away the briers and underbrush hedging the narrow warriors' path that made a direct northward line from cumberland gap to the ohio bank, opposite the mouth of the scioto river. just prior to the conference boone and thirty guns had set forth from the holston to prepare the road and to build a fort on whatever site he should select. by april, henderson and his first group of tenants were on the trail. in powell's valley they came up with a party of virginians kentucky bound, led by benjamin logan; and the two bands joined together for the march. they had not gone far when they heard disquieting news. after leaving martin's station, at the gates of his new domain, henderson received a letter from boone telling of an attack by indians, in which two of his men had been killed, but we stood on the ground and guarded our baggage till the day and lost nothing.¹ these tidings, indicating that despite treaties and sales, the savages were again on the warpath, might well alarm henderson's colonists. while they halted, some indecisive, others frankly for retreat, there appeared a company of men making all haste out of kentucky because of indian unrest. six of these henderson persuaded to turn again and go in with him; but this addition hardly offset the loss of those members of his party who thought it too perilous to proceed. henderson's own courage did not falter. he had staked his all on this stupendous venture and for him it was forward to wealth and glory or retreat into poverty and eclipse. boone, in the heart of the danger, was making the same stand. if we give way to them [the indians] now, he wrote, it will ever be the case. ¹ bogart, _daniel boone and the hunters of kentucky, p. ._ signs of discord other than indian opposition met henderson as he resolutely pushed on. his conversations with some of the fugitives from kentucky disclosed the first indications of the storm that was to blow away the empire he was going in to found. he told them that the claims they had staked in kentucky would not hold good with the transylvania company. whereupon james mcafee, who was leading a group of returning men, stated his opinion that the transylvania company's claim would not hold good with virginia. after the parley, three of mcafee's brothers turned back and went with henderson's party, but whether with intent to join his colony or to make good their own claims is not apparent. benjamin logan continued amicably with henderson on the march but did not recognize him as lord proprietor of kentucky. he left the transylvania caravan shortly after entering the territory, branched off in the direction of harrodsburg, and founded st. asaph's station, in the present lincoln county, independently of henderson though the site lay within henderson's purchase. notwithstanding delays and apprehensions, henderson and his colonists finally reached boone's fort, which daniel and his thirty guns--lacking two since the indian encounter--had erected at the mouth of otter creek. an attractive buoyancy of temperament is revealed in henderson's description in his journal of a giant elm with tall straight trunk and even foliage that shaded a space of one hundred feet. instantly he chose this "divine elm" as the council chamber of transylvania. under its leafage he read the constitution of the new colony. it would be too great a stretch of fancy to call it a democratic document, for it was not that, except in deft phrases. power was certainly declared to be vested in the people; but the substance of power remained in the hands of the proprietors. terms for land grants were generous enough in the beginning, although henderson made the fatal mistake of demanding quitrents--one of the causes of dissatisfaction which had led to the regulators' rising in north carolina. in september he augmented this error by more than doubling the price of land, adding a fee of eight shillings for surveying, and reserving to the proprietors one-half of all gold, silver, lead, and sulphur found on the land. no land near sulphur springs or showing evidences of metals was to be granted to settlers. moreover, at the company's store the prices charged for lead were said to be too high--lead being necessary for hunting, and hunting being the only means of procuring food--while the wages of labor, as fixed by the company, were too low. these terms bore too heavily on poor men who were risking their lives in the colony. hence newcomers passed by boonesborough, as the transylvania settlement was presently called, and went elsewhere. they settled on henderson's land but refused his terms. they joined in their sympathies with james harrod, who, having established harrodsburg in the previous year at the invitation of virginia, was not in the humor to acknowledge henderson's claim or to pay him tribute. all were willing to combine with the transylvania company for defense, and to enforce law they would unite in bonds of brotherhood in kentucky, even as they had been one with each other on the earlier frontier now left behind them. but they would call no man master; they had done with feudalism. that henderson should not have foreseen this, especially after the upheaval in north carolina, proves him, in spite of all his brilliant gifts, to have been a man out of touch with the spirit of the time. the war of the revolution broke forth and the indians descended upon the kentucky stations. defense was the one problem in all minds, and defense required powder and lead in plenty. the transylvania company was not able to provide the means of defense against the hordes of savages whom henry hamilton, the british governor at detroit, was sending to make war on the frontiers. practical men like harrod and george rogers clark--who, if not a practical man in his own interests, was a most practical soldier--saw that unification of interests within the territory with the backing of either virginia or congress was necessary. clark personally would have preferred to see the settlers combine as a freemen's state. it was plain that they would not combine and stake their lives as a unit to hold kentucky for the benefit of the transylvania company, whose authority some of the most prominent men in the territory had refused to recognize. the proprietary of transylvania could continue to exist only to the danger of every life in kentucky. while the proprietors sent a delegate to the continental congress to win official recognition for transylvania, eighty-four men at harrodsburg drew up a petition addressed to virginia stating their doubts of the legality of henderson's title and requesting virginia to assert her authority according to the stipulations of her charter. that defense was the primary and essential motive of the harrodsburg remonstrance seems plain, for when george rogers clark set off on foot with one companion to lay the document before the virginian authorities, he also went to plead for a load of powder. in his account of that hazardous journey, as a matter of fact, he makes scant reference to transylvania, except to say that the greed of the proprietors would soon bring the colony to its end, but shows that his mind was seldom off the powder. it is a detail of history that the continental congress refused to seat the delegate from transylvania. henderson himself went to virginia to make the fight for his land before the assembly.¹ ¹ in virginia disallowed henderson's title but granted him two hundred thousand acres between the green and kentucky rivers for his trouble and expense in opening up the country. the magnetic center of boonesborough's life was the lovable and unassuming daniel boone. soon after the building of the fort daniel had brought in his wife and family. he used often to state with a mild pride that his wife and daughters were the first white women to stand on the banks of the kentucky river. that pride had not been unmixed with anxiety; his daughter jemima and two daughters of his friend, richard galloway, while boating on the river had been captured by shawanoes and carried off. boone, accompanied by the girls' lovers and by john floyd (eager to repay his debt of life-saving to boone) had pursued them, tracing the way the captors had taken by broken twigs and scraps of dress goods which one of the girls had contrived to leave in their path, had come on the indians unawares, killed them, and recovered the three girls unhurt. in the summer of , virginia took official note of captain boone of boonesborough, for she sent him a small supply of powder. the men of the little colony, which had begun so pretentiously with its constitution and assembly, were now obliged to put all other plans aside and to concentrate on the question of food and defense. there was a dangerous scarcity of powder and lead. the nearest points at which these necessaries could be procured were the watauga and holston river settlements, which were themselves none too well stocked. harrod and logan, some time in , reached the watauga fort with three or four pack-horses and filled their packs from sevier's store; but, as they neared home, they were detected by red scouts and logan was badly wounded before he and harrod were able to drive their precious load safely through the gates at harrodsburg. in the autumn of , clark, with a boatload of ammunition, reached maysville on the ohio, having successfully run the gauntlet between banks in possession of the foe. he had wrested the powder and lead from the virginia council by threats to the effect that if virginia was so willing to lose kentucky--for of course a country not worth defending is not worth claiming--he and his fellows were quite ready to take kentucky for themselves and to hold it with their swords against all comers, virginia included. by even such cogent reasoning had he convinced the council--which had tried to hedge by expressing doubts that virginia would receive the kentucky settlers as citizens of the state--that it would be cheaper to give him the powder. because so many settlers had fled and the others had come closer together for their common good, harrodsburg and boonesborough were now the only occupied posts in kentucky. other settlements, once thriving, were abandoned; and, under the terror, the wild reclaimed them. in april, , boonesborough underwent its first siege. boone, leading a sortie, was shot and he fell with a shattered ankle. an indian rushed upon him and was swinging the tomahawk over him when simon kenton, giant frontiersman and hero of many daring deeds, rushed forward, shot the indian, threw boone across his back, and fought his way desperately to safety. it was some months ere boone was his nimble self again. but though he could not stand up to the guns, he directed all operations from his cabin. the next year boone was ready for new ventures growing from the settlers' needs. salt was necessary to preserve meat through the summer. accordingly boone and twenty-seven men went up to the blue licks in february, , to replenish their supply by the simple process of boiling the salt water of the licks till the saline particles adhered to the kettles. boone was returning alone, with a pack-horse load of salt and game, when a blinding snowstorm overtook him and hid from view four stealthy shawanoes on his trail. he was seized and carried to a camp of warriors led by the french canadian, dequindre, and james and george girty, two white renegades. among the indians were some of those who had captured him on his first exploring trip through kentucky and whom he had twice given the slip. their hilarity was unbounded. boone quickly learned that this band was on its way to surprise boonesborough. it was a season when indian attacks were not expected; nearly threescore of the men were at the salt spring and, to make matters worse, the walls of the new fort where the settlers and their families had gathered were as yet completed on only three sides. boonesborough was, in short, well-nigh defenseless. to turn the indians from their purpose, boone conceived the desperate scheme of offering to lead them to the salt makers' camp with the assurance that he and his companions were willing to join the tribe. he understood indians well enough to feel sure that once possessed of nearly thirty prisoners, the shawanoes would not trouble further about boonesborough but would hasten to make a triumphal entry into their own towns. that some, perhaps all, of the white men would assuredly die, he knew well; but it was the only way to save the women and children in boonesborough. in spite of dequindre and the girtys, who were leading a military expedition for the reduction of a fort, the shawanoes fell in with the suggestion. when they had taken their prisoners, the more bloodthirsty warriors in the band wanted to tomahawk them all on the spot. by his diplomatic discourse, however, boone dissuaded them, for the time being at least, and the whole company set off for the towns on the little miami. the weather became severe, very little game crossed their route, and for days they subsisted on slippery elm bark. the lovers of blood did not hold back their scalping knives and several of the prisoners perished; but black fish, the chief then of most power in shawanoe councils, adopted boone as his son, and gave him the name of sheltowee, or big turtle. though watched zealously to prevent escape, big turtle was treated with every consideration and honor; and, as we would say today, he played the game. he entered into the indian life with apparent zest, took part in hunts and sports and the races and shooting matches in which the indians delighted, but he was always careful not to outrun or outshoot his opponents. black fish took him to detroit when some of the tribe escorted the remainder of the prisoners to the british post. there he met governor hamilton and, in the hope of obtaining his liberty, he led that dignitary to believe that he and the other people of boonesborough were eager to move to detroit and take refuge under the british flag.¹ it is said that boone always carried in a wallet round his neck the king's commission given him in dunmore's war; and that he exhibited it to hamilton to bear out his story. hamilton sought to ransom him from the indians, but black fish would not surrender his new son. the governor gave boone a pony, with saddle and trappings, and other presents, including trinkets to be used in procuring his needs and possibly his liberty from the shawanoes. ¹ so well did boone play his part that he aroused suspicion even in those who knew him best. after his return to boonesborough his old friend, calloway, formally accused him of treachery on two counts: that boone had betrayed the salt makers to the indians and had planned to betray boonesborough to the british. boone was tried and acquitted. his simple explanation of his acts satisfied the court-martial and made him a greater hero than ever among the frontier folk. black fish then took his son home to chillicothe. here boone found delawares and mingos assembling with the main body of the shawanoe warriors. the war belt was being carried through the ohio country. again boonesborough and harrodsburg were to be the first settlements attacked. to escape and give warning was now the one purpose that obsessed boone. he redoubled his efforts to throw the indians off their guard. he sang and whistled blithely about the camp at the mouth of the scioto river, whither he had accompanied his indian father to help in the salt boiling. in short, he seemed so very happy that one day black fish took his eye off him for a few moments to watch the passing of a flock of turkeys. big turtle passed with the flock, leaving no trace. to his lamenting parent it must have seemed as though he had vanished into the air. daniel crossed the ohio and ran the miles to boonesborough in four days, during which time he had only one meal, from a buffalo he shot at the blue licks. when he reached the fort after an absence of nearly five months, he found that his wife had given him up for dead and had returned to the yadkin. boone now began with all speed to direct preparations to withstand a siege. owing to the indian's leisurely system of councils and ceremonies before taking the warpath, it was not until the first week in september that black fish's painted warriors, with some frenchmen under dequindre, appeared before boonesborough. nine days the siege lasted and was the longest in border history. dequindre, seeing that the fort might not be taken, resorted to trickery. he requested boone and a few of his men to come out for a parley, saying that his orders from hamilton were to protect the lives of the americans as far as possible. boone's friend, calloway, urged against acceptance of the apparently benign proposal which was made, so dequindre averred, for bienfaisance et humanité. but the words were the words of a white man, and boone hearkened to them. with eight of the garrison he went out to the parley. after a long talk in which good will was expressed on both sides, it was suggested by black fish that they all shake hands and, as there were so many more indians than white men, two indians should, of course, shake hands with one white man, each grasping one of his hands. the moment that their hands gripped, the trick was clear, for the indians exerted their strength to drag off the white men. desperate scuffling ensued in which the whites with difficulty freed themselves and ran for the fort. calloway had prepared for emergencies. the pursuing indians were met with a deadly fire. after a defeated attempt to mine the fort the enemy withdrew. the successful defense of boonesborough was an achievement of national importance, for had boonesborough fallen, harrodsburg alone could not have stood. the indians under the british would have overrun kentucky; and george rogers clark--whose base for his illinois operations was the kentucky forts--could not have made the campaigns which wrested the northwest from the control of great britain. again virginia took official note of captain boone when in the legislature established boonesborough a town for the reception of traders and appointed boone himself one of the trustees to attend to the sale and registration of lots. an odd office that was for daniel, who never learned to attend to the registration of his own; he declined it. his name appears again, however, a little later when virginia made the whole of kentucky one of her counties with the following officers: colonel david robinson, county lieutenant; george rogers clark, anthony bledsoe, and john bowman, majors; daniel boone, james harrod, benjamin logan, and john todd, captains. boonesborough's successful resistance caused land speculators as well as prospective settlers to take heart of grace. parties made their way to boonesborough, harrodsburg, and even to the falls of the ohio, where clark's fort and blockhouses now stood. in the summer of clark had erected on the kentucky side of the river a large fort which became the nucleus of the town of louisville. here, while he was eating his heart out with impatience for money and men to enable him to march to the attack of detroit, as he had planned, he amused himself by drawing up plans for a city. he laid out private sections and public parks and contemplated the bringing in of families only to inhabit his city, for, oddly enough, he who never married was going to make short shift of mere bachelors in his city beautiful. between pen scratches, no doubt, he looked out frequently upon the river to descry if possible a boatload of ammunition or the banners of the troops he had been promised. when neither appeared, he gave up the idea of detroit and set about erecting defenses on the southern border, for the choctaws and cherokees, united under a white leader named colbert, were threatening kentucky by way of the mississippi. he built in fort jefferson in what is now ballard county, and had barely completed the new post and garrisoned it with about thirty men when it was besieged by colbert and his savages. the indians, assaulting by night, were lured into a +position directly before a cannon which poured lead into a mass of them. the remainder fled in terror from the vicinity of the fort; but colbert succeeded in rallying them and was returning to the attack when he suddenly encountered clark with a company of men and was forced to abandon his enterprise. clark knew that the ohio indians would come down on the settlements again during the summer and that to meet their onslaughts every man in kentucky would be required. he learned that there was a new influx of land seekers over the wilderness road and that speculators were doing a thriving business in harrodsburg; so, leaving his company to protect fort jefferson, he took two men with him and started across the wilds on foot for harrodsburg. to evade the notice of the indian bands which were moving about the country the three stripped and painted themselves as warriors and donned the feathered headdress. so successful was their disguise that they were fired on by a party of surveyors near the outskirts of harrodsburg. the records do not state what were the sensations of certain speculators in a land office in harrodsburg when a blue-eyed savage in a war bonnet sprang through the doorway and, with uplifted weapon, declared the office closed; but we get a hint of the power of clark's personality and of his genius for dominating men from the terse report that he enrolled the speculators. he was informed that another party of men, more nervous than these, was now on its way out of kentucky. in haste he dispatched a dozen frontiersmen to cut the party off at crab orchard and take away the gun of every man who refused to turn back and do his bit for kentucky. to clark a man was a gun, and he meant that every gun should do its duty. the leaders and pioneers of the dark and bloody ground were now warriors, all under clark's command, while for two years longer the red terror ranged kentucky, falling with savage force now here, now there. in the first battle of , at the blue licks, daniel's brother, edward boone, was killed and scalped. later on in the war his second son, israel, suffered a like fate. the toll of life among the settlers was heavy. many of the best-known border leaders were slain. food and powder often ran short. corn might be planted, but whether it would be harvested or not the planters never knew; and the hunter's rifle shot, necessary though it was, proved only too often an invitation to the lurking foe. but sometimes, through all the dangers of forest and trail, daniel boone slipped away silently to harrodsburg to confer with clark; or clark himself, in the indian guise that suited the wild man in him not ill, made his way to and from the garrisons which looked to him for everything. twice clark gathered together the guns of kentucky and, marching north into the enemy's country, swept down upon the indian towns of piqua and chillicothe and razed them. in , in the second of these enterprises, his cousin, joseph rogers, who had been taken prisoner and adopted by the indians and then wore indian garb, was shot down by one of clark's men. on this expedition boone and harrod are said to have accompanied clark. the ever present terror and horror of those days, especially of the two years preceding this expedition, are vividly suggested by the quaint remark of an old woman who had lived through them, as recorded for us by a traveler. the most beautiful sight she had seen in kentucky, she said, was a young man dying a natural death in his bed. dead but unmarred by hatchet or scalping knife, he was so rare and comely a picture that the women of the post sat up all night looking at him. but, we ask, what golden emoluments were showered by a grateful country on the men who thus held the land through those years of want and war, and saved an empire for the union? what practical recognition was there of these brave and unselfish men who daily risked their lives and faced the stealth and cruelty lurking in the wilderness ways? there is meager eloquence in the records. here, for instance, is a letter from george rogers clark to the governor of virginia, dated may , : sir. nothing but necessity could induce me to make the following request to your excellency, which is to grant me a small sum of money on account; as i can assure you, sir, that i am exceedingly distressed for the want of necessary clothing etc and don't know any channel through which i could procure any except of the executive. the state i believe will fall considerably in my debt. any supplies which your excellency favors me with might be deducted out of my accounts.¹ ¹ _calendar of virginia state papers,_ vol. iii, p. . clark had spent all his own substance and all else he could beg, borrow--or appropriate--in the conquest of illinois and the defense of kentucky. his only reward from virginia was a grant of land from which he realized nothing, and dismissal from her service when she needed him no longer. all that clark had asked for himself was a commission in the continental army. this was denied him, as it appears now, not through his own errors, which had not at that time taken hold on him, but through the influence of powerful enemies. it is said that both spain and england, seeing a great soldier without service for his sword, made him offers, which he refused. as long as any acreage remained to him on which to raise money, he continued to pay the debts he had contracted to finance his expeditions, and in this course he had the assistance of his youngest brother, william, to whom he assigned his indiana grant. his health impaired by hardship and exposure and his heart broken by his country's indifference, clark sank into alcoholic excesses. in his sixtieth year, just six years before his death, and when he was a helpless paralytic, he was granted a pension of four hundred dollars. there is a ring of bitter irony in the words with which he accepted the sword sent him by virginia in his crippled old age: when virginia needed a sword i gave her one. he died near louisville on february , . kentucky was admitted to the union in . but even before kentucky became a state her affairs, particularly as to land, were arranged, let us say, on a practical business basis. then it was discovered that daniel boone had no legal claim to any foot of ground in kentucky. daniel owned nothing but the clothes he wore; and for those--as well as for much powder, lead, food, and such trifles--he was heavily in debt. so, in , daniel boone put the list of his debts in his wallet, gathered his wife and his younger sons about him, and, shouldering his hunter's rifle, once more turned towards the wilds. the country of the great kanawha in west virginia was still a wilderness, and a hunter and trapper might, in some years, earn enough to pay his debts. for others, now, the paths he had hewn and made safe; for boone once more the wilderness road. chapter viii tennessee indian law, tradition, and even superstition had shaped the conditions which the pioneers faced when they crossed the mountains. this savage inheritance had decreed that kentucky should be a dark and bloody ground, fostering no life but that of four-footed beasts, its fertile sod never to stir with the green push of the corn. and so the white men who went into kentucky to build and to plant went as warriors go, and for every cabin they erected they battled as warriors to hold a fort. in the first years they planted little corn and reaped less, for it may be said that their rifles were never out of their hands. we have seen how stations were built and abandoned until but two stood. untiring vigilance and ceaseless warfare were the price paid by the first kentuckians ere they turned the indian's place of desolation and death into a land productive and a living habitation. herein lies the difference, slight apparently, yet significant, between the first kentucky and the first tennessee¹ colonies. within the memory of the indians only one tribe had ever attempted to make their home in kentucky--a tribe of the fighting shawanoes--and they had been terribly chastised for their temerity. but tennessee was the home of the cherokees, and at chickasaw bluffs (memphis) began the southward trail to the principal towns of the chickasaws. by the red man's fiat, then, human life might abide in tennessee, though not in kentucky, and it followed that in seasons of peace the frontiersmen might settle in tennessee. so it was that as early as , before the great cherokee war, a company of virginians under andrew lewis had, on an invitation from the indians, erected fort loudon near great telliko, the cherokees' principal town, and that, after the treaty of peace in , waddell and his rangers of north carolina had erected a fort on the holston. ¹ tennessee. the name, ten-as-se, appears on adair's map as one of the old cherokee towns. apparently neither the meaning nor the reason why the colonists called both state and river by this name has been handed down to us. though fort loudon had fallen tragically during the war, and though waddell's fort had been abandoned, neither was without influence in the colonization of tennessee, for some of the men who built these forts drifted back a year or two later and set up the first cabins on the holston. these earliest settlements, thin and scattered, did not survive; but in the same settlers or others of their kind--discharged militiamen from back country regiments--once more made homes on the holston. they were joined by a few families from near the present raleigh, north carolina, who had despaired of seeing justice done to the tenants on the mismanaged estates of lord granville. about the same time there was erected the first cabin on the watauga river, as is generally believed, by a man of the name of william bean (or been), hunter and frontier soldier from pittsylvania county, virginia. this man, who had hunted on the watauga with daniel boone in , chose as the site of his dwelling the place of the old hunting camp near the mouth of boone's creek. he soon began to have neighbors. meanwhile the regulation movement stirred the back country of both the carolinas. in , the year in which william bean built his cabin on the bank of the watauga, five hundred armed regulators in north carolina, aroused by irregularities in the conduct of public office, gathered to assert their displeasure, but dispersed peaceably on receipt of word from governor tryon that he had ordered the prosecution of any officer found guilty of extortion. edmund fanning, the most hated of lord granville's agents, though convicted, escaped punishment. enraged at this miscarriage of justice, the regulators began a system of terrorization by taking possession of the court, presided over by richard henderson. the judge himself was obliged to slip out by a back way to avoid personal injury. the regulators burned his house and stable. they meted out mob treatment likewise to william hooper, later one of the signers of the declaration of independence. two elements, with antithetical aims, had been at work in the regulation; and the unfortunate failure of justice in the case of fanning had given the corrupt element its opportunity to seize control. in the petitions addressed to governor tryon by the leaders of the movement in its earlier stages the aims of liberty-loving thinkers are traceable. it is worthy of note that they included in their demands articles which are now constitutional. they desired that "suffrage be given by ticket and ballot"; that the mode of taxation be altered, and each person be taxed in proportion to the profits arising from his estate; that judges and clerks be given salaries instead of perquisites and fees. they likewise petitioned for repeal of the act prohibiting dissenting ministers from celebrating the rites of matrimony. the establishment of these reforms, the petitioners of the regulation concluded, would conciliate their minds to every just measure of government, and would make the laws what the constitution ever designed they should be, their protection and not their bane. herein clearly enough we can discern the thought and the phraseology of the ulster presbyterians. but a change took place in both leaders and methods. during the regulators' career of violence they were under the sway of an agitator named hermon husband. this demagogue was reported to have been expelled from the quaker society for cause; it is on record that he was expelled from the north carolina assembly because a vicious anonymous letter was traced to him. he deserted his dupes just before the shots cracked at alamance creek and fled from the colony. he was afterwards apprehended in pennsylvania for complicity in the whisky insurrection. four of the leading presbyterian ministers of the back country issued a letter in condemnation of the regulators. one of these ministers was the famous david caldwell, son-in-law of the reverend alexander craighead, and a man who knew the difference between liberty and license and who proved himself the bravest of patriots in the war of independence. the records of the time contain sworn testimony against the regulators by waightstill avery, a signer of the mecklenburg resolves, who later presided honorably over courts in the western circuit of tennessee; and there is evidence indicating jacobite and french intrigue. that governor tryon recognized a hidden hand at work seems clearly revealed in his proclamation addressed to those whose understandings have been run away with and whose passions have been led in captivity by some evil designing men who, actuated by cowardice and a sense of that publick justice which is due to their crimes, have obscured themselves from publick view. what the assembly thought of the regulators was expressed in in a drastic bill which so shocked the authorities in england that instructions were sent forbidding any governor to approve such a bill in future, declaring it a disgrace to the british statute books. on may , , some two thousand regulators were precipitated by husband into the battle of alamance, which took place in a district settled largely by a rough and ignorant type of germans, many of whom husband had lured to swell his mob. opposed to him were eleven hundred of governor tryon's troops, officered by such patriots as griffith rutherford, hugh waddell, and francis nash. during an hour's engagement about twenty regulators were killed, while the governor's troops had nine killed and sixty-one wounded. six of the leaders were hanged. the rest took the oath of allegiance which tryon administered. it has been said about the regulators that they were not cast down by their defeat at alamance but like the mammoth, they shook the bolt from their brow and crossed the mountains, but such flowery phrases do not seem to have been inspired by facts. nor do the records show that fifteen hundred regulators arrived at watauga in , as has also been stated. nor are the names of the leaders of the regulation to be found in the list of signatures affixed to the one state paper of watauga which was preserved and written into historic annals. nor yet do those names appear on the roster of the watauga and holston men who, in , fought with shelby under andrew lewis in the battle of point pleasant. the boones and the bryans, the robertsons, the seviers, the shelbys, the men who opened up the west and shaped the destiny of its inhabitants, were genuine freemen, with a sense of law and order as inseparable from liberty. they would follow a washington but not a hermon husband. james hunter, whose signature leads on all regulation manifestoes just prior to the battle of alamance, was a sycophant of husband, to whom he addressed fulsome letters; and in the real battle for democracy--the war of independence--he was a tory. the colonial records show that those who, like the mammoth, shook from them the ethical restraints which make man superior to the giant beast, and who later bolted into the mountains, contributed chiefly the lawlessness that harassed the new settlements. they were the banditti and, in , the tories of the western hills; they pillaged the homes of the men who were fighting for the democratic ideal. it was not the regulation movement which turned westward the makers of the old southwest, but the free and enterprising spirit of the age. it was emphatically an age of doers; and if men who felt the constructive urge in them might not lay hold on conditions where they were and reshape them, then they must go forward seeking that environment which would give their genius its opportunity. of such adventurous spirits was james robertson, a virginian born of ulster scot parentage, and a resident of (the present) wake county, north carolina, since his boyhood. robertson was twenty-eight years old when, in , he rode over the hills to watauga. we can imagine him as he was then, for the portrait taken much later in life shows the type of face that does not change. it is a high type combining the best qualities of his race. intelligence, strength of purpose, fortitude, and moral power are there; they impress us at the first glance. at twenty-eight he must have been a serious young man, little given to laughter; indeed, spontaneity is perhaps the only good trait we miss in studying his face. he was a thinker who had not yet found his purpose--a thinker in leash, for at this time james robertson could neither read nor write. at watauga, robertson lived for a while in the cabin of a man named honeycut. he chose land for himself and, in accordance with the custom of the time, sealed his right to it by planting corn. he remained to harvest his first crop and then set off to gather his family and some of his friends together and escort them to the new country. but on the way he missed the trail and wandered for a fortnight in the mountains. the heavy rains ruined his powder so that he could not hunt; for food he had only berries and nuts. at one place, where steep bluffs opposed him, he was obliged to abandon his horse and scale the mountain side on foot. he was in extremity when he chanced upon two huntsmen who gave him food and set him on the trail. if this experience proves his lack of the hunter's instinct and the woodsman's resourcefulness which boone possessed, it proves also his special qualities of perseverance and endurance which were to reach their zenith in his successful struggle to colonize and hold western tennessee. he returned to watauga in the following spring ( ) with his family and a small group of colonists. robertson's wife was an educated woman and under her instruction he now began to study. next year a young virginian from the shenandoah valley rode on down holston valley on a hunting and exploring trip and loitered at watauga. here he found not only a new settlement but an independent government in the making; and forthwith he determined to have a part in both. this young virginian had already shown the inclination of a political colonist, for in the shenandoah valley he had, at the age of nineteen, laid out the town of new market (which exists to this day) and had directed its municipal affairs and invited and fostered its clergy. this young virginian--born on september , , and so in twenty-seven years of age--was john sevier, that john sevier whose monument now towers from its site in knoxville to testify of both the wild and the great deeds of old tennessee's beloved knight. like robertson, sevier hastened home and removed his whole family, including his wife and children, his parents and his brothers and sisters, to this new haven of freedom at watauga. the friendship formed between robertson and sevier in these first years of their work together was never broken, yet two more opposite types could hardly have been brought together. robertson was a man of humble origin, unlettered, not a dour scot but a solemn one. sevier was cavalier as well as frontiersman. on his father's side he was of the patrician family of xavier in france. his progenitors, having become huguenots, had taken refuge in england, where the name xavier was finally changed to sevier. john sevier's mother was an englishwoman. some years before his birth his parents had emigrated to the shenandoah valley. thus it happened that john sevier, who mingled good english blood with the blue blood of old france, was born an american and grew up a frontier hunter and soldier. he stood about five feet nine from his moccasins to his crown of light brown hair. he was well-proportioned and as graceful of body as he was hard-muscled and swift. his chin was firm, his nose of a roman cast, his mouth well-shaped, its slightly full lips slanting in a smile that would not be repressed. under the high, finely modeled brow, small keen dark blue eyes sparkled with health, with intelligence, and with the man's joy in life. john sevier indeed cannot be listed as a type; he was individual. there is no other character like him in border annals. he was cavalier and prince in his leadership of men; he had their homage. yet he knew how to be comrade and brother to the lowliest. he won and held the confidence and friendship of the serious-minded robertson no less than the idolatry of the wildest spirits on the frontier throughout the forty-three years of the spectacular career which began for him on the day he brought his tribe to watauga. in his time he wore the governor's purple; and a portrait painted of him shows how well this descendant of the noble xaviers could fit himself to the dignity and formal habiliments of state; yet in the fringed deerskin of frontier garb, he was fleeter on the warpath than the indians who fled before him; and he could outride and outshoot--and, it is said, outswear--the best and the worst of the men who followed him. perhaps the lurking smile on john sevier's face was a flicker of mirth that there should be found any man, red or white, with temerity enough to try conclusions with him. none ever did, successfully. the historians of tennessee state that the wataugans formed their government in and that sevier was one of its five commissioners. yet, as sevier did not settle in tennessee before , it is possible that the watauga association was not formed until then. unhappily the written constitution of the little commonwealth was not preserved; but it is known that, following the ulsterman's ideal, manhood suffrage and religious independence were two of its provisions. the commissioners enlisted a militia and they recorded deeds for land, issued marriage licenses, and tried offenders against the law. they believed themselves to be within the boundaries of virginia and therefore adopted the laws of that state for their guidance. they had numerous offenders to deal with, for men fleeing from debt or from the consequence of crime sought the new settlements just across the mountains as a safe and adjacent harbor. the attempt of these men to pursue their lawlessness in watauga was one reason why the wataugans organized a government. when the line was run between virginia and north carolina beyond the mountains, watauga was discovered to be south of virginia's limits and hence on indian lands. this was in conflict with the king's proclamation, and alexander cameron, british agent to the cherokees, accordingly ordered the encroaching settlers to depart. the indians, however, desired them to remain. but since it was illegal to purchase indian lands, robertson negotiated a lease for ten years. in , when henderson made his purchase from the cherokees, at sycamore shoals on the watauga, robertson and sevier, who were present at the sale with other watauga commissioners, followed henderson's example and bought outright the lands they desired to include in watauga's domain. in they petitioned north carolina for annexation. as they were already within north carolina's bounds, it was recognition rather than annexation which they sought. this petition, which is the only wataugan document to survive, is undated but marked as received in august, . it is in sevier's handwriting and its style suggests that it was composed by him, for in its manner of expression it has much in common with many later papers from his pen. that wataugans were a law-loving community and had formed their government for the purpose of making law respected is reiterated throughout the document. as showing the quality of these first western statemakers, two paragraphs are quoted: finding ourselves on the frontiers, and being apprehensive that for want of proper legislature we might become a shelter for such as endeavored to defraud their creditors; considering also the necessity of recording deeds, wills, and doing other public business; we, by consent of the people, formed a court for the purposes above mentioned, taking, by desire of our constituents, the virginia laws for our guide, so near as the situation of affairs would permit. this was intended for ourselves, and was done by consent of every individual. the petition goes on to state that, among their measures for upholding law, the wataugans had enlisted a company of fine riflemen and put them under command of captain james robertson. we… thought proper to station them on our frontiers in defense of the common cause, at the expense and risque of our own private fortunes, till farther public orders, which we flatter ourselves will give no offense.… we pray your mature and deliberate consideration in our behalf, that you may annex us to your province (whether as county, district, or other division) in such manner as may enable us to share in the glorious cause of liberty: enforce our laws under authority and in every respect become the best members of society; and for ourselves and our constituents we hope we may venture to assure you that we shall adhere strictly to your determinations, and that nothing will be lacking or anything neglected that may add weight (in the civil or military establishments) to the glorious cause in which we are now struggling, or contribute to the welfare of our own or ages yet to come. one hundred and thirteen names are signed to the document. in the following year ( ) north carolina erected her overhill territory into washington county. the governor appointed justices of the peace and militia officers who in the following year organized the new county and its courts. and so watauga's independent government, begun in the spirit of true liberty, came as lawfully to its end. but for nearly three years before their political status was thus determined, the wataugans were sharing in the glorious cause of liberty by defending their settlements against indian attacks. while the majority of the young cherokee warriors were among their enemies, their chief battles were fought with those from the chickamaugan towns on the tennessee river, under the leadership of dragging canoe. the chickamaugans embraced the more vicious and bloodthirsty cherokees, with a mixture of creeks and bad whites, who, driven from every law-abiding community, had cast in their lot with this tribe. the exact number of white thieves and murderers who had found harbor in the indian towns during a score or more of years is not known; but the letters of the indian agents, preserved in the records, would indicate that there were a good many of them. they were fit allies for dragging canoe; their hatred of those from whom their own degeneracy had separated them was not less than his. in july, , john sevier wrote to the virginia committee as follows: dear gentlemen: isaac thomas, william falling, jaret williams and one more have this moment come in by making their escape from the indians and say six hundred indians and whites were to start for this fort and intend to drive the country up to new river before they return. thus was heralded the beginning of a savage warfare which kept the borderers engaged for years. it has been a tradition of the chroniclers that isaac thomas received a timely warning from nancy ward, a half-caste cherokee prophetess who often showed her good will towards the whites; and that the indians were roused to battle by alexander cameron and john stuart, the british agents or superintendents among the overhill tribes. there was a letter bearing cameron's name stating that fifteen hundred savages from the cherokee and creek nations were to join with british troops landed at pensacola in an expedition against the southern frontier colonies. this letter was brought to watauga at dead of night by a masked man who slipped it through a window and rode away. apparently john sevier did not believe the military information contained in the mysterious missive, for he communicated nothing of it to the virginia committee. in recent years the facts have come to light. this mysterious letter and others of a similar tenor bearing forged signatures are cited in a report by the british agent, john stuart, to his government. it appears that such inflammatory missives had been industriously scattered through the back settlements of both carolinas. there are also letters from stuart to lord dartmouth, dated a year earlier, urging that something be done immediately to counteract rumors set afloat that the british were endeavoring to instigate both the indians and the negroes to attack the americans. now it is, of course, an established fact that both the british and the american armies used indians in the war of independence, even as both together had used them against the french and the spanish and their allied indians. it was inevitable that the indians should participate in any severe conflict between the whites. they were a numerous and a warlike people and, from their point of view, they had more at stake than the alien whites who were contesting for control of the red man's continent. both british and americans have been blamed for half-hearted attempts to keep the indians neutral. the truth is that each side strove to enlist the indians--to be used, if needed later, as warriors. massacre was no part of this policy, though it may have been countenanced by individual officers in both camps. but it is obvious that, once the indians took the warpath, they were to be restrained by no power and, no matter under whose nominal command, they would carry on warfare by their own methods.¹ ¹ there is little doubt that either side, british or americans, stood ready to enlist the indians. already before boston the americans had had the help of the stockbridge tribe. washington found the service committed to the practise when he arrived at cambridge early in july. dunmore had taken the initiative in securing such allies, at least is purpose; but the insurgent virginians had had of late more direct contact with the tribes and were now striving to secure them but with little success. _the westward movement,_ by justin winsor, p. . general ethan allen of vermont, as his letters show, sent emissaries into canada in an endeavor to enlist the french canadians and the canadian indians against the british in canada. see _american archives,_ fourth series, vol. ii, p. . the british general gage wrote to lord dartmouth from boston, june , : we need not be tender of calling on the savages as the rebels have shown us the example, by bringing as many indians down against us as they could collect. _american archives,_ fourth series, vol. ii, p. . in a letter to lord germain, dated august , , john stuart wrote: although mr. cameron was in constant danger of assassination and the indians were threatened with invasion should they dare to protect him, yet he still found means to prevent their falling on the settlement. see north carolina _colonial records,_ vol. x, pp. and . proof that the british agents had succeeded in keeping the cherokee neutral till the summer of is found in the instructions, dated the th of july, to major winston from president rutledge of south carolina, regarding the cherokees, that they must be forced to give up the british agents and instead of remaining in a state of neutrality with respect to british forces they must take part with us against them. see north carolina _colonial records,_ vol. x, p. . whatever may have been the case elsewhere, the attacks on the watauga and holston settlements were not instigated by british agents. it was not nancy ward but henry stuart, john stuart's deputy, who sent isaac thomas to warn the settlers. in their efforts to keep the friendship of the red men, the british and the americans were providing them with powder and lead. the indians had run short of ammunition and, since hunting was their only means of livelihood, they must shoot or starve. south carolina sent the cherokees a large supply of powder and lead which was captured en route by tories. about the same time henry stuart set out from pensacola with another consignment from the british. his report to lord germain of his arrival in the chickamaugan towns and of what took place there just prior to the raids on the tennessee settlements is one of the most illuminating as well as one of the most dramatic papers in the collected records of that time.¹ ¹ north carolina _colonial records,_ vol. x, pp. - . stuart's first act was secretly to send out thomas, the trader, to warn the settlers of their peril, for a small war party of braves was even then concluding the preliminary war ceremonies. the reason for this indian alarm and projected excursion was the fact that the settlers had built one fort at least on the indian lands. stuart finally persuaded the indians to remain at peace until he could write to the settlers stating the grievances and asking for negotiations. the letters were to be carried by thomas on his return. but no sooner was thomas on his way again with the letters than there arrived a deputation of warriors from the northern tribes--from the confederate nations, the mohawks, ottawas, nantucas, shawanoes and delawares--fourteen men in all, who entered the council hall of the old beloved town of chota with their faces painted black and the war belt carried before them. they said that they had been seventy days on their journey. everywhere along their way they had seen houses and forts springing up like weeds across the green sod of their hunting lands. where once were great herds of deer and buffalo, they had watched thousands of men at arms preparing for war. so many now were the white warriors and their women and children that the red men had been obliged to travel a great way on the other side of the ohio and to make a detour of nearly three hundred miles to avoid being seen. even on this outlying route they had crossed the fresh tracks of a great body of people with horses and cattle going still further towards the setting sun. but their cries were not to be in vain; for their fathers, the french had heard them and had promised to aid them if they would now strike as one for their lands. after this preamble the deputy of the mohawks rose. he said that some american people had made war on one of their towns and had seized the son of their great beloved man, sir william johnson, imprisoned him, and put him to a cruel death; this crime demanded a great vengeance and they would not cease until they had taken it. one after another the fourteen delegates rose and made their talks and presented their wampum strings to dragging canoe. the last to speak was a chief of the shawanoes. he also declared that their fathers, the french, who had been so long dead, were alive again, that they had supplied them plentifully with arms and ammunition and had promised to assist them in driving out the americans and in reclaiming their country. now all the northern tribes were joined in one for this great purpose; and they themselves were on their way to all the southern tribes and had resolved that, if any tribe refused to join, they would fall upon and extirpate that tribe, after having overcome the whites. at the conclusion of his oration the shawanoe presented the war belt--nine feet of six-inch wide purple wampum spattered with vermilion--to dragging canoe, who held it extended between his two hands, in silence, and waited. presently rose a headman whose wife had been a member of sir william johnson's household. he laid his hand on the belt and sang the war song. one by one, then, chiefs and warriors rose, laid hold of the great belt and chanted the war song. only the older men, made wise by many defeats, sat still in their places, mute and dejected. after that day every young fellow's face in the overhills towns appeared blackened and nothing was now talked of but war. stuart reports that all the white men in the tribe also laid hands on the belt. dragging canoe then demanded that cameron and stuart come forward and take hold of the war belt--which we refused. despite the offense their refusal gave--and it would seem a dangerous time to give such offense--cameron delivered a strong talk for peace, warning the cherokees of what must surely be the end of the rashness they contemplated. stuart informed the chief that if the indians persisted in attacking the settlements with out waiting for answers to his letters, he would not remain with them any longer or bring them any more ammunition. he went to his house and made ready to leave on the following day. early the next morning dragging canoe appeared at his door and told him that the indians were now very angry about the letters he had written, which could only have put the settlers on their guard; and that if any white man attempted to leave the nation they had determined to follow him but not to bring him back. dragging canoe had painted his face black to carry this message. thomas now returned with an answer from the west fincastle men, which was so unsatisfactory to the tribe that war ceremonies were immediately begun. stuart and cameron could no longer influence the indians. all that could now be done was to give them strict charge not to pass the boundary line, not to injure any of the king's faithful subjects, not to kill any women and children; and to threaten to stop all ammunition if they did not obey these orders. the major part of the watauga militia went out to meet the indians and defeated a large advance force at long island flats on the holston. the watauga fort, where many of the settlers had taken refuge, contained forty fighting men under robertson and sevier. as indians usually retreated and waited for a while after a defeat, those within the fort took it for granted that no immediate attack was to be expected; and the women went out at daybreak into the fields to milk the cows. suddenly the war whoop shrilled from the edge of the clearing. red warriors leaped from the green skirting of the forest. the women ran for the fort. quickly the heavy gates swung to and the dropped bar secured them. only then did the watchmen discover that one woman had been shut out. she was a young woman nearing her twenties and, if legend has reported her truly, bonnie kate sherrill was a beauty. through a porthole sevier saw her running towards the shut gates, dodging and darting, her brown hair blowing from the wind of her race for life--and offering far too rich a prize to the yelling fiends who dashed after her. sevier coolly shot the foremost of her pursuers, then sprang upon the wall, caught up bonnie kate, and tossed her inside to safety. and legend says further that when, after sevier's brief widowerhood, she became his wife, four years later, bonnie kate was wont to say that she would be willing to run another such race any day to have another such introduction! there were no casualties within the fort and, after three hours, the foe withdrew, leaving several of their warriors slain. in the excursions against the indians which followed this opening of hostilities sevier won his first fame as an indian fighter--the fame later crystallized in the phrase thirty-five battles, thirty-five victories. his method was to take a very small company of the hardiest and swiftest horsemen--men who could keep their seat and endurance, and horses that could keep their feet and their speed, on any steep of the mountains no matter how tangled and rough the going might be--swoop down upon war camp, or town, and go through it with rifle and hatchet and fire, then dash homeward at the same pace before the enemy had begun to consider whether to follow him or not. in all his thirty-five battles it is said he lost not more than fifty men. the cherokees made peace in , after about a year of almost continuous warfare, the treaty being concluded on their side by the old chiefs who had never countenanced the war. dragging canoe refused to take part, but he was rendered innocuous for the time being by the destruction of several of the chickamaugan villages. james robertson now went to chota as indian agent for north carolina. so fast was population growing, owing to the opening of a wagon road into burke county, north carolina, that washington county was divided. john sevier became colonel of washington and isaac shelby colonel of the newly erected sullivan county. jonesborough, the oldest town in tennessee, was laid out as the county seat of washington; and in the same year ( ) sevier moved to the bank of the nolichucky river, so-called after the indian name of this dashing sparkling stream, meaning rapid or precipitous. thus the nickname given john sevier by his devotees had a dual application. he was well called nolichucky jack. when virginia annulled richard henderson's immense purchase but allowed him a large tract on the cumberland, she by no means discouraged that intrepid pioneer. henderson's tenure of kentucky had been brief, but not unprofitable in experience. he had learned that colonies must be treated with less commercial pressure and with more regard to individual liberty, if they were to be held loyal either to a king beyond the water or to an uncrowned leader nearer at hand. he had been making his plans for colonization of that portion of the transylvania purchase which lay within the bounds of north carolina along the cumberland and choosing his men to lay the foundations of his projected settlement in what was then a wholly uninhabited country; and he had decided on generous terms, such as ten dollars a thousand acres for land, the certificate of purchase to entitle the holder to further proceedings in the land office without extra fees. to head an enterprise of such danger and hardship henderson required a man of more than mere courage; a man of resource, of stability, of proven powers, one whom other men would follow and obey with confidence. so it was that james robertson was chosen to lead the first white settlers into middle tennessee. he set out in february, , accompanied by his brother, mark robertson, several other white men, and a negro, to select a site for settlement and to plant corn. meanwhile another small party led by gaspar mansker had arrived. as the boundary line between virginia and north carolina had not been run to this point, robertson believed that the site he had chosen lay within virginia and was in the disposal of general clark. to protect the settlers, therefore, he journeyed into the illinois country to purchase cabin rights from clark, but there he was evidently convinced that the site on the cumberland would be found to lie within north carolina. he returned to watauga to lead a party of settlers into the new territory, towards which they set out in october. after crossing the mountain chain through cumberland gap, the party followed boone's road--the warriors' path--for some distance and then made their own trail southwestward through the wilderness to the bluffs on the cumberland, where they built cabins to house them against one of the coldest winters ever experienced in that county. so were laid the first foundations of the present city of nashville, at first named nashborough by robertson.¹ on the way, robertson had fallen in with a party of men and families bound for kentucky and had persuaded them to accompany his little band to the cumberland. robertson's own wife and children, as well as the families of his party, had been left to follow in the second expedition, which was to be made by water under the command of captain john donelson. ¹ in honor of general francis nash, of north carolina, who was mortally wounded at germantown, . the little fleet of boats containing the settlers, their families, and all their household goods, was to start from fort patrick henry, near long island in the holston river, to float down into the tennessee and along the miles of that widely wandering stream to the ohio, and then to proceed up the ohio to the mouth of the cumberland and up the cumberland until robertson's station should appear--a journey, as it turned out, of some nine hundred miles through unknown country and on waters at any rate for the greater part never before navigated by white men. _journal of a voyage, intended by god's permission, in the good boat adventure_ is the title of the log book in which captain donelson entered the events of the four months' journey. only a few pages endured to be put into print: but those few tell a tale of hazard and courage that seems complete. could a lengthier narrative, even if enriched with literary art and fancy, bring before us more vividly than do the simple entries of donelson's log the spirit of the men and the women who won the west? if so little personal detail is recorded of the pioneer men of that day that we must deduce what they were from what they did, what do we know of their unfailing comrades, the pioneer women? only that they were there and that they shared in every test of courage and endurance, save the march of troops and the hunt. donelson's _journal_ therefore has a special value, because in its terse account of mrs. jennings and mrs. peyton it depicts unforgettably the quality of pioneer womanhood.¹ ¹ this journal is printed in ramsey's _annals of tennessee._ _december nd, ._ took our departure from the fort and fell down the river to the mouth of reedy creek where we were stopped by the fall of water and most excessive hard frost. perhaps part of the _journal_ was lost, or perhaps the excessive hard frost of that severe winter, when it is said even droves of wild game perished, prevented the boats from going on, for the next entry is dated the th of february. on this date the _adventure_ and two other boats grounded and lay on the shoals all that afternoon and the succeeding night in much distress. _march nd._ rain about half the day.… mr. henry's boat being driven on the point of an island by the force of the current was sunk, the whole cargo much damaged and the crew's lives much endangered, which occasioned the whole fleet to put on shore and go to their assistance.… _monday th._ got under way before sunrise; the morning proving very foggy, many of the fleet were much bogged--about o'clock lay by for them; when collected, proceeded down. camped on the north shore, where captain hutching's negro man died, being much frosted in his feet and legs, of which he died. _tuesday, th._ got under way very early; the day proving very windy, a s.s.w., and the river being wide occasioned a high sea, insomuch that some of the smaller crafts were in danger; therefore came to at the uppermost chiccamauga town, which was then evacuated, where we lay by that afternoon and camped that night. the wife of ephraim peyton was here delivered of a child. mr. peyton has gone through by land with captain robertson. _wednesday th_… proceed down to an indian village which was inhabited… they insisted on us to come ashore, called us brothers, and showed other signs of friendship.… and here we must regret the unfortunate death of young mr. payne, on board captain blakemore's boat, who was mortally wounded by reason of the boat running too near the northern shore opposite the town, where some of the enemy lay concealed; and the more tragical misfortune of poor stuart, his family and friends, to the number of twenty-eight persons. this man had embarked with us for the western country, but his family being diseased with the small pox, it was agreed upon between him and the company that he should keep at some distance in the rear, for fear of the infection spreading, and he was warned each night when the encampment should take place by the sound of a horn.… the indians having now collected to a considerable number, observing his helpless situation singled off from the rest of the fleet, intercepted him and killed and took prisoners the whole crew…; their cries were distinctly heard.… after describing a running fight with indians stationed on the bluffs on both shores where the river narrowed to half its width and boiled through a canyon, the entry for the day concludes: jennings's boat is missing. _friday th._ this morning about o'clock we were surprised by the cries of help poor jennings at some distance in the rear. he had discovered us by our fires and came up in the most wretched condition. he states that as soon as the indians discovered his situation [his boat had run on a rock] they turned their whole attention to him and kept up a most galling fire at his boat. he ordered his wife, a son nearly grown, a young man who accompanies them and his negro man and woman, to throw all his goods into the river to lighten their boat for the purpose of getting her off; himself returning their fire as well as he could, being a good soldier and an excellent marksman. but before they had accomplished their object, his son, the young man and the negro, jumped out of the boat and left.… mrs. jennings, however, and the negro woman, succeeded in unloading the boat, but chiefly by the exertions of mrs. jennings who got out of the boat and shoved her off, but was near falling a victim to her own intrepidity on account of the boat starting so suddenly as soon as loosened from the rock. upon examination he appears to have made a wonderful escape for his boat is pierced in numberless places with bullets. it is to be remarked that mrs. peyton, who was the night before delivered of an infant, which was unfortunately killed upon the hurry and confusion consequent upon such a disaster, assisted them, being frequently exposed to wet and cold.… their clothes were very much cut with bullets, especially mrs. jennings's. of the three men who deserted, while the women stood by under fire, the negro was drowned and jennings's son and the other young man were captured by the chickamaugans. the latter was burned at the stake. young jennings was to have shared the same fate; but a trader in the village, learning that the boy was known to john sevier, ransomed him by a large payment of goods, as a return for an act of kindness sevier had once done to him. _sunday th_.… after running until about o'clock came in sight of the muscle shoals. halted on the northern shore at the appearance of the shoals, in order to search for the signs captain james robertson was to make for us at that place… that it was practicable for us to go across by land… we can find none--from which we conclude that it would not be prudent to make the attempt and are determined, knowing ourselves in such imminent danger, to pursue our journey down the river.… when we approached them [the shoals] they had a dreadful appearance.… the water being high made a terrible roaring, which could be heard at some distance, among the driftwood heaped frightfully upon the points of the islands, the current running in every possible direction. here we did not know how soon we should be dashed to pieces and all our troubles ended at once. our boats frequently dragged on the bottom and appeared constantly in danger of striking. they warped as much as in a rough sea. but by the hand of providence we are now preserved from this danger also. i know not the length of this wonderful shoal; it had been represented to me to be twenty-five or thirty miles. if so, we must have descended very rapidly, as indeed we did, for we passed it in about three hours. on the twentieth the little fleet arrived at the mouth of the tennessee and the voyagers landed on the bank of the ohio. our situation here is truly disagreeable. the river is very high and the current rapid, our boats not constructed for the purpose of stemming a rapid stream, our provisions exhausted, the crews almost worn down with hunger and fatigue, and know not what distance we have to go or what time it will take us to our place of destination. the scene is rendered still more melancholy as several boats will not attempt to ascend the rapid current. some intend to descend the mississippi to natchez; others are bound for the illinois--among the rest my son-in-law and daughter. we now part, perhaps to meet no more, for i am determined to pursue my course, happen what will. _tuesday st._ set out and on this day labored very hard and got but little way.… passed the two following days as the former, suffering much from hunger and fatigue. _friday th._ about three o'clock came to the mouth of a river which i thought was the cumberland. some of the company declared it could not be--it was so much smaller than was expected.… we determined however to make the trial, pushed up some distance and encamped for the night. _saturday th._ today we are much encouraged; the river grows wider;… we are now convinced it is the cumberland.… _sunday th_… procured some buffalo meat; though poor it was palatable. _friday st_… met with colonel richard henderson, who is running the line between virginia and north carolina. at this meeting we were much rejoiced. he gave us every information we wished, and further informed us that he had purchased a quantity of corn in kentucky, to be shipped at the falls of ohio for the use of the cumberland settlement. we are now without bread and are compelled to hunt the buffalo to preserve life.… _monday, april th_. this day we arrived at our journey's end at the big salt lick, where we have the pleasure of finding captain robertson and his company. it is a source of satisfaction to us to be enabled to restore to him and others their families and friends, who were entrusted to our care, and who, sometime since, perhaps, despaired of ever meeting again.… past the camps of the chickamaugans--who were retreating farther and farther down the twisting flood, seeking a last standing ground in the giant caves by the tennessee--these white voyagers had steered their pirogues. near robertson's station, where they landed after having traversed the triangle of the three great rivers which enclose the larger part of western tennessee, stood a crumbling trading house marking the defeat of a frenchman who had, one time, sailed in from the ohio to establish an outpost of his nation there. at a little distance were the ruins of a rude fort cast up by the cherokees in the days when the redoubtable chickasaws had driven them from the pleasant shores of the western waters. under the towering forest growth lay vast burial mounds and the sunken foundations of walled towns, telling of a departed race which had once flashed its rude paddles and had its dream of permanence along the courses of these great waterways. now another tribe had come to dream that dream anew. already its primitive keels had traced the opening lines of its history on the face of the immemorial rivers. chapter ix king's mountain about the time when james robertson went from watauga to fling out the frontier line three hundred miles farther westward, the british took savannah. in they took charleston and augusta, and overran georgia. augusta was the point where the old trading path forked north and west, and it was the key to the back country and the overhill domain. in georgia and the back country of south carolina there were many tories ready to rally to the king's standard whenever a king's officer should carry it through their midst. a large number of these tories were scotch, chiefly from the highlands. in fact, as we have seen, scotch blood predominated among the racial streams in the back country from georgia to pennsylvania. now, to insure a triumphant march northward for cornwallis and his royal troops, these sons of scotland must be gathered together, the loyal encouraged and those of rebellious tendencies converted, and they must be drilled and turned to account. this task, if it were to be accomplished successfully, must be entrusted to an officer with positive qualifications, one who would command respect, whose personal address would attract men and disarm opposition, and especially one who could go as a scot among his own clan. cornwallis found his man in major patrick ferguson. ferguson was a highlander, a son of lord pitfour of aberdeen, and thirty-six years of age. he was of short stature for a highlander--about five feet eight--lean and dark, with straight black hair. he had a serious unhandsome countenance which, at casual glance, might not arrest attention; but when he spoke he became magnetic, by reason of the intelligence and innate force that gleamed in his eyes and the convincing sincerity of his manner. he was admired and respected by his brother officers and by the commanders under whom he had served, and he was loved by his men. he had seen his first service in the seven years' war, having joined the british army in flanders at the age of fifteen; and he had early distinguished himself for courage and coolness. in , as a captain of infantry, he quelled an insurrection of the natives on the island of st. vincent in the west indies. later, at woolwich, he took up the scientific study of his profession of arms. he not only became a crack shot, but he invented a new type of rifle which he could load at the breach without ramrod and so quickly as to fire seven times in a minute. generals and statesmen attended his exhibitions of shooting; and even the king rode over at the head of his guards to watch ferguson rapidly loading and firing. in america under cornwallis, ferguson had the reputation of being the best shot in the army; and it was soon said that, in his quickness at loading and firing, he excelled the most expert american frontiersman. eyewitnesses have left their testimony that, seeing a bird alight on a bough or rail, he would drop his bridle rein, draw his pistol, toss it in the air, catch and aim it as it fell, and shoot the bird's head off. he was given command of a corps of picked riflemen; and in the battle of the brandywine in he rendered services which won acclaim from the whole army. for the honor of that day's service to his king, ferguson paid what from him, with his passion for the rifle, must have been the dearest price that could have been demanded. his right arm was shattered, and for the remaining three years of his short life it hung useless at his side. yet he took up swordplay and attained a remarkable degree of skill as a left-handed swordsman. such was ferguson, the soldier. what of the man? for he has been pictured as a wolf and a fiend and a coward by early chroniclers, who evidently felt that they were adding to the virtue of those who fought in defense of liberty by representing all their foes as personally odious. we can read his quality of manhood in a few lines of the letter he sent to his kinsman, the noted dr. adam ferguson, about an incident that occurred at chads ford. as he was lying with his men in the woods, in front of knyphausen's army, so he relates, he saw two american officers ride out. he describes their dress minutely. one was in hussar uniform. the other was in a dark green and blue uniform with a high cocked hat and was mounted on a bay horse: i ordered three good shots to steal near to and fire at them; but the idea disgusting me, i recalled the order. the hussar in retiring made a circuit, but the other passed within a hundred yards of us, upon which i advanced from the wood towards him. upon my calling he stopped; but after looking at me he proceeded. i again drew his attention and made signs to him to stop, levelling my piece at him; but he slowly cantered away. as i was within that distance, at which, in the quickest firing, i could have lodged half a dozen balls in or about him before he was out of my reach, i had only to determine. but it was not pleasant to fire at the back of an unoffending individual who was acquitting himself very coolly of his duty--so i let him alone. the day after, i had been telling this story to some wounded officers, who lay in the same room with me, when one of the surgeons who had been dressing the wounded rebel officers came in and told us that they had been informing him that general washington was all the morning with the light troops, and only attended by a french officer in hussar dress, he himself dressed and mounted in every point as above described. i am not sorry that i did not know at the time who it was.¹ ¹ doubt that the officer in question was washington was expressed by james fenimore cooper. cooper stated that major de lancey his father-in-law, was binding ferguson's arm at the time when the two officers were seen and ferguson recalled the order to fire, and that de lancey said he believed the officer was count pulaski. but, as ferguson, according to his own account, leveled his piece at the officer, his arm evidently was not wounded until later in the day. the probability is that ferguson's version, written in a private letter to his relative, is correct as to the facts, whatever may be conjectured as to the identity of the officer. see draper's _king's mountain and its heroes,_ pp. - . ferguson had his code towards the foe's women also. on one occasion when he was assisting in an action carried out by hessians and dragoons, he learned that some american women had been shamefully maltreated. he went in a white fury to the colonel in command, and demanded that the men who had so disgraced their uniforms instantly be put to death. in rallying the loyalists of the back country of georgia and the carolinas, ferguson was very successful. he was presently in command of a thousand or more men, including small detachments of loyalists from new york and new jersey, under american-born officers such as de peyster and allaire. there were good honest men among the loyalists and there were also rough and vicious men out for spoils--which was true as well of the whigs or patriots from the same counties. among the rough element were tory banditti from the overmountain region. it is to be gathered from ferguson's records that he did not think any too highly of some of his new recruits, but he set to work with all energy to make them useful. the american patriots hastily prepared to oppose him. colonel charles mcdowell of burke county, north carolina, with a small force of militia was just south of the line at a point on the broad river when he heard that ferguson was sweeping on northward. in haste he sent a call for help across the mountains to sevier and shelby. sevier had his hands full at watauga, but he dispatched two hundred of his troops; and isaac shelby, with a similar force from sullivan county crossed the mountains to mcdowell's assistance. these overmountain men or backwater men, as they were called east of the hills, were trained in sevier's method of indian warfare--the secret approach through the dark, the swift dash, and the swifter flight. fight strong and run away fast was the indian motto, as their women had often been heard to call it after the red men as they ran yelling to fall on the whites. the frontiersmen had adapted the motto to fit their case, as they had also made their own the indian tactics of ambuscade and surprise attacks at dawn. to sleep, or ride if needs must, by night, and to fight by day and make off, was to them a reasonable soldier's life. but ferguson was a night marauder. the terror of his name, which grew among the whigs of the back country until the wildest legends about his ferocity were current, was due chiefly to a habit he had of pouncing on his foes in the middle of the night and pulling them out of bed to give fight or die. it was generally both fight and die, for these dark adventures of his were particularly successful. ferguson knew no neutrals or conscientious objectors; any man who would not carry arms for the king was a traitor, and his life and goods were forfeit. a report of his reads: the attack being made at night, no quarter could be given. hence his wolfish fame. werewolf would have been a fit name for him for, though he was a wolf at night, in the daylight he was a man and, as we have seen, a chivalrous one. in the guerrilla fighting that went on for a brief time between the overmountain men and various detachments of ferguson's forces, sometimes one side, sometimes the other, won the heat. but the field remained open. neither side could claim the mastery. in a minor engagement fought at musgrove's mill on the enoree, shelby's command came off victor and was about to pursue the enemy towards ninety-six when a messenger from mcdowell galloped madly into camp with word of general gates's crushing defeat at camden. this was a warning for shelby's guerrillas to flee as birds to their mountains, or ferguson would cut them off from the north and wedge them in between his own force and the victorious cornwallis. mcdowell's men, also on the run for safety, joined them. for forty-eight hours without food or rest they rode a race with ferguson, who kept hard on their trail until they disappeared into the mystery of the winding mountain paths they alone knew. ferguson reached the gap where they had swerved into the towering hills only half an hour after their horses' hoofs had pounded across it. here he turned back. his troops were exhausted from the all-night ride and, in any case, there were not enough of them to enable him to cross the mountains and give the watauga men battle on their own ground with a fair promise of victory. so keeping east of the hills but still close to them, ferguson turned into burke county, north carolina. he sat him down in gilbert town (present lincolnton, lincoln county) at the foot of the blue ridge and indited a letter to the back water men, telling them that if they did not lay down their arms and return to their rightful allegiance, he would come over their hills and raze their settlements and hang their leaders. he paroled a kinsman of shelby's, whom he had taken prisoner in the chase, and sent him home with the letter. then he set about his usual business of gathering up tories and making soldiers of them, and of hunting down rebels. one of the rebels was a certain captain lytle. when ferguson drew up at lytle's door, lytle had already made his escape; but mrs. lytle was there. she was a very handsome woman and she had dressed herself in her best to receive ferguson, who was reported a gallant as well as a wolf. after a few spirited passages between the lady in the doorway and the officer on the white horse before it, the latter advised mrs. lytle to use her influence to bring her husband back to his duty. she became grave then and answered that her husband would never turn traitor to his country. ferguson frowned at the word traitor, but presently he said: madam, i admire you as the handsomest woman i have seen in north carolina. i even half way admire your zeal in a bad cause. but take my word for it, the rebellion has had its day and is now virtually put down. give my regards to captain lytle and tell him to come in. he will not be asked to compromise his honor. his verbal pledge not again to take up arms against the king is all that will be asked of him.¹ ¹ draper, _king's mountain and its heroes,_ pp. - . this was another phase of the character of the one-armed highlander whose final challenge to the back water men was now being considered in every log cabin beyond the hills. a man who would not shoot an enemy in the back, who was ready to put the same faith in another soldier's honor which he knew was due to his own, yet in battle a wolfish fighter who leaped through the dark to give no quarter and to take none--he was fit challenger to those other mountaineers who also had a chivalry of their own, albeit they too were wolves of war. when shelby on the holston received ferguson's pungent letter, he flung himself on his horse and rode posthaste to watauga to consult with sevier. he found the bank of the nolichucky teeming with merrymakers. nolichucky jack was giving an immense barbecue and a horse race. without letting the festival crowd have an inkling of the serious nature of shelby's errand, the two men drew apart to confer. it is said to have been sevier's idea that they should muster the forces of the western country and go in search of ferguson ere the latter should be able to get sufficient reinforcements to cross the mountains. sevier, like ferguson, always preferred to seek his foe, knowing well the advantage of the offensive. messengers were sent to colonel william campbell of the virginia settlements on the clinch, asking his aid. campbell at first refused, thinking it better to fortify the positions they held and let ferguson come and put the mountains between himself and cornwallis. on receipt of a second message, however, he concurred. the call to arms was heard up and down the valleys, and the frontiersmen poured into watauga. the overhill men were augmented by mcdowell's troops from burke county, who had dashed over the mountains a few weeks before in their escape from ferguson. at daybreak on the th of september they mustered at the sycamore shoals on the watauga, over a thousand strong. it was a different picture they made from that other great gathering at the same spot when henderson had made his purchase in money of the dark and bloody ground, and sevier and robertson had bought for the wataugans this strip of tennessee. there were no indians in this picture. dragging canoe, who had uttered his bloody prophecy, had by these very men been driven far south into the caves of the tennessee river. but the indian prophecy still hung over them, and in this day with a heavier menace. not with money, now, were they to seal their purchase of the free land by the western waters. there had been no women in that other picture, only the white men who were going forward to open the way and the red men who were retreating. but in this picture there were women--wives and children, mothers, sisters, and sweethearts. all the women of the settlement were there at this daybreak muster to cheer on their way the men who were going out to battle that they might keep the way of liberty open not for men only but for women and children also. and the battle to which the men were now going forth must be fought against back country men of their own stripe under a leader who, in other circumstances, might well have been one of themselves--a primitive spirit of hardy mountain stock, who, having once taken his stand, would not barter and would not retreat. with the sword of the lord and of gideon! cried their pastor, the reverend samuel doak, with upraised hands, as the mountaineers swung into their saddles. and it is said that all the women took up his words and cried again and again, with the sword of the lord and of our gideons! to the shouts of their women, as bugles on the wind of dawn, the buckskin-shirted army dashed out upon the mountain trail. the warriors' equipment included rifles and ammunition, tomahawks, knives, shot pouches, a knapsack, and a blanket for each man. their uniforms were leggings, breeches, and long loose shirts of gayly fringed deerskin, or of the linsey-woolsey spun by their women. their hunting shirts were bound in at the waist by bright-colored linsey sashes tied behind in a bow. they wore moccasins for footgear, and on their heads high fur or deerskin caps trimmed with colored bands of raveled cloth. around their necks hung their powder-horns ornamented with their own rude carvings. on the first day they drove along with them a number of beeves but, finding that the cattle impeded the march, they left them behind on the mountain side. their provisions thereafter were wild game and the small supply each man carried of mixed corn meal and maple sugar. for drink, they had the hill streams. they passed upward between roan and yellow mountains to the top of the range. here, on the bald summit, where the loose snow lay to their ankles, they halted for drill and rifle practice. when sevier called up his men, he discovered that two were missing. he suspected at once that they had slipped away to carry warning to ferguson, for watauga was known to be infested with tories. two problems now confronted the mountaineers. they must increase the speed of their march, so that ferguson should not have time to get reinforcements from cornwallis; and they must make that extra speed by another trail than they had intended taking so that they themselves could not be intercepted before they had picked up the back country militia under colonels cleveland, hampbright, chronicle, and williams, who were moving to join them. we are not told who took the lead when they left the known trail, but we may suppose it was sevier and his wataugans, for the making of new warpaths and wild riding were two of the things which distinguished nolichucky jack's leadership. down the steep side of the mountain, finding their way as they plunged, went the overhill men. they crossed the blue ridge at gillespie's gap and pushed on to quaker meadows, where colonel cleveland with men swung into their column. along their route, the back country patriots with their rifles came out from the little hamlets and the farms and joined them. they now had an army of perhaps fifteen hundred men but no commanding officer. thus far, on the march, the four colonels had conferred together and agreed as to procedure; or, in reality, the influence of sevier and shelby, who had planned the enterprise and who seem always to have acted in unison, had swayed the others. it would be, however, manifestly improper to go into battle without a real general. something must be done. mcdowell volunteered to carry a letter explaining their need to general gates, who had escaped with some of his staff into north carolina and was not far off. it then occurred to sevier and shelby, evidently for the first time, that gates, on receiving such a request, might well ask why the governor of north carolina, as the military head of the state, had not provided a commander. the truth is that sevier and shelby had been so busy drumming up the militia and planning their campaign that they had found no time to consult the governor. moreover, the means whereby the expedition had been financed might not have appealed to the chief executive. after finding it impossible to raise sufficient funds on his personal credit, sevier had appropriated the entry money in the government land office to the business in hand--with the good will of the entry taker, who was a patriotic man, although, as he had pointed out, he could not, officially, hand over the money. things being as they were, no doubt nolichucky jack felt that an interview with the governor had better be deferred until after the capture of ferguson. hence the tenor of this communication to general gates: as we have at this time called out our militia without any orders from the executive of our different states and with the view of expelling the enemy out of this part of the country, we think such a body of men worthy of your attention and would request you to send a general officer immediately to take the command.… all our troops being militia and but little acquainted with discipline, we could wish him to be a gentleman of address, and able to keep up a proper discipline without disgusting the soldiery. for some unknown reason--unless it might be the wording of this letter!--no officer was sent in reply. shelby then suggested that, since all the officers but campbell were north carolinians and, therefore, no one of them could be promoted without arousing the jealousy of the others, campbell, as the only virginian, was the appropriate choice. the sweet reasonableness of selecting a commander from such a motive appealed to all, and campbell became a general in fact if not in name! shelby's principal aim, however, had been to get rid of mcdowell, who, as their senior, would naturally expect to command and whom he considered too far advanced in life and too inactive for such an enterprise. at this time mcdowell must have been nearly thirty-nine; and shelby, who was just thirty, wisely refused to risk the campaign under a general who was in his dotage! news of the frontiersmen's approach, with their augmented force, now numbering between sixteen and eighteen hundred, had reached ferguson by the two tories who had deserted from sevier's troops. ferguson thereupon had made all haste out of gilbert town and was marching southward to get in touch with cornwallis. his force was much reduced, as some of his men were in pursuit of elijah clarke towards augusta and a number of his other tories were on furlough. as he passed through the back country he posted a notice calling on the loyalists to join him. if the overmountain men felt that they were out on a wolf hunt, ferguson's proclamation shows what the wolf thought of his hunters. to the inhabitants of north carolina. gentlemen: unless you wish to be eat up by an innundation of barbarians, who have begun by murdering an unarmed son before the aged father, and afterwards lopped off his arms, and who by their shocking cruelties and irregularities give the best proof of their cowardice and want of discipline: i say if you wish to be pinioned, robbed and murdered, and see your wives and daughters in four days, abused by the dregs of mankind--in short if you wish to deserve to live and bear the name of men, grasp your arms in a moment and run to camp. the back water men have crossed the mountains: mcdowell, hampton, shelby, and cleveland are at their head, so that you know what you have to depend upon. if you choose to be degraded forever and ever by a set of mongrels, say so at once, and let your women turn their backs upon you, and look out for real men to protect them. pat. ferguson, major st regiment.¹ ¹ draper, _king's mountain and its heroes,_ p. . ferguson's force has been estimated at about eleven hundred men, but it is likely that this estimate does not take the absentees into consideration. in the diary of lieutenant allaire, one of his officers, the number is given as only eight hundred. because of the state of his army, chroniclers have found ferguson's movements, after leaving gilbert town, difficult to explain. it has been pointed out that he could easily have escaped, for he had plenty of time, and charlotte, cornwallis's headquarters, was only sixty miles distant. we have seen something of ferguson's quality, however, and we may simply take it that he did not want to escape. he had been planning to cross the high hills--to him, the highlander, no barrier but a challenge--to fight these men. now that they had taken the initiative he would not show them his back. he craved the battle. so he sent out runners to the main army and rode on along the eastern base of the mountains, seeking a favorable site to go into camp and wait for cornwallis's aid. on the th of october he reached the southern end of the king's mountain ridge, in south carolina, about half a mile south of the northern boundary. here a rocky, semi-isolated spur juts out from the ridge, its summit--a table-land about six hundred yards long and one hundred and twenty wide at its northern end--rising not more than sixty feet above the surrounding country. on the summit ferguson pitched his camp. the hill was a natural fortress, its sides forested, its bald top protected by rocks and bowlders. all the approaches led through dense forest. an enemy force, passing through the immediate, wooded territory, might easily fail to discover a small army nesting sixty feet above the shrouding leafage. word was evidently brought to ferguson here, telling him the now augmented number of his foe, for he dispatched another emissary to cornwallis with a letter stating the number of his own troops and urging full and immediate assistance. meanwhile the frontiersmen had halted at the cowpens. there they feasted royally off roasted cattle and corn belonging to the loyalist who owned the cowpens. it is said that they mowed his fifty acres of corn in an hour. and here one of their spies, in the assumed rôle of a tory, learned ferguson's plans, his approximate force, his route, and his system of communication with cornwallis. the officers now held council and determined to take a detachment of the hardiest and fleetest horsemen and sweep down on the enemy before aid could reach him. about nine o'clock that evening, according to shelby's report, mounted men set off at full speed, leaving the main body of horse and foot to follow after at their best pace. rain poured down on them all that night as they rode. at daybreak they crossed the broad at cherokee ford and dashed on in the drenching rain all the forenoon. they kept their firearms and powder dry by wrapping them in their knapsacks, blankets, and hunting shirts. the downpour had so churned up the soil that many of the horses mired, but they were pulled out and whipped forward again. the wild horsemen made no halt for food or rest. within two miles of king's mountain they captured ferguson's messenger with the letter that told of his desperate situation. they asked this man how they should know ferguson. he told them that ferguson was in full uniform but wore a checkered shirt or dust cloak over it. this was not the only messenger of ferguson's who failed to carry through. the men he had sent out previously had been followed and, to escape capture or death, they had been obliged to lie in hiding, so that they did not reach cornwallis until the day of the battle. at three o'clock on the afternoon of the th of october, the overmountain men were in the forest at the base of the hill. the rain had ceased and the sun was shining. they dismounted and tethered their steaming horses. orders were given that every man was to throw the priming out of his pan, pick his touchhole, prime anew, examine bullets and see that everything was in readiness for battle. the plan of battle agreed on was to surround the hill, hold the enemy on the top and, themselves screened by the trees, keep pouring in their fire. there was a good chance that most of the answering fire would go over their heads. as shelby's men crossed a gap in the woods, the outposts on the hill discovered their presence and sounded the alarm. ferguson sprang to horse, blowing his silver whistle to call his men to attack. his riflemen poured fire into shelby's contingent, but meanwhile the frontiersmen on the other sides were creeping up, and presently a circle of fire burst upon the hill. with fixed bayonets, some of ferguson's men charged down the face of the slope, against the advancing foe, only to be shot in the back as they charged. still time and time again they charged; the overhill men reeled and retreated; but always their comrades took toll with their rifles; ferguson's men, preparing for a mounted charge, were shot even as they swung to their saddles. ferguson, with his customary indifference to danger, rode up and down in front of his line blowing his whistle to encourage his men. huzza, brave boys! the day is our own! thus he was heard to shout above the triumphant war whoops of the circling foe, surging higher and higher about the hill. but there were others in his band who knew the fight was lost. the overmountain men saw two white handkerchiefs, affixed to bayonets, raised above the rocks; and then they saw ferguson dash by and slash them down with his sword. two horses were shot under ferguson in the latter part of the action; but he mounted a third and rode again into the thick of the fray. suddenly the cry spread among the attacking troops that the british officer, tarleton, had come to ferguson's rescue; and the mountaineers began to give way. but it was only the galloping horses of their own comrades; tarleton had not come. nolichucky jack spurred out in front of his men and rode along the line. fired by his courage they sounded the war whoop again and renewed the attack with fury. these are the same yelling devils that were at musgrove's mill, said captain de peyster to ferguson. now shelby and sevier, leading his wataugans, had reached the summit. the firing circle pressed in. the buckskin-shirted warriors leaped the rocky barriers, swinging their tomahawks and long knives. again the white handkerchiefs fluttered. ferguson saw that the morale of his troops was shattered. surrender, de peyster, his second in command, begged of him. surrender to those damned banditti? never! ferguson turned his horse's head downhill and charged into the wataugans, hacking right and left with his sword till it was broken at the hilt. a dozen rifles were leveled at him. an iron muzzle pushed at his breast, but the powder flashed in the pan. he swerved and struck at the rifleman with his broken hilt. but the other guns aimed at him spoke; and ferguson's body jerked from the saddle pierced by eight bullets. men seized the bridle of the frenzied horse, plunging on with his dead master dragging from the stirrup. the battle had lasted less than an hour. after ferguson fell, de peyster advanced with a white flag and surrendered his sword to campbell. other white flags waved along the hilltop. but the killing did not yet cease. it is said that many of the mountaineers did not know the significance of the white flag. sevier's sixteen-year-old son, having heard that his father had fallen, kept on furiously loading and firing until presently he saw sevier ride in among the troops and command them to stop shooting men who had surrendered and thrown down their arms. the victors made a bonfire of the enemy's baggage wagons and supplies. then they killed some of his beeves and cooked them; they had had neither food nor sleep for eighteen hours. they dug shallow trenches for the dead and scattered the loose earth over them. ferguson's body, stripped of its uniform and boots and wrapped in a beef hide, was thrown into one of these ditches by the men detailed to the burial work, while the officers divided his personal effects among themselves. the triumphant army turned homeward as the dusk descended. the uninjured prisoners and the wounded who were able to walk were marched off carrying their empty firearms. the badly wounded were left lying where they had fallen. at bickerstaff's old fields in rutherford county the frontiersmen halted; and here they selected thirty of their prisoners to be hanged. they swung them aloft, by torchlight, three at a time, until nine had gone to their last account. then sevier interposed; and, with shelby's added authority, saved the other twenty-one. among those who thus weighted the gallows tree were some of the tory brigands from watauga; but not all the victims were of this character. some of the troops would have wreaked vengeance on the two tories from sevier's command who had betrayed their army plans to ferguson; but sevier claimed them as under his jurisdiction and refused consent. nolichucky jack dealt humanely by his foes. to the coarse and brutish cleveland, now astride of ferguson's horse and wearing his sash, and to the three hundred who followed him, may no doubt be laid the worst excesses of the battle's afterpiece. victors and vanquished drove on in the dark, close to the great flank of hills. from where king's mountain, strewn with dead and dying, reared its black shape like some rudely hewn tomb of a primordial age when titans strove together, perhaps to the ears of the marching men came faintly through the night's stillness the howl of a wolf and the answering chorus of the pack. for the wolves came down to king's mountain from all the surrounding hills, following the scent of blood, and made their lair where the werewolf had fallen. the scene of the mountaineers' victory, which marked the turn of the tide for the revolution, became for years the chief resort of wolf hunters from both the carolinas. the importance of the overmountain men's victory lay in what it achieved for the cause of independence. king's mountain was the prelude to cornwallis's defeat. it heartened the southern patriots, until then cast down by gates's disaster. to the british the death of ferguson was an irreparable loss because of its depressing effect on the back country tories. king's mountain, indeed, broke the tory spirit. seven days after the battle general nathanael greene succeeded to the command of the southern patriot army which gates had led to defeat. greene's genius met the rising tide of the patriots' courage and hope and took it at the flood. his strategy, in dividing his army and thereby compelling the division of cornwallis's force, led to daniel morgan's victory at the cowpens, in the back country of south carolina, on january , --another frontiersmen's triumph. though the british won the next engagement between greene and cornwallis--the battle of guilford court house in the north carolina back country, on the th of march--greene made them pay so dearly for their victory that tarleton called it the pledge of ultimate defeat; and, three days later, cornwallis was retreating towards wilmington. in a sense, then, king's mountain was the pivot of the war's revolving stage, which swung the british from their succession of victories towards the surrender at yorktown. shelby, campbell, and cleveland escorted the prisoners to virginia. sevier, with his men, rode home to watauga. when the prisoners had been delivered to the authorities in virginia, the holston men also turned homeward through the hills. their route lay down through the clinch and holston valleys to the settlement at the base of the mountains. sevier and his wataugans had gone by gillespie's gap, over the pathway that hung like a narrow ribbon about the breast of roan mountain, lifting its crest in dignified isolation sixty-three hundred feet above the levels. the unakas was the name the cherokees had given to those white men who first invaded their hills; and the unakas is the name that white men at last gave to the mountain. great companies of men were to come over the mountain paths on their way to the mississippi country and beyond; and with them, as we know, were to go many of these mountain men, to pass away with their customs in the transformations that come with progress. but there were others who clung to these hills. they were of several stocks--english, scotch, highlanders, ulstermen, who mingled by marriage and sometimes took their mates from among the handsome maids of the cherokees. they spread from the unakas of tennessee into the cumberland mountains of kentucky; and they have remained to this day what they were then, a primitive folk of strong and fiery men and brave women living as their forefathers of watauga and holston lived. in the log cabins in those mountains today are heard the same ballads, sung still to the dulcimer, that entertained the earliest settlers. the women still turn the old-fashioned spinning wheels. the code of the men is still the code learned perhaps from the gaels--the code of the oath and the feud and the open door to the stranger. or were these, the ethical tenets of almost all uncorrupted primitive tribes, transmitted from the indian strain and association? their young people marry at boy and girl ages, as the pioneers did, and their wedding festivities are the same as those which made rejoicing at the first marriage in watauga. their common speech today contains words that have been obsolete in england for a hundred years. thrice have the mountain men come down again from their fastnesses to war for america since the day of king's mountain and thrice they have acquitted themselves so that their deeds are noted in history. a souvenir of their part in the war of at the battle of the thames is kept in one of the favorite names for mountain girls--lake erie. in the civil war many volunteers from the free, non-slaveholding mountain regions of kentucky and tennessee joined the union army, and it is said that they exceeded all others in stature and physical development. and in our own day their sons again came down from the mountains to carry the torch of liberty overseas, and to show the white stars in their flag side by side with the ancient cross in the flag of england against which their forefathers fought. chapter x sevier, the statemaker after king's mountain, sevier reached home just in time to fend off a cherokee attack on watauga. again warning had come to the settlements that the indians were about to descend upon them. sevier set out at once to meet the red invaders. learning from his scouts that the indians were near he went into ambush with his troops disposed in the figure of a half-moon, the favorite indian formation. he then sent out a small body of men to fire on the indians and make a scampering retreat, to lure the enemy on. the maneuver was so well planned and the ground so well chosen that the indian war party would probably have been annihilated but for the delay of an officer at one horn of the half-moon in bringing his troops into play. through the gap thus made the indians escaped, with a loss of seventeen of their number. the delinquent officer was jonathan tipton, younger brother of colonel john tipton, of whom we shall hear later. it is possible that from this event dates the tiptons' feud with sevier, which supplies one of the breeziest pages in the story of early tennessee. not content with putting the marauders to flight, sevier pressed on after them, burned several of the upper towns, and took prisoner a number of women and children, thus putting the red warriors to the depth of shame, for the indians never deserted their women in battle. the chiefs at once sued for peace. but they had made peace often before. sevier drove down upon the hiwassee towns, meanwhile proclaiming that those among the tribe who were friendly might send their families to the white settlement, where they would be fed and cared for until a sound peace should be assured. he also threatened to continue to make war until his enemies were wiped out, their town sites a heap of blackened ruins, and their whole country in possession of the whites, unless they bound themselves to an enduring peace. having compelled the submission of the otari and hiwassee towns, yet finding that depredations still continued, sevier determined to invade the group of towns hidden in the mountain fastnesses near the headwaters of the little tennessee where, deeming themselves inaccessible except by their own trail, the cherokees freely plotted mischief and sent out raiding parties. these hill towns lay in the high gorges of the great smoky mountains, miles distant. no one in watauga had ever been in them except thomas, the trader, who, however, had reached them from the eastern side of the mountains. with no knowledge of the indians' path and without a guide, yet nothing daunted, sevier, late in the summer of headed his force into the mountains. so steep were some of the slopes they scaled that the men were obliged to dismount and help their horses up. unexpectedly to themselves perhaps, as well as to the indians, they descended one morning on a group of villages and destroyed them. before the fleeing savages could rally, the mountaineers had plunged up the steeps again. sevier then turned southward into georgia and inflicted a severe castigation on the tribes along the coosa river. when, after thirty days of warfare and mad riding, sevier arrived at his bonnie kate's door on the nolichucky, he found a messenger from general greene calling on him for immediate assistance to cut off cornwallis from his expected retreat through north carolina. again he set out, and with two hundred men crossed the mountains and made all speed to charlotte, in mecklenburg county, where he learned that cornwallis had surrendered at yorktown on october , . under greene's orders he turned south to the santee to assist a fellow scion of the huguenots, general francis marion, in the pursuit of stuart's britishers. having driven stuart into charleston, sevier and his active wataugans returned home, now perhaps looking forward to a rest, which they had surely earned. once more, however, they were hailed with alarming news. dragging canoe had come to life again and was emerging from the caves of the tennessee with a substantial force of chickamaugan warriors. again the wataugans, augmented by a detachment from sullivan county, galloped forth, met the red warriors, chastised them heavily, put them to rout, burned their dwellings and provender, and drove them back into their hiding places. for some time after this, the indians dipped not into the black paint pots of war but were content to streak their humbled countenances with the vermilion of beauty and innocence. it should be chronicled that sevier, assisted possibly by other wataugans, eventually returned to the state of north carolina the money which he had forcibly borrowed to finance the king's mountain expedition; and that neither he nor shelby received any pay for their services, nor asked it. before shelby left the holston in and moved to kentucky, of which state he was to become the first governor, the assembly of north carolina passed a resolution of gratitude to the overmountain men in general, and to sevier and shelby in particular, for their very generous and patriotic services with which the general assembly of this state are feelingly impressed. the resolution concluded by urging the recipients of the assembly's acknowledgments to continue in their noble course. in view of what followed, this resolution is interesting! for some time the overhill pioneers had been growing dissatisfied with the treatment they were receiving from the state, which on the plea of poverty had refused to establish a superior court for them and to appoint a prosecutor. as a result, crime was on the increase, and the law-abiding were deprived of the proper legal means to check the lawless. in when the western soldiers' claims began to reach the assembly, there to be scrutinized by unkindly eyes, the dissatisfaction increased. the breasts of the mountain men--the men who had made that spectacular ride to bring ferguson to his end--were kindled with hot indignation when they heard that they had been publicly assailed as grasping persons who seized on every pretense to fabricate demands against the government. nor were those fiery breasts cooled by further plaints to the effect that the "industry and property" of those east of the hills were becoming the funds appropriated to discharge the debts of the westerners. they might with justice have asked what the industry and property of the easterners were worth on that day when the overhill men drilled in the snows on the high peak of yellow mountain and looked down on burke county overrun by ferguson's tories, and beyond, to charlotte, where lay cornwallis. the north carolina assembly did not confine itself to impolite remarks. it proceeded to get rid of what it deemed western rapacity by ceding the whole overmountain territory to the united states, with the proviso that congress must accept the gift within twelve months. and after passing the cession act, north carolina closed the land office in the undesired domain and nullified all entries made after may , . the cession act also enabled the state to evade its obligations to the cherokees in the matter of an expensive consignment of goods to pay for new lands. this clever stroke of the assembly's brought about immediate consequences in the region beyond the hills. the cherokees, who knew nothing about the assembly's system of political economy but who found their own provokingly upset by the non-arrival of the promised goods, began again to darken the mixture in their paint pots; and they dug up the war hatchet, never indeed so deeply patted down under the dust that it could not be unearthed by a stub of the toe. needless to say, it was not the thrifty and distant easterners who felt their anger, but the nearby settlements. as for the white overhill dwellers, the last straw had been laid on their backs; and it felt like a hickory log. no sooner had the assembly adjourned than the men of washington, sullivan, and greene counties, which comprised the settled portion of what is now east tennessee, elected delegates to convene for the purpose of discussing the formation of a new state. they could assert that they were not acting illegally, for in her first constitution north carolina had made provision for a state beyond the mountains. and necessity compelled them to take steps for their protection. some of them, and sevier was of the number, doubted if congress would accept the costly gift; and the majority realized that during the twelve months which were allowed for the decision they would have no protection from either north carolina or congress and would not be able to command their own resources. in august, , the delegates met at jonesborough and passed preliminary resolutions, and then adjourned to meet later in the year. the news was soon disseminated through north carolina and the assembly convened in october and hastily repealed the cession act, voted to establish the district of washington out of the four counties, and sent word of the altered policy to sevier, with a commission for himself as brigadier general. from the steps of the improvised convention hall, before which the delegates had gathered, sevier read the assembly's message and advised his neighbors to proceed no further, since north carolina had of her own accord redressed all their grievances. but for once nolichucky jack's followers refused to follow. the adventure too greatly appealed. obliged to choose between north carolina and his own people, sevier's hesitation was short. the state of frankland, or land of the free, was formed; and nolichucky jack was elevated to the office of governor--with a yearly salary of two hundred mink skins. perhaps john tipton had hoped to head the new state, for he had been one of its prime movers and was a delegate to this convention. but when the man whom he hated--apparently for no reason except that other men loved him--assented to the people's will and was appointed to the highest post within their gift, tipton withdrew, disavowing all connection with frankland and affirming his loyalty to north carolina. from this time on, the feud was an open one. that brief and now forgotten state, frankland, the land of the free, which bequeathed its name as an appellation for america, was founded as watauga had been founded--to meet the practical needs and aspirations of its people. it will be remembered that one of the things written by sevier into the only watauga document extant was that they desired to become in every way the best members of society. frankland's aims, as recorded, included the intent to improve agriculture, perfect manufacturing, encourage literature and every thing truly laudable. the constitution of frankland, agreed to on the th of november, , appeals to us today rather by its spirit than by its practical provisions. this state shall be called the commonwealth of frankland and shall be governed by a general assembly of the representatives of the freemen of the same, a governor and council, and proper courts of justice.… the supreme legislative power shall be vested in a single house of representatives of the freemen of the commonwealth of frankland. the house of representatives of the freemen of the state shall consist of persons most noted for wisdom and virtue. in these exalted desires of the primitive men who held by their rifles and hatchets the land by the western waters, we see the influence of the reverend samuel doak, their pastor, who founded the first church and the first school beyond the great hills. early in the life of watauga he had come thither from princeton, a zealous and broadminded young man, and a sturdy one, too, for he came on foot driving before him a mule laden with books. legend credits another minister, the reverend samuel houston, with suggesting the name of frankland, after he had opened the convention with prayer. it is not surprising to learn that this glorified constitution was presently put aside in favor of one modeled on that of north carolina. sevier persuaded the more radical members of the community to abandon their extreme views and to adopt the laws of north carolina. however lawless his acts as governor of a bolting colony may appear, sevier was essentially a constructive force. his purposes were right, and small motives are not discernible in his record. he might reasonably urge that the franklanders had only followed the example of north carolina and the other american states in seceding from the parent body, and for similar causes, for the state's system of taxation had long borne heavily on the overhill men. the whole transmontane populace welcomed frankland with enthusiasm. major arthur campbell, of the virginian settlements, on the holston, was eager to join. sevier and his assembly took the necessary steps to receive the overhill virginians, provided that the transfer of allegiance could be made with virginia's consent. meanwhile he replied in a dignified manner to the pained and menacing expostulations of north carolina's governor. north carolina was bidden to remember the epithets her assemblymen had hurled at the westerners, which they themselves had by no means forgotten. and was it any wonder that they now doubted the love the parent state professed to feel for them? as for the puerile threat of blood, had their quality really so soon become obliterated from the memory of north carolina? at this sort of writing, sevier, who always pulsed hot with emotion and who had a pretty knack in turning a phrase, was more than a match for the governor of north carolina, whose prerogatives he had usurped. the overmountain men no longer needed to complain bitterly of the lack of legal machinery to keep them the best members of society. they now had courts to spare. frankland had its courts, its judges, its legislative body, its land office--in fact, a full governmental equipment. north carolina also performed all the natural functions of political organism, within the western territory. sevier appointed one david campbell a judge. campbell held court in jonesborough. ten miles away, in buffalo, colonel john tipton presided for north carolina. it happened frequently that officers and attendants of the rival law courts met, as they pursued their duties, and whenever they met they fought. the post of sheriff--or sheriffs, for of course there were two--was filled by the biggest and heaviest man and the hardest hitter in the ranks of the warring factions. a favorite game was raiding each other's courts and carrying off the records. frankland sent william cocke, later the first senator from tennessee, to congress with a memorial, asking congress to accept the territory north carolina had offered and to receive it into the union as a separate state. congress ignored the plea. it began to appear that north carolina would be victor in the end; and so there were defections among the franklanders. sevier wrote to benjamin franklin asking his aid in establishing the status of frankland; and, with a graceful flourish of his ready pen, changed the new state's name to franklin by way of reinforcing his arguments. but the old philosopher, more expert than sevier in diplomatic calligraphy, only acknowledged the compliment and advised the state of franklin to make peace with north carolina. sevier then appealed for aid and recognition to the governor of georgia, who had previously appointed him brigadier general of militia. but the governor of georgia also avoided giving the recognition requested, though he earnestly besought sevier to come down and settle the creeks for him. there were others who sent pleas to sevier, the warrior, to save them from the savages. one of the writers who addressed him did not fear to say your excellency, nor to accord nolichucky jack the whole dignity of the purple in appealing to him as the only man possessing the will and the power to prevent the isolated settlements on the cumberland from being wiped out. that writer was his old friend, james robertson. in , while sevier was on the frontier of greene county, defending it from indians, the legal forces of north carolina swooped down on his estate and took possession of his negroes. it was tipton who represented the law; and tipton carried off the governor's slaves to his own estate. when nolichucky jack came home and found that his enemy had stripped him, he was in a towering rage. with a body of his troops and one small cannon, he marched to tipton's house and besieged it, threatening a bombardment. he did not, however, fire into the dwelling, though he placed some shots about it and in the extreme corners. this _opéra bouffe_ siege endured for several days, until tipton was reinforced by some of his own clique. then tipton sallied forth and attacked the besiegers, who hastily scattered rather than engage in a sanguinary fight with their neighbors. tipton captured sevier's two elder sons and was only strained from hanging them on being informed that two of his own sons were at that moment in sevier's hands. in march, , the state of franklin went into eclipse. sevier was overthrown by the authorities of north carolina. most of the officials who had served under him were soothed by being reappointed to their old positions. tipton's star was now in the ascendant, for his enemy was to be made the vicarious sacrifice for the sins of all whom he had led astray. presently david campbell, still graciously permitted to preside over the superior court, received from the governor of north carolina the following letter: sir: it has been represented to the executive that john sevier, who style's himself captain-general of the state of franklin, has been guilty of high treason in levying troops to oppose the laws and government of the state.… you will issue your warrant to apprehend the said john sevier, and in case he cannot be sufficiently secured for trial in the district of washington, order him to be committed to the public gaol. the judge's authority was to be exercised after he had examined the affidavits of credible persons. campbell's judicial opinion seems to have been that any affidavit against the said john sevier could not be made by a credible person. he refused to issue the warrant. tipton's friend, spencer, who had been north carolina's judge of the superior court in the west and who was sharing that honor now with campbell, issued the warrant and sent tipton to make the arrest. sevier was at the widow brown's inn with some of his men when tipton at last came up with him. it was early morning. tipton and his posse were about to enter when the portly and dauntless widow, surmising their errand, drew her chair into the doorway, plumped herself down in it, and refused to budge for all the writs in north carolina. tipton blustered and the widow rocked. the altercation awakened sevier. he dressed hurriedly and came down. as soon as he presented himself on the porch, tipton thrust his pistol against his body, evidently with intent to fire if sevier made signs of resistance. sevier's furious followers were not disposed to let him be taken without a fight, but he admonished them to respect the law, and requested that they would inform bonnie kate of his predicament. then, debonair as ever, with perhaps a tinge of contempt at the corners of his mouth, he held out his wrists for the manacles which tipton insisted on fastening upon them. it was not likely that any jail in the western country could hold nolichucky jack overnight. tipton feared a riot; and it was decided to send the prisoner for incarceration and trial to morgantown in north carolina, just over the hills. tipton did not accompany the guards he sent with sevier. it was stated and commonly believed that he had given instructions of which the honorable men among his friends were ignorant. when the party entered the mountains, two of the guards were to lag behind with the prisoner, till the others were out of sight on the twisting trail. then one of the two was to kill sevier and assert that he had done it because sevier had attempted to escape. it fell out almost as planned, except that the other guard warned sevier of the fate in store for him and gave him a chance to flee. in plunging down the mountain, sevier's horse was entangled in a thicket. the would-be murderer overtook him and fired; but here again fate had interposed for her favorite. the ball had dropped out of the assassin's pistol. so sevier reached morgantown in safety and was deposited in care of the sheriff, who was doubtless cautioned to take a good look at the prisoner and know him for a dangerous and a daring man. there is a story to the effect that, when sevier was arraigned in the courthouse at morgantown and presently dashed through the door and away on a racer that had been brought up by some of his friends, among those who witnessed the proceedings was a young ulster scot named andrew jackson; and that on this occasion these two men, later to become foes, first saw each other. jackson may have been in morgantown at the time, though this is disputed; but the rest of the tale is pure legend invented by some one whose love of the spectacular led him far from the facts. the facts are less theatrical but much more dramatic. sevier was not arraigned at all, for no court was sitting in morgantown at the time.¹ the sheriff to whom he was delivered did not need to look twice at him to know him for a daring man. he had served with him at king's mountain. he struck off his handcuffs and set him at liberty at once. perhaps he also notified general charles mcdowell at his home in quaker meadows of the presence of a distinguished guest in burke county, for mcdowell and his brother joseph, another officer of militia, quickly appeared and went on sevier's bond. nolichucky jack was presently holding a court of his own in the tavern, with north carolina's men at arms--as many as were within call--drinking his health. so his sons and a company of his wataugans found him, when they rode into morgantown to give evidence in his behalf--with their rifles. since none now disputed the way with him, sevier turned homeward with his cavalcade, mcdowell and his men accompanying him as far as the pass in the hills. ¹ statement by john sevier, junior, in the draper mss., quoted by turner, _life of general john sevier,_ p. . no further attempt was made to try john sevier for treason, either west or east of the mountains. in november, however, the assembly passed the pardon act, and thereby granted absolution to every one who had been associated with the state of franklin, except john sevier. in a clause said to have been introduced by tipton, now a senator, or suggested by him, john sevier was debarred forever from the enjoyment of any office of profit or honor or trust in the state of north carolina. the overhill men in greene county took due note of the assembly's fiat and at the next election sent sevier to the north carolina senate. nolichucky jack, whose demeanor was never so decorous as when the ill-considered actions of those in authority had made him appear to have circumvented the law, considerately waited outside until the house had lifted the ban--which it did perforce and by a large majority, despite tipton's opposition--and then took his seat on the senatorial bench beside his enemy. the records show that he was reinstated as brigadier general of the western counties and also appointed at the head of the committee on indian affairs. not only in the region about watauga did the pioneers of tennessee endure the throes of danger and strife during these years. the little settlements on the cumberland, which were scattered over a short distance of about twenty-five or thirty miles and had a frontier line of two hundred miles, were terribly afflicted. their nearest white neighbors among the kentucky settlers were one hundred and fifty miles away; and through the cruelest years these could render no aid--could not, indeed, hold their own stations. the kentuckians, as we have seen, were bottled up in harrodsburg and boonesborough; and, while the northern indians led by girty and dequindre darkened the bloody ground anew, the cumberlanders were making a desperate stand against the chickasaws and the creeks. so terrible was their situation that panic took hold on them, and they would have fled but for the influence of robertson. he may have put the question to them in the biblical words, whither shall i flee? for they were surrounded, and those who did attempt to escape were weighed on the path and made light. robertson knew that their only chance of survival was to stand their ground. the greater risks he was willing to take in person, for it was he who made trips to boonesborough and harrodsburg for a share of the powder and lead which john sevier was sending into kentucky from time to time. in the stress of conflict robertson bore his full share of grief, for his two elder sons and his brother fell. he himself was often near to death. one day he was cut off in the fields and was shot in the foot as he ran, yet he managed to reach shelter. there is a story that, in an attack during one of his absences, the indians forced the outer gate of the fort and mrs. robertson went out of her cabin, firing, and let loose a band of the savage dogs which the settlers kept for their protection, and so drove out the invaders. the chickasaws were loyal to the treaty they had made with the british in the early days of james adair's association with them. they were friends to england's friends and foes to her foes. while they resented the new settlements made on land they considered theirs, they signed a peace with robertson at the conclusion of the war of independence. they kept their word with him as they had kept it with the british. furthermore, their chief, opimingo or the mountain leader, gave robertson his assistance against the creeks and the choctaws and, in so far as he understood its workings, informed him of the new spanish and french conspiracy, which we now come to consider. so once again the chickasaws were servants of destiny to the english-speaking race, for again they drove the wedge of their honor into an indian solidarity welded with european gold. since it was generally believed at that date that the tribes were instigated to war by the british and supplied by them with their ammunition, savage inroads were expected to cease with the signing of peace. but indian warfare not only continued; it increased. in the last two years of the revolution, when the british were driven from the back country of the carolinas and could no longer reach the tribes with consignments of firearms and powder, it should have been evident that the indians had other sources of supply and other allies, for they lacked nothing which could aid them in their efforts to exterminate the settlers of tennessee. neither france nor spain wished to see an english-speaking republic based on ideals of democracy successfully established in america. though in the revolutionary war, france was a close ally of the americans and spain something more than a nominal one, the secret diplomacy of the courts of the bourbon cousins ill matched with their open professions. both cousins hated england. the american colonies, smarting under injustice, had offered a field for their revenge. but hatred of england was not the only reason why activities had been set afoot to increase the discord which should finally separate the colonies from great britain and leave the destiny of the colonies to be decided by the house of bourbon. spain saw in the americans, with their english modes of thought, a menace to her authority in her own colonies on both the northern and southern continents. this menace would not be stilled but augmented if the colonies should be established as a republic. such an example might be too readily followed. though france had, by a secret treaty in , made over to spain the province of louisiana, she was not unmindful of the bourbon motto, he who attacks the crown of one attacks the other. and she saw her chance to deal a crippling blow at england's prestige and commerce. in , the french minister, choiseul, had sent a secret agent, named pontleroy, to america to assist in making trouble and to watch for any signs that might be turned to the advantage of _les duex couronnes_. evidently pontleroy's reports were encouraging for, in , johann kalb--the same kalb who fell at camden in --arrived in philadelphia to enlarge the good work. he was not only, like several of the foreign officers in the war of independence, a spy for his government, but he was also the special emissary of one comte de broglie who, after the colonies had broken with the mother country, was to put himself at the head of american affairs. this broglie had been for years one of louis xv's chief agents in subterranean diplomacy, and it is not to be supposed that he was going to attempt the stupendous task of controlling america's destiny without substantial backing. spain had been advised meanwhile to rule her new louisiana territory with great liberality--in fact, to let it shine as a republic before the yearning eyes of the oppressed americans, so that the english colonists would arise and cast off their fetters. once the colonies had freed themselves from england's protecting arm, it would be a simple matter for the bourbons to gather them in like so many little lost chicks from a rainy yard. the intrigants of autocratic systems have never been able to understand that the urge of the spirit of independence in men is not primarily to break shackles but to stand alone and that the breaking of bonds is incidental to the true demonstration of freedom. the bourbons and their agents were no more nor less blind to the great principle stirring the hearts of men in their day than were the prussianized hosts over a hundred years later who, having themselves no acquaintance with the law of liberty, could not foresee that half a world would rise in arms to maintain that law. when the war of independence had ended, the french minister, vergennes, and the spanish minister, floridablanca, secretly worked in unison to prevent england's recognition of the new republic; and floridablanca in even offered to assist england if she would make further efforts to subdue her rebel subjects. both latin powers had their own axes to grind, and america was to tend the grindstone. france looked for recovery of her old prestige in europe and expected to supersede england in commerce. she would do this, in the beginning, chiefly through control of america and of america's commerce. vergennes therefore sought not only to dictate the final terms of peace but also to say what the american commissioners should and should not demand. of the latter gentlemen he said that they possessed _caractères peu maniables!_ in writing to luzerne, the french ambassador in philadelphia, on october , , vergennes said: it behooves us to leave them [the american commissioners] to their illusions, to do everything that can make them fancy that we share them, and undertake only to defeat any attempts to which those illusions might carry them if our coöperation is required. among these illusions were america's desires in regard to the fisheries and to the western territory. concerning the west, vergennes had written to luzerne, as early as july , : at the moment when the revolution broke out, the limits of the thirteen states did not reach the river [mississippi] and it would be absurd for them to claim the rights of england, a power whose rule they had abjured. by the secret treaty with spain, furthermore, france had agreed to continue the war until gibraltar should be taken, and--if the british should be driven from newfoundland--to share the fisheries only with spain, and to support spain in demanding that the thirteen states renounce all territory west of the alleghanies. the american states must by no means achieve a genuine independence but must feel the need of sureties, allies, and protection.¹ ¹ see john jay, _on the peace negotiations of - as illustrated by the secret correspondence of france and england,_ new york, . so intent was vergennes on these aims that he sent a secret emissary to england to further them there. this act of his perhaps gave the first inkling to the english statesmen² that american and french desires were not identical and hastened england's recognition of american independence and her agreement to american demands in regard to the western territory. when, to his amazement, vergennes learned that england had acceded to all america's demands, he said that england had bought the peace rather than made it. the policy of vergennes in regard to america was not unjustly pronounced by a later french statesman a vile speculation ² your lordship was well founded in your suspicion that the granting of independence to america as a previous measure is a point which the french have by no means at heart and perhaps are entirely averse from. letter from fitzherbert to grantham, september , . through england's unexpected action, then, the bourbon cousins had forever lost their opportunity to dominate the young but spent and war-weakened republic, or to use america as a catspaw to snatch english commerce for france. it was plain, too, that any frank move of the sort would range the english alongside of their american kinsmen. since american independence was an accomplished fact and therefore could no longer be prevented, the present object of the bourbon cousins was to restrict it. the appalachian mountains should be the western limits of the new nation. therefore the settlements in kentucky and tennessee must be broken up, or the settlers must be induced to secede from the union and raise the spanish banner. the latter alternative was held to be preferable. to bring it about the same methods were to be continued which had been used prior to and during the war--namely, the use of _agents provocateurs_ to corrupt the ignorant and incite the lawless, the instigation of indian massacres to daunt the brave, and the distribution of gold to buy the avaricious. as her final and supreme means of coercion, spain refused to america the right of navigation on the mississippi and so deprived the westerners of a market for their produce. the northern states, having no immediate use for the mississippi, were willing to placate spain by acknowledging her monopoly of the great waterway. but virginia and north carolina were determined that america should not, by congressional enactment, surrender her natural right; and they cited the proposed legislation as their reason for refusing to ratify the constitution. the act which abandons it [the right of navigation] is an act of separation between the eastern and western country, jefferson realized at last. an act of separation--that point had long been very clear to the latin sachems of the mississippi valley! bounded as they were on one side by the precipitous mountains and on the other by the southward flow of the mississippi and its tributary, the ohio, the trappers and growers of corn in kentucky and western tennessee regarded new orleans as their logical market, as the wide waters were their natural route. if market and route were to be closed to them, their commercial advancement was something less than a dream. in , don estevan miró, a gentleman of artful and winning address, became governor of louisiana and fountainhead of the propaganda. he wrote benign and brotherly epistles to james robertson of the cumberland and to his excellency of franklin, suggesting that to be of service to them was his dearest aim in life; and at the same time he kept the southern indians continually on the warpath. when robertson wrote to him of the creek and cherokee depredations, with a hint that the spanish might have some responsibility in the matter, miró replied by offering the cumberlander a safe home on spanish territory with freedom of religion and no taxes. he disclaimed stirring up the indians. he had, in fact, advised mr. mcgillivray, chief of the creeks, to make peace. he would try again what he could do with mr. mcgillivray. as to the cherokees, they resided in a very distant territory and he was not acquainted with them; he might have added that he did not need to be: his friend mcgillivray was the potent personality among the southern tribes. in alexander mcgillivray, miró found a weapon fashioned to his hand. if the creek chieftain's figure might stand as the symbol of treachery, it is none the less one of the most picturesque and pathetic in our early annals. mcgillivray, it will be remembered, was the son of adair's friend lachlan mcgillivray, the trader, and a creek woman whose sire had been a french officer. a brilliant and beautiful youth, he had given his father a pride in him which is generally denied to the fathers of sons with indian blood in them. the highland trader had spared nothing in his son's education and had placed him, after his school days, in the business office of the large trading establishment of which he himself was a member. at about the age of seventeen alexander had become a chieftain in his mother's nation; and doubtless it is he who appears shortly afterwards in the colonial records as the white leader whose influence is seen to have been at work for friendship between the colonists and the tribes. when the revolutionary war broke out, lachlan mcgillivray, like many of the old traders who had served british interests so long and so faithfully, held to the british cause. georgia confiscated all his property and lachlan fled to scotland. for this, his son hated the people of georgia with a perfect hatred. he remembered how often his father's courage alone had stood between those same people and the warlike creeks. he could recall the few days in when lachlan and his fellow trader, galphin, at the risk of their lives had braved the creek warriors--already painted for war and on the march--and so had saved the settlements of the back country from extermination. he looked upon the men of georgia as an indian regards those who forget either a blood gift or a blood vengeance. and he embraced the whole american nation in his hatred for their sakes. in alexander mcgillivray was in his early thirties--the exact date of his birth is uncertain.¹ he had, we are told, the tall, sturdy, but spare physique of the gael, with a countenance of indian color though not of indian cast. his overhanging brows made more striking his very large and luminous dark eyes. he bore himself with great dignity; his voice was soft, his manner gentle. he might have been supposed to be some latin courtier but for the barbaric display of his dress and his ornaments. he possessed extraordinary personal magnetism, and his power extended beyond the creek nation to the choctaws and chickasaws and the southern cherokees. he had long been wooed by the louisiana authorities, but there is no evidence that he had made alliance with them prior to the revolution. ¹ probably about or . some writers give and others . his father landed in charleston, pickett (_history of alabama_) says, in , and was then only sixteen. early in the war he joined the british, received a colonel's commission, and led his formidable creeks against the people of georgia. when the british were driven from the back countries, mcgillivray, in his british uniform, went on with the war. when the british made peace, mcgillivray exchanged his british uniform for a spanish one and went on with the war. in later days, when he had forced congress to pay him for his father's confiscated property and had made peace, he wore the uniform of an american brigadier general; but he did not keep the peace, never having intended to keep it. it was not until he had seen the spanish plots collapse and had realized that the americans were to dominate the land, that the white leader ceased from war and urged the youths of his tribe to adopt american civilization. spent from hate and wasted with dissipation, he retired at last to the spot where lachlan had set up his first creek home. here he lived his few remaining days in a house which he built on the site of the old ruined cabin about which still stood the little grove of apple trees his father had planted. he died at the age of fifty of a fever contracted while he was on a business errand in pensacola. among those who visited him in his last years, one has left this description of him: dissipation has sapped a constitution originally delicate and feeble. he possesses an atticism of diction aided by a liberal education, a great fund of wit and humor meliorated by a perfect good nature and politeness. set beside that kindly picture this rough etching by james robertson: the biggest devil among them [the spaniards] is the half spaniard, half frenchman, half scotchman and altogether creek scoundrel, mcgillivray. how indefatigably mcgillivray did his work we know from the bloody annals of the years which followed the british-american peace, when the men of the cumberland and of franklin were on the defensive continually. how cleverly miró played his personal rôle we discover in the letters addressed to him by sevier and robertson. these letters show that, as far as words go at any rate, the founders of tennessee were willing to negotiate with spain. in a letter dated september , , sevier offered himself and his tottering state of franklin to the spanish king. this offer may have been made to gain a respite, or it may have been genuine. the situation in the tennessee settlements was truly desperate, for neither north carolina nor congress apparently cared in the least what befell them or how soon. north carolina indeed was in an anomalous position, as she had not yet ratified the federal constitution. if franklin went out of existence and the territory which it included became again part of north carolina, sevier knew that a large part of the newly settled country would, under north carolina's treaties, revert to the indians. that meant ruin to large numbers of those who had put their faith in his star, or else it meant renewed conflict either with the indians or with the parent state. the probabilities aria that sevier hoped to play the spaniards against the easterners who, even while denying the westerners' contention that the mountains were a natural barrier between them, were making of them a barrier of indifference. it would seem so, because, although this was the very aim of all miró's activities so that, had he been assured of the sincerity of the offer, he must have grasped at it, yet nothing definite was done. and sevier was presently informing shelby, now in kentucky, that there was a spanish plot afoot to seize the western country. miró had other agents besides mcgillivray--who, by the way, was costing spain, for his own services and those of four tribes aggregating over six thousand warriors, a sum of fifty-five thousand dollars a year. mcgillivray did very well as superintendent of massacres; but the spaniard required a different type of man, an american who enjoyed his country's trust, to bring the larger plan to fruition. miró found that man in general james wilkinson, lately of the continental army and now a resident of kentucky, which territory wilkinson undertook to deliver to spain, for a price. in wilkinson secretly took the oath of allegiance to spain and is listed in the files of the spanish secret service, appropriately, as number thirteen. he was indeed the thirteenth at table, the judas at the feast. somewhat under middle height, wilkinson was handsome, graceful, and remarkably magnetic. of a good, if rather impoverished, maryland family, he was well educated and widely read for the times. with a brilliant and versatile intellectuality and ready gifts as a speaker, he swayed men easily. he was a bold soldier and was endowed with physical courage, though when engaged in personal contests he seldom exerted it--preferring the red tongue of slander or the hired assassin's shot from behind cover. his record fails to disclose one commendable trait. he was inordinately avaricious, but love of money was not his whole motive force: he had a spirit so jealous and malignant that he hated to the death another man's good. he seemed to divine instantly wherein other men were weak and to understand the speediest and best means of suborning them to his own interests--or of destroying them. wilkinson was able to lure a number of kentuckians into the separatist movement. george rogers clark seriously disturbed the arch plotter by seizing a spanish trader's store wherewith to pay his soldiers, whom virginia had omitted to recompense. this act aroused the suspicions of the spanish, either as to number thirteen's perfect loyalty or as to his ability to deliver the western country. in , when clark led two thousand men against the ohio indians in his last and his only unsuccessful campaign, wilkinson had already settled himself near the falls (louisville) and had looked about for mischief which he might do for profit. whether his influence had anything to do with what amounted virtually to a mutiny among clark's forces is not ascertainable; but, for a disinterested onlooker, he was overswift to spread the news of clark's debacle and to declare gleefully that clark's sun of military glory had now forever set. it is also known that he later served other generals treacherously in indian expeditions and that he intrigued with mad anthony wayne's kentucky troops against their commander. spain did not wish to see the indians crushed; and wilkinson himself both hated and feared any other officer's prestige. how long he had been in foreign pay we can only conjecture, for, several years before he transplanted his activities to kentucky, he had been one of a cabal against washington. not only his ambitions but his nature must inevitably have brought him to the death-battle with george rogers clark. as a military leader, clark had genius, and soldiering was his passion. in nature, he was open, frank, and bold to make foes if he scorned a man's way as ignoble or dishonest. wilkinson suavely set about scheming for clark's ruin. his communication or memorial to the virginia assembly--signed by himself and a number of his friends--villifying clark, ended clark's chances for the commission in the continental army which he craved. it was wilkinson who made public an incriminating letter which had clark's signature attached and which clark said he had never seen. it is to be supposed that number thirteen was responsible also for the malevolent anonymous letter accusing clark of drunkenness and scheming which, so strangely, found its way into the calendar of state papers of virginia.¹ as a result, clark was censured by virginia. thereupon he petitioned for a court of inquiry, but this was not granted. wilkinson had to get rid of clark; for if clark, with his military gifts and his power over men, had been elevated to a position of command under the smile of the government, there would have been small opportunity for james wilkinson to lead the kentuckians and to gather in spanish gold. so the machinations of one of the vilest traitors who ever sold his country were employed to bring about the stultification and hence the downfall of a great servant. ¹ see thomas m. greene's _the spanish conspiracy,_ p. , footnote. it is possible that wilkinson's intrigues provide data for a new biography of clark which may recast in some measure the accepted view of clark at this period. wilkinson's chief aids were the irishmen, o'fallon, nolan, and powers. through nolan, he also vended spanish secrets. he sold, indeed, whatever and whomever he could get his price for. so clever was he that he escaped detection, though he was obliged to remove some suspicions. he succeeded wayne as commander of the regular army in . he was one of the commissioners to receive louisiana when the purchase was arranged in . he was still on the spanish pay roll at that time. wilkinson's true record came to light only when the spanish archives were opened to investigators. there were british agents also in the old southwest, for the dissatisfaction of the western men inspired in englishmen the hope of recovering the mississippi basin. lord dorchester, governor of canada, wrote to the british government that he had been approached by important westerners; but he received advice from england to move slowly. for complicity in the british schemes, william blount, who was first territorial governor of tennessee and later a senator from that state, was expelled from the senate. surely there was never a more elaborate network of plots that came to nothing! the concession to americans in of the right of navigation on the mississippi brought an end to the scheming. in the same year tennessee was admitted to the union, and john sevier was elected governor. sevier's popularity was undiminished, though there were at this time some sixty thousand souls in tennessee, many of whom were late comers who had not known him in his heyday. his old power to win men to him must have been as strong as ever, for it is recorded that he had only to enter a political meeting--no matter whose--for the crowd to cheer him and shout for him to give them a talk. this adulation of sevier still annoyed a few men who had ambitions of their own. among these was andrew jackson, who had come to jonesborough in , just after the collapse of the state of franklin. he was twenty-one at that time, and he is said to have entered jonesborough riding a fine racer and leading another, with a pack of hunting dogs baying or nosing along after him. a court record dated may , , avers that andrew jackson, esq. came into court and produced a licence as an attorney with a certificate sufficiently attested of his taking the oath necessary to said office and was admitted to practiss as an attorney in the county courts. jackson made no history in old watauga during that year. next year he moved to nashville, and one year later, when the superior court was established ( ), he became prosecuting attorney. the feud between jackson and sevier began about the time that tennessee entered the union. jackson, then twenty-nine, was defeated for the post of major general of the militia through the influence which sevier exercised against him, and it seems that jackson never forgave this opposition to his ambitions. by the close of sevier's third term, however, in , when archibald roane became governor, the post of major general was again vacant. both sevier and jackson offered themselves for it, and jackson was elected by the deciding vote of the governor, the military vote having resulted in a tie. a strong current of influence had now set in against sevier and involved charges against his honor. his old enemy tipton was still active. the basis of the charges was a file of papers from the entry-taker's office which a friend of tipton's had laid before the governor, with an affidavit to the effect that the papers were fraudulent. both the governor and jackson believed the charges. when we consider what system or lack of system of land laws and land entries obtained in watauga and such primitive communities--when a patch of corn sealed a right and claims were made by notching trees with tomahawks--we may imagine that a file from the land office might appear easily enough to smirch a landholder's integrity. the scandal was, of course, used in an attempt to ruin sevier's candidacy for a fourth term as governor and to make certain roane's reëlection. to this end jackson bent all his energies but without success. nolichucky jack was elected, for the fourth time, as governor of tennessee. not long after his inauguration, sevier met jackson in knoxville, where jackson was holding court. the charges against sevier were then being made the subject of legislative investigation instituted by tipton, and jackson had published a letter in the knoxville _gazette_ supporting them. at the sight of jackson, sevier flew into a rage, and a fiery altercation ensued. the two men were only restrained from leaping on each other by the intervention of friends. the next day jackson sent sevier a challenge which sevier accepted, but with the stipulation that the duel take place outside the state. jackson insisted on fighting in knoxville, where the insult had been offered. sevier refused. i have some respect, he wrote, for the laws of the state over which i have the honor to preside, although you, a judge, appear to have none. no duel followed; but, after some further _billets-doux_, jackson published sevier as a base coward and poltroon. he will basely insult but has not the courage to repair the wound. again they met, by accident, and jackson rushed upon sevier with his cane. sevier dismounted and drew his pistol but made no move to fire. jackson, thereupon, also drew his weapon. once more friends interfered. it is presumable that neither really desired the duel. by killing nolichucky jack, jackson would have ended his own career in tennessee--if sevier's tribe of sons had not, by a swifter means, ended it for him. at this date jackson was thirty-six. sevier was fifty-eight; and he had seventeen children. the charges against sevier, though pressed with all the force that his enemies could bring to bear, came to nothing. he remained the governor of tennessee for another six years--the three terms in eight years allowed by the constitution. in he was sent to congress for the second time, as he had represented the territory there twenty years earlier. he was returned again in . at the conclusion of his term in he went into the creek country as commissioner to determine the creek boundaries, and here, far from his bonnie kate and his tribe, he died of fever at the age of seventy. his body was buried with full military honors at tuckabatchee, one of the creek towns. in , sevier's remains were removed to knoxville and a high marble spire was raised above them. his indian enemies forgave the chastisement he had inflicted on them and honored him. in times of peace they would come to him frequently for advice. and in his latter days, the chiefs would make state visits to his home on the nolichucky river. john sevier is a good man--so declared the cherokee, old tassel, making himself the spokesman of history. sevier had survived his old friend, co-founder with him of watauga, by one year. james robertson had died in at the age of seventy-two, among the chickasaws, and his body, like that of his fellow pioneer, was buried in an indian town and lay there until , when it was removed to nashville. what of the red tribes who had fought these great pioneers for the wide land of the old southwest and who in the end had received their dust and treasured it with honor in the little soil remaining to them? always the new boundary lines drew closer in, and the red men's foothold narrowed before the pushing tread of the whites. the day came soon when there was no longer room for them in the land of their fathers. but far off across the great river there was a land the white men did not covet yet. thither at last the tribes--cherokee, choctaw, chickasaw, and creek--took their way. with wives and children, maids and youths, the old and the young, with all their goods, their cattle and horses, in the company of a regiment of american troops, they--like the white men who had superseded them--turned westward. in their faces also was the red color of the west, but not newly there. from the beginning of their race, destiny had painted them with the hue of the brief hour of the dying sun. chapter xi boone's last days one spring day in , there might have been observed a great stir through the valley of the kanawha. with the dawn, men were ahorse, and women, too. wagons crowded with human freight wheeled over the rough country, and boats, large and small, were afloat on the streams which pour into the great kanawha and at length mingle with the ohio at point pleasant, where the battle was fought which opened the gates of kentucky. some of the travelers poured into the little settlement at the junction of the elk and the kanawha, where charleston now lies. others, who had been later in starting or had come from a greater distance, gathered along the banks of the kanawha. at last shouts from those stationed farthest up the stream echoed down the valley and told the rest that what they had come out to see was at hand. several pirogues drifted into view on the river, now brightening in the sunshine. in the vessels were men and their families; bales and bundles and pieces of household furnishings, heaped to the gunwale; a few cattle and horses standing patiently. but it was for one man above all that the eager eyes of the settlers were watching, and him they saw clearly as his boat swung by--a tall figure, erect and powerful, his keen friendly blue eyes undimmed and his ruddy face unlined by time, though sixty-five winters had frosted his black hair. for a decade these settlers had known daniel boone, as storekeeper, as surveyor, as guide and soldier. they had eaten of the game he killed and lavishly distributed. and they too--like the folk of clinch valley in the year of dunmore's war--had petitioned virginia to bestow military rank upon their protector. lieutenant colonel had been his title among them, by their demand. once indeed he had represented them in the virginia assembly and, for that purpose, trudged to richmond with rifle and hunting dog. not interested in the legislature's proceedings, he left early in the session and tramped home again. but not even the esteem of friends and neighbors could hold the great hunter when the deer had fled. so daniel boone was now on his way westward to missouri, to a new land of fabled herds and wide spaces, where the hunter's gun might speak its one word with authority and where the soul of a silent and fearless man might find its true abode in nature's solitude. waving his last farewells, he floated past the little groups--till their shouts of good will were long silenced, and his fleet swung out upon the ohio. as boone sailed on down the beautiful river which forms the northern boundary of kentucky, old friends and newcomers who had only heard his fame rode from far and near to greet and godspeed him on his way. sometimes he paused for a day with them. once at least--this was in cincinnati where he was taking on supplies--some one asked him why, at his age, he was leaving the settled country to dare the frontier once more. too crowded, he answered; i want more elbow-room! boone settled at the femme osage creek on the missouri river, twenty-five miles above st. charles, where the missouri flows into the mississippi. there were four other kentucky families at la charette, as the french inhabitants called the post, but these were the only americans. the spanish authorities granted boone acres of land, and here daniel built the last cabin home he was to erect for himself and his rebecca. the region pleased him immensely. the governmental system, for instance, was wholly to his mind. taxes were infinitesimal. there were no elections, assemblies, or the like. a single magistrate, or syndic, decided all disputes and made the few regulations and enforced them. there were no land speculators, no dry-mouthed sons of the commercial tantalus, athirst for profits. boone used to say that his first years in missouri were the happiest of his life, with the exception of his first long hunt in kentucky. in he was appointed syndic of the district of femme osage, which office he filled for four years, until louisiana became american territory. he was held in high esteem as a magistrate because of his just and wise treatment of his flock, who brought him all their small bickerings to settle. he had no use for legal procedure, would not listen to any nice subtleties, saying that he did not care anything at all about the evidence, what he wanted was the truth. his favorite penalty for offenders was the hickory rod well laid on. often he decided that both parties in a suit were equally to blame and chastised them both alike. when in march, , the american commissioner received louisiana for the united states, delassus, lieutenant governor of upper louisiana, reporting on the various officials in the territory, wrote of the femme osage syndic: mr. boone, a respectable old man, just and impartial, he has already, since i appointed him, offered his resignation owing to his infirmities. believing i know his probity, i have induced him to remain, in view of my confidence in him, for the public good.¹ * thwaites, _daniel boone._ to this and other biographies of boone, cited in the bibliographical note at the end of this volume, the author is indebted for the material contained in this chapter. daniel, no doubt supposing that a syndic's rights were inviolable, had neglected to apply to the governor at new orleans for a ratification of his grant. he was therefore dispossessed. not until , and after he had enlisted the kentucky legislature in his behalf, did he succeed in inducing congress to restore his land. the kentucky legislature's resolution was adopted because of the many eminent services rendered by colonel boone in exploring and settling the western country, from which great advantages have resulted not only to the state but to the country in general, and that from circumstances over which he had no control he is now reduced to poverty; not having so far as appears an acre of land out of the vast territory he has been a great instrument in peopling. daniel was seventy-six then; so it was late in the day for him to have his first experience of justice in the matter of land. perhaps it pleased him, however, to hear that, in confirming his grant, congress had designated him as the man who has opened the way for millions of his fellow-men. the infirmities which had caused the good syndic to seek relief from political cares must have been purely magisterial. the hunter could have been very little affected by them, for as soon as he was freed from his duties boone took up again the silent challenge of the forest. usually one or two of his sons or his son-in-law, flanders calloway, accompanied him, but sometimes his only companions were an old indian and his hunting dog. on one of his hunting trips he explored a part of kansas; and in , when he was eighty, he hunted big game in the yellowstone where again his heart rejoiced over great herds as in the days of his first lone wanderings in the blue grass country. at last, with the proceeds of these expeditions he was able to pay the debts he had left behind in kentucky thirty years before. the story runs that daniel had only fifty cents remaining when all the claims had been settled, but so contented was he to be able to look an honest man in the face that he was in no disposition to murmur over his poverty. when after a long and happy life his wife died in , boone lived with one or other of his sons¹ and sometimes with flanders calloway. nathan boone, with whom daniel chiefly made his home, built what is said to have been the first stone house in missouri. evidently the old pioneer disapproved of stone houses and of the luxuries in furnishings which were then becoming possible to the new generation, for one of his biographers speaks of visiting him in a log addition to his son's house; and when chester harding, the painter, visited him in for the purpose of doing his portrait, he found boone dwelling in a small log cabin in nathan's yard. when harding entered, boone was broiling a venison steak on the end of his ramrod. during the sitting, one day, harding asked boone if he had ever been lost in the woods when on his long hunts in the wilderness. ¹ boone's son nathan won distinction in the war of and entered the regular army, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. daniel morgan boone is said to have been the first settler in kansas ( ). one of daniel's grandsons, bearing the name of albert gallatin boone, was a pioneer of colorado and was to the forefront in rocky mountain exploration. another grandson was the scout, kit carson, who led frémont to california. no, i never got lost, boone replied reflectively, but i was bewildered once for three days. though now having reached the age of eighty-five, daniel was intensely interested in california and was enthusiastic to make the journey thither next spring and so to flee once more from the civilization which had crept westward along his path. the resolute opposition of his sons, however, prevented the attempt. a few men who sought out boone in his old age have left us brief accounts of their impressions. among these was audubon. the stature and general appearance of this wanderer of the western forests, the naturalist wrote, approached the gigantic. his chest was broad, and prominent; his muscular powers displayed themselves in every limb; his countenance gave indication of his great courage, enterprise and perseverance; and, when he spoke, the very motion of his lips brought the impression that whatever he uttered could not be otherwise than strictly true. audubon spent a night under boone's roof. he related afterwards that the old hunter, having removed his hunting shirt, spread his blankets on the floor and lay down there to sleep, saying that he found it more comfortable than a bed. a striking sketch of boone is contained in a few lines penned by one of his earliest biographers: he had what phrenologists would have considered a model head--with a forehead peculiarly high, noble and bold, thin compressed lips, a mild clear blue eye, a large and prominent chin and a general expression of countenance in which fearlessness and courage sat enthroned and which told the beholder at a glance what he had been and was formed to be. in criticizing the various portraits of daniel, the same writer says: they want the high port and noble daring of his countenance.… never was old age more green, or gray hairs more graceful. his high, calm, bold forehead seemed converted by years into iron. although we are indebted to these and other early chroniclers for many details of boone's life, there was one event which none of his biographers has related; yet we know that it must have taken place. even the bare indication of it is found only in the narrative of the adventures of two other explorers. it was in the winter of that these two men came to boone's settlement, as la charette was now generally called. they had planned to make their winter camp there, for in the spring, when the missouri rose to the flood, they and their company of frontiersmen were to take their way up that uncharted stream and over plains and mountains in quest of the pacific ocean. they were refused permission by the spanish authorities to camp at boone's settlement; so they lay through the winter some forty miles distant on the illinois side of the mississippi, across from the mouth of the missouri. since the records are silent, we are free to picture as we choose their coming to the settlement during the winter and again in the spring, for we know that they came. we can imagine, for instance, the stir they made in la charette on some sparkling day when the frost bit and the crusty snow sent up a dancing haze of diamond points. we can see the friendly french _habitants_ staring after the two young leaders and their men--all mere boys, though they were also husky, seasoned frontiersmen--with their bronzed faces of english cast, as in their gayly fringed deerskins they swaggered through the hamlet to pay their respects to the syndic. we may think of that dignitary as smoking his pipe before his fireplace, perhaps; or making out, in his fantastic spelling, a record of his primitive court--for instance, that he had on that day given pierre a dozen hickory thwacks, well laid on, for starting a brawl with antoine, and had bestowed the same upon antoine for continuing the brawl with pierre. a knock at the door would bring the amiable invitation to enter, and the two young men would step across his threshold, while their followers crowded about the open door and hailed the old pathfinder. one of the two leaders--the dark slender man with a subtle touch of the dreamer in his resolute face--was a stranger; but the other, with the more practical mien and the shock of hair that gave him the name of red head among the tribes, boone had known as a lad in kentucky. to daniel and this young visitor the encounter would be a simple meeting of friends, heightened in pleasure and interest somewhat, naturally, by the adventure in prospect. but to us there is something vast in the thought of daniel boone, on his last frontier, grasping the hands of william clark and meriwether lewis. as for the rough and hearty mob at the door, daniel must have known not a few of them well; though they had been children in the days when he and william clark's brother strove for kentucky. it seems fitting that the soldiers with this expedition should have come from the garrison at kaskaskia; since the taking of that fort in by george rogers clark had opened the western way from the boundaries of kentucky to the mississippi. and among the young kentuckians enlisted by william clark were sons of the sturdy fighters of still an earlier border line, clinch and holston valley men who had adventured under another lewis at point pleasant. daniel would recognize in these--such as charles floyd--the young kinsmen of his old-time comrades whom he had preserved from starvation in the kentucky wilderness by the kill from his rifle as they made their long march home after dunmore's war. in may, lewis and clark's pirogues ascended the missouri and the leaders and men of the expedition spent another day in la charette. once again, at least, daniel was to watch the westward departure of pioneers. in , when the astorians passed, one of their number pointed to the immobile figure of an old man on the bank, who, he said, was daniel boone. sometimes the aged pioneer's mind cast forward to his last journey, for which his advancing years were preparing him. he wrote on the subject to a sister, in , revealing in a few simple lines that the faith whereby he had crossed, if not more literally removed, mountains was a fixed star, and that he looked ahead fearlessly to the dark trail he must tread by its single gleam. autumn was tinting the forest and the tang he loved was in the air when the great hunter passed. the date of boone's death is given as september , . he was in his eighty-sixth year. unburdened by the pangs of disease he went out serenely, by the gentle marches of sleep, into the new country. the convention for drafting the constitution of missouri, in session at st. louis, adjourned for the day, and for twenty days thereafter the members wore crape on their arms as a further mark of respect for the great pioneer. daniel was laid by rebecca's side, on the bank of teugue creek, about a mile from the missouri river. in , the missouri legislators hearkened to oft-repeated pleas from kentucky and surrendered the remains of the pioneer couple. their bones lie now in frankfort, the capital of the once dark and bloody ground, and in a monument was raised over them. to us it seems rather that kentucky itself is boone's monument; even as those other great corn states, illinois and indiana, are clark's. there, these two servants unafraid, who sacrificed without measure in the wintry winds of man's ingratitude, are each year memorialized anew; when the earth in summer--the season when the red man slaughtered--lifts up the full grain in the ear, the life-giving corn; and when autumn smiles in golden peace over the stubble fields, where the reaping and binding machines have hummed a nation's harvest song. bibliographical note the races and their migration c. a. hanna, _the scotch-irish,_ vols. new york, . a very full if somewhat over-enthusiastic study. h. j. ford, _the scotch-irish in america._ princeton, . excellent. a. g. spangenberg, extracts from his journal of travels in north carolina, . publication of the southern history association. vol. i, . a. b. faust, _the german element in the united states,_ vols. ( ). j. p. maclean, _an historical account of the settlements of scotch highlanders in america_ ( ). s. h. cobb, _the story of the palatines_ ( ). n. d. mereness (editor), _travels in the american colonies._ new york, . this collection contains the diary of the moravian brethren cited in the first chapter of the present volume. life in the back country joseph doddridge, _notes on the settlements and indian wars of the western parts of virginia and pennsylvania,_ from to . albany, . an intimate description of the daily life of the early settlers in the back country by one of themselves. j. f. d. smyth, _tour in the united states of america,_ vols. london, . minute descriptions of the back country and interesting pictures of the life of the settlers; biased as to political views by royalist sympathies. william h. foote, _sketches of north carolina,_ new york, . see foote also for history of the first presbyterian ministers in the back country. as to political history, inaccurate. early history and exploration j. s. bassett (editor), _the writings of colonel william byrd of westover._ new york, . a contemporary record of early virginia. thomas walker, _journal of an exploration in the spring of the year ._ boston, . the record of his travels by the discoverer of cumberland gap. william m. darlington (editor), _christopher gist's journals._ pittsburgh, . contains gist's account of his surveys for the ohio company, . c. a. hanna, _the wilderness trail,_ vols. new york, . an exhaustive work of research, with full accounts of croghan and findlay. see also croghan's and johnson's correspondence in vol. vii, new york colonial records. james adair, _the history of the american indians,_ etc. london, . the personal record of a trader who was one of the earliest explorers of the alleghanies and of the mississippi region east of the river; a many-sided work, intensely interesting. c. w. alvord, _the genesis of the proclamation of ._ reprinted from canadian archives report, . a new and authoritative interpretation. in this connection see also the correspondence between sir william johnson and the lords of trade in vol. vii of new york colonial records. justin winsor, _the mississippi basin. the struggle in america between england and france._ cambridge, . presents the results of exhaustive research and the coördination of facts by an historian of broad intellect and vision. _colonial and state records of north carolina._ vols. the chief fountain source of the early history of north carolina and tennessee. w. h. hoyt, _the mecklenburg declaration of independence._ new york, . this book presents the view generally adopted by historians, that the alleged declaration of may , , is spurious. justin winsor (editor), _narrative and critical history of america._ vols. ( - ). also _the westward movement._ cambridge, . both works of incalculable value to the student. c. w. alvord, _the mississippi valley in british politics._ vols. cleveland, . a profound work of great value to students. kentucky r. g. thwaites and l. p. kellogg (editors), _documentary history of dunmore's war, ._ compiled from the draper manuscripts in the library of the wisconsin historical society. madison, . a collection of interesting and valuable documents with a suggestive introduction. r. g. thwaites, _daniel boone._ new york, . a short and accurate narrative of boone's life and adventures compiled from the draper manuscripts and from earlier printed biographies. john p. hale, _daniel boone, some facts and incidents not hitherto published._ a pamphlet giving an account of boone in west virginia. printed at wheeling, west virginia. undated. timothy flint, _the first white man of the west or the life and exploits of colonel dan'l boone._ cincinnati, . valuable only as regards boone's later years. john s. c. abbott, _daniel boone, the pioneer of kentucky._ new york, . fairly accurate throughout. j. m. peck, _daniel boone_ (in sparks, _library of american biography._ boston, ). william henry bogart. _daniel boone and the hunters of kentucky._ new york, . william hayden english, _conquest of the country northwest of the river ohio, - , and life of general george rogers clark,_ vols. indianapolis, . an accurate and valuable work for which the author has made painstaking research among printed and unprinted documents. contains clark's own account of his campaigns, letters he wrote on public and personal matters, and also letters from contemporaries in defense of his reputation. theodore roosevelt, _the winning of the west,_ vols. new york, - . a vigorous and spirited narrative. tennessee j. g. m. ramsey, _the annals of tennessee._ charleston, . john haywood, _the civil and political history of the state of tennessee._ nashville, . (reprint from .) these works, with the north carolina _colonial records,_ are the source books of early tennessee. in statistics, such as numbers of indians and other foes defeated by tennessee heroes, not reliable. incorrect as to causes of indian wars during the revolution. on this subject see letters and reports by john and henry stuart in north carolina _colonial records,_ vol. x; and letters by general gage and letters and proclamation by general ethan allen in american archives, fourth series, vol. ii, and by president rutledge of south carolina in north carolina _colonial records,_ vol. x. see also justin winsor, _the westward movement._ j. allison, _dropped stitches in tennessee history._ nashville, . contains interesting matter relative to andrew jackson in his younger days as well as about other striking figures of the time. f. m. turner, _the life of general john sevier._ new york, . a fairly accurate narrative of events in which sevier participated, compiled from the _draper manuscripts._ a. w. putnam, _history of middle tennessee, or life and times of general james robertson._ nashville, . a rambling lengthy narrative containing some interesting material and much that is unreliable. its worst fault is distortion through sentimentality, and indulgence in the habit of putting the author's rodomontades into the mouths of robertson and other characters. j. s. bassett, _regulators of north carolina,_ in report of the american historical association, . l. c. draper, _king's mountain and its heroes._ cincinnati, . the source book on this event. contains interesting biographical material about the men engaged in the battle. french and spanish intrigues henry doniol, _histoire de la participation de la france á l'établissement des États-unis d'amérique,_ vols. paris, - . a complete exposition of the french and spanish policy towards america during the revolutionary period. manuel serrano y sanz, _el brigadier jaime wilkinson y sus tratos con españa para la independencia del kentucky, años á ._ madrid, . a spanish view of wilkinson's intrigues with spain, based on letters and reports in the spanish archives. thomas marshall green, _the spanish conspiracy._ cincinnati, . a good local account, from american sources. the best material on this subject is found in justin winsor's _the westward movement and narrative and critical history_ because there viewed against a broad historical background. see winsor also for the latin intrigues in tennessee. for material on alexander mcgillivray see the american archives and the colonial records of georgia. edward s. corwin, _french policy and the american alliance of ._ princeton, . deals chiefly with the commercial aspects of french policy and should be read in conjunction with winsor, jay, and fitzmaurice's _life of william, earl of shelburne._ vols. london, . john jay, _on the peace negotiations of - as illustrated by the secret correspondence of france and england._ new york, . a paper read before the american historical association, may , . the chronicles of america series . the red man's continent by ellsworth huntington . the spanish conquerors by irving berdine richman . elizabethan sea-dogs by william charles henry wood . the crusaders of new france by william bennett munro . pioneers of the old south by mary johnson . the fathers of new england by charles mclean andrews . dutch and english on the hudson by maud wilder goodwin . the quaker colonies by sydney george fisher . colonial folkways by by charles mclean andrews . the conquest of new france by george mckinnon wrong . the eve of the revolution by carl lotus becker . washington and his comrades in arms by george mckinnon wrong . the fathers of the constitution by max farrand . washington and his colleagues by henry jones ford . jefferson and his colleagues by allen johnson . john marshall and the constitution by edward samuel corwin . the fight for a free sea by ralph delahaye paine . pioneers of the old southwest by constance lindsay skinner . the old northwest by frederic austin ogg . the reign of andrew jackson by frederic austin ogg . the paths of inland commerce by archer butler hulbert . adventurers of oregon by constance lindsay skinner . the spanish borderlands by herbert e. bolton . texas and the mexican war by nathaniel wright stephenson . the forty-niners by stewart edward white . the passing of the frontier by emerson hough . the cotton kingdom by william e. dodd . the anti-slavery crusade by jesse macy . abraham lincoln and the union by nathaniel wright stephenson . the day of the confederacy by nathaniel wright stephenson . captains of the civil war by william charles henry wood . the sequel of appomattox by walter lynwood fleming . the american spirit in education by edwin e. slosson . the american spirit in literature by bliss perry . our foreigners by samuel peter orth . the old merchant marine by ralph delahaye paine . the age of invention by holland thompson . the railroad builders by john moody . the age of big business by burton jesse hendrick . the armies of labor by samuel peter orth . the masters of capital by john moody . the new south by holland thompson . the boss and the machine by samuel peter orth . the cleveland era by henry jones ford . the agrarian crusade by solon justus buck . the path of empire by carl russell fish . theodore roosevelt and his times by harold howland . woodrow wilson and the world war by charles seymour . the canadian dominion by oscar d. skelton . the hispanic nations of the new world by william r. shepherd transcriber notes the author spelled powderhorns on p , but used a hyphen for powder-horns on p . the inconsistencies were retained, and were entirely a function of the author. on p and p the word pack-horse was hyphenated between two lines. since the author wrote pack-horse five times in the middle of a sentence, with the hyphen, and did not write packhorse, both words were transcribed pack-horse. p - tach-nech-dor-us was hyphenated between two lines, so the name could have been transcribed tachnech-dor-us. wikipedia has an entry on chief logan from the yellow creek massacre. the name was spelled without hyphens, tachnechdorus. the proper transcription was to place hyphens after each syllable, tach-nech-dor-us. the author referred to the back water men on p . on p , the _backwater men_ were quoted. my interpretation is that the author borrowed that spelling from another source, without necessarily approving of it. major patrick ferguson capitalized back water, separated the syllables by a space, but alternately capitalized men on p , while not doing so in his proclamation presented on p . the back water men and back water men of ferguson make it four different spellings for the same word in the same chapter.