e/ . /e-^^ C'lii cry-^ O <> cy-^ 42-e-t' lii,m ^(fi tjA )! V k fi- ^:^ ^'■ b^0 ;toB PAGES AND PICTURES, THE WRITINGS JAMES FENIMORE COOPER, WITH XOTES BY SUSAN FENIMORE COOPER. lUnstratcb, on ,S>tEcl anb JSloob, from (Drininal ptabings. NEW YORK: W. A TOWNSEND AND COMPANY 1861. v«v Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one. by W. A. TOWNSEND & CO., in the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York. C. A. ALVORD, PRINTER, NEW YORK. TO COMMODORE WILLIAM BRAOTORD SHUBRICK, OF THE UNITED STATES NA\'Y, THE FRIEXD OF HIS EARLY YOUTH AND OF HIS LATEST TEARS, FKOil THE WRITINGS OF JAMES FEXIMORE (JOOPKK, ARE VERY RESPECTFULLY, AND AFFECTIONATELY, INSfcRIBED, BY THE EDITOR. PREFACE. The earlier works of every national literature must always possess an interest jiecnllar to tliemselves ; an interest wHcL. may even, to a certain degree, be independent of any merit of tHeir o^Yn, and natm-ally connected with tlie period to which they l)elong. There can be nothing, of course, of the peculiar charm of remote time connected with any work dating with the present century : if, in the quaint ballad, the laide chronicle of early English wi'iting, the figures all move, as it were, amid the long shadows of the dawn, thrown into high and picturesque relief by the morning light, we are prej^ared for something far less striking and peculiar in the form of any literatiu-e coming into being in the noontide of full civilization. Still, there will always be something of a peculiar movement and coloring connected with the first intellectual work of every independent people ; something which gives claim to a degree of especial attention to the earlier volumes of every national library, how- ever brilliant may be those which fill succeeding shelves. And while a dozen years of American history, at this period of time, effect the changes which have requii'ed centuries with older nations, the fact gives already to works of the last fifty years, something of the interest of a past condition of existence. The writings of Mr. Fenimore Cooper, from PREFACE. their date ;iud theii' spirit, must always hold this position to the Ameri- can readei'. They jjossess another claim, also, which to the present hour is peculiar ; they flow fi'om a fountain more copious than any other opened, until now, on the same soil ; it is l^elieved that no author this side of the Atlantic has written so fully. A long succession of works possessing merit in themselves, I'eaching to so large a number, and cover- ing, in their composition, so long a jieriod of time, must always possess a degree of importance which cannot Ijelong to any isolated book. Each work, in a series of this nature, ap})ears not only in its individual char- acter, but also as a member of a grouji ; if the Avritings have any merit singly, they carry with them additional value in theii* full literary com- pany ; each, like the pearl in a chain, giving and receiving something of lioht and worth, as it is found linked with others. The volume now open l)efore the reader, contains a selection of episodes from the writings of Mr. Fenimore Cooper, illustrated, it is scarcely necessary to observe, Ijy artists of acknoAvledged merit. Con- nected with the extracts, will l;)e found notes relating to the different works whence the images have been dra^ATi. It was at first the intention to give a passage from each of the different works of the imagination from the same pen ; but the size and nature of the volume, so copiously illustrated, have rendered it necessary to omit a portion of the series, and among these, several favorite works. It is hoped, however, that the book is sufiiciently complete in its present form to give pleasure to the reader from the variety of its passages, while the notes may aiford him a clearer idea than he has yet received, of a long and important series connected vnth American literature. s. F. c. COOPEESTOWN, iSep. 15t/i, 1860. CONTENTS. Introduction. — Precaution — First composition — Proud heroic romance — The ballad — The first sale — Elaborate imitation — Supposed English origin of the book — Extract — Charity, . . . . • • . .13 n. The Spt. — -Westchester county and its traditions of the Revolution — Godfrey's Cave — Haunted wood — Uncle John — The Silver Grays — Conversation with Governor Jay — Origin of the book — An acute critic — Last chapter written and paged before those preceding it — Unlooked-for success — Extract, Harvey and his father in the cottage, . . . . . . . .26 III. The Pioneers. — The author's boyhood — Lake Otsego — Master Cory — The organ — The Beggar's Petition — School-boy's journe)- to Albany — The great turnpike — A third book planned — Natty and Shipnian — il. Le Quoy — Hausman — Father Nash not the original of Mr. Grant — Indian alarm — Extract, Pigeon-shooting, . 48 IV. The Pilot. — Conversation at the table of Mr. Wilkes — Sudden determination to attempt a tale of the sea — Generally discouraged by his friends — Paul Jones — The MS. read to a seaman — Full success of the book — Extractn, Battle of tlie Bon Homme Richard — The Frigate, . . . . . ,72 C O N T K N T S . Lionel Lincoln. — Difficulties of the task — Character luitural, but author's sympathies not sufficiently aroused — Ralph — Job Pray — Legend of the Thirteen Republics —Extract, Battle of Bunker Hill, . . . . . .99 VI The Last of the Mohicans. — Excursion — Catskill — Natty's description — English travellers — Lake George — Glenn's Falls — Promise given in the cave — First Lidian romance — The author's illness — Very rapidly written — Name of Horican — ^j- ,l C. H. Smith, 347 . C. A. Jewett, 353 '• W. W. Rice, 359 . R. Martin, 366 " T. PhilUbrown, 372 . 0. H. Cushman, 379 u J. de Mare, 390 ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD. Lake Otsego from Hyde, Blackbird Point, Natty Bumppo's Cave, Susquehannah, with Mt. Vision in Distance, Lake Otsego from Witchhazel Point, Wild Rose Point, . Primeval Pines, One Hundred and Twenty Head and Tail-Piece Vignette Embellishments. Drawn by F. 0. C. Darley. Engraved by P. F. Annin. J. A. Hows, N. Orr rtions to several jtersons ; t<:) Mr. Charles Wilkes, of N^ew York, a friend of long standing, in whose highly culti- vated taste he had great confldence ; to Mr. James Atcheson, of Otsego county, an Englishman, a man of learning and talent, but of eccentricity of character, in whose society Mr. Cooper took much pleasure ; and to the family of Governor Jay, at Bedford, with M'hom he had from childhood been on terms of intimacy. These partial friends all advised the publication of the tale. Probably one of the greatest compliments the book ever received came from an excellent lady, a guest in the house, present at the Bedford readings : she was convinced that Mr. 20 I N T R O D IT C T I N. Cooper spoke in pleasantry when he declared the MS. to be original ; he was clearly making fun of his audience — she was quite confident that she liad heard that very tale some years earlier. And so well were the general tone and character of the school he imitated kept np, that, even after the publication of the " '^py " ^^^'^ " Pioneers," tlie same excellent lady persisted in the opinion that Mr. Cooper could never have written " Precaution." It was clearly a woman's book. Meanwhile the tale was printed. On the 25th of August, 1820, it was pub- lished by Mr. A. T. Goodrich, of New York, under the title of " Precaution ; or, Prevention is Better than Cure." The original publications of a New York house of that day were, of course, very few in nunjlier. The book attracted a degree of attention. Its literary merits were considered respectable, though not in the least brilliant. The characters were declared natural, and the moral tone was pronounced excellent. Quite as a matter of course, it was supposed, at first, to have been written in England, and by a woman. The publisher, however, declared that it was an American work, and written by a gentleman of New York. Surprise was expressed, and a degree of cui-iosity excited in society ; but most of those who read the book continued quite incredulous. And when, at length, the name of Mr. Cooper began to be whispered in connection with the tale, incredulity ratlier increased — the very suggestion was considered a piece of pleasantry. What American naval officer, it was asked, would be likely to wi'ite a book so English, and so womanly in tone and execution ? In the sense of an elaborate imitation, at least, " Precaiition" may be said to have been thoroughly successful. For a long time it was attributed to an English lady, a near connec- tion of Mr. Cooper's. The reading; world has shown itself much ffiven to indulijinij in fancies of its own regarding the authorship of a new book. One day it is pleased to ascribe a volume to some pen which is perhaps as yet wholly innocent of bookcraft ; at another moment it pertinaciously insists on giving a new work to a distinguished writer, who has, in fact, never read a line of it. In short, it likes to prove itself particularly sagacious in these matters, not easily blinded, very capable of penetrating at a glance mysteries of this s<_>rt. It professes to know intuitively the impossibility of this or that individual writing this or that passage, or to trace the sign manual of some well-known and skilful pen on every page of the last anonymous volume. It enjoys vastly showing itself wiser than its neighbor in this way. It would like to be convinced that Ibjmer never wrote the Iliad, and quite recently it has even shown an inclination to assert that William Shakespeare, of Stratford, had very little to do with Othello and Hamlet. The authorshii) of Junius, we max rest assured, will never be settled bevond all cavil. 1 X T R D U C T I O X . 21 even should Junius liiniself be proved to have thrown off his own mask. In fact, liowever, like all wlio are prone to indulging conceits, the reading world may be quite easily misled. It is little aware of the great facility Avith which the pen of a clever writer assumes diiferent characters — ay, characters often the very opposite of that most natural to the individual who writes. Your grave man, perhaps, shall write very gayly ; few courtiers of the great Louis so truly sober in mood, we are told, as the witty and humorous author of the " Bourgeois Gentilhomme." Few worthies have made their friends laugh more heartily than " Gilpin," that " citizen of credit and renown ;" and yet it was the heavy- hearted Cowper who seated him on horseback. Good-natured tempers may be very capable of writing bitter satire and sharp controversy. Boileau is said to have been an amiable man. Miss Hannah More was blessed with a very hajjpy natural temper, and she has left it on record that controversy could have a certain intellectual charm for her ; after several very severe letters, admirable in their way, and in answer to the attacks of an opponent, she confesses that the task had given her too much pleasure ; she must refrain from any similar work in future. And thus it is that men may assume on paper a quiet womanly tone, and that women may write, if they please, bold and daring pages, quite at variance with the spirit of their own daily life. And in all this there is no hypocrisy. It is simply a work of the intellect, literally jeu d'eiprit ; the mind is amiised with the task it has set itself, and takes pleasure in playing out its own game ; is often, perhaps, led onward far beyond its iirst intention. Tliere are two difterent fountains whence inspiration flows to the writer — the intellect and the heart, thought and feeling. Thought makes the best artist, has greater foresight, a wiser command of means, gives greater completeness, higher finish. But heart has a power even beyond this, a power of life and soul, more entirely swaying human sympathy and action; it has more freshness, mope originality, more sincerity — its highest influences are even more enduring Thought sees truth, and reveals it, or often mav conceal it. Heart feels truth itself, and, with a generous fulness of eloquence all its own, to which no en- thousiasjne de commande can ever attain, compels conviction. Many a highly- polished classic sonnet lies in cold neglect on the library shelf, while the humble ballad, full of true natural feeling, is preserved in affectionate living remem- brance. Tliese two great influences, intellect and feeling, are found acting in partial independence of each other. "What a man writes with the intellect only, may be entirely foreign to his own life — work wholly artificial ; what he really writes from the heart, nrast necessarily have the same coloring as his character — flowing from his own inmost nature, and carry with it something of the inherent 22 INTRODUCTION. force of tnitli. "Have a heart and know it," is tlie advice of the great P(^lish poet. It is, however, where both powers are called into action, in all their fulness, that the noblest wi'itiugs are produced. Where a strong intellect plans, and a generous, upright heart works, there we may look for a great book. Imitation can never, for this reason, attain to the very higliest and most effective excellence — it is a work of the head onlj ; it may be very skilful, quite favdtless, very suc- cessful in its way, but the soul and spirit must ever be wanting. Genius, like the wonderful thrush of the American wood, may have its many voices, it may even condescend to sing its lays to borrowed tunes ; the careless wayfarer is deceived ; passing along, he fancies that he hears the robin, or the ground-sparrow; but when the rare creature pours forth its own noble song, he pauses, with upward gaze, and lingers, lost in delight, listening to those " native wood-notes wild.' " Precaution" was soon reprinted in England, and received much as an English book of the same class might have been. AYhile this tale was written under an assumed name, it must be understood that there were two particulars in which it was perfectly sincere. Tlie author's reverence for the Christian religion, and his respect for purity of female character, were entirely unfeigned. Throughout a long life he was never known to trifle with either subject. The book was very imperfectly 2>rinted on the coarse, dark paper of the day, with almost countless faults of punctuation, and a list of errata closely covering an entire page, at the end of the volume. A copy of the iirst editi^M^--iv^S?-'" II. THE SPY To a s^jirit naturally so free and active as that of the writer of " Precaution," Imitation must soon become wearying and irksome in the extreme. Disguise was now thrown off — and forever. "I will try another book!" he exclaimed, supposing that this second narrative should' prove the last. A field wholly new was chosen. A tale was soon planned. It was to be in one sense historical, yet a book entirely American in scenery, in the characters, and in its spirit. Works of historical romance, brilliant with the proud pageantry of European story, were at that moment filling the eye of the civilized world with their dazzling glamour, displaying figures the most picturesque, yet charm- ingly natural, thrown into striking groiips by a hand the most powerful, the most skilful, which had yet woven the web of English fiction. What materials were there, in our own brief annals, to compare with tliese treasures of tradition ; what was there in our own bare and homely provincial life which could delight the reader's imagination ; what hope had the young American sailor, iintutored in authorcraft, when entering the field held by the veteran writer already great in achievement and fame ? The question was soon to be decided. Patriotism was to be the soul of the new book, and the fact that he was about to move over home ground gave new zest to the work. In his warmly- generous nature, still in the glow of youth, love of country flowed from fountains clear, deep and full, and he was perhaps unconscious himself of all the life and spirit which the feeling was about to infuse into the pages of the new tale. The scene was laid in Westchester county, where he was living at the time — a part of T H K S P Y the country to which he was always partial ; the society found in the different gentlemen's houses scattered over the county was particularly good, and to one as thoroughly social as himself, in all his tastes and habits, a source of much enjoy- ment. Tlie genial, temperate climate was also pleasant, while the sea-breezes, even when sweeping over the country in the form of the local " tliree-days' storm," had their own charm for a sailor's senses. Many lesser incidents of the Revolution, now wholly forgotten, were at that day still living facts in the minds of the people, scarcely yet remote enough for the shadowy perspective of history. Many of those who had taken an active part in the great struggle were still coming in and going out of their children's doors — aged men, telling tales of the different events of the conflict, with all the glow of personal interest. Many a gray-haired housewife, as she sat at the wheel, spinning her thread of flax or wool, could talk of the armies she had seen in her girlhood passing her father's door, marching to and fro, on their way to this or that victory, or retreating, perchance, from this or that defeat. Westches- ter was full of such i-ecollections. There was no portion of the country whose soil, during the eight eventful years of the war, was so often trodden by friend and foe, alike in arms. The city of New York, iinlike any other in the country, was lield, from the very first to the very latest days of the war, by strong garri- sons of one party or the other. Abandoned by General "Washington after the defeat on Long Island, it became from tliat hour the permanent head-quarters of the British commander-in-chief; while American armies, now standing aloof in conscious weakness of numbers, now advancing nearer with returning strength of reinforcement, kept constant watch, their eyes fixed on that important point. Of course, smaller bodies of troops, of both parties, were in unceasing movement over the adjacent countrj', foraging, reconnoitring, skirmishing, as the occasion required. Scarce a narrow lane of the many winding roads of the county, fenced with rude stone walls, liedged with brier and vine, shaded with cedar and oak, as they are, along which trim British troops and ragged American soldiers liad not marched and countermarched by the light of sun or star. Scarce a farm-house door which liad not been darkened by Cow-boy, Hessian, or Skinner, on errand of pillage or violence. Scarce a barnyard which had not been harried, scarce a larder, whether high or low, wliich had not, time and again, been rifled. Here and there still darker work had been done — homes had been destroyed by fire, good yeoman blood had been shed, life had been taken, husband, father, or brother had fallen in some unrecorded skirmish, the hero of a rustic neighbor- hood. Tlie entire country between the American outposts on the skirts of the Highlands, and the British works on the island of Manliattan — the Neutral •2S P A G K S A N D P I C T U R K S . Ground, as it was called by both parties — probably siiffered more in this way than the same extent of country in any part of the Union. Scarsdale and Mamai-oneck lay within this region. The battlefield of WTiite Plains was close at hand ; Fort Washington liad stood on a neighboring height ; Dolib's Ferry, so long a central point of interest for the American forces, lay only a few miles beyond. On the daily drive from Angevine to the nearest post-office at Mamaro- neek, a sj^ot was passed connected with one of the many local traditions of the neighborhood ; iu a pretty thicket, covering a piece of swampy land, a cave was shown in which one of the partisans of the day had lain for some time concealed, fed secretly by friendly hands with food stealthily brought at night, until escape was effected. And again, on the way to the little Huguenot chiu'ch at New Kochelle, the road wound at the foot of a hill, shaded by a pretty grove, which, in sj^ite of its quiet, sunny aspect at the present hour, enjoyed the gloomy honors of a haunted wood — a sharp skirmish had taken place there in the years of the Kevolution, and ever and anon, at solemn midnight hours, ghosts were dimly seen gliding to and fro, aye, it was even whispered that the clashing of their swords had been faintly heard, more than once, on some stormy night ; in vain might proud incredulity shake its head, the inmates of certain old gray cottages, with moss-grown shingled walls, and projecting ovens, knew better ; they be- lieved the fact most firmly. At the foot of the hill on which stood the cottage of Angevine, there was a small farm-house, remarkable in one architectural particular, its four walls show- ing each a different color to the face of the sun — red, yellow, brown, and white. Li this comfortable polychromatic dwelling lived a small farmer who came fre- quently to Angevine, telling his tales of " Godfrey's Cave," and the " haimted wood," or talking over past scenes, in which figured " continentals," " regulars," " rebels," and " refugees" — words carrying strange sounds to our ears to-day. " Uncle John H- " was but one of the number of the yeoman neighbors — some of Huguenot, some of English stock — who gladly came to pass a cheerful evening hour with the master of the house, fighting the county battles over with fresh interest, aroused by the spirited questions, the intelligent sympathy of their host. All, as they drank their glass of cider, picked over their hickory- nuts, or pared their Newtown pippin, had countless deeds of violence, more or less flagrant, to relate, of Cow-boy and Skinner ; all had some family tradition to repeat, of hairbreadth escape, of daring feat, of harried fields, and houses burned. Tliere was one very remarkable tale-teller of the region, long since deceased, while his family have also passed away, far surpassing most narrators, since the days rif the celebrated German, whose reputation in this way was well THE SPY. 29 established in the county ; his anecdotes, however, were chiefly confined to the prowess of a near relative, " Major Broni B ," a hero of the great war, wlio would assuredly have deserved half a dozen pensions had he ever claimed one. Tliis champion commanded, according to the narrator, a family troop, small in number, but most redoubtable in their feats ; all related by blood to " Major Brom," all in uniform of silver gray, and numbering twenty-seven martial spirits in one company. The major was, moreover, the happy owner of a negro, "Bonny," almost as famous as himself, while his gun, "the Buccaneer," had not its fellow on the continent. The various adventures of " Major Brom B.," the twenty-seven silver-grays, Bonny the negro, and Buccaneer the gun, were an un- failing source of entertainment at many firesides in Westchester at that dav. But it was from sources far higher tliau these, that the leading idea of the new book was derived. Visits to Bedford were very frequent at that period. One summer's afternoon, while sitting on the broad piazza of the house. Judge Jav and Mr. Cooper were listening with respectful attention to the remarks of the vener- able Governor Jay, as he related dift'erent facts comiected with the history of the Revolution. Tlie conversation turned more particularly on the s^iirit of true patriotism, as shown by all classes of the jieople, during the struggle. Governor Jay then observed that there were men whose services at critical moments, in obtaining information for the use of the commander-in-chief had been of the greatest importance, and that repeatedly such services had been undertaken at imminent personal risks, from the most disinterested love of country. lie then proceeded to relate a remarkable incident of this natiire, with which he had been himself connected. It was from this interesting conversation, that the idea of the chai-acter of Harvey Birch was now drawn, as the reader will find, in looking over an ensuing extract referring to the incident. Strolling peddlers, stafi:' in hand, and pack at the back, were more common visitors at the country-houses of that day than at the present hour, when these per- sonages usually keep their coaches, and may be called speculators, and wandering traders, rather than old-fashioned peddlers. It was after the \'isit of one of these men, a Yankee peddler of the old sort, to the cottage at Angcvine, that Harvey's lot in life was decided — he was to be a spy, and a peddler. Always rapid in his work, the outline had scarcely been conceived, when the first pages were written. On this occasion, as on all others when writing a book, he first adopted some general leading idea, sketched vaguely in his mind a few of the more prominent characters, and then immediately began his work in its final shape, leaving the details to suggest and develop themselves during the progress of the volume. Excepting when writing history, he is not known to have ever drawn up a written 30 P A « E S A N D P I T U R K S . plan, and in one or two instances only were a few brief notes thrown on paper, regarding some particular chapter. In all the details he depended in a great measure on the thouglit and feeling of the moment. While writhig "The Spy," and one or two of his earliest works, some intimate friend was occasionally consulted. But, ere long, he became quite independent in his action on these matters ; and during thirty years of professional writing, there was but one witli whom he habitually talked over his plot and characters — one only, who was ever his chief counsellor, one in whose taste and judgment he had great confidence. On the 17th of September, 1821, "The Spy, a Tale of the iS^eutral Ground," was published in New York, by Wiley and Ilalsted. Tlic book immediately attracted general attention, probably beyond what any American volume had yet done. It was read with delight. Tlie strikingly original character of Harvey Birch, so clearly conceived, so thoroughly carried out, riveted attention, while the glow pervading the whole narrative, gave interest to every chapter. The critics were taken by surprise — they held their breath. Tliat a book so full of talent, shoidd have been written by an author as j-et unrecognized among them, was strange indeed. A few ventured to praise. Many waited for the word of command from England, ere committing themselves, the common course of things in all literary matters at that day. Meanwhile in society, the work was meeting with brilliant success. It was found on every table, and enjoyed by all classes of readers. Ere long the character of Harvey Birch became so vividly impressed on the public mind, that people expected to see his thin, stooping ligure, gliding across their path, as they drove about the hills and valleys of Westchester. In Europe, " The Spy" had also great siiccess, the interest inherent in the book being naturally increased by its coming from a country whence so little was then expected, in the way of original literature. In England it was well received ; Mr. Cooper was much gratified by a compliment from Miss Edgeworth, who, after expressing the pleasure she had received from the book, sent him a message through a mvitiial friend, declaring that she liked " Betty Flanagan" particularly, and that an Irish pen could not have drawn her better. French translation soon followed. Some very ludicrous mistakes occur in the first French versions. The name given to the Wharton place, " Tlie Locusts" proved a puzzle ; the word was rendered as it was found in the dictionary, " Les Sauterelles" — the Grasshoppers. This might have answered very well, but for one unfortunate fact — a dragoon of Lawton's troop is represented as tying his horse to one of the locusts on the lawn. Here was a difficulty ; the worthy translator, however, belonging evidently to the class " traduttorl, iradltori,'" seems to have taken it for granted, that trans- atlantic grasshoppers must necessarily be of gigantic proportions ; nothing T H E a P V . 31 daunted, he proceeds gravely to state the remarkable fact, that the dragoon se- cured his charger by fastening the bridle to one of the grasshoppers before the door — apparently standing there for that purpose! In another chapter, when giving the passage in which Colonel Wellraere is represented as drawing figures on the dining-table with the wine spilled from his glass, as the gentlemen are sitting over their nuts and Madeira, the sage translator takes occasion to insert a note, in which he calls the reader's attention to a fact showing so clearly the rude style of living in America at that day — even in the house of a man in Mr. Whar- ton's position table-linen was unknown. It was soon reported in New York, among Mr. Cooper's friends, that the book was his own. An amusing incident occurred not long after its publication. The writer was walking in Broadway, when he saw a gentleman, well known to him, cross the street, and advance to meet him ; it was a prominent merchant, a man of money, very well known in Wall street. He came on a friendly errand, to congratulate his acquaintance on the new book, and its success. He was loud in its praises. - " An admirable book — never read any thing more full of spirit and interest in my life !" "I am glad you like it." , " Like it — to be sure I do. From the moment I opened the first volume I could not leave my chair until I had gone through the last chapter. I sat up all night to read it through I" " My friend Harvey is much obliged to you." "I have one criticism to make, however. You dont object to criticism I hope ! I like the book as a whole exceedingly — it is full of interest, every page of it — the character of Harvey is excellent too in most particulars — but there lies the difficulty — you have made one capital mistake in drawing Harvey's charac- ter!" " Indeed, and what may that be ?" " Why, my dear sir, you have given the man no motive ! The character is well drawn in other particulars ; but so much the greater pity that you failed on that point. Just look at the facts ; here is a man getting into all kinds of scrapes, running his neck into the noose, of his own accord, and where, pray, is his motive ? Of course I thought until the last page, that he would be well paid for his services — but just as I expected to see it all made clear as day, he refuses to take the gold General Washington offers him. There was your great mistake — you should have given Harvey some motive !" At a later day, when revising " The Spy" for the last edition, the author was dissatisfied with many things in his work, and once remarked that he should like 32 PALJES AND PICTURES. to write it entirely anew. On several occasions he expressed a regret that he should have introduced General Washington, personally, into a work of fiction, veneration for the character of the great man increasing with his own years. The following account of the Spy is given in Mr. Cooper's words : " The author has often been asked if there were any foundation in real life, for the delineation of the principal character in this book. He can give no clearer answer to the question, than by laying before his readers a simple statement of the facts connected with its original publication. " Many years since, the writer of this volume was at the residence of an illus- trious man, who had been employed in various situations of high trust during the darkest days of the American Kevolution. The discourse turned upon the effettts which great political excitement produce on character, and the purifying conse- quences of a love of country, when that sentiment is powerfully and generally awakened in a ]>eople. He, who, from his years, his services, and his knowledge of men, was best qualified to take the lead in such a conversation, was the princi- pal speaker. After dwelling on the marked manner in which the great struggle of the nation, during the war of 1775, had given a new and honorable direction to the thoughts and practices of multitudes whose time had formerly been en- grossed by the most vulgar concerns of life, he illustrated his opinions by relating an anecdote, the truth of which he could attest as a personal vsdtness. " Tlie dispute between England and the United States of America, though not strictly a family quarrel, had many of the features of a civil war. The people of THE S P Y. 33 the latter were never properly aud constitutionally subject to the people of tlie former, but the inhabitants of both countries owed allegiance to a comnion king. The Americans, as a nation, disavowed this allegiance, and the English, choosing to support their sovereign in the attempt to regain his power, most of the feelings of an internal struggle were involved in the conflict. A large proportion of tlie emigrants from Europe, then established in the colonies, took part with tlie crown ; and there were many districts in which their influence, Tinited to that of the Americans who refused to lay aside their allegiance, gave a decided jn-e- ponderance to the royal cause. America was then too young, and too much in need of every lieart and hand, to regard tliese partial divisions, small as they were in actual amoimt, with indiiference. The evil was greatly increased by the acti\'ity of the English in profiting by these internal dissensions ; and it became doubly serious when it was found that attempts were made to raise various cor2:>s of provincial troops, who were to be banded with those from Europe, to reduce the young republic to subjection. Congress named an especial and a secret committee, therefore, for the express purpose of defeating this object. Of this committee Mr. , the narrator of the anecdote, was chairman. " Li the discharge of the novel duties which had now devolved on him, Mr. had occasion to employ an agent whose services differed but little from those of a common spy. This man, as will easily be imderstood, belonged to a condition in life which rendered him the least reluctant to appear in so equivocal a character. He was poor, ignorant, so far as the iisual instruction was concerned ; but cool, shrewd, and fearless by nature. It was his office to learn in what part of the coimtry the agents of the crown were making their secret eflbrts to embody men, to repair to the place, enlist, appear zealous in the cause he affected to serve, and otherwise to get possession of as many of the secrets of the enemy as possible. The last he of course communicated to his employers, who took all the means in their power to counteract the plans of the English, and frequently with success. " It will readily be conceived that a service like this was attended with great personal hazard. Li addition to the danger of discovery, there was the daily risk of falling into the hands of the Americans themselves, who invariably visited sins of this nature more severely on the natives of the country than on the Europeans who fell into their hands. In fact, the agent of Mr. was several times arrested by the local authorities ; and, in one instance, he was actually condemned by his exasperated countrpnen to the gallows. Speedy and private orders to his gaoler alone saved him from an ignominious death. He was permitted to escape ; and this seeming, and indeed actual peril was of great aid in supporting his assumed character among the English. Bv the Americans, in his little sphere, 34 PAGES AND PICTURES. he Avas denounced as a bold and inveterate tory. In this manner lie continued to serve his country in secret during the early years of tlio struggle, hourly environed by danger, and the constant subject of unmerited opprobrium. " In the year , Mr. was named to a high and honorable employment at a European court. Before vacating his seat in Congress, he reported to that body an outline of the circumstances related, necessarily suppressing the name of his agent, and demanding an aj^propriation in behalf of a man who had been of so much use, at so great risk. A suitable smn was voted, and its delivery was confided to the chairman of the secret committee. " jyXi.. took the necessary means to summon his agent to a personal inter- view. They met in a wood at midnight. Here Mr. complimented his companion on his fidelity and adroitness ; explained the necessity of their com- mimications being closed ; and finally tendered the money. The otlier drew back, and declined receiving it. " The coimtry has need of all its means," he said ; " as for myself, I can work, or gain a livelihood in various ways." Per- suasion was useless, for patriotism was uppermost in the heart of this remarkable individual; and Mr. departed, bearing with him the gold he had bmught, and a deep respect for the man who had so long hazarded his life, unrccpiited, for the cause they served in common. " The writer is imder an impression that, at a later day, the agent of Mr. consented to receive a remuneration for what he had done; but it was not until his country was entirely in a condition to bestow it. "It is scarcely necessary to add, that an anecdote like this, simply but forcibly told by one of its principal actors, made a deep impression on all wlio heard it. Many years later, circumstances which it is unnecessary to relate, and of an entirely adventitious nature, induced the writer to publish a novel, which proved to be, what he little foresaw at the time, the first of a tolerably long series. The same adventitious causes which gave birth to the book, determined its scene and its general character. The former was laid in a foreign country ; and the latter embraced a crude effort to describe foreign manners. Wlien this tale Avas pub- lished, it became matter of reproach among the author's friends, that he, an American in heart as in birth, should give to the world a work which aided ])er- haps, in some slight degree, to feed the imagination of the young and mi})ractised among his own countrymen, by pictures drawn from a state of society so difterent from that to which he belonged. The writer, while he knew how nmch vf what he had done was purely accidental, felt the reproach to be one that, in a measure, was just. As the only atonement in his power, he determined to inflict a second book, whose subject should admit of no cavil, not only on the world, but on him- T H B S P Y . 35 self. He chose patriotism for liis tkeuie ; and to those who read this introduction and the book itself, it is scarcely necessary to add, that he took the hero of the anecdote just related as the best illustration of his subject. '' Since the original publication of "The Spy," there have appeared several accounts of different pei'sons who are supposed to have been in the author's mind while writing the buok. As Mr. did not mention the name of his agent, the writer never knew any more of his identity with this or that individual than has been hero exjilained. Both Washington and Sir Henry Clinton had an unusual number of secret emissaries ; in a war that partook so much of a domes- tic character, and in wliieli the contending parties were people of the same blood and language, it could scarcely be otherwise. " The style of the book has been revised by the author in this edition. Li this respect, he has endeavored to make it more worthy of the favor with which it has been received ; though he is compelled to admit there are faults so interwoven with the structure of the tale that, as in the case of a decayed edifice, it would cost perhaps less to reconstruct than to repair. Five-and-twenty years have been as ages with most things connected with America. Among other advances, that of her literature has not been the least. So little was expected from the publication of an original work of this description, at the time it was written, that the first volume of "The Spy" was actually printed several months before the author felt a sufficient inducement to write a line of the second. The efforts expended on a hopeless task are rarely worthy of him who makes them, however low it may be necessary to rate the standard of his general merit. " One other anecdote connected with the history of this book, may give the reader some idea of the hopes of an American author, in the first quarter of the present century. As the second volume was slowly printing, from manuscript that was barely dry when it went into the comjiositor's hands, the publisher intimated that the work might grow to a length that would consume the pi-ofits. To set his mind at rest, the last chapter was actually written, printed, and paged, several weeks before the chapters which precede it were even thought of. Tliis circumstance, while it cannot excuse, may serve to explain the manner in which the actors are hui-ried off the scene. " A great change has come over the country since this book was originally wi-itten. Tlie nation is passing from the gristle into the bone, and the common mind is beginning to keep even pace with the gi-owth of the body politic. The march from Vera Cruz to Mexico was made under the orders of that gallant soldier who, a quarter of a century before, was mentioned with honor in the last chapter of this very book. Glorious as was that march, and brilliant as were its 36 PAGES AND P I T n R K S. results in a military point of view, a stride was then made hy the nation, in a moral sense, that has hastened it, by an age, in its progress toward real independ- ence and high political influence. The guns that tilled the valley of the Aztecs witli their thunder, liave been heard in echoes on the other side of the Atlantic, jiroducing eipially hope or apprehension. "There is now no enemy to fear, but the one that resides within. By accus- toming oui-selves to regard even the people as erring beings, and by using the restraints that wisdom has adduced from experience, there is much reason to hope that the same Providence which has so well aided us in our infancy, may con- tinue to smile on our manhood. " CoopEESTOWN, March 29, 1849." t lai liic vdI\' i:EV,r'r0FK "V^'ATOWHSEKT. . BIECH IN HIS COTIAGE. The possessions of Mr. Wharton extended to some distance on each side of the house in which he dwelt, and most of his land was unoccujjied. A few scattering dwellings were to be seen in different parts of his domains, but they were fast foiling to decaj', and were mitenanted. The proximity of the country to the contending armies had nearly banished the pursuits of agriculture from the land. It was useless for the husbandman to devote his time, and the labor of his hands, to obtain over- flowing garners, that the first foraging party would empty. None tilled the earth with any other view than to provide the scanty means of subsistence, except those who were placed so near to one of the adverse parties as to be safe from the inroads of the light troops of the other. To these the war offered a golden harvest, more especially to such as enjoyed the benefits of an access to the royal army. Mr. Wharton did not require the use of his lands for the purposes of subsistence, and willingly adopted the guarded practice of the day, and limited his attention to such articles as were soon to be consumed within his own walls, or could be easily secreted from the prying looks of the foragers. In consequence, the groimd on which the action was fought had not a single inhabited buildmg, besides the one belonging to the father of Harvey Birch. This stood between the places where the cavalry had met, and the charge had been made on the party of Welhnere. To Katy Haynes, it had been a day fruitful in incidents to furnish an mexhaustible theme to her after-life. The prudent housekeeper had kept her political feelings in a state of rigid neutraUty ; her own friends had espoused the cause of the country, but 3S PAUESANDPICTURES. the maiden never lost sight of the moment when she lierself was to be espoused to Harvey Birch. She did not wish to fetter the bonds of Hymen with any other clogs than those with which nature had already so amply provided them. Katy could always see enough to embitter the marriage bed, without calling in the aid of political contention ; and yet, at times, the prying spinster had her doubts of which side she shoidd be, to escape this dreaded evil. There was so much of j)ractised deception in the conduct of the peddler, that the housekeeper frequently arrested her own words when most wisliing to manifest her sympathy. His lengthened absences from home had connnenced immediately after the hostile armies had mnde their ai)pearance in the country ; previously to that event, his returns had been regular and frequent. The battle of the Plains had taught the cautious Washington the advantages pos- sessed by his enemy, in organization, arms, and discipline. These Avere difficulties to be mastered by his own vigilance and care. Drawing off his troops to the heights, in the northern part of the county, he bid defiance to the attacks of the royal army, and Sir William Howe fell back to the enjoyments of his barren conquests, a deserted city and the adjacent islands. Never afterward did the opposing armies make the trial for success within the Umits of Westchester ; yet hardly a day passed that the partisans did not make their inroads ; or a sunrise, that the inhabitants were spared the relation of the excesses that the preceding darkness had served to conceal. Most of the movements of the j)eddler through the country were made at the hours which others allotted to repose. The evening sun would frequently leave him at one extrem- ity of the district, and the morning find him at the other. His pack was his never- failing companion, and there were those who closely studied him in his moments of traffic, who thought his only purpose was the accumulation of gold. He would be often seen near the Highlands with a body bending under the weight it carried ; and agam near the Harlem River, travelling, with lighter steps, with his face toward the setting smi. But these glances at him were uncertain and fleeting. The intermediate time no eye could penetrate. For months he disappeared, and no traces of his course were ever known. Strong parties held the heights of Harlem, and the northern end of ^Manhattan Island was bristled with the bayonets of the English sentinels, yet the peddler glided among them unnoticed and iniiujiired. His ajiproachos to the American luies were also frequent ; but generally so conducted as to baffle pursuit. Many a sentinel, ]ilaced in the gorges of the mountains, spoke of a strange figure that had been seen gliding by them in the mists of the evening. The stories reached the ears of the officers, and, as we have related, in two instance.?, the trader fell into the hands of the Americans. The first time he escaped from Lawton, shortly after his arrest ; but the second he was condemned to die. On the morning of his intended execution, the cage was opened, but the bird had flown. This extraordinary escape had been made from the custody of a favorite officer of Washington, and sentinels who had been thought worthy to BIRCH IX HIS COTTAGE. 39 guard the person of the commander-in-chief. Bribery ;uul treason could not approach the cliaracters of men so well esteemed, and the opinion gained ground among the common soldiery, that the peddler had deahngs with the dark one. Katy, however, always repelled this opinion with indignation ; for -svithin the recesses of her own bosom, the housekeeper, in ruminating on the events, concluded that the evil spirit did not pay in gold. Nor, contmues the wary spinster in her cogitations, does Washing- ton ; paper and promises were all that the leader of the American troops could dis- pense to his servants, uutU after the receipt of suppHes from France ; and even then, although the scrutinizing eyes of Katy never let any opportunity of examining into the deer-skin purse pass iniimproved, she was never able to detect the image of Louis, in- truding into the presence of the well-known countenance of George III. The house of Harvey had been watched at diflerent times by the Americans, with a •\iew to his arrest, but never with success ; the reputed spy possessed a secret means of intelUgence, that invariably defeated their schemes. Once, when a strong body of the Continental army held the Four Comers for a whole summer, orders had been received from Washington himself, never to leave the door of Harvey Birch un- watched ; the command was rigidly obeyed, and during this long period the peddler was unseen ; the detachment was withdrawn, and the next night Birch re-entered his dwelling. The father of Harvey had been greatly molested, in consequence of the suspicious character of the son. But, notwithstanding the most minute scrutiny into the conduct of the old man, no fact could be substantiated against him to his injury, and his property was too small to keep alive the zeal of professed patriots ; its confisca- tion and purchase would not reward them for their trouble. Age and sorrow were now about to spare him from further molestation, for the lamp of life had begun to be drained of its oil. The separation of the father and son had been painful, but in obedience to what both thought a duty. The old man had kept his situation a secret from the neighborhood, in order that he might have the company of his child in his last moments. The confusion of the past day, and his increasing dread that Harvey might be too late, helped to hasten the event he would fain arrest for yet a little while. As night set in, his illness increased to such a degree, that the dismayed housekeeper had sent a truant boy, who had been shut uj) with them for the day rather than trust himself in the presence of the combatants, to the Locusts, in quest of a companion to cheer her desolate situation. Cfesar was the only one who could be spared, and, loaded with eatables and cordials by the kind-hearted IMiss Peyton, the black had been dispatched on this duty. The dying man was past the use of such articles, and his chief anxiety seemed to centre in a meeting with his absent child. The noise of the chase had been heard by the group in the house, but its cause not understood; and as both the black and Katy were apprised of the detachment of American horse being below them, -with its discontinuance all apprehension from this disturbance ceased. They heard the dragoons, as they moved slowly by the building, J.0 PAGESANDPICTURES. but in compliance with the prudent injunction of the black, the housekeeper forbore to indulge her curiosity by taking a ^icw of the pageant. The old man had closed his eyes, and his attendants supposed him to be asleep. The house contained two large rooms, and as many small ones. One of the former served for kitchen and parlor ; in the other, lay the father of Birch ; of the latter, one was the sanctuary of the vestal, and the other contained the provisions for subsistence. A huge chimney of stone rose in the centre of the building, serving, of itself, for a partition bet'H'een the larger rooms ; and fire-places of corresponding dimensions were in each apartment. A bright fire was burning in that of the common room, and within the very jambs of its monstrous jaws sat Coesar and Katy, at the time of which we Avrite. The African was impressing his caution on the housekeeper to sujjpress an idle curiosity that might prove dangerous. " Best nebber tempt a Satan," said Caesar, rolling up his eyes significantly, till the whites glistened by the glare of the fire ; " I like to lose an ear, only for carrying a little bit of a letter ; but I wish Harvey get back." " It is very disgraceful in him to be away at such times," said Katy, imposingly. " Suppose now his father wanted to make his last will in the testament, who is there to do such a thing for him ? Harvey is a very wasteful and a very disregardful man." " Perhaps he make him afore," said the black, inquiringly. "It would not be a wonderment if he had," returned the housekeeper; "he is whole days looking into the Bible." " Then he read a good book," said the black, solemnly. " Miss Fanny read him to Dinah berry often." " Yes," continued the inquisitive spinster ; " but he would not be forever studying it, if it didn't hold something more as common." She rose from her seat, and stealing softly to a chest of drawers in the room where lay the sick, took from it a large Bible, heavily bound, and secured with strong clasps of brass, with which she returned to the expecting African. The volume was opened, and she proceeded instantly to the inquiry. Katy was far from an expert scholar, and to Coesar the characters were absolutely strangers. For some time the housekeeper was occupied with finding out the word Matthew, which she at last saw in large Roman letters crowning one of the pages, and instantly announced her discovery to the attentive Csesar. " Berry well, now look him all through," said the black, peeping over the damsel's shoulder, as he held a long, lank candle of yellow tallow in his hand, in such a manner as to throw its feeble light on the volume. " Yes, but I must begin with the book," replied the other, turning the leaves care- fully back, until, moving two at once, she lighted upon a page covered with the labors of a pen. " Here," said the housekeeper with impatience, and shaking with the eagerness of expectation, " here is the very words themselves ; now I would give the world to know who he has left them big silver shoe-buckles to." BIRCH IN HIS COT T AG K. 41 " Read 'em," said Caesar, laconically. " Aud the black-walnut di-awers ; for Harvey could never want them." " Why no want 'eui as well as he fader ?" asked the black, dryly. " And the six silver tablespoons ; for Harvey always uses the iron." " I guess he say," continued the African, jxiinting sitrnificautly to the writing, and listening eagerly, as the other thus opened the store of the elder Birch's wealth. Thus repeatedly advised, and impelled by her own curiosity, Katy connnenced her task. Anxious to come to the ]iart which m