r\ N hi . . \' ) \:)'-yv\j ' . ^^ n V ^:*' ^ \ ^ 1 :tr € LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. ©^iIiEl.l.%ninjriB]^^^o._ ^S-^^ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. \'t: V' W4tm 'I I'ENN S TREATY WITH THE INDIANS, --CS YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF AMERICA EDITED BY HEZEKIAK BUTTERWORTH Author of '* Zigzag Journeys in Europe," " Zigzag Journeys in Classic Lands, ' and "Zigzag Journeys in the Orient." REVISED AND ENLARGED ILLUSTRATED WITH ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY ENGRAVINGS CHICAGO NEW YORK ^ k THE WERNER COMPANY OL^ 1895 ^^ COPYKIGHT iSSi By ESTES and LAURIAT COPYRIGHT 1S95 By the WERNER COMPANY Y. F. History of America PREFACE The editor has sought the best materials in the preparation of this History of America, and is in- debted to McKenzie's admirable History of the United States, a work published abroad some ten years ago, for the larger part of the text, and espe- cially for the fine moral analyses in the parts having reference to the Puritans, to Slavery, and to the War for the Union. The opening chapter and the chapters prior to and inclusive of the period termi- nating with the assassination of President Garfield, are, for the most part, original; the text from Mc- Kenzie has been enlarged, revised, and edited ; stories have been interpolated, and the illustrations have been selected from the best sources by the most competent editors. H. BUTTERWORTH. [The story of the nation, for the further period com- mencing with the year 1881 up to the present time, has been constructed upon data gleaned from recog- nized authorities and from the official records of cotemporary history.] CONTENTS. Chapter Page I. The Mysterious Races 13 II. The Great Discovery, A D. 1492 29 III. Seeking Homes in the New Land 51 IV. King Philip's War 117 V. The Growing Empire 136 VI. Witchcraft in New England 157 VII. Persecution and Religious Liberty 165 VIII. Growth and Government of the Colonies . . 177 IX. The French Colonies 187 X. The Eve of Revolution 202 XL Bunker Hill and the Siege of Boston .... 237 XII. The Declaration of Independence 269 XHI. The War for Independence 274 XIV. The Thirteen States become a Nation. . . . 302 XV. From Washington to Madison 313 XVI. The Two Empires, — the United States and Canada 332 XVII. The Story of Slavery 340 XVIII. Mexico and the Mexican War 363 XIX. Kansas and John Brown 376 XX. Abraham Lincoln 392 XXI. War 407 XX H. Liberty to the Slave 431 XX HI. Gettysburg and Richmond 445 XXIV. The Martyr President 477 XXV. Peace 486 XXVI. Prosperity 494 XXVII. 1880-1895. A Historical sketch of the United States, under the Respective Administra- tions of Presidents Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison and Cleveland . . 509 Population and Area of the States and Territories . 602 List of Cities and Towns having Population of 10,000 AND upwards 603 Chronological Table 604-9 Index 611-18 Supplementary Index 619-20 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Penn's Treaty with the Indians > . . Frontispiece PAGE The Cradock Mansion 12 Phoenician Vessel i_j. Dighton Rock i^ Skeleton in Armor 16 Mounds at Marietta, Ohio 17 Mounds near Newark, Ohio 20 Fragment of Ancient Pueblo Pottery 21 Toltec Ruins, Yucatan 23 Siberian Elephant and Mastodon Restored 25 Indians in Council 27 Coil-made Jar from Southern Utah 28 Spanish Prior ->i Columbus Watching for Land -7^ " Dreary with Ice and Snow " -57 Ponce de Leon in the St. John's River -^S Bivouac in Florida -.g Burial of De Soto a-, Home of the Alligator .5 Tropical Forest .-, Henry VIII ......! 51 Champlain c-, Quebec in i6oS c-. Chained Bible, Time of James I p5 Planting the Cross on New Lands C7 Francis 1 5o The Ruined Settlement 61 Sir Walter Raleigh 6^ The Settlers at Jamestown 65 Clearing the Forest 6S John Smith a Captive among the Indians 69 Indian Attack on Settlers in Virginia 73 Baptism of Virginia Dare 77 Captain Smith and the Chief of Paspahegh 79 viii List of IlLnstrations, PAGE Marriage of John Rolfe and Pocahontas 81 " Meadows Stretched to the Eastward " 84 Dinner Amusements at Port Royal ... 87 Baptism of Indians at Port Royal 91 James 1 93 The Mayflower at Sea 95 William, Prince of Orange . 97 The Pilgrims Receiving Massasoit loi Many Visitors .... 105 Oliver Cromwell " . . . 106 Founding a New Settlement 107 Charles 1 109 Dealing out the Five Kernels of Corn iii French and Dutch Quarrel 115 Destruction of the Narragansetts 121 The Alarm 123 Death in the Field 124 Death of King Philip 125 Weetamo on a Raft 128 Philip's Head Brought to Plymouth 129 Monument to John Eliot 135 Henry Hudson in the North River 137 Charles II 140 Dutch Traders at Manhattan 141 Penn's Arrival in America 144 Ruins in Central America 145 Dr. Johnson 148 Penn's Colonists on the Delaware 150 George II 151 Oglethorpe and the Indians 153 Witchcraft at Salem Village 161 Whipping Quakers at the Cart's Tail in B- ston 167 Roger Williams in Peril for his Enemies 171 George Fox 173 The Old and the New 175 James II 178 George Washington 181 Franklin 184 Burke 185 Death of General Braddock .... . 191 French and English Naval Conflict 195 List of Ilhistrattons, PAGE Montcalm 198 Death of Wolfe J99 William Pitt, Earl of Chatham 206 Samuel Adams 209 Destruction of Tea 213 The Signal Lanterns .218 Paul Revere's Ride 219 Battle of Lexington 223 British at Colonel Barrett's 225 Roads and Historic Localities at Concord, Mass 226 Combat at the Bridge 227 Fight at Merriam's Corner 230 Christ Church, the Old North Meeting-House 232 The Hancock House 236 Faneuil Hall 237 Andros a Prisoner in Boston 239 Queen Mary 241 The Battle of Bunker Hill 243 The Old Powder-House at Somerville 247 General Israel Putnam 251 English Ships of-War 251; Breed's and Bunker Hills 259 Bunker Hill Monument 261 The Washington Elm 262 George HI 271 Continental Currency 273 Washington Crossing the Delaware 277 Lafayette 281 English Attacked at Germantown 285 French Naval Victory 291 The Assault 301 1775 303 Mount Vernon . 309 Fight between the Constellation and La Vengeance 311 The English Right of Search 315 Sea-Fight, War of 1812 317 English Captive in French and Indian War 321 Jesuit Missionary Addressing the Indians 327 Marquette and Joliet Discover the Mississippi '^y}. La Salle Claims the Mississippi Valley for France 337 Murder of La Salle in Texas . . 341 X List of Ilhistratiofts. PAGE Emigrants on the St. Lawrence 347 Mule-jenny Spinning-frame 3ri Cotton Plant , ^C2 Scene in Texas , ^cg Daniel Webster -761 General Taylor on the Rio Grande -164 Spanish Monastery in Mexico 365 General Pierce Landing in Mexico 368 The Land of Promise 369 Gold Digging , 372 Crossing the Mountains 373 Gold Washing in California 377 Pioneer Life in the West 381 Border Settlers 385 Pioneer Travellers 389 Home of a Western Pioneer 393 Going to Court through Western Woods ...» ... . 399 1 861 405 Attack on Fort Sumter 409 Pass/ng through Baltimore 415 Battle-Field 430 Slaves Escaping to Union Troops 433 Battle of Antietam 437 Plan of Battle of Gettysburg 447 The Wilderness 457 Camp Followers of Sherman's Army, Foraging 461 Sheridan Turning the Tide of Battle 465 Ruins in Richmond 471 Negro Troops in Richmond , . 475 President Lincoln in Richmcind 479 Assassination of Lincoln 481 Capitol at Washington . - 487 Horticultural Hall . . - 495 Bridge near Fairmount 499 Memorial Hall 503 The Main Building ... - 507 James A. Garfield ........... ..... 509 Young Garfield and the Salt-Boiler 511 Young Garfield and the Board of Trustees 513 Assassination of President Garfield 517 THE CRADOCK MANSION. The oldest house in America; built about 1634 by Matthew Cradock, the first Governor of the Massachusetts Colony. 12 YOUNG FOLKS* HISTORY OF AMERICA, CHAPTER I. THE MYSTERIOUS RACES. It is highly probable that the American continent wa? known to the ancients, though in a somewhat imperfect way. Plato, four hundred years before our Saviour's tmit, gives a particular account of the great island of Atlantis, " an island that was larger than Libya (Africa) and Asia." Stiabo and Pliny both mention a like mysterious island. We are told that this great territory was inhabited by a powerful people, who became so wicked that they were drowned by the judg- ment of heaven, and that the island itself, that was larger than Africa and Asia, sunk in the sea. For mciiiy years it was deemed dangerous for navigators to sail westward on account of the ruins of this mysterious island which, it was believed, strewed the waters and impeded the way. Atlantis may have been a fabulous land, but the Phoe- nicians or Canaanites had a knowledge of a country beyond the sea. Phoenicia, like England, once ruled the waves. Take the map of Asia and glance over the narrow strip of territory lying between the hills of Palestine and the sea. Here are the sites of Tyre and Sidon, the ancient London and Liverpool of the Mediterranean, into whose gay bazaars, glittering te.mples, and spacious palaces once flowed the lux- 14 Young Folks' History of America. uries of the world. The ships of Phoenicia gathered the treasures of the Mediten-anean, the Euxine, and the Adriatic, the vine-clad hills of Ionia and Xtaly^ and the shores of So-uthern Europe and Northern Africa. The Pillars of Her- cules (Gibraltar) were for a long period believed to be the end of the world. The Phcenician sailors began to strike out beyond the Pillars of Hercules. They visited the British Islands for tin, PHOENICIAN VESSEL. and the shores of the Baltic for amber. We are told that certain of these navigators were once driven on to a wonder- fully fertile island in the Western Ocean, and that it was their purpose to keep this discovery a secret. THE WRITING ROCK AND SKELETON IN ARMOR. Among the most marked evidences that the coast of New England was visited by old-time mariners long before the coming of the Spanish voyagers and the Pilgrims, are the well-preserved relics known as the Writing Rock, at Dighton, The Writin£C Rock. 15 Massachusetts, the Skeleton \\\ Armor found at Fall River, and that ancient landmark, the Old Stone Tower, at Newport. The celebrated Writing Rock at Dighton is situated on the Taunton River, a stream associated with many Indian tradi- tions and events of colonial history. It is otten visited by antiquaries, and its inscriptions are well preserved. It con- sists of a solitary mass of fine-grained granite, lying on the sands of the river, a few feet above low-water mark, but cov- ered with water at each rising of the tide. On the water side it presents an inclined plane, the face of which, eleven feet DIGHTON ROCK. by five feet, seems to have been originally covered with sculp- tures and hieroglyphic inscriptions. The face of tlie rock is extremely hard, and, however old the inscriptions may be, those that rise above the low-water mark can have undergone but litde change from the action of the elements. The rock was noticed by the Pilgrims, but received little attention from historians and antiquaries until the years 1834-35, when a most extraordinary relic was found a few miles distant, in the town of Fall River. In digging down a hill near the town, a mass of earth slid off, uncovering a human skull, which was found to belong to a skeleton buried i6 Young Folks History of America. in a sitting posture, enveloped in a covering of bark. This envelope was removed, when the astonished workman saw that the trunk of this skeleton was encased in a breastplate of brass. The breastplate, which was similar to that which Homer describes as having been worn by Hector, was thirteen inches long, six inches broad at the upper end and about five inches at the lower. It was evidently cast in a furnace, and was about one-eighth of an inch in thickness. But what is most remark- able about this armor is, that it seems to have no association with the armo- rial customs of Northern or Eastern Europe, nor with any recent historical date. Below the breastplate, and entirely encircling the body, was a belt composed of brass tubes, each four and a half inches in length and three-six- teenths of an inch in diameter. The tubes were cast upon hollow reeds, and were so prepared as to protect the vulner- able parts of the body below the breastplate. Who were these mysterious and unknown mariners f The poet Longfellow, in his "Skeleton in Armor," associates this nameless hero with the builders of the round arch tower at Newport, which the Danes claim as the work of their ances- tors. Out of the materials thus supplied the poet weaves a fanciful story, which is familiar to many of my readers : - - " Speak, speak, thou fearful guest, Who with thy hollow breast, Still in rude armor drest, Comest to daunt me I THE SKELETON IN ARMOR. The Mound-Builders. 19 To which the skeleton in armor is supposed to begin his story thus : — " Far in the Northern land, By the wild Baltic strand, I, with my childish hand, Tamed the ger-falcon." The researches of travellers and antiquaries have, however, thrown discredit upon the romantic narrative that follows these lines. Both the skeleton and the inscription on the Writing Rock seem to be of Asiatic origin. Several care- ful writers on the subject believe the Writing Rock to contain a representation of the Pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar), and that the mail-clad hero was one of the crew of a Phoenician vessel who passed the Pillars of Hercules and crossed the Atlantic. The armor is the same as appears in drawings taken from the sculptures found at Palenque, Mexico, which has led to the supposition that an Asiatic race transiently setded in North America, and afterwards went to Mexico and founded those rock-walled cities, in exploring the ruins of which such astonishing evidences of Asiatic civilization have been discovered. A portion of the North American Indians and certain tribes of the Aztecs in Mexico had distinct tradi- tions of the flood. THE MOUND- BUILDERS. Of all the vanished races of antiquity the Mound-builders are among the most mysterious and interesting. Their mounds are to be found principally in the West, and are nu- merous in the Mississippi Valley. A mound until recendy was to be seen on the plain of Cahokia, Illinois, nearly oppo- site the city of St. Louis, Missouri, that was seven hundred feet long, five hundred feet broad, ninety feet high, and that covered more than eight acres of ground. Some of these 20 Yoimg Folks History of America. mounds in Wisconsin and Iowa are in the shape of huge ani- mals ; and there is one near Brush Creek, Adams County, MOUNDS NEAR NEWARK, OHIO. Ohio, that is in the form of a serpent, and that is more than one thousand feet in length. The mouth of this strange figure is open, as in the act of swallowing or ejecting an oval The Mound- Builders. 21 -;->^N substance, which is also curiously made of earth-works. This oval mound is thought to represent an egg. At Marietta, Ohio, are ancient works that cover an area about three-fourths of a mile long, and half a mile broad. " There are two irregular squares, one containing fifty acres, and the other twenty-seven acres, together with the crowning work standing apart, which is a mound thirty feet high, ellip- tical in form, and enclosed by a circular embankment." But the most intricate, and perhaps the most extensive, of the works of the Mound-builders are those in the Licking Valley, near Newark, Ohio, extending over an area of two square miles. Why they were built we may not even con- jecture, but that they were constructed with almost infinite toil by a superior race of people, under skilled direction and for some definite purpose, no one can deny who examines them. Many of these mounds have been found to con- tain skeletons ; and the appearance of the bones would seem to point to an antiquity of two thou- sand or more years. Curi- ous pottery, known as the " coil-made," has been found in the mounds and caves, and at the ruined pueblos in Utah. Ves- sels of various forms and sizes were made, without the pot- ter's wheel, by coiling bands of clay upon themselves. On the outside the projecting edges of these coils often formed bands or ridges, which were cut into diamond-shaped figures, marked with the thumb-nail, or otherwise ornamented, as shown in the engraving of the coil-made jar. FRAGMENT OF ANCIENT PUEBLO POTTERY 22 YotiJig Folks History of America. The ancient Mexican pyramids, teocailis, or temples of the sun, were still more remarkable. Two of the most ancient of these, near the city of Mexico, were each nearly two hun- dred feet high, and the larger of these two covers an area of eleven acres, which is nearly equal to that of the Pyramid of Cheops, in Egypt. The ancient city of Mexico contained nearly two thousand temples and structures, and it is believed that there were some forty thousand in the whole empire. Who built these mounds m the Mississippi Valley, and these pyramids in Mexico ? Not the Indians who were found in America when the country was discovered. They are the productions of greater skill and culture than these tribes pos- sessed. They are doubtless the monuments of a vanished people, whose coming and going and splendid history must ever remain to a great extent a mystery. Antiquaries have furnished many theories to answer this question which arises in the mind of every student of history. Some have maintained that the Mound-builders and the mys- terious people who preceded the Aztecs in Mexico were the descendants of crews from Japan, whose ships had been ac- cidentally driven across the Pacific. A more reasonable solution is that these people migrated from Asia. Take your map : look at the Isthmus of Suez ; cross Cen- tral Asia to Siberia ; carefully examine Behring Strait ; run your eye down the western coast and the Mississippi Valley, thence to Mexico, thence across the Isthmus of Panama to Peru. You have now passed over the supposed track of an Asiatic race, possibly the Shepherd Kings. Who were the Shepherd Kings ? They came down to Egypt from Central India, driving their flocks before them, about the time of the building of the Tower of Babel. They conquered Egypt, built the pyramids, but were at last overcome by the ancient inhabitants, and TOLTEC RUINS, YUCATAN. The Mound-Builders. 25 driven away from the Nile. They wandered back into Cen- tral Asia. In Siberia, it would seem, they erected mounds like those in the Mississippi Valley. They are then supposed to have journeyed north, crossed Behring Strait, which was then very narrow, passed through Alaska to the temperate zone, and pushed south to Mexico, Central America, and Peru. THE SIBERIAN ELEPHANT AND MASTODON RESTORED. We do not say that this theory is proven to be true : it has many things to support it. It is so interesting and it makes the ancient Egyptians seem so neighborly, we could wish it to be true. That access from Asia to America was easy centuries ago, possibly by land connection, is evident from the discovery in Siberia and on the Pacific coast, in Alaska, of the remains 0/ the Siberian elephant. 26 Young Folks History of America. THE INDIANS. The Indians do not' seem to have sprung from the Mound- builders or the founders of the ancient Mexican Empire. They may have been the descendants of Mongolian emigrants who crossed at different times the Strait of Behring. Nearly all the Indian tribes that inhabited the continent at the time of its discovery are gone. They have vanished, like the forests they inhabited, and the beasts of prey they hunted. New England was once the home of the Narragan- setts, the Pequots, the Mohegans, but nothing but the names of these tribes remain ; the Iroquois dwelt by the great lakes of Erie and Huron, and the Algonquin nations inhabited the centre of the continent. Beyond the Algonquin territory lived the Dacotahs, on the prairies of the west, while on the south were the Tuscaroras, the Catawbas, the Creeks, and the Seminoles. ^\^ith the exception of the Seminoles and the Dacotahs, hardly a remnant of these tribes remains ; the church-spires rise and the school-bells ring where their wigwams clustered, and the locomotives roll through the fair valleys where they once smoked the pipe of peace, and under the pine-plumed hills against which their war-cry was raised. They were a race of tall, powerful men — copper-colored, with hazel eye, high cheek-bone, and coarse black hair. In manner they were grave, and not without a measure of dig- nity. They had courage, but it was of that kind which is greater in suffering than in doing. They were true to their friends, but to their enemies they were cunning, treacherous, and cruel. Civilization could lay no hold upon them. They quickly learned to use the white man's musket. They never learned tc use the tools of the white man's industry. They developed a love for intoxicating drink, passionate and irre- sistible beyond all example. The first settlers of New Eng- The Indians. 27 land intended to treat them as Christian men should. They took no land from them. What land they required they bought and paid for. Nearly all of New England's soil was INDIANS IN COUNCIL. come by with scrupulous honesty. The friendship of the Indians was anxiously cultivated, — sometimes from fear, oftener from pity. But nothing could stay their progress towards extinction. Inordinate drunkenness and the gradual 28 Young Folks History of America. limitation of their hunting-grounds told fatally on their num- bers. And occasionally the English were forced to march against some tribe which refused to be at peace, and to inflict a defeat which left few survivors. COIL-MADE JAR FROM SOUTHERN UTAH. CHAPTER II. THE GREAT DISCOVERY, A. D. 1492. It was late in the history of the world before Europe and America became known to each other. During the first fif teen centuries of the Christian era Europe was unaware of the vast continent which lay beyond the sea. . Men had been slow to establish completely their dominion over the sea. They learned very early to build ships. They availed themselves very early of the surprising power .which the helm exerts over the movements of a ship. But, during many ages, they found no surer guidance upon the pathless sea than that which the position of the sun and the stars af- forded. When clouds intervened to deprive them of these uncertain guides, they were helpless. They were thus obliged to keep the land in view, and content themselves with creep- ing timidly along the coast. At length there was discovered a stone whicli the wise Creator had endowed with strange properties. It was ob- served that a needle brought once into contact with that stone pointed ever afterwards steadfastly to the north. Men saw that with a needle thus influenced they could guide them- selves at sea as surely as on land. The mariners' compass untied the bond which held sailors to the coast, and gave them liberty to push out upon the sea. Just when sailors were slowly learning to put confidence in the mariners' compass, there arose in Europe a vehement desire for the discovery of unknown countries. A sudden interest sprang up in all that was distant and unexplored. 3^ Yotmg^ Folks' History of America. The strange fables told by travellers were greedily received. The human mind was beginning to cast off the torpor of the Middle Ages. As intelligence increased, men became in- creasingly eager to ascertain the form and extent of the world in which they dwelt, and to acquaint themselves with those unknown races who were their fellow-inhabitants. Portugal and Spain, looking out upon the boundless sea, were powerfully stirred by the new impulse. The courts of Lisbon and Madrid swarmed with adventurers who had made discoveries, or who wished the means to make them. Con- spicuous among these was an enthusiast, who during eighteen years had not ceased to importune incredulous monarchs for ships and men that he might open up the secrets of the sea. He was a tall man, of grave and gentle manners, and noble though saddened look. His eye was gray, '' apt to enkindle " when he spoke of those discoveries in the making of which he felt himself to be Heaven's chosen agent. He had known hardship and sorrow in his youth, and at thirty his hair was white. His name was Christopher Columbus. In him the universal passion for discovery rose to the dignity of an in- spiration. THE STORY OF COLUMBUS. Christopher Columbus, or Columbo, was born at Genoa, Italy, about the year 1436 (Irving). He was of a humble family, and one of his early employments was feeding swine. But he had a high spirit and a resdess religious zeal, and he engaged in the life of a mariner at the age of fourteen. He thirsted for knowledge, and studied geometry, astronomy, ge- ography, navigation, and the Latin language, at the University of Pavia. From this time he stored his mind with knowledge, and it was this studiousness that put it in his power to so in- terest a good Spanish prior in his schemes for exploration as to lead to his successful introduction to the court of Spain. 1492. The Story of Columbus. 31 For, one day, hungry and weary and discouraged that no one would favor his enterprises, he stopped to rest in the shadow of an old Spanish convent. It was high noon, and he asked the prior for a cup of water. The monk brought him the draught, and stopped to talk with him while he rested. He was astonished at the schemes, visions, and learning of the weary Genoese, and he promised to use his influence in his behalf with the Spanish court ; and in that chance hour the destiny of the Western World, then unknown, was in ef- fect changed, and a new continent was added to the dia- dems of Aragon and Castile. Had his mind been less stored with the ac- quirements of his well - spent youth, when he stopped to rest in the shadow of the convent, the map of the world might have been different to-day. The incident affords a telling lesson to the young, and aptly illustrates the value of a well-stored mind. Columbus was convinced by his studies that the world must be spherical in form, and that there was probably land on the western side to counterbalance that on the east. He thought this land would prove to be a continu- ance of Asia. Lisbon was famous for the exploits of her mariners. Columbus went to Lisbon, and there mar- ried the daughter of a famous navigator, whose charts and SPANISH PRIOR. 32 Yotmg Folks' History of America. journals filled his mind with an unquenchable desire for discovery. He applied to the senate of his native city for ships, but in vain. He next sought the patronage of the king of Portu- gal, but was disappointed. In 1484 he turned to Spain, and procured an interview with Ferdinand, king of Aragon. The cautious monarch heard his story, and referred his theory to the learned men of the University of Salamanca. Some of these wise men concluded that if there were indeed land on the other side of the globe the people there must be obliged to walk about with heads downward, as their feet would be pointed upward ; and as this would not be an agreeable country to explore, they dismissed the subject. But, at last, Columbus obtained a hearing of a more sus- ceptible auditor at the Spanish court. Queen Isabella heard his story and favored his cause. She is said to have parted with some of her jewels to procure ships for the enthusiastic adventurer. To one woman, his wife, Columbus owed the fostering of his inspiration, and to another, the Spanish queen, the means of carrying forward his plans and fulfilling his dreams. No sailor of our time would cross the Atlantic in such ships as were given to Columbus. In size they resembled the smaller of our river and coasting vessels. Only one of them was decked. The others were open, save at the prow and stern, where cabins were built for the crew. The sailors went unwillingly and in much fear, compelled by an order from the king. And now the feeble squadron of three ships is on the sea, and the prows are turned toward the waste of waters, in whose mysterious distances the sun seemed to set. It is Friday, Aug. 3, 1492. On Sunday, September 9, the timid crews passed the farthest known island. Out on the unknown sea, the mariners' compass no longer pointed directly north, COLUMBUS WATCHING FOR LAND. 1492- The Story of Cohnnbus. 35 and awe and terror seized the sailors, as the distance be- tween them and the land grew wider and wider. The ships moved on under serene skies. Trade winds blew from east to west. The air at last gi-ew balmy, and fields of sea-weed began to appear. Land birds lit upon the spars. One evening, just at sunset, — it was September 25, — Martin Alonzo Pinzon mounted the stern of the Pinta, and peered into the far distance. A reward had been offered to the person who should first discover land. Pinzon descried a shadowy appearance far over the western sea, and cried out in great excitement, — " Land ! land ! I claim the promised reward, Sefior. Land ! " Columbus threw himself upon his knees and led the crews in singing Gloria in excelsis. In the morning after the supposed discovery nothing but the wide waters appeared. The supposed island was but a cloud. For a fortnight more the ships drifted on over the quiet waters. The seamen lost heart again and again in this awful unexplored space. They mutinied, but the lofty spirit of their leader disarmed them. At last, birds came singing again ; a branch of thorn with berries floated by the ships. A vesper hymn to the Virgin was sung in the evening that these ■'ndications of land were discovered. " We shall see land in the morning," said Columbus. He stood upon the deck all that night peering into the dim starlit spaces. At midnight he beheld a light. The morning came. Beautifully wooded shores rose in view. Birds of gorgeous plumage hovered around them. The crews set off from the ships in small boats. Columbus first stepped upon the shore. The crews knelt on the strand and kissed the earth. They wept and chanted hymns of praise. 36 Young Folks History of America, Then Columbus unfurled the banner of Spain, and claimed the land in the name of the Spanish sovereigns. The triumph was a realization of all the navigator's visions and dreams. Columbus knew not the magnitude of his discovery. He died in the belief that he had merely discovered a shorter route to India. He never enjoyed that which would have been the best recompense for all his toil, — the knowledge that he had added a vast continent to the possessions of civi- lized men. The revelation by Columbus of the amazing fact that there were lands beyond the great ocean, inhabited by strange races of human beings, roused to a passionate eagerness the thirst for fresh discoveries. The splendors of the newly found world were indeed difficult to be resisted. Wealth beyond the wildest dreams of avarice could be had, it was said, for the gathering. The sands of every river sparkled with gold. The very color of the ground showed that gold was profusely abundant. The meanest of the Indians ornamented himself with gold and jewels. The walls of the houses glittered with pearls. There was a fountain, if one might but find it, whose waters bestowed perpetual youth upon the bather. The wild- est romances were greedily received, and the Old World, with its familiar and painful realities, seemed mean and hateful beside the fabled glories of the New. The men of the nations of Europe whose trade was fighting turned gladly to the world where boundless wealth was to be wrung from the grasp of unwarlike barbarians. England and France had missed the splendid pri^e which Columbus had won for Spain. They hastened now to secure what they could. A merchant of Bristol, John Cabot, obtained permission from the king of England to make discoveries in the northern parts of America. Cabot was to bear all expenses, and the king was to receive one-fifth of the gains of the adventure. Taking with him his son Sebastian, John Cabot sailed straight 1497- Voyage of JoJin Cabot. 37 westward across the x\tlantic. He reached the North Ameri- can continent, of which he was the undoubted discoverer (1497). The result to him was disappointing. He landed on the coast of Labrador. Being in the same latitude as England, he reasoned that he should find the same genial climate. To his astonishment he came upon a region of intolerable cold, dreary with ice and snow. John Cabot had not heard of the Gulf Stream and its marvellous influences. He did not know that the western shores of Northern Europe are rescued from perpetual winter, and warmed up to the enjoyable temperature which they possess, by an enormous river of warm water flowing between banks of cold water east- ward from the Gulf of Mexico. The Cabots made many voyages afterwards, and explored the Ameri- can coast from extreme north to extreme south. The French turned their attention to the northern parts of the New World. The rich fisheries of Newfoundland attracted them. A Frenchman sailed up the great St. Law- rence River. After some failures a French settlement was established there, and for a century and a half the French peopled Canada. Spanish adventurers never rested from their eager search after the treasures of the new continent. An aged warrior DREARY WITH ICE AND SNOW." 38 Young Folks History of America. called Ponce de Leon fitted out an expedition at his own cost. He had heard of the marvellous fountain whose waters would restore to him the years of his wasted youth. He searched in vain. The fountain would not reveal itself to the foolish old man, and he had to bear without relief the burden of his profitless years. But he found a country hitherto unseen by PONCE DE LEON IN THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER. Europeans, which was clothed with magnificent forests, and seemed to bloom with perpetual flowers. He called it Florida. He attempted to found a colony in the paradise he had discovered. But the natives attacked him, slew many of his men, and drove the rest to their ships, carrying with them their chief, wounded by the poisoned arrow of an Indian. 1539- De Sotds Expedition. 41 Ferdinand de Soto had been with Pizarro, who had made an expedition to Peru, and returned to Spain enriched with plunder. He did not doubt that in the north were cities as rich and barbarians as confiding. An expedition to discover new regions, and plunder their inhabitants, was fitted out under his command. No one doubted that success equal to that of Cortes and Pizarro would attend this new adventure. The youth of Spain were eager to be permitted to go, and they sold their houses and lands to buy the needful equip- ment. Six hundred men, in the prime of life, were chosen from the crowd of applicants, and the expedition sailed, high in courage, splendid in aspect, boundless in expectation. They landed on the coast of Florida, and began their march into the wilderness. They had fetters for the Indians whom they meant to take captive. They had bloodhounds, lest these captives should escape. The camp swarmed with priests, and as they marched the festivals and processions enjoined by the Church were devoutly observed. From the outset it was a toilsome and perilous enterprise ; but to the Spaniard of that time danger was a joy. The Indians were warlike, and generally hostile. De Soto had pitched battles to fight and heavy losses to bear. Always he was victorious, but he could ill afford the cost of many such victories. The captive Indians amused him with tales of regions where gold abounded. They had learned that igno- rance on that subject was very hazardous. De Soto had stimulated their knowledge by burning to death some who denied the existence of gold in that country. The Spaniards wandered slowly northwards. They looked eagerly for some great city, the plunder of whose palaces and temples would enrich them all. They found nothing better than occasion- ally an Indian town, composed of a few miserable huts. It was all they could do to get needful food. At length they came to a magnificent river. European eyes had seen no 42 Youtig Folks History of Aifierica, such river till now. It was about a mile in breadth, and its mass of water swept downward to the sea with a current of amazing strength. It was the Mississippi. The Spaniards built vessels and ferried themselves to the western bank. There they resumed their wanderings. De Soto would not yet admit that he had failed. He still hoped that the plun- der of a rich city would reward his toils. For many months the Spaniards strayed among the swamps and dense forests of that dreary region. The natives showed at first some disposition to be helpful. But the Spaniards, in their disap- pointment, were pitiless and savage. They amused them- selves by inflicting pain upon the prisoners. They cut off their hands ; they hunted them with bloodhounds ; they burned them at the stake. The Indians became dangerous. De Soto hoped to awe them by claiming to be one of the gods, but the imposture was too palpable. " How can a man be God when he cannot get bread to eat? " asked a sagacious savage. It was now three years since De Soto had landed in America. The utter failure of the expedition could no longer be concealed, and the men wished to return home. Broken in spirit and in frame, De Soto caught a fever and died. His soldiers felled a tree and scooped room within its trunk for the body of the ill-fated adventurer. They could not bury their chief on land, lest the Indians should dishonor his remains. In the silence of midnight the rude coffin was sunk in the Mississippi, and the discoverer of the great river slept beneath its waters. The Spaniards promj^tly resolved now to make their waj to Cuba. They had tools, and wood was abundant. They slew their horses for flesh ; they plundered the Indians for bread ; they struck the fetters from their prisoners to rein- •arce their scanty supply of iron. They built ships enough ■BiSIHlilllliWiil^l )' L 1497- The Stoiy of Anievicd s Name. . 45 to float them down the Mississippi. Three hundred ragged and disheartened men were all that remained of the brilliant company whose hopes had been so high, whose good fortune had been so much envied. The courage and endurance of the early voyagers excite our wonder. Few of them sailed in ships so large as a hun- dred tons' burden. The merchant ships of that time were very small. The royal navies of Europe contained large ves- sels, but commerce was too poor to employ any but the smallest. The commerce of imperial Rome employed ships which even now would be deemed large. St. Paul was wrecked in a ship of over five hundred tons' burden. Jo- sephus sailed in a ship of nearly one thousand tons. Europe contented herself, as yet, with vessels of a very different class. A ship of forty or fifty tons Avas deemed sufficient by the daring adventurers who sought to reach the Land of Promise beyond the great sea. THE STORY OF AMERICA'S NAME. The honor of discovering America is curiously divided. Columbus, who first found the West India Islands (and six years later saw the mainland), is always called iht discoverer, and Americus Vespucius, who first saw the continent, was lucky enough to leave the land his naj?ie. This first voyage Vespucius carefully described, noting down a great many interesting and a great many whimsical things. When he landed on the coast of Venezuela, in the summer of 1497, the first thing he saw was a queer little village built over the water, like Venice. " There were about forty-four houses, shaped like bells, built upon very large piles, having entrances by means of drawbridges." The natives proved suspicious and hostile here, and as the Spaniards stood looking at them, they drew up all their bridges, and appeared to shut themselves into their houses. 46 Young Folks History of America. Immediately after twenty-two canoe-loads of savages came round by sea and advanced on the boats of Vespucius. A fight ensued, the natives displaying much art and treachery, but fleeing finally in dismay at the roar and smoke of the Spanish guns. HOME OF THE ALLIGATOR. At his next landing-place, farther south, the navigator found a gentler tribe, though, like the first, all naked savages. They retreated before him and his men, and left their wig- wams, which he stopped to inspect. Fires were burning, and the Indians had just been cooking young alligators, num- TROPICAL FOREST. 47 1497- TJie Story of Americas Name, 49 bers of which lay about, some dead, some ahve, some roast- ing on the coals. Vespucius did not know what they were, and describes them as '' serpents about the size of a kid, with hard, filthy skins, dog snouts, and long, coarse feet armed with large nails." At length the natives grew less timid, and finally welcomed the discoverer, and treated him so hospitably that he re- mained nearly a fortnight, visiting their inland villages and picking up all the information he could. When he returned, hundreds of the people followed him to the shore, and even insisted upon going aboard his ship. As they climbed over the gunwales and swarmed about the decks, suddenly Vespucius gave the signal to have the cannon fired. The artillery thundered forth its smoke, and in a sec- ond every one of the red-skinned crowd dived into the water like frogs off a log. Reassuring them, at length, by explana- tions, the admiral completely won the confidence of this peaceful tribe, and when parting-time came, they exchanged presents with him. From this place he sailed north-west, exploring the coast, and finally put into the bay of Cumana, Venezuela, where he remained thirty-seven days, making in- land journeys and getting acquainted with the natives. These entertained prodigious notions of the white man's power and prowess, and, when Vespucius began to talk of going away, begged him as a favor to punish their enemies, who lived, they said, on an island in the sea, and every year came and killed and ate a great many of their tribe. The navigator promised to avenge their wrongs, at which they were much pleased, and offered to accompany him on the expedition, but he refused to take more than seven of them. When Vespucius arrived at the island, the warlike canni- bals came down to the shore in battle array, carrying bows, arrows, lances, and clubs, and were painted and feathered in true Indian style. A severe fight followed. At first the 4 50 Voting Folks History of America. Spaniards got no advantage, for the savages pressed them so closely that they could not use their swords. At last the edge of Castilian steel sent the naked foe scampering back to the woods and mountains. Vespucius tried to make friends with these cannibals, but that was out of the question now. Their voice was still for war, and the admiral finally determined to give them enough of it. He fought them two days, took two hundred and fifty of them prisoners, burned their town, and sailed away. On the 15th of October, 1498, Vespucius was back in Cadiz, whence he started. His two hundred and fifty cannibal prisoners he sold for slaves, justifying the act, ac- cording to the morality of his times, on the ground that they were enemies taken in war. This is the voyage in which the discovery of America was made which gave it its name. CHAPTER III SEEKING HOMES IN THE NEW LAND. In comparison with the great empires of the East, Ameri- ca's history begins at a very recent date. Yet if we note the events of that history in connection with Engh'sh liistory, we seem to be carried far back into the past. It was during the reign of Henry VII. of England that America was discovered, that Acadia was first seen by the Cabots, that Americus Vespucius made the famous voyage that gave to the western world its name. It was during the reign of Henry VIII. that Florida was visited by Ponce de Leon (15 12), that the Pacific Ocean was discovered by Balboa (15 13), that Cortez beheld the shining cities of the Aztecs and captured Monte- zuma (152 1), that Cartier gazed on the St. Lawrence, and De Soto on the Mississippi. It was during the reign of Elizabeth that Sir Walter Raleigh made his expeditions, that Gosnold discovered Cape Cod (1602), that Quebec was founded by HENRY VIII. 52 Yotmg Folks Hist07y of America. the French under Champlain (1608), and that Hendrick Hudson explored the Hudson River. All these things took place before the reigns of the Jameses, the Charleses, and the Georges. of the Henries. It seems a long time to look back to the reigns £J\OMjKT CHAMPLAIN. It was not a pleasant world which the men and women of Europe had to live in during the sixteenth century. Fighting was the constant occupation of the kings of that time. A year of peace was a rare and somewhat wearisome exception. G^^EBEC IN 1608. i6o4. yanies I. and Parliament. 55 Kings habitually, at their own unquestioned pleasure, gath- ered their subjects together, and marched them off to slay and plunder their neighbors. Civil wars were frequent. In these confused strifes men slew their acquaintances and friends as the only method they knew of deciding who was to fill the throne. Feeble Commerce was crushed under the iron heel of War. No such thing as security for life or property was expected. The fields of the husbandman were trodden down by the march of armies. Disbanded or deserted soldiers wandered as " masterless men " over the country, and robbed and murdered at their w^ill. Highwaymen abounded, al- though highways could scarcely be said to exist. Epidemic diseases of strange type, the result of insufiicient feeding and the poisonous air of undrained lands and filthy streets, deso- lated all European countries. Under what hardships and miseries the men of the sixteenth century passed their days, it is scarcely possible for us now to conceive. The English Parliament once reminded James I. of certain '' undoubted rights" which they possessed. The king told them, in reply, that he ''did not like this style of talking, but would rather hear them say that all their privileges were de- rived by the grace and permission of the sovereign." Europe, during the sixteenth century, had no better understanding of the matter than James had. It was not supposed that the king was made for the people. It .seemed rather to be thought that the people were made for the king. Here and there some man wiser than ordinary perceived the truth, so familiar to us, that a king is merely a great officer allowed by the people to do certain work for them. There was a Glasgow professor who taught in those dark days that the authority of the king was derived from the people, and ought to be used for their good. Tw^o of his pupils were John Knox the reformer, and George Buchanan the historian, by whom this doctrine, so great and yet so simple, was clearly perceived 56 Young Folks History of America. and firmly maintained. But to the great mass of mankind it seemed that the king had divine authority to dispose of his subjects and their property according to his pleasure. Poor patient humanity still bowed in lowly reverence before its kings, and bore, without wondering or murmuring, all that it pleased them to inflict. No stranger supersti- tion has ever possessed the hu- man mind than this boundless mediaeval venera- tion for the king, — a veneration which follies the most abject, vices the most enor- mous, were not able to quench. But as this un- happy century draws towards its close, the ele- ments of a most benign change are plainly seen at work. The Bible has been largely read. The Bible is the book of all ages and of all circumstances. But never, surely, since its first gift to man, was it more needful to any age than to that which now welcomed its restoration with wonder and delight. It took deep hold on the minds of men. It exercised a silent influ- CHAINED BIBLE, TIME OF JAMES I. \ I 1534- Jacques Carticr and Canada. 59 ence which gradually changed the aspect of society. The narrative portions of Scripture were especially acceptable to the untutored intellect of that time ; and thus the Old Testa- ment was preferred to the New. This preference led to some mistakes. Rules which had been given to an ancient Asiatic people were applied in circumstances for which they were never intended or fitted. It is easy to smile at these mis- takes. But it is impossible to overestimate the social and political good which we now enjoy as a result of this incessant reading of the Bible by the people of the sixteenth century. In nearly all European countries the king claimed to regu- late the religious belief of his subjects. Even in England that power was still claimed. The people were beginning to suspect that they were entitled to think for themselves, — a suspicion which grew into an indignant certainty, and widened and deepened till it swept from the throne the unhappy House of Stuart. JACQUES CARTIER AND CANADA. Jacques Cartier, who may be called the founder of Canada, was born at Saint Malo, France, in 1494. He had a resolute spirit, and the news of the wonderful lands that were being discovered and explored beyond the sea filled him with a desire for maritime adventure. He was intrusted by Francis I. with the command of an expedition to explore the Western Hemisphere. He sailed from the beautiful port of Saint Malo in April, 1534, with two ships and one hundred and twenty men, and in twenty days reached the coast of Newfoundland. He next sailed north, entered the Strait of Belle Isle, and planting the cross on Labrador took possession of the land in the name of his king. He deceived the natives by telling them with signs that the cross was only set up as a beacon. He explored the Bay of Chaleur, which he thus describes : 6o Yoting Folks History of America. " The country is hotter than the country of Spain, and the fairest that can possibly be found, altogether smooth and level. There is no place, be it never so little, but it hath some trees, yea, albeit it be sandy ; or else is full of wild corn, that hath an ear like unto rye. The corn is like oats, and small peas, as thick as if they had been sown and ploughed, white and red gooseberries, strawberries, black- berries, white and red roses, with many other flowers of very sweet and pleasant smell. There be also many goodly meadows full of grass, and lakes where plenty of sal- mons be. We named it the bay of heat (Chaleur)." On the shores of the Bay of Gaspe he again planted the cross. He ap- l)roached the Indians whom he met on these explorations in a most friendly manner. He so won their confidence that one of the chiefs allowed him to take his two sons back to Saint Malo on condition that he would return with them in the following year. He doubled the east point of Anticosti, and entered the St. Lawrence as far as Mount Joly. In September he returned to France in triumph, and his name and fame filled the nation and inspired the young and chivalrous to seek like romantic exploits. The French king fitted out a new expedition for this bold and able commander, and the young nobility of France FRANCIS I. THE RUINED SETTLEMENT. 1535- Jacques Cartier and Canada. 63 favored it, and some of them joined it. This expedition sailed in May, 1535. The mariners assembled in the cathe- dral, on Whit-Sunday before the sailing, where solemn mass was celebrated, and the bishop imparted his blessing. In July these ships entered the St. Lawrence, and sailed on its broad waters amid scenery which realized their glowing expectations and dreams. On September i they came to the mouth of the wonderful river Saguenay, and on the 14th arrived at the entrance of a river at Quebec, now known as the St. Charles. Cartier was here visited by Donnacona, the so-called king of Canada. The two Indians whom he had taken the year before from Gaspe acted as interpreters on this occasion. Cartier continued to explore this wonderful and beautiful region. In a small boat he sailed from the Lake St. Peter to an Indian settlement called Hochelaga, where he arrived October 2. This place he named Mount Royal. It is now the magnificent city of Montreal. The Canadian winter dampened the ardor of the adven- turers and depleted their number. In the spring Cartier again sailed for France, taking with him the king of Canada and nine Indian chiefs. Cartier was now appointed viceroy of the territories he had discovered, and made a new expedition to them in 1541. He made a fourth voyage in 1543. He died about the year 1555- On his return in 1541 he was met by savages, who asked for their king. " Donnacona is dead," Cartier replied ; and he told them that the other chiefs had married in France, — a falsehood the Indians pretended to believe. In the spring of 1542 Cartier broke up his colony and returned to France ; but Robermal arrived about the same time, and established a settlement which had but a briei existence. 64 Yoiinz Folks History of America. THE STORY OF VIRGINIA. leigh, Sir Walter Ra- who was one of the most learned Eng- lishmen of his age, and was at one time a fa- vorite of Queen Elizabeth, spent a large fortune in attempting to colonize Vir- ginia. He suc- ceeded in di- recting the at- tention of his countrymen to the region which had kindled his own enthusiasm. But his colonies never prospered. Sometimes the colonists returned home disgusted by the hardships of the wilderness. Once they were massacred by the Indians. When help came from England the infant settlement was in ruins. The bones of unburied men lay about the fields ; wild deer strayed among the untenanted houses. One colony wholly disap- peared. To this day its fate is unknown. In 1606 a charter from the king established a company whose function was to colonize, whose privilege was to trade. The company sent out an expedition to Virginia, which sailed in three small vessels. It consisted of one SIR WALTER RALEIGH. THE SETTLERS AT JAMESTOWN. i6oj. The Story of Virginia. 67 hundred and five men. Of these one-half were gentlemen of broken fortune ; some were tradesmen ; others were foot- men. Only a very few were farmers, or mechanics, or persons in any way fitted for the life they sought. But, happily for Virginia, there sailed with these founders of a new empire a man whom Providence had highly gifted with fitness to govern his fellow-men. His name was John Smith. No writer of romance would have given his hero this name. But, in spite of his name, the man was truly heroic. He was still under thirty, a strong-Hmbed, deep- chested, massively built man. From boyhood he had been a soldier, roaming over the world in search of adventures, wherever hard blows were being exchanged. He was mighty in single combat. Once, while opposing armies looked on, he vanquished three Turks, and like David, cut off their heads, and bore them to his tent. Returning to England when the passion for colonizing was at its height, he felt at once the prevailing impulse. He joined the Virginian expedition. Ultimately he became Its chief. His fitness was so manifest that no reluctance on his own part, no jealousies on that of his companions, could bar him from the highest place. Men became kings of old by the same process which now made Smith a chief. The emigrants sailed up the James River. Landing there, they proceeded to construct a little town, which they named Jamestown, in honor of the king. This was the first colony which struck its roots in American soil. The colonists were charmed with the climate and with the luxuriant beauty of the wilderness on whose confines they had settled. But as yet it was only a wilderness. The forest had to be cleared that food might be grown. The exiled gentlemen labored manfully, but under griev- ous discouragements. " The axes so oft blistered their ten- der fingers, that many times ever}- third blow had a loud oath 68 \oung- Folks' History of America. to drown the echo." Smith was a man upon whose soul there lay a becoming reverence for sacred things. He de- CLEARING THE FOREST. vised how to have every man's oaths numbered; "and at night, for every oath, to have a can of water poured down his sleeve/' Under this treatment the evil assuaged. JOHN SMITH A CAPTIVE AMONG THE INDIANS. 69 i6o8. Smith a Prisoner. 71 The emigrants had landed in early spring. Summer came with its burning heat. Supplies of food ran low. " Had we been as free from all sins as from gluttony and drunkenness," Smith wrote, "we might have been canonized as saints." The colonists sickened and died. Before autumn every sec- ond man had died. But the hot Virginian sun, which proved so deadly to the settlers, ripened the wheat they had sowed, in the spring, and freed the survivors from the pressure of want. Winter brought them a healthier temperature and abundant supplies of wild-fowl and game. When the welfare of the colony was in some measure secured, Smith set forth with a few companions to explore the interior of the country. He and his followers were cap- tured by the Indians. The followers were summarily butch- ered. Smith's composure did not fail him in the worst extremity. He produced his pocket-compass, and interested the savages by explaining its properties. He wrote a letter in their sight, to their infinite wonder. They spared him, and made a show of him in all the settlements. He was to them an unfathomable mystery. He was plainly super- human. Whether his power would bring to them good or evil, they were not able to determine. After much hesita- tion they chose the course which prudence seemed to counsel. They resolved to extinguish powers so formidable, regarding whose use they could obtain no guarantee. So they con- demned him to death. The chief, by whose order Smith was to be slain, was named Powhatan. The manner of execution was to be one of the most barbarous. Smith was bound and stretched upon the earth, his head resting upon a great stone. The mighty club was uplifted to dash out his brains. But Smith was a man who won golden opinions of all. The Indian chief had a daughter, Pocahontas, a child of ten or twelve years. She could not bear to see the pleasing Englishman destroyed. 'J 2 Yoiuig Folks History of America. As Smith lay waiting the fatal stroke, she caught him in her arms and interposed herself between him and the club. Her intercession prevailed, and Smith was set free. Five years later, " an honest and discreet " young English- man, called John Rolfe, loved this young Indian girl. He had a sore mental struggle about uniting himself with " one of barbarous breeding and of a cursed race." But love tri- umphed. He labored for her conversion, and had the happi- ness of seeing her baptized in the little church of Jamestown. Then he married her. When Smith returned from captivity the colony was on the verge of extinction. Only thirty-eight persons were left, and they were preparing to depart. With Smith, hope returned to the despairing settlers. They resumed their work, confident in the resources of their chief. Fresh arrivals from England cheered them. The character of these reinforcements had not as yet improved. " Vagabond gentlemen " formed still a large majority of the settlers, — many of them, we are told, " packed off to escape worse destinies at home." The colony, thus composed, had already gained a very bad reputation ; so bad that some, rather than be sent there, " chose to be hanged, and were:' Over these most undesirable subjects Smith ruled with an authority which no man dared or desired to question. But he was severely injured by an accidental explosion of gunpowder. Surgical aid was not in the colony. Smith required to go to England, and once more ruin settled down upon Virginia. In six months the five hundred men whom Smith had left dwindled to sixty. These were already embarked and departing, when they were met by Loid Dela- ware, the new governor. Once more the colony was saved. Years of quiet growth succeeded. Emigrants — not largely now of the dissolute sort — flowed steadily in. Bad people bore rule in England during most of the seventeenth century, and they sold the good people to be slaves in Virginia. Tlie i688. The Story of Virginia. 75 victims of the brutal Judge Jeffreys — the Scotch Covenant- ers taken at Bothwell Bridge — were shipped off to this profit- able market. In 16S8 the population of Vnginia had increased to fifty thousand. The little capital grew. Other little towns established themselves. Deep in the unfathomed wilderness rose the huts of adventurous settlers, in secluded nooks, by the banks of nameless Virginian streams. A semblance of roads connected the youthful communities. The Indians were relentlessly suppressed. The Virginians bought no land. They took what they required, slaying or expelling the for- mer occupants. Perhaps there were faults on both sides. Once the Indians planned a massacre so cunningly that over three hundred Englishmen perished before the bloody hand of the savages could be stayed. The early explorers of Virginia found tobacco in extensive use among the Indians. It was the chief medicine of the savages. Its virtues — otherwise unaccountable — were sup- posed to proceed from a spiritual presence whose home was in the plant. Tobacco was quickly introduced into Eng- land. It rose rapidly into favor. Men who had hereto- fore smoked hemp eagerly sought tobacco. King James wrote vehemently against it. He issued a proclamation against trading in an article which was corrupting to mind and body. He taxed it heavily when he could not exclude it. The Pope excommunicated all who smoked in churches. But, in defiance of law and reason, the demand for tobacco continued to increase. The Virginians found their most profitable occupation in supplying this demand. So eager were they that tobacco was grown in the squares and streets of Jamestown. In the absence of money, tobacco became the Virginian currency. Accounts were kept in tobacco. The salaries of members of Assembly, the stipends of clergymen, were paid in tobacco. Offences were punished by fines expressed in tobacco. Ab- J^ YoiL7ig Folks History of Ajnerica. sence from church cost the delinquent fifty pounds ; refusing to have his child baptized, tAvo thousand pounds ; entertaining a Quaker, five thousand pounds. When the stock of tobacco was unduly large, the currency was debased, and much incon- venience resulted. The Virginians corrected this evil in their monetary system by compelling ever)- planter to bum a cer- tain proportion of his stock. Within a few years of the settlement the Virginians had a written Constitution, according to which they were ruled. They had a parliament chosen by the burghs, and a gov- ernor sent them from England. The Episcopal Church was established among them, and the colony divided into parishes. A college was erected for the use, not only of the English, but also of the most promising young Indians. In this col- ony the first white child was born. She was baptized under the name of Virginia Dare. THE STORY OF LADY POCAHONTAS. Pocahontas was baptized under the name of Rebecca. After her marriage with John Rolfe she went with her husband to England, where, being a chief's daughter, she was known as Lady Pocahontas. She was eighteen years old at her baptism, was very graceful and beautiful, and had learned much refinement from her intercourse with English society. Her admiration for Captain John Smith seems to have been her ruling passion as long as that brave man remained in the colony. He treated her with the kindness of a father, he delighted in making her little presents that were surprises, and his courage made him appear to her as something more than human. The Indians asrain and as^ain sou£;ht the life of Smith. The brother of Powhatan once surrounded him with a bodv of I6I3. The Story of Lady PocaJiontas. 79 hostile Indians. Smith ignored the Indians, and dared Ope- chancanough to a single combat. This so frightened and disconcerted the Indian that he had not the courage to order CAPTAIN SMITH AND THE CHIEF OF PASPAHEGH. his arrest. The chief of Paspahegh, a tribe near Jamestown, once attempted to surprise and shoot Smith. But the latter seized him before he could use his weapons. The chief was a very strong man, and he pushed his antagonist towards the 8o Young Folks' History of Aitierica, river, and, suddenly forcing him over the bank, attempted to drown him. But Smith was too nimble for him. He seized him by the throat, and, quickly drawing his sword, would have killed him had he not begun to beg and oxy out for mercy. He led him a prisoner to Jamesto%\'n, and made war on the tribe and reduced them to submission. Pocahontas twice saved the life of Smith at the risk of her own, and she is said to have loved him. She never visited JamestowTi after he went away. They told her that he was dead. Smith heard of the arrival of Pocahontas in England ; he remembered her devotion \\\\h gratitude ; he called on her and then sent an eloquent petition to the queen, asking that royal favor be shown her. He said : — " Being in Virginia and taken prisoner by Powhatan, I re- ceived from this savage great courtesy, and from his son Nantaquans, and his sister Pocahontas, the king's most dear and well-beloved daughter, being but a child of twelve or thir- teen 3-ears of age, whose compassionate, pitiful heart of my des- perate estate gave me much cause to respect her. I being the first Christian this proud king and his grim attendants ever saw, and thus enthralled in their barbarous power, I cannot say I felt the least occasion of want that was in the power of those my mortal foes to prevent, notwithstanding all their threats. After some six weeks' fatting amongst these savage countries, at the minute of my execution she hazarded the beating out of her ovnti brains to save mine ; and not only that, but so prevailed with her father, that I was safely conducted to Jamestown. . . . '' Such was the weakness of this poor commonwealth, as. had not the savages fed us, we directly had starved. And this relief, most gracious Queen, was commonly brought us by this lad}-. Pocahontas : notwithstanding all these passages when uncon- stant fortune turned our peace to war, this tender virgin would still not spare to dare to x-isit us. and by her our jars have beep v&Bg7 4 GT, or TOKK iio:LrE a>_' ?OwAi= i6i6. The Story of Lady Pocahontas. 83 oft appeased, and our wants supplied. Were it the policy of her father thus to employ her, or the ordinance of God thus to make her his instrument, or her extraordinary affection for our nation, I know not; but of this I am sure, when her father, with the utmost of his policy and power, sought to surprise me, hav- ing but eighteen with me, the dark night could not affright her from coming through the irksome woods, and, with watered eyes, give me intelligence, with her best advice to escape his fury, which had he known he had surely slain her. "Jamestown, with her wild train she as freely frequented as her father's habitation ; and during the time of two or three years, she, next under God, was still the instrument to preserve this colony from death, famine, and utter confusion. . . . " As yet I never begged any thing of the state, and it is my want of ability and her exceeding desert ; your birth, means, and authority; her Ijirth, virtue, want, and simphcity, doth make me thus bold humbly to beseech your majesty to take this knowl- edge of her, though it be from one so unworthy to be the re- porter as myself, her husband's estate not being able to make her fit to attend your majesty." The English court received Pocahontas with delight. She was invited to the great receptions of the nobility, and enjoyed the splendors of civilization as much as she had delighted in the barbaric pomp of her father's lodges. The first meeting of Pocahontas and Smith in England was very touching. She started on seeing him, and gazed at him in silence. Then she buried her face in her hands and wept. She seemed to feel deeply injured. She said : — " I showed you great kindness in my own country. Yon promised my father that what was yours should be his. You called Powhatan your father when you were in a land of stran- gers, and now that I am in a land of strangers you must allow me to do the same." Smith said that as she was a king's daughter, it would not be allowable in court for her to call him " father." 84 Young Folks' History of America. " I must call you father," she said, " and you must call me child. I will be your countrywoman for ever. They told me you were dead." After remaining in England a year, Rolfe determined to return to America. Pocahontas did not wish to leave Eng- land. A child had been born to her, and in England the world looked beautiful, and the future bright and fair. She became very sad ; she seemed to feel some evil was approach- ing. She died at Gravesend, March, 1617, just as she was about to sail. Some of the noblest families of Virginia are descended from the infant son which she left in her sorrow and youth, when life seemed to lie so fair before her. "meadows stretched to the eastward." THE STORY OF ACADIA. Every intelligent reader is familiar with Longfellow's beau- tiful story of "Evangeline." Few poems so haunt the imagi- Qation. Amid the pressure of care, the disappointments of i6io. The Story of Acadia. 85 ambition, and under a sense of the hollowness of society, the fancy flits to Acadia ; and whoever has gone into that land with the poet is sure to return to it again in dreams. " In the Acadian land, on the shores of the Basin of Minas, Distant, secluded, still, the little village of Grand-Pre Lay in the fruitful valley. Vast meadows stretched to the eastward, Giving the village its name, and pasture to flocks without number. Dikes, that the hands of the farmers had raised with labor incessant, Shut out the turbulent tides ; but at stated seasons the flood-gates Opened, and welcomed the sea to wander at will o'er the meadows. West and south there were fields of flax, and orchards and cornfields Spreading afar and unfenced o'er the plain ; and away to the north- ward Blomidon rose, and the forests old, and aloft on the mountains Sea-fogs pitched their tents, and mists from the mighty Atlantic Looked on the happy valley, but ne'er from their station descended. There, in the midst of its farms, reposed the Acadian village. Strongly built were the houses, with frames of oak and of hemlock. Such as the peasants of Normandy built in the reign of the Henries. Thatched were the roofs, with dormer-windows ; and gables projecting Over the basement below protected and shaded the doorway. There in the tranquil evenings of summer, when brightly the sunset Lighted the village street, and gilded the vanes on the chimneys, Matrons and maidens sat in snow-white caps and in kirtles Scarkt and blue and green, with distaffs spinning the golden Flax for the gossiping looms, whose noisy shuttles within doors Mingled their sound with the whir of the wheels and the songs of the maidens. Solemnly down the street came the parish priest, and the children Paused in their play to kiss the hand he extended to bless them. Reverend walked he among them ; and up rose matrons and maidens, Hailing his slow approach with words of affectionate welcome. Then came the laborers home from the field, and serenely the sun sank Down to his rest, and twilight prevailed. Anon from the belfry Softly the Angelus sounded, and over the roofs of the village Columns of pale blue smoke, like clouds of incense ascending, Rose from a hundred hearths, the homes of peace and contentment Thus dwelt together in love these simple Acadian farmers, — Dwelt in the love of God and of man. Alike were they free from S6 Yotiiig Folks History of America. Fear, that reigns with the tyrant, and envy, the vice of republics. Neither locks had they to their doors, nor bars to their windows ; But their dwellings were open as day and the hearts of the owners; There the richest was poor, and the poorest lived in abundance." Acadia — now Nova Scotia — is itself a dream. Port Royal is gone ; the maps do not contain it. Grand Pre is still to be seen, but it is no more the Norman town of the Golden Age. Take the map. On the Bay of Fundy you will find the town of Annapolis, in Nova Scotia. It is situated near a pleasant bay called Annapolis, or Annapolis Harbor. It is nearly surrounded with picturesque hills. This harbor was visited in 1 604 by De Monts, a French explorer. One of the noblemen who accompanied him was Baron de Poutrincourt He saw the harbor and green hills in summer time, and he desired to settle there. He obtained from De Monts a gram of the region about the enchanting harbor, and he called the place Port Royal. De Monts formed a settlement at the mouth of St. Croix River, which was not successful. Poutrincourt went to France and returned after a time to Port Royal with an ideal colony. He caused an immense banqueting hall to be erected, which was well supplied with deer, moose, bear, and all kinds of wild fowl. He niade friends of the Indians and entertained the chiefs at sumptu- ous feasts. The daily noonday meal was usually the scene of much vivacity. Champlain, the explorer, who discovered Lake Champlain and gave to it its name, was there ; Lescarbot, the chronicler and troubadour ; soldiers, artisans, and servants. With Poutrincourt, the feudal lord, often sat an Indian chief who was more than one hundred years old. One of the diver- sions at the table was to toss tidbits of French cookery to Indian children, who crawled like dogs about the floor. It is told that an aged Indian in dying once seriously inquired if DINNER AMUSEMENTS AT PORT ROYAL. i6io The Stoiy of Acadia. 89 the pies in Paradise would be as good as those at Port Royal. At night, by the blazing pine logs, Champlain would relate the stories of his wonderful adventures. What stories they must have been ! Sad news came to the colony after these happy and never- to-be-forgotten days. The monopoly granted to De Monts was rescinded by the home powers, and the colony was obliged to return to France. The Indians loved this French colony, and were greatly disappointed at its departure. They bade their benefactors farewell with tears and lamentations, and stood on the shore as if heart-broken, as the boats sailed away to the ship on the lovely bay. Poutrincourt promised them that he would re- turn again. He kept the promise. He returned in 16 10. The In- dians had awaited his coming, and protected the houses of the French while he was gone. He found his favorite Port Royal as he had left it, and as faithful hearts to welcome him back again. A new colony was founded, and its efforts were largely directed to converting the Indians to Christianity. The aged chief we have mentioned was one of the first converts and the first to be baptized. Indians came to Port Royal from all the country around for baptism. There were bitter con- tests of words and plots between the Jesuits and the liberal Catholic priests, but with this exception, Acadia was like a dream-land again. The ladies of the French court favored the mission, and astonishing tidings of great numbers of converts were yearly carried to them across the sea. Other colonists followed, and the French setdement grew. Peace and content- ment prevailed. The Jesuits left the settlement to loving and benevolent cur^s, — "And the children Paused in their play to kiss the hand he extended to bless them." 90 Young Folks History of America. By the fortunes of war this colony was transferred to Eng- land ; but its heart was still with France. The English dis- trusted its loyalty and sent an armed force to surprise and attack it, and to carry away the once happy people, and scat- ter them throughout their American domains. The Acadians were crowded into transports, their families were separated, their friendships and attachments blighted, and they were exiled among strangers never to see each other again. The name of Acadia was blotted out. The story of " Evange- line " is almost the only memorial of this most romantic and ideal settlement that remains. Acadia has one lesson in history that we ought not to for- get. Love wins love, even from a savage's heart. The French from the first were kind and generous to the Indians ; not only just, as the Puritans of New England tried to be, but magnanimous and noble. Among the best citizens of the American Acadia were these Indians, faithful and grateful to those who were ever true to them. NF.W ENGLAND. A little more than two centuries ago New England was one vast forest. Here and there a little s])ace was cleared, a little corn was raised, a few Indian families made their temporary abode. The savage occuj^ants of the land spent their profit- less lives to no better purpose than in hunting and fighting. The rivers which now give life to so much cheerful industry flowed uselessly to the sea. Providence had })repared a home which a great people might fitly inhabit. Let us see whence and how the men were brought who were the destined pos- sessors of its opulence. The Reformation had taught that every man is entided to read his Bible for himself, and guide his life by the light he obtains from it. But the lesson was too high to be soon [6o2. James I. 93 learned. Protestant princes no more than Popish could per- mit their subjects to think for themselves. James I. had just ascended the English throne. His was the head of a fool and the heart of a tyrant. He would allow no man to separ- ate himself from the Established Church. He would " harry out of the land" all who attempted such a thing. And he was as good as his word. Men would separate from the church, and the king stretched out his pitiless hand to crush them. On the northern borders of Notting- hamshire stands the little town of Scroo- by. Here there were some grave and well-reputed persons, to whom the ceremonies of the Established Church were an offence. They met in "iecret at the house of one of their number, a gentleman named Brewster. They were ministered to in all scriptural simplicity by the pastor of their choice, — Mr. Robinson, a wise and good man. But their secret meetings were betrayed to the authorities, and their lives were made bitter by the persecutions that fell upon them. They resolved to leave their own land and seek among strangers that freedom which was denied them at home. They embarked with all their goods for Holland. But when the ship was about to sail, soldiers came upon them, JAMES I. 94 Yotmg Folks History of AiJierica. plundered them, and drove them on shore. They were marched to the pubhc square of Boston, and there the Fa- thers of New England endured such indignities as an unbe- lieving rabble could inflict. After some weeks in prison they were suffered to return home. Next spring they tried again to escape. This time a good many were on board, and the others were waiting for the return of the boat which would carry them to the ship. Sud- denly dragoons were seen spurring across the sands. The shipmaster pulled up his anchor and pushed out to sea with those of his passengers whom he had. The rest were con- ducted to prison. After a time they were set at liberty. In little groups they made their way to Holland. Mr. Robinson and his congregation were reunited, and the first stage of the weary pilgrimage from the Old England to the New was at length accomplished. Eleven quiet and not unprosperous years were spent in Flolland. The Pilgrims worked with patient industry at their various handicrafts. They quickly gained the reputation of doing honestly and effectively whatever they professed to do, and thus they found abundant employment. Mr. Brewster established a printing-press, and printed books about liberty, which, as he had the satisfaction of knowing, greatly enraged the foolish King James. The litde colony received additions from time to time, as oppression in England became more intolerable. The instinct of separation was strong within the Pilgrim heart. They could not bear the thought that their little colony was to mingle with the Dutchmen and lose its inde- pendent existence. But already their sons and daughters were forming alliances which threatened this result. The fathers considered long and anxiously how the danger was to be averted. They determined again to go on pilgrimage. They would seek a home beyond the Atlantic, where they THE MAYFLOWER AT SEA. l620. Pilgrims at DelftJiaven. 97 could dwell apart, and found a State in which they should be free to think. On a sunny morning in July the Pilgrims kneel upon the seashore at Delfthaven, while the pastor prays for the success of their journey. Out upon the gleaming sea a little ship lies waiting. Money has not been found to transplant the whole colony, and only a hundred have been sent. The remainder will follow when they can. These hundred depart amid tears and prayers and fond fare- wells. Mr. Robinson dismissed them with counsels which breathed a pure and high-toned wisdom. Sixty-eight years later, another famous depart- ure from the coast of Holland took place. It was that of William, Prince of Orange, com- ing to deliver England from tyranny, and give a new course to English history. A powerful fleet and army sailed with the Prince. The chief men of the country accompanied him to his ships. Public prayers for his safety were offered up in all the churches. Insignificant beside this seems at first sight the unregarded departure of a hundred working men and women. It was in truth, however, not less but even more memorable. For these poor people went forth to found a great empire, destined to leave as deep and as en- during a mark upon the world's history as Rome or even as England has done. The Mayflower, in which the Pilgrims made their voyage. WILLIAM, PRINCE OF ORANGE. 98 Young Folks' Histojy of America. was a ship of one hundred and sixty tons. The weather proved stormy and cold ; the voyage unexpectedly long. It was early in September when they sailed. It was not till the nth November that the Mayflower dropped her anchor in the waters of Cape Cod Bay. It was a bleak-looking and discouraging coast which lay before them. Nothing met the eye but low sand-hills, cov- ered with ill-grown wood down to the margin of the sea. The Pilgrims had now to choose a place for their settlement. About this they hesitated so long that the captain threatened to put them all on shore and leave them. Little expeditions were sent to explore. At first no suitable locality could be found. The men had great hardships to endure. The cold was so excessive that the spray-'froze upon their clothes, and they resembled men cased in armor. At length a spot was fixed upon. The soil appeared to be good, and abounded in "dehcate springs" of water. On the 22d December the Pilgrims landed, — stepping ashore upon a huge bowlder of granite, which is still reverently preserved by their descend- ants. Here they resolved to found their settlement, which they agreed to call New Plymouth. The winter was severe, and the infant colony was brought very near to extinction. They had been badly fed on board the Mayflower, and for some time after going on shore there was very imperfect shelter from the weather. Sickness fell heavily on the worn-out Pilgrims. Every second day a grave had to be dug in the frozen ground. By the time spring came there were only fifty survivors, and these sadly enfee- bled and dispirited. But all through this dismal winter the Pilgrims labored at their heavy task. The care of the sick, the burying of the dead, sadly hindered their work. But the building of their little town went on. They found that nineteen houses would contain their diminished numbers. These they built. Then i62i. The Story of Massasoit. 99 they surrounded them with a palisade. Upon an eminence beside their town they erected a structure which served a double purpose. Above, it was a fort, on which they mounted six cannon ; below, it was their church. Hitherto the In- dians had been a cause of anxiety, but had done them no harm ; now they felt safe. The Pilgrims had been careful to provide for themselves a government. They had drawn up and signed, in the cabin of the Mayflower, a document forming themselves into a body politic, and promising obedience to all laws framed for the general good. Under this constitution they appointed John Carver to be their Governor. They dutifully acknowl- edged King James, but they left no very large place for his authority. They were essentially a self-governing people. They knew what despotism was, and they were very sure that democracy could by no possibility be so bad. The welcome spring came at length, and " the birds sang in the woods most pleasantly." The health of the colony began somewhat to improve. Early in the spring a very pleasing episode happened in the history of the colony. Let uS tell you THE STORY OF MASSASOIT. The great benefactor of the Pilgrims at Plymouth was an Indian chief. For more than forty years, when the colony was weak and defenceless, encountering sickness, famine, and peril on every hand, he was its defender and protector. His influence saved it from destruction by the Narragansetts. I^ any hero deserves a noble monument in New England, it is Massasoit. This great and good chief dwelt at Sowamset, now Warren, Rhode Island. Massasoit's spring is still to be seen near one of the wharves of that town. Another of his favorite residen- 100 • Young Folks History of America. ces was Mount Hope, a lovely hill overlooking the Narragan- sett Bay, where was the principal burying-ground of his race. Morton in his " Memorial " describes Massasoit as a portly man, grave of countenance and spare of speech. He loved peace and friendship, and had a great veneration for the wis- dom of the Pilgrims. His tribe and most of the New England tribes had been depleted by a great plague which had prevailed in New England a few years before the landing of the Pilgrims. We are told that the " savages died in heaps," that their bodies turned yellow after death, and that their unburied bones were often seen in depopulated villages by the first settlers in their explorations. But for this destruction of once powerful tribes the colonists n\ust have been early overpowered in the Indian wars. On Thursday, March 22, 1621, one hundred and one days after the landing of the Pilgrims, Massasoit, accompanied by his brother and sixty warriors, came to Plymouth to make a league of friendship with the colony. He had sent word of his coming, but on that day he suddenly made his appear- ance on Watson's Hill, which overlooked the settlement, and drew up his braves in a most imposing array. The latter were painted and fantastically dressed. The Pilgrims desired to receive the chief with due honor, but the distressing winter had rendered half their number unfit for such service. But Edward Winslow approached Massasoit with a present, and remained with the warriors as a hostage, while the good chief and a body of unarmed men went down the hill to the settle- ment. Captain Miles Standish, who had mustered a military company of six musketeers, met him. It must have been much like an exploit of Baron Steuben, — that March day's reception on the wild Plymouth hill- side. The Captain gave his orders in deep tones, and the men faced, and wheeled, and saluted their guest. A drum 1623. Sickness of Massasoit. 103 was beaten, and a trumpet sounded ; then came Governor Carver to the sachem and kissed his hand, and the two sat down on a rug and made a treaty of peace which protected the colony for nearly a half century. Edward Winslow returned the visit of Massasoit during the following summer. In March, 1623, news came to Plymouth that the chief was dangerously sick. Mr. Winslow was sent by the colonists to visit him. He was accompanied by Mr. Hamden, and by Hobomok, an Indian interpreter. Hobomok greatly loved his chief. On the way to Sowam- set in Pokonoket, the residence of Massasoit, he would break out into exclamations of grief : — '' My loving sachem ! O my loving sachem ! many have I known, but never any like thee. Whilst I live I shall never see his like among Indians ! " Mr. Winslow in his journal has left a most interesting ac- count of this visit to Massasoit. He says : — " When we came to the house we found it so full of men that we could scarcely get in, though they used their best endeavors to make way for us. We found the Indians in the midst of their charms for him, making such a noise as greatly affected those of us who were well, and therefore was not likely to benefit him who was sick. About him were six or eight women, who chafed his limbs to keep heat in him. " When they had made an end of their charming, one told him that his friends, the English, were come to see him. Having understanding left, though his sight was wholly gone, he asked who was come. They told him, Winslow. '^ He desired to speak with me. When I came to him, he put forth his hand and I took it. He then inquired : — " ' Keeii Winslow ? ' which is to say, ' Art thou Winslow ? ' " I answered, ^ Ahhe ; ' that is, 'Yes.' " Then he said, ' Matta neen wouckanet nameti, Winslow ; ' that is to say, ' O Winslow, I shall never see thee again.' I04 Young Folks History of America. " I then called Hobomok, and desired him to tell Massa- soit that the Governor, hearing of his sickness, was sorry ; and though, by reason of much business, he could not come himself, yet he sent me with such things as he thought most likely to do him good in his extremity, and that if he would like to partake of it I would give it to him. He desired that I would. I then took some conserve on the point of my knife, and gave it to him, but could scarce get it through his teeth. When it had dissolved in his mouth, he swallowed the juice of it. When those who were about him saw this they rejoiced greatly, saying that he had not swallowed any thing for two days before. His mouth was exceedingly furred, and his tongue much swollen. I washed his mouth and scraped his tongue, after which I gave him more of the conserve, which he swallowed with more readiness. He then desired to drink. I dissolved some of the conserve in water, and gave it to him. '' Within half an hour there was a visible change in him. Presently his sight began to come. I gave him more, and told him of an accident we had met with in breaking a botde of drink the Governor had sent him, assuring him that if he would send any of his men to Patuxet (Plymouth), I would send for more. I also told him that I would send for chick- ens to make him some broth, and for other things which I knew were good for him, and that I would stay till the mes- senger returned, if he desired. This he received very kindly, and appointed some who were ready to go by two o'clock in the morning, against which time I made ready a letter. " He requested that the day following I would take my gun and kill him some fowl, and make him some pottage, such as he had eaten at Plymouth, which I promised to do. His appetite returning before morning, he desired me to make him some broth without fowl before I went out to hunt. I was now quite at a loss what to do. I, however, caused a woman 1623. The Story of Massasoit. 05 to pound some corn, put it into some water, and place it over the fire. When the day broke, we went out to seek herbs ; but it being early in the season, we could find none except straw- berry leaves. I gathered a handful of them, with some sassa- fras root, and put them into the porridge. It being boiled, I strained it through my handkerchief, and gave him at least a pint, which he liked very well. After this his sight mended more and more, and he took some rest. We now felt constrained to thank God for giving his blessing to such raw and ignorant means. It now appeared evident that he would recover, and all of them acknowledged us as the instru- ments of his preservation. *' That morning he caused me to spend in going from one to another of those who were sick in town, requesting me to wash their mouths also, and to give to each of them some of the same h that I gave him. This pains I willingly took. "The messengers who had been sent to Plymouth had by this time returned ; but Massasoit, finding himself so much better, would not have the chickens killed, but kept them that they might produce more. Many, whilst we were there, came to see him ; some of them, according to their account, came not less than a hundred miles. Upon his recovery, he said : — " ' Now I see that the English are my friends, and love me, and whilst I live I will never forget this kindness which they have shown me.' "As we were about to come away he called Hobomok MANY VISITORS. ;c6 Yoii7ig Folks History of A7nerica. to him and revealed to him a plot the Massachusetts had formed to destroy the English. He told him that several other tribes were confederate with them ; that he, in his sickness, had been earnestly solicited to join them, but had refused, and that he had not suffered any of his people to unite with them." Massasoit died, as is supposed, in the autumn of 1661, forty-one years after the landing of the Pilgrims. In 1662, his two sons, Wamsetta and Metacom, came to Plymouth to renew the treaty of peace he had made, and desired that Eng- lish names should be given them. The court named them after the two heroes of Macedon, Alexander and Philip. The years which followed the coming of the Pilgrims were years through which good men in England found it bitter to live. Charles I. was upon the throne. Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury. Big- otry as blind and almost as cruel as England had ever seen thus sat in her high places. A change was near. John Hampden was farming his lands in Bucking- hamshire. A great- er than he — his cousin, Oliver Cromwell — 'Was leading his quiet rural life at Huntingdon, not without many anxious and indignant thoughts about the evils of his time. John Milton was peacefully writing his #TO J ' igs^^^ ^''^^^Bil L ^C|^H jL wJrH HHB^^ ^ -^ Ij^WbMMH ^^HBH^^^^gss. Jm ffl|f / III Kf',;^: ^m ^Mil OLIVER CROMWELL. 1630. Persecution of the Puritans. 109 minor poems, and filling his mind with the learning of the ancients. The men had come, and the hour was at hand. But as yet King Charles and Arch- bishop Laud gov- erned in their own way. Hiey fined and imprisoned every man who ventured to think otherwise than they wished him to think : they slit his nose, they cut off his ears, they gave him weary hours in the pil- lory. They or- dered that men should not leave the kingdom without the king's permission. Eight ships lay in the Thames, with their passengers on board, when that order was given forth. The soldiers cleared the ships, and the poor emigrants were driven back, in pov- erty and despair, to endure the misery from which they were so eager to escape. New England was the refuge to which the wearied victims of this senseless tyi-anny looked. The Pilgrims wrote to their friends at home, and every letter was regarded with the interest due to a " sacred script." They had hardships to tell of at first ; then they had prosperity and comfort ; always they had liberty. New England seemed a paradise to men who were denied permission to worship God according to the manner which they deemed right. Every summer a few ships were freighted for the settlements. Many of the silenced CHARLES I. no Young Folks'' History of America. ministers came. Many of their congregations came, glad to be free, at whatever sacrifice, from the tyranny which dis- graced their native land. The region around New Plymouth became too narrow foi the population. From time to time a litde party would gc forth, with a minister at its head. With wives and childrer and baggage they crept slowly through the swampy forest. By a week or two of tedious journeying they reached some point which pleased their fancy, or to which they judged that Providence had sent them. There they built their litde town, with its wooden huts, its palisade, its fort, on which one or two guns were ultimately mounted. Thus were founded many of the cities of New England. For some years the difficulties which the colonists encoun- tered were almost overwhelming. There seemed at times even to be danger that death by starvation would end the whole enterprise. At one time the amount of food was lim- ited to five kernels of corn to each person for one day. But they were a stout-hearted, patient, industrious people, and labor gradually brought comfort. The virgin soil began to yield them abundant harvests. They fished with such suc- cess that they manured their fields with the harvest of the sea. They spun and they wove. They felled the timber of their boundless forests. They built ships, and sent away to foreign countries the timber, the fish, the furs which were not required at home. Ere many years a ship built in Mas- sachusetts sailed for London, followed by " many prayers of the churches." Their infant commerce was not without its troubles. They had little or no coin. Indian corn was made a legal tender. Bullets were legalized in room of the far- things which, with their other coins, had vanished to pay for foreign goods. But no difficulty could long resist their steady, undismayed labor. They were a noble people who had thus begun to strike DEALING OUT THE FIVE KERNELS OF CORN. Ill f635- Hai'vard College Founded. 113 their roots in the great forests of New England. Their pecu- liarities may indeed amuse us. The Old Testament was their statute-book, and they deemed that the institutions of Moses were the best model for those of New England. They made attendance on public worship compulsory. They christened their children by Old Testament names. They regulated female attire by law. They considered long hair unscriptural, and preached against veils and wigs. The least wise among us can smile at the mistakes into which the Puritan Fathers of New England fell ; but the most wise of all ages will most profoundly reverence the purity, the earnestness, the marvellous enlightenment of these men. From their incessant study of the Bible they drew a love of human liberty unsurpassed in depth and fervor. Com- ing from under despotic rule, they established at once a gov- ernment absolutely free. The Pilgrims bore with them across the sea a deep persua- sion that their infant state could not thrive without education. Three years after the landing, it was reported of them among the friends they left in London, that " their children were not catechised, nor taught to read." The colonists felt keenly this reproach. They utterly denied its justice. They owned, indeed, that they had not yet attained to a school, much as they desired it. But all parents did their best, each in the education of his own children. In a very few years schools began to appear. Such endowment as could be afforded was freely given. Some tolerably qualified brother was fixed upon, and " entreated to become schoolmaster." And thus gradu- ually the foundations were laid of the noble school system of New England. Soon a law was passed that every town con- taining fifty householders must have a common school ; every town of a hundred householders must have a grammar school. Harvard College was established within fifteen years of the landing. 114 Yoicng Folks History of America. The founders of New England were men who had known at home the value of letters. Brewster carried with him a library of two hundred and seventy-five volumes, and his was not the largest collection in the colony. The love of knowl- edge was deep and universal. New England has nevei swerved from her early loyalty to the cause of education. Twenty-three years after the landing of the Pilgrims the population of New England had grown to twenty-four thou- sand. Forty-nine little wooden towns, with their wooden churches, wooden forts, and wooden ramparts, were dotted here and there over the land. There were four separate colo- nies, which hitherto had maintained separate governments. They were Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Haven. There appeared at first a disposition in the Pilgrim mind to scatter widely, and remain apart in small self-govern- ing communities. For some years every little band which pushed deeper into the wilderness settled itself into an inde- pendent State, having no political relations with its neighbors. But this isolation could not continue. The wilderness had other inhabitants, whose presence was a standing menace. Within "striking distance" there were Indians enough to trample out the solitary little English communities. On their frontiers were Frenchmen and Dutchmen, — natural enemies, as all men in that time were to each other. For mutual defence and encouragement, the four colonies joined them- selves into the United Colonies of New England. This was the first confederation in a land where confederations of un- precedented magnitude were hereafter to be established. CHAPTER IV. KING PHILIP'S WAR. Early in the history of New England, efforts were made to win the Indians to the Christian faith. The Governor of Massachusetts appointed ministers to carry the gospel to the savages. Mr. John Eliot, the aposde of the Indians, was a minister at Roxbury. Moved by the pitiful condition of the natives, he acquired the language of some of the tribes in his neighborhood. He went and preached to them in their own tongue. He used to make a missionary tour every fort- night, and he visited all the Indians in the Massachusetts and Plymouth Colonies. His zeal led him into great dangers. " I have not been dry night or day," he once wrote, " from the third day of the week unto the sixth ; but so travel, and at night pull off my boots, wring my stockings, and so con- tinue." He printed books for the Indians. Many of them listened to his sermons in tears. Many professed faith in Christ, and were gathered into congregations. He gave them a simple code of laws. It was even attempted to establish a college for training native teachers. But this had to be aban- doned. The slothfulncss of the Indian youth, and their de- vouring passion for strong licjuors, unfitted most of them for the ministry. No persuasion could induce them to labor. They could be taught to rest on the Sabbath ; they could not be taught to work on the other six days. These were grave hinderances ; but, in spite of them, Christianity made consid- erable progress among them. The hold which it then gained was never altogeth ^r lost. And it was observed that in all the Ii8 Young Folks History of America, misunderstandings which arose between the English and the natives, the converts steadfastly adhered to their new friends. A few of the Indians became preachers ; among the most noted at a later period was Samuel Occum, who visited Eng- land, composed poetry, and was called, the Indian White- field. Several hymns composed by Indians were used in tht churches. The best known is that beginning, — " When shall we three meet again ? " It was composed by three Indians at the planting of a memo- rial pine on leaving Dartmouth College, where they had been receiving a Christian education. The stanzas which follow are particularly fine : — " Though in distant lands we sigh, Parched beneath a burning sky, Though the deep between us rolls, Friendship shall unite our souls; And in fancy's wide domain, There we three shall meet again. " When the dreams of life are fled, When its wasted lamps are dead, When in cold oblivion's shade Beauty, health, and strength are laid, — Where immortal spirits reign, There we three shall meet again." These Indians, it is said, afterwards met in the same place and composed another hymn, which is as beautiful ana toucli- ing. It begins : — " Parted many a toil-spent year. Pledged in youth to memory dear. Still to friendship's magnet true, We our social joys renew ; Bound by love's unsevered chain, Here on earth we meet again." i675- King PJiilip's War. . 119 But we must leave this pleasant glance at the work of Eliot and his successors, and take up the most painful events in the colonial history of New England. The story of King Philip, and of the short, but bitter and heroic war that he waged against the colonists, is very romantic and affecting. King Philip himself was a hero, to whom even his enemies could not refuse their respect and admiration. He was the younger son of that noble old chieftain, Massasoit, who had welcomed the Pilgrims to the soil of the New World, and had lived and died their faithful and powerful friend. Massasoit had two sons, and they were named by Governor Winslow, as we have already told you, Alexander and Philip. Alexan- der succeeded Massasoit, but died suddenly, on his way home from a visit to the colony of Plymouth, and the rank and authority of Massasoit passed from Alexander to Philip. Philip was a noble-hearted Indian, full of patriotism, cour- age, and good sense. Pie was a statesman as well as a warrior, and governed his tribe, the Wampanoags, with rare judgment. At first he was friendly to the Puritans, as his father had been before him. Pie often exchanged presents with them, and sent envoys to them, and was their ally in their troubles with other tribes. As he grew older, however, he began to perceive the dangers which menaced his people. Year by year the whites encroached more and more upon the Indian hunting-grounds and forests. The Indians, he saw, were constantly receding before the new-comers ; they were being crowded into the narrow peninsulas and remote corners of New England, and the villages of the whites were starting up everywhere, on the spots where once the red-skins dwelt in peace. Still, Philip faithfully observed the treaties which old Mas- sasoit had made with the Plymouth and other colonies, and I20 Yoicng Folks' History of America. which he himself had accepted ; he even received insults from the whites without resenting them ; and contented him- self with holding long and grave councils with his warriors, at his beautiful and picturesque seat on Mount Hope, in Rhode Island. At last, however, an event occurred which exhausted Philip's patience, and kindled the flame of hatred and ven- geance in the breasts cf his Indian subjects. It happened that one of Philip's tribe, converted by the pious and devoted missionary, Eliot, had studied at Cam- bridge, and was then employed as a teacher. In conse- quence of some misconduct, however, he fled, and sought protection from Philip. After a while he returned again to the colony, and accused Philip of treachery towards it. It was not long before some of the Wampanoags waylaid and killed him. Three of the Indians were taken by the Puritans, charged with the murder, hastily tried, and hung. Philip and his tribe could not bear this. At first the chief hesitated. But his scruples were soon overcome by the fierce young warriors, and so, of a sudden, the war burst forth. Several whites were killed near Swanzey ; and it is said that Philip wept when he heard that the first blood had been shed. The signal was only needed to arouse most of the tribes throughout New England to rise against the white intruders. Some Indians remained on the side of the col- onies, and Philip saw that the war would be a desperate one, and that the chances were greatly against him. The English had guns and forts and sure supplies of food ; Philip and his Indians were badly armed with old muskets and bows, and they must trust to luck for provisions, while they had no houses to shelter them. The war spread rapidly through New England. The two colonies of Ply- mouth and Massachusetts Bay were prompt in meeting the defiance of the red-skins. Within a week after the first i675- King Philip's War. bloodshed, the white troops had driven Philip and his war- riors from Mount Hope. Not long after, Philip was a fugi- tive, and sped from tribe to tribe, rousing them to vengeance. It seemed as if the war was over ; it had really but just begun. Now occurred many terrible and never-to-be-forgot- ten scenes. The In- dians, avoiding the white troops, dodg- ing them, and never meeting them face to face in the open field, carried on the contest in their savage way of massacring the helpless, and burning villages. Many a fair and quiet settlement was made desolate. The new houses of the settlers were suddenly laid waste. Women and children were ruthlessly murdered, and burned in the houses. Whole villages disappeared by fire. No one could feel safe ; fire and death menaced the colonists in the fields, in their beds, in their churches, at the home porch. Out of the one hundred towns which, at that time, the New England col- onies contained, twelve were entirely destroyed, and more than forty were more or less injured. The Indians suffered, perhaps, not less terribly than the whites. The great tribe of the Narragansetts joined in the war, and it was their chief, Canonchet, who said, — '' We will fight to the last man before we will become ser- vants to the English ! " The fort of this tribe, which, built of palisades, stood where the town of South Kingston, Rhode Island, now stands, was THE ALARM. 124 Yonng Folks History of America. the liiding-place and rendezvous of many of the Indians who hacl been defeated. This fort the Plymouth colonists resolved to destroy. In December, 1675, "^vhen the snow lay deep on the dreary forest roads, Josiah \Vinslow set out for Fort Narragansett, at the head of a thousand resolute and well-armed men. It was a long march to this rude fortification ; but on reaching it DEATH IN THE FIELD. they soon destroyed it. The fort and its cabins were set on fire ; the winter stores of the Indians, their food and cloth- ing, worse still, their old men, women, and children, were consumed in the flames. The chief Canonchct was soon after taken prisoner. Offered his life if he would submit and agree to make peace, he proudly refused ; and then, being condemned to death, he said, — " I like it well ; I shall die before I speak any thing unwor- thy of myself." There were still terrible ravages and sufferings among the colonies; but by the end of 1675 the force of the Indians DEATH OF KING PHILIP 1677- Death of FJiilip. 127 was broken, and their hope of ridding the soil of the white intruders was gone. Philip, wandering from tribe to tribe, saw with grief that his efforts had been in vain. Many tribes deserted his cause, and hastened to make peace with the colonies. Most of his own brave warriors had fallen by the bullet or by disease. Troops of Indians fled for safety into Canada ; Phihp appealed in vain to the powerful Mohawks to come to his aid. The heroic chief at last yielded to despair. He became a fugitive, flying and hiding from the pursuit of his enemies. He lay in swamps ; he crouched in caves and forests ; and at last crept with difficulty back towards Mount Hope, his beloved old home, the scene of his glory, and that of his fathers. On his way, his wife and young son, idols of his heart, were taken prisoners, and in his anguish he exclaimed, " My heart breaks. Now I am ready to die." He was pursued by the brave and gallant Captain Church, who had now completely broken the power of the Indians in Massachusetts ; and as Philip was on the eve of being cap- tured at last, a traitor Indian shot him in a swamp where he lay concealed. Church, in accordance with the custom at that time, ordered the head of the dead chieftain to be severed from the body and carried to Plymouth, where it was set up on a pole, and remained in public view for several years. The body was quartered and hung upon trees. Thus did our less enlightened ancestors retaliate upon Philip for kindling the war. ' Of the great tribe of the Narragansetts, scarcely one hundred men survived the war. The young son of Philip, the last remaining sachem of the once happy and powerful tribe of the Wampanoags, and the last of the family of Massasoit, was sold into slavery in Ber- muda. One romantic incident of this famous struggle of the In- 128 Yoniig Folks History of America. dians, on the one hand, for tlieir ancient domain, and of the colonies, on the other, for the existence of white settlements in New England, is worth relating. Equal in bravery and heroism to Philip was Weetamo, the queen of Pocasset. She was a proud and active woman, and ruled resolutely over one of the principal tribes. The seat of her domain was just across Narragansett Bay, opposite the promontory occupied by the Wampanoags. She was friendly to the Puritans. Shortly before the war she had wedded Alex- ander, Philip's elder /- v^. brother; but as we have seen, Alexander - _ ^ suddenly died on his return from a visit to Plymouth. AMien the war l)roke out, Weetamo resolved to join the whites against her own nation. But Philip sought a coun- cil with her, and elo- quently urged her to reverse her decision. He told her that Al- exander had been foully dealt with ; that he had been poisoned by the English. He persuaded her of this, and she then resolved to lead her tribe into the contest as Pliilip's ally. Weetamo had many adventures, accompanied her warriors, and inspired them with her presence. But the fate of war went against her, as against the rest, and she, like Philip, was forced to fly. At last she was driven to the banks of the bay. There WEETAMO ON A PHILIP S ilEAD BROUGHT TO PLYMOUTH i677- Death of Weetamo. 131 were no canoes ; if she remained where she was she would surely be taken. She was resolved, however, to reach Po- casset, and jumping upon a hastily constructed raft, she attempted to cross the bay. But on the way over she was drowned. Her body was recovered by the English ; the head was cut off and exposed to view on the green at Taunton, whereupon the friendly Indians who were there set up a dismal howl. It is rarely that characters more heroic than Philip and Weetamo appear amid the contests of even highly civilized nations ; and although their misfortunes resulted in the preser- vation of what was destined to be our great nation, we can afford to respect their patriotism, and admire their bravery. THE STORY OF THE CAPTURE OF ANNAWON. On that inemorable August morning that Captain Benjamin Church and his party surprised and killed Philip, sachem of the Wampanoags, at the foot of Mount Hope in Rhode Island, a voice was heard in the woods calling out lustily : — ''Goof as hi Gootash!'' " Who is that? " asked Captain Church, of his Indian in- terpreter. " That is old Annawon, Philip's great captain. He is call- ing on his soldiers to fight bravely./' As soon as Annawon knew that Philip had fallen, and that he could render him no further service, he fled. With a sor- rowful heart he turned away from the green declivities over- looking the beautiful inland seas, the ancestral seat of the old Indian sachems, and the general burying-ground of the braves of the race. He turned to the north, taking with him the poor, wretched, despairing remnant of the once powerful tribe of the Wam- panoags. 132 Yoii^ig Folks History of Avierica. Immediately after the death of Philip, Captain Church went to Plymouth, hoping to find rest in retirement after his long struggle with the Wampanoags and the Narragansetts. He had been here but a short time when a post came from Reho- both to inform the officers of the colonial government that Annawon and his company were ranging about the woods of Rehoboth and Swanzey, causing a feeling of insecurity in those exposed frontier towns. Captain Church was at once despatched to disarm and disperse the party of Annawon. After many interesting adventures, he came to a place in the vicinity of Rehoboth, where he captured a number of Indian fugitives. Among these was a young woman. " What company did you come from last? " asked Captain Church, of the young capti\e. " From Annawon's." " How many were in his company when you left him? " "About fifty or sixty." " How far is it to the place where you left Annawon? " " It is a long distance." Captain Church was separated from his company at this time. There were with him six men, — one Englishman and five friendly Indians. He saw the necessity of immediate ac- tion. Annawon would soon learn of the approach of the Eng- hsh and elude his pursuers. Captain Church knew that he could surprise him that night, if he pressed forward without delay, and he resolved to do this with the little force then at hand, though the enterprise would be one of unusual peril. He unfolded his purpose to the company, and asked them if they were willing to go. The Indians were at first startled by the proposal of so daring an exploit. They told him that they were always ready to obey his commands. " But," they added, " Annawon is a great soldier. He was one of the val- iant captains under Massasoit, and he has been a principal leader during the present wai'. He has with him now some of i677- TJie Capture of Aftnawon. 133 Philip's most resolute men. It would be a pity, after the great deeds you have done, for you to throw away your life in the end. Nevertheless, if you give the command we will follow you." The brave party set out on the hazardous expedition. It was a dreamy afternoon, late in summer, and they arrived at the outskirts of the wood in which the great Indian warrior was concealing himself, just as the sun was declining. As the shadows deepened and the stars came out over the wide for- est, the party cautiously entered the still wood, led by a captive Indian, who acted as a guide. They soon reached the place where the old warrior and his braves were taking their rest. This retreat was protected by high rocks, partly covered with low bushes, moss, and fern. Captain Church crept to the shelf of one of these rocks, and, looking over, beheld the great Annawon lying by the bright camp-fire. A part of the Indians were reposing beside him, and a part were preparing an even- ing meal. He discovered the arms of the party stacked at a distance, and partly covered to protect them from the dew. Captain Church surveyed the encampment for a moment, then made his resolution. It was to seize the arms, and to make Annawon a prisoner in his own camp. Captain Church ordered two Indian captives to go down the declivity before him, and to lead the way to the place where Annawon was lying. An old squaw below was pound- ing corn in a mortar. When she pounded, the adventurers descended, and when she rested, they lay still. Captain Church presently found himself in the encampment, concealed from view by the captives who went before. He first came to young Annawon, the son of the great warrior. He stepped over him very quietly, but the young man, opening his eyes and discovering at a glance the situation, whipped his blanket over his head, and, shrinking up in a heap, lay perfectly mo- tionless, evidently expecting to be killed. Captain Church now 134 Young Folks Histoiy of America. stood at the feet of Annawon. The old warrior started, his eyes flashing, and his face wearing an expression of surprise, horror, and despair. He uttered the single word '' Howohf' then remained staring and silent. The great moon was now rising, silvering the forest ; the camp-fires were lighting up the shadows of the rocks, and in the dim light, amid the perfect silence of the encampment, stood the bold English captain, hatchet in hand, beside the prostrate body of his terror-struck foe. The arms of the Indians having been secured by Captain Church's men, the camp was alarmed and Annawon's war- riors were informed that their chieftain had been made a cap- tive. The Indians, not knowing how small a force had thus boldly surprised them, promised to surrender on the condi- tion that their lives should be spared. . " Annawon," said Captain Church at last, " what had you for supper to-night? " " Taiibiit,'' answered the astonished warrior in a deep voice. " I have come to sup with you," said Captain Church. " Will you have cow-beef or horse-beef? " " I w^ill have cow-beef." *' Women," said the warrior sadly but generously, " pre- pare the English a supper." It was a bright, moonlight night, and Captain Church kept watch by the fading camp-fires. Towards morning, he saw Annawon, who supposed that he was asleep, arise and step aside from the company. He presently returned, bringing in his hand some glittering treasure, and, falling upon his knees, said in a half-confident, half-pitiable voice, " Great captain, you have killed Philip ; you have conquered his country ; you have now captured the last Indian warriors. The war is now ended by your means, and these things now belong to you." [677. Death of Annawon. 135 He opened the pack, and took out King Philip's girdle of wampum, nine inches broad, richly embellished with figures of birds, beasts, and flowers. He put this around Captain Church's neck, and it hung down to his feet. He then put upon the captain's arm the other ornaments that had once been used on occasions of state by the fallen roytelet, and presented him with a beautiful wampum crown, never more to adorn the brow of a Wampanoag chieftain. Annawon was executed in Boston, — a deed of cruelty and wickedness for which there can be offered no proper apology or excuse I liC CHAPTER V. THE GROWING EMPIRE. NEW YORK. During the first forty years of its existence, the great city which we call New York was a Dutch settlement, known among men as New Amsterdam. That region had been discovered for the Dutch East India Company by Henry Hudson, who was still in search, as Columbus had been, of a shorter route to the East. He explored the river which is called after his name. The Dutch have never displayed any great aptitude for colonizing ; but they were unsurpassed in mercantile discernment, and they set up trading stations with much judgment. Three or four years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, the Dutch West India Company determined to enter into trading relations with the Indians along the line of the Hud- son River. They sent out a few families, who planted them- selves at the southern extremity of Manhattan Island. A wooden fort was built, around which clustered a few wooden houses, just as in Europe the baron's castle arose and the huts of the baron's dependants sheltered beside it. The Indians sold valuable furs for scanty payment in blankets, beads, muskets, and intoxicating drinks. The prudent Dutchmen grew rich, and were becoming numerous. But a fierce and prolonged war with the Indians broke out. The Dutch, having taken offence at something done by the sav- ages, expressed their wrath by the massacre of an entire tribe. HKNRY HUDSON IN THE NORTH RIVER, 1 37 i645- Dutch Colony at New Amsterdam. 139 The Indians of that region made common cause against the dangerous strangers. All the Dutch villages were burned down. Long Island became a desert. The Dutchmen were driven in to the southern tip of the island on which New York stands. They ran a palisade across the island in the line of what is now Wall Street. To-day, Wall Street is the scene of the largest monetary transactions ever known among men. The hot fever of speculation rages there incessantly, with an intensity unknown elsewhere. Then, it was the line within which a disheartened and diminishing band of colo- nists strove to maintain themselves against a savage foe. The war came to an end. For twenty years the colony continued to flourish under the government of a sagacious Dutchman called Peter Stuyvesant. Peter had been a soldier, and had lost a leg in the wars. He was a brave and true-hearted man, but withal despotic. When his subjects petitioned for some part in the making of laws, he was astonished at their boldness. He took it upon him to in- spect the merchants' books. He persecuted the Lutherans and "the abominable sect of Quakers." It cannot, therefore, be said that his government was fault- less. The colony prospered under it, however, and a con- tinued emigration from Europe increased its importance. But in the twentieth year certain English ships of war sailed up the bay, and, without a word of explanation, anchored near the settlement. Governor Peter was from home, but they sent for him, and he came with speed. He hastened to the fort and looked out into the bay. There lay the ships, — grim, silent, ominously near. Ap- palled by the presence of his unexpected visitors, the Gov- ernor sent to ask wherefore they had come. His alarm was well founded ; for Charles II. of England had presented to his brother James of York a vast stretch of territory, in- cluding the region which the Dutch had chosen for their I40 Young Folks History of Ainerica. settlement. It was not his to give, but that signified nothing either to Charles or to James. These ships had come to take possession in the Duke of York's name. A good many of the colonists were English, and they were well pleased to be under their own government. They would not fight. The Dutch remem- bered the Gover- nor's tyrannies, and they would not fight. Governor Peter was prepared to fight single-handed. He had the twenty guns of the fort loaded, and was resolute to fire upon the ships. So at least he pro- fessed. But the in- habitants begged him, in mercy to them, to forbear ; and he suffered himself to be led by two clergymen away from the loaded guns. It was alleged, to his disparagement, afterwards, that he had " allowed himself to be persuaded by ministers and other chicken- hearted persons." Be that as it may, King Charles's errand was done. The little town of fifteen hundred inhabitants, with all the neighboring settlements, passed quietly under English rule. The future Empire City was named New York, in honor of one of the meanest tyrants who ever disgraced the English throne. With the settlements on the Hudson there fell also into the hands of the English those of New Jersey, which the Dutch had conquered from the Swedes. CHARLES II £682. The Lajtd of Penn. 143 THE LAND OF PENN. The uneventful but quietly prosperous career of Pennsyl- vania began in 1682. The Stuarts were again upon the throne of England. They had learned nothing from their exile ; and now, with the hour of their final rejection at hand, they were as wickedly despotic as ever. William Penn was the son of an admiral who had gained victories for England, and enjoyed the favor of the royal family, as well as of the eminent statesmen of his time. The highest honors of the State would in due time have come within the young man's reach, and the brightest hopes of his future were reasonably entertained by his friends. To the dismay of all, Penn became a Quaker. It was an unspeak- able humiliation to the well-connected admiral. He turned his son out of doors, trusting that hunger would subdue his intractable spirit. After a time, however, he relented, and the youthful heretic was restored to favor. Ere long the admiral died, and Penn succeeded to his pos- sessions. It deeply grieved him that his brethren in the faith should endure such wrongs as were continually inflicted upon them. He could do nothing at home to mitigate the severi- ties under which they groaned. Therefore he formed the great design of leading them forth to a new world. King Charles owed to the admiral a sum of ^16,000, and this doubtful investment had descended from the father to the son. Penn offered to take payment in land, and the king readily bestowed upon him a vast region stretching westward from the river Delaware. Here Penn proposed to found a State, free and self-gov- erning. It was his noble ambition " to show men as free and as happy as they can be." He came to America. He pro- claimed to the people already settled in his new dominions 144 You7ig Folks History of America. that they should be governed by laws of their own making. *' Whatever sober and free men can reasonably desire," he told them, " for the security and improvement of their own happiness, I shall heartily comply with." He was as good as his word. The people appointed representatives, by whom a Constitution was framed. Penn confirmed the arrange- ments which the people chose to adopt. PENN'S ARRIVAL IN AMERICA. Penn dealt justly and kindly with the Indians, and they requited him with a reverential love such as they evinced to no other Englishman. The neighboring colonies waged bloody wars with the Indians who lived around them, now inflicting defeats which were almost exterminating, now sus- taining hideous massacres. Penn's Indians were his childrep RUINS IN CENTR\L AMFRICA. 14s i682. Penns Colony Founded. 147 and most loyal subjects. No Quaker blood was ever shed by Indian hand in the Pennsylvanian territory. Soon after Penn's arrival, he invited the chief men of the Indian tribes to a conference. The meeting took place beneath a huge elm-tree. The pathless forest has long given way to the houses and streets of Philadelphia, but a marble monument points out to strangers the scene of this memora- ble interview. Penn, with a few companions, unarmed, and dressed according to the simple fashion of their sect, met the crowd of formidable savages. They met, he assured them, as brothers " on the broad pathway of good faith and good will." No advantage was to be taken on either side. All was to be " openness and love ; " and Penn meant what he said. Strong in the power of truth and kindness, he bent the fierce savages of the Delaware to his will. They vowed " to live in love with William Penn and his children as long as the moon and the sun shall endure." Long years after, they were known to recount to strangers, with deep emotion, the words which Penn had spoken to them under the old elm-tree. The fame of Penn's settlement went abroad in all lands. An asylum was opened " for the good and oppressed of every nation." Of these there was no lack. Grave and God-fearing men from all the Protestant countries sought a home where they might live as conscience taught them. The new colony grew apace. Its natural advantages were tempt- ing. Penn reported it as " a good land, with plentiful springs, the air clear and fresh, and an innumerable quantity of wild-fowl and fish. During the first year twenty- t^vo vessels arrived, bringing two thousand persons. In three years Philadelphia was a town of six hundred houses. When Penn, after a few years, revisited England, he was able truly to relate that " things went on sweetly with the Friends in Pennsylvania ; that they increased finely in outward things and in wisdom." 148 Young Folks' History of America. OGLETHORPE AND GEORGIA. The thirteen States which composed the original Union were Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Of these the latest born was Georgia. Only fifty years had passed since Penn established the Quak- er State on the banks of the Delaware. But changes greater than centuries have sometimes wrought had taken place. The Revolu- tion had vindicated the liberties of the British peo- ple. The era of despotic government had closed. The real governing power was no longer the king, but the Parliament. Among the members of Parliament during the rule of Sir Robert Walpole was one almost unknown to us now, but deserving of honor beyond most men of his time. His name was James Oglethorpe. He was a soldier, and had fought against the Turks and in the great Marlborough wars against Louis XIV. In advanced life he became the friend of Samuel Johnson. Dr. Johnson urged him to wTite some account of his adventures. " I know no one," he said, DR. JOHNSON. 1732. Oglethorpe and Georgia. 151 " whose life would be more interesting ; if I were furnished with materials I should be very glad to \vrite it." Edmund Burke considered him " a more extraordinary person than any he had ever read of." John Wesley "blessed God that ever he was born." Oglethorpe attained the great age of ninety- six, and died in the year 1785. The year before his death he attended the sale of Dr. Johnson's books, and was there met by Samuel Rogers, the poet. " Even then," says Rogers, '' he was the finest figure of a man you ever saw, but very, very old ; the flesh of his face like parchment." In Oglethorpe's time it was in the power of a creditor to imprison, according to his pleasure, the man who owed him money and was not able to pay it. It was a common circum- stance that a man should be imprisoned during a long series of years for a trifling debt. Oglethorpe had a friend upon whom this hard fate had fallen. His at- tention was thus painfully called to the cruelties which were inflicted upon the unfortunate and help- less. He appealed to Parliament, and after inquiry a partial rem- edy was obtained. The benevolent exer- tions of Oglethorpe procured liberty for multitudes who but for him might have ended their lives in captivity. This however did not content him. Liberty was an incom- GEORGE 11. 152 Young Folks History of America. plete gift to men who had lost, or perhaps had scarcely ever possessed, the faculty of earning their own maintenance. Oglethorpe devised how he might carry these unfortunate men to a place where, under happier auspices, they might open a fresh career. He obtained from King George II. a charter by which the country between the Savannah and the Altamaha, and stretching westward to the Pacific, was erected into the province of Georgia. It was to be a refuge for the deserving poor, and next to them for Protestants suffering persecution. Parliament voted ;^i 0,000 in aid of the humane enterprise, and many benevolent persons were liberal with their gifts. In November the first exodus of the insolvent took place. Ogle- thorpe sailed with one hundred and twenty emigrants, mainly selected from the prisons, — penniless, but of good repute. He surveyed the coasts of Georgia, and chose a site for the capital of his new State. He pitched his tent where Savan- nah now stands, and at once proceeded to mark out the line of streets and squares. The Indians welcomed him with surprise and delight, and he was equally astonished and pleased at some of the fantastic ceremonies with which they first approached him. One of the Indian chiefs presented him with a buffalo skin adorned with the feathers of an eagle. " The feathers," he said, '' signify love ; the buffalo skin means protection : love and protect our families." Next year the colony was joined by about a hundred Ger- man Protestants, who were then under persecution for their beliefs. The colonists received this addition to their numbers with joy. A place of residence had been chosen for them, which the devout and thankful strangers named Ebenezer. They were charmed with their new abode. The river and the hills, they said, reminded them of home. They applied themselves with steady industry to the cultivation of indigo and silk, and they prospered. The fame of Oglethorpe's enterprise spread over Europe. OGLETHORPE AND THE INDIANS. 1736. The Wesley s in Georgia. 155 All struggling men, against whom the battle of life went hard, looked to Georgia as a land of promise. They were the men who most urgently required to emigrate ; but they were not always the men best fitted to conquer the difficulties of the emigrant's life. The progress of the colony was slow. The poor persons of whom it was originally composed were honest but ineffective, and could not in Georgia more than in England find out the way to become self-supporting. Encour- agements were given which drew from Germany, from Switz- erland, and from the highlands of vScodand, men of firmer texture of mind, better fitted to subdue the wilderness and bring forth its treasures. With Oglethorpe there went out, on his second expedition to Georgia, the two brothers, John and Charles Wesley. Charles went as sec-^tary to the Governor. John was even then, although a very young man, a preacher of unusual promise. . He burned to spread the gospel among the set- tlers and their Indian neighbors. He spent two years in Georgia, and these were unsuccessful. His character was unformed ; his zeal out of proportion to his discretion. The people felt that he preached '' personal satires " at them. He returned to begin his great career in England, with the feeling that his residence in Georgia had been of much value to himself, but of very litde to the people whom he sought to benefit. But the church that he founded is to-day the largest Christian body in America, and is especially powerful in the South. Just as Wesley reached England, his fellow-laborer George Whitefield sailed for Georgia. There were now little settle- ments spreading inland, and Whitefield visited these, bearing to them the word of life. He founded an Orphan- House at .Savannah, and supported it by contributions, obtained easily from men under the power of his unequalled eloquence. He visited Georgia very frequently, and his love for that colony remained with him to the last. 156 Young Folks History of America, Slavery was, at the outset, forbidden in Georgia. It was opposed to the gospel, Oglethorpe said, and therefore not to be allowed. He foresaw, besides, what has been so bitterly experienced since, that slavery must degrade the poor white laborer. But soon a desire sprang up among the less scru- pulous of the settlers to have the use of slaves. Within seven years from the first landing, slave-ships wepe discharging their cargoes at Savannah. CHAPTER VI. WITCHCRAFT IN NEW ENGLAND. When the Pilgrims left their native land, the belief in witch- craft was universal. England, in much fear, busied herself with the slaughter of friendless old women who were sus- pected of an alliance with Satan. King James had published his book on Demonology a few years before, in which he maintained that to forbear from putting witches to death was an "odious treason against God." England was no wiser than her king. During James's life, and long after his decease, the yearly average of executions for witchcraft was somewhere about five hundred. There were times when the excitement concerning witches was so violent in England that almost any old woman whom disease or infirmities had rendered unsightly was liable to fall under the suspicion of witchcraft. Then, after a trial as senseless and as ridiculous as the charge, she was hustled off to suffer a most painful death. The Evil One, according to an old English superstition, used to set his mark on all true witches, and that part of the body where the stigma was placed was insensible to pain. Hence a true witch might be discovered by pricking her with pins. Pricking became a profession in Scotland during the ear- lier part of the seventeenth century, and a class of execrable fellows called prickers filled their slender purses by going from place to place, and sticking pins into helpless old women. 158 Yotmg Folks History of America. The supposed witches often lost their fortitude under* the torture, and confessed themselves guilty of whatever they were accused of. Being condemned by their own words, it only remained to put them to death. A vile monster by the name of Hopkins, who became rich by going from town to town and pretending to detect witches, used to bind suspected persons hand and foot, and cast them into the river. He said that true witches renounced their baptism, and therefore water would reject them, and they would float. Hence, when the accused floated, as commonly was the case, she was adjudged guilty, and was taken from the water to be hung. This wretch, after a notorious career, fell into disrepute, the people reasoning that he himself must be in the confi- dence of bad spirits, else he would not know so readily who were witches and who were not. They resolved to measure him by his own standard, by casting him into the river in order to see if his body would sink or swim. The result was that he floated, and being found a wizard by his own test, his miserable end was made to verify the Scripture : " In such measure as ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." The following trustworthy story, the outlines of which we gather from Sir Walter Scott, presents a fair picture of witch- craft in England, not long before the Commonwealth : — About the year 1634 a boy by the name of Edmund Rob- inson, the son of an ignorant and superstitious man living in Pendle Forest, began to make a great stir in the vicinity of the place where he lived, by relating some very remarkable occurrences which he claimed to have seen. He said that he wandered forth into the woods one day to gather wild fruit, when he chanced to meet in a retired glade two greyhounds. Thinking to have a bit of sport, he started a hare from a thicket, and tried to induce the greyhounds i6S8. Witchcraft in Nezv England. 159 to give chase ; but, contrary to the instincts of such animals, they* allowed the hare to escape without any attempt to molest it. He was very angry, and, seizing a stick, was about to beat one of the hounds, when suddenly the animal started up before him in the form of a woman, whom he presently recognized as a certain Dame Dickenson, the wife of a neigh- bor. The other hound as suddenly changed into a little boy. Dame Dickenson seemed much chagrined at the discov- ery, and told young Robinson that she would give him a sum of money if he would promise not to disclose what he had seen. He replied, — " Nay, thou art a witch." The dame, without further parley, took a bridle from her pocket, and shaking it over the head of the little boy by her side, changed him into a horse. She seized young Robinson, and, mounting the steed, galloped away. They came to an obscure building in the forest, and, on entering with the dame, Robinson beheld an assemblage of witches making frightful faces, and performing mysterious incantations. They would take hold of a halter, make hide- ous faces, and give a pull, when there would suddenly appear before them roast meat, porringers of milk, and other rustic dainties. One would suppose that a story so ridiculous in itself would have passed for a myth, even though rendered some- what remarkable by the youth and simplicity of the narrator. Not so ; the superstitious took alarm, busybodies put the wonderful tale in rapid circulation, and the fever of excite- ment spread. The boy obtained great celebrity as a " witch finder," but at last acknowledged that his marvellous story was an imposture. The Pilgrims carried with them across the Atlantic the uni- i6o Yoimg Folks History of America. versal delusion. Their way of life was fitted to strengthen it. They lived on the verge of vast and gloomy forests. The howl of the wolf and the scream of the panther sounded nightly around their cabins. Treacherous savages lurked in the woods, watching the time to plunder and to slay. Every circumstance was fitted to increase the susceptibility of the mind to gloomy and superstitious impressions. But for the first quarter of a century, while every ship brought news of witch-killing at home, no satanic outbreak disturbed the set- tlers. The sense of brotherhood was yet too strong among them. Men who have braved great dangers and endured great hardships together do not readily come to look upon each other as the allies and agents of the Evil One. In the State of Massachusetts there was a little town, now a fine city, called Salem, sitting pleasantly between two riv- ers ; and in this town there dwelt at that time a minister whose name was Parris. The daughter and niece of Mr. Parris became ill of a strange nervous disease. It was a dark time for Massachusetts ; for the colony was at war with the French and Indians, and was suffering cruelly from their ravages. The doctors sat in solemn conclave on the afflicted girls, and pronounced them bewitched. Mr. Parris, not doubting that it was even so, bestirred himself to find the offenders. He fastened suspicion upon three old women, who were at once arrested. Then, with marvellous rapidity, the mania spread through the town. The rage and fear of the distracted community rose high. Every one suspected his neighbor. Children accused their parents. Parents ac- cused their children. The prisons could scarcely contain the suspected. The town of Falmouth hanged its minister, a man of intelligence and worth. Some near relations of the Governor were denounced. Witches were believed to ride in the air at night. Even the beasts were not safe. A dog was solemnly put to death for the part he had taken in some Satanic festivity. i6S8. Witchcraft in New England. 163 For more than twelve months this mad panic raged. It is just to say that the hideous cruelties which were practised in Europe were not commonly resorted to in the prosecution of American witches. Torture was seldom inflicted to wring confession from the victim. The American test was more humane, and not more foolish, than the European. Those suspected persons who denied their guilt were judged guilty and hanged. Those who confessed were, for the most part, set free. Many hundreds of innocent persons, who scorned to purchase life by falsehood, perished miserably under the fury of an excited people. Giles Corey was pressed to death in Salem for refusing to confess that he was a wiza7'd. The so-called Salem witchcraft seems to have in reality be- gun in Boston in 1688. The children of Mr. John Goodwin began to behave in a very strange manner : we are told that they " barked like dogs, mewed like cats, and flew through the air like geese." Geese often touch their feet to the ground when flying, and we presume the Goodwin children flew in this way. Cotton Mather, the minister at Boston, pronounced these children to be bewitched. A weak old woman, who was a Papist, was accused of the witchcraft, and was executed. The delusion spread, principally among the children, unti/ the Massachusetts Bay Colony was filled with terror anc) suspicion. Gallows Hill at Salem, now a tanyard, was the scene of those awful tragedies which have so darkened the fair pages of colonial history. The fire had been kindled in a moment ; it was extin- guished as suddenly. The Gov^ernor of Massachusetts only gave emphasis to the reaction which had occurred in the pub- lic mind, when he abruptly stopped all prosecutions against witches, dismissed all the suspected, pardoned all the con- demned. The House of Assembly proclaimed a fast, en- treating that God would pardon the errors of his people 164 Youjtg Folks' History of America. *' in the late tragedy raised by Satan and his instruments." One of the judges stood up in church in Boston, with bowed- down head and sorrowful countenance, while a paper was read, in which he begged the prayers of the congregation, that the innocent blood which he had erringly shed might not be visited on the country or on him. The Salem jury asked forgiveness of God and the community for what they had done under the power of " a strong and general delusion." Poor Mr. Parris was now at a sad discount. He made pub- lic acknowledgment of his error. But at his door lay the origin of all this slaughter of the unoffending. His part in the tragedy could not be forgiven. The people would no longer endure his ministry, and demanded his removal. Mr. Parris resigned his charge, and went forth from Salem a broken man. If the error of New England was great and most lament- able, her repentance was prompt and deep. Five-and-twenty years after she had clothed herself in sackcloth, old women were still burned to death for witchcraft in Great Britain. The year of blood was never repeated in America. CHAPTER VII. PERSECUTION AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. The Puritans left their native England and came to the '' outside of the worid," as they called it, that they might en- joy liberty to worship God according to the way which they deemed right. They had discovered that they themselves were entitled to toleration.. They felt that the restraints laid upon them were very unjust and very grievous. But their light as yet led them no further. They had not dis- covered that people who differed from them were as well entitled to be tolerated as they themselves were. Simple as it seems, men have not all found out even yet that every one of them is fully entitled to think for himself. Thus it happened that, before the Pilgrims had enjoyed for many years the cheerful liberty of their new home, doctrines raised their heads among them which they felt themselves bound to suppress. One February day there stepped ashore at Boston a young man upon whose coming great issues depended. His name was Roger Williams. He was a clergyman, "godly and zealous," — a man of rare virtue and pow;er. Cromwell admitted him, in later years, to a consid- erable measure of intimacy. He was the friend of John Milton in the bright days of the poet's youth, ere yet " the ever-during dark " surrounded him. From him Milton ac- quired his knowledge of the Dutch language. He carried with him to the New World certain strange opinions. Long thought had satisfied him that in regard to religious 1 66 Yottng Folks' History of America. belief and worship man is responsible to God alone. No man, said Williams, is entitled to lay compulsion upon an- other man in regard to religion. The civil power has to do only with the " bodies and goods and outward estates " of men. In the domain of conscience God is the only ruler. New England was not able to receive these sentiments. Williams became minister at Salem, where he was held in high esteem. In time his opinions drew down upon him the unfavorable notice of the authorities. The General Court of Massachusetts brought him to trial for the errors of his belief. His townsmen and congregation deserted him. His wife reproached him bitterly with the evil he was bringing upon his family. Mr. Williams could do no otherwise. He must testify with his latest breath, if need be, against the '' soul oppression " which he saw around him. The court heard him, discovered error in his opinions, declared him guilty, and pronounced upon him sentence of banishment. All honor to this good and brave, if somewhat eccentric, man ! He of all the men of his time saw most clearly the beauty of absolute freedom in matters of conscience. He went forth from Salem. He lived during a part of one winter with the sachem Massasoit at Mount Hope. He obtained a grant of land from the Indians, and he founded the State of Rhode Island. Landing one day from a boat in which he explored his new possessions, he climbed a gende slope, and rested with his companions beside a spring. It seemed to him that the capital of his infant State ought to be here. He laid the foundations of his city, which he named Prov- idence, in grateful recognition of the power which had guided his uncertain steps. It is to-day one of the most beautiful and thrifty cities in the Union. His settlement was to be " a shelter for persons UAKERS AT THE CART's TAIL IN BOSTON. 1636. Persecution and Religious Liberty. 169 distressed for conscience." Most notably has it been so. Rhode Island has no taint of persecution in her statute-book or in her history. Massachusetts continued to drive out her heretics. Rhode Island took them in. They might err in their interpretation of Scripture. Pity for themselves if they did so. But while they obeyed the laws, they might interpret Scripture according to the light they had. Many years after, Mr. Williams became President of the colony which he had founded. The neighboring States were at that time sharply chastising the Quakers with lash, branding-iron, and imprison- ment. Rhode Island was invited to join in the persecution. Mr. Williams replied that he had no law whereby to punish any for their belief ''as to salvation and an eternal condition." He dissented from the doctrines of the Quakers. In his seventy-third year he rowed thirty miles in an open boat to wage a public debate with some of the advocates of the sys- tem. Thus and thus only could he resist the progress of opinions which he deemed pernicious. In beautiful consist- ency and completeness stands out to the latest hour of his long life this good man's loyalty to the absolute liberty of the human conscience. He cherished a very forgiving spirit towards those who sent him into exile. Learning that the Pequot Indians had arranged a meeting with the Narragansetts, for the purpose of destroying the Massachusetts Colony, he suddenly surprised the council, and dissuaded them from their purpose. In this deed he put his Hfe in peril for his enemies. Thus, too, it happened that when seven or eight men began to deny that infants should be baptized. New England never doubted that she did right in forcibly trampling out their heresy. The heretics had started a meeting of their own, where they might worship God apart from those who baptized their infants. One Sabbath morning the constable invaded their w ^rship and forcibly bore them away to church. I/O Yoiuig Folks' History of Ajuerica. Their deportment there was not unsuitable to the manner of their inbringing. They audaciously clapped on their hats while the minister prayed, and made no secret that they deemed it sin to join in the services of those who practised infant baptism. For this " separation of themselves from God's people " they were put on trial. They were fined, and some of the more obdurate among them were ordered to be " well whipped." W^e have no reason to doubt that this order was executed in spirit as well as in letter. Then a law went forth that every man who openly condemned the baptizing of infants should suffer banishment. Thus resolute were the good men of New England that the right which they had come so far to enjoy should not be enjoyed by any one who saw a different meaning from theirs in any portion of the Divine Word. When Massachusetts had reason to apprehend the coming of certain followers of the Quaker persuasion from England, she was smitten with a great fear. .\ fast-day was proclaimed, that the alarmed people might " seek the face of God in reference to the abounding of errors, especially those of the Ranters and Quakers." As they fasted, a ship was nearing their shores with certain Quaker women on board. These unwelcome visitors were promptly seized and lodged in prison ; their books were burned by the hangman ; they themselves were sent away home by the ships which brought them. All shipmasters were strictly forbidden to bring Quakers to the colony. A poor woman, the wife of a Lon- don tailor, left her husband and her children, to bring, as she said, a message from the Lord to New England. Her trouble was but poorly bestowed ; for they to whom her message came requited her with twenty stripes and instant banish- ment. The banished Quakers took the earliest opportunity of finding their way back. Laws were passed dooming to death ROGER WILLIAMS IN PERIL FOR HIS ENEMIES. i66i. The Kings Letter. 173 all who ventured to return. A poor fanatic was following his plough in distant Yorkshire, when he thought the word of the Lord came to him, saying, '' Go to Boston." He went, and the ungrateful men of Boston hanged him. Four persons in all suffered death. Many were whipped. Some had their ears cut off. But public opinion, which has always been singularly humane in America, began to condemn these fool- ish cruelties. The Quakers had friends at home, friends who had access to the court. There came a letter in the king's name directing that the authorities of New England should " forbear to proceed further against the Quakers." That letter came by the hands of a Quaker who was under sen- tence of death if he dared to return. The authorities could not but receive it, could not but give effect to it. The persecution ceased ; and with it may be said to close, in America, all forcible interference with the right of men to think for themselves. The Quakers, as they are known to us, are of all sects the least offensive. A persecution of this serene, thoughtful, self-restrained people may well surprise us. But, in justice to New England, it must be told that the first generation of Quakers differed ex- tremely from succeeding generations. They were a fanatical people, — extravagant, intemperate in speech, rejectors of GEORGE FOX. 1/4 Yotmg Folks History of America. lawful authority. They believed themselves guided by an '' inner light," which habitually placed them at variance with the laws and customs of the country in which they lived. George Fox declared that " the Lord forbade him to put off his hat to any man." His followers were provokingly aggres- sive. They invaded public worship. They openly expressed their contempt for the religion of their neighbors. They perpetually came with " messages from the Lord," which it was not pleasant to listen to. They appeared in public places very imperfectly attired, thus symbolically to express and to rebuke the spiritual nakedness of the time. The second generation of New England Quakers were people of beautiful lives, spiritual-minded, hospitable, and just. When their zeal allied itself with discretion, they became a most valuable element in American society. They have firmly resisted all social evils. But we can scarcely wonder that they created alarm at first. The men of New England took a very simple view of the subject. They had bought and paid for every acre of soil which they occupied. Their country was a homestead from which they might exclude whom they chose. They would not receive men whose object seemed to be to overthrow their customs, civil and religious. It was a mistake, but a most natural mistake. Long afterwards, when New England saw her error, she made what amends she could, by giving compensation to the rep- resentatives of those Quakers who had suffered in the evil times. '■%^'li*-M J I CHAPTER VIII. GROWTH AND GOVERNMENT OF THE COLONIES. There was at the outset considerable diversity of pattern among the governments of the colonies. As time wore on, the diversity lessened, and one great type became visible in all. There was a governor appointed by the king. There was a Parliament chosen by the people. Parliament held the purse-strings. The governor applied for what moneys the pubHc service seemed to him to require. Parliament, as a rule, granted his demands, but not without consideration, and a distinct assertion of its right to refuse should cause appear. As the Revolution drew near, the function of the governor became gradually circumscribed by the pressure of the assem- blies. When the governor, as representing the king, fell into variance with the popular will, the representatives of the people assumed the whole business of government. The most loyal of the colonies resolutely defied the encroach^ ments of the king or his governor. They had a pleasure and a pride in their connection with Englapd ; but they were, at the same time, essentially a self-governing people. From the government which existed before the Revolution it was easy for them to step into a federal union. The colonists had all their interests and all their grievances in common. It was natural for them, when trouble arose, to appoint representa- tives who should deliberate regarding their affairs. These representatives required an executive to give practical effect to their resolutions. The officer who was appointed for that purpose was called, not king, but President ; and was chosen, 78 Voting Folks History of America. not for life, but for four years. By this simple and natural process arose the American government. At first Virginia was governed by two councils, one of which was English, and the otlier colonial. Both were entirely under the king's control. In a very few years the representa- tive system was introduced, and a popular assembly, over whose proceedings the governor retained the right of veto, regulated the affairs of the colony. Virginia maintained her loyalty to the Stuarts. Charles II. ruled her in his exile, and was crowned in a robe of Virginian silk, presented by the devoted colonists. The baffled Cavaliers sought refuge in Virginia from the hateful triumph of Republicanism. Vir- ginia refused to ac- knowledge the Com- monwealth, and had to be subjected by force. AMien tlie exiled house was re- stored, her joy knew no bounds. The New Eng- land States were of different temper and different govern- ment. While yet on board the May- flower, the Pilgrims, as we have seen, formed themselves into a body politic, elected their governor, and bound themselves to submit to his authority, " confiding in his prudence that he would not adventure upon any matter of moment without consent of the rest." Every church mem- ber was an elector. For sixty years this democratic form of government was continued, till the despotic James II. over- JAMES II. I740. George Washington. 179 turned it in the closing years of his unhappy reign. The Pilgrims carried with them from England a bitter feeling of the wrongs which kings had inflicted on them, and they arrived in America a people fully disposed to govern them- selves. They cordially supported Cromwell. Cromwell, on his part, so highly esteemed the people of New England that he invited them to return to Europe, and offered them setdements in Ireland. They delayed for two years to pro- claim Charles II. when he was restored to the English throne. They sheltered the regicides who fled from the king's ven- geance. They hailed the Revolution, by which the Stuarts were expelled and constitutional monarchy set up in Eng- land. Of all the American colonies, those of New England were the most democratic and the most intolerant of royal interference with their liberties. New York was bestowed upon the Duke of York, wno for a time appointed the governor. Pennsylvania was a grant to Penn, who exercised the same authority. Ultimately, however, in all cases, the appointment of governor rested with the king, while the representatives were chosen by the people. GEORGE WASHINGTON. In the year 1 740 there broke out a great European war. There was some doubt who should fill the Austrian throne. The emperor had just died, leaving no son or brother to inherit his dignities. His daughter, Maria Theresa, stepped into her father's place, and soon made it apparent that she was strong enough to maintain what she had done. Two or three kings thought they had a better right than she to the throne. The other kings ranged themselves on this side or on that. The idea of looking on while foolish neighbors destroyed themselves by senseless war, had not yet been sug- gested. Every king took part in a great war, and sent his i8o Yotmg Folks' History of America. people forth to slay and be slain, quite as a matter of course. So they raised great armies, fought great battles, burned cities, wasted countries, inflicted and endured unutterable miseries, all to settle the question about this lady's throne. Cut the lady was of an heroic spirit, well worthy to govern, and she held her own, and lived and died an empress. During these busy years a Virginian mother, widowed in early life, was training up her eldest son in the fear of God, all unaware, as she infused the love of goodness and duty into his mind, that she was giving a color to the history of her country throughout all its coming ages. That boy's name was George Washington. He was born in 1732. His father, a gentleman of good fortune, with a pedigree which can be traced beyond the Norman conquest, died when his son was eleven years of age. Upon George's mother devolved the care of his early education. She was a devout woman, of excellent sense and deep affections ; but a strict disciplinarian, and of a temper which could brook no shadow of insubordination. Under her rule — gentle, and yet strong — George learned obedi- ence and self-control. In boyhood he gave remarkable promise of those excellences which distinguished his mature years. His schoolmates recognized the calm, judicial charac- ter of his mind, and he became in all their disputes the arbi- ter from whose decision there was no appeal. He inherited his mother's love of command, happily tempered by a lofty disinterestedness and a love of justice, which seemed to ren- der it impossible that he should do or permit aught that was unfair. His person was large and powerful. His face expressed the thoughtfulness and serene strength of his char- acter. He excelled in all athletic exercises. His youthful delight in such pursuits developed his physical capabilities to the utmost, and gave him endurance to bear the hardships which lay before him. 1743- George Washhigton. l8i Young gentlemen of Virginia were not educated then so liberally as they have been since. It was presumed that Washington would be a mere Virginian proprietor and farmer. GEORGE WASHINGTON. as his father had been ; and his education was no higher than that position then demanded. He never learned any lan- guage but his own. The teacher of his early years was also 1 82 Young Folks' History of America. the sexton of the parish. Even when he was taken to a more advanced mstitution, he attempted no higher study than the keeping of accounts and the copying of legal and mercantile papers. A few years later, it was thought he might enter the civil or military service of his country ; and he was put to the study of mathematics and land-surveying. George Washington did nothing by halves. In youth, as in manhood, he did thoroughly what he had to do. His school exercise books are models of neatness and accuracy. His plans and measurements made while he studied land survey- ing were as scrupulously exact as if great pecuniary interests depended upon them. In his eighteenth year he was em- ployed by Government as surveyor of public lands. Many of his surveys were recorded in the county offices, and remain to this day. Long experience has established their unvarying accuracy. In all disputes to which they have any relevancy, their evidence is accepted as decisive. During the years which preceded the Revolution he managed his estates, packed and shipped his own tobacco and flour, kept his own books, conducted his own correspondence. His books may still be seen. Perhaps no clearer or more accurate record of business transactions has been kept in America since the Father of American Independence rested from book-keeping. The flour which he shipped to foreign ports came to be known as his, and the Washington brand was habitually exempted from inspection. A most reliable man, his words and his deeds, his professions and his practice, are ever found in most perfect harmony. By some he has been regarded as a stolid, prosaic person, wanting in those features of character which captivate the minds of men. Not so. In an earlier age George Washington would have been a true knight- errant, with an insatiable thirst for adventure and a passionate love of battle. He had in a high degree those qualities which make ancient knighthood picturesque. But higher qualities than X740- Benjamin Franklin. 183 these bore rule within him. He had wisdom beyond most, giving him deep insight into the wants of his time. He had clear perceptions of the duty which lay to his hand. What he saw to be right, the strongest impulses of his soul constrained him to do. A massive intellect and an iron strength of will were given to him, with a gentle, loving heart, with dauntless courage, with purity and loftiness of aim. He had a work of extraordinary difficulty to perform. History rejoices to recog- nize in him a revolutionary leader against whom no question- able transaction has ever been alleged. The history of America presents, in one important feature, a very striking contrast to the history of nearly all older countries. In the old countries, history gathers round some one grand central figure, — some judge or priest or king, — whose biography tells all that has to be told concerning the time in which he lived. That one predominating person — David, Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon — is among his people what the sun is in the planetary system. All movement originates and terminates in him, and the history of the peo- ple is merely a record of what he has chosen to do or caused to be done. In America it has not been so. The American system leaves no room for predominating persons. It affords none of those exhibitions of solitary, all-absorbing grandeur which are so picturesque, and have been so pernicious. Her liistory is a history of her people, and of no conspicuous individuals. Once only in her career is it otherwise. During the lifetime of George Washington her history clings very closely to him ; and the biography of her great chief becomes in a very unusual degree the history of the country. BENJAMIN FR.'VNKLIN. While Washington's boyhood was being passed on the banks of the Potomac, a young man, destined to help him in 1 84 You Jig Folks History of America. gaining the independence of the country, was toiling hard in the city of Philadelphia to earn an honest livelihood. His name was Benjamin Franklin. He kept a small stationer's shop. He edited a newspaper. He was a bookbinder. He made ink. He sold rags, soap, and coffee. He was also a printer, employing a journeyman and an apprentice to aid him in his labors. He was a thriving man ; but he was not ashamed to convey along the streets, in a wheelbarrow, the paper which he bought for the purposes of his trade. As a boy he had been studious and thoughtful. As a man he was prudent, sagacious, trustworthy. When he had earned a moderate competency he ceased to labor at his business. Henceforth he labored to serve his 1752- Benjamin Franklin. 185 fellow-men. Philadelphia owes to Franklin her university, her hospital, her first and greatest library. He earned renown as a man of science. It had long been his thought that lightning and electricity were the same ; but he found no way to prove the truth of his theory. At length he made a kite fitted suitably for his experiment. He stole away from his house during a thunder-storm, having told no one but his son, who accompanied him. The kite was sent 1 86 Young Folks History of America. up among the stormy clouds, and the anxious philosopher waited. For a time no response to his eager questioning was granted, and Franklin's countenance fell. But at length he felt the welcome shock, and his heart thrilled with the high consciousness that he had added to the sum of human knowl- edge. When the troubles arose in connection with the Stamp Act, Franklin was sent to England to defend the rights of the colonists. The vigor of his intellect, the matured wisdom of his opinions, gained for him a wonderful supremacy over the men with whom he was brought into contact. He was examined before Parliament. Edmund Burke said that the scene reminded him of a master examined by a parcel of school-boys, so conspicuously was the witness superior to his interrogators. Franklin was an early advocate of the independence of the colonies, and aided in preparing the famous Declaration. In all the councils of that eventful time he bore a leading part. He was the first American ambassador to France ; and the good sense and vivacity of the old printer gained for him high favor in the fashionable world of Paris. He lived to aid in framing the Constitution under which America has enjoyed so great prosperity. He died soon after. A few months before his death he wrote to Washington : " I am now finishing my eighty-fourth year, and probably with it my career in this life ; but in whatever state of existence I am placed hereafter, if I retain any memory of what has passed here, I shall with it retain the esteem, respect, and affection with which I have long regarded you," CHAPTER IX. THE FRENCH COLONIES. The French to. the greater extent were the occupants of Canada. Montreal and Quebec were French cities. Eng- land and France were often at variance, and as often their hostility affected the peace of the colonies. The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, which gave a brief repose to Europe, left unsettled the contending claims of France and England upon American territory. France had possessions in Canada and also in Louisiana, at the extreme South, many hundreds of miles away. She claimed the entire line of the Mississippi River, with its tributaries ; and she had given effect to her pretensions by erecting forts at intervals to con- nect her settlements in the North with those in the South- Her claim included the valley of the Ohio. This was a vast and fertile region, whose value had just been discovered by the EngHsh. It was yet unpeopled ; but its vegetation gave evidence of wealth unknown to the colonists in the eastern settlements. The French, to establish their claim, sent three hundred soldiers into the valley, and nailed upon the trees leaden plates which bore the royal arms of France. They strove by gifts and persuasion to gain over the natives, and expelled the English traders who had made their adventurous way into those recesses. The English, on their part, were not idle. A great trading company was formed, which, in return for certain grants of land, became bound to colonize the valley, to establish trading 1 88 Young Folks History of America. relations with the Indians, and to maintain a competent nv«h tary force. This was in the year 1749. In that age there was but one solution of such difficulties. Governments had not learned to reason. They could only fight. Early in 1 75 1 both parties were actively preparing for war. That war went ill with France. When the sword was sheathed in 1 759, she had lost not only Ohio, but the whole of Canada. When the fighting began, it was conducted on the English side wholly by the colonists. Virginia raised a little army. Washington, then a lad of twenty-one, was offered the com- mand, so great was the confidence already felt in his capacity. It was war in miniature as yet. The object of Washington in the campaign was to reach a certain fort on the Ohio, and hold it as a barrier against French encroachment. He had his artillery to carry with him, and to render that possible he had to make a road through the wilderness. He struggled heroically with the difficulties of his position. But he could not advance at any better speed than two miles a day ; and he was not destined to reach the fort on the Ohio. After toiling on as he best might for six weeks, he learned that the French were seeking him with a force far outnumbering his. He halted, and hastily constructed a rude intrenchment, which he called P'ort Necessity, because his men had nearly starved while they worked at it. He had three hundred Virginians with him, and some Indians. The Indians deserted so soon as occasion arose for their services. The French attack was not long withheld. Early one summer morning a sentinel came in bleeding from a French bullet. All that day the fight lasted. At night the French summoned Washington to surrender. The garrison were to march out with flag and drum, leaving only their artillery. Washington could do no better, and he surrendered. Thus ended the first campaign in the war which was to drive France from Ohio and Canada. Thus opened the 1755- General Braddock's Campaign. 189 military career of the man who was to drive England from the noblest of her colonial possessions. But now the English Government awoke to the necessity of vigorous measures to rescue the endangered valley of the Ohio. A campaign was planned which was to expel the French from Ohio, and wrest from them some portions of their Canadian territory. The execution of this great design was intrusted to General Braddock, with a force which it was deemed would overbear all resistance. Braddock was a vet- eran who had seen the wars of forty years. Among the fields on which he had gained his knowledge of war was Culloden, where he had borne a part in trampling out the rebellion of the Scotch. He was a brave and experienced soldier, and a likely man, it was thought, to do the work assigned to him. But that proved a sad miscalculation. Braddock had learned the rules of war ; but he had no capacity to comprehend its principles. In the pathless forests of America he could do nothing better than strive to give literal effect to those maxims which he had found applicable in the well-trodden battle- grounds of Europe. The failure of Washington in his first campaign had not deprived him of public confidence. Braddock heard such accounts of his efficiency that he invited him to join his staff. Washington, eager to efface the memory of his defeat, gladly accepted the offer. The troops disembarked at Alexandria. The colonists, little used to the presence of regular soldiers, were greatly emboldened by their splendid aspect and faultless discipline, and felt that the hour of final triumph was at hand. After some delay, the army, with such reinforcements as the prov- ince afforded, began its march. Braddock's object was to reach Fort Duquesne, the great centre of French influence on the Ohio. It was this same fort of which Washington had endeavored so manfully to possess himself in his disastrous campaign of the previous year. 190 Young Folks History of America. Fort D'uquesne had been built by tlie English, and taken from them by the French. It stood at the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela ; which rivers, by their union at this point, form the Ohio. It was a rude piece of fortifica- tion, but the circumstances admitted of no better. The fort was built of the trunks of trees. Wooden huts for the soldiers surrounded it. A little space had been cleared in the forest, and a few patches of wheat and Indian corn grew luxuriantly in that rich soil. The unbroken forest stretched all around. Three years later the little fort was retaken by the English, and named Fort Pitt. Then in time it grew to be a town, and was called Pittsburg; and men found in its neighbor- hood boundless wealth of iron and of coal. To-day a great and fast-growing city stands where, a century ago, the rug- ged fort and its cluster of huts were the sole occupants. The rivers, then so lonely, are ploughed by innumerable keels ; and the air is dark with the smoke of innumerable furnaces. The judgment of the sagacious Englishmen who deemed this a locality which they would do well to get hold of has been amply borne out by the experience of posterity. Braddock had no doubt that the fort would yield to him directly he showed himself before it. Benjamin Franklin looked at the project with his shrewd, cynical eye. He told Braddock that he would assuredly take the fort if he could only reach it ; but that the long slender line which his army must form in its march " would be cut like thread into several pieces " by the hostile Indians. Braddock " smiled at his ignorance." Benjamin offered no further opinion. It was his duty to collect horses and carriages for the use of the expedition, and he did what was required of him in silence. The expedition crept slowly forward, never achieving more than three or foiir miles in a day ; stopping, as Washington said, " to level every mole-hill, to erect a bridge over every DEATH OF GENERAL BRADDOCK. 1755- Death of Braddock. 193 brook." It left Alexandria on the 20th April. On the 9th July Braddock, with half his army, was near the fort. There was as yet no evidence that resistance was intended. No enemy had been seen. The troops marched on as to assured vic- tory. So confident was their chief, that he refused to employ scouts, and did not deign to inquire what enemy might be lurking near. The march was along a road twelve feet wide, in a ravine, with high ground in front and on both sides. Suddenly the Indian war-whoop burst from the woods. A murderous fire smote down the troops. The provincials, not unused to this description of warfare, sheltered themselves behind trees and fought with steady courage. Braddock, clinging to his old rules, strove to maintain his order of battle on the open ground. A carnage, most grim and lamentable, was the result. His undefended soldiers were shot down by an un- seen foe. For three hours the struggle lasted. Then the men broke and fled in utter rout and panic. Braddock, vainly fighting, fell mortally wounded. He was carried off the field by some of his soldiers. The poor pedantic man never got over his astonishment at a defeat so inconsistent with the established rules of war. "Who would have thought it?" he murmured, as they bore him from the field. He scarcely spoke again, and died in two or three days. Nearly eight hundred men, killed and wounded, were lost in this disastrous encounter, — about one-half of the entire force engaged. All the while England and France were nominally at peace. But now war was declared. The other European powers fell into their accustomed places in the strife, and the flames of war spread far and wide. On land and on sea the European people strove to shed blood and destroy property, and thus produce human misery to the largest possible extent. At the 13 194 Youfig Folks' History of America. outset every fight brought defeat and shame to England. Eng- lish armies under incapable leaders were sent out to America and ignominiously routed by the French. On the continent of Europe the uniform course of disaster was scarcely broken by a single victory. Even at sea, England seemed to have fallen from her high estate, and her fleets were turned back from the presence of an enemy. The rage of the people knew no bounds. The admiral who had not fought the enemy when he should have done so was hanged. The Prime Minister began to tremble for his neck. One or two disasters more, and the public indignation might demand a greater victim than an unfortunate admiral. The Ministry resigned, and William Pitt, afterwards Earl of Chat- ham, came into power. Then, all at once, the scene changed, and there began a career of triumph more brilliant than even England had ever known. The French fleets were destroyed. French possessions all over the world were seized. French armies were defeated. Every post brought news of victory. For once the English people, greedy as they are of military glory, were satisfied. One of the most splendid successes of Pitt's administra- tion was gained in America. The colonists had begun to lose respect for the English army and the English govern- ment. But Pitt quickly regained their confidence. They raised an army of 50,000 men to help his schemes for the ex- tinction of French power. A strong English force was sent out, and a formidable invasion of Canada was organized. Most prominent among the strong points held by the French was the city of Quebec. Thither in the month of June came a powerful English fleet, with an army under the command of General Wolfe. Captain James Cook, the famous navigator, 'who discovered so many of the sunny islands of the Pacific, was master of one of the ships. Quebec stands FRENCH AJsD ENGLISH NAVAL CONFLICT. 195 1759- The Death of Wolfe. 197 upon a peninsula formed by the junction of the St. Charles and the St. Lawrence Rivers. The lower town was upon the beach. The upper was on the cliffs, which at that point rise precipitously to a height of two hundred feet. Wolfe tried the effect of a bombardment. He laid the lower town in ruins very easily, but the upper town was too remote from his batteries to sustain much injury. It seemed as if the enter- prise would prove too much for the Enghsh, and the sensitive Wolfe was thrown by disappointment and anxiety into a vio- lent fever. But he was not the man to be baffled. The shore for miles above the town was carefully searched. An opening was found whence a path wound up the cliff. Here Wolfe would land his men, and lead them to the Heights of Abraham. Once there, they would defeat the French and take Quebec, or die where they stood. On a starlight night in September the soldiers were em- barl^ed in boats which dropped down the river to the chosen landing-place. As the boat which carried Wolfe floated silently down, he recited to his officers Gray's " Elegy in a Country Churchyard," then newly received from England ; and he exclaimed at its close, " I would rather be the author of that poem than take Quebec to-morrow." He was a man of feeble bodily frame, but he wielded the power which genius in its higher forms confers. Amid the excitements of impending battle he could walk, with the old delight, in the quiet paths of Hterature. The soldiers landed, and clambered as they best might up the rugged pathway. All through the night armed men stepped silently from the boats and silently scaled those formidable chffs. The sailors contrived to drag up a few guns. When morning came, the whole army stood upon the Heights of Abraham ready for the battle. Montcalm, the French commander, was so utterly taken by surprise that he refused at first to believe the presence of the 198 Yoiuig Folks History of America. English army. He lost no time in marching forth to meet his unexpected assailants. The conflict was fierce but not prolonged. The French were soon defeated and put to flight. Quebec surrendered. But Montcalm did not make that sur- ■^^^lll'^P MONTCALM. render, nor did Wolfe receive it. Both generals fell batde. Wolfe died happy that the victory was gained, last moments he heard the cry, — " They fly ! they fly ! " "Who fly?" he asked. in the In his DEATH OF WOLFE 1759- The Death of Wolfe. 20 ] " The French," was the answer. " Then I die content." Montcalm was thankful that death spared him the humiU- ation of giving up Quebec. They died as enemies. But the men of a new generation, thinking less of the accidents which made them foes than of the noble courage and de- votedness which united them, placed their names together upon the monument which marks out to posterity the st:ene of this decisive battle. This battle had a most important bearing on the destiny of America. By it the English rule was established in America, and Canada became an English possession. France did not quietly accept her defeat. Next ^ear she made an attempt to regain Quebec. It was all in vain. In due time the success of the English resulted in a treity of peace, under which France ceded to England all her claims upon Canada. Spain at the same time relinquished Florida. England had now undisputed possession of the west- ern continent, from the region of perpetual winter to the G^*lf of Mexico. CHAPTER X. THE EVE OF REVOLUTION. A CENTURY and a half had now passed since the first colony had been planted on American soil. The colonists were fast ripening into fitness for independence. They had increased with marvellous rapidity. Europe never ceased to send forth her superfluous and needy thousands. Amer ica opened wide her hospitable doors, and gave assurance of liberty and comfort to all who came. The thirteen colo- nies now contained a population of about three millions. Up to the year 1764, the Americans cherished a deep reverence and affection for the mother country. They were proud of her great place among the nations. They gloried in the splendor of her military achievements. They copied her manners and her fashions. She was in all things their model. They always spoke of England as " home." To be an Old England man was to be a person of rank and importance among them. They yielded a loving obedience to her laws. They were governed, as Benjamin Franklin stated it, at the expense of simple pen and ink. When money was asked from their Assemblies, it was given with- out grudge. "They were led by a thread," such was their love for the land which gave them birth. Ten or twelve years passed. A marvellous change came over the temper of the American people. They bound themselves by great oaths to use no article of English manufacture, to engage in no transaction whicb 1764- The Eve of Revolution. 203 would put a shilling into any English pocket. They formed "the inconvenient habit of carting," that is, of tarring and feathering and dragging through the streets, such persons as avowed friendship for the English government. They burned the Acts of the English Parliament by the hands of the common hangman. They killed the king's soldiers. They refused every amicable proposal. They cast from them for ever the king's authority. They engendered a dislike to the English name, of which some traces lingered among them for generations. By what unhallowed magic was this change wrought so swiftly.? By what process, in 'so few years, were three millions of people taught to abhor the country they so loved .? The ignorance and folly of the English government wrought this evil. But there is little cause for regret. Under the fuller knowledge of our modern time, colonies are allowed to discontinue their connection with the mother country when it is their wish to do so. Better had America gone in peace. But better to go, even in wrath and blood- shed, than continue in paralyzing dependence upon England. For many years England had governed her American colonies harshly, and in a spirit of undisguised selfishness. America was ruled, not for her own good, but for the good of English commerce. She was not allowed to export her products except to England. No foreign ship might enter her ports. Woollen goods were not allowed to be sent from one colony to another. At one time the manufacture of hats wks forbidden. In a liberal mood Parliament re- moved that prohibition, but decreed that no maker of hats should employ any negro workman, or any larger number of apprentices than two. Iron-works were forbidden. Up to the latest hour of English rule the Bible was not allowed to be printed in America. 204 Young Folks History of America. The Americans had long borne the cost of their own government and defence. But in that age of small revenue and profuse expenditure on unmeaning continental wars, it had been often suggested that America should be taxed for the purposes of the home government. Some one pro- posed that to Sir Robert Walpole in a time of need. The wise Sir Robert shook his head. It must be a bolder man than he was who would attempt that. A man bolder, be- cause less wise, was found in due time. The Seven Years' War had ended, and England had added a hundred millions to her national debt. The coun- try was suffering, as countries always do after great wars, and it was no easy matter to fit the new burdens on to the national shoulder. The hungry eye of Lord Grenville searched where a new tax might be laid. The Americans had begun visibly to prosper. Already their growing wealth was the theme of envious discourse among English mer- chants. The English officers who had fought in America spoke in glowing terms of the magnificent hospitality which had been extended to them. No more need be said. The House of Commons passed a resolution asserting their right to tax the Americans. No solitary voice was raised against this fatal resolution. Immediately after, an Act was passed imposing certain taxes upon silks, coffee, sugar, and other articles. The Americans remonstrated. They were willing, they said, to vote what moneys the king required of them, but they vehemently denied the right of any Assembly in which they were not represented to take from them any portion of their property. They were the subjects of the king, but they owed no obedience to the English Parlia- ment. Lord Grenville went on his course. He had been told the Americans would complain but submit, and he be- lieved it. Next session an Act was passed imposing Stamp Duties on America. The measure awakened no interest 1765- The Eve of Revolution. 205 Edmund Burke said he had never been present at a more languid debate. In the House of Lords there was no debate at all. With so little trouble was a continent rent away from the British empire. Benjamin Franklin told the House of Commons that America would never submit to the Stamp Act, and that no power on earth could enforce it. The Americans made it impossible for Government to mistake their sentiments. Riots, which swelled from day to day into dimensions more " enormous and alarming," burst forth in the New England States. Everywhere the stamp distributors were compelled to resign their offices. One unfortunate man was led forth to Boston Common, and made to sign his resignation in presence of a vast crowd. Another, in precarious health, was visited in his sick-room, and obliged to pledge that if he lived he would resign. A universal resolution was made that no English goods would be imported till the Stamp Act was repealed. The colonists would " eat nothing, drink nothing, wear nothing that comes from England," while this great injustice endured. The Act was to come into force on the ist of November. That day the bells rang out funereal peals, and the colonists wore the aspect of men on whom some heavy calamity has fallen. But the Act never came into force. Not one of Lord Grenville's stamps was ever bought or sold in America. Some of the stamped paper was burned by the mob. The rest was hid- den away to save it from the same fate. Without stamps, marriages were null ; mercantile transactions ceased to be binding; suits at law were impossible. Nevertheless, the business of human life went on. Men married j they bought ; they sold ; they went to law, — illegally, because without stamps. But no harm came of it. England heard with amazement that America refused to obey the law. There were some who demanded that the 2o6 Young Folks' History of America. Stamp Act should be enforced by the sword. But it greatly moved the English merchants that America should cease to import their goods. William Pitt — not yet Earl of Chat- ham — denounced the Act, and said he was glad America had resisted. Pitt and the merchants triumphed, and the Act WILLIAM PITT — EARL OF CHATHAM. was repealed. There was illumination in the city that night. The city bells rang for joy. The ships in the Thames dis- played all their colors. The saddest heart in all London was that of poor King George, who never ceased to lament " the fatal repeal of the Stamp Act." 1766. The Eve of Revolution. 207 It was during the agitation arising out of the Stamp Act that the idea of a General Congress of the States was sug- gested. A loud cry for union had arisen. " Join or die," was the prevailing sentiment. The Congress met in New York. It did litde more than discuss and petition. It is interesting merely as one of the first exhibitions of a tendency towards federal union in a country whose destiny, in all coming time, this tendency was to fix. The repeal of the Stamp Act delayed only for a little the fast-coming crisis. A new Ministry was formed, with the Earl of Chatham at its head. But soon the great earl lay sick and helpless, and the burden of government rested on in- capable shoulders. Charles Townshend, a clever, captivat- ing, but most indiscreet man, became the virtual Prime Minister. The feeling in the public mind had now become more unfavorable to America. Townshend proposed to levy a variety of taxes from the Americans. The most famous of his taxes was one of threepence per pound on tea. All his proposals became law. This time the more thoughtful Americans began to despair of justice. The boldest scarcely ventured yet to suggest revolt against England, so powerful and so loved. But the grand final refuge of independence was silently brooded over by many. The mob fell back on their customary solution. Great riots occurred. To quell these disorders, English troops encamped on Boston Common. The town swarmed with red- coated men, every one of whom was a humiliation. Their drums beat on the Sabbath, and troubled the orderly men of Boston even in«church. At intervals fresh transports dropped in, bearing additional soldiers, till a great force occupied the town. The galled citizens could ill brook to be thus bridled. The ministers prayed to Heaven for deliverance from the presence of the soldiers. The General Court of Massachusetts called vehemently on the Governor to remove 2o8 Young Folks' History of America. them. The Governor had no powers in that matter. He called upon the Court to make suitable provision for the king's troops, — a request which it gave the Court infinite pleasure to refuse. The universal irritation broke forth in frequent brawls between soldiers and people. One wintry moonlight night in March, when snow and ice lay about the streets of Boston, a more than usually determined attack was made upon a party of soldiers. The mob thought the soldiers dared not fire without the order of a magistrate, and were very bold in the strength of that belief. It proved a mistake. The sol- diers did fire, and the blood of eleven slain or wounded persons stained the frozen streets. This was "the Boston Massacre," which greatly inflamed the patriot antipathy to the mother country. One day ships destined for Boston loaded with taxed tea show their tall masts in the bay. The citizens run together to hold council. It is Sunday, and the men of Boston are strict. But here is an exigency, in presence of which all ordinary rules are suspended. The crisis has come at length. If that tea is landed it will be sold ; it will be used ; and American liberty will become a byword upon the earth. Samuel Adams was the true king in Boston at that time. He was a man in middle life, of cultivated mind and stainless reputation, a powerful speaker and writer, a man in whose sagacity and moderation all men trusted. He resembled the old Puritans in his stern love of liberty, his reverence for the Sabbath, his sincere, if somewhat formal, observance of all religious ordinances. He was among the first to see that there was no resting-place in this struggle short of indepen- dence. " We are free," he said, " and want no king." The men of Boston felt the power of his resolute spirit, and man- fully followed where Samuel Adams led. It was hoped that the agents of the East India Company 1773- Destruction of Tea. 2ii would have consented to send the ships home. But the agents refused. Several days of excitement and ineftectual negotiation ensued. People flocked in from the neighboring towns. The time was spent mainly in public meeting. The city resounded with impassioned discourse. But meanwhile the ships lay peacefully at their moorings, and the tide of patriot talk seemed to flow in vain. Other measures were visibly necessary. One day a meeting was held, and the ex- cited people continued in hot debate till the shades of evening fell. No progress was made. At length Samuel Adams stood up in the dimly lighted church, and announced, " This meeting can do nothing more to save the country." With a stern shout the meeting broke up. Fifty men disguised as Indians hurried down to the wharf, each man with a hatchet in his hand. The crowd followed. The ships were boarded ; the chests of tea were brought on deck, broken up, and flung into the bay. The approving citizens looked on in silence. It was felt by all that the step was grave and event- ful in the highest degree. So still was the crowd that no sound was heard but the stroke of the hatchet and the splash of the shattered chests as they fell into the sea. All ques- tions about the disposal of those cargoes of tea at all events are now solved. This is what America did. It was for England to make the next move. Lord North was now at the head of the British government. It was his lordship's belief that the troubles in America sprang from a small number of ambitious persons, and could easily, by proper firmness, be suppressed. " The Americans will be lions while we are lambs," said Gen- eral Gage. The king believed this. Lord North believed it. In this deep ignorance he proceeded to deal with the great emergency. He closed Boston as a port for the landing and shipping of goods. He imposed a fine to indemnify the East India Company for their lost teas. He withdrew the charter 212 Young Folks History of America. of Massachusetts. He authorized the Governor to send polit- ical offenders to England for trial. Great voices were raised against these severities. Lord Chatham, old in constitution now, if not in years, and near the close of his career, pleaded for measures of conciliation. Edmund Burke justified the resistance of the Americans. Their opposition was fruitless : all Lord North's measures of repression became law; and General Gage, with an additional force of soldiers, was sent to Boston to carry them into effect. Gage was an authority on American affairs. He had fought under Braddock. Among blind men the one-eyed man is king. Among the profoundly ignorant the man with a little knowledge is irresistibly persuasive. " Four regiments sent to Boston," said the hopeful Gage, " will prevent any disturbance." He was believed ; but, unhappily for his own comfort, he was sent to Boston to secure the fulfilment of his own prophecy. He threw up some fortifications and lay as in a hostile city. The Americans appointed a day of fasting and humiliation. They did more. They formed themselves into military companies. They occupied themselves with drill. They laid up stores of ammunition. Most of them had mus- kets, and could use them. He who had no musket now got one. They hoped that civil war would be averted, but there was no harm in being ready. While General Gage was throwing up his fortifications at Boston, there met at Philadelphia a Congress of delegates, sent by the States, to confer in regard to the troubles which were thickening round them. Twelve States were represented. Georgia as yet paused timidly on the brink of the perilous enterprise. They were notable men who met there, and their work is held in enduring honor. " For genuine sagacity, for singular moderation, for solid wisdom," said the great Earl of Chatham, "the Congress of Philadelphia shines unrivalled." The low-roofed, quaint old room in which their meetings were DESTRUCTION OF TEA. 213 1774- Congress at PJiiladelphia. 2 1 ^ held became one of the shrines which Americans dehght to visit. George Washington was there, and his massive sense and copious knowledge were a supreme guiding power. Patrick Henry, then a young man, brought to the council a wisdom beyond his years, and a fiery eloquence, which, to some of his hearers, seemed almost more than human. He had already proved his unfitness for farming and for shop- keeping. He was now to prove that he could utter words which swept over a continent, thrilling men's hearts like the voice of the trumpet, and rousing them to heroic deeds. John Routledge from South Carolina aided him with an elo- quence litde inferior to his own. Richard Henry Lee, with his Roman aspect, his bewitching voice, his ripe scholarship, his rich stores of historical and political knowledge, would have graced the highest assemblies of the Old World. John Dickenson, the wise farmer from the banks of the Delaware, whose Letters had done so much to form the public senti- ment, — his enthusiastic love of England overborne by his sense of wrong, — took regretful but resolute part in with- standing the tyranny of the English government. We have the assurance of Washington that tlie members of this Congress did not aim at independence. As yet it was their wish to have wrongs redressed and to continue British subjects. Their proceedings give ample evidence of this desire. They drew up a narrative of their wrongs. As a means of obtaining redress, they adopted a resolution that all commercial intercourse with Britain should cease. They addressed the king, imploring his majesty to remove those grievances which endangered their relations with him. They addressed the people of Great Britain, with whom, they said, they deemed a union as their greatest glory and happiness ; adding, however, that they would not be hewers of wood and drawers of water to any nation in the world. They appealed to their brother colonists of Canada for support in their 2i6 Young Folks History of America. peaceful resistance to oppression. But Canada, newly con- quered from France, was peopled almost wholly by French- men. A Frenchman at that time was contented to enjoy such an amount of liberty and property as his king was pleased to permit. And so from Canada there came no response of sympathy or help. Here Congress paused. Some members believed, with Washington, that their remonstrances would be effectual. Others, less sanguine, looked for no settlem.ent but that which the sword might bring. They adjourned, to meet again in May. This was enough for the time. What further steps the new events of that coming summer might call for, they would be prepared, with God's help, to take. England showed no relenting in her treatment of the Americans. The king gave no reply to the address of Con- gress. The Houses of Lords and of Commons refused even to allow that address to be read in their hearing. The king announced his firm purpose to reduce the refractory colonists to obedience. Parliament gave loyal assurances of support to the blinded monarch. All trade with the colonies was forbidden. All American ships and cargoes might be seized by those who were strong enough to do so. The alternative presented to the American choice was without disguise. The Americans had to fight for their liberty, or forego it. The people of England had, in those days, no control over the government of their country. All this was managed for them by a few great families. Their allotted part was to toil hard, pay their taxes, and be silent. If they had been permitted to speak, their voice would have vindicated the men who asserted the right of self-government, — a right which Englishmen themselves were not to enjoy for many a long year. General Gage had learned that considerable stores of am- munition were collected at the village of Concord, eighteen miles from Boston. He would seize them in the king's 1775- The Story of Lexington and Concoj^d. 217 name. Late one April night eight hundred soldiers set out on this errand. They hoped their coming would be unex- pected, as care had been taken to prevent the tidings from being carried out of Boston. But as they marched, the clang of bells and the firing of guns gave warning far and near of their approach. In the early morning they reached Lex- ington. THE STORY OF LEXINGTON AND CONCORD. A day or two before the eventful 19th of April, 1775, General Gage began preparations for a military expedition. Boats from a ship-of-war were launched to carry the troops across the Charles River. The movement was observed by the patriots. Companies of soldiers were massed on Boston Common, under pretence of learning a new mili- tary exercise. Doctor, afterwards General, Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill, at once sent Paul Revere, an energetic patriot of Boston, to arouse the country. He was to notify Han- cock and Adams, who were at Lexington, and to warn the people of Concord that the troops were coming to destroy the military stores collected there. Warren had been informed of the object of the expedition. Revere only waited to ask a friend to hang out two lan- terns in the steeple of the North Meeting-house, as a signal to notify watchers on the other side of the river when the troops were in motion, and then rowed across the stream to Charlestown. He was not a moment too soon. General Gage heard that his plans were discovered. Orders were at once given that no person should be allowed to leave Boston. Had these orders been given five minutes sooner, the whole course of the Revolution might have been changed. As it was, Revere reached the other side in safety. He galloped on horseback through the towns, 2l8 Yon?ig Folks' History of America. calling up the people in every house. He reached Lex- ington. Hancock and Adams were warned. Still pressing on, he was captured by a party of British officers, but not THE SIGNAL LA.NTEK.XS. before he had communicated his news to a friend, who car- ried it on to Concord Meanwhile the troops had embarked at the foot of Bos- PAUL REVERE S RIDE. 219 1775- The Battle of Lexington. 221 ton Common, — which is now solid ground, — crossed the Charles, and landed in Cambridge. By marching all night, they reached Lexington just as day was breaking. The militia of that town had been called out at one o'clock in the morning by the ringing of the church bell, and had been dismissed until they should be called together again by the beat of the drum on the appearance of the British troops. At length a messenger who had been sent out to watch for the coming of the troops galloped back with news of their arrival. The drum was quickly beaten. Sixty or sev- enty farmers took their places in the ranks, to meet a force of more than ten times as many regular soldiers. It was a chilly spring morning, just before sunrise, when the British force marched upon Lexington Common, The act and attitude of the little band of farmers opposed to this force made them as grand a type of patriotism and bravery as the world has ever witnessed. On two points the patriots were determined. They were ready to die for their country. Their captain, John Parker, had given the strictest orders that they should not be the first to fire. Yet the orders were hardly necessary. Major Pitcairn rode upon the Common, and shouting with an oath to the " villains " and " rebels," as he called them, to disperse, almost instantly ordered his soldiers to fire, and he set the example. It was murder. The captain of the Lexington company had determined to disperse his men, and when the firing began they retreated quickly. But they left eleven of their comrades dead, and nine were wounded, — fully one- quarter of all who had rallied at the sound of the drum. The British fire was returned by only a few of the wounded Americans. No English blood was shed. But the hostil- ities had begun. It was no battle, and yet Samuel Adams, 222 YoiiJig Folks History of America. who heard from a distance the firing which announced to him the opening of a conflict for which he had long been looking, and from which his soul did not flinch, exclaimed, " Oh, what a glorious morning this is ! " The regulars knew that the whole country was rising in arms. They foresaw that if they were to accomplish the object of their expedition, — to destroy the stores at Con- cord, — they must press on. Accordingly, they only stopped to cheer loudly over their easy victory over threescore farmers who had not attacked them, and resumed their march. Concord is six miles from Lexington, but so quickly did the troops move that it was only seven o'clock in the morning when they reached the town. They were too late, however. The alarm had been given hours before. The inhabitants of the town, with strong hands and willing hearts, had made the expedi- tion fruitless. The military stores had been mostly re- moved, scattered, and concealed. Something remained for the British to destroy, but by no means enough to pay for the hard march and the uselessly shed blood. Meantime, the neighboring towns were aroused. Their companies of militia and minute-men came pouring in from all the country around. Their numbers were still too few to attack the troops. Indeed, at that time there was little intention of attacking them. They had first assembled near the liberty- pole in the village of Concord ; but, when they saw that they were outnumbered four to one, they withdrew to a hill on the other side of Concord River, about a mile from the centre of the town. Meanwhile, several parties of British soldiers were sent out to search for the concealed supplies. One went over the south bridge, and another over the north bridge. As the Provincial soldiers were in full view from the north bridge, a half of the latter detachment, about a hundred in 1775- The Battle of Concord. 225 all, were left to guard the bridge while the rest went forward. The battle was fought by accident. From the hill where they watched the regulars, the Cnncord men saw their bridge held against them. Worse yet, smoke could be seen rising in the neighborhood of their homes. What could they do but march to the rescue of their wives and children and property ? There was a short consultation. Then Colonel Barrett, whose house the north-bridge detach- ment had gone to search, gave the order to advance. BRITISH AT COLONEL BARRETT'S. " I haven't a man that is afraid to go," said Isaac Davis, captain of the company from Acton ; and, drawing his sword, he called out, " March ! " The farmer-soldiers fell into line, and marched bravely and confidently down the hill and into the road that led to the bridge. The order given at Lexington was repeated here. Not a shot was to be fired unless the regulars attacked 15 226 Young Folks History of America. them. The British had heard the command to advance. They saw the men marching towards them, and began ROADS AND HISTORIC LOCALITIES OF CONCORD, MASS. quickly to tear up the planks of the bridge. On this the Americans quickened their steps. Then the British fired, — Q*^ r v' 1775- The Battle of Concord, 229 at first one or two shots. No one was hurt. Then a few more, by which two men were wounded ; then a volley, and two of the patriots fell dead. '' Fire, fellow-soldiers ! For God's sake, fire ! " shouted Major John Buttrick, of Concord, leaping in the air, and turning round to his men. The American Revolution was begun. Two British soldiers were killed, and several more were wounded. Again the regulars had fired first. This time the fire had been returned. Blood had been shed by men in armed rebellion against the mother country of Great Britain. This was the battle of Concord. It was as short as the battle of Lexington, — not more than two minutes from the first shot to the last. The Americans had attacked and taken the bridge. The guarding party had retreated in disorder toward the town. When the British forces had been gathered in the town once more, their officers were much perplexed. They knew they must retreat, and the sooner the better.. They were sure they would be attacked, and had no means of knowing by how many men, or in what way. Delay only increased the danger. As quickly as possible the march toward Lexington and Boston was begun. It was now about noon. The winter had been the mildest ever known in New England, and the spring the earliest. The day had become intensely hot ; the sun poured his rays fiercely down on the alarmed and retreating battalion of troops. The Americans had inter- cepted the provision train sent out from Boston to supply them with food. They had only what they could plunder from the people on the road. But this was not the worst feature of their situation. The minute-men, without orders from their officers, and each acting on his own account, had run across the country, 230 Yoting Folks History of America, and they lay in ambush behind the trees and the walls along the road. They fired at the British from their safe hiding- places, and when the column had passed them, they hur- ried along by a circuitous route and found other retreats from which to wage their terrible and harassing war. As some of these men grew tired, others came in from the neighboring country to take their places. So the fight went on. At first the trained soldiery marched in order. Their FIGHT AT MERRIAM'S CORNER. comrades were falling at their sides, but it was more dangerous to stop than to go on. Soon they became so exhausted and alarmed, for their ammunition was nearly used up, that they began to run in wild disorder. Their officers were obliged to threaten the soldiers with death to compel them to form the lines again. It was about two o'clock in the afternoon. The de- moralized troops were within a mile of the place where they had murdered the people of Lexington in the morn- ing. Here they were met by the flower of the British 1766. Repeal of the Stamp Act, 231 army, that had been sent for their succor from Boston. These troops were under Lord Percy, and were twelve hundred strong, with two field-pieces. They were not a moment too soon. Lord Percy formed a hollow square to receive the fugitives, who, as a British writer of the time said, lay down to rest, " their tongues hanging out of their mouths like those of a dog after a chase." Even when the regulars were thus reinforced, their posi- tion was very perilous. Their enemies were increasing in numbers every moment. In a short time the troops would certainly be cut off and overwhelmed unless they moved at once. The march was resumed, and the fighting began again. More men came up to help the patriots, who had become weary with their long, irregular march and hard work. It was seven o'clock in the evening when the British force reached Charlestown. Protected by the guns of the ship-of-war in the harbor, they took to their boats and were ferried across to Boston. The losses of the British were seventy-three killed, one hundred and seventy-two wounded, and twenty-six missing j while the Americans lost forty-nine killed, thirty-six wounded, and five missing. The loss of the regulars in officers was very heavy. We will close this long chapter with another story, which we give to illustrate the spirit of the colonists during the trying times immediately preceding the outbreak of hos- tilities. THE GERMAN BOY's FUNERAL. In the middle of May, 1766, the news of the repeal of the Stamp Act was received in Boston. The town then numbered some twenty thousand people. The fate of the bill for the repeal of the Stamp Ac.t had been for weeks almost the only subject of discussion. Upon it, the pa- triots felt, rested the destiny of the colonies. 232 Young Folks History of America. Men scanned the blue line of Boston Harbor, to see the white sails rise from the sea, and rushed to the wharves to receive the first intelligence from London. At length, on May 1 6, a lovely vernal day, a brigantine flying the Eng- lish flag was seen beyond the green islands of the bay, and soon entered the inner harbor. She was met at the wharf by a crowd, restless and impatient with anxiety. An hour later the bells of the town began to ring ; the long- idle ships in the harbor shot their ensigns into the warm May air ; the booming of ■cannon startled the people of the neighboring towns, and, as evening came on, great bonfires on Beacon Hill blazed upon the sea. From lip to lip passed the single expression of joy and relief, " The Stamp Act is repealed ! " A few days later witnessed a more remarkable scene, — a public holiday to give expression to the joy. At one o'clock in the morning the bell of Doctor Byles's church, standing near the Liberty Tree, where the colonists used to CHRIST CHURCH, THE OLD NORTH MEETING-HOUSE, r/yo- Ladies Deny Themselves Tea. 233 meet, gave the signal for the beginning of the festival. It was followed by the melodious chimes of Christ Church, at the North End, and then by all the bells of the town. The first shimmering light and rosy tinges of the Ma^' morning found Hollis Street steeple fluttering with gay banners, and the Liberty Tree displaying among its new leaves an unexampled glory of bunting and flags. The festivities lasted until midnight. At night an obe- lisk which had been erected on the Common in honor of the occasion was illuminated with two hundred and eighty lamps, and displayed upon its top a revolving wheel of fire, as the crowning triumph of pyrotechny. The Hancock House was a blaze of light, and Province House was in its vice-regal glory. But though the Stamp Act was repealed, the British Government continued to tax the colonies, and the sudden sunshine of joy soon was overcast, and the storm gathered again. The article upon which the Crown made the most per- sistent attempt to raise a revenue was tea. The tax was a small matter, of itself; but if the right to tax one article was admitted, the right to tax all articles was acknowledged. As the excise officers of Great Britain held control of the ports, and in some cities were supported by soldiery, no tea could be obtained without paying the tax. The people therefore resolved that they would neither use, sell, nor buy an ounce of tea upon which this unjust tax had been paid. In February, 1770, the mistresses of three hundred fam- ilies in Boston signed their names to a league, by which they bound themselves not to drink any tea until the ob- noxious revenue act was repealed. Of course the young ladies were as ready to deny them- selves the use of this fashionable beverage as were their 234 Young Folks History of America. mothers ; and only a few days later a great multitude ot misses, pretty and patriotic, signed a document headed with these words : — " We, the daughters of those patriots who have and do now appear for the public interest, and in that principally regard their posterity, — as such do with pleasure engage with them in denying ourselves the drinking of foreign tea, in hopes to frustrate the plan which tends to deprive a whole community of all that is valuable in life." Yet in Boston were five traders who refused to be con- trolled by the non-importation agreements of their fellow- countrymen, but continued to import and sell taxed tea. Among them was one Theophilus Lillie. The patriotic spirit was shared by the boys as well as by the misses. On the 22d of February, 1770, "some boys and children," says an old record, "set up a large wooden head, with a board faced with paper, on which were painted the figures of four of the importers who had violated the merchants' agreement, in the middle of the street, before Theophilus Lillie's door." The figure was so placed that its dexter finger pointed at Lillie's store. The merchant must have been greatly annoyed. One of his friends, an officer of the king, termed an " informer," soon saw the figure ; and he, too, was quite in a rage. Seeing a farmer passing in the street, he tried to per^ suade him to drive his cart against the image, but the shrewd old patriot was too well pleased with its purpose to meddle with it. A man with a charcoal-cart was next im- portuned to break down this effigy, but he, too, refused. A crowd of people soon gathered at the point, and the informer, seeing that they were becoming incensed at his attempts to destroy the image, retreated in great vexation to his own house, followed by numerous men and boys. 1766. The German Boys Funeral. 235 On the way he cried, " Perjury ! perjury ! " in a signifi- cant manner to several citizens whom he passed, meaning that they violated their oaths to support the Crown. Such insulting address produced vituperation in return. Some of the boys, excited by the violent language, very wrongly threw sticks, stones, and other missiles at the informer, until he shut himself up in his house. Enraged beyond the control of prudence, he was not satisfied with personal safety, but foolishly determined to be revenged. He came to the window with a gun, and without waiting for the people to go away, discharged it, point blank, into the crowd. Two boys were hit, one being wounded slightly, the other mortally. Little Christopher Snyder, a German boy, eleven years of age, was in this crowd. He had lingered to laugh at the image, and when the informer retired, he followed with the rest to see what might happen. He was struck by one of the random shots, and was mor- tally wounded. Yet we have no evidence that he took any part in the disturbance other than being present and look- ing on. The funeral of the lad was made the occasion of a great popular demonstration, in marked contrast with that which had followed the reception of the news of the repeal of the Stamp Act. The colonists were accustomed to hold nearly all patri- otic assemblies under that giant relic of the old-time forests called the Liberty Tree. Here, after the passage of the Stamp Act, Lord Bute and other obnoxious statesmen had been hung in effigy. Here the patriots consulted when the British troops in their gay uniforms came marching into the town, and held it by the glitter of the bayonet in the streets. 236 Young Folks History of America. It was here that the principal ceremonies of young Sny- der's funeral were appointed to take place. It was the 26th of February. The religious services of the funeral were said at the house of Madame Apthorp on Frog Lane, as the boy Snyder was in the service of Ma- dame Apthorp at the time of his death. The corpse was then taken to the Liberty Tree, amid tolling bells, where the immense procession began. Fifty school-boys led, and were followed by about two thousand citizens. The pall was supported by six boys ; the coffin bore a Latin inscription, "Innocence itself is not safe." Business was suspended. The whole population of the town was in the streets, and the bells of the neighboring towns were heard echoing the solemn funeral bells of Boston. OLD HANCOCK HOUSE, BOSTON. CHAPTER XI. BUNKER HILL AND THE SIEGE OF BOSTON. The city of Boston is full of the monuments of an heroic past. The stranger who visits it is surprised to note how strong patriotic sentiment has preserved the relics of the old colonial city amid the merchant palaces of the present time. The Old South Church, in which the duty of resistance to the tyranny of the British Crown was once so perilously proclaimed, still stands in the busi est centre of trade. Faneuil Hall, the old Cradle of Lib erty, where the colonial delegates united with the Virginia House of Burgesses in counselling armed protection of the provinces against a foreign power, still rises quaint and stately in the market place. Go where you will, in every part of the city the past lives again, and reads to the present its lessons. FANEUIL HALL. 238 Young Folks History of A jn erica. Go to the State House, and examine its relics and mon- uments, and then make a circuit around it in the old-time streets. The beacon light in colonial times was situated on the high ground not far distant from the spot now crowned by the gilded dome of the State House ; and hence this point of land was called Beacon HilL The old Hancock House, now removed, stood here on Beacon Street, and the land now occupied by the State House was formerly a part of Governor Hancock's cow- pasture, and was purchased by the town from the Gover- nor's heirs for the State. The Hancock House, a fine old colonial structure, stood somewhat back from the street, on the ground now occupied by the elegant mansion of the late Gardner Brewer. We cannot give place to a description of the familiar marbles in Doric Hall in the State House, which are asso ciated with recent history, — the statue of Governor An- drew, the busts of Adams and Lincoln, and Milmore's incomparable bust of Sumner. We may mention, incident- ally, that the corner-stone of the State House was laid in 1795, with a speech from Governor Samuel Adams. The most interesting objects to the antiquary in the State House are the fine statue of Washington by Chantrey, and copies of the memorial inscriptions of the Washington family in Brighton Parish, England. These are in a some- what shadowy recess, which is separated from Doric Hall by a glass protector. In the Doric Hall stairway to the rotunda are four tablets taken from the base of a column completed on Beacon Hill in 1791. The Senate Chamber contains old-time relics and portraits, and the ancient cod- fish hangs from the ceiling in the House of Representatives, an emblem of the early industry of the State. Passing down Beacon to Tremont Street, in the direc- ANDROS A PRISONER IN BOSTON. 239 1754- Kings Chapel. 241 tion of the Tremont House, the visitor will easily recognize the quaint old stone King's Chapel, and will wish to cross Tremont Street, to take a look at King's Chapel burying- ground. The Chapel itself is rich with antiquities. The original communion service was presented by William and Mary, and the old organ was selected for it by Handel, after that maestro had become blind. Its walls are lined with monuments. The burying-ground is a picturesque spot. The Boston branch of the Winslow family rest here. Here sleeps also the fa- mous Mary Chilson, of honorable memory, who has been said to be the first to leap on shore from the Mayflower. She died in 1679. Here sleep Governor John Leverett (1679), Governor John Winthrop (1649), Governor John Winthrop, Jr. (1676), Elder Thomas Oliver (1658), and the celebrated John Cotton and John Davenport. The remains of Lady Anne Andros, wife of the unpopular governor of that name, whom the colonists deposed and imprisoned on account of the tax he levied upon them, were deposited here on a dull, cloudy day in the early part of 1689. A few steps from King's Chapel, on the opposite side of the street, between the Tremont House and Park Street Church, the visitor will find the old Granary Burying- 16 QUEEN MARY. 242 Young- Folks History of America. ground, first used about 1660, where rests Boston's vener- ated dust. The trees interweave their branches above the tombs, and only pencil-rays of sunlight break the broad, cool shadows of the spot. The Paddock elms used to keep guard over it in front. Within the enclosure are the remains of Governor Hancock, the Franklin family. Governors Bowdoin, Adams, Sumner, and Sullivan ; Robert Treat Paine, one of the signers of the Declaration of In- dependence, Peter Faneuil of revered memory, Thomas Prince, Hon. John Phillips, the first mayor of the city, Rev- erend Doctors Belknap, Lothrop, Eckley, Stillman, and Baldwin, and, last but not least of a long list of historic notables, Paul Revere. The victims of the Boston Mas- sacre on the ever-memorable 5th of March were buried here. The gravestone of Peter Daille, a French Huguenot minister of blessed memory, is still seen. Queer old Gov- ernor Bellingham, who at an advanced age " married him- self" to a young wife, "contrary to the practice of the Province," w^as buried here in 1672. Going around to Salem Street, we come to Christ Church and Copp's Hill Burying-ground. From the steeple of this church the signal light was hung for Paul Revere. The old pulpit was furnished with Bible and prayer-book by George II. Pitcairn was interred in the vaults of the church, and it is said his remains are still there, and that the wrong body was sent by mistake to Westminster Ab- bey. The chime of bells in the steeple was hung in 1744. These bells rang through the palmy days of the English Georges ; they were Revolutionary tones, and they have played through all the republic's years of prosperity and peace. The city has stretched far beyond the limits of their sound. In Copp's Hill Burying-ground, near at hand, rest the remains of the Mather family. It was from this hill that Clinton and Burgoyne directed the 1775- • Beginning of the War. 245 battery that set fire to Charlestown at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Among the notable relics outside of Boston, and in its immediate vicinity, may be named the old Cradock man- sion in Medford, the old Powder House in Somerville, and the Craigie House in Cambridge, better known as the resi- dence of Longfellow, the poet, and as Washington's head, quarters. Let us now turn from our peaceful walk amid historic associations to the stirring scenes of the war. The encounters at Lexington and Concord thoroughly aroused the American people. The news rang through the land that blood had been spilt, that already there were martyrs to the great, cause. Mounted couriers gal- loped along all highways. Over the bustle of the market- place, in the stillness of the quiet village church, there broke the startling shout, "The war has begun." All men felt that the hour had come, and they promptly laid aside their accustomed labor that they might gird themselves for the battle. North Carolina, in her haste, threw off the authority of the king, and formed herself into military companies. Georgia sent gifts of money and of rice, and cheering letters, to confirm the bold purposes of the men of Boston. In aristocratic and loyal Virginia there was a general rush to arms. From every corner of the New England States men hurried to Boston. Down in pleasant Connecticut an old man was ploughing his field one April afternoon. His name was Israel Put- nam. He was now a farmer and tavern-keeper, — a com- bination frequent at that time in New England, and not at all inconsistent, we are told, " with a Roman character." Formerly he had been a warrior. He had fought the Indians, and had narrowly escaped the jeopardies of such warfare. Once h^ had been bound to a tree, and the 246 Young Folks History of America. savages were beginning to toss their tomahawks at his head, when unlooked-for rescue found him. As rugged old Israel ploughed his field, some one told him of the fight at Lexington. That day he ploughed no more. He sent word home that he had gone to Boston. Unyoking his horse from the plough, in a few minutes he was mounted and hastening towards the camp. Boston and its suburbs stand on certain islets and penin- sulas, access to which, from the mainland, is gained by one isthmus which is called Boston Neck, and another isthmus which is called Charlestown Neck. A city thus wcumstanced is not difficult to blockade. The American yeomanry blockaded Boston. There were five thousand soldiers in the town ; but the retreat from Concord inclined General Gage to some measure of patient endurance, and he made no attempt to raise the blockade. The month of May was wearing on. Still General Gage lay inactive. Still patriot Americans poured in to the blockading camp. They were utterly undisciplined. They were without uniform. The English scorned them as a rabble "with calico frocks and fowling-pieces." But they were Anglo-Saxons, with arms in their hands and a fixed purpose in their minds. It was very likely that the unwise contempt of their enemies would not be long unrebuked. At this time an event took place in an unexpected quar- ter, which fired the spirit of the colonists from Rhode Island to Georgia. THE STORY OF TICONDEROGA AND ETHAN ALLEN. In the early days of the Revolution the American pa- triots gained many important advantages by their boldness, almost amounting to audacity, in attacking forts and gar- risons unexpectedly. One of the most successful and ■r:^'^{k^:r¥ ^ ^-^ THE OLD POWDER-HOUSE AT SOMERVILLS. 247 1775- Ticonderoga and Ethan Allen. 249 romantic enterprises of this kind was the capture of Fort Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys. The event took place on the loth of May, 1775, three weeks and one day after the great day at Concord and Lexington. Very soon after the first blood was shed, leading men felt that it was highly necessary to obtain the control of Lake Champlain, and get possession of the valuable mili- tary stores at Fort Ticonderoga. Plans were laid simul- taneously in the colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut by different parties to effect this. The projectors of these plans were neither of them aware that the other was mov- ing in the matter. Massachusetts gave Benedict Arnold a commission as colonel. He was ordered to raise four hundred men to reduce Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Corinecticut lent eighteen hundred dollars to the leaders in the enterprise from that colony, and a quantity of am- munition was purchased, which, however, was not used for the purpose for which it was intended. The Connecticut patriots were first at work. They went to Bennington, Vermont, and offered the command to Ethan Allen, who immediately accepted it. Allen was a very brave and daring man, though rough and uneducated. He had already made himself conspicuous by his bold re- sistance to the government of New York, which attempted to exercise its control over that part of the country where he lived. He was exactly the man for the times and the work. While the recruits were assembling at Castleton, which was made the head-quarters of the expedition, Arnold appeared there with his Massachusetts commission. He was allowed to join the party, but Ethan Allen was immediately made a colonel and put in supreme com- mand. 250 Young Folks' History of America. The first step made was to learn the condition of the fort. For this duty Captain Noah Phelps, of Connecticut, volunteered. He dressed himself like a Vermont farmer, and went to the fort to get shaved I He pretended that he thought there was a barber there. Once inside, by putting on an awkward and simple manner, he contrived to get the information he wanted, and with it he returned to the camp. On the evening of the 9th of May, the whole force of two hundred and seventy men arrived at Orwell, opposite Ticonderoga. There was much difficulty in getting boats to convey the men across, and many stratagems were re- sorted to. Two young men managed to get the use of one large boat by a trick. They took their guns and a jug of rum, and hailed a boat belonging to a British major who was stationed in the neighborhood. It was in charge of a colored man, whom they knew to be very fond of liquor. They told him they wanted to join a hunting party on the other side, and offered to help row. The man fell into the trap. As soon as he reached the shore he was made a prisoner and his boat was seized. Only .eighty-three men could cross in the boat at once. Both Allen and Arnold accompanied the party. When they arrived near the fort it was so near morning that Allen did not dare to wait for the rest of his force, but determined to undertake the capture of the fort at once. Then occurred a dispute between the two colonels. Each insisted on his right to lead the men. It was at last settled that they should walk side by side, but Allen on the right as commander. A young lad named Nathan Beman undertook to guide the " rebels " into the fort. When the men approached the outer gate, the sentinel or guard snapped his lock and retreated. The Americans followed him closely along the covered way. Before he could give an alarm they were GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM 1775- Ticonderoga and Etkan Allen, 253 drawn up on the parade ground inside the fort and in pos session of it. Then the Green Mountain Boys gave three cheers in honor of their bloodless victory. The officers were asleep in their apartments. A fright- ened soldier pointed out the door of the commanding officer to Colonel Allen, who called out, " Come forth instantly, or I will sacrifice the whole garrison." At this, Captain Delaplace, who had not had time to dress, made his appearance, with his breeches in his hand. " Deliver this fort instantly," said Allen sternly. " By what authority t " asked Captain Delaplace. "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress," replied Colonel Allen. The captain would have said more, but Allen held his drawn sword near Delaplace's head, and the latter pru- dently determined to surrender. Accordingly he gave orders that the garrison should be paraded without arms. Thus, before the commander of the fort had learned that the war had begun, he and his entire command of about fifty men were made prisoners. The Americans also se- cured more than two hundred pieces of cannon, with a very large quantity of other arms, an immense amount of ammunition, and other property, all without losing a man. The volunteers immediately proceeded to take Crown Point, where they were quite as successful, and then sur- prised and captured an armed sloop on the lake. This gave them complete control of Lake Champlain and its forts, which was a great advantage to the colonists. The Continental Congress, whose name Allen invoked, disap- proved of the whole proceeding, but subsequent events showed how much wiser were the daring spirits who conceived it, and carried it into execution, than the more prudent and timid statesmen of the day. 254 Young Folks' History of America. On the 25th of May several English ships-of-war dropped their anchors in Boston Harbor. It was rumored that they brought large reinforcements under Howe, Burgoyne, and Clinton, — the best generals England possessed. Shortly it became known that Gage now felt himself strong enough to break out upon his rustic besiegers. But the choice of time and place for the encounter was not to be left with General Gage. On Charlestown peninsula, within easy gun-shot of Bos- ton, there are two low hills, one of which, the higher, is called Bunker Hill, and the other, Breed's Hill. In a coun- cil of war the Americans determined to seize and fortify one of these heights, and there abide the onslaught of the English. There was not a moment to lose. It was said that Gage intended to occupy the heights on the night of the 1 8th of June. But Gage was habitually too late. On the 1 6th, a little before sunset, twelve hundred Americans were mustered on Cambridge Common for special service. Colonel Prescott, a veteran who had fought against the French, was in command. Putnam was with him, to be useful where he could, although without specified duties. Prayers were said ; and the men, knowing only that they went to battle, and perhaps to death, set forth upon their march. They marched in silence, for their way led them under the guns of English ships. They reached the hill- top undiscovered by the supine foe. It was a lovely June night, warm and still. Far down lay the English ships, awful, but as yet harmless. Across the Charles River, Bos- ton and her garrison slept the sleep of the unsuspecting. The " All's well ! " of the sentinel crept, from time to time, dreamily up the hill. Swift now with spade and mattock, for the hours of this midsummer night are few and precious, — swift, but cautious, too, for one ringing stroke of iron upon stone may ruin all ! ENGLISH SHIPS ftF-WAK. 1775- The Battle of Bunker Hill. 257 When General Gage looked out upon the heights next morning, he saw a strong intrenchment and swarms of armed men where the untrodden grass had waved in the summer breeze a few hours before. He looked long through his glass at this unwelcome apparition. A tall figure paced to and fro along the rude parapet. It was Prescott. " Will he fight t " asked Gage eagerly. "Yes, sir," replied a bystander, "to the last drop of his blood." It was indispensable that the works should be taken. A plan of attack was immediately formed. It was sufficiently simple. No one supposed that the Americans would stand the shock of regular troops. The English were therefore to march straight up the hill and drive the Americans away. Meanwhile reinforcements were sent to the Ameri- cans, and supplies of ammunition were distributed. A gill of powder, to be carried in a powder-horn or loose in the pocket, two flints, and fifteen balls were served out to each man. To obtain even the fifteen balls, they had to melt down the organ-pipes of an Episcopal church at Cambridge. At noon English soldiers to the number of two thousand crossed over from Boston. The men on the hill-top looked out from their intrenchments upon a splendid vision of bright uniforms and bayonets and field-pieces flashing in the sun. They looked with quickened pulse but unshaken purpose. To men of their race it is not given to know fear on the verge of battle. The English soldiers paused for refreshments when they landed on the Charlestown peninsula. The Americans could hear the murmur of their noisy talk and laughter. They saw the pitchers of grog pass along the ranks. And then they saw the Englishmen rise and stretch themselves to their grim morning's work. From the steeples and 17 258 Yomig Folks History of America. house-tops of Boston, from all the heights which stand round about the city, thousands of Americans watched the progress of the fight. The soldiers had no easy task before them. The day was "exceeding hot," the grass was long and thick, the up- hill march was toilsome, the enemy watchful and resolute. As if to render the difficulty greater, the men carried three days' provision with them in their knapsacks. Each man had a burden which weighed one hundred and twenty pounds in knapsack, musket, and other equipments. Thus laden, they began their perilous ascent. While yet a long way from the enemy they opened a harmless fire of musketry. There was no reply from the American lines. " Aim low," said Putnam, " and wait until you see the whites of their eyes." The Englishmen were very near the works when the word was given. Like the left-handed slingers of the tribe of Benjamin, the Americans could shoot to a hair's-breadth. Every man took his steady aim, and when they gave forth their volley few bullets sped in vain. The slaughter was enormous. The English recoiled in some confusion, a piti- less rain of bullets following them down the hill. Again they advanced almost to the American works, and again they sustained a bloody repulse. And now, at the hill- foot, they laid down their knapsacks and stripped off their great-coats. They were resolute this time to end the fight by the bayonet. The American ammunition was exhausted. They could give the enemy only a single volley. The English swarmed over the parapet. The Americans had no bayonets, but for a time they waged unequal war with stones and the but-ends of their muskets. They were soon driven out, and fled down the hill and across the Neck to Cambridge, the English ships raking them wdth grape-shot as they ran. i w It i: llii/ W^ ' ill 1775- The Battle of Bunker Hill. 261 They had done their work. Victory no doubt remained with the English. Their object was to carry the Amer- ican intrenchments, and they had carried them. Far greater than this was the gain of the Americans. It was proved that, with the help of some slight iield-works, it was possible for undisciplined pa- triots to meet on equal terms the best troops Eng- land could send against them. Henceforth the success of the Revolution was assured. "Thank God! "said Wash- ington, when he heard of the bat- tle. "The liber- ties of the coun- try are safe." Would that obsti- nate King George could have been made to see it ! But many wives must be widows, and many children father- less, before those dull eyes will open to the unwelcome truth. Sixteen hundred men lay, dead or wounded, on that fatal slope. The English had lost nearly eleven hundred ; the Americans nearly five hundred. Seldom indeed in any battle has so large a proportion of the combatants fallen. The Americans, who had thus taken up arms and re- BUNKER HILL MONUMENT. 262 Young Folks History of America. sisted and slain the king's troops, were wholly without authority for what they had done. No governing body of any description had employed them or recognized them. What were still more alarming deficiencies, they were with- out a general, and without adequate supply of food and ammunition. Congress now, by a unanimous vote, adopted THE WASHINGTON ELM. the army, and elected George Washington commander-in- chief of the patriot forces. They took measures to enlist soldiers, and to raise money for their support. Washington joined the army before Boston. He for- mally assumed command under a great elm in Cambridge, which is still standing (1881). The army consisted of about fourteen thousand men. They were almost without 1775- Washington at Cambridge. 263 ammunition. Their stock of powder would afford only nine rounds to each man. They could thus have made no use of their artillery. Their rude intrenchments stretched a distance of eight or nine miles. At any moment the English might burst upon them, piercing their weak lines, and rolling them back in hopeless rout. But the stubborn provincials were as yet scarcely soldiers enough to know their danger. Taking counsel only of their own courage, they strengthened their intrenchment, and tenaciously main- tained their hold on Boston. The head-quarters of Washington at Cambridge were near the present site of Harvard College. It is known as the Craigie House, and is the home of the poet Longfellow. Washington looked at his foe. He saw a British army of ten thousand men, perfect in discipline and equipment. It was a noble engine, but, happily for the world, it was guided by incompetent hands. General Gage tamely en- dured siege without daring to strike a single blow at the audacious patriots. It was no easy winter in either army. The English suffered from small-pox. Their fleet failed to secure for them an adequate supply of food. They had to pull down houses to obtain wood for fuel, at the risk of being hanged if they were discovered. They were dis- pirited by long inaction. They knew that in England the feeling entertained about them was one of bitter disappoint- ment. Gage was recalled by an angry Ministry, and quitted in disgrace that Boston where he had hoped for such success. General Howe succeeded to his command and to his policy of inactivity. Washington, on his side, was often in despair. His troops were mainly enlisted for three months only. Their love of country gave way under the hardships of a sol- dier's life. Washington was a strict disciplinarian. Patriot- ism proved a harder service than the men counted for. 264 Young Folks'^ History of America. Fast as their time of service expired, many set their faces homeward. Washington plied them with patriotic appeals, and caused patriot songs to be sung about the camp. "Such dearth of public spirit," Washington writes, "and such want of virtue, such fertility in all the low arts, I never saw before." When January came he had a new army, much smaller than the old, and the same weary process of drilling began afresh. He knew that Howe was aware of his position. The inactivity of the English gen- eral astonished Washington. He could explain it no other- wise than by believing that Providence watched over the liberties of the American people. In February liberal supplies of arms and ammunition reached him. There came also ten regiments of militia. Washington w^as now strong enough to take a step. To the south of Boston lie the heights of Dorchester.' If the Americans could seize and hold these heights, the English would be compelled to leave Boston. The night of the 4th of March was fixed for the enterprise. A heavy fire of artillery occupied the attention of the enemy. By the light of an unclouded moon a strong working-party took their way to Dorchester Heights. A long train of wagons accom- panied them, laden with hard-pressed bales of hay. These were needed to form a breastwork, as a hard frost bound the earth, and digging alone could not be relied upon. The men worked with such spirit that by dawn the bales of hay had been fashioned into various redoubts and other defences of most formidable aspect. A thick fog lay along the heights, and the new fortress looked massive and imposing in the haze. "The rebels," said Howe, " have done more work in one night than my whole army would have done in a month." And now the English must fight or yield up Boston. The English chose to fight. They were in the act of em- 1775- ^ Story of the Siege. 265 barking to get at the enemy when a furious east wind began to blow, scattering their transports and compeUing the delay of the attack. All next day the storm continued to rage. The English, eager for battle, lay in unwilling idle- ness. The vigorous Americans never ceased to dig and build. On the third day the storm abated. But it was now General Howe's opinion that the American position was impregnable. It may be that he was wisely cautious. It may be that he was merely fearful. But he laid aside his thoughts of battle, and prepared to evacuate Boston. On the 17th the last English soldier was en board, and all New England was finally wrested from King George. • A STORY OF THE SIEGE. A curious song, called " Yankee Doodle," was written by a British sergeant at Boston, in 1775, to ridicule the rude ways of certain people there, when the American army, under Washington, was encamped at Cambridge and Roxbury. Many of the volunteers from the country towns were ungainly and awkward in appearance, and showed a quaint inquisitiveness that provoked satire. The air of " Yankee Doodle," with quaint words about " Lucy Locket" who lost "her pocket," was known in Cromwell's time. It was at one time called " Chevy Chase," and it well fits this old Scottish ballad. The word Yankee was evi- dently borrowed from the provincial vocabulary of a Cam- bridge farmer, named Jonathan Hastings, who lived about the year 17 13, and who was accustomed to speak of his " Yankee good horse," his " Yankee good cider." The Harvard students used to call him Yankee Jonathan. There is a story associated with this song which is at once amusing and pathetic. When Lord Percy marched out of Boston, for Lexington, he passed through Roxbury, his band playing " Yankee Doodle " in derision. It was 266 Young Folks History of America. a suggestive tune, as it was often employed as a Rogues' March when offenders were drummed out of camp. A Roxbury boy grew very merry as he heard the tune, while the soldiers were passing by. "What makes you so lively, my lad.?" asked Lord Percy. " To think how you will dance by and by to * Chevy Chase.'" As Earl Percy in the ballad of "Chevy Chase" was slain. Lord Percy was made despondent by the unexpected prophecy of the boy. Percy was driven back from Lexing- ton in disgrace, and " Yankee Doodle " was played by the victorious Americans when Burgoyne surrendered. Perhaps the reader may like to see the original version of "Yankee Doodle," v'th itr provincial dialect: — I. Father and I went down U camy Along with Captain Goodwin, Where we see the men and boys - As thick as \i2A\.ypuddin\ 2. There was Captain Washington Upon a st7'appi7ig stallion, A giving orders to his men ; \ guess there was a million. 3- And then the feathers on his hat, They looked so tsirna] _^na, I wanted peskily to get. To give to my Jemima. 4- And then they had a swampin gun As big as log of maple, On a deuced little cart, — A load for father's cattle. 775- ''Yankee Doodle." 267 5- And every time they fired it off It took a horn of powder ; It made a noise like father's gun, Only a nation louder. T went as near to it myself As Jacob's under-pinnin', And father went as near again, — I thought the deuce was in him. 7. Cousin Simon grew so bold, I thought he would have cocked it . It scared me so I shrinked off And hung by father's pocket. 8. And Captain Davis had a gun. He kind a clapped his hand on't, And stuck a crooked stabbing iron Upon the little end on't. 9- And there I see a pumpkin shell As big as mother's basin, And every time they touched it off They scampered like the nation. 10. And there I see a little keg. Its head was made of leather ; They knocked upon't with little sticks To call the folks together. And then they'd yf/^ away like fun And play on cornstalk fiddles. And some had ribbons red as blood All wound around their middles. 268 Young Folks' History of Americu. 12. The troopers, too, would gallop up, And fire right in our faces ; It scared me almost half to death To see them run such races. 13- Old Uncle Sam came there to change Some pancakes and some onions For 'lasses cakes, to carry home To give to his wife and young ones 14. I see another snarl of men A diggin' graves, they told me, — So tanial long, so tarjial deep. They 'tended they should hold me, 15- They scared me so, I hooked it off, Nor slept, as I remember. Nor turned about till I got home. Locked up in mother's chamber CHAPTER XII THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. Even yet, after months of fighting, the idea of final sep- aration from Great Britain was distasteful to a considerable portion of the American people. To the more enlightened it had long been evident that no other course was possible ; but very many still clung to the hope of a friendly settlement of differences. Some, who were native Englishmen, loved the land of their birth better than the land of their adoption. The Quakers and Moravians were opposed to war as sinful, and would content themselves with such redress as could be obtained by remonstrance. Some, who deeply resented the oppressions of the home government, were slow to relinquish the privilege of British citizenship. Some would willingly have fought had there been hope of success, but could not be convinced that America was able to defend herself against the colossal strength of England. The subject was discussed long and keenly. The intelligence of America was in favor of separation. All the writers of the colonies urged incessantly that to this it must come. Pamphlets and gazette articles set forth the oppressions of the old country, and the need of independence in order to the welfare of the colonies. Conspicuous among those whose writings aided in convincing the public mind stands the unhonored name of Thomas Paine, the infidel. Paine had been only a few months in the colonies, but his restless mind took a ready interest in the great question of 270 Yoziug Folks* History of America. the day. He had a surprising power of direct, forcible argu- ment. He wrote a pamphlet styled " Common Sense," in which he urged the Americans to be independent. The time was now ripe for the consideration by the Con- gress at Philadelphia of the great question of independence. It was a grave and most eventful step, which no thinking man would lightly take, but it could no longer be shunned. On the 7th of June a resolution was introduced, declaring "That tlie United Colonies are and ought to be free and indepen- dent." The House was not yet prepared for a measure so decisive. Many members still paused on the threshold of that vast change. Pennsylvania and Delaware had expressly enjoined their delegates to oppose it ; for the Quakers were loyal to the last. Some other States had given no instruc- tions, and their delegates felt themselves bound, in conse- quence, to vote against the change. Seven States voted for the resolution ; six voted against it. Greater unanimity than this was indispensable. With much prudence, it was agreed that the matter should stand over for two or three weeks. On the 4th of July, 1776, a Declaration of Independence was adopted, with the unanimous concurrence of all the thirteen States. In this famous document the usurpations of the English government were set forth in unsparing terms. The divinity which doth hedge a king did not protect poor King George from a rougher handling than he ever experi- enced before. His character, it was said, " was marked by every act which can define a tyrant." And then it was an- nounced to the world that the I'hirteen Colonies had termi- nated their pohtical connection with Great Britain, and entered upon their career as free and independent States. The vigorous action of Congress nerved the colonists for their great enterprise of defence. The paralyzing hope of reconciliation was extinguished. The quarrel must now be fought out to the end, and liberty must be gloriously won or i'/76. The Declaration of Independence. 273 shamefully lost. Everywhere the Declaration was hailed with joy. It was read to the army amidst exulting shouts. The soldiers in New York expressed their transferrence of alle- giance by taking down a leaden statue of King George and casting it into bullets to be used against the king's troops. Next day Washington, in the dignified language which was habitual to him, reminded his troops of their new duties and responsibilities. *' The General," he said, " hopes and trusts that every officer and soldier will endeavor so to Hve and act as becomes a Christian soldier, defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country." Six T^Ott'A%^. THIS BiU entitles the _-.,_ Bearer to -receive SIX SPANISH MILLED DOLLARS, or the Valxi« thereof in COLD or^IL'VER.-accoTdinij fo a-KezohxtioTi of Q,C>K GRESS pMiMat Pk ' I adc Iphia Nov-Z-l^/S'

eir condition. But something was needed to chase away the gloom which paralyzed the country. Ten miles from Philadelphia was the village of Trenton, held by a considerable force of British and Hessians. At sunset on Christmas evening Washington 28o Yotmg Folks History of America. marched out from Philadelphia, having prepared a surprise for the careless garrison of Trenton. The night was dark and tempestuous, and the weather was so intensely cold that two of the soldiers were frozen to death. The march of the barefooted host could be tracked by the blood-marks which they left upon the snow. At daybreak they burst upon the astonished Royahsts. The Hessians had drunk deep on the previous day, and they were ill prepared to fight. Their commander was slain as he attempted to bring his men up to the enemy. After his fall the soldiers laid down their arms, and surrendered at discretion. A week after this encounter three British regiments spent a night at Princeton, on their way to Trenton to retrieve the disaster which had there befallen their Hessian allies. Washington made another night march, attacked the English- men in the early morning, and after a stubborn resistance defeated them, inflicting severe loss. These exploits, inconsiderable as they seem, raised incal- culably the spirits of the American people. When triumphs like these were possible under circumstances so discouraging, there was no need to despair of the commonwealth. Con- fidence in Washington had been somewhat shaken by the defeats which he had sustained. Henceforth it was un- bounded. Congress invested him with absolute military authority for a period of six months, and public opinion confirmed the trust. The infant republic was delivered from its most imminent jeopardy by the successes of Trenton and Princeton. And now a new force entered into the hitherto unequal contest. France still felt, with all the bitterness of the van- quished, her defeat at Quebec and her loss of Canada. She had always entertained the hope that the Americans would avenge her by throwing off the English yoke. To help for- ward its fulfilment, she sent occasionally a secret agent among^ 1777- Lafayette. 281 them, to cultivate tneir good-will to the utmost. When the troubles began she sent secret assurances of sympathy, and secret offers of commercial advantages. She was not pre- pared as yet openly to espouse the American cause. But it was always safe to encourage the American dislike to England, '^^■^ ■"^mffE'>' LAFAYETTE. and to connive at the fitting out of American privateers, to prey upon English commerce. The Marquis de Lafayette was at this time serving in the French army. He was a lad of nineteen, of immense wealth, and enjoying a foremost place among the nobility of France. The American revolt had now become a topic at French 282 Young Folks History of America. dinner-tables. Lafayette heard of it first from the Duke of Gloucester, who told the story at a dinner given to him by some French officers. That conversation changed the destiny of the young Frenchman. *' He was a man of no ability/' said Napoleon. *' There is nothing in his head but the United States," said Marie Antoinette. Lafayette had the deepest sympathies with the cause of human liberty. They were always generous and true. No sooner had he satisfied him- self that the American cause was the cause of liberty, than he hastened to ally himself with it. He left his young wife and his great position, and he offered himself to Washington. His presence was a vast encouragement to a desponding people. He was a visible assurance of sympathy beyond the sea. America is the most grateful of nations ; and this good, im- pulsive man has ever deservedly held a high place in her love. Washington once, with tears of joy in his eyes, pre- sented Lafayette to his troops. Counties are named after him, and cities and streets. Statues and paintings hand down to successive generations of Americans the image of their first and most faithful ally. Lafayette was the lightning-rod by which the current of republican sentiments was flashed from America to France. He came home when the war was over and America free. He was the hero of the hour. A man who had helped to set up a republic in America was an unquiet element for old France to receive back into her bosom. With the charm of a great name and boundless popularity to aid him, he every- where urged that men should be free and self-governing. The spring-time of 1 777 came, — " the time when kings go out to batde," — but General Howe was not ready. Washing- ton was contented to wait, for he gained by delay. Congress sent him word that he was to lose no time in totally subduing the enemy. Washington could now afford to smile at the vain confidence which had so quickly taken the place of 1777- Battle of Brandywi7te. 283 despair. Recruits flowed in upon him in a steady if not a very copious stream. The old soldiers whose terms expired were induced, by bounties and patriotic appeals, to re-enlist for the war. By the middle of June, when Howe opened the campaign, Washington had eight thousand men under his command, tolerably armed and disciplined, and in good fight- ing spirit. The patriotic sentiment was powerfully reinforced by a thirst to avenge private wrongs. Howe's German mer- cenaries had behaved very brutally in New Jersey, plunder- ing and burning without stint. Many of the Americans had witnessed outrages such as turn the coward's blood to flame. Howe wished to take Philadelphia, then the political capi- tal of the States. But Washington lay across his path, in a strong position, from which he could not be enticed to de- scend. Howe marched towards him, but shunned to attack him where he lay. Then he turned back to New York, and, embarking his troops, sailed with them to Philadelphia. The army was landed on the 25th August, and Howe was at length ready to begin the summer's work. The American army waited for him on the banks of a small river called the Brandywine. The British superiority in num- bers enabled them to attack the Americans in front and in flank. The Americans say that their right wing, on which the British attack fell with crushing weight, was badly led. One of the generals of that division was a certain William Alexander, known to himself and the country of his adop- tion as Lord Stirling, — a warrior brave but foolish, " aged, and a little deaf." The Americans were driven from the field, but they had fought bravely, and were undismayed by their defeat. A fortnight later a British force, with Lord Cornwallis at its head, marched into Philadelphia. The Royalists were nu- merous in that city of Quakers. The city was moved to unwonted cheerfulness. On that September morning, as the 284 You Jig Folks'' History of America. loyal inhabitants looked upon the bright uniforms and flash- ing arms of the king's troops, and listened to the long-for- bidden strains of " God save the King," they felt as if a great and final deliverance had been vouchsafed to them. The patriots ■ estimated the fall of the city more justly. It was seen that if Howe meant to hold Philadelphia, he had not force enough to do much else. Said the sagacious Benja- min Franklin, " It is not General Howe that has taken Philadelphia ; it is Philadelphia tliat has taken General Howe." The main body of the British were encamped at German- town, guarding their new conquest. So little were the Ameri- cans daunted by their late reverses, that, within a week from the capture of Philadelphia, Washington resolved to attack the enemy. At sunrise on the 4th October the English were unexpectedly greeted by a bayonet-charge from a strong American force. It was a complete surprise, and at first the success was complete. But a dense fog, which had rendered the surprise possible, ultimately frustrated the purpose of the assailants. The onset of the eager Americans carried all before it. But as the darkness, enhanced by the firing, deepened over the combatants, confusion began to arise. Regiments got astray from their officers. Some regiments mistook each other for enemies, and acted on that belief. Confusion swelled to panic, and the Americans fled from the field. Winter was now at hand, and the British army returned to (quarters in Philadelphia. Howe would have fought again, but Washington declined to come down from the strong posi- tion to which he had retired. His army had again been suffered to fall into straits which threatened its very exist- ence. A patriot Congress urged him to defeat the English, but could not be persuaded to supply his soldiers with shoes or blankets, or even with food. He was advised to fall back ^r%^= ;h attacked at germantown. 285 1777- Gejteral Burgoyiie at Saratoga. 287 on some convenient town where his soldiers would find the comforts they needed so much. But Washington was reso- lute to keep near the enemy. He fixed on a position at Val- ley Forge, among the hills, twenty miles fi-om Philadelphia. Thither through the snow marched his half-naked army. Log-huts were erected with a rapidity of which no soldiers are so capable as Americans. There Washington fixed him- self. The enemy was within reach, and he knew that his own strength would grow. The campaign which had now closed had given much encouragement to the patriots. It is true they had been often defeated. But they had learned to place implicit confidence in their commander. They had learned also that in courage they were equal, in activity greatly superior, to their enemies. All they required was dis- cipline and experience, which another campaign would give. There was no longer any reason to look with alarm upon the future. In the month of June, when Howe was beginning to make his slow advance to Philadelphia, a British army set out from Canada to conquer the northern parts of the revolted terri- tory. General Burgoyne was in command. He was resolute to succeed. "This army must not retreat," he said, when they were about to embark. The army did not retreat. On a fair field general and soldiers would have played a part of which their country would have had no cause to be ashamed. But this was a work beyond their strength. Burgoyne marched deep into the New England States. But he had to do with men of a different temper from those of New York and Philadelphia. At his approach every man took down his musket from the wall and hurried to the front. Little discipline had they, but a resolute purpose and a sure aim. Difficulties thickened around the fated army. At length Burgoyne found himself at Saratoga. It was now October, Heavy rains fell. Provisions were growing scanty. The 288 You?ig Folks* History of America. enemy was in great force, and much emboldened by suc- cess. Gradually it became evident that the British were sur- rounded, and that no hope of fighting their way out remained. Night and day a circle of fire encompassed them. Burgoyne called his ofificers together. They could find no place for their sorrowful communing beyond reach of the enemy's mus- ketry, so closely was the net already drawn. There was but one thing to do, and it was done. The British army surren- dered. Nearly six thousand brave men in sorrow and in shame laid down their arms. The men who took them were mere peasants. No two of them were dressed alike. The officers wore uncouth wigs. Most of them carried muskets and large powder-horns slung around their shoulders. No humiliation like this had befallen the British arms. These grotesque American warriors behaved to their con- quered enemies with true nobility. General Gates, the Amer- ican commander, kept his men strictly within their lines, that they might not witness the piling of the British arms. No taunt was offered, no look of disrespect was directed against the fallen. "All were mute in astonishment and pity." England felt acutely the shame of this great disaster. Her people were used to victory. For many years she had been fighting in Europe, in India, in Canada, and always with bril- liant success. Her defeat in America was contrary to all expectation. It was a bitter thing for a high-spirited people to hear that their veteran troops had surrendered to a crowd of half-armed peasantry. Under the depressing influence of this 'calamity it was determined to redress the wrongs of America. Parliament abandoned all claim to tax the colo- nies. Every vexatious enactment' would be repealed. All would be forgiven, if America would return to her allegiance. Commissioners were sent bearing the olive branch to Con- gress. Too late — altogether too late ! Never more can 1777- Effects of the War. 289 America be a dependency of England. With few words Con- gress peremptorily declined the English overtures. America had chosen her course. For good or for evil she would fol- low it to the end. A great war may be very glorious, but it is also very miser- able. Twenty thousand Englishmen had already perished in this war. Trade languished, and among the working classes there was want of employment and consequent want of food. American cruisers swarmed upon the sea, and inflicted enor- mous losses upon English commerce. The debt of the country increased. And for all these evils there was no compensation. There was not even the poor satisfaction of success in the unprofitable undertaking. If it was any comfort to inflict even greater miseries than she endured, England did not fight in vain. The sufferings of America were very lamentable. The loss of life in battle and by disease, resulting from want and exposure, had been great. The fields in many districts were unsown. Trade was extinct ; the trading classes were bankrupt. English cruisers had annihilated the fisheries and seized the greater part of the American merchant ships. Money had wellnigh disappeared from the country. Congress issued paper money, which proved a very indifferent substitute. The public had so little confidence in the new currency that Washington declared, "A wagon-load of money will scarcely purchase a wagon-load of provisions." But the war went on. It was not for England, with her high place among the nations, to retire defeated from an enterprise on which she had deliberately entered. As for the Americans, after they had declared their resolution to be independent, they could die, but they could not yield. The surrender of Burgoyne brought an important ally to the American side. The gods help those who help them- selves. So soon as America proved that she was likely to 19 290 Young Folks History of America. conquer in the struggle, France offered to come to her aid. France had ahvays looked with interest on the war ; partly because she hated England, and partly because her pulses already throbbed with that new life, whose misdirected ener- gies produced, a few years afterwards, results so lamentable. Even now a people contending for their liberties awakened the sympathies of France. America had sent three commis- sioners — one of whom was Benjamin Franklin — to Paris, tc cultivate as opportunity offered the friendship of the Frencn government. For a time they labored without visible results. But when news came that Burgoyne and his army had sur- rendered, hesitation was at an end. A treaty was signed b^ which France and America engaged to make common cause against England. The king 'opposed this treaty so long as he dared, hut he was forced to give way. England, of course, accepted it as a declaration of war. Spain could not miss the opportunity of avenging herselt upon England. Her king desired to live at peace, he said, and to see his neighbors do the same. But he was pro- foundly interested in the liberties of the young republic, and he was bound by strong ties to his good brother of France. Above all, England had in various quarters of the world grievously wronged him by violating his territory and inter- fering with the trade of his subjects. When his preparations were complete he joined France and America in the league, and declared war against England. The fleets of France and Spain appeared in the British Channel, and England had to face the perils of invasion. The spirit of her people rose nobly to meet the impending trial. The southern counties were one great camp. Voluntary contributions from all parts of the country aided government to equip ships and soldiers. The king was to head his war- like people, should the enemy land, and share their danger and their glory. But the black cloud rolled harmlessly away, FRENCH NAVAL VICTORY 1780. The Story of Major Andre. 293 anti the abounding heroism of the people was not further evoked. The invading admirals quarrelled. One of them wished to land at once ; the other wished first to dispose of the English fleet. They could not agree upon a course, and therefore they sailed away home each to hi? own country, having eflected nothing. The war spread itself over a very wide surface. In the North Paul Jones, with three American ships, alarmed the Scotch coast and destroyed much shipping. Spain besieged Gibraltar, but failed to regain that much-coveted prize. On the African coast the French took Senegal from the Eng- lish, and the English took Goree from the French. In the West Indies the French took St. Vincent and Granada. The remaining years of the war were distinguished by few striking or decisive enterprises. The fleet sent by France sailed hither and thither. When General Howe was made aware of its approach, he abandoned Philadelphia and re- tired to New York. Washington followed him on his retreat, but neither then nor for some time afterward could effect much. Congress and the American people formed sanguine expectations of the French alliance, and ceased to put forth the great efforts which distinguished the earlier period of the war. The English overran Georgia and the Carolinas. THE STORY OF MAJOR ANDRE. The Americans had a strong fortress at West Point, on the Hudson River. It was one of the most important places in the country, and its acquisition was anxiously desired by the English. Possession of West Point would have given them command of the Hudson, up which their ships-of-war could have sailed for more than a hundred miles. But that fort, sitting impregnably on rocks two hundred feet above the level of the river, was hard to win ; and the Americans were careful to garrison effectively a position so vitally important. 294 Young Folks History of America. Benedict Arnold was a brilliant but ambitious American officer, who had served, not without distinction, from the be- ginning of the war. He had fought in Canada when the Americans unsuccessfully invaded that province. He had, by extravagance in living, involved himself in debt, which he aggravated hopelessly by ill-judged mercantile speculations. He had sufficient influence with Washington to obtain the command of West Point. There is little doubt that when he sought the appointment it was with the full intention of selling that important fortress to the enemy. He opened negotia- tions at once with Sir Henry Clinton, then in command of the English army at New York. Clinton sent Major Andr6 to arrange the terms of the con- templated treachery. A mournful interest attaches to the name of this young officer, the fate which befell him was so very sad. John Andre was of Swiss descent. He was educated in Switzerland. At the age of eighteen he entered a London counting-hoase. He was a lover of literature, and among his friends were Anna Seward, the " Swan of Litchfield," and an accomplished cousin of Miss Seward, Honora Sneyd. Andre became enamored of Miss Sneyd ; she did not return the affection, but gave her hand to Richard Lovell Edgeworth, father of Maria Edgeworth. Andr^, to soothe and forget his disappointed affections, left commercial pur- suits, and turned from the associations of home to the turmoil of war in a foreign land. He was once taken prisoner, and, finding himself about to be stripped of his posses- sions, hid the picture of Honora Sneyd in his mouth. Anna Seward wrote a monody on Andre after his execution, which was very popular in England, and which so severely censured General Washington as to call from him an explanation. Andr^ was honored by a monument in the Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey, his brother was knighted, and a pension was settled upon his family. 1780. The Story of Major Andre. 295 At midnight Major Andre landed from the boat of a British ship-of-war, at a lonely place where Arnold awaited him. Their conference lasted so long that it was deemed unsafe for Andre to return to the ship. He was conducted to a place of concealment within the American lines, to await the return of darkness. He completed his arrangement with Arnold, and received drawings of the betrayed fortress. His mission was now accomplished. The ship from which he had come lay full in view. Would that he could reach her ! But difficulties arose, and it was resolved that he must ride to New York, a distance of fifty miles. Disguising himself as he best could, Andre reluctantly accepted this very doubtful method of escape from his fearful jeopardy. Within the American lines he had some narrow escapes, but the pass given by Arnold carried him through. He was at length beyond the lines. His danger might now be con- sidered at an end, and he rode cheerfully on his lonely jour- ney. He was crossing a small stream ; thick woods on his right hand and his left enhanced the darkness of the night. Three armed men stepped suddenly from among the trees and ordered him to stand. From the dress of one of them, Andre thought he was among friends. He hastened to tell them he was a British officer, on very special business, and he must not be detained. Alas for Andre ! they were not friends ; and the dress which deceived him had been given to the man who wore it when he was a prisoner with the English, in place of a better garment of which his captors had stripped him. Andre was searched ; but at first nothing was found. It seemed as if he might yet be allowed to proceed, when one of the three men exclaimed, — " Boys, I am not satisfied. His boots must come off." Andre's countenance fell. His boots were searched, and Arnold's drawings of West Point were discovered. The men 296 Young Folks History of America. knew then that he was a spy. He vainly offered them money. They were incorruptible. He was taken to the nearest military station, and the tidings were at once sent to Wash- ington, who chanced to be then at West Point. Arnold had timely intimation of the disaster, and fled for refuge to a British ship-of-war. Andr^ was tried by a court formed of officers of the Ameri- can army. He gave a frank and truthful account of his part in the unhappy transaction, bringing into due prominence the circumstance that he was brought, without intention or knowledge on his part, within the American lines. The court judged him on his own statement, and condemned him to be hanged as a spy. His capture and sentence caused deep sensation in the English army, and every effort was made to save him. But the danger to the patriot cause had been too great. There were dark intimations of other treasons yet unrevealed. It was needful to give emphatic warning of the perils which waited on such unlawful negotiations. Andre begged that he might be allowed to die a soldier's death. Even this poor boon was refused to the unhappy young man. But this was mercifully concealed from Andr^ to the very last. Ten days after his arrest Andr^ was led forth to die. He was under the impression that his last request had been granted, and that he would die by the bullet. It was a fresh pang when the gibbet, with its ghasdy preparations, stood before him. "How hard is my fate!" he said; "but it will soon be over." He bandaged his own eyes ; with his own hands adjusted the noose to his neck. The cart on which he stood moved away, and poor Major Andr6 was no longer in the world of living men. Forty years afterwards his remains were taken home to England and laid in Westminster Abbey. lySi. Siege of York town. 297 During the later years of the war the Enghsh kept posses- sion of the Southern States. When the last campaign opened, Lord Cornwallis with a strong force represented British au- thority in the South, and did all that he found possible for the suppression of the patriots. But the time was past when any real progress in that direction could be made. A certain vigorous and judicious General Greene, with such rough semblance of an army as he could draw together, gave Lord Cornwallis many rude shocks. The English gained little vic- tories occasionally, but they suffered heavy losses, and the territory over which they held dominion was upon the whole becoming smaller. About midsummer the joyous news reached Washington that a powerful French fleet, with an army on board, was about to sail for America. With this reinforcement, Wash- ington had it in his power to deliver a blow which would break the strength of the enemy, and hasten the close of the war. Clinton held New York, and Cornwallis was fortifying himself in Yorktown. The French fleet sailed for the Chesa- peake, and Washington decided in consequence that his at- tack should be made on Lord Cornwallis. With all possible secrecy and speed the American troops were moved south- ward to Virginia. They were joined by the French, and they stood before Yorktown a force twelve thousand strong. Corn- wallis had not expected them, and he called on Clinton to aid him. But it was too late. He was already in a grasp from which there was no escaping. Throughout the war, ihe weakness of his force often obliged Washington to adopt a cautious and defensive poHcy, which grievously disappointed the expectations of his impa- tient countrymen. It is not therefore to be imagined that his leadership was wanting in vigor. Within his calm and well- balanced mind there lurked a fiery energy, ready to burst forth when occasion required. 298 Young Folks History of America. The siege of Yorktown was pushed on with extraordinary vehemence. The EngHsh, as their wont is, made a stout defence, and strove by desperate sallies to drive the assailants from their works. But in a few days the defences of York- town lay in utter ruin, beaten to the ground by the powerful artillery of the Americans. The English guns were silenced. The English shipping was fired by red-hot shot from the French batteries. Ammunition began to grow scarce. The place could not be held much longer, and Clinton still delayed his coming. Lord Cornwallis must either force his way out and escape to the North, or surrender. One night he began to embark his men in order to cross the York River and set out on his desperate march to New York. A violent storm arose and scattered his boats. The men who had em- barked got back with difficulty, under fire from the American batteries. All hope was now at an end. In about a fortnight from the opening of the siege, the British army, eight thou- sand strong, laid down its arms. The joy of America over this great crowning success knew no bounds. One highly emotional patriot was said to have expired from mere excess of rapture. Some others lost their reason. In the army, all who were under arrest were at once set at liberty. A day of solemn thanksgiving was proclaimed, and devoutly observed throughout the rejoicing States. Well might the colonists rejoice, for their long and bitter struggle was now about to close. Stubborn King George would not yield yet. But England and her Parliament were sick of this hopeless and inglorious war. The House of Commons voted that all who should advise the continuance of the war were enemies to the country. A new Ministry was formed, and negotiations with a view to peace were begun. The king had no doubt that if America were allowed to go, the West Indies would go ; Ireland would go ; all his foreign possessions would go \ and discrowned England would sink 1783. End of the War. 299 into weakness and contempt. But too much heed ha;_l already been given to the king and his fancies. Peace was concluded with France and Spain, and the independence of America was at length recognized. Eight years had passed since the first blood was shed at Lexington. Thus long the unyielding English, unused to failure, had striven to regain the lost ascendency. Thus long the colonists had borne the miseries of invasion, not shaken in their faith that the independence which they had under- taken to win was well worth all it cost them. And now they were free, and England was the same to them as all the rest of the world, — "in peace, a friend; in war, a foe." They had httle left them but their hberty and their soil. They had been unutterably devastated by those eight bloody years. Their fields had been wasted ; their towns had been burned. Commerce was extinct. Money had almost disap- peared from the country. Their pubhc debt reached the large sum of one hundred and seventy millions of dollars. The soldiers who had fought out the national independence were not paid till they showed some disposition to compel a settlement. There was nothing which could be called a gov- ernment. There were thirteen sovereign States, loosely knit together by a Congress. That body had power to discuss questions affecting the general good ; to pass resolutions ; to request the several States to give effect to these resolutions. The States might or might not comply with such request. Habitually they did not, especially when money was asked for. Congress had no power to tax. It merely apportioned among the States the amounts required for the public ser- vice, and each State was expected to levy a tax for its propor- tion. But in point of fact it became utterly impossible to get money by this process. Great hardships were endured by the laboring population. The impatience of a suffering people expressed itself in occa- 300 Yotiug Folks' History of America. sional sputterings of insurrection. Two thousand men of Massachusetts rose in arms to demand that the collection of debts should be suspended. It was some weeks before that rising could be quelled, as the community generally sympathized with the insurgents. During four or five years the miseries of the ungoverned country seemed to warrant the belief that her War of Independence had been a mistake. But a future of unparalleled magnificence lay before this sorely vexed and discouraged people. The boundless corn- lands of the West, the boundless cotton-fields of the South, waited to yield their wealth. Pennsylvania held unimagined treasures of coal and iron, soon to be evoked by the irre- sistible spell of patient industry. America was a vast store- house, prepared by the Great P'ather against the time when his children would have need of it. The men who are the stewards over its opulence have now freed themselves from some entanglements and hinderances which grievously dimin- ished their efficiency, and they stand prepared to enter in good earnest upon that high industrial vocation to which Providence has called them. There had been periods durii"^ the war when confidence in Washington's leadership was snaken. He sustained many reverses. He oftentimes retreated. He adhered tenaciously to a defensive policy, when Congress and people were burn- ing with impatience to inflict crushing defeat upon the foe. The deplorable insufficiency of his resources was overlooked, and the blame of every disaster fell on him. And when at length the cause began to prosper, and hope brightened into triumph, timid people were apt to fear that Washington was growing too powerful. He had become the idol of a great army. He had but to signify his readiness to accept a throne, and his soldiers would have crowned him king. It was usual in the revolutions of the world that a military chief should grasp at supreme power ; and so it was feared that Washing- 783. Washington at Home, 301 ton was to furnish one example more of that lawless and vul- gar lust of power by which human history has been so largely dishonored. But Washington sheathed his sword, and returned gladly to his home on the banks of the Potomac. He proposed to spend his days " in cultivating the affections of good men, and in the practice of the domestic virtues." He hoped " to glide gently down the stream which no human effort can ascend." He occupied himself with the care of his farm, and had no deeper feeling than thankfulness that he was at length eased of a load of public care. The simple grandeur of his character was now revealed beyond possibility of misconcep- tion. The measure of American veneration for this greatest of all Americans was full. Henceforth Mount Vernon was a shrine to which pilgrim feet were ever turned, evoking such boundless love and reverence as never were elsewhere exhibited on American soii. '^ y<4' %'^- > '> CHAPTER XIV. THE THIRTEEN STATES BECOME A NATION. Washington saw from the beginning that his country was without a government. Congress was a mere name. There were still thirteen sovereign States, in league for the mo- ment, but liable to be placed at variance by the differences which time would surely bring. Washington was satisfied that without a central government they could never be pow- erful or respected. Such a government, indeed, was neces- sary in order even to their existence. European powers would, in its absence, introduce dissensions among them. Men's minds would revert to that form of government with which they were familiar. Some ambitious statesman or soldier would make himself king, and the great experiment, based upon the equality of rights, would prove an ignomin- ious failure. The more sagacious Americans shared Washington's be- lief on this question. Conspicuous among these was Alex- ander Hamilton, — perhaps, next to Washington, the greatest American of that age. Hamilton was a brave and skilful soldier, a brilliant debater, a persuasive writer, a wise statesman. In his nineteenth year he entered the army, at the very beginning of the war. The quick eye of Washing- ton discovered the remarkable promise of the lad. He raised him to high command in the army, and afterwards to high office in the government. It was Hamilton who brought order out of the financial chaos which followed 1787. Constitutional Convention. 301; the war. It was Hamilton who suggested the convention to consider the framing of a new Constitution. Often, during the succeeding years, Hamihon's temperate and sagacious words calmed the storms which marked the infancy of the great republic. His career had a dark and bloody close. In his forty-seventh year he stood face to face, one bright July morning, with an ambitious politician named Aaron Burr. Burr had fastened a quarrel upon him, in the hope of murdering him in a duel. Hamilton had resolved not to fire. Burr fired with careful aim, and Hamilton fell, fatally wounded. One of the ablest men America has ever possessed was thus lost to her. Immediately after the close of the war Hamilton began to discuss the weakness of the existing form of government. He was deeply convinced that the union of the States, in order to be lasting, must be established on a solid basis ; and his writings did much to spread this conviction among his fellow-countrymen. Washington never ceased, from his retirement, to urge the same views. Gradually the urgent need of a better system was recognized. It indeed soon became too obvious to be denied. Congress found it ut- terly impossible to get money. Between 1781 and 1786, ten millions of dollars were called for from the States, but only two millions and a half were obtained. The interest on the debt was unpaid. The ordinary expenses of the government were unprovided for. The existing form of government was an acknowledged failure. Something bet- ter had to be devised, or the tie which bound the thirteen States would be severed. Hamilton obtained the sanction of Congress to his pro- posal that a convention of delegates from the several States should be held. This convention was to review the whole subject of the governing arrangement, and to recommend such alterations as should be considered adequate to the 20 3o6 YoHHg Folks History of America. exigencies of the time. Philadelphia, as usual, was the place of meeting. Thither, in the month of May, came the men who were charged with the weighty task of framing a government under which the thirteen States should become a nation. Fifty-five men composed this memorable council. Among them were the wisest men of whom America, or perhaps any other country, could boast. Washington himself pre- sided. Benjamin Franklin brought to this — his latest and his greatest task — the ripe experience of eighty-two years. New York sent Hamilton, regarding whom Prince Talley- rand said, long afterwards, that he had known nearly ah the leading men of his time, but he had never known one on the whole equal to Hamilton. With these came many others whose names are held in enduring honor. Since the meeting of that first Congress which pointed the way to independence, America had seen no such assembly. The convention sat for four months. The great work which occupied it divided the country into tw^o parties. One party feared most the evils which arise from weakness of the governing power, and sought relief from these in a close union of the States under a strong government. Another party dwelt more upon the miserable condition of the over- governed nations of Europe, and feared the creation of a government which might grow into a despotism. The aim of the one was to vest the largest possible measure of power in a central government. Hamilton, indeed, — to whom the British Constitution seemed the most perfect on earth, — went so far as to desire that the States should be merely great municipalities, attending only, like an English corporation, to their own local concerns. The aim of the other was to circumscribe the powers accorded to the gen eral government, to vindicate the sovereignty of the indi- vidual States, and give to it the widest possible scope. 1787- The Federal Constitiitioit. 307 These two sets of opinions continued to exist and conflict for tiiree-quarters of a century, till that which assigned an undue dominion to what were called State Rights perished in the overthrow of the government of the Confederate States. Slowly and through endless debate the convention worked out its plan of a government. The scheme was submitted to Congress, and thence sent down to the several States. Months of fiery discussion ensued. Somewhat reluctantly, by narrow majorities, in the face of vehement protests, the Constitution was at length adopted under which the thir- teen States were to become so great. Great Britain has no written Constitution. She has her laws ; and it is expected that all future laws shall be in tol- erable harmony with the principles on which her past legis- lation has been founded. But if Parliament were to enact, and the sovereign to sanction, any law at variance with these principles, there is no help for it. Queen, Lords, and Commons are supreme authority, from whose decisions there lies no appeal. In America it is different ; with us the su- preme authority is a written Constitution. Congress may unanimously enact, and the President may cordially sanc- tion, a new law. The Judges of the Supreme Court, sitting in the same building where Congress meets, may compare that law with the Constitution. If it is found at variance with the Constitution, it is unceremoniously declared to be no law, and entitled to no man's obedience. With a few amend- ments, the original Constitution remains in full force now, receiving, as it increases in age, the growing reverence of the people. The men who framed it must have been very wise. The people for whom it was framed must possess in high degree the precious Anglo-Saxon veneration for law. Otherwise the American paper Constitution must long ago have shared the fate of the numerous documents of this 3o8 Yot0tg Folks History of America. class under which the French vainly sought rest during their first Revolution. The Federal Constitution was adopted on the 17th of September, 1787. Under it General George Washington was elected the first President. John Adams was elected Vice- President. The first President was inaugurated on April 30, 1789. The question of the public debt was the first issue that the new Congress had to meet. Washington, with a sigh, asked a friend, " What is to be done about this heavy debt? " " There is but one man in America can tell you," said his friend, " and that is Alex- ander Hamilton." Washington made Hamilton Secretary of the Treasury. The success of his financial measures was immediate and complete. " He smote the rock of the national resources," said Daniel Webster, "and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth. He touched the dead corpse of the public credit, and it sprang upon its feet." All the war debts of the States were assumed by the gen- eral government. Efficient provision was made for the regular payment of interest, and for a sinking fund to liqui- date the principal. Duties were imposed on shipping, on goods imported from abroad, and on spirits manufactured at home. The vigor of the government inspired public confidence. Commerce began to revive. In a few years the American flag was seen on every sea. The simple manufactures of the country resumed their long-interrupted activity. A national bank was established. Courts were set up, and judges were appointed. The salaries of the President and the great functionaries were settled. A home was chosen for the general government on the banks of the Potomac, where the capital of the Union was to supplant the little wooden village, — remote from the agi- tations which arise in the great centres of population. In- 797- Washington at Mount Vernon. 309 numerable details connected with the establishment of a new sovernment were discussed and fixed. Novel as the circumstances were, little of the work then done has re- quired to be undone. Succeeding generations of Ameri- cans have approved the wisdom of their early legislators. MOUNT VERNON. and continue unaltered the arrangements which wen framed at the outset of the national existence. Washington was President during the first eight years of the Constitution. He survived his withdrawal from public life only three years, dying, after a few hours' illness, in 3IO Young Folks History of America. the sixty-eighth year of his age. His countrymen mourned him with a sorrow sincere and deep. Their reverence for him has not diminished with the progress of the years. Each new generation of Americans catches up the venera- tion — calm, intelHgent, but profound — with which its fathers regarded the blameless chief. To this day there is an affectionate watchfulness for opportunities to express the honor in which his name is held. To this day the steamers which ply upon the Potomac strike mournful notes upon the bell as they sweep past Mount Vernon, where Washington spent the happiest days of his life, and where he died. FIGHT BETWEEN THE CONSTELLATION AND LA VENGEANCE. CHAPTER XV. FROM WASHINGTON TO MADISON. Thirty years of peace succeeded the War of Indepen- dence. There were, indeed, passing troubles with the In- dians, ending always in the sharp chastisement of those disagreeable savages. There was an expedition against Tripoli, to avenge certain indignities which the barbarians of that region had offered to American shipping. There was a misunderstanding with the French Directory, which was carried to a somewhat perilous extreme. A desperate fight took place between a French frigate and an American frigate, resulting in the surrender of the former. But these trivial agitations did not disturb the profound tranquillity of the nation, or hinder its progress in that career of pros- perity on which it had now entered. In 1797, General Washington having declined to be a candidate for President, John Adams was chosen his suc- cessor, and Thomas Jefferson was elected Vice-President. During the administration of Mr. Adams, the city of Wash- ington became the seat of government. Congress had hitherto met in the city of Philadelphia. In 1801 Thomas Jefferson was elected President and Aaron Burr Vice- President. Mr. Jefferson continued in office eight years. He was succeeded by James Madison in 1809. In 1806 England gave out a decree announcing that all the coasts of France and her allies were in a state of block- ade, and that any vessels attempting to trade with the 314 Young Folks History of America. blockaded countries were liable to seizure. At that time nearly all the continent was in alliance with France. Na- poleon replied by declaring the British Islands in a state of blockade. These decrees closed Europe against American vessels. Many captures were made, especially by English cruisers. American merchants suffered grievous losses, and loudly expressed their just wrath against the wicked laws which wrought them so much evil. There was another question out of which mischief arose. England has always maintained that any person who has once been her subject can never cease to be so. He may remove to another country. He may become the citizen of another State. English law recognizes no such transac- tion. England claims that the man is still an English subject, entitled to the advantages of that relation, and bound by its obligations. America, on the other hand, asserted that men could lay down their original citi- zenship and assume another, could transfer their alle- giance, could relinquish the privileges and absolve them- selves from the obligations which they inherited. The Englishmen who settled on her soil were regarded by her as American citizens, and as nothing else. Circumstances arose which bestowed dangerous impor- tance upon these conflicting doctrines. England at that time obtained sailors by impressment ; that is to say, she seized men who were engaged on board merchant vessels, and compelled them to serve on board her ships-of-war. It was a process second only to the slave-trade in its iniquity. The service to which men were thus introduced could not but be hateful. There was a copious desertion, as opportunity offered, and America was the natural refuge. English ships-of-war claimed the right to search American vessels for men who had deserted ; and also for men who, as born English subjects, were liable to be impressed. It i8o6. The English Right of Search. 315 may well be believed that this right was not always exer- cised with a strict regard to justice. It was not always easy to distinguish an Englishman from an American. Perhaps the English captains were not very scrupulous as to the evidence on which they acted. The Americans THE ENGLISH RIGHT OF SEARCH. asserted that six thousand men, on whom England had no shadow of claim, were ruthlessly carried off to fight under a flag they hated ; the English Government admitted the charge to the extent of sixteen hundred men. The Ameri- can people vehemently resented the intolerable pretension 3i6 Yotmg Folks' History of America. of England. Occasionally an American ship resisted it, and blood was freely shed. Congress prohibited commerce with the European Pow- ers which had disregarded her rights on the sea. Com- merce was interrupted, and the grievance was not abated. At length Congress ended suspense by passing a bill which declared war against Great Britain. When war was declared, England possessed one thou- sand ships-of-war, and America possessed twentyo Their land forces were in like proportion. England had nearly a million of men under arms. America had an army reck- oned at twenty-four thousand, many of them imperfectly disciplined, and not yet to be relied upon in the field. Her treasury was empty. She was sadly wanting in offi- cers of experience. She had declared war, but it was diffi- cult to see what she could do in the way of giving effect to her hostile purposes. But she held to these purposes with unfaltering tenacity. Four days after Congress had resolved to fight, England repealed those blockading decrees, which had so justly offended the Americans. There remained now only the question of the right of search. The British Minister at Washington proposed that an attempt should be made to settle peaceably this sole remaining ground of quarrel. The proposal was declined. The first efforts of the Americans were signally unsuc- cessful. They attacked Canada with an army of two thousand five hundred men. But this force had scarcely got upon Canadian ground when it was driven back. It was besieged in Fort Detroit by an inferior British army and forced to surrender. The unfortunate General Hull, who commanded, was brought to trial by his angry coun- trymen and sentenced to be shot. He was pardoned, however, in consideration of former services. i8i2. Naval Battles. 319 A second invasion followed, closed by a second surren- der. During other two campaigns the Americans prose- cuted their invasion. Ships were built and launched upon the great lakes which lie between the territories of the combatants. At sea a strange gleam of good fortune cheered the Americans. It was there England felt herself omnipotent. She, with her thousand ships, might pardonably despise the enemy who came against her with twenty. But it was there disaster overtook her. During the autumn months a series of encounters took place between single British and American ships. In every instance victory remained with the Americans. Five Eng- lish vessels were taken or destroyed. The Americans were in most of these engagements more heavily manned and armed than their enemies. But the startling fact remained. Five British ships-of-war had been taken in battle by the Americans. Five defeats had been sustained by England. Her sovereignty of the sea had received a rude shock. The loss of a great battle would not have moved Eng- land more profoundly than the capture of these five unim- portant ships. It seemed to many to foretell the downfall of her maritime supremacy. She had ruled the seas, be- cause, heretofore, no other country produced sailors equal to hers. But a new power had now arisen, whose home, equally with that of Britannia herself, was upon the deep. If America could achieve these startling successes while she had only twenty ships, what might she not accomplish with that ampler force which she would hereafter possess ? England had many enemies, all of whom rejoiced to see in these defeats the approaching decay of her envied greatness. Among English sailors there was a burning eagerness to wipe out the unlooked-for disgrace which had fallen upon 320 Yo7mg Folks History of America. the flag. A strict blockade of American ports was main- tained. On board the English ships which cruised on the American coasts impatient search was made for oppor- tunities of retrieving the honor of the service. Two English ships lay off Boston in the summer of 1813, under the command of Captain Broke. Within the bay the American frigate Chesapeake had lain for many months. Captain Broke had bestowed especial pains upon the train- ing of his men, and he believed he had made them a match for any equal force. He and they desired to test their prowess in battle. He sent away one of his ships, retain- ing only the Shannon, which was slightly inferior to the Chesapeake in guns and in men. And then he stood close in to the shore, and sent to Captain Lawrence of the Chesa- peake an invitation to come forth, that they might " try the fortune of their respective flags." From his mast-head Captain Broke watched anxiously the movements of the hostile ship. Soon he saw her can- vas shaken out to the breeze. His challenge was accepted. The stately Chesapeake moved slowly down the bay, attended by many barges and pleasure-boats. To the over- sanguine men of Boston it seemed that Captain Lawrence sailed out to assured victory. They crowded to house-top and hill to witness his success. They prepared a banquet to celebrate his triumphant return. Slowly and in grim silence the hostile ships drew near. No shot was fired till they were within a stone's throw of each other, and the men in either could look into the faces of those they were about to destroy. Then began the horrid carnage of a sea-fight. The well-trained British fired with steady aim, and every shot told. The rigging of their enemy was speedily ruined ; her stern was beaten in ; her decks were swept by discharges of heavy guns loaded with musket-balls. The American firing was much less effect- 1813. Fight of Chesapeake and Shaniton. 323 ive. After a few broadsides, the ships came into contact. The Shannon continued to fire grape-shot from two of her guns. The Chesapeake could now reply feebly, and only with musketry. Captain Broke prepared to board. Over decks heaped with slain and slippery with blood the Eng- hshmen sprang upon the yielding foe. The American flag was pulled down, and resistance ceased. The fight lasted but a quarter of an hour. So few minutes ago the two ships, peopled by seven hundred men in the pride of youth and strength, sailed proudly over seas which smiled in the peaceful sunlight of that summer evening ! Now their rigging lies in ruins upon the cum- bered decks ; their sides are riven by shot ; seventy-one dead bodies wait to be thrown overboard ; one hundred and fifty-seven men lie wounded and in anguish, some of them to die, some to recover and live out cheerless lives, till the grave opens for their mutilated and disfigured forms. Did these men hate each other with a hatred so intense that they could do no less than inflict these evils upon each other? They had no hatred at all. Their governments differed, and this was their method of ascertaining who was in the right ! Surely men will one day be wise enough to adopt some process for the adjustment of differences less wild in its inaccuracy, less brutish in its cruelty, than this. This victory, so quickly won and so decisive, restored the confidence of England in her naval superiority. The war went on with varying fortune. The Americans, awak- ening to the greatness of the necessity, put forth vigorous efforts to increase both army and navy. Frequent en- counters between single ships occurred. Sometimes the American ship captured or destroyed the British. More frequently now the British ship captured or destroyed the American, The superb fighting capabilities of the race 324 Young Folks History of America. were splendidly illustrated, but no results of a more solid character can be enumerated. But meanwhile momentous changes had occurred in Europe. Napoleon had been overthrown, and England was enjoying the brief repose which his residence in Elba afforded. She could bestow some attention now upon her American quarrel. Several regiments of Welhngton's sol- diers were sent to America, under the command of General Ross, and an attack upon Washington was determined. The force at General Ross's disposal was only three thousand five hundred men. With means so inconsiderable, it seemed rash to attack the capital of a great nation. But the result proved that General Ross had not underesti- mated the difficulties of the enterprise. Only seven thousand men could be drawn together to resist the advance of the English, These took post at Bla- densburg, where there was a bridge over the Potoniac. The English were less numerous, but they were veterans who had fought under Wellington in many battles. To them it was play to rout the undisciplined levies. They dashed upon the enemy, who, scarcely waiting to fire a shot, broke and fled towards Washington in hopeless confusion. That same evening the British marched quietly into Wash- ington. General Ross had orders to destroy or hold to ransom all public buildings. He offered to spare the na- tional property, if a certain sum of money were paid to him. The authorities declined his proposal. Next day a great and most unjustifiable ruin was wrought. The Capitol, the President's residence, the government offices, even the bridge over the Potomac, all were destroyed. The navy yard and arsenal, with some ships in course of building, were set on fire by the Americans themselves. The Presi- dent's house was pillaged by the soldiers before it was burned. These devastations were effected in obedience to i8i4. TJie Treaty of Ghent. 325 peremptory orders from the British Government, on whom rests the shame of proceedings so reprehensible and so unusual in the annals of civilized war. On the same day the British withdrew from the ruins of the burning capital, and retired towards the coast. The Americans were becoming weary of the war. There was small hope of success, now that Britain had no other enemy to engage her attention. America had no longer a ship-of-war to protect her coasts from insult. Her trade was nearly extinct. Her exports, which were seventy millions of dollars before the war, had sunk to one-tenth of that amount. Two-thirds of the trading classes were insolvent. The revenue hitherto derived from customs had ceased. The credit of the country was not good. Taxation became very oppressive, and thus enhanced extremely the unpopu- larity of the war. Some of the New England States refused to furnish men or money, and indicated a disposition to make peace for themselves, if they could not obtain it other- wise. Peace was urgently needed, and happily was near at hand. Late one Saturday night a British sloop-of-war arrived at New York, bearing a treaty of peace, already ratified by the British Government. The cry of " Peace ! peace ! " rang through the gladdened streets. The city burst into spontaneous illumination. The news reached Boston on Monday morning. Boston was almost beside her- self with joy. A multitude of idle ships had long lain at her wharves. Before night carpenters were at work making them ready to go to sea. Sailors were engaged ; cargoes were being passed on board. Boston returned without an hour's delay to her natural condition of commercial activity. British and American commissioners had met at Ghent, and had agreed upon terms of peace. The fruitlessness of 326 Young Folks' History of America. war is a familiar discovery when men have calmness to review its losses and its gains. Both countries had endured much during these three years of hostilities ; and now the peace left as they had been before the questions whose set- tlement was the object of the war. The treaty was concluded on the 24th December. Could the news have been flashed by telegraph across the Atlantic, much brave life would have been saved. But seven weeks elapsed before it was known in the southern parts of America that the two countries were at peace. And mean- while one of the bloodiest fights of the war had been fought. New Orleans, a town of nearly twenty thousand inhabi- tants, was then, as it is now, one of the great centres of the cotton trade, and commanded the navigation of the Missis- sippi. The capture of a city so important could not fail to prove a heavy blow to America. An expedition for this purpose was organized. Just when the commissioners at Ghent were felicitating themselves upon the peace they had made, the British army, in storm and intolerable cold, was being rowed on shore within a few miles of New Orleans. Sir Edward Pakenham, one of the heroes of the Penin- sula, commanded the English. The defence of New Or- leans was intrusted to General Jackson. Jackson had been a soldier from his thirteenth year. He had spent a youth of extraordinary hardship. He was now a strong- willed, experienced, and skilful leader, in whom his soldiers had boundless confidence. Pakenham, fresh from the tri- umphs of the Peninsula, looked with mistaken contempt upon his formidable enemy. Jackson's line of defence was something over half a mile In length. The Mississippi covered his right flank, an impassable swamp and jungle secured his left. Along his front ran a deep broad ditch, topped by a rampart com- JESUIT MISSIONARY ADDRESSING THE INDIANS. 327 1815. The Battle of New Orleans, 329 posed of bales of cotton. In this strong position the Americans awaited the coming of the enemy. At daybreak on the 8th January the British, six thousand strong, made their attack. The dim morning hght revealed to the Americans the swift advance of the red-coated host. A murderous fire of grape and round shot was opened from the guns mounted on the bastion. Brave men fell fast, but the assailants passed on through the storm. They reached the American works. It was their design to scale the ramparts, and, once within, to trust to their bayonets, which had never deceived them yet. But at the foot of the ramparts it was found that scaling-ladders had been omitted in the preparations for the assault ! The men mounted on each other's shoulders, and thus some of them forced their way into the works, only to be shot down by the American riflemen. All was vain. A deadly fire streamed incessantly from that fatal parapet upon the de- fenceless men below. Sir Edward Pakenham fell mortally wounded. The carnage was frightful, and the enterprise visibly hopeless. The troops were withdrawn in great confusion, having sustained a loss of two thousand men. The Americans had seven men killed and the same number wounded. Thus closed the war. Both countries look with just pride upon the heroic courage so profusely displayed in battle, and upon the patient endurance with which great sacrifices were submitted to. It is a pity these high quali- ties did not find a more worthy field for their exercise. The war was a gigantic folly and wickedness, such as no future generation of Americans or Englishmen, we may venture to hope, will ever repeat. On the Fourth of July, 1826, all America kept holiday. On that day, fifty years before, the Declaration of Indepen- dence was signed, and America began her great career as 330 Yoimg Folks History of America. a free country. Better occasion for jubilee the world has seldom known. The Americans must needs do honor to the fathers of their independence, most of whom have already passed away ; two of them, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, died on this very day. They must pause and look back upon this amazing half-century. The world had never seen growth so rapid. There were three millions of Americans who threw off the British yoke. Now there were twelve millions. The thirteen States had increased to twenty-four. The territory of the Union had been prodigiously enlarged. Louisiana had been sold by France. Florida had been ceded by Spain. Time after time tribes of vagrant Indians yielded up their lands and enrolled themselves subjects of the great republic. The Gulf of Mexico now bounded the Union on the south, and the lakes which divide her from Canada on the north. From the Atlantic on the east, she already looked out Upon the Pacific on the west. Canals had been cut leading from the Great Lakes to the Hudson, and the grain which grew on the corn-lands of the West, thousands of miles away, was brought easily to New York. Innumerable roads had been made. The debt incurred in the War of Indepen- dence had been all paid, and the still heavier debt incurred in the second war with England was being rapidly extin- guished. A steady tide of emigration flowed westward. Millions of acres of the fertile wilderness which lay towards the setting sun had been at length made profitable to man- kind. Extensive manufactories had been established in which cotton and woollen fabrics were produced. The foreign trade of the country amounted to two hundred millions of dollars. The Marquis Lafayette, now an old man, came to see once more before he died the country he had helped to save, and took part with wonder in the national rejoicing. i826. Visit of Lafayette. 331 The poor colonists, for whose liberties he fought, had already become a powerful and wealthy nation. Every- where there had been expansion. Everywhere there were comfort and abundance. Everywhere there were bound- less faith in the future, and a vehement, unresting energy, which would surely compel the fulfilment of any expecta- tion, however vast CHAPTER XVI. THE TWO EMPIRES, — THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA. North America was now divided into two principal empires, the United States and Canada. The Mexican empire at the South has entered but little into the history and progress of the world. The French empire in America had passed away. Let us glance at this vanished dominion, so full of romance and once so promising of great results. The French settlements in Acadia, on the Bay of Fundy, and in Canada, were formed before the building of James- town. They became military and missionary posts rather than agricultural colonies, and depended upon the home government for support rather than upon themselves. They were fam.ous for brilliant explorations, but the ex- plorers nowhere rooted themselves to the soil. Hiey gained the friendship of the Indians and lived in peace with them, joined them in the chase and dance, and even adopted their customs and habits. The French Jesuits penetrated the recesses of the wilderness, preaching in wigwams, baptizing converts, and adorning them with the emblems of their faith. In 1673 two of these missionaries, Marquette and Jo- liet, discovered the Mississippi, finding their way to it by the great water-courses of the Fox and Wisconsin. In 1682 Robert de la Salle passed down the river to the Gulf iillltiltill,i!i..i il'il'ii' '" . ' tiiiiM 1754- French and Indian War, 335 of Mexico, and in honor of Louis XIV. called the territory Louisiana. The king afterwards granted him a commis- sion to found a colony there. The explorer accepted th(i trust, came with his colony in ships from France to the Gulf of Mexico, but was unable to find the mouth of the Missis- sippi. He landed on the coast of Texas, and founded a temporary settlement. He then started on an expedition by land to discover the Mississippi. A conspiracy was formed against him among his own followers, and he was treacherously shot by one of them, and his colony was not long afterwards destroyed by the Indians. As often as England and France went to war, there was war betw^een the English and French colonists. The French always found allies in the Indians, and, by employ- ing these merciless warriors, gained a reputation for bar- barity quite foreign to their national character. This was the case during King William's War, when the massacre at Schenectady occurred ; and, again, in 1706, when Deer- field and Haverhill, in Massachusetts, were sacked and burned by the French and Indians. The decisive struggle between the French and English in America, for the possession of the country between the Great Lakes and the Mexican Gulf, began in 1753. Loui- siana had now become quite populous and wealthy, and a plan was formed to connect Canada with Louisiana by a line of forts, extending from Lake Erie along the waters of the Ohio to the Mississippi, thus bounding the Eng- lish territory. The project brought the French into collision with the Ohio Company, which led to the French and Indian war (1754). It was during this war that Acadia was depopulated, for refusing to give alle- giance to the English. Seven thousand Acadians were forced on shipboard and transported to the English col- onies, where they were scattered and supported as pau- 336 Young Folks' History of America. pers. The struggle ended in 1762, in the victory of the Enghsh at Quebec. The Enghsh colonies now began to grow in Canada. Immigration increased, Montreal became a city, and a thronging multitude of settlers began to build on the tributaries of the Ohio. The borders of the lakes on either side were lined with prosperous villages. The War for Independence separated the Canadian from the Atlantic colonies at the natural boundary of the gulf and lakes. The population of Canada became nearly four mil- lions- Montreal is one of the most beautiful cities in America, and contains some of the finest churches in the New World. It is situated in a region of varied beauty, that has been called the "Garden of the Continent." The view from Mount Royal, which seems to overhang the city, is one of the most picturesque in the North. The St. Lawrence, the Lachine Rapids, the distant mountains of Beloeil and Boucherville, the rich soil, with bending orchards and dark forests, the villas, country seats, and pleasure- grounds near at hand, the melodious bell of the French cathedral in the mild, bright air, all combine to make the scene one ever to be remembered : — " Ever changing, ever new, When will the landscape tire the view ? The fountain's fall ; the river's flow ; The woody valley, warm and low ; The windy summit, wild and high, Roughly reaching to the sky; The pleasant seat ; the ruined tower ; The naked rock ; the shady bower; The town, the village, dome, and farm. Each gives to each a double charm, Like pearls upon an Ethiop's arm." It was with such scenery in view that Thomas Moore wrote his " Canadian Boat Song : " — 1867. The Dominion of Cmiada. 339 " Faintly as tolls the evening chime, Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time. Soon as the woods on the shore look dim, We give to St. Ann our parting hymn. Row, brothers, row ! the stream runs fast, The rapids are near, and daylight's past." The growth of Canada has been affected by few political changes or little to disturb its peace. In 1791 Canada was divided into two provinces, called Upper and Lower Can- ada, and afterwards Ontario and Quebec. A governor was appointed for each by the English government, and each had its Representative Assembly. In 1840 the British Parliament passed an act uniting the two provinces under the name of the Province of Canada. On the ist of July, 1867, Queen Victoria, by proclamation, declared the prov- inces of Ontario (Upper Canada), Quebec (Lower Canada), Nova Scotia (Acadia), and New Brunswick, to be united under one federal government, to be known as the Domin- ion OF Canada. Three other provinces, Prince Edward Island, British Columbia, and Manitoba, afterwards joined this confederation. The Governor General of Canada is appointed by the sovereign of England, and represents the Crown. He resides at Ottawa, the capital of the Dominion. The vice- royal residence is known as Rideau Hall. Ottawa, like Montreal, is beautiful in situation. On the west of the city is the cataract of the Ottawa or Chaudiere Falls ; and on the east are two cataracts, over which the rapid Rideau falls into the Ottawa. The city has a popula- tion of about twenty-two thousand. CHAPTER XVII. THE STORY OF SLAVERY. Soon after the Revolution, several slave-owning States pro- hibited the importation of slaves. The Constitution provided that Congress might suppress the slave-trade after the lapse of twenty years. But for the resistance of South Carolina and Georgia the prohibition would have been immediate. At length, at the earhest moment when it was possible. Congress gave effect to the general sentiment by enacting " that no slaves be imported into any of the thirteen United Colonies." And why had this not been done earlier? If the colonists were sincere in their desire to suppress this base traffic, why did they not suppress it ? The reason is not difficult to find. England would not permit them. England forced the slave- trade upon the reluctant colonists. The English Parhament watched with paternal care over the interests of this hideous traffic. During the first half of the eighteenth century Parlia- ment was continually legislating to this effect. Every restraint upon the largest development of the trade was removed with scrupulous care. Every thing that diplomacy could do to open new markets was done. When the colonists sought by imposing a tax to check the importation of slaves, that tax was repealed. Land was given free, in the West Indies, on condition that the setder should keep four negroes for every hundred acres. Forts were built on the African coast for the protection of the trade. So recently as the year 1 749 an Act ■•? '^\ ^''^■Vt^ MLRDLR OI LyN. SALLC IN TEXAS. 341 1749- J^fi-^ Slavc-Trade Encouraged. 343 was passed bestowing additional encouragements upon slave- traders, and emphatically asserting, " The slave-trade is very advantageous to Great Britain." There are no passages in all her history so humiliating as these. It is marvellous that such things were done, deliberately, and with all the solemnities of legal sanction, by men not unacquainted with the Christian religion, and humane in all the ordinary relations of hfe. The Inquisition inflicted no suffering more cruel than was endured by the victim of the slave-trader. Hundreds of men and women, with chains upon their limbs, were packed closely together into the holds of small vessels. There, during weeks of suffering, they re- mained, enduring fierce tropical heat, often deprived of water and of food. They were all young and strong, for the fas- tidious slave-trader rejected men over thirty as uselessly old. But the strength of the strongest sank under the horrors of this voyage. Often it happened that the greater portion of the cargo had to be flung overboard. Under the most fervor- able circumstances, it was expected that one slave in every five would perish. In every cargo of five hundred, one hun- dred would suffer a miserable death. And the public senti- ment of England fully sanctioned a traffic of which these horrors were a necessary part. At one time the idea was prevalent in the colonies that it was contrary to Scripture to hold a baptized person in slavery. The colonists did not on that account liberate their slaves. They escaped the difficulty in the opposite direction. They withheld baptism and religious instruction. England took some pains to put them right on this question. The bishops of the Church and the law-officers of the Crown issued au- thoritative declarations, asserting the entire lawfulness of owning Christians. The colonial legislatures followed with enactments to the same effect. The colonists, thus reassured, gave consent that the souls of their unhappy dependants should be cared for. 344 Yoimg Folks History of America. Up to the Revolution it was estimated that three hundred thousand negroes had been brought into the country direct from Africa. The entire colored population was supposed to amount to nearly half a million. When America gained her independence slavery existed in all the colonies. No State was free from the taint. Even the New England Puritans held slaves. At an early period they had learned to enslave their Indian neighbors. The children of the Pilgrims owned Indians, and in due time owned Africans, without remorse. But the number of slaves in the North was always small. At first it was not to the higher principle or clearer intelligence of the Northern men that this limited prevalence of slavery was due. The North was not a region where slave labor could ever be profitable. The climate was harsh, the soil rocky and bleak. Labor required to be directed by intelligence. In that compara- tively unproductive land the mindless and heartless toil of the slave would scarcely defray the cost of his support. At the Revolution there were half a million of slaves in tlie colo- nies, and of these only thirty to forty thousand were in the North. It was otherwise in the sunny and luxuriant South. The African was at home there, for the climate was like his own. The rich soil yielded its wealth to labor in the slightest and least intelligent form. The culture of rice and tobacco and cotton supphed the very kind of work which a slave was fitted to perform. The South found profitable employment for as many Africans as the slave-traders were able to steal. And yet at the Revolution slavery enjoyed no great degree of favor. The free spirit enkindled by the war was in vio- lent opposition to the existence of a system of bondage. Everywhere in the North slavery was regarded as an objec- tionable and decaying institution. The leaders of the Revo- lution, themselves mainly slave-owners, were eagerly desirous 1776. opposition to Slavery. 345 that slavery should be abolished. Washington was utterly opposed to the system, and provided in his will for the eman- cipation of his own slaves. Hamilton was a member of an association for the gradual abolition of slavery. John Adams would never own a slave. Franklin, Patrick Henry, Madison, Monroe, were united in their reprobation of slavery. Jefferson, a Virginian, who prepared the Declaration of Independence, said that, in view of slavery, " he trembled for his country, when he reflected that God was just." In the convention which met to frame a Constitution for America the feeling of antagonism to slavery was supreme. Had the majority followed their own course, provision would have been made then for the gradual extinction of slavery. But there arose here a necessity for one of those compro- mises by which the history of America has been so sadly marked. When it was proposed to prohibit the importation of slaves, all the Northern and most of the Southern States favored the proposal. But South Carolina and Georgia were insatiable in their desire for African labor. They decisively refused to become parties to a union in which there was to be no importation of slaves. The other States yielded. Instead of an immediate abolition of this hateful traffic, it was agi-eed merely that after twenty years Congress would be at liberty to abolish the slave-trade if it chose. By the same threat of dis- union the slave States of the extreme South gained other advantages. It was at last enacted that a slave who fled to a free State was not therefore to become a free man. He must be given back to his owner. It was yet further con- ceded that the slave States should have increased political power in proportion to the number of their slaves. A black man did not count for so much as a white. Every State was to send members to the House of Representatives according to its population, and in reckoning that population five negroes were to be counted as three. 346 Young Folks History of America. And yet at that time, and for years after, the opinion of the South itself regarded slavery as an evil, thrust upon them by England, difficult to be got rid of, profitable, it might be, but lamentable and temporary. No slave-holder refused to discuss the subject or admit the evils of the system. No violence was offered to those who denounced it. The clergy might venture to preach against it. Hopeful persons might foretell the approach of liberty to those unhappy captives. Even the lowest of the slave-holding class did not yet resent the expression of such hopes. But a mighty change was destined to pass upon the tone of Southern opinion. The purchase of Louisiana opened a vast tract of the most fertile land in the world to the growth of cotton. The growth of cotton became profitable. Slave- holding became lucrative. It was wealth to own a little plan- tation and a few negroes. There was an eager race for the possession of slaves. Importation alone could not supply the demand. Some of the more northerly of the Southern States turned their attention to the breeding of slaves for the South- ern markets. During many years the leader of the slave-owners was John C. Calhoun. He was a native of South Carolina, a tall, slender man, with an eye whose wondrous depth and power impressed all who came into his presence. Calhoun taught the people of the South that slavery was good for the slave. It was a benign, civilizing agency. The African attained to a measure of intelligence in slavery greatly in advance of that which he had ever reached as a free man. To him, visibly, it was a blessing to be enslaved. From all this it was easy to infer that Providence had appointed slavery for the advantage of both races ; that opposition to this heaven-ordained insti- tution was profane ; that abolition was merely an aspect of infidehty. So Calhoun taught. So the South learned to be- lieve.' Calhoun's last speech in Congress warned the North 1850. The Story of Slavery. 349 that opposition to slavery would destroy the Union. His latest conversation was on this absorbing theme. A few hours after, he had passed to where all dimness of vision is removed, and errors of judgment become impossible ! It was very pleasant for the slave-owners to be taught that slavery enjoyed divine sanction. The doctrine had other apostles than Mr. Calhoun. Unhappily it came to form part of the regular pulpit teaching of the churches. It was gravely argued out from the Old Testament that slavery was the proper condition of the negro. Ham was to be the servant of his brethren. Hence all the descendants of Ham were the rightful property of white men. The slave who fled from his master was guilty of the crime of theft in one of its most hei- nous forms. So taught the pulpit. Many books, written by grave divines for the enforcement of these doctrines, remain to awaken the amazement of posterity. The slave-owners inclined a willing ear to these pleasing assurances. They knew slavery to be profitable. Their lead- ers in Church and State told them it was right. It was little wonder that a fanatical love for slavery possessed their hearts. In the susceptible, ease-loving minds of the slave-owning class, it became in course of years almost a madness, which was shared, unhappily, by the great mass of the white popula- tion. Discussion could no longer be permitted. It became a fearful risk to express in the South an opinion hostile to slavery. It was a familiar boast that no man who opposed slavery would be suffered to live in a slave State. And the slave-owners made their word good. Many suspected of hos- tile opinions were tarred and feathered and turned out of the State. Many were shot ; many were hanged ; some were burned. The Southern mobs were singularly brutal, and the slave-owners found willing hands to do their work. The law did not interfere to prevent or punish such atrocities. The churches looked on and held their peace. 350 YoHHg Folks' His toy of America. As slave property increased in value, a strangely horrible system of laws gathered around it. The slave was regarded not as a person, but as a thing. He had no civil rights ; nay, it was declared by the highest legal authority that a slave had no rights at all which a white man was bound to respect. The • most sacred laws of nature were defied. Marriage was a tie which bound the slave only during the master's pleasure. A slave had no more legal authority over his child " than a cow has over her calf." It was a grave offence to teach a slave to read. A white man might expiate that offence by fine or im- prisonment ; to a black man it involved flogging. The owner might not without challenge murder an unoffending slave ; but a slave resisting his master's will might lawfully be slain. A slave who would not stand to be flogged might be shot as he ran off. The master was blameless if his slave died under the administration of reasonable correction, — in other words, if he flogged a slave to death. A fugitive slave might be killed by any means which his owner chose to employ. On the other hand, there was a slender pretext of laws for the protection of the slav^e. I'he practice of the South in regard to her slaves was not unworthy of her laws. Children were habitually torn away from their mothers. Husbands and wives were habitually separated and forced to contract new mamages. Public whip- ping-houses became an institution. The hunting of escaped slaves became a regular profession. Dogs were bred and trained for that special work. These things were done, and the Christian churches of the South were not ashamed to say that the system out of which they flowed enjoyed the sanction of God ! There were indeed good masters and mistresses in the South, who sympathized with their slaves and whom the slaves loved. There were plantations where Christian principles governed, — Acadias in this most beautiful of lands. But 1792. The Story of the Cot ton-Gin. 351 the death of one of these masters, and a transferrence of prop- erty, might change all this happiness and peace. The whole system was evil, and the conscientious portion of the slave- owners felt it to be so. THE STORY OF THE COTTON-GIN. In 1 768 Richard Arkwright invented a machine for spinning cotton vastly superior to any thing hitherto in use. Next year a greater than he, James Watt, announced a more won- derful invention, — his steam-engine. England was ready now to begin her great work of weaving cotton for the world. But where was the cotton to be found ? MULE-JENNY SPINNING-FRAME. Three or four years before Watt patented his engine, and Arkwright his spinning-frame, there was born in a New England farm-house a boy whose work was needed to com- plete theirs. His name was Eli Whitney. Eli was a bom mechanic. It was a necessity of his nature to invent and construct. As a mere boy he made nails, pins, and walking- 352 Young Folks History of America. canes by novel processes, and thus earned money to support himself at college. In 1792 he went to Georgia to visit Mrs. Greene, the widow of that General Greene who so troubled Lord Cornwallis in the closing years of the war. In that primitive society, where few of the comforts of civilized life were yet enjoyed, no visits were so welcome to the South as those of a skilful me- chanic. Eli construct- ed marv^ellous amuse- ments for Mrs. Greene's children. He overcame all household difficulties by some ingenious con- trivance. Mrs. Greene learned to wonder at him, and to believe noth- ing was impossible for him. One day Mrs. Greene entertained a party of her neighbors. The conversation turned upon the sorrows of the planter. That unhappy tenacity with which the fibre of cotton adhered to the seeds was elaborately explained. With an urgent demand from England for cotton, with boundless lands which grew nothing so well as cotton, it was hard to be so utterly baffled. Mrs. Greene had unlimited faith in her friend Eli. She begged him to invent a machine which should separate the seeds of cotton from the fibre. Whitney was of Northern birth, and had never even seen cotton in the seed. He walked in to Savannah, and there, with some trouble, obtained a COTTON PLANT. 1793- Invention of the Cotton-Gin. 353 quantity of uncleaned cotton. He shut himself up in his room and brooded over the difficulty which he had under- taken to conquer. All that winter Eli labored, devising, hammering, build- ing up, rejecting, beginning afresh. He had no help. He could not even find tools to buy, but had to make them with his own hands. At length his machine was completed, rude- looking, but visibly effective. Mrs. Greene invited the lead- ing men of the State to her house. She conducted them in triumph to the building in which the machine stood. The owners of unprofitable cotton lands looked on with a flash of hope in their hearts. Possibilities of untold wealth to each of them lay in that clumsy structure. The machine was put in motion. It was evident to all that it could perform the work of hundreds of men. Eli had gained a great victory for mankind. In that rude log hut of Georgia, cotton was crowned King, and a new era opened for America and the world. Ten years after Whitney's cotton-gin was invented, a huge addition was made to the cotton-growing districts of America. The territory of Louisiana, as we have stated, was purchased from France. When the State of Louisiana was received into the Union in 181 2, there was left out a large proportion of the original purchase from Napoleon. As yet this region was unpeopled, It lay silent and unprofitable, a vast reserve prepared for tlie wants of unborn generations. It was traversed by the Missouri River. The great Mississippi was its boundary on the east. It possessed, in all, a navigable river-line of two thousand miles. Enormous mineral wealth was treasured up to enrich the world for centuries to come. There were coal- fields greater than those of all Europe. There was iron piled up in mountains, one of which contained two hundred 23 354 Yoimg Folks History of America. millions of tons of ore. There was profusion of copper, of zinc, of lead. There were boundless forests. There was a soil unsurpassed in fertiUty. The climate was kindly and genial, marred by neither the stern winters of the North nor the fierce heats of the South. The scenery was often of rare beauty and grandeur. This was the Territory of Missouri. Gradually settlers from the neighboring States arrived. Slave-holders came, bringing their chattels with them. They were first in the field, and they took secure possession. The free emigrant turned aside, and the slave-power reigned supreme in Mis- souri. The wealth and beauty of this glorious land were wedded to the most gigantic system of evil which ever established itself upon the earth. By the year 1818 there were sixty thousand persons residing in Missouri. The time had come for the admission of this Territory into the Union as a State. It was the first great contest between the free and the slave States. The cotton- gin, the acquisition of Louisiana, the teaching of Calhoun, had done their work. The slave-owners were now a great politi- cal power. The next half-century of American history takes its tone very much from their fierce and restless energy. Their policy never wavered. To gain predominance for slavery, with room for its indefinite expansion, was their aim. American history is filled with the controversy until a certain April morning in 1865, ^vhen the slave power lay crushed among the ruins of Richmond. When the application of Missouri for admission into the Union came to be considered in Congress, an attempt was made to shut slavery wholly out of the new State. A struggle ensued, which lasted for nearly three years. The question was one of vital importance. At this time the number of free States and the number of slave States were exactly equal. Whosoever gained Missouri gained a majority in the Senate. i82o. The Missouri Compromise, 355 The North was deeply in earnest in desiring to prevent the extension of slavery. The South was equally resolute that no limitation should be imposed. The result was a compromise, proposed by the South. Missouri was to be given over to slavery. But it was agreed that, excepting within the limits of Missouri herself, slavery should not be permitted in any part of the territory purchased from France, north of a line drawn eastward and westward from the southern boundary of that State. Thus far might the waves of this foul tide flow, but no farther. So ended the great controversy, in the de- cisive victory of the South. In 18 1 7 Mr. Madison retired from office as President. He was succeeded by James Monroe. Daniel D. Tomkins was elected Vice-President. Mr. Monroe continued in office eight years. He was succeeded by John Quincy Adams in 1825. It was during Mr. Adams's administration that an active hostility to slavery began to be developed. Mr. Adams was succeeded by General Andrew Jackson, eight years in office (1S29-1837). John C. Calhoun was Vice-President from 1825 to 1832. The slavery question grew in prominence during these administrations. The North participated in the gains of slavery. The cotton planter borrowed money at high inter- est from the Northern capitalist. He bought his goods in Northern markets. He sent his cotton to the North for sale. The Northern merchants made money at his hands, and were in no haste to overthrow the peculiar institution out of which results so pleasant flowed. They had no occasion, as the planter had, to persuade themselves that slavery enjoyed special divine sanction. But it did become a very general belief in the North that without slave-labor the cultivation of Southern lands was impossible. It was also very generally alleged that the condition of the slave was preferable to that of the free European laborer. 35^ 7'oung Folks' History of America. All looked very hopeless for the poor negro. The South claimed to hold him by divine right. She looked to a future of indefinite expansion. The boundless re- gions w^hich stretched away from her border, untrodden by man, vv^ere marked out for slave territory. A pow- erful sentiment in the North supported her claims. She was able to exercise a controlling influence over the Fed- eral government. It seemed as if all the authority in the Union was pledged to uphold slavery, and assert for- ever the right of the white man to hold the black man as an article of merchandise. But even then the awakening of the Northern con- science had begun. On the ist of January, 1S31 , a jour- neyman printer, William Lloyd Garrison, published in Boston the first number of a paper devoted to the aboli- tion of slavery. This is perhaps the earliest prominent incident in the history of Emancipation. It was indeed a humble opening of a noble career. Garrison was young and penniless. He wrote the articles ; and he also, with the help of a friend, set the types. He lived mainly on bread and water. Only when a number of the paper sold particularly well, he and his companion indulged in a bowl of milk. The mayor of Boston was asked by a Southern magistrate to suppress the paper. He replied that it was not worth the trouble. The of- fice of, the editor was " an obscure hole ; his only visi- ble auxiliary a negro boy ; his supporters a few insig- nificant persons of all colors." But the fullness of time had come, and every word spoken against slavery found now some willing list- ener. In the year after Garrison began his paper the American Antislavery Society was formed. It was composed of twelve men-ibers. Busy hands were scat- tering the seed abroad, and it sprang quickly. Within three years there were two hundred antislavery socie- ties in America. In seven years more these had increased to two thousand. The war against slavery was now begun in earnest. 1832. Antislavcry Riots, 357 The slave-owners and their allies in the North re- garded with rage unutterable this formidable invasion. Everywhere they opposed violence to the arguments of their opponents. Large rewards were offered for the capture of prominent abolitionists. Many Northern men, who unwarily strayed into Southern States, were murdered on the mere suspicion that they were opposed to slavery. President Jackson recommended Congress to forbid the conveyance to the South, by the mails, of antislavery publications. In Boston a mob of well- dressed and respectable citizens suppressed a meeting of female abolitionists. While busied about that en- terprise, they were fortunate enough to lay hold of Garrison, whose murder they designed, and would have accomplished, had not a timely sally of the constables rescued him from their grasp. In Connecticut a young woman was imprisoned for teaching negro children to read. Philadelphia was disgraced by riots in which negroes were killed and their houses burned down. Throughout the Northern States antislavery meetings were invaded and broken up by the allies of the slave- owners. The abolitionists were devoured by a zeal which knew no bounds and permitted no rest. The slave-owners met them with a deep, remorseless hatred which gradually possessed and corroded their whole na- ture. In this war, as it soon became evident, there could be no compromise. Peace was impossible otherwise than by the destruction of one or other of the contending parties. The spirit in which the South defended her cherished institution was fairly exemplified in her treatment of a young clergyman, Mr. Lovejoy, who offended her by his antipathy to slavery. Mr. Lovejoy established himself in Alton, a little town of Illinois, where he conducted a newspaper. Illinois was itself a free State ; but Missouri was near, and the slave-power was supreme in all that region. Mr. Lovejoy declared himself in his newspaper against slavery. He was requested 358 Young Folks History of America. to withdraw from that neighborhood ; but he maintained his right of free speech, and chose to remain. The mob sacked his printing-office, and flung his press into the river. Mr. Lovejoy bought another press. The arrival of this new ma- chine highly displeased the ruffianism of the little town of Alton. It was stored for safety in a well-secured building, and two or three well-disposed citizens kept armed watch over it. The mob attacked the warehouse. Shots were ex- changed, and some of the rioters were slain. At length the mob succeeded in setting fire to the building. When Mr. Lovejoy showed himself to the crowd he was fired at, and fell pierced by five bullets. The printing-press was destroyed ; the newspaper was silenced ; the hostile editor was slaugh- tered. Lying between the Mississippi and the Rio Grande was a vast wilderness of undefined extent and uncertain ownership, which America, with some hesitation, recognized as belonging to Mexico. It was called Texas. The climate was genial ; the soil was of wondrous fertility. America coveted this fair region, and offered to buy it from Mexico. Her offer was declined. The great natural wealth of Texas, combined with the almost total absence of government, were powerful attrac- tions to the adventurers who abounded in the South-western States. In a few years Texas felt herself strong enough to be independent. Her connection with Mexico was declared to be at an end. The leader in this revolution was Sam Houston, a Vir- ginian of massive frame, energetic, audacious, in no mean degree fitted to direct the storm he had helped to raise. Houston was ambitious to gain Texas for the purposes of slavery. Mexico had abolished slavery. Texas could be no home for the possessor of slaves till she was severed from Mexico. 1836. Independence of Texas. 361 When independence was declared, Texas had to defend her newly claimed liberties by the sword. General Houston headed the patriot forces, not quite four hundred in number, and imperfectly armed. Santa Anna came against them with an army of five thousand. The Texans retreated, and having nothing to carry, easily distanced their pursuers. At the San Jacinto, Houston was strengthened by the arrival of two field-pieces. He turned Hke a Hon upon the unexpectant Mexicans, whom he caught in the very act of crossing the river. He fired grape-shot into their quaking ranks. His unconquerable Texans clubbed their muskets, they had no bayonets, and rushed upon the foe. The Mexicans fled in helpless rout, and Texas was free. The grateful Texans elected General Houston President of the republic which he had thus saved. No sooner was Texas independent than she offered to join herself to the United States. Her proposals were at first declined. But the South warmly es- poused her cause and urged her claims. Once more North and South met in fiery de- bate. Slavery had al- ready a sure footing in Texas. If Texas en- tered the Union it was as a slave State. On that ground avowedly the South urged the annexation. On that ground the North resisted it. " We all see," said Daniel Webster, " that Texas DANIEL WEBSTER. 362 You7tg Folks History of America. will be a slave-holding country ; and I frankly avow my un- willingness to do any thing which shall extend the slavery of the African race on this continent, or add another • slave- holding State to the Union." " The South," said the Legis- lature of Mississippi, speaking of slavery, " does not possess a blessing with which the affections of her people are so closely entwined, and whose value is more highly appreci- ated. By the annexation of Texas an equipoise of influence in the halls of Congress will be secured, which will furnisn us a permanent guarantee of protection." The battle ended in Southern victory. In March, 1845, Texas was received into the Union. The slave-power gained new votes in Congress, and room for a vast extension of the slave-system. General Jackson was succeeded in the Presidential office by Martin Van Buren in 1837. CHAPTER XVIII. MEXICO AND THE MEXICAN WAR. Turning from the peaceful and enlightened empire in the North, history next leads us into the dreamy lands of the sun. Mexico, with nearly ten million inhabitants, occupies the most luxuriant part of the continent, and yet with its glorious climate, natural wonders, rich mines, and teeming population, exercises but little influence on the thought, commerce, and common progress of the American world. The romantic age of Mexico faded with the Spanish Con- quest and the death of Montezuma. After the Conquest the country was for a long time governed by Spanish vice- roys. The nation seemed to lose its native spirit, and to wither under the influence of Spain. In 1824 Mexico declared her independence, and became a republic. Martin Van Buren, who began a long line of common- place Presidents of the United States, was succeeded by William Henry Harrison, a man of great promise, and a true patriot, but who died a few weeks after his inaugu- ration. John Tyler, who had been elected Vice-President, became President. He was succeeded in 1845 by James K. Polk of Tennessee, Mexico was displeased with the annexation of Texas, but did not manifest so quickly as it was hoped she would any disposition to avenge herself. A war with Mexico was a thing to be desired, because Mexico must be beaten, and could then be plundered of territory. To provoke Mexico 3^4 Young Folks History of America. the Unready, an army of four thousand men was sent to the extreme south-western confine of Texas. A Mexican army of six thousand lay near. The Americans, with marvellous audacity, erected a fort within easy range of Matamoras, a city of the Mexicans, and thus the city was in their power. GENERAL TAYLOR ON THE RIO GRANDE. After much hesitation the Mexican army attacked the Americans, and received, as they might well have antici- pated, a severe defeat. Thus, without the formality of any declaration, the war was begun. President Polk hastened to announce to Congress that the 1846. Mexico and the Mexican War. 367 Mexicans had "invaded our territory, and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens." Congress voted men and money for the prosecution of the war. Volunteers offered them- selves in multitudes. Their brave little army was in peril, — far from help and surrounded by enemies. The people were eager to support the heroes of whose victory they were so proud. And yet opinion was much divided. Many deemed the war unjust and disgraceful. Among these was a young lawyer of Illinois, destined in later years to fill a place in the hearts of his countrymen second only to that of Washington. Abraham Lincoln entered Congress while the war was in progress, and his first speech was in con- demnation of the course pursued by the government. The war was pushed with vigor at first under the com- mand of General Taylor, who was to become the next President ; and finally under General Scott, who as a very young man had fought against the British at Niagara, and as a very old man was commander-in-chief of the American army when the great war between North and South began. Many oflficers were there whose names became famous in after years. General Lee and General Grant gained here their first experiences of war. They were not then known to each other. They met for the first time, twenty years after, in a Virginian cottage, to arrange terms of surrender for the defeated army of the Southern Confederacy ! General Franklin Pierce, afterwards President, landed near Vera Cruz with a small force, and made his way, in spite of the continued opposition of the Mexicans, to a junction with the army under General Scott at Puebla, and the capture of the city of Mexico soon followed. The Americans resolved to fight their way to the enemy's capital, and there compel such a peace as would be agree- able to themselves. The task was not without difficulty. The Mexican army outnumbered the American. They had 368 Young Folks History of America. a splendid cavalry force and an efficient artillery. Their commander, Santa Anna, unscrupulous even for a Mexican, was yet a soldier of some ability. The Americans were mainly volunteers who had never seen war till now. The fighting was severe. At Buena-Vista the American army GENERAL PIERCE LANDING IN MEXICO. was attacked by a force which outnumbered it in the propor- tion of five to one. The battle lasted for ten hours, and the invaders were saved from ruin by their superior artillery. The mountain passes were strongly fortified, and General Scott had to convey his army across chasms and ravines 1849. Gold Found in California. 371 which the Mexicans, deeming them impracticable, had neg- lected to defend. Strong in the consciousness of their superiority to the people they invaded, — the same con- sciousness which supported Cortes and his Spaniards three centuries before, — the Americans pressed on. At length they came in sight of Mexico, at the same spot whence Cortes had viewed it. Once more they routed a Mexican army of greatly superior force, and then General Scott marched his little army of six thousand men quietly into the capital. The war was closed, and a treaty of peace was with little delay negotiated. The United States exacted mercilessly the penalty which usually attends defeat. Mexico was to receive fifteen millions of dollars ; but she ceded an enormous territory stretching westward from Texas to the Pacific. One of the provinces which composed this magnificent prize was California. The nation had gone to war with Mexico to gain territory which slavery should possess. It was intended to introduce California into the Union as a slave State, but Providence interposed. Just about the time that California became an American possession, it was discovered that her soil was richly endowed with gold. On one of the tributaries of the Sacramento River an old settler was peacefully digging a trench, — caring little, it may be supposed, about the change of citizen- ship which he had undergone, — not dreaming that the next stroke of his spade was to influence the history not merely of California but of the world. Among the sand which he lifted were certain shining particles. His wondering eye considered them with attention. They were gold ! Gold was everywhere, — in the soil, in the river sand, in the mountain-rock ; gold in dust, gold in pellets, gold in lumps ! It was the land of old fairy tale, where wealth could be had by him who chose to stoop down and gather ! 372 Young Folks' History of America. Fast as the mails c^'uld carry it, tlie bewildering news thrilled the heart of America. To the energetic youth of the Northern States the charm was irresistible. It was now, indeed, a reproach to be poor, when it was so easy to be rich. The journey to the land of promise was full of toil and danger. There were over two thousand miles of unexplored wilderness to traverse. There were mountain ranges to GOLD DIGGING, surmount, lofty and rugged as the Alps themselves. There were great desolate plains, unwatered and without vegeta- tion. Indians, whose dispositions there was reason to question, beset the path. But danger was unconsidered. That season thirty thousand Americans crossed the plains, climbed the mountains, forded the streams, bore without shrinking all that want, exposure, and fatigue could inflict. Cholera broke out among them, and four thousand left their bones in the wilderness. The rest 1850. The Fugitive Slave Law, 375 plodded on undismayed. Fifty thousand came by sea. From all countries they came, — from quiet English villages, from the crowded cities of China. Before the year was out California had gained an addition of eighty thousand to her population. These came mainly from the Northern States. They had no thought of suffering in their new home the special institution of the South. They settled easily the Constitu- tion of their State, and California was received into the Union free from the taint of slavery. It was no slight disappointment to the men of the South. They had urged on the war with Mexico in order to gain new slave States, new votes in Congress, additional room for the spread of slavery. They had gained all the territory they hoped for, but this strange revelation of gold had peo- pled it from the North, and slavery was shut out for ever. As a kind of compromise or concession, Congress now passed the Fugitive Slave Law. Zachary Taylor was elected President in 1848. He died the year following his inauguration, and was succeeded by Vice-President Mil- lard Fillmore of New York. It was during Mr. Fillmore's administration that the Fugitive Slave Law was enacted. Heretofore it had been lawful for the slave-owner to reclaim his slave who had escaped into a free State ; but, although lawful, it was in practice almost impossible. Now the officers of the government, and all good citizens, were commanded to give to the pursuer all needful help. In certain cases government was to defray the expense of restoring the slave to the plantation from which he had fled. In any trial arising under this law, the evidence of the slave himself was not to be received. The oath of his pursuer was almost decisive against him. The law was so unpopular that its execution was resisted in several North- ern cities, and it quickly passed into disuse. CHAPTER XIX. KANSAS AND JOHN I3ROWN. The great Louisiana purchase from Napoleon was not yet wholly portioned off into States. Westward and north- ward of Missouri was an enormous expanse of the richest land in the Union, having as yet few occupants more profit- able than the Indians. Two great routes of travel — to the. West and to the South-west — traversed it. The eagei searcher for gold passed that way on his long walk to Cali- fornia. The Mormon looked with indifference on its lux- uriant vegetation as he toiled on to his New Jerusalem b}/ the Great Salt Lake. In the year 1853 it was proposed to organize this region into two Territories, under the names of Kansas and Nebraska. Here once more arose the old question, Shall the Territories be slave or free .-* The Missouri Compromise had settled that slavery should never come here. But the slave-owners were able to cancel this settlement. A law was enacted under which the inhabi- tants were left to choose between slavery and freedom. The vote of a majority would decide the destiny of these magnificent provinces. And now both parties had to bestir themselves. The early inhabitants of the infant States were to fix for all time whether they would admit or exclude the slave-owner with his victims. Every thing depended, therefore, on taking early possession. The South was first in the field. Missouri was near, and her citizens led the way. Great slave-owners took iS53- Kansas and yohn Brown. 379 possession of lands in Kansas, and invited their brethren from other States to come at once, bringing their slaves with them. But their numbers were small, while the need was urgent. The South had no population to spare fitted for the work of colonizing. The time came when elections were to take place in Kansas, when the great question of slave or free was to be answered. Gangs of armed men marched over from Missouri. Such a party, nearly a thousand strong, accompanied by two pieces of cannon, entered the little town of Lawrence on the morning of the election-day. The ballot-boxes were taken possession of, and the peaceful inhabitants were driven away. The invaders cast fictitious votes into the boxes, outnumbering ten or twenty times the lawful roll of voters. A Legislature wholly in the interest of slavery was thus elected. In due time that body began to enact laws. No man whose opinions were opposed to slavery was to be an elector in Kansas. Any man who spoke or wrote against slavery was to suffer imprisonment with hard labor. Death was the penalty for aiding the escape of a slave. All this was done while the enemies of slavery were an actual majority of the inhabitants of Kansas ! Then the Missourians on the border overran the coun- try, working their own will wherever they came. Men were gathered up from their work in the fields, ranged in line, and ruthlessly shot to death, because they hated slavery. A lawyer who had protested against frauds at an election was tarred and feathered. The town of Lawrence was attacked by eight hundred marauders, who plundered it to their content, bombarding with artillery houses which dis- pleased them, burning and destroying in utter wantonness. But during all this unhappy time a steady tide of North- ern emigration had flowed into Kansas. From the very 380 YoiLiig Folks' History of America, outset of the strife, the North was resolute to win Kansas for freedom. She sought to do this by colonizing Kansas with men who hated slavery. Societies were formed to aid poor emigrants. In single families, in groups of fifty to a hundred persons, the settlers were moved westward. Some of these merely obeyed the impulse which drives so many Americans to leave the settled States of the East and push out into the wilderness. Others went that their votes might prevent the spread of slavery. There was no small measure of patriotism in the movement. Men left their comfortable homes in the East and carried their families into a wilderness, to the natural miseries of which was added the presence of bitter enemies. They did so that Kansas might be a free State. In a few years the party of freedom was able to carry the elections. A Constitution was adopted by which slavery was excluded from Kansas. And at length, just when the great final struggle between slavery and freedom was com- mencing, Kansas was received as a free State. Her admission raised the number of States in the Union to thirty-four. THE STORY OF JOHN BROWN. The opposition of the North to slavery was rapidly growing. In the eyes of some, slavery was an enormous sin, fitted to bring the curse of God upon the land. To others it was a political evil, marring the unity and hin- dering the progress of the country. To very many, on the one ground or the other, it was becoming hateful. Poli- ticians sought to delay by concessions the inevitable crisis. Simple men, guiding themselves by their conviction of the wickedness of slavery, were growing ever more vehement in their hatred of this evil thing. PIONEER LIFE 1 859- The Story of yohn Brown. 383 John Brown was such a man. The blood of the Pilgrim Fathers flowed in his veins. The old Puritan spirit guided all his actions. From his boyhood he abhorred slavery. He was constrained by his duty to God and man to spend himself in this cause. There was no hope of advantage in it ; no desire for fame ; no thought at all for himself or for his children. He saw a huge wrong, and he could not help setting himself to resist it. He was powerless to influ- ence the councils of the nation. But he had the old Puritan aptitude for battle. He went to Kansas with his sons to help in the fight for freedom ; and while there was fighting to be done, John Brown was at the front. He was a leader among the free settlers, who felt his military superiority, and followed him with confidence in many a bloody skirmish. He retired habitually into deep solitudes to pray. He had morn- ing and evening prayers, in which all his followers joined. He would allow no man of immoral character in his camp. He believed that God directed him in visions ; that he was God's servant, and not man's. The work given him to do might be bitter to the flesh, but since it was God's work he dared not shrink from it. When the triumph of freedom was secured in Kansas, John Brown moved eastward to Virginia. He declared war against his country, in so far as the national support of slavery was concerned. He prepared a constitution and a semblance of government. He himself was the head of this singular organization. Associated with him were a sec- retary of state, a treasurer, and a secretary of war. Slavery, he stated, was a barbarous and unjustifiable war, carried on by one section of the community against another. His new government was for the defence of those whom the laws of the country wrongfully left undefended. He was joined by a few enthusiasts like-minded with himself. He laid up store of arms. He and his friends hung about 384 Young Folks' History of America. plantations, and aided the escape of slaves to Canada. Occasionally the horses and cattle of the slave-owner were laid under contribution to support the costs of the cam- paign. Brown meditated war upon a somewhat extensive scale, and only waited the reinforcements of which he was assured, that he might proclaim liberty to all the captives in his neighborhood. But reason appeared for believing that his plans had been betrayed to the enemy, and Brown was hurried into measures which brought swift destruction upon himself and his followers. Harper's Ferry was a town of five thousand inhabitants, nestling amid steep and rugged mountains, where the Shen- andoah unites its waters with those of the Potomac. The national armory was here, and an arsenal in which were laid up enormous stores of arms and ammunition. Brown resolved to seize the arsenal. It was his hope that the slaves would hasten to his standard when the news of his success went abroad. And he seems to have reckoned that he would become strono^ enousfh to make terms with the government, or, at the worst, to secure the escape to Canada of his armed followers. One Sunday evening in October, he marched into Har- per's Ferry with a little army of twenty-two men, black and white, and easily possessed himself of the arsenal. He cut the telegraph wires. He stopped the trains which here cross the Potomac. He made prisoners of the work- men who came in the morning to resume their labors at the arsenal. His sentinels held the streets and bridges. The surprise was complete, and for a few hours his possession of the government works was undisputed. When at length the news of this amazing rebellion was suffered to escape, and America learned that old John Brown had invaded and conquered Harper's Ferry, the Vir- ginians, upon whom the affront fell most heavily, took BORDER SETTLERS. 1856. Assault on Charles Stminer 387 prompt measures to avenge it. By noon on Monday a force of militia-men surrounded the little town, to prevent the escape of those whom, as yet, they were not strong enough to capture. Before night fifteen hundred men were assembled. All that night Brown held his conquest. Nearly all his men were wounded or slain. His two sons were shot dead. Brown, standing beside their bodies, calmly exhorted his men to be firm, and sell their lives as dearly as possible. On Tuesday morning the soldiers forced an entrance, and Brown, with a sabre-cut in his head, and two bayonet-stabs in his body, was a prisoner. He was tried and condemned to die. Throughout his imprisonment, and even amid the horrors of the closing scene, his habitual serenity was undisturbed. To the enraged slave-owners John Brown was a detest- able rebel. To the abolitionists he was a martyr. To the historian he is a true, earnest, but most ill-judging man. His actions were unwise, unwarrantable ; but his aims were noble, his self-devotion was heroic. The divided feeling between the North and South increased in bitterness. The halls of Congress rang with antislavery and proslavery speeches, each of which added fuel to the fire of discord that had long been kindled. In the senate chamber one day a distinguished senator, Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, was bending over his desk busied in writing. He was the most eminent cham- pion of the antislavery cause, and his power as an orator gave him high rank as a political leader. While this sena- tor was occupied with his writing, there walked up to him two men whom South Carolina deemed not unworthy to frame laws for a great people. One of them, a member of the House of Representatives, whose name was Brooks, carried a cane. With this weapon he struck many blows 388 Young Folks' History of America. upon the head of the senator, till his victim fell bleeding and senseless to the floor. For this outrage a trifling fine was imposed on Brooks. His constituents eagerly paid the amount. Brooks resigned his seat. He was immediately re- elected, and many handsome canes were bestowed upon him. Franklin Pierce had succeeded Mr. Fillmore as Presi- dent. Under Mr. Fillmore's administration the Fugilixe Slave Bill had been passed. Under the administration of Mr. Pierce the Missouri Compromise had been repealed. Mr. Pierce was succeeded by Mr. Buchanan. Under his administration the troubles in Kansas had occurred, and the agitations on the question of slavery became violent and dangerous. The presidential election of i860 was a battle of argu- ments and principles. Never had an election taken place under circumstances so exciting. The North was thor- oughly aroused on the slave question. The time for com- promises was felt to have passed. It was a death-grapple between the two powers. Peaceful arrangement was hope- less. Each party had to put forth its strength and conquer or be crushed. The enemies of slavery announced it as their design to prevent slavery from extending to the Territories. They had no power to interfere in States where the system already existed. But the Territories, they said, belong to the Union. The proper condition of the Union is freedom. The slave States are merely exceptional. It is contrary to the Constitution to carry this irregularity where it does not already exist. The Territories, said the South, belong to the Union. All citizens of the Union are free to go there with their property. Slaves are property. Slavery may therefore be established in the Territories if slave-owners choose to settle there. ■.^^^'.irmw^"^'^'^^.- PIONEER TRAVELLERS. 3^9 i860. Election of Abraham Lincoln. 391 On this issue battle was joined. The Northern party nominated Abraham Lincohi as their candidate. The Southerners, with their friends in the North — of whom there were many — divided their votes among three candi- dates. They were defeated, and Abraham Lincoln became President. . CHAPTER XX. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The early period of great patriots seemed long to have passed away, but another period is rising ; Hampden is to visit the world again ; the spirit of Washington is to reappear ; America is to have her own Wilberforce, her William the Silent. We write from the standpoint of moral principle, from which all historic views backward or forward must be taken. Yet put yourself in the place of one of the Southern people of i860, and another view, a mistaken one it may be, will ap- pear. England left the South an inheritance of slaves ; Northern people for a half-century had upheld the right to continue that inheritance, and the Southern people had been born, bred, and educated in a state of society that to them was as natural as life. They had come to regard their planta- tions and slaves much as a feudal lord regarded his estates ind retainers. For those who grew cruel, and sought to oppress their slaves, who tried to extend and strengthen a vvrong, no apology can be offered. But England and the North were as greatly to blame as the South in the establish- ment and growth of slavery. Northern men and Southern men fell side by side when the prayers of the slave at last had entered into the ear of Heaven, and the great day of wrath came, with fire and blood and anguish. Mr. Lincoln was the son of a poor and not very prosperous farmer. He was born in 1 809 in the State of Kentucky ; but HOME OF A WESTERN PIOXEER. 1825. AbraJiani Lincoln. 395 bis youth was passed mainly in Indiana. His father had chosen to settle on the furthest verge of civilization. Around him was a dense illimitable forest, still wandered over by the In- dians. Here and there in the wilderness occurred a rude wooden hut like his own, — the abode of some rough settler, regardless of comfort and greedy of the excitements of pio- neering. The next neighbor was two miles away. There were no roads, no bridges, no inns. The traveller swam the rivers he had to cross, and trusted, not in vain, to the hospitality of the settlers for food and shelter. " Now and then a clergyman passed that way, and from a hasty platform beneath a tree the gospel was preached to an eagerly listening audience of rugged woodsmen. Many years after, when he had grown wise and famous, Mr. Lincoln spoke, with tears in his eyes, of a well-remembered sermon which he had heard from a way- faring preacher in the great Indiana wilderness. Justice was administered under the shade of forest trees. The jury sat upon a log. The same tree which sheltered the court occa- sionally served as a gibbet for the criminal. In this society — rugged, but honest and kinelly — the youth of the future President was passed. He had little schooling. Indeed, there was scarcely a school within reach, and if all the days of his school-time were added together they would scarcely make up one year. His father was poor, and Abra- ham was needed on the farm. There was timber to fell, there were fences to build, fields to plough, sowing and reaping to be done. Abraham led a busy life, and knew well, while yet a boy, what hard work meant. Like all boys who come to any thing great, he had a devouring thirst for knowledge. He borrowed all the books in his neighborhood, and read them by the blaze of the logs which his own axe had split. This was his early training. When he entered life for him- self it was as clerk in a small store. He served nearly a year there, conducting faithfully and cheerfully the lowly com- 39^ Young Folks' History of America. merce by which the wants of the settlers were siipphed. Then he comes before us as a soldier, fighting a not very bloody campaign against the Indians, who had undertaken, rather imprudently, to drive the white men out of that region. Having settled in Illinois, he commenced the study of law, supporting himself by land surveying during the unprofitable stages of that pursuit. Finally he applied himself to politics, and in 1834 was elected a member of the Legislature of Illinois. He was now in his twenty-fifth year ; of vast stature, some- what awkwardly fashioned, slender for his height, but uncom- monly muscular and enduring. He was of pleasant humor, ready and true insight. After such a boyhood as his, diffi- culty had no terrors for him, and he was incapable of defeat. His manners were very homely. His lank, ungainly figure, dressed in the native manufacture of the backwoods, would have spread dismay in a European drawing-room. He was smiled at even in the uncourtly Legislature of Illinois. But here, as elsewnere, whoever came into contact with Abraham Lincoln felt that he was a man destined to- lead other men. Sagacious, penetrating, full of resource, and withal honest, kindly, conciliatory, his hands might be roughened by toil, his dress and ways might be those of the wilderness, yet was he quickly recognized as a born king of men. During the next twenty-six years Mr. Lincoln appHed himself to the profession of the law. He was much in public life. He had part in all the political controversies of his time. Chief among these were the troubles arising out of slavery. From his boyhood Mr. Lincoln was a steady enemy to slavery, as at once foolish and wrong. He would not interfere with it in the old States, for there the Constitution gave him no power ; but he would in no wise allow its establishment in the Territories. He desired a policy which " looked forward hopefully to the time when slavery, as a wrong, might come to an end." He gained in a very unusual degree the confi- <86o. Disloyalty of the Southern States. 2>97 dence of his party, who raised him to the presidential chair, as a true and capable representative of their principles in regard to the great slavery question. South Carolina was the least loyal to the Union of all the States. She estimated very highly her own dignity as a sov- ereign State. She held in small account the allegiance which siie owed to the Federal government. Twenty-eight years before Congress had enacted a highly protective tariff South Carolijia, disapproving of this measure, decreed that it was not binding upon her. Should the Federal government attempt to enforce it, South Carolina announced her purpose of quitting the Union and becoming independent. General Jackson, who was then President, made ready to hold South Carolina to her duty by force ; but Congress modified tlie tariff, and so averted the danger. Jackson believed firmly that the men who then held the destiny of South Carolina in their hands wished to secede. " The tariff," he said, " was but a pretext. The next will l^e the sla\'ery question." The time predicted had now come, and South Carolina led her sister States into the dark and bloody path. A conven- tion of her people was promptly called, and on the 20th of December an ordinance wms passed dissolving the Union, and declaring vSouth Carolina a free and independent republic. When the ordinance was passed the bells of Charleston rang for joy, and the streets of tlie city resounded with the wild exulting shouts of an excited people. Dearly had the joy of those tumultuous hours to be paid for. Four years later, when Sherman quelled the heroic defence of the rebel city, Charleston lay in ruins. Her people, sorely diminished by war and famine, had been long familiar with the miseries which a strict blockade and a merciless bombardment can inflict. The example of South Carolina was at once followed by other discontented States. Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida hastened to assert their independence, 39^ Vol t Jig Folks' History of America. and to league themselves into a new Confederacy. They atlopted a Constitution, differing from the old mainly in these respects, — that it contained j^rovisions against taxes to pro- tect any branch of industry, and gave effective securities for the permanence and extension of slavery. They elected Jefferson 1 )avis Tresitlent for six years. They possessed themselves of the go\ernment property within their own boundaries. It was !iot )et their opinion that the North would figiit. After the goxernment was formed, the Confederacy was joined by other sla\e States \\\\o at hrst had hesitated. Virginia, Nortli Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas, after some delay, gave in their adhesion. The Confederacy, in its completed form, was comiH^sed of eleven States, with a population of nine millions ; si\ millions of whom were free, and three millions were sla\es. Twenty-three States re- mained loyal to the Ihiiou. Their jxipulation amounted to twenty-two millions. It is not to be supjiosed that the free jxipulation of ihr seceding States were unanimous in their desire to break up the Union. On the contrary, there is good reason to believe diat a majority of the people in several of the seceding States were all the time opposed to secession. In North Carolina I he attempt t(^ carry secession was at first defeated by the l)eople. In the end, that State left the Union reluctantly, under the belief thu not otherwise co\\V\ it escajx" becoming the battle-ground of the contending ]>owers. Thus, too, \'irginia refused at first by large majorities to secede. In Ceorgia and Alabama the minorities against secession were large. In Louisiana twenty thousand votes were given for secession, and seventeen thousand against it. In many cases it required much intrigue and dexterity of management to obtain a favorable vote ; and the resolution to quit the Union was received in sorrow by \ery many of the Southern !Jl>-^^^